Mightiest Melee Magician

After about a week of travel North of Ardell, I crossed over the central territories of the kingdom and into the eastern ones.

Compared to the southern territories, the roads were wider and better, and there were also more people.

Yeah.

There were a lot of people.

But what was this?

“Say it again.”

“L-let my sister go……”

“Hnng? I can’t hear you, you fucking bitch. Stop crying and say it again. What did you say?”

“I-I’m a knight too…… I-if you don’t want to get hurt, l-let my sister go!”

“Kuahaha! ‘I’m a knight! If you don’t want to get hurt, let my sister go!’ Hahaha!”

“Ukahahahaha!”

“……”

In broad daylight.

For an altercation to happen in the middle of this busy street……

No, was it a kidnapping?

With just a glance, you could tell it was four men in their 30s holding onto a woman in her 20s, and in front of them was a young boy holding a real sword while shouting at the men, telling them to let his sister go.

However,

“S-stop making fun of me! If you don’t let my sister go……”

“You’re just a bitch!”

“……Ack!”

“Say it again. Hmm? Who’s a knight? Huh? Are you, you little shit?”

Bang! Pak! Pow! Tak!

A one-sided pummeling that made the sword in his hand useless.

I looked around the surroundings.

‘Tch.’

One, two, three, four…

There were a little over ten people in the area who were watching this young boy get beaten up.

But no one even thought to intervene.

Some would call the guards of a nearby city to stop this, but in reality…

“……Kek.”

There were even some spectators who would snicker at the sight.

Even if we lived in a world where minding our own business was a virtue…

Wasn’t this too much?

Even though I wasn’t some knight of justice or a guardian angel, or even anything at all, I ended up getting off my horse, pushing past the spectators and involving myself in the situation.

“I don’t know what’s happened here, but it’ll be good to stop now.”

If you said this, there were some phrases you were bound to hear.

One… two… three.

“What? Who the hell are—”

“Who am I? Yeah. I knew you would ask that. It’s still the same no matter the time, isn’t it??”

“……”

Wasn’t I an outcast at the Academy sometime before as well?

I grew up fighting a lot in those times, and if I were to pick one thing I learnt…

It was that there was nothing different about people like Michael Galehill and these thugs right here.

They were so similar that I got goosebumps just thinking about it.

I helped the boy on the ground stand up before turning to the flabbergasted thugs.

“You don’t need to know who I am, and let’s end it here. What’s the point of four adults ganging up on just one kid?”

“What are you? A guard?”

“No.”

“Then what? This kid’s friend?”

“No.”

“This shit is messing with us! Then why are you here?”

“……”

Well, I had no response to that.

But whatever! Why was that important?

“I already told you, you don’t need to know who I am, and I even warned you to stop. But if you insist on continuing, I won’t stand still either.”

“Hah…!”

The 16-year-old Ruin Ardell.

Even though I was a magician who had experienced all manner of hardships, to these guys here, I was just a normal young boy.

“Pft! Puahahahaha! Ukakhahaha! Oh my, oh. What is this kid talking about? You dare say those things to us? You won’t stand still?”

“Hey, hey. Kid. Looks like you want to be a knight of justice or something… but fuck off if you don’t want to die. If you hesitate even after I warned you like this, I won’t stand still either.”

“Uahahahaha!”

“……”

It wasn’t just the thugs.

An old man who was watching the whole thing from behind me spoke up.

“Young lad, it’ll be good for you to listen to those fellas. Go on your way and don’t interfere. You’ll be in big trouble if you mess with the Gnarled Tree gang around here.”

“That’s right. You look like a noble from somewhere…… but those are evil guys who won’t differentiate between nobles and commoners.”

The Gnarled Tree gang?

What was that?

A group of kids?

Now that I looked at them, all four adults were wearing the same brown clothes, and on their backs was an image of a skull on a tree stump.

They were probably a delinquent organization that was active in the area.

I asked the old man standing behind me,

“What’s today’s date?”

“Wha? It’s the 25th.”

The 25th.

Since it takes about a day and a half to get to the academy from here, I guess I have about two days of free time?

“Alright. But what are you all doing here?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“You’re not stopping them, and you’re not trying to save the boy either. Are you just watching until they beat him to death?”

“……”

The expressions of the spectators turned sour.

Their eyes were asking who I was to tell them off, but they couldn’t bear saying it out loud.

They knew they should be ashamed.

They’re all the same.

When I was in the academy, the one I hated most weren’t the people like Michael Galehill who openly harassed me, but the ones who snickered on the sidelines.

“It’s over now, so please be on your way. Shoo, shoo. Off you go.”

