LIGHT NOVEL Chapter 672
“Magic isn’t about the circle, it’s about real combat!”
Fighting a Black Mage comes with its own set of problems.
And the biggest issue isn’t even the clash in an open field. Nope, it’s having to hunt down the guy hiding in the mountains and dodging through rough terrain.
So even if you win, you end up taking a serious beating. In the already struggling Barony, creative solutions were in order.
“It’s not that I don’t trust the mage, but… their circle is way too high. How about we find a way to block their magic?”
Initially, Andrew planned to have Ghislaine suppress the Black Mage’s spells. He thought that since they were both 5th Circle, it just might be doable.
But no matter how great Ghislaine was, she wasn’t going to stand a chance against a 6th Circle mage. The circles are absolute, after all.
Shaking her head at Andrew’s worries, Ghislaine said,
“You really don’t need to worry. We have a friend named Alfoy in our territory who has defeated higher circle mages before.”
“Wait, really? Is that even possible?”
“Absolutely, it’s definitely possible.”
Alfoy once fought against the Tower of the Scarlet and came out on top against a mage with a higher circle.
Sure, winning in a fair magical duel might be debatable, but a win is a win.
Recalling that moment, Ghislaine smiled.
“He said something funny back then.”
“What did he say?”
With a proud grin and a raised fist, Ghislaine replied,
“Magic isn’t about the circle; it’s about real combat, X-man!”
Andrew looked impressed, then pulled back slightly, asking,
“Was that… directed at me?”
“Nope, that was said to the opponent he fought.”
“Ah, my bad! I misunderstood! Ha ha ha, I thought you were talking to me…”
“Ha ha ha…”
The two shared an awkward laugh. Still, with Ghislaine speaking so confidently, Andrew couldn’t hold back any further.
After all, it would be offensive to a prideful mage like her.
After a brief awkward silence, Ghislaine cleared her throat and changed the subject.
“Anyway, proceed with the hunt as planned. The Yulien Mercenary Group will take the lead, so if it gets dangerous, feel free to retreat.”
“Not a chance! We’ll fight together and catch them no matter what! I’m counting on the Yulien Mercenary Group!”
Andrew shouted boldly. True to his simple nature, he was energetic and full of passion.
He reminded Ghislaine of former army commander Maurice from Ruthania with each passing moment.
Ghislaine found herself in a strange train of thought.
‘Could it be? Nah, couldn’t be.’
Andrew wasn’t the Macquarie Marquis; he belonged to the Nordheel Barony. Sure, names and titles might change over a millennium, but it seemed like a pretty far-fetched idea.
With renewed confidence after talking with Ghislaine, Andrew turned to the people and proclaimed loudly,
“From now on, our territory’s symbol will be the ‘Duck’! After the hunt is over, we’ll change the coat of arms, so everyone, treat ducks with respect!”
“Understood!”
Ducks could distinguish Black Mages. People genuinely believed that.
So, naturally, everyone had no choice but to hold ducks in high regard now.
Quack, quack, quack!
The ducks seemed excited too, waddling around and quacking like crazy.
“……”
Ghislaine didn’t say a word.
And thus, the duck superstition began to spread from the Nordheel territory.
* * *
Before starting the hunt, Ghislaine laid out an additional condition to Andrew.
“If we succeed in the hunt, everything that the Black Mage possesses will belong to the Yulien Mercenary Group.”
“That works for me.”
Magic books and items held immense value, especially a 6th Circle magic book.
However, Andrew didn’t have the luxury of negotiating over such things right now.
To be greedy at a time when his territory’s survival was at stake would be utterly foolish. That wasn’t his character anyway.
“We’ll take whatever my apprentice has as well.”
“Of course! The mage caught them, right? We absolutely won’t raise any objections.”
Ghislaine found a magic book at Zico’s lodgings. It was a black magic book filled with quite a number of spells up to the 4th Circle.
Having agreed on a fair reward and new conditions, Ghislaine smiled satisfactorily.
“Feels refreshing! Let’s set off right away.”
“Understood. I’ll order all troops to deploy.”
After capturing Zico, Andrew treated the group with even more hospitality.
This was not only because the Yulien Mercenary Group was the key to the hunt but also because Andrew had a character that didn’t flaunt authority much for a noble.
After Zico died, a few soldiers complained of headaches. They all realized that they had been under Zico’s mind control.
With the mage dead, the mind control naturally broke. However, it left them uneasy, so they had no choice but to exclude them from this hunt.
After two failed hunts, the troops had significantly dwindled compared to the size of the territory.
But somehow, they managed to scrape together a staggering 600 soldiers.
With 15 knights leading the way, they marched confidently. Their overflowing confidence stemmed from their previous failures.
“The mage said there’s nothing to worry about.”
“He’s the deputy commander. The commander is stronger. He reportedly took down the greatest knight of the Magrel territory in one blow.”
“With a priest on our side, the Black Mage won’t stand a chance!”
This was the wellspring of their confidence. Thanks to Ghislaine’s prowess, even the other members of their party were getting elevated acclaim without lifting a finger.
Sadly, there was barely any mention of Kyle, which somewhat annoyed him.
“Ugh, I’m way stronger than Yulien.”
Dark rolled his eyes at his shoulder.
“We do have one like you in our territory.”
“Who? Are they strong?”
“In our territory, they’re on the weaker side. No, they’re strong but somehow weak at the same time?”
