Kazan. One of the three great cities of the North.
At the same time, it was also an unfortunate city that, for the past fifty years, had never once escaped being the Steel-Scale Tribe’s first target for plunder.
The reason the Steel-Scale Tribe only raided Kazan was simple. It was rich.
Kazan was one of the North’s foremost producers of magic stones.
The reserves of magic stones buried deep beneath Kazan’s soil were among the greatest in the empire.
Naturally, many bandits coveted them, and to stop them, the people built fortresses and raised city walls.
Thus Kazan was born. Since ancient times, people had never ceased coming and going, and it had prospered again and again. At the same time, however, it had acquired an unwanted nickname: the city beloved by the Steel-Scale Tribe.
The Steel-Scale Tribe descended from the highlands to plunder in order to survive the winter.
It was only natural that they would target places with plenty to steal, and there was no way they would pass over Kazan, the richest city in the North.
A dangerous city that became the Steel-Scale Tribe’s target every time, and at the same time, a wealthy city that endlessly laid golden eggs called magic stones.
After much deliberation, the ruler of the North decided to turn this dangerous yet important city into a proving ground.
“The Grand Duke of the North must be the bravest man in the North. Become the mayor of Kazan, slay a wyvern, and prove your courage! Only one who has proven his courage may inherit the name of Grand Duke!”
And so Kazan became the proving ground to determine whether an heir who had inherited the Grand Duke’s blood was qualified to inherit the Grand Duke’s name.
Even the eldest son of the Grand Duke of the North could not escape this tradition.
Rainer Dol Carta, the student taking the trial this year, was no different.
“So, a mage from the Foreign Legion is scheduled to come to Kazan?”
“That is correct, young master.”
Rainer frowned.
The answer from Cyril, his secretary and adviser, was that displeasing.
“How irritating.”
Rainer turned his gaze outside the office.
Beyond the window, he could see soldiers and workers repairing Kazan’s walls.
“Do they think the words of House Carta are a joke, or are they incapable of understanding me? I’m sure I made a request. Send me the strongest mage.”
“You did.”
“And yet they’re sending a Foreign Legion mage? A non-regular, indefinite-contract mage instead of a full-time one?”
His tone laid bare exactly what sort of prejudice he held.
His subordinates and knights echoed his dissatisfaction.
“We must send a letter of protest to the Magic Tower at once. This is an insult to Kazan and to you, young master, who govern it.”
“That’s right. To look down on you like this—this is not something we can overlook.”
“Everyone, please lower your voices. You are all too agitated.”
“How is this not something to be agitated about!”
“Of course it isn’t something to be agitated about. If anything, it is something to be pleased about.”
“What?”
At that incomprehensible answer, everyone’s eyes focused on Cyril. Rainer was no exception.
She calmly opened her mouth.
“My lord. Let us refrain from sending a letter of protest to the Magic Tower. Not only will we be treated like fools, we will only suffer losses.”
“Why?”
“In truth, a full-time mage was originally scheduled to be dispatched to Kazan.”
“What?”
“But I refused.”
“……!”
For an instant, the air in the room froze.
Everyone wondered if they had heard things.
Rainer asked again.
“Cyril. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Why on earth?”
“I merely followed your command, my lord. Did you not want the most powerful mage?”
“I did.”
“That is why I rejected the full-time mage.”
“Are you saying that this indefinite-contract mage is more skilled than a full-time mage?”
“I do not know about his magical skill, but I am certain he is the strongest.”
“What makes you so sure?”
Instead of answering, Cyril took out a stack of documents and placed it before Rainer.
“The evidence proves it.”
“Evidence? This?”
Rainer’s eyes turned to the stack of documents.
His hand flipped over the first page.
Rainer’s eyes widened like saucers.
“Is this real?”
“Yes.”
“Hah.”
Rainer wondered if the Magic Tower was perhaps playing some sort of trick on the North.
That was how shocking the information filling the pages was.
“This is the career of a single Magic Tower mage? Not the combined careers of ten mercenary mages who have lived their whole lives by the blade?”
The career of the indefinite-contract mage to be dispatched to Kazan was astonishing.
Pirate subjugations, ruin explorations, prisoner escorts, biological disaster responses—there was nothing he had not done, and nothing he had failed to resolve.
The most shocking part was his insane work routine of six days on and one day off.
The vassals who received the documents showed the same astonished reactions as Rainer.
“Good heavens. Is he perhaps not a contract worker, but a member of the Magic Tower’s penal unit? Or does he owe the Magic Tower some enormous debt?”
“He is simply an official black mage under an indefinite-term contract.”
“Then all these accomplishments are real?”
Seeing that they still could not dispel their suspicion, Cyril nodded.
“When I first obtained the materials, I could not believe them either, just like all of you. So I randomly selected twenty territories where this mage was said to have resolved commissions and sent people there.”
“And the result?”
“There was no fabrication whatsoever. They were one hundred percent true.”
