Mightiest Melee Magician

“That damned bastard dares make fun of me?”

After leaving the students and arriving at the palace, Josh Galehill disappeared somewhere.

The place he was headed was the meeting room hidden in the Magic Tower’s most secret place.

Seeing people in there, Josh said with a sigh,

“Is this it?”

“Pardon? Th-that’s......”

Although the meeting room had a big enough table to easily seat at least twenty people, only four of the seats were occupied.

Just a few months ago, it would’ve been laughable if less than forty people came when Josh called the nobles for a meeting.

No, forty was still too generous.

The seats of the table would’ve been so full that not a hair’s worth of space would be left empty.

But now, only four were seated before him.

“I asked if this is it.”

“Th-that’s...... Everyone is trying to avoid coming to the meeting......”

“I clearly remember telling everyone that Ruin Ardell wouldn’t be breathing after today. Even after that, this is everyone?”

“I-I definitely told everyone that as well. But the nobles have totally turned their backs......”

Bang!

“Uwah!”

Josh slammed the table and grinded his teeth.

“Damn it...! Because of that damned bastard......”

“D-did something happen?”

“It’s fine. Did the thing I asked of you get dealt with properly?”

“Y-yes! The capital’s night watch are all ours. They won’t react to any commotion, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.”

Josh then turned and asked the Captain of the Golden Light Knight Order, Bengrass Kegen.

“What of the things I asked of you, Commander?”

“I have received news that the five assassins arrived at Ardell last night. After midnight, the assassins will enter the mansion and eliminate Lord Dellin Ardell.”

The spears that Josh Galehill and Bengrass Kegen had prepared against Ardell were aimed perfectly.

Tonight.

“Well, since the father and son are both dying on the same night, they won’t be lonely.”

“There’s a daughter as well.”

“She may become a problem later on, so we probably need to kill everyone.”

“I’ve already given them that command. After tonight, there won’t be a single person in the world with the blood of Ardell flowing through them.”

“Good work.”

The assassins prepared by Josh would go to Ruin, the assassins prepared by Bengrass were sent to Lord Dellin Ardell and Ruina.

And......

“Bolvar Patten needs to disappear too. There can only be one sun in the sky.”

“Yes. That guy won’t see the sun rise tomorrow.”

The dangerous assassination plot to kill all the key individuals of Ardell.

Even if the plan succeeded, the waters would still be dangerous.

They knew that the fact that the five people gathered here had planned for the assasination would come to light.

But these people didn’t fear that at all.

If they could just kill Ruin Ardell…

If they could just kill him, the name of Galehill would regain its unopposable status from before.

They could escape punishment.

No, rather…

“Make it known to all the nobles who didn’t participate today. Galehill will definitely remember who they are.”

“Guardian! Y-you must remember me as well!”

“......”

Everyone would bow down before him, just like before.

They would fear him more than they did before.

And this was why the plan had to succeed.

The worst case situation would be if the plan failed.

If it failed and Ruin survived, it was clear that the enraged Twin Princes wouldn’t leave the Galehills alone.

However, Josh was certain that the plan would succeed.

His eyes turned towards the magicians standing in the corner of the meeting room.

“This plan leaves no room for failure. You must kill him.”

“......We accept the orders of the Lord.”

Who were they?

They weren’t greenhorns like Jakil Galehill.

They were all high-ranking magicians that grew up on Galehill’s benefits, hand-picked from the best of the best of the talents Galehill fostered.

They were all at least 6th-class and were from the palace and the magic tower. The most elite of the elites.

It was hard to see them all move at once unless the Kingdom itself was threatened in an act of war or something of that vein…

But they had gathered here today.

All to kill Ruin Ardell.

That was why failure was not a possibility.

Josh clenched his fist hard enough for it to tremble as if it was about to crack.

“That smiling visage of yours dies today, Ruin Ardell.”

* * *

* * *

The capital tour was unlike a real tour and was not structured at all.

Josh Galehill, who proclaimed that he would oversee all events related to the tour, disappeared somewhere after arriving at the palace, and some really old magician was guiding us.

However, contrary to the weak tour content, the mood wasn’t that bad at all.

“Sheesh…! This is a magic tower?!’

I may have had experience being inside the Magician’s Tower—the best of the magic towers, situated in the capital of the Raynac Empire, Ravirdyne—but for most students, this would be the first time they visited a magic tower.

The main entrance door not having handles, the endlessly long hallways, being able to move to the top floor by using a mana gate instead of stairs!

For the students, this was all very interesting.

But for me, I couldn’t feel as excited as they were feeling, instead just lazily observing the surroundings from the back.

