Chapter 22: Chapter 20: The Warmage Pupil Arc

“This is?” The following midday, the lunch happened to be what I imagined the day before.

“Don’t you like my chicken?” Rubia’s left eyebrow rose in suspicion as she made a theatrical sad expression, since I’ve never once complained about the food she made, plus it was rare for me to take this long to attack a meal.

“It’s not that...” I took a bite of it to prove her wrong, causing a satisfying smile and her hand in a fist shape to hit her heart.

“Ah! That’s right! You can’t possibly resist the taste of my food!” She shouted pridefully and happily, irradiating me and Timo with her blissful aura. The mushroom boy laughed at that, causing some water to escape from his mouth through the small formed gaps on his lips, and a mess to befall on top of his pants.

It was hard for me to contain myself. Therefore, despite my struggles, I ended up bursting into laughter, genuinely at how silly that situation had been. “H-here.” My mouth told the boy, struggling to keep a serious expression as I handed him a cloth to help him dry it. His cheeks became a bit red and, of course, Rubia's loud laughter didn’t help the situation either. It ended up on my own, matching hers, losing the complete composure that I fought so hard to keep. The one that was engraved by my past and Ryhn’s teachings.

Once my eyes returned to the plate in front of me, a thought came to mind. ‘I wonder if it was the chicken the boy poked with the stick...’ Despite my pondering, a commotion happened outside, interrupting my thoughts. Yells and hard knocking reached all the way to us, and by all means, it sounded bad.

“Wait here you two!” Without time to waste, Rubia gave us a fast order that we didn’t dare to disobey. I consented with a quick nod and continued eating. Her eyes didn’t have a hint of fear, so in a way, I felt reassured by them. My own glanced over at Timo, who looked confused, to which I pointed with my left index finger at the plate. Didn’t take him long to resume eating, and not too long after the young woman returned with a bothered look. At that, I pushed down the rest of the food with some water and hit my chest twice to make sure it wouldn’t be stuck.

Then we exchanged quiet stares, but Rubia didn’t mention anything. At this, my heart felt a little heavier, since this time around her eyes looked like they possessed a glimmer of worry, and that crawled upon my skin, one cockroach leg at a time. Without knowing what to do or say, I questioned her in the most neutral way possible. “Is it not safe to go outside?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it, repeated this a few times till her mouth finally opened and her sweet voice flew towards me. “They’re here for our master.”

“They?” I gripped my hand under the table, confused while feeling anxious as it sounded like the peace I obtained at this place was coming to an end. However, before either of us could mutter another word, the walls of the entire house shook and the three of us gritted our teeth madly. The souls within us wavered viciously, knowing fully well whose aura this pressure belonged to, and worse than everything, we felt an emotion mixed in it, a raging one.

Outside of the house, Ryhn held his staff vertically as its base rested on the ground. On the other side, however, a large group of shining white armors remained, whereas similar men dressed in robes stood further in the rear. A portion of his highness's army had come to our base. “What is the meaning of this?” The warmage yelled at them as his aura caused nervousness to spread between them.

One of them took a step forward and rolled what looked like a message, stretching it fully downwards before speaking. “In the name of my father, king Stef Rucal. Ryhn Alankazan, you are hereby sentenced to a trial for treason against the realm.”

On his expression, the warmage lacked the shock that one would usually receive upon such convicted words. The type of revolt an innocent person would have upon being accused and the instant denial that would follow. The man in the front rose his hand, causing many auras to shine behind him.

As much as his highness was kind, if one of the heirs brought the truth of Ryhn's deeds to the surface in the court, then there was nothing he could do but deliver rightful punishment. ‘A rat’s whisper, was it?’ His aura dissipated as he beat the staff lightly on the ground, walking nonchalantly in their direction, causing their tension to alleviate ever so softly.

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“I, Morgar Rucal, shall now take you into custody.” The man lowered his hand, causing the diverse colors on his back to disperse and the soldiers in the front to grab their pummels. 

As soon as Ryhn got close to them, he looked at the prince from top to bottom, and then turned left towards his home without muttering a word, leaving all of them in the dust. “Hey, warmage! Where do you think you are going?”

Right before entering through the door, he leaned his staff on the nearby wall, eventually reaching us in the kitchen. I remained seated as my eyes followed him. He who headed towards Rubia whispering something into her ear. True that I was not able to hear it, but her facial expression looked terrorized. After that, his elderly face turned to me and the whispering continued, causing me anxiety.

‘What are they talking about?’ My right hand rested upon my chest, trying to keep its loud beating as low as possible, but to no avail. Before he left, the old man took a necklace out of his neck and delivered it to me.

I extended my arms to grab it, and then with a calm tone, he added. “If I don’t return, you’ll be in charge of this base and his highness's missions.”

“I-.“ Before I could protest, as I didn’t find myself to be ready for such an important task, he cut me off with more of his words. 

“Worse comes to worst. Your little friend Esteban would have been the culprit for my death.” A menacing tone and an ugly expression on his face said it all. As much as I’d like it to be a dream, it was not. And it pained me greatly, for as much as I told I hated him, deep down there were no such feelings.

“W-what did he do?” Confusion spread through my face. I couldn’t help it as it was hard to believe he would do something bad to us, but it was true I didn’t know him fully. After all, there were plenty of times when he did things he shouldn’t have, but still, something in my heart failed to believe he was the culprit.

“He ratted the orphanage incident. That scum who we spared on your behalf, and the only witness alive aside from you.” I gripped the master's hand while containing my tears, to which he followed with the same gesture before letting go of me and walking out of our house.

As irresponsible as it could be, I couldn’t allow my adoptive father to die, so I placed the necklace on me and then ran after him. ‘Please don’t go Ryhn! There’s still so much I want to learn with you!’

The moment my hand reached out for the handle and I opened the door, a sense of cowardice sunk into my body. All the strong-looking men glanced at me for a second and the pressure they emanated was abnormal, such was their blood-thirst. It was the hostility in its pure raw form. In their minds, I could tell that they wouldn’t feel a thing slicing me in two. Ryhn didn’t add any word, nor did he look at me. Instead, he moved forward through them, forcing all of them to focus their eyes on him.

“Father...” I muttered softly containing the tears within me as an arm followed from behind, grabbing my waist to halt my movement. Me and Rubia stood there glued to one another watching them leave. As painful as it was, a commotion wouldn’t have helped either side. But it still felt frustrating to me to once again remain powerless before what destiny decided.

Thanks to the honorary achievements he did for this kingdom; they didn’t dare to handcuff him or seal his mouth. Since it was a trial, there was a chance this man would retain his honor and save himself. Thus, any wrongdoing actions of today could lead to an ill-fated meeting in the future. The only exception was if the warmage wouldn’t have dropped his staff and fought them instead. In that case, only the strongest side would have remained. And the odds being that today, the king would’ve lost one of his children. Such was the disparity of the man known as Ryhn, the seventh-tiered warmage.

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