I Got a Fake Job at the Academy
chapter-4

“Get out of the way!”

"It’s a disturbance!"

The wizards lined up while pushing the others who were blocking the entrance.

They stared at the man who stood alone in compartment number four with a slightly strained look.

He wore a black frock coat with golden embroidery thread over a neatly fitted suit.

He had long black hair tied tightly around the back of his neck.

He even had sharp eyes that felt colder than the chilly wind raging outside.

Everything from his appearance to the energy that he radiated was unusual.

In fact, their compatriots who had stormed from the rear of the train had been sent to the hereafter by his hands.

‘Who the hell is this guy?’

The terrorist who led the train raid frowned at the man in front of him.

He didn't think there would be a wizard like that on the train.

Was it too late to find out who he was before they fought?

'No, I don't care what happened. We have five wizards here.'

They had recruited high-quality manpower knowledgeable in magic.

Even if there were internal security personnel, they could be swept away with an overwhelming force.

He didn't expect that there would be a wizard, but there was only one opponent. Even if he was outstanding, he would not be able to counterattack anymore since their side had five wizards.

In addition, Mayhem, who could be called the leader among the wizards there, was a fourth-rank wizard.

'He'll never be able to counter unless he is a well-known wizard with at least five ranks.’

There were only a few wizards on the whole continent who were as capable as that.

In particular, if he had achieved the 5th rank or higher at such a young age, rumors would have already spread.

Then the highest rank he could be was four.

That was precisely equivalent to Mayhem.

Perhaps the man in front of him knew it, so he didn't use magic willingly.

"Hmph, there are five wizards. Of course."

"It's surprisingly quick for you to concede. But it's still too late."

"Then I have no choice but to change my way of fighting a little bit."

The man said so, then soon threw himself out of the wrecked train while the hem of his frock coat fluttered.

"Oh, oooh? Did he just jump?"

"Did he choose suicide because he knows he can't win?"

The terrorists were confused.

One of the wizards stuck his head out over the broken bulkhead just in case, but nothing was seen under the distant cliff.

"I think he fell down and died!"

"I thought he'd do something, but he was just a coward."

The moment everyone was about to come to such a conclusion.

Whoosh!

A flash pierced through the head of the wizard who was sticking out his head.

The unbalanced body tilted forward and fell outside the train.

"Wh-what!"

"Hanson is dead!"

Dead? Why? More than that, where did that flash come from?

While everyone was confused, Mayhem, the leader of the wizards, frowned and looked up.

"On the roof! He's on the roof!"

"On the train's roof? But didn't he jump outside a while ago?"

"Did he use some flying magic?"

"Is it possible to catch up with the running train and get on its roof with flying magic?"

"Shut up and go after him!"

***

'What a shame. I was going to take down another one after they let their guard down.’

There was a chaotic noise coming from below.

Because they had found out I was alive, they were going to attempt to kill me with all their might.

I had pretended to jump off the train, hung onto the wall, climbed up, and prepared to catch them off guard.

I couldn't help but be satisfied by taking down one of the five wizards.

"Hurry and go up!"

"Kill him!"

A voice rang in between both compartments, and soon they began to climb up the roof one by one through the ladder.

But it wouldn't be that easy.

I waited and fired a tangible magic power at them as they appeared, and then I turned my back before running toward the rear compartment.

Those who were about to climb up had no choice but to go back down due to the attack that flashed across their heads because a roof without shelter made them the target if they climbed it.

Thump thump thump thump.

As I ran with loud footsteps on purpose, the guys who were standing by in the compartment also heard the sound and chased me.

"To the back! He's heading back into the rear compartment!"

"Chase him!"

It was so easy to get them to follow.

It seemed that getting rid of that one wizard had made a quite big impact.

Did it mean that even if each of them committed suicide and blew themselves up, it wouldn’t be acceptable for their colleague to die at the hands of others?

What a contradictory mindset.

'I'm the one who's more thankful if you come out so willingly like this.'

‘The more you do that, the easier it is for me to deal with all of you.’

* * *

* * *

The terrorists were split in half to catch the wizard who had fled to the rear of the train.

Since their opponent was a wizard, it would be a hindrance if he wasn't fought by fellow wizards.

Except for a few people who would assist the wizards, the rest of them decided to aim for the first class of compartment number one that had yet to be pierced.

The wizard troops were heading to the rear as they were separated into two groups from compartment number four.

"Damn it! Where is he?"

"What about our compatriots up there? Why aren't they saying anything?"

"Anyway, let's go to the back!"

As soon as he led the group and hurriedly opened the door…

Booooom!

The door exploded, and a bright red flame engulfed the terrorists.

In an instant, the five people turned into black charcoal and collapsed on the ground.

The magical flame was extinguished like a candle after fulfilling its role faithfully.

"You… you wretch!"

"I can't believe he set up a trap in front of the door!"

Mayhem, the wizards' leader, looked at the bodies of his dead compatriots and became silent.

'In that short time, he installed a spell trap in front of the door?'

The man’s swiftness was astonishing, but what made Mayhem even tenser was the decisive action that he saw.

Usually, the aristocratic wizards he knew were extremely reluctant to move their bodies because they had been weakened due to arrogance since their birth.

Whenever they used magic, they spread out their spells as if they were showing it off and others stood from their seats.

But the man he was chasing wasn't like that.

'When his situation seemed to be disadvantageous, he immediately ran away and then lowered the opponent's guard and made a surprise attack. That can't be the way a normal wizard fights.’

He was extremely practical and thorough.

Isn't that kind of move more similar to a mercenary or a hunter than a wizard?

'What the hell is he…’

At first, Mayhem had thought he was just a wizard who had killed his compatriots.

After all, most people on the train were aristocrats or wealthy merchants.

