TUS Vol. 1 Chapter 1 Part 1

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Chapter 1 Part 1

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Chapter 1 – Magic Academy Entrance Examination

On my way to the city where the magic academy is located.

—I was thinking about what to do from here onwards in a teahouse on the side of the road.

Well, for now, let’s not stand out too much.

As long as I could use the facilities of the magic academy, that’s all that matters to me.

I don’t know why, but for some reason, the level of the current magic civilization seems to be absurdly low, and my power seems to be abnormally strong by todays’ standards.

Nee-san and Headmaster Mauriat skillfully covered up the incident in which I single handedly destroyed the Mage Division…it was rather shocking, after all.

I’m not interested in being a hero or anything like that, I just want to aim for the summit of all arts like an ordinary person.

Anyway, there are four other guests in the teahouse besides me.

The people at the table next to me are particularly very loud—

“Oh my, I am extremely grateful to the renowned mage, “Wildfire”, Edwards-sama for coming all the way here to such a rural town. By all means, please give a lecture on true magic to the children in my magic class. As I am just a C-rank in the Adventurer’s Guild, there are limits to my abilities”

said the old man who looks like a mage in his shabby robe.

The person being spoken to is a young man with long silver hair who looks like a mage as well, dressed in an expensive looking robe.

“……”

“Um…Edwards-sama?”

So the silver-haired man, who had been looking down at his grimoire, sighed in disgust.

“Could you not speak to me without my permission? Can’t you see I’m reading here? I’d like you to understand the difference between the value of each second of my life and yours. You must first understand exactly what it means to waste my time”

Ugh…isn’t he awfully full of himself?

Come to think of it, I remember that I used to teach my apprentice, Merlin, not to be conceited.

It’s directly linked to death on the battlefield, and there are only demerits in terms of self-improvements.

That aside, from what I’ve heard, the silver-haired man is probably a better mage than the old man.

Still, it’s not the kind of words you would say to older people who are as old as your grandparents, right?

“I’m terribly sorry, Edwards-sama”

“Very well. In consideration of that apology, I’ll allow you to speak. Oh, it goes without saying, but I am considered an A-rank in the Adventurer’s Guild at only 20 years old. Therefore, you, who retired as a C-rank at the age of 50, and hold magic classes for children in the countryside after retirement is the utmost—trash. So I really wish you can realize that”

Seriously, what’s wrong with this guy? I mean, this is just awful.

“Yes. I understand. By the way, about today’s welcoming banquet—”

“A banquet? What nonsense are you talking about?”

“……?”

“Today is a very special day for me and this girl, you know?”

The girl sitting next to the silver-haired man trembled.

She’s probably about the same age as me, with a beautiful silky pink blonde, a slender body and a cute face.

The girl seems to be a mage as well, wearing a fine silk robe, but—

—There’s a collar around her neck.

“Oh, I catch your drift. Was she bought as a slave a week ago?”

“Yes. I’ve gotten a high-class demon. The time period for the slave crest to completely get accustomed to her body will be over today. If I implant my seed into her during that period, the incantation for the crest will be disrupted”

“If that’s the case, I’ll have the banquet cancelled immediately”

The girl’s shoulders kept trembling throughout the conversation. As if terrified, she looked down at the ground the entire time.

So basically, the period for abstinence with the purchased slave has passed.

—To be honest…it’s nauseatingly disgusting.

My beloved apprentice in my previous life, Merlin, is also a demon.

If I hadn’t picked her up during the capture of the Demon King’s castle, she might have ended up the same as this girl.

“Anastasia? I’m not going to put you together with the trashy children in a magic class. If I do that, it will have an adverse effect on your education. Therefore, a slave like you will be educated in my own way. For you are my shield in battle and my partner in bed. So naturally, you’ll ought to have a higher standard than that…”

The girl began to tremble again at those words.

I don’t want to breathe the same air as this silver-haired man for even a second more….

At that moment, a traveler came running from across the road.

“The Orc King……the Orc King has appeared!!”

With those words, the inside of the teahouse suddenly went into a tizzy.

“Not an Orc, but an Orc King, you say? There must be a mistake, right?”

“Somebody call the Chivalric Order! It would be impossible with the guild! There isn’t a single adventurer in this countryside who can deal with an Orc King!”

“How can we get away from the Orc King before that!”

Everyone ran out of the teahouse at once, so I followed after them.

As the outside view came into sight, one could indeed see a huge Orc ahead of the road.

The Orc King is about four meters tall, and probably due to hunger, it is drooling all over.