The people began to murmur.
If those words were true, then unlike what they had thought, this mage named Danil was a talent they should welcome with open arms.
If one considered only practical experience, how common could a veteran mage be, one whom even most senior knights could not compare to?
Cyril thought the same.
“That is why I had quite a hard time. The full-time mage who wanted to come here was terribly persistent. Still, it ended well, and we were able to bring this man.”
“……”
Rainer fell silent.
He understood what Cyril was trying to say.
But for him, it was impossible to completely put aside his doubts.
Anything too dazzling was, conversely, hard to believe. This case was no different.
While sitting in this seat, how many fakes had he seen who looked impressive only on paper, yet turned out to be empty shells when met in person?
“Cyril confirmed it, but it is too early to be at ease.”
Seeing that her lord did not let go of his suspicion, Cyril smiled softly.
It would have been understandable for her to feel disappointed, but far from being disappointed, she was instead satisfied.
He did not take even a subordinate’s words at face value, and first tried doubting them.
It was an attitude a ruler absolutely had to possess.
“Young master. Then why not test him yourself?”
“Test him?”
“Yes. Is there not a saying in the North? If you wish to become friends, drink vodka together.”
“……!!!”
“If we have him drink vodka, we will know whether this man is genuine or fake. Then, depending on the result, we can decide whether to welcome him or drive him out and receive another mage. Am I wrong?”
“No. You’re right, Cyril.”
Rainer’s eyes gleamed.
If you wish to become friends, drink vodka together.
In the North, those words were understood to mean, “Drink only with friends.”
But among nobles involved in politics, they held another hidden meaning.
“Make him drink and see whether he is enemy or ally.”
Alcohol was both medicine and poison that revealed one’s true feelings.
No matter how well one hid them, before alcohol, one’s true intentions, ambitions, and instincts were bound to be exposed.
Rainer knew this well, for he had experienced it himself.
“Good. If he is genuine, we make him a comrade-in-arms, and if he is a fake, we send a letter of protest to the Magic Tower and receive a whole batch of 5th-Circle mages for free. Cyril. Prepare a welcoming ceremony.”
“I will tell them to prepare the strongest vodka.”
The distrust still remained.
But now that he had decided to test him, curiosity arose alongside that distrust.
Danil. Would this mage truly be the powerful mage he hoped for, one who would protect Kazan? Or would he be the opposite?
A single glass of northern vodka would provide the answer to that question.
Rainer already found himself looking forward to that day.
*
Immediately after Danil’s dispatch to the North was confirmed, Titania summoned him to the underground training hall.
Originally, she had intended to take things lightly, but the moment Danil’s destination became Kazan, she changed her mind.
“If it’s Kazan, then that’s the place Lord Rainer governs, isn’t it? This is an opportunity!”
Kazan. The heart of the North.
Rainer. A future power player widely rumored to be the likely next Grand Duke, barring any major mistakes.
What if Danil rendered great service in Kazan and caught his eye?
Naturally, a political point of contact with Rainer could be formed.
As one who aspired to become the future master of the Magic Tower, she could not miss this chance.
Once she reached that conclusion, there was only one thing to do.
“I’ll give Danil intensive training. If he becomes an even stronger mage than he is now, he’ll be able to achieve even more merits!”
And so, special training that had never been planned began.
“First, let us check your capabilities. Please use every spell you can cast.”
“Understood.”
A capability test began before the training.
As befitted one of fewer than thirty 5th-Circle Masters in the Magic Tower, she grasped Danil’s problems at once.
“I have a grasp of your skill and style, but… I’m at a loss as to how I should evaluate this. Danil.”
“I apologize.”
“Do not apologize. That is not why I said it. I am simply… a little surprised.”
Titania was bewildered.
That was because, after checking, she found that Danil, as a 5th-Circle Expert, was lacking in many areas.
“I’ve never seen such a deformed mage in my life.”
First of all, Danil could only use twenty spells. Considering that a 5th-Circle mage could use an average of thirty spells, that was quite lacking.
Moreover, more than half of them were support spells that even a 4th-Circle mage could learn. His proficiency was certainly worthy of the 5th Circle, but looking at the rest of his magical ability, it was hard to deny that his level was low.
“If we look only at his magical ability, he’s about the level of a 4th-Circle Master. But his summoning magic is another matter.”
In Titania’s mind surfaced a certain mercenary captain she had seen in the past.
He had been an outstanding commander who could move over a hundred soldiers as freely as his own hands and feet.
Danil, who summoned and controlled a legion of imps, was exactly like that.
The way he commanded over a hundred lesser demons was so smooth and precise.
“He was closer to a commander than a mage.”
She could not hold back her question.
“How on earth did you establish such a style? I have never seen it in any Magic Tower combat manual.”
“Even if you ask me how… I just ended up this way while working efficiently?”
“Pardon?”
At the unexpected answer that he had become like this not through training, but while working, Titania blinked.