The Archmage's True Identity
I am not an Archmage.
Which meant that floating through the sky or teleporting was out of the question. But making my backpack lighter with magic, or infusing my body with a bit of vigor? That much I could manage.
Anyone who has ever marched would understand. That tiny difference can make an enormous one.
"Getting close, I think."
I'd been walking for about a day. Far in the distance, I could sense countless ripples of mana — less a rural village than a small city, really. Which suited me just fine. Getting to a populated area was the whole point, after all.
"First I'll go get something to eat... then maybe see if I can track down a master?"
Now that I'd finally made my way into society, I intended to try all the things I'd never been able to do. After a lifetime cooped up in the mountains doing nothing but studying magic, my heart was already halfway to becoming an Archmage.
People need people, as they say. Though to do any of that, first I'd need to earn some money.
"Wonder if there's an Adventurers' Guild around here?"
Cliches exist everywhere, after all. The story of a boy dreaming of adventure who heads to the city, starts at the lowest rank, and eventually becomes the strongest adventurer of them all — the most tired, well-worn fantasy cliche imaginable.
I'd at least daydreamed about it. If the adventurer profession suited me, I could theoretically build my skills through dungeon delving and monster slaying. But that was a story that only applied to protagonists.
If dreamlike cliches like that actually existed, I should already have been an Archmage who'd shattered the 10th Circle and 10th Tier long ago. After all, a reincarnator in a fantasy world is supposed to come with exactly those cliches.
"Haah... I just hope I can find work as some kind of odd-jobber. Think they'd even run a background check on me?"
Half hopeful, half anxious, I set my steps toward the village.
Deep within the dense forest, Rania led a company of soldiers as they searched for traces of the wyvern.
"Lady Rania, have you ever faced a flying monster like a wyvern before?"
"This will be my first real engagement. I suspect the Academy knew as much and deliberately sent me somewhere this remote."
The mission the Academy had assigned her was simple: slay the wyvern.
As a rule, flying monsters were exceptionally awkward prey for sword-wielding knights. Archers helped, but a mundane bow was ill-suited to punching through a monster's thick hide. Which was precisely why they needed a mage.
The Academy understood this, and that was why Rania had been sent here — a hundred provincial soldiers, with Rania the mage providing support. Anti-air magic was a mandatory part of the Academy curriculum in any case, so the arrangement benefited everyone.
"For your first monster to be a wyvern — it will be a demanding campaign, my lady. Though that also speaks to how great the Academy's expectations for you must be."
In preparation for any unforeseen event, the Academy had also permitted her to travel with an old knight from her own household — a knight who had sworn his loyalty to the family before she was even born.
"Your lord father will surely be pleased as well. The little Lady Rania has grown into a true mage."
"Thank you for the compliment. Though I still have a great many shortcomings."
"When word arrived that you had taken first place at the Academy, your father was overjoyed."
"Being top of the Academy means nothing. My goal is to become a mage who is actually useful in the field."
Not even the knight's praise stirred her expression. It was a telling glimpse of just how seriously she took this mission.
"First, we find the wyvern's trail. That is what all these troops were granted for."
Setting aside the wyvern's strength entirely, simply finding one was a problem in itself. It was a monster more inclined to stalk its prey from the high sky and strike than to charge in head-on.
Just then —
"E-Everyone!! Over here!"
One of the soldiers, spread out in a search formation, began shouting at the top of his lungs.
"We found the wyvern!! B-But...!!"
"What?!"
In an instant, Rania and the other soldiers were all racing toward the commotion.
"You found the wyvern?! What on earth—"
Rania couldn't hide her bewilderment as she ran toward the voice. They'd found the wyvern this quickly?
Their first objective had never been the wyvern itself, only its trail. Finding the creature's actual body wasn't even a hope they'd allowed themselves — it was simply too elusive a monster.
That was why Rania had steeled herself for over a month in this forest. And yet, her preparations proved meaningless — the wyvern was discovered in record time.
What's more —
It was a horrific corpse.
"It was in this state when we found it...!!"
Its wings had been shredded to ribbons, utterly useless; its neck and torso were separated, leaving nothing behind but a trail of spilled blood. The organs had been mangled beyond recognition, as if some far larger predator had devoured them whole.
