Mage Dior took immense pride in being a mage.
Not that he was particularly unusual in that regard.
Only a handful were born blessed with mana, and even fewer grasped the complex discipline of magic well enough to set foot on its path.
Considering that nearly half of those who made it that far hit the limits of their talent and effort as apprentice mages and gave up, completing the entire process and reaching the 2nd Circle was undoubtedly something to be proud of.
And for that very reason, this place rubbed him the wrong way.
He was a man of shining talent among countless washouts and a full-fledged member of the Blue Magic Tower, yet the very first mission assigned to him was investigating some ridiculous rumor out in the sticks.
"Tsk. What a stench."
His brow furrowed deeply. One of the villagers caught in his gaze flinched and bowed his head. The rest of the crowd was walking on eggshells around Dior as well.
None of them wanted to sour the mood of the esteemed mage. Clicking his tongue softly, Dior stroked his staff, which was set with a blue gemstone.
"Well, there is no need to worry. Whatever is going on, now that I am here, it will be resolved without a hitch."
His tone was full of bluster. It wasn't an empty boast.
Dior himself firmly believed every word of it.
Was this place called Prins, or Porins? Either way, any incident unfolding in a backwater village like this was bound to be trivial.
'At worst, it'll be a Grave Ghoul, a lesser evil spirit, or a monster like a Kobold.'
Having already jumped to his own conclusion, he gestured toward a villager standing a short distance away.
"Bring me a meal first."
His tone was arrogant. An elderly man who appeared to be the village chief spoke cautiously to Dior.
"Um, then when might the matter be resolved...?"
"Hah, are you rushing me right now?"
"O-of course not! I-it is only that the villagers are trembling in fear..."
Dior looked at the village chief in disbelief. When he tapped the floor lightly with his staff, small sparks flew up.
"...!"
"Eek!"
Startled by a sight they had never seen before, the villagers stumbled backward. His mood slightly mollified by their reaction, the mage spoke as if it were a bother.
"I will move at daybreak tomorrow. If you understand, go and bring out some food and alcohol."
"U-understood!"
The villagers bowed their heads and backed away. Turning his gaze from them, Dior lightly brushed off the hem of his robe.
He didn't feel the slightest twinge of guilt.
After all, a mage ought to be treated as befitted his station.
***
"T-the mage, sir? Why do you ask...?"
I had asked where to find the mage the village had "invited."
The villager looked flustered by my sudden request. Instead of offering a tedious explanation, I raised a hand toward him.
A blue sphere rose from my palm.
Two Energy Bolts floated above my hand, holding their crisp shapes.
"M-magic!"
"Good heavens...!"
Gasps broke out right away. The man sprang to his feet, his eyes flying wide in shock.
There was no reason to hide it. I would have to use magic to resolve the commission anyway.
"I'd like to lend a hand in solving your problem."
I spoke nonchalantly. Barely tearing his eyes away from the Energy Bolts bobbing in midair, one of the villagers stammered back.
"B-but we do not have enough money to pay two mages..."
He probably wasn't lying.
Even bringing in a mere 2nd Circle mage had reportedly taken the entire village pooling their money together.
Fortunately for both sides, I was far more interested in something else than a meager reward.
"Ah, that doesn't matter."
I offered a faint smile as I went on.
"I can just talk it over with the other mage and split it reasonably."
To me, the real rewards were the rune and the object behind this whole incident.
"Shall we get going, then?"
I rose leisurely to my feet. Following behind the villagers, who guided me at a loss for what to do, I headed off to meet the mage from the Magic Tower.
***
The guy dispatched from the Magic Tower for this commission was a textbook mage.
In other words, he was arrogant beyond measure.
"What? Another mage?"
Perhaps having heard the news from the villager who had run ahead breathless, a man came huffing and puffing out of a two-story building that looked like a community hall.
"Are you the one?"
His gaze swept me up and down. Seeing that I looked younger than him seemed to boost his confidence, and he jutted his chin high as he spoke.
"I am Dior, a 2nd Circle mage of the Blue Magic Tower. State your affiliation, name, and circle!"
"Hmm."
I mulled over my answer for a moment.
