Unaware that the evil archmage’s even more evil disciple was about to explode with fury somewhere far away, Bardan laughed heartily.

“Hahaha!”

In truth, he wasn’t in a good mood at all.

How could he be, after some deranged mage criminal had attacked his estate, stolen artifacts, and half-destroyed the manor?

But among the nobles of the city, dignity and pride mattered more than anything else.

Even if his manor had been wrecked, showing panic or grief in front of others would be no different from admitting, This is all I amount to.

To preserve his dignity, he had to keep smiling even after losing artifacts and watching his manor collapse.

As though none of it truly mattered.

‘...That damned mage bastard. Was stealing the artifacts not enough? He had to destroy the manor too? He’s obviously some lunatic who snapped while learning magic. The Empire’s knights should hunt down monsters like that first, yet they keep spouting nonsense about him being some kind of vigilante!’

But the bitterness refused to fade.

Every time he looked at the rebuilt manor, all he could think about was the mountain of gold that bastard had cost him in repairs.

“Lord Bardan. The garden fountain is magnificent. Even after such an unfortunate incident, the manor’s beauty remains untouched.”

The guests who had arrived before the banquet wandered through the estate while flattering him.

Thanks to that, Bardan’s expression softened slightly.

“I hired the Empire’s finest craftsmen. The spirit stones embedded there alone cost more gold than the combined weight of every servant working in this manor.”

“Indeed... Truly worthy of Lord Bardan. Wealth beyond imagination.”

Once the flattery started, it spread naturally.

“So many fools in this city are calling that thief a vigilante.”

“Exactly. I don’t know what the knights are doing. They should’ve hunted him down and hanged him already.”

“...”

Bardan said nothing, but the corners of his mouth lifted faintly.

The guests immediately realized the praise was working.

None of them actually cared about Bardan.

They had only come because of his connections, his money, or his infamously rotten temper.

Praising him a little and keeping him in a good mood was simply profitable.

“That western wing still isn’t complete. I plan to ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) hire mages from the Stonemason Guild and rebuild it into something even grander. Honestly, I had been considering tearing it down eventually anyway, so this worked out well. It’ll become the finest manor in Granden City...”

Just as one of the guests was about to secretly yawn during the endless self-praise—

BOOM!!!

“...”

“...”

The guests froze as part of the newly rebuilt manor exploded with a deafening roar.

But no one was as stunned as Bardan himself.

The manor he had restored with wealth earned through blood, sweat, and extortion was blown apart in an instant.

“Wh-what insane bastard... what the hell... what is this...”

A familiar vicious mage appeared at the shattered edge of the second floor.

Bardan screamed in horror, his voice cracking.

“St-Stedal Nago?! You lunatic, again?! What are you doing?! Stop him!”

He frantically shouted for the guards, but the mage criminal moved faster.

Magic erupted in a relentless barrage.

Lightning, flames, darkness, ice—destructive spells of every kind rained down without the slightest pause.

And in that storm of destruction, the guards were reminded exactly why people said never to give a mage time to prepare.

Rather than charging through the torrent of spells, the guards instinctively chose to evade.

“You need to take cover!”

“Shut up! What nonsense are you talking about?! This is my manor!”

“The mage clearly prepared this in advance! We can’t confront him head-on. You need to retreat for now!”

Their response was textbook perfect.

Against a mage who had deliberately prepared a battlefield, the correct approach was to keep distance, weather the barrage, and strike once the spellcasting slowed.

But from Bardan’s perspective, it was infuriating.

For magic on this scale to be unleashed inside the manor itself, the mage must have infiltrated the estate and prepared in advance.

Which meant the guards had completely failed in their duties.

“You useless bastards! If you’d done your jobs properly—!”

“Take him and fall back!”

The guards forcibly dragged Bardan away.

Meanwhile, the mage criminal methodically destroyed everything within range.

“...”

“...”

Watching from a distance, Bardan trembled violently and screamed.

“He’s not stopping! He’s not stopping!”

“Th-this doesn’t make sense. No matter what kind of mana recovery methods he’s using, there should still be physical limits...”

Even the veteran guards looked bewildered.

Magic was terrifying, but mages themselves were still flesh and blood.

No matter how much preparation had gone into it, after several high-level spells there should’ve been some kind of lull.

But Stedal Nago continued casting spell after spell as though mocking common sense itself.

‘Are there multiple mages? Some kind of trick?’

“Stop him! Stop him, damn it!”

“Th-that’s...”

The guards hesitated.

A duel was one thing.

Throwing themselves into the middle of a rampaging prepared mage’s assault was another entirely.

Who could’ve predicted that lunatic would attack again?

“H-he’s moving!”

“?”

A sharp cry rang out.

The guests who had briefly felt safe after retreating finally broke into a full panic and fled toward the front gate.

But Bardan forced down his fear through sheer rage and shouted—

“If he’s moving, there’ll be openings! Catch him!”

“...Understood.”

This time, even the guards agreed.

No matter how overwhelming the mage seemed, movement should create vulnerabilities—

Grrrrrr—

“...”

“...”

