Mages Are The Housewarming Gifts? (1)

The skill activated instinctively, bringing before me not the face of a ragged old hag with a fierce expression, but the back of an old woman’s head with sparse white hair and a neck full of wrinkles.

I drew my sword towards the wrinkled neck that filled my vision, infusing it with divine power.

A longsword with an ordinary appearance but extraordinary performance.

As the dazzlingly white blade emerged from its sheath, Force and Mana enveloped the blade.

Thunk!! Clang!

Gasp!

They say a mage is always prepared, and indeed, there was a discomforting sensation as something blocked the longsword I was holding.

However, it was too late to block, and relying on just that level of defensive magic was a complacent response.

A short but powerful effect of the sword. As the name suggests, a sword that has drunk the blood of ten thousand.

Thus, the weapon specialized for humanoid attacks was the seemingly ordinary longsword in my right hand.

“Oh? You dodged?”

I thought I could sever the neck in one go, but perhaps because she was the master of the Wind Tower, she barely dodged by rolling on the ground and now knelt awkwardly, pressing her neck with one hand.

“Y-you! You insolent wretch!”

The wound wasn’t shallow, as the Wind Tower master, Lubeit, pressed her neck with her left hand and gripped a blood-stained staff with her right, glaring at me.

However, all that came out was laughter. The efficacy of the item, bleeding, doesn’t stop just by pressing it with a hand.

All the items stored in the inventory, even down to a small potion, are reset by authority.

The status ailment called ‘bleeding’ doesn’t disappear unless you immediately take a healing spell or a status ailment removal potion.

Mana gathered in the staff held in one hand, ‘visible’ to me. I calmly placed the Massacre of Ten Thousands over one shoulder and drew up my divine power.

The vibrant Force, blazing Divinity, scattering Spirit, and swirling Mana…

Vroom!! Vrooom! Vroooom! Vroooooom!

Lubeit, caught in the flow of divine power gradually encroaching the space, looked at me with startled eyes, not realizing the spell she was chanting had been cut off.

“Th-this can’t be!”

“A-all four Divine Powers?!”

Is it the typical curiosity of a mage? They started to get noisy, flustered.

However, my voice, meeting their ridiculous behavior, dripped with coldness.

“You old folks over there. Are you joining in or not?”

The old folks, who were making a fuss until a moment ago, started to ponder the question of whether to join the battle.

And Lubeit, with blood from the continuous bleeding flowing down her left hand, soaking her arm and staining the front of her robe black, was trying hard to keep her eyes open.

She probably believes that the tower masters, who caused trouble with her, will step in. She thinks there’s a chance of winning if she just waits.

I also agree with the possibility that they might step in.

After all, knocking on someone’s door in the morning wasn’t just Lubeit’s stupid idea. So I anticipated it.

The tower masters were silent, lost in thought. Meanwhile, Wind Tower Master Lubeit’s face was becoming increasingly strange as time passed.

The ‘bleeding’ effect was the same, but my unique divine power, mixed with Mana and Force, was seeping into Lubeit, tormenting her.

As time goes on, the pain will intensify, and due to the chaos within, her magic use will inevitably be limited.

Even if one is foolish, there should be a limit. What did she believe in to provoke someone like me, who clearly has the appearance of a close-combat warrior, despite being a mage?

Typically, mages try to create distance, while knights or warriors attempt to close it.

But to provoke a representative, who is openly armed with weapons and armor? Especially when she’s the master of a mid-sized magic tower, not even a transcendent one?

Did they finally realize how serious the situation is as time passes? Seeing the four hesitating tower masters was so pathetic that it left me speechless.

Then, looking at Arun, who was glaring at the other mages while gathering mana, and Lee Hyo-ju, who was waiting for the right timing, I felt somewhat relieved.

I wondered what they would do if they acted cluelessly even in this situation.

“Old men, get in here quickly. If you keep waiting, your friend here will die. See that?”

I continued to mock them, pointing at Lubeit, who had collapsed to the floor, struggling to breathe.

However, they still only coughed without any response.

In the ‘Battlefield of the Gods,’ Exorsus holds the meaning of a kind of safe zone. So later, those who surrender return to Exorsus to express surrender in the Garden of the Gods.

The period when Exorsus most strongly exercises its meaning as a safe zone is the first four years.

The so-called training period, or the beginner period.

All representatives must arrive at Exorsus within the three months of the ‘Battlefield of the Gods’ opening, and they cannot leave Exorsus until they complete a full four years.

And during these four years, the protection of the representatives is prioritized above all else, except under specific conditions.

When you carry your registration card and visit an open educational institution for ‘transmission,’ the first thing they explain is this training period, and they also educate you on how to respond if you are ambushed or attacked.

Such a training period. Right at the very beginning. The day after we, as representatives, found a house.