They were all the ones who sucked the blood and sweat of poor commoners and stood on top of them.

It should’ve been easy enough for them to kill one person.

'But he's different.'

‘What the hell is his true identity?’

Mayhem, who was getting concerned, opened his mouth with a heavier expression.

"Everyone, be careful. From now on, we take the lead. We don't know what kind of traps he might have installed, so move as carefully as you can."

"Yes!"

Led by Mayhem, the wizards took the lead in checking if there were any traps installed in the corridors or walls.

As a result, they spent a considerable amount of time whenever they crossed the train's compartments.

"Don't be impatient. He can't get away from the rear of the train anyway."

After all, he was like a rat in a trap.

For the moment, it was obvious that he had fled to the rear compartment.

Mayhem, the wizards' leader, walked slowly before he suddenly stopped.

He felt an indescribable sense of wariness.

He quickly realized why he suddenly felt so restless.

Clang! Creaaaaak!

There was a loud noise from the rear of the train.

The slow-moving terrorists instinctively realized something was wrong when they heard the sound.

"Damn! The train separated, and he ran away!"

His rising anger had made him too late to realize.

In the first place, his opponent didn't have to fight them—all he had to do was drag for time and run away.

He had purposely set a trap to raise their alert and buy time.

He was trying to escape safely by moving quickly to the last compartment.

"Chase him! Don't let him escape!"

They dropped their caution, they had no other intention than to chase and kill the wizard who had installed the traps and run away.

They rushed throughout the train and soon arrived in the last compartment, number 12.

As soon as they opened the door, all they saw was the snowy mountain range and railroad, not the view of compartment number 12, which was supposed to be there.

Mayhem clenched his teeth.

'I made a mistake. I kept reminding myself that he didn't have to fight us.’

‘I overlooked an important fact because I was angry.’

Who would have expected that the opponent would run away with such determination?

"Damn it, did we lose him?"

"That brat. I've remembered his appearance. We'll definitely find him and kill him."

When everyone was staring outside with their teeth clenched like that…

Mayhem felt a powerful wave of mana from behind and got goosebumps all over his body.

"What is this…”

He turned his head in a hurry and looked at his back.

And what he saw was definitely the man who should have disappeared along with the separated compartment 12.

"Why is he here…”

But it wasn't the man's existence that mattered the most.

The most important thing for him to pay attention to was the spell that was completed in front of him, almost on the verge of being activated.

It was a very ferocious and dangerous kind of elemental magic.

"Everyone, dodge!" Mayhem shouted as he boosted as much mana as he could.

With insufficient time to dodge, he raised his defenses as much as possible to create the strongest possible barrier of mana.

Whiirrrrr!

Shortly afterwards, a huge spell engulfed the entirety of compartment 11, sweeping the interior like a storm.

It was a dazzlingly white flame.

The flames had the same color as the blizzard that softly swirled outside.

It swept away all the terrorists who had not yet been able to evacuate or respond.

***

"Is it over?"

I murmured as I watched the flame spell gradually disappear.

They had been focused on thinking that I had run away with compartment 12.

I'm sure they were. If I dug a trap, stalled for time, and disconnected the compartment in the meantime, anyone would think so.

But it was also a trap.

At first, I had run away, pretending to stall by making a surprise attack.

My escape was also nothing more than a trick to deceive them in the end.

It was also helpful that they were properly angry.

Thanks to that, I was able to control their movements and gather them in one place for an ambush.

'It looks like there are still some bastards left in the lead compartment, but I've dealt with all the wizards, so it doesn't matter.’

I was thinking so, but something rose from the rubble.

"So you've managed to survive."

"You damned…"

It was the wizards' leader who got up. At the last moment, he had saved his life by spreading a barrier and holding on behind it.

But that was all.

His physical condition was horrible enough, so he was only just clinging to life.

He had blocked the attack, but maybe he couldn't completely block all of it, so his face was half-melted, and his whole body was burned. Even one of his arms was missing.

Even just breathing seemed painful to him, so I decided to leave him alone because I thought he wouldn't be able to endure it for long anyway.

"Why on earth did you kill them? Don't you feel sorry for our fellow compatriots who work for the world?"

“What?”

I was wondering what he was talking about, so I thought it was a new kind of bullshit.

When I closed my mouth in confusion, he glared at me with an angry stare.

"Don't you feel sorry for the people who died by your hands?"

"I originally thought you were crazy, but you’re even crazier than I thought."

“What did you say?”

"You're the ones who raided the train and killed all the passengers, so what are you talking about?"

That was why I was dumbfounded.

Those guys had attacked the train and killed any passenger they had seen.

He was treating me like a bad guy because his colleagues were dead, so I was honestly just annoyed.

"They were already cheap, so they deserved to die!"

"Wasn't it you who tried to kill me in the first place? We already decided to kill each other, so why are you talking about what's wrong with me now?"

"That… that's…”

"If they couldn't kill me, they should die."

"You… Who the hell are you?"

He gave up his argument and asked me about my identity.

But I couldn't answer that.

Because beyond him, I saw countless shadows flying toward us from the outside.

Claaaang

A white flash of light sparkled through the widely opened back door and split the wizard in half.

Thud!

A solid line was drawn from the top of his head to his groin, and as soon as the white shadow jumped over the wizard and landed on the ground, his body split apart and collapsed to both sides.

Blood did not flow out of the body because the separated sides were frozen with white ice.

Beyond the fallen body was the image of a female warrior with a waving white cape.

"Are you alright?"

When the woman looked back at me and asked me in a concerned tone, I answered with a nod.

The pattern on her shoulder plate was the shape of a pure white eagle.

It was a sign of the Frontier Knight Guards, who were in charge of protecting the empire.

"I hope you can feel at ease now. The Frontier Guards have arrived."