ALL NOVEL Chapter 16
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Chapter 16
City of Magicians (1)
“Whew….”
In the snow-covered forest.
A man let out a deep sigh. Puffs of white breath rose from his lips.
Hiding behind a tree and a rock, the man was carefully observing the deserted path.
North of the Empire.
On the way to the City of Magicians, Wilhelm.
It was still early autumn, but the biting cold continued to torment him. A city where it snows all year round, the chill was fierce.
The man’s name was Harbel.
For seven years, he had been working as a mercenary, and like many mercenaries, he took on various jobs depending on the situation.
When the economy was good, he became an adventurer; during wars, he turned into a soldier; and when there was no work, he became a bandit.
And currently.
Although he wasn’t completely out of work, Harbel decided to temporarily become a bandit with his subordinates.
The reason?
It’s simple.
‘…Because it’s profitable.’
September.
The time of year when the Selection Test of the Five Great Towers is held. During this period, the guards of Wilhelm focus their efforts within the city.
Naturally, the surveillance outside the city becomes relatively lax.
Harbel was planning to exploit this time to rob merchants passing through the nearby paths with his subordinates.
Was it last year?
His former comrade, Kelvin, had struck it rich by taking advantage of the time during the Selection Test of the towers.
Hearing that just grabbing one magical tool could set you for life, Harbel, who had been considering retirement, was understandably tempted.
“Whew.”
Harbel let out another deep breath.
Behind him were five or six subordinates.
None were slacking, all scanning the road with hawk-like eyes, searching for a target.
As one of his trembling subordinates whispered softly, they caught his attention.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Over there.”
Pointing across the street, the subordinate continued.
“That girl’s clothes look expensive, don’t they?”
“….”
As his subordinate had said, there was a woman approaching.
She looked to be in her early twenties.
With beautiful purple eyes to match her black hair. Her clothes were quite extravagant. She certainly appeared nobility at a glance.
Above all, she was perfectly suited as prey, walking alone.
However.
‘…Something feels off.’
Harbel sensed something was amiss.
‘A noble is walking alone in a place like this?’
It was strange enough that she was walking without a carriage, but not having a single escort was even more bizarre.
Faced with this unusual scenario, Harbel had to be on guard.
Caution was the most fundamental virtue of a mercenary.
And Harbel was one who placed great importance on this principle.
The reason he had survived numerous adventures with all limbs intact was precisely because he adhered so strictly to this principle.
Thus, he refrained from making a reckless move toward the woman. Instead, he merely observed her silently.
‘Her stride is poor, and she shows no signs of being cautious… What’s going on? She’s completely unprepared.’
Soon after, he could deduce two possibilities.
‘It’s one of two things.’
Either a naive noble girl completely clueless about the world.
Or a powerful individual confident enough to protect herself.
Of course, Harbel thought the former was far more likely to be true…
But given they were on the road leading to the City of Magicians, he couldn’t rule out the possibility of her being a magician either.
‘Well, I can just find out for sure.’
Thinking this, Harbel nocked an arrow on his bow.
Having worked as a mercenary for seven years, he was a veteran.
His archery skills were remarkable enough to earn the respect of even seasoned rangers.
Though the distance between him and the noble girl was considerable, he had the confidence to hit his target even if he closed his eyes.
‘If I hit her and she dies, she’s just a naive noble; if she survives, she must be a magician.’
With that thought, Harbel smirked.
His thought process was characteristically foolish for a mercenary, but Harbel believed he was clever.
In the former case, he could steal freely, and in the latter, he could just make a run for it.
Whichever choice he made, he wouldn’t come out at a loss.
‘Alright.’
Thud—
With his thoughts all in order, Harbel pulled his bowstring.
At that moment, his subordinates drew their swords, ready for action.
They were mercenaries who had worked together with Harbel for years. They knew what each other wanted without needing explanations.
Snap—
Whoosh!
Thud!
Soon, the arrow he shot soared toward its target.
A successful ambush.
The target, pierced through the chest by the arrow, fell lifelessly to the ground.
Thud.
Seeing this, his subordinates let out a soft cheer.
“It worked…!”
They hurried down the hill and rushed toward the street. Then they began to rummage through the target’s body.
Before long, one subordinate’s delighted voice could be heard.
“Wow, how much is this worth? Boss! Do you see this? There’s a ton of incredibly expensive stuff!”
Was she really just a naive noble? The woman’s body was adorned with priceless treasures.
“Boss! This is amazing! These are treasures you wouldn’t even find in ordinary dungeons!”
Harbel couldn’t hide his grin.
Expensive rings, necklaces, earrings, and various gems.
While these might be trifling luxuries to the upper class, every single item was a fortune that could keep a mercenary living for a lifetime.
‘If we pull off just a few more jobs like this…’
Then for real.
He could finally quit his tiresome mercenary life and retreat to the countryside with his wife, living in comfort.
Harbel chuckled at such happy thoughts. The guilt of having taken a life was long forgotten. He continued to rummage through the target’s belongings with greedy eyes.
“Uh, B-Boss…?”
At that moment.
Another subordinate called out to Harbel with a quivering voice.
Still fixated on the gold and jewels, Harbel answered curtly.
“What?”
“Uh, um, you really should see this.”
“….”
Why were they bothering him at a time like this? He barely had time to savor his loot.
Groaning in annoyance, Harbel glanced at the street across from him, following the subordinate’s gaze.
And then, in an instant.
He too stiffened in shock.
“…!”
There stood a woman.
She looked to be in her early twenties.
