That morning, the sky hung heavy with slowly moving silver clouds. The dew on the grass had yet to dry when the simple wooden carriage stopped at the last boundary of Thalrin village. Luciel sat on the inside, wearing a thin woolen coat that his mother had given him. Luika stood beside the carriage wheel, her hand tightly gripping Luciel's arm.
"From here, you will continue your journey with the group to the capital," Luika said. "I cannot accompany you any further."
Luciel looked into his father's eyes. In his childish heart, there was a burden that he had not yet understood.
"Why, Father? Why don't you come?"
Luika took a deep breath. "Because this is your path, Luciel. And because there are things I must guard here. If one day you return... I want you to return not as a child who left home, but as a wizard who understands the world."
Luciel lowered his head. "I will study hard."
Luika stroked his head. "And I will continue to pray for you."
The carriage began to move. Luciel turned his head, looking at his father standing stiffly amidst the mist and the crisscrossing morning light. The figure slowly shrank, then disappeared behind the bends of the dirt road.
---
The journey to the capital was not without its challenges. Luciel sat in the carriage with a young girl who looked to be about the same age as him. With long, snow-white hair, with cold, pale blue eyes that held no warmth, the girl sat leaning against the window, staring out without once glancing at Luciel.
Luciel, who was used to the silence of training with his father, was not bothered by the quiet attitude. But there was something about the girl's aura that made him keep stealing glances.
When night fell and they rested at a small campsite on the edge of the forest, Luciel easily lit a campfire. The warm flames burned the wood and kept the cold away.
The girl glanced briefly, then turned back to the darkness of the night without expression. After a while, she spoke in a flat, distant tone, "Who did you... learn magic from?"
Luciel was a little surprised. "My father. He... was a former magic soldier."
The girl nodded slightly, then said in an almost cold tone, "Lighting a fire without a spell. Not bad."
Luciel tried to smile. "My name is Luciel."
The girl was silent for a moment, then said without looking at him, "Shiromiko."
Luciel wanted to ask more, but the girl's expression made it clear: enough is enough.
And though the night was short, the campfire they shared was the beginning of a story they did not yet realize would take them beyond the walls of the Academy.
—
Hours passed on their journey to the Capital.
The sky was covered in dark clouds, and a cold mist hung heavy among the trees of the forest they passed through. It was quiet, too quiet for a major trade route. The horses were restless, and the carriage drivers exchanged glances, exchanging silent worries.
Luciel looked around. Beside him, Shiromiko—whose full name was now known as Ayaka Shiromiko—sat still, as if the strange air around them meant nothing.
But Luciel felt a tug in his chest, like an inaudible whisper warning of disaster.
"Shiromiko," he whispered, "Something is wrong."
The girl glanced over for a moment, then nodded. She slipped her fingers into the pocket of her robe, feeling for a small, hidden magic crystal.
Luciel turned and realized someone was there, throwing a stone into the thicket of trees shrouded in darkness.
"Who's there!!"
The cry of a horse broke the silence. Then a scream. And from behind the trees, a herd of large, hairy creatures with bared teeth and greenish skin—orcs—appeared. Behind them, bandits with shifty eyes and rough weapons followed like hungry shadows.
"CHARGE!"
That shout was the beginning of chaos.
Arrows flew. Horses neighed wildly. Merchants screamed and jumped from their carriages. Some ran, some froze in fear.
Luciel pulled out a wooden staff from behind his back. Though young, his body was well-trained. He ran forward, lighting fire from his palms and blocking the short spears thrown at him. Shiromiko, elegantly but stiffly, unleashed wind magic that sent two bandits flying into trees.
"Fight as necessary. Protect those who cannot protect themselves," Luciel muttered, remembering his father's words.
He jumped to the left, avoiding a large orc's axe strike. At first glance, the orc roared and hit the ground, creating a small crater that splashed wet soil. Luciel used that moment to sneak up behind, lighting a fireball and throwing it at the orc's back. A small explosion occurred. The orc roared and fell.
However, the orc's body was very hard, especially with resistance to magic.
"Hahaha, your attack is too weak. You won't be able to hurt me"
Realizing his attack didn't work, Luciel jumped back in a little surprise.
"Damn, the orc's body is so hard. How do I do it..?"
The orc herd ran towards Luciel very quickly, about to attack him.
Fortunately, with the experience he had training with his father in the village, Luciel was able to keep up with their speed and parry all of their attacks.
The orc sneered
"You're pretty fast for a human"
Luciel continued to attack
"Oi oi, damn orc, stop talking"
— On the other side
Shiromiko drew her sword. Her fighting style was fast and well-trained, even though her body was still young, and as a woman, her strength was not inferior to the orcs and bandits. Thus, she stabbed with precision, taking down two bandits.
But there were too many of them.
The vast hordes of orcs and bandits charged Shiromiko at once.
Unlike Luciel who could keep up with the hordes of orcs on his own, Shiromiko was overwhelmed by them all at once.
Forced, she continued to parry and look for a moment to retreat and find a gap to escape.
But in one moment, when she was focused on attacking and holding back the herd of orcs from the front, she slipped because of the slippery ground and was surrounded by three adult bandits who laughed crookedly from behind so that she lost her balance and finally fell.
