Imperial Mage

The man who had just been hit by a stone to the head regained a bit of clarity. He took a good look at the young girl pinning him down—and quickly realized the danger he was in.

“Mm-mm-mm!”

He tried to resist but couldn’t make a sound. The next second, Serea pressed her dagger to his neck. The cold and stabbing pain made him immediately fall in line.

“Don’t make a sound, or your life is forfeit!”

There was killing intent in Serea’s eyes. The tone of her voice brought the mercenary to a halt.

“I’ll ask, you answer. If you cooperate, I’ll let you go. Otherwise, you can die right now. If you understand, blink your eyes.”

Hearing the girl’s words, it was clear the man wasn’t particularly brave; he blinked several times in rapid succession.

“No yelling, got it? If you yell, you’re dead.”

She threatened again before pulling the cloth from his mouth, then launched her first question.

“Who are you people, and why did you attack the caravan?”

With a dagger at his throat, the mercenary could only answer Serea’s questions in order to save his own life.

“I… we’re mercenaries from the Yeton territory. We were hired to attack this convoy.”

His voice trembled—obviously a coward looking to save his skin.

“Who hired you?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“Are you going to talk or not?”

Serea pressed the blade closer, slicing open the skin on his neck. Terrified, the man blurted out an answer.

“I really don’t know! I just overheard our leader say it was a mage from the imperial capital who hired us. Think about it, I’m just a common mercenary. How could I possibly know someone that important?”

“A mage from the imperial capital?”

“Yeah, he gave us a pile of money and told us to attack a certain foreign noble’s convoy. He also wanted us to capture a woman from the group.”

“Attack a foreign noble’s convoy? And capture a woman?”

“That’s what he said! I swear, I don’t know anything else. That’s really all I know!”

“Very good. I believe you. So how many people are in your group? Did that mage come here?”

“We… we…”

At this, the man hesitated.

“Speak!”

Serea pressed her blade in again. Forced, the man confessed.

“I’ll tell you, but you must promise not to kill me. Let me go after you’re done questioning.”

“All right. As long as you answer truthfully, I won’t kill you.”

“Do you really mean it?”

“Of course!”

“We brought forty men. Most of them went into the woods to look for that woman. Counting myself, there are eighteen people here. The mage from the capital is in the lead carriage.”

Hearing this, Serea thought for a moment, then suddenly pressed her blade down.

“You dare lie to me?”

Seeing the anger in Serea’s eyes, the mercenary felt warm liquid flowing down his neck and, not knowing why Serea was suddenly furious, protested his innocence loudly.

“How would I dare to lie to you?!”

“Nonsense! With just you people, how could you possibly defeat the caravan’s guards?”

Serea pointed out an inconsistency, and the mercenary hastened to explain.

“It was the mage, sir! He has a scroll—if he uses it, he can freeze the enemy in place.”

“Mage…”

Serea stroked her chin thoughtfully. That so-called scroll must be this world’s magic scroll.

Magic scrolls could seal powerful spells within them—simply unroll the scroll to unleash the sealed magic. They were powerful, one-use items.

Armed with this knowledge, Serea asked dubiously,

“Are you telling the truth?”

“I swear on my life! Not a word of it is a lie!”

“Very well. Leave your clothes here. You can go.”

“Huh…”

“Take them off. Now!”

“Yes, yes!”

Having finished her questioning, Serea let him go. The man swiftly stripped and tossed his clothes at her feet—all without being spotted by the other mercenaries.

The mercenary cautiously backed away a few steps, and seeing as the girl simply picked up his clothes without chasing, he turned and bolted. He’d barely made it two steps before an arrow struck him in the throat.

It was the skeleton archer!

If it could pierce a sapling from twenty meters, then hitting a man’s throat at ten meters was child’s play.

The man collapsed, resentment in his eyes, but in the end Serea had kept her promise. She hadn’t killed him with her own hands, and, to avoid leaving evidence, she only drew his blood—she did not revive him as undead.

Serea shed her platinum dress. Her graceful figure was exposed to the air, but she had no time for self-admiration. She quickly donned the man’s clothes and wrapped her face in cloth.

From a distance, no one would notice anything unusual about her, and so Serea swaggered directly toward the caravan.

Head slightly bowed, Serea had her skeleton warriors slip into the woods closer to the convoy, while she herself walked straight toward the lead carriage.

As the mercenaries had already ruined the caravan’s carriages, they were busy loading crates of treasure onto their own wagons.

Drunk on the euphoria of loot, no one paid any attention as Serea made her way toward the lead carriage.

She took the opportunity to pass in front of the lead carriage. Through a smashed window, Serea caught sight of a young man in black robes. In that same instant, information about him surfaced in her mind.

Character: Ordura Von Aino (Apprentice Mage)

Level: 19

Condition: Good

Spirit: B+

Strength: D

Agility: C

Endurance: D

Constitution: B

Charisma: B

Luck: C

Skills: Arcane Impact (Tier 1), Fireball (Tier 1), Magic Shield (Tier 2)

Description: A fledgling apprentice mage, just a step away from becoming a true mage. For you right now, he’s a particularly troublesome foe.

After stealing a glance before anyone noticed, Serea moved past the lead carriage and merged with the busy mercenaries, always keeping her head low—nobody paid her any mind.

“Hey, crummy system, come out here. Comparing my strength to his, do I stand a chance of taking him out?”

System: He’s just a rookie apprentice mage. With the element of surprise, you could kill him instantly. But considering the information about magic scrolls, please prepare thoroughly before making a move.

“All right, looks like I need to do the job myself. Luckily, I haven’t forgotten the skills from my previous life.”

System: Act within your limits, host.

The system’s voice sounded, but Serea didn’t pay it much mind. For an assassin, anyone that could be dispatched with a surprise attack wasn’t even worth calling an enemy. That was a basic creed.

Silently formulating her plan, Serea issued her orders to the skeletons.

“Take out the mercenaries outside!”

Having given this command, Serea pushed open the carriage door and rushed into the lead wagon. At first glance, she found the black-robed mage sitting in a soft chair.

Beside him, a girl in light knight’s armor lay on the floor, tightly bound and apparently unconscious. Serea recognized her instantly.

“Hm? Who let you in here? Get out!”

Interrupted from his meditation, the mage snapped angrily. Serea ignored him, kept her head low, and feigned panic as she spoke.

“Sir Mage, I didn’t mean to barge in, but there are a lot of skeletons outside. They’re heading this way!”

Serea’s performance was spot-on—she kept her head lowered the entire time, which to the young mage seemed like deference, though in reality Serea was just hiding her identity.

Hearing her words, the mage named Ordura fell for it.

“What? A lot of skeletons?”

Shock swept across his face, but the expression quickly shifted to suspicion. For some reason, he felt she looked a bit familiar.

Before Ordura could question her further, chaos erupted outside.

“Skeletons! The undead are here! Run for your lives!”

“Help… urgh!”

Screams and cries blended together as the skeletons, with their absolute advantage in level and attribute, charged in and shattered the mercenaries’ defenses in a single assault.

Hearing the shouts for help, ordura realized the gravity of the situation. He ignored Serea and dashed out of the carriage.

Just as he emerged, he saw a cluster of skeletons slaughtering the mercenaries.

(To be continued…)

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