Mightiest Melee Magician

Supplies, a blanket, and a ton of different kinds of cotton wool.

“Uh… Ruin?”

“What?”

Jason.

Not stopping at just covering himself with the blanket, he even stuffed a ton of cotton into his clothes.

“Thinking about it, I have a fear of heights. I fell off the roof one time when I was young. I get nauseous and my legs start shaking when I get somewhere higher than the 3rd floor…”

A condition he didn’t even have before suddenly appeared as well.

He seemed to be feeling a lot of pressure from this.

I couldn’t help but pout.

“Really? What a waste. You were going to be the ‘core’ of today’s operation…”

“…The core?”

“Yeah. This is the most important role. But if you say you can’t, then it can’t be helped. We’ll just need to get someone else. I might go ask Seta—”

“W-wait!”

‘Core’, ‘Important’, ‘Cool’.

Jason liked these words a lot, so he hesitated.

“W-won’t it be scary?”

“It’s fine. You won’t have the time to be scared cause you’ll arrive at the top before you can blink.”

“......”

“On top of that, you’ll be protected by a Mana Barrier. And even if something happens, Irene will help you from the bottom. The blanket and padding will only make you look uncool, and it probably won’t be necessary at all.”

“......”

“Are you still scared?”

No response.

Jason nodded silently and continued to stuff his clothes with cotton.

I’m proud of you.

At least he didn’t seem to want to give up after coming all this way.

The war march started.

“A-ten-hut!”

Step! Step!

“March!”

As Commander Murrow gave the order, the 3500 soldiers under his command started to march south.

At the front was Commander Murrow, the Golden Light Knight Order, my father, and Sir Bolvar Patten—who was wearing armor for the first time in a while.

And at the back of this formation…

“…I want to be cool while marching, too.”

…marched me and my friends, including Jason, who had covered his entire body with blankets and cotton.

I tapped Jason, who wanted to look ‘cool’, on his shoulder.

“You’re cool enough right now.”

“Really?”

“Look over there. Everyone’s looking at you.”

“Where? I only see them laughing at me.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.”

“Ruuiin!!”

“Pft.”

Kekek.

You’re such a simpleton.

But it wasn’t a lie that Jason would be the core of today’s operation.

How effectively Jason drove out the mudmen would be the key to the operation’s success or failure.

I joked with Jason as we came out of Ardell, but as we started to approach the Red Plains, our talking significantly decreased.

The bleak mood of the battlefield started to surround us.

“I didn’t think I would be able to experience real combat right after I became a magician.”

“Yeah.”

Jason, Seta, and Hansen all possessed incredible talent, but their real combat experience was lacking.

Irene and I had a bit more experience, but a battlefield of this scale was a first for all of us, so it was natural for us to be nervous.

And…

“Halt!”

Neigh—!

As the Red Plains started to come into view, the formation stopped for a minute to switch to a battle formation, and my friends and I moved to the very front.

As I approached, Commander Murrow came to greet me.

“Sir Ruin. Come quick. We’ll be going over the plan one last time.”

Then, we gathered the heads of this operation and went into a mission briefing.

“Firstly, Sir Ruin and our young magician here—”

“It’s Jason. Jason Damon.”

“…Magician Jason Damon will move the mudmen out of the valley. This plan is good. Next is the clash. Since it’s at the entrance of the valley, how about blocking it and using archers?”

A plan based on shooting the mudmen as soon as they showed themselves in the narrow path of the valley.

It was a fine idea proposed by Commander Murrow, which he had put together after a lot of thought.

Although it wasn’t a bad plan, there was a fatal flaw.

My father was the one to point it out.

“The mudmen won’t die just because they get hit by an arrow.”

“Then?”

“You need to precisely hit the core in their heads, killing them instantly. If not, they will just get back up. I worry that the archers won’t be able to do their role in a chaotic situation like this.”

“Then, Lord Ardell, do you have a better idea?”

“…”

My father slowly nodded.

“Fire.”

“…Fire?”

“The mudmen’s bodies are made of mud. If we attack them with high-temperature flames, they will dry up and harden.”

“Hardening them up then shattering them. That’s pretty good.”

“Yes. The problem is that simple flaming arrows won’t be enough to harden a mudman. To turn the mudmen into bricks, we would need a very fierce flame…”

Then, Seta put up his hand.

“Well, I can do that.”

“…Are you sure?”

“I don’t know if you know this, but fire spells are my specialty. I’m the perfect person to ask to turn these mudmen into solid bricks.”

The plan was settled.

I would chuck Jason up.

Jason would then use light magic to lure the mudmen outside.

After that, Seta would bake the mudmen flowing out into bricks.

Then finally, the force of 300 made of mercenaries and citizens would shatter the hardened mudmen.

This much was a piece of cake.

As their role suddenly disappeared, Commander Murrow asked,

“Then, what should my forces do?”

The commander should be the one laying out the plans. Why are you asking me?

