VOLUME 10: CHAPTER 10

Out of all the Royal Court Magicians, Elias ‘Farsight’ was the only one who refused to live inside estates or mansions. Despite being employed by the royal family, he lived a frugal life akin to a commoner. He did not have vices, and the house he lived in, despite being located in the Inner District, was only a bit larger than a shed.

Everyone knew that Farsight had enough wealth to buy a mansion or two, but the reclusive archer refused to do so. He did not employ any servants, for he hated mingling with other humans.

“Lord Elias! Lord Elias!”

A few hours before noon, someone started banging their fists against the door of Farsight’s house. The voice sounded so frantic and desperate. It was close to crying.

“Lord Elias! Please! Are you inside!”

The small wooden door creaked open, revealing a man with strikingly-pale skin and deep, black eyes.

“What is it?” said Elias ‘Farsight’.

The archer recognized his visitor. The man, who was close to crying, was one of the alchemists in the Alchemy Tower.

“Lady Ropianna!” croaked the man. “S-She… She’s been attacked by unknown assailants!”

For a moment, Farsight’s mind went blank. His eyes turned sharp as murderous intent started oozing out of his body.

“Tell me what happened,” said Farsight.

With a trembling voice, the alchemist started recounting everything that transpired in the Alchemy Tower. According to him, an hour ago, one of the alchemists who was supposed to assist Lady Ropianna with her research found the old woman lying in her own pool of blood. Something had pierced her chest, barely missing her heart.

According to the assistant who found her, it seemed that the Royal Court Magician had cast a basic healing spell on herself before she totally lost consciousness, enabling her to temporarily close the wound in the process.

It was a close call, and had it not been for the herbs and elixirs stored in the fifth floor of the Alchemy Tower, she would have already lost her life by now.

“How… is she?” said Elias, his voice trembling from rage.

He was born an orphan, and although he refused to admit it, the old woman was like a mother to him. This was also the primary reason why he accepted the position of a Royal Court Magician despite his reclusive personality.

“Those who attacked her also stole the healing potions stored in the fifth floor of the Alchemy Tower,” said the assistant. “Thankfully, Big Mona was carrying out a transaction on a building nearby. He was carrying a vial of a low-grade healing potion with him, and he willingly gave it to us after learning of the incident. Although her wounds had been completely healed thanks to the potion, she still hadn’t regained her consciousness.”

Considering the fat merchant’s personality, it was no wonder that he was always carrying such precious potions with him. That merchant had a lot of enemies, and he was afraid of dying. It was fortunate that Big Mona’s meticulous personality ended up saving Lady Ropianna’s life.

Elias vowed to repay this favor to Big Mona someday. But for now, he would find the culprit, tear his limb into shreds, and feed him to the lagmyx.

How dare they lay their hands on such an old woman!

“The healers said that due to her age, it would take several days before she could regain consciousness,” said the assistant.

Elias sighed in relief. At the very least, the worst had come to pass.

“You said the incident occurred around an hour ago?” said Elias.

“We believe so, Lord Elias.”

Elias gnashed his teeth. As the best archer in the kingdom, it should still be feasible for him to track the trails of those assailants.

Without uttering another word to the assistant, Elias donned his cloak, and grabbed his bow and quiver. He channeled mana into his body, and sped toward the Alchemy Tower.

***

A crowd had already formed outside the Alchemy Tower by the time Elias Farsight had arrived. Dozens of soldiers from the Patrol cordoned the streets, preventing passersby and onlookers from coming closer to the Tower. Even Commander Danack, who’d been stationed in another area, was present.

“Lord Elias,” said Commander Danack the moment Farsight arrived. “You’re here.”

“Danack!” Farsight bellowed at him. “What are you doing! The King granted you several Blackstone Knights as escorts to aid in the security of the city! How could you let something like this happen!”

It was the first time Commander Danack and the members of the Patrol saw Farsight show an outburst of emotion. The man was always calm and stoic, even when faced with danger. But now, his entire body was trembling, and his eyes were bloodshot with rage.

For a moment, Commander Danack had the urge to avert his gaze. He said, “I have no excuses. This is an oversight on my part.”

