Return of The 8th Class Mage

Return of The 8th Class Mage Chapter 20

The Coming of the Crown Prince (5)

*Rooaaarrr鈥?.*

The fire sphere moved through the floor of the gymnasium.

Cecelia knew the spell very well.

Due to its slow flight speed it normally isn鈥檛 used for duels.

Instead, its power was extreme.

She had to jump away to avoid it.

鈥業f I don鈥檛, I will die鈥?

The problem was the barrier that she was casting to protect her from the ice shards.

While casting the barrier, she couldn鈥檛 move.

She had two choices.

Choose to die, or risk her body for a small chance of survival.

Cecelia chose, of course, the second choice.

She didn鈥檛 want to die like this.

鈥淐ancel.鈥?/p>

The barrier that was nearly wrecked collapsed.

As she became free to move, she used her legs to jump as far as she could to avoid the area of effect of the fire sphere.

*Pkkkkht! Pkht! Pkkht!*

The ice shards stabbed her mercilessly.

It penetrated her defenseless exposed body.

*Argh鈥?.!*

She couldn鈥檛 help screaming.

From shoulder, side body, arm and thigh.

Not just the feeling of being stabbed, but the feeling of being penetrated struck her whole body.

It was an extreme pain that a normal person wouldn鈥檛 be able to bear.

鈥業 survived.鈥?/p>

Nevertheless, Cecelia was sure that she made it.

Ice shards didn鈥檛 stab her vital points.

She avoided the area of effect of the fire sphere.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!*

The noise of an enormous explosion shook the whole province castle.

The fire sphere which Cecelia avoided had destroyed the outer wall of the province castle.

鈥淢ana Barrier鈥︹€?鈥?/p>

Cecelia rolled on the floor.

Then she re-cast the mana barrier.

Now Ice shards in the sky no longer threatened her.

鈥淧ant! Pant! Pant鈥︹€︹€?/p>

Her wounded body spewed out blood.

It covered the whole floor where she laid.

But everything was fine for her. People would come soon.

They would heal Cecelia.

鈥楾here is no proof.鈥?/p>

She was satisfied that she survived.

There was no proof. The proof of her real identity. She had no idea how that kid knew everything, but she bet that he had no proof. She was so sure about it. She always acted thoroughly. She didn鈥檛 leave any trails.

鈥楢nd people would be more likely to believe me.鈥?/p>

She was a 3rd class mage of the ivory tower.

She sneaked into the tower and pretended to be devoted to them for 11 years.

She wouldn鈥檛 be suspected by the boy鈥檚 proofless claim.

鈥楢fter I recover from my wounds, then later I will鈥︹€?鈥?/p>

While Cecelia was making her plan for the future,

鈥淗ew!鈥?/p>

Ian came closer to her and sat down.

There was an empty bottle where he had stood.

鈥業t was indeed, half elixir.鈥?/p>

The half elixir that Ledio gave to him as a gift.

Ledio said it would work as soon as he drank it, so Ian had drank it before confronting Cecelia. The result was satisfying. Cecelia was defeated and laid on the floor with a bloody body.

鈥楾here would be some side effect, though.鈥?/p>

His mana was still beating strongly.

鈥淚 would take some credit this time.鈥?/p>

After Ian managed to calm down his heart, he spoke quietly.

鈥淏y arresting you.鈥?/p>

鈥淗aha, can you?鈥?/p>

鈥淥f course.鈥?/p>

鈥淲here is the proof? I am quite sure there is nothing I left behind.鈥?/p>

鈥淵ou are right. The previous time, you didn鈥檛 leave any clues.鈥?/p>

鈥淧revious time?鈥?/p>

鈥淵ou won鈥檛 understand.鈥?/p>

Previous time? Was he bluffing?

Cecelia was caught in an unspeakable fear.

鈥淭he proof even you guys, Coldwalkers, don鈥檛 know.鈥?/p>

鈥淎re you kidding me鈥︹€?鈥?/p>

鈥淐alm down. You will see it soon.鈥?/p>

Later on the situation went as they both expected.

鈥淲hat happened鈥?.鈥?/p>

鈥淭he wall, what鈥??鈥?/p>

Many crowds who were enjoying the party gathered. They were shocked twice. Once by the shattered wall of the province castle, and another time by the bleeding Cecelia.

鈥淐ecelia?鈥?/p>

The other two mages who had come with her ran urgently.

With a single look, she had severe wounds.

鈥淲hat happened? This wound鈥? by magic?鈥?/p>

Suddenly two mages looked at each other.

There were five mages in the Mogrian province.

Including those two mages with Cecelia, and the conducted mage, Marco.

And Marco was absent for tower lord鈥檚 mission.

That meant..

鈥淚 did.鈥?/p>

Everyone鈥檚 eye focused on Ian.