“Isn’t... isn’t that the spirit bound to the manor?”

The guards stared in horror as the estate’s own water spirit emerged to shield the mage.

How had he arranged things so thoroughly that even the guardian spirit had turned against them?

And the summons didn’t stop there.

From the opposite side of the estate, a massive golem charged forward alongside a swarm of undead summons.

At that moment, the guards’ final shred of resolve shattered.

They immediately turned and fled down the same path the guests had taken.

No amount of money was worth this.

“You cowardly bastards! Don’t come back! The money I paid you—!”

Bardan screamed and stomped furiously, but none of the guards looked back.

At this point, it no longer felt like the work of a single mage.

It looked more like ten fully prepared mages had coordinated an assault on the manor.

And surviving that kind of attack was impossible.

The guards were experienced enough to know when to abandon a doomed battlefield.

With even the guards gone, the mage criminal continued demolishing the estate at a leisurely pace.

Despite the magical defenses protecting the main building, the relentless bombardment gradually cracked the walls apart.

“No... no! Stop! What do you want?! Tell me what you want!”

At last, even Bardan’s spirit broke.

The rage and curses vanished completely as he desperately begged the mage criminal.

If this could somehow be solved with gold—

“Nothing.”

“...What?”

“He says he wants nothing.”

“...”

The low, rough voice completely crushed Bardan.

The greatest terror he had felt all day flooded through his body.

To cause this much destruction... and demand nothing in return.

What kind of person was this?

Nothing was more terrifying than something utterly incomprehensible.

“Mon... monster... What kind of monster are you...!”

The mage criminal ignored him and continued destroying the manor.

Bardan was too terrified to notice that behind the estate, undead summons were carrying valuables out and tossing them over the fence.

-Wh-who’s throwing all this stuff out?!

-Who cares?! Just grab it already!

***

“Hm.”

Alsicle sat at a table outside the red-brick café and opened his copy of 【This Year’s Promising Imperial Ice Mages】.

As always, he planned to spend the afternoon envying other ice mages’ accomplishments while criticizing them internally.

-Did you hear? Stedal Nago showed up again! At Lord Bardan’s manor this time!

“Pfft!”

Alsicle nearly spat out his coffee.

‘What the hell is that kid doing now?!’

He had sent Wardanaz off to participate in club activities.

Not raid noble estates.

For a brief moment, Alsicle seriously wondered—

‘...Wait. Is this somehow club activity?’

But no matter how he thought about it, it made no sense.

If it were club-related, why would he openly appear as Stedal Nago instead of hiding behind suspicious anonymous mages?

-Didn’t he attack there once already?

-I heard Bardan didn’t learn his lesson after getting robbed the first time, so Stedal Nago came back even angrier. Apparently the manor got completely smashed this time.

-What an incredible mage. I can’t believe people like that still exist these days.

-Exactly. Did you hear? That bastard Uap who got robbed before is distributing his workshop assets to his subordinate dwarves now.

-What? Why?

-He got scared! Last time he ended up hanging upside down in a canal. Who knows what’ll happen next time? Hahaha!

The people nearby enthusiastically praised the bold vigilante.

‘...Did Professor Gonadaltes order this or something...?’

Alsicle groaned inwardly, unable to make sense of it no matter how hard he tried.

Why would a good kid like Wardanaz attack a noble’s estate?

At that moment, Arien called out from nearby.

“Penguerin sir!”

“I-I had nothing to do with it. Wardanaz acted on his own.”

The moment he saw Arien hurrying toward him, Alsicle instinctively started making excuses.

As the senior mage accompanying Wardanaz, he was terrified he’d somehow get blamed too.

“What are you talking about? Some people came looking to sponsor Penguerin sir.”

“...Why would— Ah. No, I mean... really?”

Alsicle almost blurted out Why would they do that? before catching himself and awkwardly coughing instead.

That wasn’t exactly the proper reaction in front of potential sponsors.

But Arien simply nodded with understanding.

“It’s natural that you’d be surprised. Penguerin sir’s research contains flashes of genius that ordinary people can’t easily appreciate.”

“Kgh... thank you.”

“Actually, Wardanaz sir mentioned your research while talking about the griffin polo match.”

“...??”

Alsicle froze completely.

More specifically, he stopped understanding the conversation at griffin polo.

“...What does griffin polo have to do with my research?”

“Ah. You don’t know about that part? The explanation might take a while.”

“Then explain it briefly.”

“You could say Wardanaz sir rode a griffin, performed brilliantly, and secured promises of sponsorship.”

“...I’m sorry. Please explain the long version.”

Arien calmly took a sip of tea, as though he had expected that answer.

Just then, nearby voices drifted over again.

-Where do you think Stedal Nago’s going to attack next?

-Whoever it is, probably another greedy bastard. Everyone’s terrified now and pretending not to notice! Hahaha!

-There’s no way he destroys Bardan’s manor three times, right?

“Wait. What do you mean three times? Wasn’t it only once? The previous attack—”

Hearing the reaction around him, Alsicle tightly shut his eyes.

He should’ve listened about the sponsorships first and left immediately.