Mana started surging out of Farsight’s body. His fingers started twitching. He wanted to riddle Commander Danack’s body with arrows.

“The security of the Alchemy Tower was entrusted to the Patrol,” said Elias in a spiteful voice. “If I knew this would happen, I would have asked His Majesty for more soldiers.”

Commander Danack hung his head. He didn’t refute any of Farsight’s words. Indeed, this wouldn't have happened if they had stationed more people here instead of prioritizing the safety of those living in the Inner District.

“I will willingly step down from my position,” said Commander Danack. “But for now, please let me help resolve this incidence.”

“That old woman dedicated her entire life to this Kingdom,” said Elias. “She’d been serving the Royal Family – the Kingdom – even before you or I were born! Is this how we repay her?!”

The members of the Patrol who heard this lowered their heads. They, too, were ashamed of what happened.

“Give me access to the upper floors,” said Elias. “I’ll be sure to track down those damn bastards.”

Commander Danack and the Alchemists of the tower willingly granted Elias ‘Farsight’ entry to the restricted parts of the tower. When Elias saw the dried pool of blood on the fifth floor, the bloodlust he exuded became even stronger.

Elias’s deep black eyes scanned the entire room. The ground, the shelves, the ceiling, the doors. His eyes, capable of seeing through concealment spells, tracked the lingering flow of mana in the air. He was a beast searching for his prey.

Following the lingering mana, he arrived at the secret passageway. He clicked his tongue upon realizing that this was the reason why the assailants easily breached the magical defenses of the fifth floor.

‘Over there.’

Elias continued following the trail of mana. Seeing that Elias had started tracking down the culprits, the elites of the Patrol started following Elias. They, too, wanted to punish those fools who dared harm Lady Ropianna.

Elias jumped and ran through roofs, crossed streets, and passed through the wall separating the Middle and the Inner District. Eventually, he arrived at the newly built temple of the Water God. Elias carefully analyzed the flow of mana around him. Following it, he reached a gated mansion.

“The trail ends here,” said Elias.

For some reason, the trail of mana vanished entirely at the gates of the mansion.

The elites of the Patrol who’d been following behind Elias all this time were stupefied upon reaching the place. If they weren’t mistaken, it was the mansion where the envoys from the Great Empire were currently staying.

“A-Are you sure this is the right place, Lord Elias?” said one of the Patrols.

“There’s no mistaking it,” said Elias.

“This is where the envoys from the Empire are staying,” said Commander Danack.

Elias channeled mana into his eyes. He scanned the mansion for the presence of any strong magicians.

“There are eighteen of them,” said Elias.

“Pardon?” said Commander Danack.

“There are eighteen powerful magicians inside that mansion,” said Elias. “The culprit must be among them.”

As expected of ‘Farsight’. Without even entering the mansion, he was able to pinpoint the number of people capable of carrying out that assault.

“But, what if it’s not a magician?” said one of the patrols.

“That’s impossible,” said Commander Danack. “What we’ve been following until now are trails of mana. The culprit should be capable of magic. It wouldn’t make sense, otherwise.”

“A strong magician…” mumbled one of the patrols. “The man called the ‘Triple Cast’. One of the royal court magicians of the Empire.”

Based on the evidences, the most probable culprit behind this incident was that royal court magician from the Empire. With this, things had just taken a convoluted turn.

Commander Danack said to Elias, “This is related to diplomatic matters. Please let me handle this.”

Elias nodded, his eyes still glued to the mansion. Even now, he was monitoring the movements of the eighteen magicians.

Commander Danack cleared his throat. He amplified his voice with mana. “I am Danack, Commander of the Patrol of Behemoth City. An incident occurred a while ago, and we request your cooperation.”

The elites of the Patrol locked the gates, and several of them also went to the walls, preventing anyone from escaping through them.

Princess Luna, who seemed to have hastily worn her morning gown, went outside, accompanied by several magicians and imperial soldiers. Following several steps behind her was Jacob ‘Triple Cast’ Fraser.

“What’s the meaning of this?” said Princess Luna in a displeased voice. “To suddenly barge into an imperial envoy’s residence—”

“—Apologies,” said Commander Danack. “Someone had snuck into the Alchemy Tower and nearly killed one of our royal court magicians. Following the culprit’s trail led us to this mansion, Your Highness.”