After turning away the spectators, I grabbed the boy’s arm.

It was a signal for him to get out of there.

“……I don’t need your help, so you go too.”

“……”

This boy, eyes swollen from getting beaten up so much, didn’t move an inch and stood upright while facing the thugs.

Ah, right.

This guy had a sister he needed to protect, didn’t he?

* * *

* * *

“Let my sister go right now.”

“……Hah. You clingy bastard. You’re making us look like the bad guys again. Aren’t we doing this because your sister couldn’t pay her debt?”

“Th-that was money our dad borrowed! Why are you putting this on my sister…?”

“If your dad was capable of paying off his debt, would we do something like this?”

“I-I’ll do it! I’ll pay off the debt! After I become a knight, I—”

“Puahahaha! A knight? A squirt like you is gonna be a knight? You, who can’t even face the four of us, is going to become a knight and pay off the debt? There’s a limit to joking around. Why should I wait for you to grow up when this problem can be solved right now if I sell off your sister?”

I could get the general gist of the situation.

Money.

Money…

The start of all problems was always money.

“I-if you sell off my sister… I’m really going to kill you…”

“……”

For a moment, I became curious about what this young boy’s life was.

He looked to be around my age, but rather than a wooden sword, he was holding onto a real, steel sword.

But he didn’t look to be a noble, and seeing that he called himself a knight, he was probably a trainee knight from one of the territories in the vicinity…

But he looked far too weak for a trainee knight.

Even now, the hands holding the steel sword were shaking terribly, and his legs looked as if they would collapse at any second.

However…

‘His eyes are fierce.’

His gaze was quite impressive.

Even in the face of violence, he had the courage to stand, despite his fears.

This wasn’t an easy feat.

He had eyes that shone to protect something he must, eyes that endlessly strived for strength.

They were the eyes that I liked to see.

For a moment, I wondered what the true worth of this boy was.

To see this, I taunted him a little.

“Save her.”

“……What?”

“She’s your sister. So stop talking and go save her yourself.”

The boy’s eyes ignited even more by what I said,

However, that was it.

The fear of violence that was holding him tight froze his feet solid.

“You can’t do it? Well, it’s true that those who were hit find it hard to fight the fear of pain. If you really can’t do it, should I help you?”

“What are you? Why are you talking to—”

“You don’t need to know that, but just so you know, compared to you, I’m really strong.”

“……Shut up. I don’t need your pity.”

“Really? Then show me.”

“……”

“That fear you feel. Is that important? More important than their taunting and you protecting your sister?”

He’d regret it if he ended up losing his sister, so…

“Destroy it. If you destroy that wall, you’ll realise it was nothing at all.”

“……!”

As the words left my mouth, the look in his eyes changed.

And in that moment, he turned and charged at the thugs.

* * *

The boy had broken the wall.

He had a good look in his eyes, and he showed courage befitting of them.

But, unfortunately, his talent couldn’t match his conviction.

“Were the trainee knights in Poldren all this puny? A weakling like this is gonna be a knight? Don’t make me laugh.”

“If this guy’s a knight, then am I swordmaster? Uahahahaha!”

“Stomp him! Stomp him so hard he won’t ever crawl back again!”

“……”

The boy was thrust to the ground again, and his sister kept crying.

There was one thing I was impressed by.

That, even under the constant kicking, his eyes never faltered.

I decided to help that young boy who told me he didn’t need my help.

Crack!

I very easily punched the forehead of the closest thug.

“Kugh……”

The man flew backward, spinning in the air.

“Didn’t I tell you? I won’t just stand still.”

Ting.

I flicked my finger, and a merciless gust of wind hurled a thug.

“A m-magician……?”

That was the last thing he said before being knocked out cold.

Bang!

He flew back from the immense wind pressure and hit his head on a tree, fainting.

“Th-this bastard!”

These guys who hadn’t properly faced a magician before charged at me recklessly.

I should’ve warned them.

That when facing a magician, they should run.

I flicked my fingers again, and one of the charging thugs was lifted into the air.

“……Ugh.”

I gave him a good thrashing on his stomach, and he collapsed, drooling from the mouth

There was only one left.

“Hmm.”

“D-don’t come any closer!”

He was captivated by fear and staggered back as if he had seen a ghost.

It wasn’t a good look.

Rather…

“You… Who are you?”

I liked the wonder in the eyes of the young boy much more.

I smiled brightly for the boy and replied,

“Ruin Ardell.”

“R-Ruin…… Ardell?”

Hearing that, his expression changed.

He had definitely recognised my name.

And the answer to his question was already plain in sight.

——