“Strong is strong; there’s no such thing as ‘weak strong’!”
“Still, you’re a bit better than that guy.”
Kyle was indeed as strong as Yulien. He had his fair share of determination and a good sense of reality.
It felt like a waste to compare him to someone from the Penris territory who just goofed off every day.
But to compare, Dark reasoned that those two were similar enough for it to be made.
While Kyle grumbled, Yulien and Deneb were somewhat nervous yet expectant.
‘A 6th Circle Black Mage… we need to win without taking any damage…’
‘With my Divine Power, it’ll be tough to land a hit directly.’
A 6th Circle Mage holds the potential to flip the outcome of a war.
Facing such an opponent was understandably nerve-wracking.
The three initially planned to slowly hone their skills. Astion was cautious and moving according to that plan.
But after meeting Ghislaine, the level of their enemies grew rapidly.
In that moment, Yulien realized something.
‘Wait! When they said I won’t die later, could it actually mean I’d die sooner?’
It was quite a plausible theory. Suddenly, life felt significantly harder.
While Yulien was lost in thought, Deneb tried to ease tension by asking Ghislaine various questions.
“Ghislaine… are you really planning to learn Black Magic?”
“Yeah. There’s no harm in learning it, right?”
She conveniently skipped mentioning that Astion would be the one doing the studying. After all, as a mage, he’d benefit from acquiring various spells. Plus, any knowledge shared would be a bonus for her.
However, Deneb looked even more worried by that remark. Black Magic had a bad reputation. If misused, one might be labeled an evil criminal.
Ghislaine brushed off Deneb’s concerns nonchalantly.
“Come on, as long as I don’t do anything bad with it, I’m fine.”
In reality, Black Magic wasn’t about making deals with dark lords or anything spooky. It was merely a branch of magic that utilized negative magic power.
It only held a bad reputation because of those who committed mad acts using it.
“Isn’t there a strong hypothesis that Black Magic was originally passed down by the priests of the Goddess Serana, who presided over death?”
“Well, that’s true.”
The priests of Serana used their power for purposes different from what it is today.
They helped the living communicate with the departed, glean the truth from the wrongfully killed, and punish those who committed unforgivable sins, among other things.
With the passage of time, the core intent was lost, leaving behind applications that were misused, leading to the negative perception that many higher-ups were well aware of.
Indeed, they had even spurred negative perceptions of Black Magic for political purposes, to frame opponents and suppress them.
Deneb knew a bit of this backstory. But the people, already set in their prejudices, rarely understood such context. So, it was only natural that she worried.
But Ghislaine still thought nothing much of it.
“We only need to use it when necessary. The more knowledge, the better, right?”
She didn’t mention that if anyone tried to mess with her in the name of Black Magic, she’d just crush them. It’s worth repeating; she was a non-violent pacifist after all.
As they walked and approached the mountainside, Ghislaine spoke to Dark.
“Check around. You know the approximate location, right?”
“Got it.”
Flap, flap, flap!
Five sparrows scattered in every direction. They were off to find the Black Mage’s location based on the info Zico provided.
Shortly after, Dark 1 reported back to Ghislaine via telepathy.
— Found them. They seem to have noticed and are on the move. Looks like they’re waiting for us.
‘They’re alone?’
— Yeah, they look filthy and ragged. They’ll probably stink. We once scolded our territory mages for being dirty, but it turns out they were actually clean. Belinda was taking good care of them.
‘……Right.’
Thinking a mage lived nobly in nature is a big misconception. Living in the wild makes daily life much harder.
So, mages always sought to be affiliated with a mage tower or territory to live comfortably.
Anyway, since they found the Black Mage, Ghislaine conveyed the news to Andrew. He responded with a worried expression.
“What should we do? Should we charge straight in? Before they can react?”
“……No. As I said, approach slowly while surrounding the area.”
She had heard from Zico about the scope of the Black Mage’s powers. Hence, she had devised a suitable plan and informed everyone.
Before long, Ghislaine became the commander. Everyone started listening to her.
As the Yulien Mercenary Group stepped forward a bit more, they heard a loud explosion far off, followed by a flash of light.
They all stopped, confused. The soldiers nervously stared in that direction.
In the mountains, such phenomena wouldn’t occur without cause. It was clearly the handiwork of the Black Mage.
Seeing the illumination, Ghislaine twisted her lips into a smirk.
“Ha, look at this! Trying to give away his position?”
Already, Ghislaine had grasped the Black Mage’s location and was moving there slowly.
But the Black Mage was unaware of their movements.
That’s why he was signaling them. Trying to get them to come find him head-on.
Ghislaine extended her hand and said,
“Don’t hesitate; stick to the plan. No need to be scared at all.”
Gradually, Ghislaine’s tone changed. Her dignified speech felt so natural that no one questioned it.
Even Andrew, the lord, was following Ghislaine’s orders.
The soldiers began to move slowly again. Ghislaine and Yulien led them while quietly smiling.
‘He seems quite confident. Does he really think he can win this time?’
The Black Mage appeared to have real faith in his abilities.
That was understandable. A 6th Circle Mage doesn’t come around often, even at a royal level.
Hubert, master of the Tower of Bloody Flame, might not look the part, but he was a powerhouse commanding the north’s strongest tower.
That Black Mage likely shared similar strength, enabling such composure.
Ghislaine cracked her neck side to side, preparing herself.
“That’s what I’m best at—crushing those types.”
He picked the wrong opponent today.