"What kind of creature could do this to a wyvern so easily...!!"
The old knight guarding Rania's side could barely contain his shock. Even the most battle-hardened veteran could never have predicted a scene like this.
"There are signs of a battle."
Rania surveyed the surroundings. The forest's thick trees lay toppled as if something colossal had passed through, and the ground was pocked with craters. And most important of all—
"...There are footprints."
Enormous tracks, the kind that could send a man's upper half flying with a single step. They radiated outward from the wyvern's corpse.
As the realization sank in, Rania's mana circuits began to turn. The commander leading the soldiers called out quietly.
"Everyone, maintain combat readiness!"
The situation was rapidly spiraling beyond ordinary. The wyvern was an intelligent monster — which made it correspondingly cautious, and notoriously difficult to capture. But this same wyvern had been hunted down and butchered like prey?
There was only one possible answer.
"A far more powerful monster seems to be in the vicinity."
Judging by the wyvern's remains, the kill wasn't old — a day at most, and possibly mere hours. Which meant the odds that some unidentified monster still lurked nearby were terrifyingly high.
"Lady Rania, the footprints still appear fresh. What are your orders?"
The old knight's duty was to protect Rania. The judgment, however, was hers alone.
"...I will cast a detection spell. We'll pursue at a distance."
"Understood, my lady."
She couldn't very well return empty-handed and request reinforcements. Gathering her mana, Rania immediately began the detection spell.
Vuuuum—!
As a student, her detection range wasn't particularly wide. But even that much information was an enormous help in circumstances like these.
"If a dangerous situation arises, we will retreat at once. Soldiers, please be prepared."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Then we will resume the search now."
In the field, the word of a capable mage was absolute. Without a word of protest, the soldiers and their commander began following Rania's lead.
Crunch, crunch—
The search pressed forward, following the monster's tracks. The detection spell picked up nothing at all.
"Oh! Over there...!!"
Then, all at once, something strange came into view — not far from the wyvern's corpse. Between the trees, an enormous mass of furry hide. At first glance, it looked like nothing more than a massive boulder draped in a beast's pelt.
"...Stay behind me, Lady Rania."
But as they drew closer, the truth became clear. A colossal forepaw, and a gaping maw large enough to swallow a man whole in one bite.
It was a bear.
A bear of utterly impossible size.
"But the detection spell clearly—"
"It appears to be already dead."
The spell had caught nothing. Naturally — detection magic sensed the mana of living creatures. It could not register the dead.
"All units, halt. Secure the perimeter."
Even so, the soldiers and Rania's party refused to relax. The old knight and the commander of the troops took point, while Rania followed slowly behind and approached the carcass.
A body the size of a house, and teeth of staggering scale. Up close, it looked even larger — and far more grotesque.
"This creature is what took down the wyvern. The footprints match, and so do the bite marks."
This monstrous bear had hunted and devoured the wyvern. Every circumstance and every piece of evidence pointed to it.
But—
"Then... what on earth kind of monster killed this one? A creature intelligent enough to hunt a wyvern, with this much explosive power — what could possibly have taken it down?"
There were no signs of battle anywhere nearby. The only trace was what appeared to be a fire someone had deliberately built.
"Hard as it is to believe... it seems to have been killed in a single blow."
The old knight approached the great monster's head. There, small but unmistakable, was a puncture wound.
One strike. A single attack aimed at a vital point had brought down this colossal beast.
"...There's a lingering echo of high-density mana. It seems magic was used."
Just as the knight said, Rania examined the corpse — and went pale. What kind of being could kill a monster this powerful this effortlessly?
Then, Rania thought —
Could it be...?!
And in that same instant, the pieces clicked together in her mind like a puzzle assembling itself. The pulse of mana she had felt hours ago. It had been faint enough to dismiss as imagination — but if a master capable of felling this monster in a single strike had indeed been nearby, everything explained itself.
"Lady Rania, it appears the culprit hunted these monsters and roasted them over a fire. This trace is unquestionably human."
Moreover, the killer had gone so far as to cook and eat its kill. Someone who could take down a powerful monster and then indulge in that kind of leisure immediately afterward. Every piece of evidence pointed to one single truth.
"An Archmage...!"
An Archmage, far beyond Rania's abilities, was in this vicinity.
A chill ran down her spine.