Chapter 60
Amidst the heavy downpour, an alarm went off, waking up the whole town.
Doris flipped through the books on the bookshelf in his office. The shelves shifted, and a plain wall emerged.
An aerial image of the entire town was projected onto the wall.
The door to his office opened, and mages began gathering inside.
Two mages who were controlling mana birds linked their spells to the wall.
The view outside the town appeared.
A monster had been spotted near the town gate.
The birds continued soaring further, and slowly, the view became clear.
Monsters were coming from the forest side toward the town in small to large groups.
There was still some distance between the main force and the town.
But the number was overwhelming.
Mages and magic knights continued to gather.
The patrol squad had already engaged the monster and was in the middle of luring it away from the town.
An emergency meeting was held, and the time was estimated.
Ten hours.
They had only that much time before a full assault began.
Emergency signals were deployed to North Castle, and communications were established with the reinforcements.
---
At the crack of dawn, news came.
The reinforcement squad, which included people from the Academy and the Magic Tower, was already on its way.
They would arrive in twenty-four hours.
Doris looked at the report that had come from North Castle.
Vivian had already led a knight squad here the moment the news reached them.
They would arrive in two hours.
And when the sun came out, Ryan woke up, and Azek had his ban lifted immediately.
Vivian looked at the gathered people and leaned toward Azek.
"How did you find out about it?"
Azek shook his head slightly.
Vivian nodded understandingly.
Doris and only the top mages, including the Margrave family brothers, were present.
Ryan had already recovered mostly and was also sitting near Azek. This had been requested by Ryan on behalf of Azek.
Doris sat down, and everyone paid attention. No one actually knew why they had gathered.
He slowly spoke.
"The evidence gathered before, and considering the monster assault on the town, it is suspected that there is a mole among us."
The revelation was concise, but the impact was shocking.
Sebastian clutched his sword hard.
Silence enveloped the room. Doris continued.
"At the very least, none of the people present here are on the suspects list. But the list is larger than I expected. And before the fight starts, I want everyone to be aware of the fact, lest they become a victim."
Ainsworth asked in a heavy tone.
"How did you confirm it?"
Doris replied.
"The black mage who got inside town. Parcival being half black mage and still trotting among us. Intelligent monsters gathering together to ambush Ryan's party. The current monster assault. And most of all, the student carriage being laden with blood magic, which led to this conclusion."
Doris recounted all the instances.
Azek perked up.
Blood magic in our carriage?
So he had discovered it after all.
Azek had also noticed some abnormality in Parcival's behaviour and the carriage with the blood stain but had no conclusive proof. Now he had gotten a definitive answer.
A blood magic circle had been written on the floor of the carriage, and it had attracted the monsters that attacked them.
Doris continued.
"And because someone had already noticed the abnormalities, and two people reported similar coincidences, it is now more than just a suspicion. Parcival's lodging has been sealed, and trace magic shows that a letter was written but never sent outside. But upon examination, there was no letter or any sort of document discovered. It shows that a high-level mage is involved."
Sebastian interrupted.
"Now, do you think that such a person is also behind the current situation?"
"I can't be sure, but the possibility is high."
Sebastian wore a grim expression.
"Then that also means we need to brace ourselves for both an internal and external attack simultaneously."
A magic knight gripped his sword hard. The enemy was among them, already watching their every step.
And they were out in the open.
Now they would see everyone with suspicion, and that would lead to misconceptions and distrust among their own ranks.
In a situation where they needed to be united on one front, they had been divided internally.
The enemy was a step ahead of them.
Azek looked toward Vivian, who was staring sharply out the window.
She had gotten here the fastest and, after hearing a brief report from Azek, came to the meeting.
But their numbers were still pitiful.
It had almost cost one mage and Ryan's life to deal with the intelligent monsters.
And now they didn't know how many would be among the incoming party.
The initial estimated report said five hundred monsters were incoming. And they didn't know if that would be all.
The townspeople were nervous.
There were only fifty people capable of fighting monsters.
Vivian had brought twenty knights with her, but they could only hold the monsters, not kill them. Only small-sized monsters were actually taken care of by them.
And the reinforcements would take another day. Although that would boost their firepower, they consisted of only twelve people.
A heavy silence descended.
Azek raised his hand.
Doris asked him, "What do you want to say?"
"I suggest that we plant traps outside the town."
Doris didn't interrupt him, only raised his brows.
Azek continued. Many eyes were glued to him.
"What I meant is that the entire kilometer outside of town should be littered with magic traps that can be set off remotely."
"That is a good suggestion, but where do you think that much mana would be available?"
Doris didn't get angry, only asked calmly, while someone frowned at the childish suggestion.
Azek spoke.
"Emilene has practiced with wood magic for a while now. And Princess Layana already controls fire with wood magic as well. I have come up with an idea. I think it's better to show you."
He slowly went to the middle of the table.
Vivian straightened up.
Azek demonstrated the whole thing to them.
It was time to make makeshift landmines.