After all, the thing that excited me came from a completely different source.

“......You felt it too, right?”

“It doesn’t matter if I felt it or not. He’s been openly wary of me since the start.”

The old magician who was guiding us around.

His eyes were wide open, and he was staring at me as though trying to see through me.

“Is there something on my face?”

“......”

He didn’t even answer the question I asked and just observed me like that for a bit more before slowly turning his head away.

And then, not long after, I could feel a gaze on me. When I turned toward it, I saw that old magician staring at me once more.

It was just like he was ‘collecting’ all my actions.

His big eyes, pointed lips, and unkempt black mustache all came together to form an expression so weird it was eerie.

“What’s his problem?”

This sticky and unpleasant gaze remained for the entire day and continued even after we finished the tour and arrived at the inn.

If I looked down from my room on the 2nd floor of the inn, I could see the old magician looking up toward me.

“Is someone outside?”

“......”

“Huh? It’s that magician from before! But why is he staring at you?”

Asked Jason, who ended up sharing the room with me.

“Jason, I’m sorry, but can I have this room by myself tonight?”

“Eh? By yourself? Then where would I sleep?”

“Hankus’s room has an extra bed. Please sleep there.”

Hearing this, Jason thought for a moment before slowly narrowing his eyes and smiling wickedly.

“I see! You punk......! Who do you think you’re trying to fool? You can fool a ghost, but you can’t fool me. Eheheheh... I thought you were busy all day just training. When did you become a real man?”

“......”

What was he thinking about now?

“I knew this day would come. The day where you would ask me to do something like this. Fufu. I’ll leave this place just for you tonight. So good luck, and try your best.”

Just what did he mean by ‘try your best’?

Jason kept having that wicked smile, and after tapping my shoulder, he opened the door to the room.

And then, after seeing Straang standing outside the room, he muttered in shock,

“St-Straang? N-no......! Ruin is your cousin......”

“......The hell you talking about? Move.”

“Ack!”

Straang pushed Jason out of the way with ease, and Jason fell on the ground while continuing to mutter, “N-no......” over and over.

“......”

Jason, it’s not what you think. Relax.

After entering the room, Straang pointed to Jason and asked me,

“What’s that guy keep saying no for?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Stupid punk.”

“More than that, look over there.”

As I pointed outside the window, Straang poked her head out.

“It’s that guy from before.”

“Yeah.”

“What is he doing standing there?”

“Preparing an illusion.”

“......An illusion?”

I pointed outside the window.

After looking over it carefully, Straang shook her head, not understanding.

“Ugh. My eyes hurt. What can you see? I don’t know what you’re pointing at.”

“I can keep feeling a constant wave of tiny amounts of mana. He’s making an illusion around this place.”

Although it still looked the same to normal people, if one paid close enough attention, they would be able to see that the ground was ever-so-slightly twisted.

That scenery, and even the people walking past inside, was just an illusion.

On top of that, a barrier was also set up to completely separate this world from its surroundings.

Meaning, just as I expected, they were aiming for me tonight.

HaisenGalehill

6th-class Magician

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You cannot view this yet.

A 6th-class magician.

If it was just one person, it would’ve been doable, but looking at the scale of this illusion spell, it was hard for only one 6th-class magician to set up.

“There are at least two enemies.”

Two, maybe three.

Maybe more.

If the group was made up of only 6th-class magicians, like that old man, Haisen, who was staring unpleasantly at me, then my chance of winning became slim.

And on top of that, if Josh Galehill came out here personally......?

This was dangerous.

My eyes turned to one section of my skill list.

SummonKingram

Active skill

Use limit: 0/1

With the active effect of the title ‘Ogre Sovereign’, you can summon Ogre Magician Kingram once for 10 minutes. After the duration ends, Kingram will return to his statue.

Summon Kingram.

I really was planning on saving it till the end, but the thought of maybe having to use it now came to mind.

Then…

“Where is he going?”

“......”

The old man outside the window started to take a few steps back while still being wary of me.

His actions seemed like…

“Is he running away?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“He’s calling me outside.”

He was trying to lure me outside.

I thought they would choose to ambush me, but unexpectedly, they didn’t.

After openly making the trap, they boldly called me out.

No, maybe they were constantly sending me hints to make it obvious they were there.

It would be advantageous for me if we fought in a cramped space like inside the inn, but I couldn’t just bring harm to the students sleeping soundly in the next rooms.

They also knew that there was only one choice I could make.

I stood up from my seat.

“I’ll need to go down.”

Tonight… might be a long night.

——