Chapter 29
“Ow!” Bryde cried out, clutching his head.
Curious, the crowd looked over at the sound, but only saw a drunken man with nothing unusual around him. They laughed, thinking he was just drunk.
Nelly peeked out from behind the pillar and let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
The black-robed mage, bundled up, didn’t answer, just neurotically pulled his cloak hood even lower.
“Why did you leave your seat?”
Faced with Nelly’s question, Kal was silent for a moment before answering softly with three words: “Crowded, noisy, annoying.”
After the commotion, Nelly had no intention of staying either. She asked tentatively, “I’m full anyway. Shall we go back to our rooms together?”
Kal didn’t answer, just turned and walked toward the exit, clearly agreeing by default.
The two of them silently walked up the spiral stone staircase, one behind the other. Nelly followed behind Kal, looking at his long robe that dragged on the ground, a little worried that he would trip on the hem.
But as it turned out, Kal was very experienced in walking up stairs in a long robe, and he walked quickly and steadily. It made sense. The mages of Naxier probably spent their days going up and down the Sage’s Tower in their robes, day after day.
Kal’s room was at the other end of the corridor. Nelly watched the black ball of a figure silently walk away and suddenly spoke up, “I wasn’t very nice to Mr. Kal before, and I even suspected you. It was my fault. I’m sorry.”
His figure paused. After a moment, he replied, “Kal.”
Before Nelly could react, the door had already closed.
She was stunned for a while before she figured out what he meant. Did he mean she didn’t have to use an honorific, and could just call him by his name? She walked in the opposite direction, and as she entered her room and glanced at the mirror by the door, the corners of the person in the mirror’s lips were actually slightly curved, betraying a joy she herself hadn’t noticed.
The curve immediately froze, then completely disappeared.
Nelly lowered her head and walked wearily to the window, gazing at the white sails filling the harbor under the moonlight, and let out a soft sigh. The early spring night was filled with a chill, and the breath she exhaled turned into a white mist, further obscuring her hazy thoughts.
Melissa came back very late, her face flushed, and she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. The next day, however, she was refreshed and showed no signs of a hangover. After once again receiving the earnest hopes and blessings of the marquis and a host of nobles, Melissa’s party set out for the port in the morning.
The early spring sun poured down from behind the moving, thick clouds, shimmering on the waves. A medium-sized, three-masted sailboat waited quietly by the pier. Melissa unconsciously read the gilded name on the ship’s side: “Siren?”
The knight who had been accompanying the hero smiled and explained, “In the ancient tongue, a siren is a sea demon, which is to say, a singing mermaid. The sea conditions in the Sea of Mermaids are strange and unpredictable right now, and the Siren is the most resilient and agile of all our country’s ships. It will surely bring Lord Hero safely to Halga’s Keep.”
Melissa nodded with a serious expression and once again bowed to the nobles who had seen them off at the pier.
Although she was usually carefree, Melissa’s etiquette was always impeccable. Nelly couldn’t help but become a little more curious about this hero’s past. Proficient in court etiquette, not good at swordsmanship, but with calluses on her fingers, and good at taking care of people…
“Let’s go, Nelly.” Melissa interrupted Nelly’s speculation and was the first to walk across the gangplank and board the ship.
The cabin of the Siren was not large, and the three of them had to squeeze into the same room. The door to another small cabin opposite them was tightly shut, and they didn’t know who else was traveling on this ship.
The cabin was stuffy, and before long, Melissa had pulled Nelly and Kal up to the deck for some fresh air. Seeing the hero appear, the sailors broke into excited whispers.
The captain and the first mate put a stop to the commotion, and after a brief self-introduction, they gave the order to set sail.
A long horn sounded from the shore, seeing the Siren off.
The sea breeze blew gently, filling the white sails. Seagulls followed the ship’s stern, flying up and down between the churning white spray.
“Are you the Lord Hero?” a voice suddenly asked from behind.
