35 – Hostage (4) Elaine’s Illustration.
Upon Elaine’s unexpected words, Kael wore a slightly flustered expression.
Obviously, he had expected her to be suspicious.
The demeanor he showed just now wasn’t one a professor would typically have.
‘Considering his behavior before, it’s really not surprising.’
He never would have guessed that she would discover his real identity in an instant.
At first, he wanted to deny what had just been said.
However.
‘There’s no point in denying it.’
Seeing her eyes filled with conviction, he suspected that trying to evade the topic would not suffice.
Cael drew a shallow breath.
And then, posed a question.
“Huu, when did you start suspecting me?”
“I’ve suspected you since I saw you fighting that man’s younger brother.”
“Humph.”
So, she doubted that I was the archmage from that point on?
He couldn’t understand what she meant.
While it was understandable to think that something was extraordinary, in what exact moment did she imagine him as the archmage?
“The Archmage, you probably don’t remember, but the previous Archmage rescued me from a heretic.”
“?!”
Upon hearing this, an event of the past rushed through Cael’s mind.
‘Now that I think of it.’
There were elves who had been kidnapped by the heretics in the past when he was slaughtering them.
Back then, he was so indifferent about his surroundings that he just focused on eliminating the heretics.
Only later did he realize that he had rescued the elves.
‘I wonder if Elaine was one of the hostages at that time.’
Remembering back, during the fight with the people below him, Elaine had been trembling while looking at their magic.
He thought she was just put off by their rough magic, but now it seemed like she was traumatized.
“Nevertheless, it’s time to go back. The others have been worried.”
“Ah, that might be true. But can I ask one more thing?”
“?”
“What exactly is your relationship with my sister?”
She asked, casting a slight gaze his direction with a smile.
Judging by her expression, she seemed to be deeply misunderstanding something.
“We’re just acquaintances.”
“Hmm, I see. Your eyes seemed different, though. By the way, does Maria know that the professor is a grand wizard?”
Well, nothing would change if I lied about this.
Kael nodded in response to the question.
At that, Elaine mumbled with a smile.
“Hee hee, I knew it. Just as I thought.”
Hmm, well, it’s up to Maria to handle that. Can’t be helped.
I silently wished Maria luck and safely returned to the academy.
***
Upon returning to the academy, I headed for the back alley I had visited before.
Soon enough, I arrived at my destination.
“Won’t you be rushing at me this time?”
“Ahahahahaha, how could we possibly rush at the Queen’s guest?”
Unlike before, Sariel’s henchmen didn’t rush at me.
It seems Sariel had done a good job training them.
Being guided by them, I arrived at the door of Sariel’s room.
I knocked on the door without hesitation.
“Come in.”
His words ended as the door opened. It’s as if she was waiting for me, gently smoking a cigarette.
She seemed to know I would come.
“You came later than I expected. What about yourself?”
“I was delayed returning the student.”
“Really? How is the child doing?”
“She’s healthy, so there’s no need to worry.”
I recalled Elaine taking Maria away before I came here.
-Maria, let’s talk for a moment.
-What, what?
Maria’s eyes at that time were pleading for help.
However, for some reason, I felt like I shouldn’t stop it and silently wished her the best.
Maria’s scream echoed in his ears, but he pretended not to hear it.
Anyway, that was beside the point.
“Have you checked the location I gave you?”
“Well, I did, but…”
“But what?”
“Uh… The guy named Cali isn’t there anymore.”
“What?”
He widened his eyes promptly, caught by surprised by the unexpected news.
‘He didn’t seem to be lying, though.’
No, originally, his lie-detecting magic had not revealed that the guy was lying.
“Was it a decoy?”
Suddenly, a thought struck him.
And in agreement with his statement, Sariel nodded her head slowly.
“I thought the same thing, too. It’s likely that they used the kid named Hail as bait, and the boss has ran off.”
“Hmm, were there no traces left?”
“None at all.”
If even Sariel couldn’t find a trace, then it was probably difficult to find him.
“But it wasn’t completely useless.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. You know, the guy named Cali, he’s the boss, right? I interrogated his subordinates, and turns out that guy is a devil.”
