He was back in the highest level he had achieved in his former life.
He was Ian Page, the 8th Class Mage.
It was a perfect return.
“Whew…” Ian sighed as he slowly landed on the ground.
He immediately headed over to his mother and looked over Ladio and Douglas as well.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
Vanessa shifted slightly, careful as not to reveal the Fairy Queen.
Mother and son had decided to address the Fairy Queen by the name of their cat, Espel.
“This is all thanks to her Highness, the Emperor, and… Espel. If it hadn’t been for Espel, we might be in the Underworld by now.”
It was true. It had been the Fairy Queen who had fought against the dragon soldiers on her own.
“Espel…” Ian started.
(I’m fine, human.) A voice sounded in Ian’s mind. It was the Fairy Queen.
Her once energetic voice was now deadpan, as if to hint she was tired now.
(I’m sure you have a lot of questions. But I don’t have anything to say. I don’t how Spartoi turned out this way, or how all of this started…*cough!)
The Fairy Queen wasn’t in the state to converse with Ian. Not now.
It seemed she didn’t know anything, either.
There was only one way to answer his questions.
‘Looks like I’ll have to ask him myself.’
Ian had destroyed all the dragon soldiers, except for us. It was Spartoi, who was still waiting outside the city.
Ian decided to talk to him.
“You’ve done well.” Ian said to the princess. He was considering asking her to clean things up after he was gone.
“Teacher..!” The princess stammered, her eyes glistening with tears. She had done her best not to show it, but she had felt devastated, surrounded by monsters a while ago.
It had been hell for her, fearing they would all face death as she tried to come up with immediate solutions that wasn’t planned.
“I have gotten rid of all the monsters that attacked the city, and haven’t left a single one alive. You will no longer have to lead the people to safety. Let everyone in the city know, and start with the city repairs.”
“Teacher… what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to try the root of all this. I think I may have some idea of what’s going on.”
Ian could have said a few encouraging words to his student, but he kept it formal. The princess simply nodded, as if she hadn’t expected anything. This was an urgent situation as Ian had said.
“Ah.” Ian said, as if he suddenly thought of something. “If anyone makes a problem out of you doing magic, I will give the order of handling the issue as the Master of the Ivory Tower after this is all over.” Ian said as he handed her a piece of treasure.
“You’ll just need to show that to make things clear.”
“…Alright.” The princess replied, and her expression darkened.
She seemed to remember that was supposed to keep her powers a secret.
‘… I had no choice.’ The princess thought. She didn’t regret having used her powers, though. It had been an emergency, and as a 4th class mage, she had simply tried to prevent more problems.
She had been able to save a lot of the people, and saved Ian’s family as well.
Her own comfort wasn’t worth anything near their safety.
‘Now, if only I can protect the people around me…’
The princess was a little concerned about the safety of the people who had kept her powers a secret. After all, she was a 4th class mage, and she was sure there was a way to protect everyone.
“I know you did it to protect your people.” Ian said, keeping his formal tone, but he was saying something completely different. “I will put that into consideration.”
“Ah..” the princess replied. His response sounded like the sweet spring rain.
“Well then..” Ian bowed, and after paying his respects, he was off with a teleportation spell.
His destination?
Outside the city of Greenriverdium, where Spartoi was located.
****
Spartoi, who had managed all the dragon soldiers, was standing all by himself, left all alone. All of his soldiers- tens of thousands of them- had already been destroyed.
However, he only stood in his place staring up at the sky without escaping or coming up with a back up plan. It was as if he was waiting for an order.
“Spartoi.” A voice said.
A stream of light appeared in front of him and took form of a human. It was the mage, Ian Page, wearing a blue robe.
“I need to talk to you.”
Spartoi didn’t respond.
(The bloodline… of Fran Page… ) Spartoi mumbled slowly, just like the empty shells of his dragon soldiers.
(Someone… that needs to be destroyed…)
At that moment – CLANK!
The pieces of bones around them started to make clanking noises.
Could it be magic?
No. Ian didn’t feel the energy of mana.
(Will follow… their ways… )
However, it wasn’t just the pieces of bones around them. The remains of tens of thousands of the destroyed dragon soldiers floated over Spartoi’s head, up into the sky.