Is There a Dark Mage? (2)
The massive training ground was packed with soldiers and servants.
Even the servants were gathered because the culprit could be among them.
Servants in the castle had access to many people, making them prime suspects.
Soon, several ducks and hastily assembled wooden scales were brought in. The scales didn't need to be precise—only enough to check for similar weights.
When Ghislain rushed in, the crowd began murmuring.
"That's the method the mage suggested."
"Really? Are you saying we can catch a dark mage with that method?"
"Wow, amazing. The world of magic is truly fascinating."
'No, it's not!'
Ghislain screamed internally. He had only mentioned it as a joke because he found what Maurice had done hilarious.
Now, things had taken such a serious turn that he was about to be branded a charlatan mage.
"W-Wait a minute!"
He tried to stop it, but it was too late. Andrew, young and brimming with vigor, had already acted.
"Step up, all of you! Since it's the mage's method, there shouldn't be a problem!"
The soldiers stepped onto the scales one by one. Of course, none weighed the same as a duck. Moreover, the ducks themselves varied slightly in weight.
Quack, quack, quack-quack.
Duck cries echoed everywhere, yet the soldiers and servants lined up on the scales with discipline.
It was a ridiculous order, but no one seemed upset. Because a mage had suggested it, they were both doubtful and curious if it would actually work.
Yulian, Deneb, and Kyle all looked at Ghislain with expectant eyes. Those stares made him feel unbearably pressured.
Dark shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"This is humiliating, absolutely humiliating. Now you'll be called as ignorant as Maurice."
Maurice, the former commander-in-chief of the Lutania Kingdom's army, was often mocked by nobles for his superstitious tendencies.
Now it was Ghislain's turn to face the same ridicule.
"Ugh..."
Even the great Ghislain was powerless when everyone around him acted like fools. If he stopped the process forcefully, he'd only make himself more suspicious.
Eventually, all the soldiers and servants stepped onto the scales. Yet, not a single one had a weight close to a duck's.
That outcome was only natural.
Quack, quack, quack-quack.
The training ground was filled with duck cries. All eyes turned to Ghislain.
As no culprit emerged, an awkward silence blanketed the scene.
Ghislain took a deep breath, ready to explain. But Andrew spoke faster.
"Not everyone is here yet! Bring all the children too!"
"...."
Before Ghislain could clarify, things escalated even further. Now the children who assisted with chores were dragged out.
"Huh?"
Ghislain spotted an odd child among them.
Like the others, the child was small, but their face looked unnaturally aged.
"Wait, is that even a child?"
The aged-looking child emitted a gloomy aura and reeked, causing people nearby to wrinkle their noses and back away.
Ghislain scanned the crowd with disbelief.
"Really? No one finds that suspicious? That one's obviously strange!"
If anyone stood out among the group, it was undoubtedly that child(?). Even Kyle whispered to Dark.
"Is that really a kid? He looks more like my runaway father's age."
"There are many mysteries in this world. We even have a boy who looks like a girl back in our territory."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, so you shouldn't judge people by appearances."
"Hmm, I see."
Dark, surprisingly, made a reasonable point. So, despite being ready to storm out and declare the child suspicious, Ghislain hesitated awkwardly.
Calling the kid out now would make him seem shallow, judging by appearances as Dark had said.
The children stepped onto the scales one by one.
They were old enough to help with chores, so none were as light as a duck. Everyone outweighed them.
Finally, unable to endure this nonsense any longer, Ghislain shouted. He was prepared to be criticized but had to say it.
"No, wait! That one's suspicious! Is that really a child?"
Andrew sternly responded.
"In this territory, we do not accuse others without concrete evidence! Judging people by appearances is narrow-minded!"
'This guy's annoyingly righteous!'
Andrew seemed to be an unusually virtuous noble, likely because he was young and newly appointed as lord.
But despite demanding concrete evidence, he was measuring weights against ducks. Ghislain felt like losing his mind.
At last, all the children stepped onto the scales. The smelly, aged-looking child was the last.
Ghislain shouted again, unable to bear it.
"Stop! Stop! I'll investigate the suspicious ones myself, so stop this ridiculous nonsense! This is just superstition..."
Creak...
Ghislain stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening. Silence blanketed the area.
The scale with the aged-looking child and a duck...
Was nearly balanced.
Quack, quack, quack.
Duck cries filled the silence.
After a brief pause, the aged child bit their lip and spoke.
"Tsk, I didn't expect this method to work! Who came up with this? Even we didn't know about it!"
'It was real?!'
Ghislain's jaw dropped. Dark wore a similar expression, his beak agape.
The crowd erupted in chaos.
"Ahhh! A dark mage!"
"I can't believe a dark mage was hiding among us!"
"Ziko was a dark mage!"
People screamed and backed away from the child(?) called Ziko.
Andrew drew his sword and bellowed.
"You must be in league with the dark mage! I knew you looked suspicious!"
The child(?) named Ziko twisted his lips into a smirk.
"Yes... I'm his disciple. But impressive. I didn't think such a small territory without a mage would expose me.
Ziko glared at Ghislain.