"Little girl... your face is cute too," one of the bandits sneered.
Shiromiko tried to raise her hand to attack, but one bandit kicked her wrist. Her stick was thrown, then they held both of her hands and threw her to the ground.
Shiromiko tried desperately to escape. But because of the many bandits there, she was unable to hold them alone.
One of the bandits took out a rope and tied Shiromiko's hands behind her back and tied her feet, then roughly gagged her mouth with a white cloth.
"Shut up and don't move"
Shiromiko who could not fight could only surrender and grunt
"Hmpphh!!!"
Soon the bandits took Shiromiko to the place where Luciel was fighting with his herd.
Luciel was still seen fighting fiercely with the orcs. However, being outnumbered made Luciel a little tired.
"Damn, there are too many of them"
Suddenly a group of bandits came
"Hey kid, surrender and give me all your belongings"
Luciel refused firmly
"If you don't want to, what do you want ..!!"
With a disgusting smile, the bandit held and lifted Shiromiko who was tied up while saying, "What do you want??"
"Who knows what I'll do hahahaha!!"
They slowly undressed Shiromiko.
"Let's surrender" "hahahaha!!"
Luciel was shocked to see Shiromiko who was injured and held captive. The treatment they did made Luciel a little emotional. However, because Luciel's focus was on the bandits and Shiromiko, he didn't notice the orc attack, which eventually caused him to be thrown into a tree and vomit blood until he was unconscious".
"Ahua"
Shiromiko who saw Luciel cornered could only grunt behind her gag
"Hmpphh!! hmpphh!!"
In a nearly unconscious state, he wondered if he would die again in this world.
He also remembered when his father taught him the basics of protecting himself in a situation like this.
Suddenly, who knows what power arose within him. Maybe the instinct of strength that was attached to him when he was about to help someone like in his previous life when he saved a small child on a cruise ship.
He rose to his senses and started fighting all the criminals again.
"RELEASE HER!" Luciel shouted, jumping towards them, but five orcs blocked his way.
Luciel froze.
He saw Shiromiko struggling, her body writhing but restrained. Her eyes stared at him from afar, cold but pleading. And when one of the bandits touched his chin in a disgusting way, something inside Luciel cracked.
His breath hitched. The world slowed down. The sounds around him became a faint echo.
And fire... began to burn.
"DON'T... touch her."
Fire enveloped Luciel's body. But it was no ordinary fire. It was the fire of exploding emotions. The magic was not spoken through incantations, but through feelings. Fire magic that could even penetrate magical defenses.
The first orc that approached exploded in flames. The second followed, burned before they could scream. Luciel jumped, cutting through the air with a burst of fire magic in the form of a long spear. The spear stabbed into the ground and ignited a fire that consumed all the orcs at once.
"Aahhhh"
The orcs screamed.
Luciel only focused on the bandit carrying Shiromiko.
"Give her back…"
His steps were steady, flames coiling around his feet like living creatures.
The bandits holding Shiromiko tried to pull her away, but the ground beneath them exploded from the unconsciously summoned earth magic. Rocks shot into the air, hitting their heads.
Luciel activated his wind magic, accelerating his movement. In a second, he was in front of Shiromiko. He pounced on the last bandit standing, punching him in the face with his fire-covered fist.
"I SAID—LET HER GO!!"
Explosion.
However, his attack was easily blocked by the leader of the pack.
"Don't get too confident, kid."
Sparks flew everywhere.
Finally, the fierce battle between the enraged Luciel and the bandit leader began.
They continuously attacked at the speed of sound and cast countless spells.
In this case they were equal. However, the orcs who were burned to ashes rose again and wanted to help attack Luciel.
Of course this was very detrimental to Luciel who was almost overwhelmed fighting the bandit leader.
On the other hand, the bandit leader also still looked fresh and only received minor injuries.
Seeing conditions like this, of course the bandit leader was very confident in his victory.
"Well kid, you have no chance of winning"
Luciel muttered to himself. "I lost?? I will lose and die again? Don't joke ..".
Just as the bandit leader was about to cut off Luciel's head, suddenly a high-class noble wizard came and thwarted the bandit.
In an instant the wizard brought Luciel to the tree. Luciel who could only sit and watch could only hope for the wizard in front of him.
The bandit sneered
"Hoo, looks like another pest is disturbing you"
The wizard also sneered
"How rude. Like this, I am a noble wizard whose position is much higher than a lowly clown like you".
"What?"
"Hmm, interesting. Let's see who is superior"
The bandit leader and the orc group attacked simultaneously to gang up on the wizard.
But in an instant, the orc group was killed helplessly.
The leader was immediately shocked.
"What? How is that possible?"
With a condescending smile, the wizard sneered.
"How? Are you going to surrender, lowly bandit?"
The bandit leader who felt humiliated immediately jumped to attack even though he was haunted by fear because of the thick aura coming from the wizard.
"Who will run? Thank you—"
In an instant, countless slashes had attacked the bandit at a speed that exceeded the speed of sound before the bandit finished speaking.
Not only the bandit, Luciel who saw it was immediately shocked and amazed.
"That witch is so powerful. Who exactly is that witch?"