Most mages belonged to a Magic Tower. Some left the towers to take up positions in the royal palace or other organizations, of course, but either way, they all had an affiliation.
I, on the other hand, was a free man bound by neither duty nor obligation.
I had registered with the Adventurers' Guild, sure, but that was closer to a temporary affiliation I could walk away from at any time.
When I didn't answer, Dior grew even more self-assured. He took a step closer to me and spoke.
"I took on this village's commission first. If you are barging in uninvited, I will lodge a formal protest with your Magic Tower!"
He was staking his claim. Not that his behavior stemmed from any noble sense of duty to solve this village's problem, of course.
Still, from his perspective, a total stranger had just butted into his job out of nowhere. It was bound to rub him the wrong way.
Pride over money. That was the kind of breed mages were.
"No need for that."
Finishing my brief thought, I spoke to the mage.
"I don't belong to a Magic Tower."
"What...?"
Confusion flickered across the mage's face.
"And as for my circle..."
Whoooosh. Energy rose slowly from my hand. Before long, the spells I had prepared began to cast one after another.
The open lot in front of the hall had been calm. Now, a wind blowing in from somewhere sent grass and dust swirling into the air.
"What kind of magic is this..."
Flustered, Dior darted his eyes frantically around the area.
A moment later, his voice spilled out in disbelief.
"N-no way, Wind Blade...?"
Recognizing the spell, Dior's eyes flew wide.
It wasn't the spell itself that shocked him. Wind Blade was a 2nd Circle spell. For all I knew, he might have learned it himself.
Except—
"T-this is possible?"
What I had conjured wasn't a single blade. Ten blades glided smoothly through the air.
Their swirling motion made it look as though a gale were sweeping across the entire lot.
"My god..."
A full ten spells maintained simultaneously, creating a circulating current of wind. At a sight he wouldn't even dare to imagine, a short gasp escaped Dior's lips.
"Well, I have no intention of taking your job by force."
I spoke slowly to the half-dazed mage.
"It's just that, based on what I've looked into, the trouble here might be a bit much for a 2nd Circle mage to handle."
"T-that can't..."
His earlier bravado had scattered like dust on the wind across the lot. I kept speaking to him.
"Well, seeing it for yourself will be faster than talking about it. Let's not waste time and head over right away."
The sun had nearly set. As I turned my gaze toward the village cemetery, now barely visible in the gloom, fear crept onto Dior's face.
***
Leaving behind the villagers, whose faces were a mix of fear and anticipation, we headed toward the village cemetery.
There was no hesitation in my steps.
Putting together the Adventurers' Guild investigation I'd heard from Renia and the accounts I'd heard firsthand from the villagers here, events were unfolding just as I knew they would.
The only difference was the terrified 2nd Circle mage from the Magic Tower trailing behind me.
My not-so-subtle warning—coming from someone clearly of a much higher circle than him—must have sunk in, because his breathing trembled as he clutched his staff tightly and followed me.
"I-I thought it would just be Grave Ghouls or corpse-eating Kobolds..."
He spoke while humbling himself completely. I chuckled softly and nodded.
"That guess isn't wrong. Strictly speaking, though, those are just side effects."
Suspicious phenomena and wicked monsters. There was another culprit behind them all.
I came to a halt and scanned the surroundings.
A quiet graveyard. Yet a gloomy energy hung over it.
'It should be about time for them to show up.'
Before long, a sound reached my ears. The graves began to heave.
Then Ghouls slowly crawled into view. My target, however, wasn't low-grade monsters like those.
"...!"
Just then, I sensed something. Thanks to the side effect of my infinite mana, my energy perception was quite sharp, and I felt a surging mass of energy welling up.
It came from the deepest part of the graveyard. Between the cracked headstones, a whitish figure floated into the air.
"A W-Wraith!"
Spotting the monster belatedly—a creature shaped like a woman draped in cloth—Dior let out a terrified cry.
"That is an intermediate monster! We need to request b-backup from the Magic Tower—"
"No need for that."
Cutting him off, I raised my hand.
Flames flared up at the same time.
FWOOSH—!
Cast almost instantaneously, the flames of Fire Strike lit up the dark graveyard as they tore across it.