Chapter 32
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Tearful Reunion
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There were all sorts of words used to refer to Yuria at the Imperial Academy.
Mad dog, northern barbarian, walking disaster. They were all vicious nicknames utterly unfit for a girl, but things hadn't always been that way.
Four years ago, when she had first come down from the snowy mountains and entered the academy, Yuria had been a model student unlike any other in the world—one who followed her master Erendel's teachings like a sacred creed.
[Yuria. Remember this. The empire bastards value empty formalities more than their own lives, so just smile politely and bow your head.]
The day before descending the mountain, her master had straightened her clothes and earnestly warned her.
[Even if they spout nonsense, just bow your head and say, "Oh, how impressive." Don't stand out. Live like you're dead until you get your diploma. Got it?]
Yuria had taken those words to heart like gospel. She practiced to fix her northern accent, brushed off her classmates' bullying with a friendly smile. She took on all the bathroom cleaning duties without complaint and picked up discarded textbooks to use, never uttering a single gripe.
But the problem didn't stem from her personality—it erupted from a completely unexpected place.
Multitasking, chantless casting, mana suppression resistance, and more.
The fundamentals that Yuria had been drilled into her for over ten years by the freakish monster known as Erendel up in the northern snowy mountains were light-years removed from the empire's common sense.
[You have to chant for... this? Doesn't it just switch on like flipping a light?]
[So why can't you do this? You just open the mana circuit. No one thinks about how to pick up a spoon before eating, right?]
[No, it's like drawing a circle with your left hand and a triangle with your right at the same time. Can't you even drink water while eating?]
She looked around at her classmates with genuine puzzlement. Of course, it was pure curiosity. After all, these things were utterly obvious to her.
But for an orphaned commoner with no background or parents to handle magic that even noble ladies couldn't manage—like it was child's play—and ask, "Why can't you do this?"
It was probably inevitable that she'd stir up envy and jealousy.
"Eww, look at this stinky girl. Don't they bathe in the northern boonies?"
"She's an orphan, right? Maybe her parents dumped her?"
Yuria endured it. She clenched her fists and bit her lip, holding back. Her master's stern decree—"Cause trouble, and I'll disown you"—echoed in her ears.
But when the noble brats tried to snatch and snap her master's old, treasured staff—her sole treasure—something snapped in Yuria's mind.
And when she came to, the professors were foaming at the mouth in a faint, piled up like a tower on the floor alongside the noble scum slammed into the ground.
"Tch... Damn it, this is dredging up all sorts of old memories and pissing me off."
Yuria clicked her tongue, shoving the recollection aside as she eyed the scene before her. Her gaze locked onto the two figures on the platform.
The man in the black coat. Dangerous. Her instincts were blaring alarms.
He looked languid on the surface, but the blood scent and murderous aura radiating from him were impossible to hide. It was the overwhelming predator presence she'd only felt from grizzled veteran hunters on the northern frontlines.
That one's the real deal.
He was leagues beyond the knights she usually saw.
Meanwhile, the woman cloaked in a robe beside him. Her total mana was vast. She'd give her that. But that was it.
A face-hiding robe. An ornate staff. And that arrogant arm-crossed stance. The picture of a capital mage posturing as refined and mysterious while hanging back to backseat drive.
I hate that type.
All talk, prioritizing theory over combat, spouting nonsense like "magic is an art" at crucial moments to stall. She reeked of the same as the imperial mages who'd gotten utterly dismantled by her in turn.
That's why I picked the man.
This farce was boring anyway. Knock out the strongest one—the leader of the pack—and things would wrap up quick. She had zero interest in whatever imperial envoy title they threw around.
The fact that the palace had to send such people because they lacked talent was comedy gold in itself.
"Let's begin."
"......Fine."
Erendel's voice rumbled low.
"I'll just show you hell today."
======
"....."
I paused mid-chew on my jerky.
Should I... try to stop this?
That wasn't the look of a master seeing her disciple after so long. It was the gaze of someone ready to thoroughly wreck a person.
"I'll just show you hell today."
Was that any way for a master to greet a long-lost disciple? That was a demon king's line to a hero.
Snap.
Yuria flicked her fingers.
With a whoosh, dozens of crimson fireballs materialized in the air around her in an instant.
Chantless Casting + Multi-Cast
Dozens of Fireballs formed
Chantless casting with multi-casting...
Her talent was the real deal, no doubt. I could see why Erendel praised her to the skies. Mana control like that at her age? By modern standards, she was a monster worthy of the name.
"I warned you, lady."
The issue was her failure to gauge her opponent's caliber?
Classic frog in a well.
Well... in this empire's current state, whether there was a better mage than her besides Erendel was debatable—but of all people to pick, she chose the absolute worst: the one scale you must never touch.
"I'll let it slide if you step aside now. Otherwise, elder respect be damned..."
"Fire away."
Erendel stood with her hand in her robe pocket. She didn't even seem to consider deploying a defense spell.
"Why not shoot? Cast with your mouth? Got a long tongue?"
"Ha, seriously..."
Yuria's eyes sharpened. She swung her staff fiercely.