I pointed towards the path that leads to the ocean that I checked with the minimap when I came to scout before.

“Over there. If you go through that, you’ll find a path that leads to the beach in the valley. Hide near there, and as things fall into chaos after our plan begins, use that road to enter the back of the valley.

“Why there…?”

“If the mudmen decide that the narrow path is completely blocked, where will the mudmen try to escape to?”

“The sea?”

“That’s right. They’ll try to go back to the place they came. That’s why you need to completely wipe them out.”

“Ah, understood!”

It was decided.

Hansen and I decided to support the force of 300, and Sir Bolvar Patten decided to help the force of 3200 that was expected to have a tougher fight.

With this, the plan was made.

I cracked my knuckles.

“Then, shall we begin?”

* * *

* * *

“E-easy does it, Ruin… Gently, gently…”

“I got it.”

“Gently! Throw me with more care… Uwaaaaaack!”

Vwooosh!

I gripped Jason tight and started to spin on the spot.

Using the rotation, I threw Jason toward the target location.

“Uwaaaaack! I-I’m flying! I’m flying in the air!”

If this plan failed, it would probably be because of Jason’s screaming.

Jason started to screem weird things as he soared through the air.

Then, Irene, who was standing next to me, put a Mana Barrier around Jason and cast Frozen Tree precisely where Jason would land in order to bind him.

“Fu…! Fuwah! I…! Am alive!”

Thanks to that, Jason ended up hanging upside-down on a branch.

But it was a success.

“Wow, you threw him pretty accuratly.”

“You too, Irene. Your skills are still amazing.”

“Fufu, of course. That’s to be expected.”

Jason succeeded in landing on the target, the top of the semicirclar cliff face.

See?

I told you wouldn’t need the blankets.

* * *

“Wh-what’s that…?”

Jason Damon.

A 3rd-class magician, average for a graduate.

Although he had decent talent, he still loved playing around more than studying.

And for the first time, he regretted not trying harder at the Academy.

‘D-dammit… Why aren’t my legs moving? Why!’

It was all good up to the point where he landed on top of the cliff.

But at the bottom of the cliff…

The scene that was shown to Jason completely turned him to stone.

“Grrrrrk…”

“Grrk!”

“......”

Thousands.

No, hundred of thousands.

No.

Over a million mudmen all packed together filled the middle of the valley.

Wooosh—!

It looked like a Red Plain that shifted with the blowing wind.

And it also looked horrifyingly like a pot of wriggling blood worms.

His gaze turned downwards.

“Jason! Start now!”

“......”

Even if it was just for those people who were looking up at him, waiting for him.

If it was just for Ruin, who trusted his lacking self and brought him here…

‘I can’t let them down!’’

He needed to move. Now.

“Euh… P-please move! Legs!”

He physically grabbed his legs and was able to barely move them a step.

Eyes clenched shut, he muttered to himself,

“I-I can do it… I can do it! I will do it!”

Then, he put his hands together and focused on his mana.

The mana flowing out of his three circles immediately activated between his hands, and a red cloud formed above his head.

The spell Jason was casting was a fire spell that boasted a decently wide area of attack.

Rain of Fire.

The 3rd-class spell that literally rained fire on one’s enemies.

Since his level wasn’t that high, the size of the cloud wasn’t that big.

But it was enough to scare the mudmen, who had just been enjoying the cool afternoon weather.

Rumble!

Clack! Crash!

“Grrrk! Grrk!”

Fwooooosh!

At the unexpected fiery rain, the mudmen started to hurriedly move as they burned.

As they started to move, the plains fell into chaos, like a tower of blocks suddenly falling apart.

“U-uwack! So gross! Die! Die! Diiieee!”

Jason was so grossed out by their movement as they scurried around like bugs, he had to screw his eyes shut as he continued to focus on his spell.

This was pretty effective.

“Grrk!”

Since a magician was casting a spell down at them from atop an unreachable cliff, this was practically a disaster for the ones stuck below.

“Grrk! Grrrrrk!”

“Grrrk!”

The mudmen all turned their heads in a single direction.

They were looking at the narrow path that led outside the valley.

And so, they started to run toward the narrow path to avoid the spell…

* * *

Good job, Jason!

“You punk. Whining like that when you were going to do good anyways…”

“Mr. Seta, you should get ready.”

“Yeah, just trust me. But Irene, why is it still ‘Mr.’ Seta? Why are you putting that line between us? Just call me Seta.”

“Talk later.”

“…Tch.”

Seta Malkiri walked forward.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The ground shook beneath us as a testament to the number of mudmen that were running out.

But Seta didn’t even blink.

Rather…

“Come at me, you muddy pests…! I roast you all!”

He showed his teeth and his strong confidence.

Yeah.

Seta Malkiri was also a super-prodigy that would lead the future of Oyota.

I knew his strength.

And the Seta I met again after half a year…

“Get bricked!”

“......”

He had grown unbelievably stronger.

——