Mightiest Melee Magician

All eyes fell on me.

“Will it be fine?”

“Will what?”

“I’m talking about the ogre. You will definitely hear some bad things about it in human society… Will it be fine to reveal it to those guys like this? Look at your director’s face. He is completely shocked.”

“......”

What Straang said held some truth.

A spell like this didn’t exist in the world.

On top of that, an ogre?

Weren’t the ogres truly the main enemies of humans?

Maybe that was why the emotions muddled in between their gazes definitely contained doubt.

There definitely would be some people who would frown upon my ability whenever I used it.

However…

“I can’t just hide it forever.”

“......That’s true.”

The ones targeting me would continue to get stronger, and I wouldn’t be able to conceal my abilities for long.

I couldn’t go into a fight with a laid-back attitude.

I needed to fight with my all every time.

That was why…

‘Just what are you?’

I didn’t feel a need to answer their questions.

For now, I should leave it for after the fight.

To Jakil, I said,

“......I can’t attack at range?”

As I clenched my fist, Kunkhan too clenched its fist behind my back.

I took up a guard, and so did Kunkhan.

As I started to cast, Kunkhan used its long reach to hit my opponent.

Just like this…

Bang!

Michael, standing around in a daze, took the full impact of the ogre’s punch and flew back.

“......Haa, haa......”

And Jakil, who was standing next to him, started to gasp.

That wasn't the end.

As I clenched my fist hard, flames appeared above Kunkhan’s fist.

“......!”

Jakil tried to cast Mana Barrier, but I was faster.

Bang!

“Kugh.”

The fist appeared in front of Jakil, but thanks to the defensive power of his multiple artifacts, he was able to avoid taking a fatal blow.

I readied my next attack to end this all, but Jakil tried to make distance between us.

However, that was all useless.

I didn’t need to get close.

Bang!

As I stretched my fist in the air toward Jakil, Kunkhan’s arm struck true.

It broke through his Mana Barrier that he just barely put up and flew straight into Jakil.

Hit by a fist as big as his body, blood spurted out of Jakil’s nose as he was flung away.

Simultaneously, I clapped my hands and started casting my next spell.

5th-class nature magic.

Summon Angler Fish.

Behind Jakil as he flew, a ripple appeared in the air and a huge angler fish appeared with its mouth wide open.

Kuaaaaaaaaa!

This angler fish opened its mouth wide open and swallowed Jakil whole.

“......”

“......I-is it finished?”

Silence.

A complete silence covered the whole arena.

The thing that started to break this silence was the sound of awe.

The magic power that Jakil had shown was definitely something above 5th-class, and maybe even above the level of a 6th-class magician.

So how did he lose so overwhelmingly against a 5th-class magician like me?

“I-it ended with two punches......”

Yeah.

The fight had ended in only two hits.

I was able to defeat Jakil as he was trying to run away without moving from my spot.

It was like a fight between an adult and a child.

There was only one reason why it ended like this.

It was because Jakil Galehill lacked the real experience to utilize all six of his artifacts properly.

Compared to the fancy exterior, his interior was lacking.

“......Please come out now.”

Fwooosh!

I created a fireball on my palm and put it inside the mouth of the angler fish.

Then, jets of red flames burst through the closed teeth of the fish, and after the flames became stronger and stronger, the fish exploded and disappeared.

“Uh, uhhhhh......”

In the spot where the angler fish was, Jakil Galehill was rolled over on the floor while grasping his legs, shivering.

To that Jakil, I said,

“Looks like six artifacts weren’t enough.”

“......What?”

“The artifacts you brought in, Senior. You’re not trying to deny it, are you? That’s a bit disgraceful......”

“Wh-what are you talking about?!”

He started to recognise the gazes from the others and raised his voice.

His expression said that he was very curious how I was able to find out, but I didn’t care about that.

“Well, whether it be six or sixteen, it wouldn’t have mattered.”

Of course, there were no rules that stated a graduated person couldn’t use artifacts using class.

It was just that…

It would be a problem regarding the senior’s image.

I stepped toward Jakil.

As I stepped toward him, he instinctively tried to move back, but he ended up collapsing on the spot.

“D-damn it......”

His body wasn’t moving like he wanted.

Being hit straight in the head, it would be hard for him to stand. His legs were still shaking.

I move my hand toward Jakil's face.

Simultaneously, Kunkhan, who was behind me, also stretched out its hand.

“Hiek, hiek!”

Being drowned in the overpowering energy exuded by the ogre’s presence, Jakil clenched his eyes shut.

He was so scared that even his face was trembling, but I didn’t attack him.

Rather, I reached for the necklace on his neck and yanked it off.

Ching!

As the cord of the necklace broke, debris fell on the ground, and I muttered while looking at it in my hand,

“......Why do you have four necklaces? Do you perhaps collect them?”

* * *

* * *

Four necklaces.

No, four artifacts.

I also found a bracelet and ring, making a total of six artifacts, before chucking them to the ground.

Clang!

And as the artifacts started to roll around the ground, the mood of my peers changed.

“What? Was he telling the truth?”

“Senior Jakil used artifacts? And six at that?”