Attacking with the intent to break the magic circle inscribed for the protection of the representative? Moreover, manifesting magic with the intention of threatening the representatives inside the house?

An incident of this magnitude would allow you to meet with the god in charge to file a complaint in the Garden of the Gods, which you can only enter once a year.

In short, the four old geezers rolling their eyes in front of me and the old woman gasping on the floor have stepped in it. And it’s a particularly sticky mess.

Yet, those idiots still trying to assess the situation are supposedly tower masters, so I can already imagine the state of those magic towers.

As I approached Lubeit, who was slumped on the floor, I spat words like a lowlife, but instead of retaliating, she just kept backing away from me.

“If you’re not going to get involved, then get lost. You’re in the way.”

“Ahem… Can’t you just let it slide this once?”

“Uh, no, I can’t.”

“Ahem!”

Pointing my intent to kill at these fools who, despite retreating as I approached, tried to maintain their pride to the end.

And I began to speak about the current situation and what would happen next so that Lee Hyo-ju and Arun, who still hadn’t grasped why I was being so serious, could hear.

“Hey, old man. Since you still don’t seem to get it, I’ll kindly explain. Listen carefully. First, I’m going to kill this stupid woman right here. Then, the two representatives here and I will enter the Garden of the Gods under the pretext of ‘conspiring to murder a representative.’ We’ll claim that during the training period, five tower masters ambushed a representative. If I say they were probably after my Mithril Ingot, our patron god will likely be convinced.”

“Th-that’s…!”

“Stop the nonsense. Arun clearly told you 10 o’clock. If this incident is investigated, Arun’s patron god will have been watching Arun from the moment he entered the ‘Battlefield of the Gods’ until now, proving Arun’s words to be true, right? Then what happens to you?”

“…!”

“First, the patron gods of the three of us will manifest here in Exorsus. And they will annihilate the causality of your tower masters. It’s recorded. Look it up. See what happened when a temple, deceived by the representative of a foolish celestial god, attacked the representative of a Demon God during the training period. Anyway, to continue the story, those who are connected to the causality of the woman who’s about to die choking over there and you will be summoned and executed, depending on the severity. And your souls will be used by our gods, either to suffer eternally, as fuel, or to be consumed, or something like that.”

“W-we, that is… we didn’t attack.”

“It’s okay. Once my god descends here, you’ll know automatically. Are you doubting the power of a god? Just wait. According to the records, the temple disappeared back then, and the god worshiped there vanished too, right? Moreover, they were recorded as the most foolish god and his priests. I’ve heard that if you live in this world, it naturally imprints in your mind. So, do you remember?”

“W-We…”

“Yes, you wanted to die.”

“N-No. W-We, no, we were wrong. P-Please…”

Fools. Old men who grew old just studying magic books in peaceful Exorsus, a place without war.

They remind me of stubborn scholars on Earth who believe only their thoughts are the absolute truth.

At first, they flaunted their status. Tower master of the Four Great Attribute Towers.

Indeed, it is a significant position. An undeniable fact.

However, those who tolerated their arrogance and understood them before are qualitatively different from us.

The gods call us slaves, but the continent’s people see us as messengers or delegates of the gods.

It’s frustrating and even pathetic.

“No. Just die. I’m tired of it too. What’s forgiveness in the ‘Battlefield of the Gods’? Is it something you eat? If you show mercy, they won’t appreciate it and will hold a grudge, so why should I?”

“N-No, that’s absolutely not true.”

“Move. I’ll kill her first, then we can talk or exchange swords.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, the other four old men stepped back to one side of the room.

The Wind Tower Master, left alone and prepared for the loss of mana, melted the remaining Force and glared at the other tower masters with an incredulous expression.

“How, how could you guys…?”

“Ahem!”

“See, I told you to control that temper…”

A hollow laugh escaped at their behavior.

On Earth, another term for ‘seventy years old’ is ‘From Heart’. It originates from Confucius’s saying, meaning ‘to follow one’s heart without overstepping or deviating from the rules.’

For those who have devoted their lives to the study of magic, reaching a certain pinnacle, how pitiful is it to see such behavior?!

“Humans can be more ugly and cruel than anyone else…!”

I was so disappointed that my innermost thoughts slipped out unconsciously.

It was disgusting to see Lubeit, sitting blankly on the ground, acting as if she were the victim.

“Go ahead. When you think about it, it might be better to die by my hand…”

The all-encompassing Force flew towards Lubeit’s heart, who was lost in despair.

Just as the Force was expected to pierce her heart and blood to flow,

Boom!

It collided with something unknown and powerful, causing me to step back two paces from the rebound.

Was there still this much power left? Surprised, I looked at Lubeit, who also seemed shocked.

Then?

“I’m sorry.”

With the presence of another person I hadn’t sensed until now, the thunderous apology in my ear sent chills down my spine.