319 Seth and bad news
“What is the meaning of this? Who is the thief? You must know this is a serious crime!” The guard said.
The other students who set up that were looking at Arthur and laughing. There was no way he would get out of that unharmed.
But then the rank 2 mage who was alongside the guards stepped forward to have a better look at who were the so-called thieves, and when he saw it, he could not believe it!
“Arthur?” He turned around and looked at the guards. “He is a friend, so I can take it from here.”
There was no way the guards would disrespect such foremost authority, so they left without asking further questions, but the students who tried to plot against Arthur could not understand what was happening.
“Seth, what are you doing here? Don’t you have a school to take care of?” Arthur said.
“Well, I am a businessman, and this is for the sake of the school. Also, what are you doing in an inn? Did you lose all of your money betting?”
“No, of course not. Do you have a better place for us?”
“That is obvious. Follow me.”
The four of them left the inn, leaving the students stunned. They did not hear their conversation, so all they could do was guess.
“He is probably a servant or something like that. Even though it is a rank 2 mage, we can still get him during the rest of the trip.”
“That is right. Arthur is probably getting punished as we speak after embarrassing his master.”
While they thought that was the case, the reality was completely different. Seth, the rector of the One Hundred Thunder Academy, had many friends, and no matter what city he went, there was a mansion waiting for him.
“This is a mansion of my friend Rodric. He is out on an adventure, so we can use it.”
“Did you ask him?” Arthur said.
Seth scratched his own cheek and said, “well, of course. Who would use someone else’s house without permission, right? Hahaha.”
Chris and Cheryl wondered what type of relationship the rank 2 mage and Arthur had. For them, a rank 2 mage was an extraordinary existence, and was among the strongest mages of the continent! They still did not believe Arthur was a mage, so the only explanation was perhaps childhood friends or money!
They realized Arthur was rich, so even with no mana, it would be possible for him to befriend someone like Seth.
“I am Chris and this is my sister, Cheryl. We met Arthur along the way, as we are in the same carriage.”
“Oh? Is that so? Where are you two heading?”
“The Scorching Sun Academy. We both got accepted there.”
“Good. I hope you two work hard in there, and maybe we can meet again in the future.”
“Of course!!!” Chris and Cheryl said with vigor, bowing toward Seth, showing their respect.
It was a common thing between mages, and the higher your ranking, the more respectful one had to be when talking to such a person. Seth was a rank 2 mage, so only rank 2 mages could talk with him on equal terms.
“Arthur surely has a strong friendship with Seth because he does not show any respect at all!” Chris thought.
Arthur and Seth talked like equals, but that only happened because Arthur insisted to. He was a rank 3 mage, so even Seth had to treat him with respect, but acted as if Arthur was no mage at all in front of them.
“Me and Arthur will talk privately, but you can walk around and eat anything you want. There are lots of good things in the kitchen.” Seth said.
“Can we use the hot tubs?” Cheryl asked.
“Sure. Why not?”
The mansion had many rooms, so Chris and Cheryl had a lot to explore and enjoy the night they would spend there. As for Arthur and Seth, they went to a small library.
Seth pulled out a random book, opening up a secret passage. A common thing in mage’s houses, so Arthur was not surprised at all. They went down a stair, reaching a room which looked like a laboratory.
“I believe it is safe to talk here. Look, we have a problem.”
“Problem?” Arthur said, trying to think about what it could be, and he had a strong guess.
“Is it the demon continent?”
“What? How do you know it?” Seth said.
It was a thing only the leaders of top schools knew about.
“Well, the Ouroboros rector told me, and I am like the protector of this continent, right? So I must know.”
“Yeah, it makes sense. But listen, the problem is worse than we thought, and perhaps this continent will face dark times…”
“What do you mean?”
“Rumors alright? Don’t jump to conclusions but some rumors are saying this demon continent has a few creatures with the power of a rank 4 mage… If that is the case and they decide to attack us in the future, we are all dead.”
“This is impossible, right? It must have been only rumors.”
“I hope so. Anyway, we have an advantage. Based on our research, the demon continent is far from here, like far, far. To take it to perspective, if they send mages to attack us right now, they would reach the central continent in about 5 years.”
“What the fuck?”
“My exact thought. So, if we take that into account, they will surely first gather a vast army and send the highest number of troops at the same time.”
“Makes sense. It will be harder for them to keep sending soldiers at this distance, and we, as the defenders, have an advantage.”
“Correct. I share the news about this demon continent with all the rectors from the other less strong schools, as they will also help us when the time comes. It might take some years, like 5, 10 or but we must be prepared.”
“Isn’t a good idea to send someone to the demon continent to get more info? I am sure they did that to get more info about us.”
“That is the thing… The continent is too far and we know nothing about it, either. We barely know where it is. So, we would have to send someone to explore the sea and reach a place no human set foot before, a place where it can possible have things as strong as 4 rank mages…”
“What you are saying is that for someone to be the pioneer of this expedition, they need to possess great strength, perhaps like the strongest mage on the central continent…”
“Hehehe, you are quick. There is a reunion to be held in a month with all the strongest powers of this continent, and they will invite you too, and speak about this idea of expedition.”
“Look, it is not like I am not up for an adventure. In fact, this whole expedition into a place no human set foot before is quite awesome, but I still have some things to do, like finding my friends.”
“About that. Perhaps you can ask them to help you? A lot of influential people will be in that meeting, so you can act like, ‘I can go into this adventure if you help me find my friends'”.
“Not a bad idea at all. Can you keep me update about this demon continent thing?”
“No problem. Let’s go back before those two youths destroy my house.”
“Your house? I thought it belonged to a friend.”
“Shhh, he is not here, so it is mine, all right?”
The bright horizon Arthur had in his view was not as bright now with this demon continent of danger. He was not so concerned about it after reaching rank 3, believing he would easily defeat his enemies, but if a rank 4 mage came into play, then it was all doomed.