Melissa turned around. At some point, a strangely dressed young man had appeared on the deck. A light, expensive white cloak was loosely draped over his green hair, dragging on the ground, but it was not stained with the dust and seawater on the deck at all. He had a pair of strange, yellow eyes that shone like molten gold in the sunlight.
“Yes, I am the hero, Melissa.”
The green-haired, yellow-eyed young man smiled faintly, his voice having a soft, charming lilt that seemed incongruous for a man.. “It is a great honor to meet you, Your Excellency. Please forgive Gerard’s tardiness in not coming to greet you sooner.” The smile on his lips deepened slightly, and he bowed elegantly, but his posture was not humble. “Gerard, a mage from Naxier in the service of the Lord Marquis of Karinthia, extends his most sincere greetings to Your Excellency.”
This Mr. Gerard spoke in a very roundabout way, and the string of elegant phrases provided very little useful information. He was a mage from Naxier, currently working for a lord, and that was all.
W-wait a minute? Another mage from Naxier? Isn’t the drop rate a bit too high? I thought there were no more than a hundred mages from Naxier wandering outside of Karinthia on the entire continent?!
Gerard seemed to have just noticed the other two besides Melissa and gasped in surprise. He first gave Nelly a nod. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, beautiful lady.” Compared to his attitude toward Melissa, his demeanor was much more coy and arrogant, and he clearly had no intention of talking to Nelly any further, just a symbolic greeting.
Then, his clear yellow eyes narrowed slightly, and he unhurriedly turned around, saying meaningfully to a black shadow that was silently walking toward the deck railing,
“Don’t be in such a hurry to leave, imposter.”
Gerard deliberately broke down the last word into syllables, pronouncing it slowly and with a cadence, an unspeakable mockery.
“What do you mean, Mr. Gerard?” The friendly smile on Melissa’s face was gone. She stepped between Gerard and Kal.
Gerard twirled the end of his green hair around his little finger and laughed in a low, graceful voice. “Gerard just feels that nowadays, anyone can call themselves a mage from Naxier. I can’t help but feel worried and sad for the reputation of the Sage’s Tower.”
Like a mischievous child, he leaned to the side, poked his head out from behind Melissa, and continued to speak to Kal in a sarcastic tone, “Should Gerard perhaps educate the people of the continent on the rules of the Sage’s Tower of Naxier?”
But at that moment, Kal turned around, expressionlessly pulling his hood up to reveal a pair of cold, red eyes. His tone was as light and coy as usual, but like a lyre that had been restrung, every note he uttered was tight and dry. “Most mages from Naxier are chosen at birth and enter the Sage’s Tower before the age of seven, isolated from the world, and can only leave after they have completed their studies.”
He blinked slowly. “But I am not.”
Gerard sneered and seemed about to retort, but Kal gave him an exceptionally flat look, and Gerard immediately fell silent, his lips twisting slightly.
The atmosphere between the two of them was tense, and the surroundings immediately fell silent.
Kal spoke again, his tone flat. “I am indeed not a pureblood who grew up in the Sage’s Tower.” When he said the word “pureblood,” his thin lips curved slightly in a very mocking way. Gerard snorted at this, and before he could retort, he was once again forced back by Kal’s gaze.
Kal slowly pulled his hood down and nonchalantly brushed his long bangs, which fell below his eyebrows, aside, revealing a sharp side to Melissa and Nelly for the first time. He looked at Gerard calmly and said, “But you have forgotten the Sage’s teachings. The only thing that truly proves a mage’s authenticity is their strength.”
He covered his mouth with a loose fist and let out two muffled coughs. “I’m not in good condition right now, which is to your advantage.”
Gerard’s brow furrowed, clearly trying to suppress his anger, and the aura around him distorted slightly.
Kal was still as calm as ever. With a flick of his wrist, he had a quill in his hand. “Well? Do you want to have a go and prove who the real imposter is?”