He had worked in the castle's sewage and waste disposal, staying isolated from others. He avoided knights entirely.
The stench of decay surrounding him was masked by foul odors, and he used simple spells to obscure suspicion.
Yet this bizarre method exposed him!
"Was it you who devised this? The laws of the world are indeed mysterious. Who knew a mere duck could reveal a dark mage? Thanks to you, I've learned something new."
"..."
Ghislain couldn't answer. He didn't understand why it worked either.
The crowd, however, cheered.
"As expected of the mage!"
"To find the culprit so quickly and easily!"
"This method must be spread widely!"
They looked at Ghislain as if he were a savior. Even Andrew seemed reassured, gazing at him with admiration.
His companions were no different.
"As expected of Ghislain."
"Ghislain really knows everything."
"What kind of experiences has he had?"
Their eyes glowed with admiration and awe.
"..."
Ghislain stared up at the sky. He was too tired to think anymore.
Andrew pointed his sword at Ziko once more and shouted,
"Seize him immediately! We need to hear what he's been up to!"
The knights and soldiers moved in, but Ziko sneered and stepped back.
"Did you say he's a 5th-circle mage? I can't handle a 5th-circle mage. I'll retreat for now—you should consider yourselves lucky."
As Ghislain had predicted, Ziko was a 4th-circle dark mage. While he was skilled enough to cause serious damage to the territory if he avoided direct confrontations, he couldn't possibly face knights and a 5th-circle mage at the same time.
Ziko unleashed all his magic, filling the area with darkness to make his escape.
Still dazed, Ghislain pulled his staff back and hurled it forward.
"Magic Missile."
Whoosh!
The staff flew at incredible speed. Ghislain could now cast an actual Magic Missile, but he didn't want to bother.
His mind was far too overwhelmed for that right now.
"What?!"
Ziko was startled by the incoming staff and quickly erected a shield—a dark barrier powered by his full strength.
Boom!
Despite his efforts, the shield shattered easily. Ziko collapsed, impaled through the stomach by the staff.
"Ugh! How can a mage have such raw power?!"
Surprisingly, Ziko wasn't dead. Black energy gushed from the hole in his stomach, but he stood up, unharmed.
Sensing the unusual strength of his opponent, Ziko tried to flee again.
But Ghislain was already on the move.
"Haste."
Whoosh!
Ghislain's body felt lighter as his speed increased. At the same time, he snapped his fingers.
"Fireball."
Fwoosh!
Ten fireballs instantly surrounded Ziko.
Ziko froze in shock.
"W-What? Multi-casting?!"
Multi-casting was an art only geniuses among geniuses could perform. Casting ten spells simultaneously required extraordinary calculation skills and sensory control.
In truth, Ghislain wasn't multi-casting. He didn't even know how.
He had simply forced his mana into rapid redistribution—a technique only he could manage.
In an instant, Ghislain closed the distance and grabbed Ziko by the throat.
"Gah!"
Ziko's body was lifted effortlessly.
Only then did Ghislain understand why this absurd situation had occurred.
"You're... a chimera."
A chimera was a being created by forcibly combining parts of animals or humans.
It was the most common experiment performed by dark mages since they specialized in manipulating corpses.
Sometimes, dark mages even modified their own bodies with chimera parts to enhance their abilities.
Hellnik, whom Ghislain had fought before, was created this way.
Ziko, too, was already half a corpse. Some of his organs and bones were missing or replaced.
And because of his small frame, it made sense that his weight was similar to a duck's.
Struggling in Ghislain's grip, Ziko asked, "Who... who are you?"
He couldn't fathom why such a powerful mage was in this tiny barony—or why someone like him was working as a mercenary.
A genius mage like this should be receiving high honors at the Magic Tower.
But Ghislain wasn't listening to Ziko's words. Instead, he shut his eyes tightly.
'This is bad.'
In the era he came from, the duck superstition was widely known. Among intellectuals, it was, of course, dismissed as nonsense.
Yet no one in this era seemed to know about it. It was an ancient superstition, so why was it completely forgotten now?
Ghislain suddenly realized a truth he didn't want to face.
Dark twisted the knife with his comment.
"That superstition... seems to have spread because of you."
Ghislain swallowed hard. Dark was probably right—he was the origin of this superstition.
A string of coincidences had led to this ridiculous situation. Even if he wanted to fix it, there was no way to do so now.
"Wooooaaahhh!"
"The mage is amazing!"
"He subdued the dark mage in an instant!"
The crowd erupted in cheers. Everyone was in a frenzy.
"...Guess I have no choice."
Making up his mind, Ghislain tightened his grip.
Boom!
He slammed Ziko's body into the ground.
"Gaaahhh!"
Ziko coughed up black blood as his neck and head took the brunt of the impact.
Ghislain looked down at Ziko with a solemn expression and declared, "You dared to hide in this territory and plot your vile schemes? Did you think I wouldn't find you? A mere duck was enough to uncover the likes of you."
"Wooooaaahhh!"
The crowd's cheers grew even louder.
At this point, there was no turning back. Ghislain decided to just keep pushing forward, no matter how ridiculous it felt.