CH 57

Estian was listening to a report from Kane. “Suspicious, you say?”

“Yes. Word from the Stoan Kingdom is that they dispatched a mage to look after the items just in case, seeing as they were discovered in an ancient underground dungeon.”

“So that mage could be someone sent from The Mage’s Tower…”

“Yes. It seems this is why the barrier of The Mage’s Tower was opened for a while despite it not being the time for that.”

The Mage’s Tower.

As the name suggested, it was an enormous tower where mages gathered. In reality, though, the name referred to the huge city built around a mage tower rather than the structure itself. Unusually enough, the tower was protected by a barrier and so no one could enter outside of designated periods, and of course, no one could exit either.

“That bloody mage lord. Who knows what he’s up to after being quiet for a while. And didn’t they say the barrier of the holy kingdom was broken some time ago? So many suspicious things going on.”

“Indeed. And if the rumors of the saintess going missing is true…” Kane trailed off.

“Who but The Mage’s Tower would do such a thing? There’s no way the saintess broke the barrier and left the holy kingdom on her own, after all.” In fact, the saintess had done just that, but as he had no way of knowing, Estian banged on his table with a faceful of irritation.

Mage Lord Richard. Although he took on the appearance of a young man, he was, in reality, a fox of a man who had lived for centuries. Some even entertained the thought of him being the incarnation of a dragon due to his mighty magical power and unknown age.

“Must I kill the b*stard a few more times to knock some sense into him…”

And a year ago, he suffered a terrible defeat and a beating at Estian’s hands. Estian regretted his actions on that day.

Long ago, he had received a letter from Richard. Dozens upon dozens of various spells had been cast upon the letter—from protection magic to illusion magic—as if crying out to the world, ‘This is the letter of a mage lord!’ Annoyed at having to undo one spell after another, Estian had decided to erase every trace of magic using his black steel blade and opened the letter, wherein lay the following message…

You wish to know about Eugendiph’s Blood? Then why don’t you stop by our mage’s tower? Please contact us immediately!

If the sender’s name hadn’t been Richard and Eugendiph’s Blood hadn’t been mentioned, he would not have spared a second to toss the letter away, wondering how such advertisement letters made their way to the emperor’s office.

In any case, it had been a letter sent by the mage lord himself and so Estian had made time in his busy schedule to visit. What Richard had told him upon his visit, however, was enough to blow his top:

“I never wrote that I knew well about it though? I only asked if you wished to know. But anyway. Welcome, Emperor. Could I just get a barrel of your blood here? And don’t mind the man-size of the thing. You’ll get to know well about Eugendiph’s Blood once we start researching with your blood, so while the order may be a bit messed up, the end result is that my letter told no… Kaagh!”

Richard could speak no more after that.

“So you just conned me—me—is that right, Mage Lord?” Enraged for the first time in a long while, Estian had unleashed an unrelenting wave of beatings on Richard for three days and nights. 

The only reason Richard had managed to stay alive had been thanks to the hundreds of healing spells he had cast on himself, and also because Kane had pleaded to Estian from behind, crying, “There’ll be more work to be had if you kill the mage lord, Your Majesty!” 

Estian’s furious kick had literally sent Richard’s head rolling like a ball across the floor, but his disembodied head seemed to have a life of its own—he had merely muttered to himself, “Come on, would it hurt to give a little?” as if entirely oblivious to the situation.

That had happened a year ago. There hadn’t been much movement from The Mage’s Tower since then, which was why Estian thought that was the end of it, but who knew they would get up to something shady at this point.

“The b*stard. He must’ve been sticking his head back on for the past year to crawl out of the woodworks only now.” Estian muttered to himself, looking down at his arm. He too had suffered countless wounds in the fight with Richard, but now there was not even a trace of them left. This was one of the powers of Eugendiph’s Blood.