The boy admitted that he destroyed the wall, and wounded Cecelia.

There was a short silence.

鈥淭ell us the details.鈥?/p>

The heavy low voice ended the silence.

The owner of voice was the second royal knight captain, Oliver Raywood.

鈥淲hat happened here?鈥?/p>

鈥淐oincidently, I saw something that the lady over there鈥?鈥?/p>

Ian paused and looked at Cecelia.

Cecelia made a curious face.

What kind of nonsense was he about to say?

鈥淪he was talking to a masked man.鈥?/p>

鈥淗uh?鈥?/p>

By Ian鈥檚 word, Cecelia sneered.

So he chose to speak a lie.

There was no proof nor witness. There was no support.

It made her sneer.

鈥淕o on.鈥?/p>

鈥淲henever she saw me, she tried to kill me.鈥?/p>

鈥淪o you wounded her like that?鈥?/p>

鈥淥therwise, I would have died.鈥?/p>

It was a story that he couldn鈥檛 believe.

Cecelia was the official 3rd class mage of Ivory tower.

And did this boy beat her?

He heard enough about the rumors of Ian.

In the royal palace, and northern territory. Everyone was talking about Ian.

He was a genius like the First Mage.

He cast magics without learning.

He rescued the great landlord, and guaranteed as Eternal Guest for the northern territory.

But still, he couldn鈥檛 simply believe it.

鈥淐an you prove it?鈥?/p>

The story that even captain Oliver couldn鈥檛 believe.

He questioned as formalities, rather than he sincerely believed the story.

鈥淚t seemed they were trying to check something.鈥?/p>

鈥淐heck?鈥?/p>

鈥淪ome kind of sign on their body鈥?鈥?/p>

As Ian paused intentionally,

鈥淐heck her.鈥?/p>

Captain Oliver ordered straightly.

He ordered to check not a just normal person, but Cecelia.

鈥淗ey captain! Enough insulting!鈥?/p>

鈥淒id you forget we are the mages of the Ivory tower?鈥?/p>

Of course, the mages of the Ivory tower complained. Most of the knights would not dare to go against two 3rd class mages. However, Oliver Raywood was different.

*Sururung!*

Rather, he drew his sword and pointed it at the mages.

Other knights would not dare to act like that.

鈥淵, You dare鈥︹€?鈥?/p>

鈥淒ARE?鈥?/p>

The old mage鈥檚 word upset the captain Oliver.

He spoke to them anxiously.

鈥淥ur highness is here. And such a threatening situation just happened here. And one of the mages of the Ivory tower is included, so it is my duty to find out what happened here exactly. And you said 鈥榙are? DID YOU JUST SAY DARE?鈥?/p>

鈥淭, that is鈥︹€?/p>

These mages couldn鈥檛 reply at all.

Although they were mages in high rank, they were lower than royal blood.

Regardless what they think inside, It was the rule and order of the empire.

鈥淭he let us heal her first鈥?鈥?/p>

鈥淒o it later after we finish our job here.鈥?/p>

Oliver reordered.

Considering Cecelia鈥檚 gender, he ordered maids to search her body.

鈥楬ere I met this scary guy again.鈥?/p>

While looking at face of the captain, Ian recalled his former life.

The sword master of the empire, actually, 鈥榯he sword master of the continent鈥? Oliver Raywood.

The loyal knight who served the crown prince until the last.

鈥楬e was killed by mages of Ragnar.鈥?/p>

At the final battle to protect the crown prince, it was him against the current tower lord and his mages, and he killed five men. And all of them were higher than 2nd class mages.

鈥業n history, he was just recorded as a traitor, though.鈥?/p>

The man who reached to the top of top as a knight.

At least, Ian remembered him as it.

He must already have achieved a very high level as a swordsman.

Even mages couldn鈥檛 dare to go against him easily.

鈥淒id you find anything?鈥?/p>

The captain asked the maids.

鈥淪, sorry sir. we couldn鈥檛 find out anything.鈥?/p>

鈥淎re you sure about that?鈥?/p>

鈥淲e checked her several times, but鈥?鈥?/p>

There were no signs, nothing.

Then the two mages raised their angry voices.

鈥淲hat did I just tell you! Did you really suspect one of us?鈥?/p>

鈥淲e better start to heal her! Right now!鈥?/p>

However, Oliver didn鈥檛 listen.

He just looked at Ian and asked again.

鈥淒id you lie?鈥?/p>

鈥淣o, sir.鈥?/p>

After Ian shortly replied, he approached to Cecelia.

While people were wondering his action,

鈥淵ikes!鈥?/p>

鈥淲, what鈥?.鈥?/p>

Ian鈥檚 action stunned everyone in there.

Men turned their head away, and women didn鈥檛 know what to do.

