Witch Hunter Rhapsody

Maximus Nord entered the mage academy founded by Draco when he was fifteen years old.

This is a spire over 400 meters high, completed by Draco Gresling after inheriting the work of his teacher and his teacher's teacher.

He never reached an area above 300 meters.

Maximus sat at his lab table, carefully drawing the magic circle based on the draft with a pen dipped in red paint.

His research topic was "An analysis of the factors affecting the duration of iron oxide red dye arrays on organisms".

Draco's expertise lies in summoning, teleportation, and magic circles. These three skills were passed down through Draco's three personal disciples: Alistair is the inheritor of magic circle skills, while Maximus is also a student in this field.

He carefully infused the magic power into it, and the red lines of the magic circle began to glow.

Based on the proportions, the magic power I inject should be enough to make this magic circle light up for about three seconds.

When the light from the magic circle stopped, the timer next to Maximus also stopped.

Three standard seconds, exactly as I predicted.

However, Maximus knew there were still some things that needed to be adjusted, and his standard timer might be malfunctioning, since it had been two years since the last adjustment.

He didn't have the extra money to make the adjustments himself, and although the title of Drak's disciple was enough to intimidate most of the duchy's wizards, it was also quite prestigious to talk about.

But only the students of Draco knew that the vast majority of so-called Draco students did not have any status.

The only students who truly deserve and are respected are those above the second-highest rank in the reading. Many students even spend their entire lives researching magic, only to end up without their own laboratory.

Of course, such students have very short lives, and many of them die suddenly in their thirties due to long-term exposure to toxic gases and dangerous magic arrays.

Maximus did not want to become that kind of person.

He carefully recorded the data.

He has conducted approximately 30,000 such experiments, and has been doing this for the past few years.

As long as I can measure the effect of the magic circle drawn with iron oxide red pigment, I will definitely be able to leave my name in front of the teacher. As long as I can make the teacher remember me, I will have a better chance of a brighter future.

He closed his eyes slightly.

Was it really the right thing for him to kill Viya in order to seize a future opportunity?

Alistair's promised benefits were not delivered, or rather, he made excuses to avoid them.

Maximus was helpless; the impact of Viya's death far exceeded his expectations.

This is very strange. Viya is just an ordinary student. She was nothing special before she was driven away. It is said that her father has some status, but that is far from enough to cause the current consequences.

Viya is merely an academic traitor who communicated with her teacher's enemy, so it's perfectly normal for Alistair to want to get rid of her.

But given the current situation, it seems as if the entire wizarding faction of the duchy and wizarding factions of other countries have been mobilized.

Maximus instinctively felt fear; he wanted to contact Vitas and get the powerful knight to investigate quickly.

He hadn't fulfilled any of the promises he'd made to Vitas, and he simply didn't have the extra energy.

That guy is also a dangerous individual. If I don't offer him enough benefits, he might just come and kill me.

If he could kill Viya in that way, he could kill himself in the same way.

Or could I strike first and gain the upper hand?

Maximus felt a headache coming on. Perhaps he shouldn't have sought such a shortcut at all, and should have honestly chosen to conduct experiments.

But is doing experiments really useful? Maximus knew a girl in the same year as him who spent almost the same amount of time doing experiments in the lab, but her current situation was even worse than his.

Two days ago, she came to me to borrow some money because she had run out of food. If Maximus didn't help her, she would have no choice but to resort to the worst possible solution.

It's funny to think that a wizard with the title of Draco's student would face such a problem.

But Maximus knew that as a teacher's student, one had to produce results, or at least produce results that appeared to be results, even if the teacher himself didn't even look at them.

The title of "Draco's disciple" also deprived them of most other avenues for obtaining funding.

"Seriously, that guy could still sell his body when he had no other options. If I had no other options, wouldn't I have no choice but to sell myself to wizards for experiments?"

Maximus found it all hilarious.

He finally mustered his courage and knew he had to go to Alistair. Whether it was more funding or resources, or even just getting some guidance from a teacher, it would be the best thing.

It was only at this moment that Maximus remembered.

Alistair has been missing for several days.

He disappeared after he told me some trivial things last time.

Maximus immediately felt nervous.

Could it be that Alistair was discovered, leading to his misfortune? But if that were the case, how could I be still unharmed?

With the teacher's magical reserves, mind-reading would be a piece of cake.

Maximus shifted his attention away from the matter, trying to mask his unease with his experiments.

This strange state lasted for three whole days until Maximus received a communication spell from Alistair.

The spell's communication quality wasn't very good, but Maximus was able to determine that Alistair was not currently in the capital.

"Maximus, now, immediately, prepare your staff, get all the necessary preparations for battle, and gather all the necessary magical materials."

"Uh, but I'm an academic research type..."

"No matter what type you are, you should have basic combat training. Anyway, come over here now. This is the mess you left behind. If we handle it properly, it will become our advantage."

"What do you mean?"

"Anyone would be interested in Viya's belongings. Our teacher is no exception, but there's some danger involved. After much consideration, you're the most suitable person."

Is it because I was also a participant?

Maximus hesitated. The last time Alistair promised him a reward, he hadn't delivered yet, and now another one was coming.

But what other choice did they have? They were now bound together; Alistair had ordered him to kill Via, and he had done so.

Maximus must shed his current identity.

After choosing this path, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue down it.

"I understand, sir. I will prepare immediately."

Alistair interrupted the communication spell.

He was flying at an altitude of ten thousand meters, where mere flight skills were insufficient. He also needed a mage's shield to maintain air pressure and temperature.

Viya's monster was more powerful and savage than he had imagined. He might make the same mistake again, even if he were alone.

Although we still don't know how Maximus killed Viya, he should be of some use.

Alistair has detected the necromancer's presence. Time is running out. He must be dealt with before the necromancer does anything irreversible!

Alistair even considered hiring local mercenaries, who had done a good job dealing with monsters.

However, he hoped that as few people as possible would know about this.

However, after this is over, we might be able to make better use of the mercenaries employed in these smaller places.

"That Vitas from the Flying Eagle Knights seems pretty powerful."

A skilled heavy knight is the best helper for any wizard.