“What?!”
He widened his eyes in surprise again at the unexpected revelation.
He had always known Hail to be a traitor.
However, what came out of Sariel’s mouth was the word, ‘devil’.
‘Sariel must have a reason for being so certain.’
She’s not the kind to make such claims without any evidence.
“I never would have guessed that a devil would be in the royal city…”
“You don’t doubt it?”
“Well, you’re the one who investigated. Why would I doubt it?”
“Hmm, okay then.”
At his words, her lips curl into a smile.
Then naturally, she approaches me and wraps her arms around my neck.
“He’s good at casually saying such things.”
“I’m sorry, but the smell of smoke is a bit much. Can you move away?”
“Give me my thrill back.”
With that, she narrows her eyes with a smile.
Then, she takes a shallow breath and opens her mouth.
“But there’s no way you came just because of that. What else are you here for?”
“Do you remember going to look for traces of Liza today?”
“Ah, right, that. What did you find?”
“That’s right. I’ve been meaning to show you this.”
I took out the pendant Liza had left behind in the space ring.
Soon after, I handed the pendant to her.
Then as she looks at the pendant, she makes a puzzled expression.
“At first glance, it doesn’t look normal.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t think we can understand anything right now? It looks really old to be honest. It might be hard to find something with this.”
“Really……”
“Yes. I’ll research it as far as I can and let you know if I find anything.”
“Alright, I understand, I’ll see you later.”
With that, I moved my steps back towards the academy.
***
At the same time.
In a luxurious room, there was a man reading a book in round glasses.
He was Ban von Lionel, the second prince widely known for his benevolent image.
At that usual reading moment.
-Knock, Knock.
A knock suddenly resounded at his window.
Looking and wondering who it was, it was Cali who was collaborating with him.
As Ban watched her, he let out a shallow breath and opened the door.
Just then, Ban asked him in a straightforward manner as he looked at him.
“So, what brings you here?”
“Oh, things didn’t go well.”
“Excuse me?”
Ban’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected words.
Then, he proceeded to ask again.
“What do you mean by that? Did that Sariel woman personally get involved?”
“No, not her. Things got messed up because of a certain professor named Kyle.”
“Kyle, you say…”
Ban, too, had become familiar with the name recently.
From Noble mtl dot com
A new professor who recently made a name for himself at Lionel Academy.
But, what does he have to do with this matter?
“Did that professor do something?”
“Well, if I were to explain…”
After listening to Cali’s explanation, Ban let out a great sigh.
‘I never imagined that things could be messed up due to a single professor.’
Ban quietly looked at Cali.
Then, he asked him.
“Well, didn’t you even think of facing him?”
“Ah, initially I thought so, but after fighting with that guy Kyle, it seemed there was nothing to gain.”
“Hmm. It’s good that you thought that way. I heard that he even won against my sister recently.”
“What? Seriously?”
If it’s his sister, he must be referring to the current hero.
There’s nothing left to say if he had a chance against such a monster.
“You did well not to confront him.”
“Right. Your judgment was good. Then, you should stay here for a while.”
“Huh? Can I? Even though I’m a demon?”
“As long as you’re not a grand wizard, there’s no reason for your identity to be exposed, so stop making useless worries.”
“Ahahahaha. Right, okay. Then what about you?”
“Whatever.”
Ban took off his glasses and closed the book.
Then he looked towards the distant Lionel Academy and said,
“I have to find out who this man called Kyle is.”
***
After Cariel left, Sariel silently examined the pendant.
On the outside, it was a pendant covered with dust.
However, as soon as she saw the pendant, she knew.
That this was no ordinary pendant.
‘Cariel wouldn’t heedlessly show this.’
First, there was a need to brush off the dust that had settled on the pendant.
Sariel took out a tissue and began to wipe the pendant.
Then, after a moment of intense cleaning,
“Hmm?”
She saw a phrase that looked somewhat familiar in her line of sight.
‘Can it be?’
Wondering if it was possible, she began to vigorously clean the pendant even more.
Then, after a moment.
“Huh?”
An unexpected phrase appeared.
It was a phrase said to be used only by the royal family.