“I-I did suspect something since his casting speed was insane...... but to use six artifacts against a junior......”

“......”

The students’ evaluation of him changed in an instant, and Jakil was too ashamed to even lift his head.

He used six artifacts against a junior, and lost as well.

Shame.

As the representative of the graduated students,

As the youngest court magician in history,

As the eldest son of the Galehill family,

He had tarnished all the honor he had.

“......You bastard.”

Maybe he thought he had lost everything.

Or maybe he wanted to recover a little bit of his shattered ego.

Jakil scowled in a way that he had never shown in the Academy.

“How long do you think you’ll be able to go? Do you think the Galehills will leave you alone? We’ll send someone right now and kill......”

His final words.

Well, something like that.

I squatted in front of him and asked,

“The Galehills won’t leave me alone? That’s probably true now that I think about it. The Galehills are always in a fuss because they can’t get me. First, it was third son Michael Galehill, then the eldest son Jakil Galehill. Then who’s next?”

“......”

“Perhaps your family head, Josh Galehill?”

“You disgusting lowlife! You dare speak his name like that?!”

“......Disgusting lowlife?”

The mood turned cold.

For the words ‘disgusting lowlife’ to come out of the mouth of the eldest son of the Galehill family that deceived others to come to his side, expressing the importance of ‘people’…

Wasn’t that too elitist? Saying that, if you weren’t of a noble bloodline like him, you were just a disgusting lowlife?

Maybe he felt the mood of the arena hall declining rapidly.

Jakil looked around his surroundings and muttered,

“Ah, th-that’s... What I mean is......”

“Well, that's fine. Because I’m really sick of the Galehills now.”

“Hey! Are you ignoring what I’m—”

I turned my attention elsewhere.

Michael was unconscious, and Jakil was out of commission......

But the spar hadn’t ended yet.

“You’re noisy, so please stay sleeping.”

“......What?”

I stretched my fingers wide, and after arming my middle finger like a bow, I aimed it at Jakil’s forehead.

Flick.

Having never experienced a flick from me, it was as if a question mark appeared above Jakil’s head.

But my peers had seen it multiple times now, so they clicked their tongues and prayed for his soul.

“It’s a flick.”

“Tsk tsk. Looks like he’s going to faint again.”

“That honestly might be better. At least he won’t feel the shame if he’s knocked unconscious.”

“W-wait......”

Jakil Galehill’s mouth wiggled trying to say something, but I didn’t wait.

Clack!

My middle finger struck Jakil’s forehead at a merciless speed.

“Ugh”

And Jakil fell unconscious then and there with a blue bruise on his forehead.

I stood up and turned around.

The spar hadn’t ended yet.

“......You commoner bastard. Are you actually trying to fight— Cough cough!”

Maltive was over there, blood flowing down his broken chin.

“Huu...... Huu......”

In front of him was Hansen, his shaky hands barely holding onto his wooden sword.

Yeah.

The fight between these two still hadn’t ended.

* * *

On the first day I met Hansen at the Academy, Hansen made me a promise.

That he would definitely face and fight the unrelenting fear that tormented him.

That he would break away this chain of bad relationships with his own two hands.

And Hansen’s determination…

“Get lost you commoner bastard! You dare raise your sword against— Cough cough!”

“......!”

…froze against the name of ‘Maltive Kegen’, a name that was like a nightmare to him. But he never wavered.

Yeah.

“I-I’ll fight you.”

“What?”

“I-I’ll...... fight against you, and I’ll win.”

“......”

Hansen was ready to fight.

Upon seeing Hansen’s spirit, the one who wavered was actually Maltive.

“Cough cough! You lowly commoner...... Didn’t you see my sword break before? You’re trying to fight me when I don’t have a sword?”

Blaming his broken sword.

This wasn’t even an actual fight, and it wasn’t a good reason to dodge a fight either.

Their peers at the Academy all chucked in their wooden swords one after the other into the Arena Hall for Hansen.

Maltive Kegen had dozens of wooden swords in front of him as well.

Hansen pointed at the wooden swords and spoke.

“P-pick it up...... Let’s fight.”

“......”

This was a dead end.

The victory of Group 31 was practically set in stone. Group 1 had already lost.

He couldn’t land a single hit, and both his sword and chin had broken.

This would’ve been enough to make him feel horrible, but the commoner that he had treated like an insect all this time had challenged him to a fight.

“This disgusting commoner......”

From the perspective of this honorable noble, it was an insult that couldn’t be described in words.

Maltive, who put importance on the honor of nobles more than anyone else, couldn’t just let it slide.

That was why he picked up a sword.

It was an inevitable choice, because if he was to avoid this fight, it would be the same as him being scared of Hansen.

“Then, as you wish, I’ll kill you.”

Maltive took up his sword and charged at Hansen.

I didn’t interfere in this fight.

Why?

Because I trusted Hansen.

And as if he was repaying my trust in him, Hansen clenched his teeth tight, and…

“L-look at that!”

“Aura! It’s aura! A sword perito!”

A blue aura bloomed from his wooden sword as he charged at Maltive.

——