They would sneak past Tristain’s patrol lines and move straight into the Academy of Magic.
“Even though they're just a bunch of kids, it's still a nest of mages. Will these people be fine?”
Fouquet, who had used a huge golem to attack the Academy in the past, showed her unhappiness with this operation.
“Don’t worry, almost all the teachers are participating in the war; even the male students are gone. There should only be female students left there.” Wardes said.
“Really?”
“As the Viscount mentioned, that is what is meant to be a noble, what a bunch of troublesome fellows.”
Menvil said with a tone of self mockery.
“You were originally a noble as well?”
“Basically all mages are nobles right? Miss Mathilda.”
Hearing him call out her past noble name, Fouquet blushed.
“Oh, am I that famous?”
“Why did you give up your identity as a noble?”
“I have long forgotten the reason.” Fouquet replied unhappily.
Menvil smiled instead, and said,
“I remember very clearly.”
“Is that so…”
Fouquet put on an indifferent smile by the side of her mouth. The number of mages that abandoned the title of noble and became commoners was not that few. Yet the ends of these people were basically all very similar. They might become criminals like Fouquet… Or become mercenaries like Menvil, anyway it was one or the other. And, most people would walk to the end of their lives regretting their decision.
As for Fouquet --even though she would definitely not admit it-- had some unrealistic dreams from time to time as well. Like… If she were able to live on as a noble… Even though she knew very clearly that it was impossible. But sometimes she couldn’t help but recall… That youthful period where she didn't even know about the word “uneasiness.”
As for Menvil, he seemed to be the kind not fated with that kind of regret. It appeared as though he congratulated himself on his choice from the bottom of his heart.
“You seem to like yourself very much.”
Hearing Fouquet’s words, Menvil laughed.
“To me, my current job is the best I can ever have.”
“Why?”
“Because I can burn humans to my heart’s content.”
“Do you hate humans?”
“How can that be, of course I like them, precisely because I like them, I burn them. Don’t you get it? That smell, that smell created by my own flames… Only that smell can get me excited.”
Just like a slug wriggling on her spine, Fouquet felt disgusted from the bottom of her heart.
“I realized that when I was twenty. Back then I was still in a certain squad belonging to Tristain.”
The team members gathered here couldn’t help but look at each other.
Fouquet and Wardes kept quiet.
Menvil began talking about his past events.
It was twenty years ago.
I was a military officer that had just hit twenty years of age, and was set into a squad called “Magical Research Experimental Group.” The leader of the squad was a man around the same age as me.
That small group, was the first to be formed only with nobles… An experimental group formed only with mages. No, that was slightly different from a squad of magical guards, that is a group of combatants similar to idols. Viscount Wardes, since you were a leader there before, you should understand what I mean right? Even though said to be riding a suave mystical beast, to accept cheers from everywhere causing a ruckus is also enviable… But they cannot even pee anywhere, and it was even harder to perform some dirty tasks. Anyway, I won't investigate why you left that place.
As for us, the “Magical Research Experimental Group” was formed by a group of low-class nobles… Hmm, basically we were similar to a group that does all the odds and ends; we were ordered to take care of some things like catching thieves, investigating how attack magic affects the human body, and research on how much damage is done when using area magic in battle.
And in operations requiring the elimination of rioting gangs or suppression of nobles in rural areas and such, we were the fighting force that always got sent in first.
To those big shots, we should have been a very useful team.
Let me tell you, the leader of that team was very strong.
“Leader?” Fouquet asked.
“That’s right,” Menvil nodded.
He continued his story.
As I mentioned just now, speaking of that leader… Even though he was only slightly over twenty years old, he had a lot of guts.
He could look indifferent as he burned the enemy to death, after all. I was totally impressed by him back then.
But, it was that one particular operation that made me totally mesmerized by that leader.
At the western shores of Tristain, there was a lowdown area called D’Angleterre. It was a poor village with nothing at all. Besides picking up some oysters there, there was nothing of value; it was a lifeless and lonely village.
In the end we received orders, saying that there was a plague going on there, and that the situation had gotten out of control; so we were to burn and destroy the village. And this order came from rather higher up…
So we hurriedly set off to execute this order.
Our leader was the greatest.
After all, he did not go easy at all.
Whether it was a woman or a child, he eradicated them all without a care.
He manipulated a flame that was like a tornado, and in a moment, the village became a sea of flames.
Because it was at night, the ocean reflected the light from the fire, it was really beautiful.
The most notable thing was that village had no plague at all.
“Then why burn an entire village down?”
“Because of the 'New Religion Hunt'.”
“New Religion Hunt?”
“It was due to pressure from Romalia. That village hid a woman, a member of the New Religion, who had escaped from that country. And to make things worse, that whole area was covered with New Religion members. So if something like this were to happen again in the future, it would be problematic, and it was on the way, so might as well burn that whole village down and end things once and for all. Speaking of which, the plague was just an excuse.”
Wardes listened to this past event indifferently. Fouquet on the other hand stared at Menvil, not hiding the unhappiness in her heart at all.
“Okay, just like that, when the suppression mission at D’Angleterre was completed… I was already totally mesmerized by that kind of leader. When I realized that I really wanted to be just like him, I aimed at his back and waved my wand.”
“How incomprehensible; Why would someone attack a person he admired?”
“Actually I don't really understand it myself. Anyway, I probably just wanted to verify whether that person was indeed worthy to be someone I admire from the bottom of my heart. If he lost against me, then he was not that kind of person.”
“And, what happened then?”
Menvil gave off a smile with evil intent and pointed to the side of his face that had been burned out of shape.
“This was the result. That guy was really something, he actually took me down like it was nothing. So I escaped immediately. After all, I waved my wand and attacked the leader; of course I couldn't stay in the squad anymore.”
“And then?”
“And then things became the way they are now. I originally thought that if I became a mercenary, one day I would be able to meet that leader. But things didn’t go as smoothly as I expected. Not sure if he was killed by someone, or if he retired… I haven't heard anything regarding that leader since the day I received this burn scar on my face. What a pity; I am so much stronger than I was back then. I can create a flame that is hotter than back then, hotter than anyone’s magic…”