With beautiful purple eyes to match her black hair. Her clothes were incredibly luxurious. She definitely looked like nobility.
In other words…
It was undeniably the same woman he had just killed.
“…”
The corpse that should have been rolling at his feet was, for some reason, standing unharmed right in front of him and his subordinates.
“W-what the…?”
Harbel quickly looked down.
The body of the woman he had shot was nowhere to be found. All traces of blood or evidence of the murder were gone.
‘Ah….’
Only then did Harbel grasp it.
‘…A magician.’
He had just touched the worst kind of opponent.
‘What the hell.’
Right.
The girl had never been hit by the arrow in the first place.
He and his subordinates had merely fallen for the pathetic tricks of a witch.
‘Illusion? Enchantment? Optical illusion? Brainwashing? Magic? What the hell was that?’
He didn’t know.
It was uncertain if any of those possibilities were even correct.
However, the only judgment Harbel could make in this situation was a singular one.
“Damn it! Everyone draw your swords! Now!”
Swish—
The chilling sound of metal echoed around them. The subordinates all drew their swords and began to glare at the magician.
Harbel also nocked an arrow, aiming at the magician before him.
At this point, there was no escaping a full confrontation with the magician.
An ominous aura was already pressing down on him, emanating from her. It wasn’t something that could be resolved by merely fleeing.
One of them had to die for this to end.
Harbel quickly thought through the situation.
‘There’s still a chance. Six against one. We’re vastly outnumbering her…’
Having organized his thoughts, Harbel prepared to release the arrow.
Clatter—
Suddenly, the bow he held fell from his hands.
“Uh?”
Harbel, startled, looked down at his hands.
The place where his hands were supposed to be was empty.
All that remained was a horrific severed end.
“W-what…?”
Only then did Harbel realize.
His own hands were lying on the ground next to his bow.
“A-a-aah…!”
The searing pain rushed in, and Harbel screamed, collapsing to the ground.
His subordinates, witnessing the scene, froze in place.
Whoosh—
“Aahhh…!”
As Harbel’s moans echoed, the surrounding air began to tremble.
The thieves who had never felt such pressure before stared vacantly into the distance.
The magician smiled brightly as she whispered to the thieves.
Why was that?
Though her voice was small, it seemed to echo directly in their ears.
“If you touch a magician, you must pay the price.”
With the witch’s chilling voice, waves of magical power swept through the bandit group.
*
Five hours later.
Creek—
A carriage heading to Wilhelm came to a sudden stop.
Startled by the abrupt halt, the passengers began to step out of the carriage one by one.
“What’s going on?”
“Uh, um….”
The coachman’s face was as pale as a ghost.
With trembling hands, he pointed forward.
“Th-there…”
Horrifically mutilated corpses were blocking the path.
Seeing the ghastly sight, some passengers began to retch.
An old man, observing the bodies closely, spoke up.
“This is the work of a magician. Seems like they got into a tussle with some bandits.”
The elderly man continued gingerly poking the corpses with his wooden staff.
“It was a battle around five hours ago. No, calling it a battle would be more fitting to call it a one-sided massacre.”
“Then…”
“Just ignore it and pass through. When we arrive in the city, we can inform the guards then.”
“B-but still…”
The old man patted the trembling coachman on the shoulder reassuringly.
“You’re safe as long as I’m here.”
“Y-yes, I’ll trust you, sir.”
The coachman nodded vigorously and returned to the driver’s seat.
Other passengers followed the old man’s lead, climbing back into the carriage.
Clatter, clatter—
The carriage resumed its journey.
Given that most passengers had witnessed the horrific scene just moments prior, the atmosphere inside the carriage was notably subdued.
In the silence, the old man slowly surveyed his surroundings.
“Hmm?”
At that moment, the old man spotted a girl.
A platinum-haired girl with golden eyes, who tried to hide her stunning appearance beneath a drab robe.
Hugging a book tightly to her chest, she gazed out of the window with an indifferent expression.
“You there.”
“…?”
“Yeah, what brings you to Wilhelm?”
The old man asked, prompting the girl to turn her head.
“I came to take the Selection Test.”
“…”
The old man’s brows furrowed in concern at her response.
“That’s a suicidal act. Do you not realize what you’ve just witnessed?”
“…”
“There are all kinds of magicians at the Selection Test. Some of them are madmen who think of it as a legal murder fest.”
The old man continued.
“You need at least the skills to protect yourself. If you value your life, that is.”
The girl looked at the old man with a blank expression.
The old man could not gauge what thoughts were running through her mind based on her emotionless reaction.
He could only hope his sincere concern would reach her.
“Of course, reaching such a low rank at your young age is commendable. But the Selection Test of the Towers is beyond what you might imagine.”
“…”
“Rather, I recommend you find a decent academy in Wilhelm and train before taking the test. The Five Great Towers want accomplished magicians, not young prodigies like you.”
Silence filled the air.
The girl continued to regard the old man without a change in expression.
After a moment of moving her lips as if to quietly speak to herself, she eventually replied.
“Thank you for your heartfelt advice, but I’ve already made up my mind.”
“…”
As expected.
She wouldn’t listen even after saying that.
The old man stared at the girl. Her eyes seemed resolute as if she had already firmly decided. He believed there was little he could say to change her mind.
Eventually, resigned, the old man shook his head and turned his gaze away.
He whisperingly murmured to himself.
‘…This year, another promising rookie will cross over to the afterlife.’
*
[What a nosy old man.]
‘Indeed.’
We can handle our own affairs just fine.