Chapter 368: Marie

Chapter 368: Marie

At that time, there was a significant number of black magic initiates like Sein in Mystralora City.

The major divine towers in the Magus World demonstrated a certain level of tolerance and understanding toward these initiates.

After all, black magic initiates were, in a sense, victims—innocent children abducted and forced into the underground.

Furthermore, the frequent abduction of school-age children by black mages reflected poorly on the region’s divine towers and the orders of the knights.

In such instances, the Magus Alliance might penalize the divine towers or orders of the knights in the region. In extreme cases, they might even close down these established entities.

Due to unique geographical and historical factors, Gloomhaven had remained outside any divine tower’s influence.

Even after the Divine Tower of Dawn and other forces had cleared the area of black mages there, they refrained from overextending their reach into that area.

After securing the crystal core of the Rank Four Sandworm King along with other spoils, the Divine Tower of Dawn and its allies progressively withdrew their forces from the Underworld, leaving it once again a region of chaos and desolation.

Some black magic initiates from Mystralora City who had resisted alongside the black mages were eventually eliminated by the combined efforts of divine tower mages and ranked knights.

Fighting against beings of Rank One and above as an initiate offered very little chance of survival.

Even Sein, at his peak initiate status, armed with the Solar Eye spell and his mask, could not guarantee victory over a Rank One mage—the disparity in their life levels was simply too great.

Aside from those who resisted, there were initiates in Mystralora City who either defected to the divine towers or were captured.

Fortunately, among the mages and knights who decimated Mystralora City, benevolent individuals, like Medich, were not rare.

Thus, the treatment of captured black magic initiates was not overly severe.

Sein was unsure of the screening methods employed by the Divine Tower of Dawn but, according to Master Medich, most of the captured initiates were shown understanding and allowed to continue their studies at the Divine Tower of Dawn.

Only a handful with particularly malicious intentions were executed.

Upon Sein’s request, Master Medich quickly retrieved the information of these black magic initiates using his crystal ball.

Master Medich also seemed to recall Marie.

“So, she’s your friend,” he remarked in surprise before nodding and saying, “She’s a good kid. Given your circumstances back then, it’s no surprise that both of you can become friends.”

Rather than sending a message through his crystal ball, Medich took Sein directly to the 336th floor of the divine tower.

As Sein flew behind Master Medich, he already had a hunch about what was to come.

His speculation was finally proved correct when Master Medich pressed the magic doorbell and they were greeted by a Rank One female mage in a yellow dress.

“Master Medich, to what do I owe this pleasure?” the female mage greeted with a smile.

“I’ve missed your yellow mint tea so I thought of coming to have a cup,” Medich replied.

“And this mage behind me is Sein, from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring. He’s a friend of your fifth apprentice,” he introduced before discreetly sharing Sein’s background through voice transmission.

The beautiful Rank One female mage quickly understood the situation and called toward the back, “Marie, your friend is here!”

The sound of shattered glassware was heard.

An exasperated, high-pitched female voice exclaimed, “Angie, what are you doing?!”

Thud, thud, thud!

A sequence of hurried footsteps ensued as a female magic initiate with short, green hair burst out of the laboratory, holding a younger girl with pigtails in a headlock.

“Friends? As if I have any left! I told you to keep Kled away from me!” the green-haired initiate huffed.

However, her frustration was instantly replaced by surprise as she looked up and saw Sein.

Sein, finally catching a proper view of her face, could not help but smile as he greeted, “Long time no see, Marie.”

The younger girl, previously held in a headlock by Marie, crashed onto the wooden floor with a loud thud.

“Marie~!” the younger girl whined in pain.