Fireballs merge into a massive fire pillar roaring toward Erendel
The dozens of fireballs fused into one, becoming a colossal pillar of flame that surged toward Erendel with a roar. The entire auditorium shimmered with scorching heat.
But Erendel casually flicked her staff upward like she was yawning.
Clang-!
The massive fire pillar split in two, as if slamming into an invisible wall.
"Wha...?"
Yuria faltered but didn't halt her assault.
"Block this?"
Ice spears and wind blades flew in tandem this time—an advanced tactic mixing elements and trajectories to pierce defenses. For a student's level, it was near-perfect coordination.
But.
"Trajectories too predictable. Copied from a textbook?"
Erendel stamped the tip of her staff lightly without moving from her spot.
Basic mana orbs unleash like machine-gun fire
The most basic spell. A mana clump that novice mages learned first. But Erendel's version was different.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-!
Small blue spheres poured out like from a machine gun.
"No way... Shattered Ice Spears with Magic Missile?"
"And without chanting?"
The watching students' jaws dropped. Yuria's face flushed red.
"Not done yet!"
"Oh, it's done."
Erendel aimed her staff at Yuria.
"Magic isn't for brute-forcing like that, dear."
Rumble-!
An immense pressure crushed the entire auditorium. Yuria felt her breath catch. A single blue flame flickered at the tip of Erendel's staff.
"Take this. If you can't dodge, your fault."
Erendel swung her staff lightly.
BOOM-!!!
"Kyaaak!"
A deafening roar shook the auditorium. The shockwave shredded Yuria's hastily erected triple barrier like paper.
"Guhk...!"
The explosion's aftermath shattered the ceiling, sending her body tumbling pathetically backward into the wall.
"You crazy...!"
The madwoman was using siege-level magic on her own disciple? Planning to demolish the academy?
"What was that about northern etiquette earlier? Take out the leader, and it's over?"
A sinister smile curled Erendel's lips.
"Right. If you're weak, kneel."
She slammed her staff into the ground.
Groooan-!
"Ugh?!"
Intensified gravity crushed her body.
"A mage wobbling because she can't hold her center? Skipped leg day?"
"Th-this...!"
Yuria gritted her teeth and endured. True to her northern roots, her grit was impressive. Her knees trembled violently, but she strained to rise.
"Cheeky brat. Eyes down."
"You old hag...!"
Bam-!
Erendel slammed her staff again, doubling the pressure.
"Kyaaak!"
Yuria finally screamed and sprawled flat on her back.
"Grgh... So sneaky, what the...!"
"Sneaky? A mage overpowering with magic is sneaky? Don't dress up weakness as cunning. Pathetic."
Erendel strode right up to the prone Yuria, bending at the waist to meet her eyes. The chilling gaze from beneath the robe pierced through her.
"Mana control's a mess. All you've got is grit. Whoever taught you did a piss-poor job."
"What do you... know, blabbing...!"
Yuria clawed at the floor, snarling.
"Don't insult my master!!"
"Oh? Insult?"
"Yeah! My master's the empire's greatest archmage! Not for the likes of you to judge!"
Erendel's lips quirked oddly at the shout.
"Good thing you said that. Otherwise, I'd have buried you underground for real."
"Wha....?"
Yuria's eyes wavered. Had she misheard? But before doubt could form, her instincts reacted first.
The one mage she'd spent her life learning from, idolizing, and fearing all at once.
"No way... You...? But Master said she cut ties with humans, would never leave the snowy mountains..."
"I did. Planned to retire quietly."
Erendel chuckled, raising her hand.
"But some damn bastard forced me back."
Smiling, she dispelled her disguise magic and threw back her robe hood. Sunlight from the windows made her radiant golden hair cascade like a waterfall.
"Wha...? Whaaa?"
The blood drained from Yuria's face. Her mouth gaped as if she'd seen a ghost.
"Long time no see? My cute disciple."
"M-Master...?"
"Yeah, the 'old lady' you called me earlier."
Erendel's eyes curved menacingly.
"Touching reunion, but some greeting. 'Old lady'? Hag? Wanna die? Or get disowned starting today?"
"N-no, wait, that's... um, misunderstanding...."
Yuria babbled in panic. Even the mighty Yuria was but a meek lamb before the original.
"Misunderstanding my ass."
Erendel raised her staff high.
"Head down."
"W-wait! Master! I really didn't recognize... My bad...!"
Thwack-!
A crisp, clear smack echoed through the auditorium.
"Ow!!!"
Yuria clutched her crown. Erendel dusted off her staff coolly.
"Bowl it."
"Sir?!"
"Not bowing?"
"I will!"
Forgetting all grievance, Yuria kowtowed at breakneck speed the moment gravity lifted. Just how much had she drilled her for such a reflexive headplant?
"I failed to recognize my revered master and spoke out of turn! Kill me!"
"Fine, I'll kill you."
Erendel raised her staff again, mana charging.
"I mean figuratively! Spare me!"
"Shut it."
Thwack-! Thwack-!
"Aak! It hurts! Really hurts!"
It was a heartwarming reunion scene, complete with tears.