 “Silence!”, the silver-haired man exclaimed as he stood in front of the panicking masses.

“Lucky for all of you. Here I am—an A-rank adventurer! Be thankful for your own good fortune!”

Right there, the old mage nodded.

“Everyone, please do not worry. The Orc King has a subjugation difficulty level of B-rank and above…there’s nothing to worry about if the A-rank adventurer, Edwards-sama is with us!” 

“Ohh! So there’s an A-rank adventurer here!”

“I really thought we were screwed”

The expression of trepidation disappears from everyone’s face. |Editor’s Note: Trepidation = fear or anxiety about something that may happen|

It seems that even in the world four hundred years later, being an A-rank adventurer is amazing.

In the meantime, the Orc King was running towards us while making all those rumbling sounds. It had closed in on us and is just a stone’s throw away now.

“Well then, I’ll show all of you—True magic! You don’t see it very often in a countryside like this, do you?”

The silver-haired man closed his eyelids.

“O Spirits who dwell in the atmosphere. Respond to the call of my magic—by the oath that was made, manifest your supreme explosive flame!”

The man then opened his eyes and pointed his silver wand at the Orc King.

“Level 4: High-ranking Fire Magic, Holy Flare!”

A fireball is heading straight for the Orc King, and an explosion with a radius of about a meter can be seen near its head.

The silver-haired man smiled and spoke to everyone.

“A direct hit from the super high-ranking magic handled by an A-rank adventurer. The highest-ranking magic I can handle—the supreme Level 4 Magic! It isn’t the kind of magic that one would normally see for free, you know? Even if it’s an Orc King, there’s no way it would have survived it…eh…?”

The silver-haired man was at a loss for words as his face grew pale.

“Ridiculous…it’s unscathed…?”

The Orc King’s head was charred, but it was mostly unharmed, as the silver-haired man said.

It seems that his offensive magic had only agitated the Orc King.

The Orc King let loose a loud roar that seemed to have resonated from the bottom of its lungs as it charged towards us at a tremendous speed.

“Whoa! I knew it was hopeless!”

“Run, run!! It’s going to kill us all!”

Everyone ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction of the road where the Orc King came.

But considering their speed, the Orc King would eventually catch up and wipe them out.

Then, as if having realized something, the silver-haired man gasped in surprise.

“That is not…an Orc King. Right—that’s the highest rank of the Orc breed, the Orc Berserker! Then, I don’t see how I can win against this”

As he said this, the silver-haired man immediately readied his wand.

It wasn’t pointed at the Orc Berserker, but at everyone who was running away.

“O Spirits who dwell in the atmosphere. Respond to the call of my magic—by the oath that was made, manifest a sturdy barrier! Level 3: Holy Barrier, Protection!”

A wall of faint shining light covered a radius of about seven meters around us.

This is a…protective barrier? Could he be trying to protect everyone in this desperate situation?

If that’s the case, he might have been a better person than I thought.

However, I immediately took back my words.

“A faintly shining, translucent wall…is this a barrier!?”

“Hey, hey! We can’t escape from the barrier!?”

Seeing that, the silver-haired man showed a repulsive smile.

“Orc Berserkers have a habit of attacking and devouring the weaker individuals in a pack”

“What’s the meaning of this!?”

“I’m not going to let you escape, you know? After all, I’m trying to ensure that I can safely escape while you people get devoured…fuhahahaha!”

Seriously, what on earth is wrong with this guy?

There should be a limit to how much of a scum one can be as well. This is really awful. I’m so disgusted to the point that I’m at a loss for words.

“Please have mercy!”

“Help…help!!”

In the meantime, the Orc Berserker had closed the distance to about ten meters.

“Geez”, I said as I shrugged my shoulders at the annoyance of the situation.

—Still, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth to just sit back and silently watch everyone get devoured.

Guess I have no choice but to pitch in and help them out.

I took a few steps towards the Orc Berserker and held my palm over the barrier which stretched before me.

“Level 6: Seraph’s Gospel, Seraph Dispel”

With a cracking sound, the barrier scattered and disappeared.

Paralyzed by the sight, the silver-haired man slumped down on the spot.

“—Eh? Dispel…? My Level 3 Magic without even chanting…? What’s more…Level 6 Magic…without chanting? That’s…that’s just ridiculous…right?”

Then I turn towards the Orc Berserker.

“It seems to be a little conspicuous, huh”

That did happen rather abruptly, after all.

Even though I had just decided to keep a low profile earlier….