Not just the maids but the great landlord鈥檚 wife and even Margaret.

Furthermore, even Vanessa, who just came from the dinner hall, was also embarrassed.

鈥淗ere.鈥?/p>

Ian didn鈥檛 stop.

Rather, he pulled Cecelia鈥檚 top cloth, around her neck, even stronger.

Her breasts were revealed.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what you are saying.鈥?/p>

There was only one.

Oliver looked at it firmly.

He seemed to feel no emotion about it.

鈥淜eep looking at it.鈥?/p>

Now Ian moved his hand to Cecelia鈥檚 body.

This time, Cecelia was also embarrassed.

鈥淲h, what the hell are you doin鈥?.!鈥?/p>

She was so sure there were no sign.

It was not others, it was her own body.

If there were some kind of signs, she should have known.

At that moment,

鈥淎round here鈥?鈥?/p>

A small amount of mana was injected to Cecelia鈥檚 upper body.

Precisely, the mana disappeared after it hung around on her skin.

Then suddenly a sign appeared.

On the upper side of Cecelia鈥檚 right breast, where the mana had swept away, something was revealed.

A mysterious pattern that lighted as blue.

People had no idea what that pattern meant.

However, they knew what kind of phenomenon it was.

鈥淢ana鈥? inscription?鈥?/p>

It was Cecelia who was shocked mostly.

When was the mana inscription tattooed on her body?

The tattoo which meant Coldwalkers.

鈥業 can鈥檛 believe it.鈥?/p>

She had no such memory.

She never tattooed a mana inscription.

When? Where? How?

鈥淲hat鈥?. did you do?

While losing her consciousness, she leered at Ian.

He must have used some kind of dirty trick.

Otherwise how can it be explained?

鈥淚 saw she was doing something with her hand. it seemed she was controlling mana.鈥?/p>

Ian started his lie without any hesitation.

The lie Cecelia sneered at, now it became trustworthy.

鈥極f course she didn鈥檛 know.鈥?/p>

Coldwalkers had grown up in a special facility.

This tattoo was some kind of 鈥榮tigma鈥?which were tattooed in there.

A stigma which helped managers to manage their young spies.

It happened when she was young, so it was natural that she didn鈥檛 remember.

鈥楢nd I heard it from one of the managers.鈥?/p>

The manager was quite stubborn.

He was the high rank manager of the Coldwalkers. It took a lot of effort to capture him alive.

He endured painful torture for a year.

Eventually, he talked about it out, though.

鈥淒o you have any idea of what this pattern is?鈥?/p>

Oliver asked to other mages.

As if the cat got their tongue, they just shook their head.

鈥淲hat about you, Mr. Page?鈥?/p>

Ian shook his head, too.

He would better pretend to know nothing more.

鈥淗mm.鈥?/p>

Oliver was caught deep in thought.

He didn鈥檛 know the meaning of the stigma.

However, Ian鈥檚 words got some support now.

The situation lead Ian鈥檚 word to be trusted.

It must be inspected in bigger scale.

鈥淗eal her first. I will interrogate her later.鈥?/p>

Oliver ordered to his soldiers.

He looked at the two mages, and said.

鈥淧lease prepare a Mana Prison for her.鈥?/p>

鈥淜hmmmm鈥?!鈥?/p>

Mana Prison was the special magical circle of mages.

A magical circle was an anti magic area that interrupted the flow of mana.

It was necessary to arrest a mage.

鈥淐aptain.鈥?/p>

The vice captain came to Oliver after he finished his order.

鈥淲hat is it?鈥?/p>

鈥淲hy don鈥檛 you order to search near the area?鈥?/p>

鈥淵ou mean we better need to seek the masked man?鈥?/p>

鈥淵es so鈥?.鈥?/p>

鈥淚t鈥檚 a waste of time.鈥?/p>

鈥淗uh?鈥?/p>

Oliver rejected the suggestion of the vice captain.

鈥淲e should not thin our power for meaningless searching. Rather, we should focus our manpower to protect our highness.

鈥淯hm鈥?.鈥?/p>

鈥淒on鈥檛 forget. The reason why we came to the northern territory.鈥?/p>

It was a completely crown prince-centered decision.

And it was a wise decision as his bodyguard.

The vice captain agreed with his point, and he stepped back.

*Click*

Only

Oliver said to Ian after he sheathed his sword.

鈥淚f everything that happened today is true, I will report it to the highness clearly.鈥?/p>

It was an indirect expression that Ian would receive the reward.

That鈥檚 what Ian wanted.

According to the current emperor鈥檚 characteristic, he would ask Ian in a straightforward manner what did Ian want.

If it made sense, he would accept Ian鈥檚 request.

In such a situation, Ian had some requests in his mind.

鈥榁ery many requests.鈥?/p>