Princess Luna couldn't believe what she’d just heard. She read the thoughts of Commander Danack and confirmed that he was indeed telling the truth.

“With the power bestowed upon me by His Majesty, as the Commander of the Patrol,” said Danack, “We shall now search through the mansion for any trails and clues. We ask for your cooperation.”

“The culprits stole several medicines from the Tower!” said Commander Danack. “The items must still be inside! Search the mansion for any evidence!”

“Yes, Commander!” said the members of the patrol.

The patrol immediately went toward the mansion’s entrance—

—they tried to.

To everyone’s surprise, Jacob Fraser stepped forward and cast a simple wind spell to block the entrance.

“What are you doing?” said Elias Farsight.

“I should be the one asking that,” said Jacob Fraser.

“You!” snarled Elias. “You did it, didn’t you!”

Under normal circumstances, Elias would have stayed coolheaded. This was the first time in his life he’d felt such extreme hatred. He could still vividly remember the dried pool of blood on the fifth floor of the Alchemy Tower.

“How distasteful,” said Jacob Fraser. “Accusing people you’ve met for the first time. Is this how the Kingdom handle things? How arrogant. You didn’t even show proper courtesy and respect to Her Highness, and you expect us to cooperate?”

Mana oozed out of Elias Farsight’s body. He grabbed his bow from his back and took out an arrow.

Jacob Fraser smirked. Mana also started oozing out of his body. “A bow user. The moment you nock that arrow on your bow, I’ll blow off your head.”

“You’re threatening me?” said Elias.

“That’s right,” said Fraser. “Let’s see which is faster. Your arrows or my spells.”

Beads of sweat started forming on Princess Luna’s forehead. She looked at Jacob Fraser, at Elias Farsight, then back. She quickly read their thoughts. She realized that Jacob Fraser wasn’t the culprit Farsight was looking for.

But how would she explain this to them?

The two of them seemed itching to kill each other.

Using the corner of her eyes, Princess Luna gazed at the Morton Twins. The two were smiling in amusement, and the older brother was even licking his lips from excitement.

Quickly, she realized that the two must have been the culprit.

‘No, it’ll be a big problem if Jacob Fraser and that archer end up killing each other!’

Princess Luna quickly stormed her mind for any possible solution to the current problem.

“Stop!” shouted Princess Luna. She jumped in between Jacob Fraser and Elias ‘Farsight’. “That’s enough!”

“Princess…” said Jacob Fraser. He didn’t expect the sheltered princess to fearlessly jump between the two of them.

“W-We’ll cooperate, so please stop fighting!” said Princess Luna. She moved closer to Jacob Fraser and whispered, “I know that the Morton Twins came together with us, disguised as mere soldiers. I’m certain they were the culprits.”

Jacob Fraser raised his brows in surprise.

In the end, after much deliberation, this was the most ideal solution the Princess arrived at. She decided to reveal that she knew about the twins to the royal court magician.

“Princess,” said Jacob Fraser in a low voice akin to a whisper. “You… how did you know?”

“That doesn’t matter,” whispered Princess Luna. “We shouldn’t carelessly fight against the Lukasians, Lord Fraser. We’ll only end up doing the twins a favor.”

Jacob Fraser still held several questions in his mind, but decided not to ask the Princess for now.

Currently, what mattered the most was resolving the misunderstanding between the two groups. The Princess was right. They would end up doing those bloodthirsty murderers a favor if they started fighting against the Lukasians.

While they were deliberating on how to resolve the issue, an unexpected question came out of Elias Farsight’s mouth.

“The Morton Twins,” said Elias Farsight. “Where are they?”

Fraser and Princess Luna’s eyes widened upon hearing this. They realized that the archer’s hearing was so keen that he could even hear the whispered words of the Princess, even from that distance.

The Princess’ gaze subconsciously moved toward the Morton Twins upon the mention of their name. Elias Farsight followed the Princess’ gaze. Although the twins were currently wearing the armor of an imperial soldier, their disguise was useless. Farsight could clearly see the flow of mana in their bodies. It was the mana of a high-ranking magician.

“Is it you two?” said Elias.