Well, this time it’s an act of God…so it can’t be helped, can it?

“Uboāāāā!”

The Orc Berserker charged towards me with a roar.

“Eeeek!”

I can hear everyone screaming from behind.

Judging from everyone’s reaction, this monster seems to be quite a powerful monster.

But how could an Orc Berserker be a powerful monster?

Leaving that aside, I can easily subjugate it, but that’s where a big problem appears .

No matter how I look at it, to defeat such a vicious monster in one blow with magic…would be too conspicuous, wouldn’t it?

“Now, what should I do?”

Okay, I’ve got the perfect plan in mind.

First of all, I’m going to use a low-level magic of about level 3, to release a fireball at the Orc Berserker’s head.

Next, as soon as the fireball hits, I will cast a Level 9 Magic, Dimensional Slash, Dimension Edge, inside the Orc Berserker’s body.

Then the Orc Berserker’s internal organs will be ripped apart by the magic’s sword attack and die.

And as soon as it dies, I will announce—

Because of the A-rank adventurer Edwards-sama’s magic was very effective in the beginning, I was able to deliver the finishing blow when it was already weak. How lucky I am!

—in an exaggerated and overjoyed manner.

By doing so, I won’t stick out too much!

Fufu, it’s a perfect plan, I must say.

Also, the fact that I dispelled the barrier with a Level 6 Magic…well, let’s just make it up as I go along.

Based on the common sense of this world, it seems that Level 6 Magic is not something that can be handled alone.

If that’s the case, I should be able to somehow manage that part by talking my way out of it. 

While I was thinking about that, the Orc Berserker charged towards me with its mouth wide open.

It’s a sudden close-quarters hand-to-hand combat, but I can handle it calmly for I’ve been training in swordsmanship with Cecilia nee-san.

If we’re talking about just close-quarters hand-to-hand combat alone, excluding magic, I’m definitely better than I was in my previous life now.

Okay, this is it! 

I jumped up, and—

“Level 3: Fire Shot, Fire Attack!”

A fireball flew from my palm and hit the Orc Berserker’s head.

This is the Orc Berserker that was unfazed by Level 4 offensive magic.

So this level of magic probably wouldn’t faze it as well.

As I was preparing for the Level 9 Magic, Dimensional Slash, Dimension Edge— 

“Huh?”

What the hell is going on here?

For some reason…the Orc Berserker’s head is burning so badly.

“Uboāāāāāāāāāā! Aāāāāā!”

With a death throes, the Orc Berserker falls to the ground.

Eh…?

Seriously, what’s going on here?

Seeing that, the old man who had talked with the silver-haired man earlier—was taken aback and said.

“Such a large quantity and good quality magic power!? A Level 3 Magic with the power of a Level 5 Magic…!? Just how much training and refining has that boy done?”

Ah, this is bad.

So to say, the silver-haired man didn’t do his magic training and refining properly?

That would mean that even if he used a Level 4 Magic, it would still be two ranks lower in power.

Oh shit.

Training and refining magic is considered very basic, so I never give any thought to it.

In this case, wouldn’t a Level 1 Magic have been enough?

“Um…”

I’m definitely…screwed, right?

When I nervously turned around—

—They all stood there with their mouths gulping like fishes washed up on the beach.

Yeah.

I’m screwed. I’m definitely screwed.

For the time being, I decided not to go by my name here, but just a mysterious boy…as I try to walk away from the scene.

“Hey, you over there?”

“Ye-! Yes!! W-W-What is it…!?”

“Your name is Edwards-san, right?”

“Y-Y-Yes!!”

“You should show proper respect to your elders, don’t you think?”

Alternatingly looking at the old man and me repeatedly, the silver-haired man then nodded his head over and over again.

“Also…the mage over there?”

When I spoke to the old man, he trembled as he turned his gaze towards me.

Ahh….

They must have thought of me as a monster, huh….

“W-W-What is it?”

“It’s about Edward’s Holy Barrier, Protection, preventing everyone from escaping just now. Just for confirmation, but that just now would be considered as an indirect murder, right? To put it bluntly…it’s a felony, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right. Even if it were just for self-defense…there’s a limit to what one can do”

I then turned to the silver-haired man.

Well, if they think I’m a monster, let’s take advantage of that here.

“And since that’s the case, please turn yourself in. If I see or hear about you somewhere and it turns out that you didn’t do so…well, you should understand what I’m trying to get at here, right?”

I showed a bottomless deep smile.

With an “Eeek!”, the silver-haired man then collapsed on the spot.

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