Academy’s Genius Mage

The vigilance of the Bahamut Fourth Mercenary Squad was strict.

However, Dimon had always flirted with the edge of life and death since he first held a sword. This level of danger was nothing new to him.

In fact, Dimon thought it was just as well.

“Heh heh heh! Foolish wretches! How could they make such an error? Haven’t they grasped the peculiarities of the mansion yet? They were all flashy on the outside but shallow inside!”

His tension eased significantly.

If he had been in charge of guarding this mansion, he would have identified the blind spots that appeared with the changes in time.

Even shadows that cool one’s sweat in summer could be excellent tools for assassins.

The Bahamut Fourth Mercenary Squad had overlooked this fact.

“Today, I might just get a scent of blood.”

Thus, Dimon decided he could proceed a bit more boldly. Conveniently, there was a bush in front of him, and he lowered his body as he moved toward it.

Ahead lay a lawn.

There was nothing to hide his body with, but the shadow cast by a tree standing to one side was spread over the area.

“That should be sufficient.”

Surveying his surroundings to pick the right moment, Dimon swiftly moved.

There was no sound heard, and no presence felt.

Before he knew it, Dimon had successfully approached the wall of the mansion.

Above him was a window that led inside.

Catching his breath for a moment, Dimon used specialized equipment to neutralize the window latch and succeeded in entering the mansion.

It took less than a minute to infiltrate from the wall into the mansion’s interior.

It truly was a remarkable feat.

“Only three on the first floor?”

The Oracle Family’s mansion wasn’t large, so it was sufficient to have three people spread out as guards.

Dimon hid in the shadows as he contemplated.

“Taking them down and proceeding would be easier… but it’s also the most dangerous.”

He decided it would be somewhat cumbersome but safer to proceed upstairs without taking them down.

Dimon recalled the cross-section of the Oracle Family’s mansion in his mind.

He briefly scanned the angle of the lights and objects that could hide his body with his eyes and wore his gloves.

Those gloves were special magical items.

Dimon leapt towards the wall and stretched out his arms.

His body clung to the wall as if attached by strong adhesive.

He supported his weight with the magical gloves and balanced with his legs.

In this way, he climbed the wall and crawled along the ceiling.

Although it took some time, Dimon eventually succeeded in reaching the second floor undetected.

“The problem is the head of the family’s sleeping quarters.”

Ian’s office connected to his bedroom, so he assumed it would be the place most closely guarded by the mercenaries.

Dimon removed the gloves and shoved them into his pocket, then cautiously peeked his head out from the end of the corridor.

It was the hallway leading to the office and the bedroom.

However, the corridor was empty.

“No guard?”

Caught by surprise, Dimon withdrew his head and pondered.

“How could this be?”

He peeked into the corridor again and saw that it was still empty.

He leaned against the wall and thoughtfully considered the situation.

Having assassinated hundreds in the past, his experience served as an excellent teacher.

“Not exactly. In hindsight, this isn’t an entirely unprecedented occurrence.”

There had been cases where even mages had died at his hands.

Although their skills weren’t exceptional, those mages shared a common trait.

“They were too overconfident in their abilities to set up guards.”

The pride given by the title of “mage” made them complacent.

In most cases, complacent targets often meet their demise.

Especially mages who often relied on self-made alarm devices or ordered magical items for protection, not trusting mercenaries.

“But they should know if there’s a creator, there’s someone who can disable it!”

A sinister smile spread across Dimon’s lips.

He soon retrieved a unique item from his small bag.

It was an artifact that temporarily incapacitates magical devices.

Though very expensive, Felix had procured it willingly for the sake of his trading company and personal gain.

“The head of the Oracle Family is a clever fellow, so he might have hidden an ambush inside the office. Or he might simply think it’s safe because it’s securely locked from the inside.”

Dimon’s movements were bold.

He decided to tackle the door leading directly to the bedroom rather than entering via the office.

Soon, he stood in front of the door, drawing up his senses.

By holding his breath and focusing on his senses, he could vividly feel the presence beyond the door.

It was a skill that assassins fundamentally needed to possess.

‘Definitely asleep.’

Dimon immediately activated an artifact.

Though there was magic cast on the door, it was a low-level spell that was quickly dispelled.

Soon, the door was opened, and Ian’s bedroom came into view.

The room was terribly dark.

Blackout curtains were drawn, making it difficult to see the objects around, but Dimon paused momentarily, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness before moving again.

‘Mages are unusually sensitive. Do they need this level of darkness to sleep?’

In the past, other mages he was sent to assassinate had also met their end in such dim environments.

Dimon figured it would be no different this time.

‘Sleeping soundly, unaware that death is near.’

Ian was asleep, wrapped in a blanket.

Dimon approached silently, unsheathing a dagger from his belt.

The blade was short, but with his skills, taking a life wouldn’t be a problem. In fact, a longer sword would only be cumbersome.

“Blame your cursed fate!”

He raised the sharp blade and forcefully stabbed at the blanket.

Thud!

“Huh?”

Dimon’s face twisted as he anticipated the thrill of the kill.

Something was wrong. He then stabbed down with the dagger again.

Thud!

Thud! Thud!

“What’s this?”

He didn’t feel the sensation of slicing through flesh.

There was neither the resistance of bone nor the pulsating of organs.

The exhilarating scent of blood was absent.

It was just an immensely soft sensation.

Dimon yanked the blanket away.

“D-damn it!”

A long pillow lay there instead of Ian.

His blade had only shredded the pillow’s stuffing.

Simultaneously, the lights abruptly turned on. The sudden flood of light made Dimon squint and he turned his head away.

“You’re here?”

Ian sat on the sofa with his legs crossed. A light spell was unfurled on his hand.

“You’re not as skilled as I thought you’d be. I expected you to see through the pillow trick right away.”

Ian mocked with a sarcastic smile, causing Dimon to grind his teeth.

It was he who had been fooled by the trick.

Suddenly, his body felt heavy.

It was an unpleasant weight, as though he had been soaked with water.

‘Increased Weight?’

It was one of the classic debuff spells.

Yet Ian hadn’t made any gestures.

This meant that there was no one in the room who had cast spell.

‘Is there some kind of magical device?’

However, he hadn’t triggered any magical devices, having only stabbed a pillow. He couldn’t figure out where the magic had come from, which only added to his confusion.

“Damn it! How on earth…….”

“I was sitting here and waiting from the beginning.”

“What?”

Dimon was startled.

If that was the case, Ian had been watching him from the moment he entered the room.

But no matter how much he racked his brain, he hadn’t sensed any presence.

Not even a glimmer.

“Impossible.”

“Yeah. I had help from this little thing.”

Ian grabbed the edge of his academy cloak and waved it.

The luxurious black fabric had concealed his presence.

“To tell the truth, I don’t sleep with blackout curtains. I can sleep anywhere. There’s this notion that mages are sensitive and need darkness to sleep, but that’s for people who live comfortably. When you’re as busy as I am—attending classes, handling assignments, studying, and researching all day—you end up sleeping from sheer exhaustion. It’s the same for my roommates. Well, thanks to that stereotype, I managed to trick you, so I suppose I should thank it.”

In truth, Ian’s “little thing” was not the cloak, but Goyang.

However, Dimon could not see the cat bristling its fur and tail under the cloak.

“Heh heh heh… I got a big one here.”

He had to admit that the one who was careless was not the target but himself.

“But such things always happen. Going about taking people’s lives, you see.”

Dimon drew another dagger with his left hand.

Gripping a dagger in each hand, he assumed a combat stance.

It finally felt like something was complete.

“You’re quite something for a young one, but as it stands now, there’s no choice. I’ll take you as a companion to the end!”

“You say scary things so casually. I still have a lot to do. I need to sell potions, graduate, and also capture you to uncover the one behind you.”

Ian grinned slyly as he began to approach slowly.

Paradoxically, it was Dimon who was retreating.

It wasn’t an intentional retreat, his legs moved on their own.

This meant that he felt the intimidation from Ian.

Dimon was curious.

“Where on earth does that confidence come from?”

According to the information he’d gathered, Ian was merely a reclusive mage with a mana level of 77.

At that level, he thought he could easily manage with his anti-magic items.

Yet, the young mage before him exuded confidence, as if he could completely overpower him.

“According to my information…”

“Information doesn’t explain everything about a person. It’s surface-level. Isn’t it foolish to judge someone’s strength without ever talking to them? If I were an assassin, I would have arranged a meeting even if just to feign coincidence.”

A blue light began to emanate from Ian’s hand as he prepared to form a seal.

Belatedly, Dimon gained a new realization as an assassin.

The method Ian proposed was certainly worth trying. However, there was a prerequisite that he must survive this ordeal.

“And that information was a bit off. You must have heard my mana level was 77, right? That’s quite old information. Now it’s a little, no, much different.”

Ian formed a rune with his hand.

In the past, he would have had to consciously form this rune, but Ian maintained the conversation while smoothly creating the rune with his right hand.

It appeared as if another life was residing within his hand.

“Let’s discuss the details again in prison, assassin.”

“Die!”

Dimon charged forward, leading with his dagger.

His speed was incredibly fast.

Ian had never seen anyone move so quickly in his life.

He was, quite literally, specialized in killing others.

In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance, thrusting his sharp blade towards Ian’s throat.

However, no matter how fast a person is, they cannot be faster than light.

『Lightning.』

Crackle!

Ancient, mysterious lightning formed in Ian’s hand.

Boom!

Lightning shot from his hand and collided with Dimon.

His dagger was imbued with magic resistance.

Bang!

The lightning was barely blocked, but the impact threw him against the wall.

“Ugh!”

Ian frowned.

“Was it too strong?”

It wasn’t because the attack didn’t land correctly.

Bookshelves collapsed, and books were torn apart even though the force had been considerably reduced.

“Those were valuable books. I suppose I need to raise the compensation claim a bit.”

But commotion erupted outside. The shockwave shattered all the windows, acting as a kind of signal.

“Kill them all!”

The assassins, realizing their leader was in danger, sprang over the wall altogether.

The alarm sounded.

Chaos erupted outside.

The clash of steel in a desperate struggle echoed from all around, accompanied by screams from unknown voices.

“It seems you brought some friends.”

Ian gazed indifferently out the window.