Return of The 8th Class Mage Chapter 16:
The Coming Of The Crown Prince (1)
Ian and his convoy had stayed in the village for a while .
Since the village was still recovering from the assault of the thieves, they decided to stay to relieve them .
[The Spearmaster, ‘Luki’ was brave . Confronting thousands of enemies, he wasn’t swayed at all . He trusted the perfect support of the 6th class archmage . Then ‘Dragon Spear Luganis’ was swung and slashed its surroundings while flagging its own red feather… . ]
Under a zelkova tree in the village,
Luca was writing his novel on his notebook while laying his spear with a red feather on his thigh .
“Wait, what kind of magic will that mage use? He’s supposed to support . Hmm, maybe, the ice lance that Mr . Ian used? With a massive amount of them, smash, smash, smash……!”
“I can . You want me to show you?”
“Ahhhhhh!”
With the sudden voice, Luca screamed .
Ian stood right next to him .
How long had he stood here?
“… . . Mr . Mage?”
“I didn’t mean to scare you, I am sorry . ”
“N . . no problem . I am fine . H…ha ha…”
He was making his best smile, but he wasn’t smiling inside .
Thanks to him becoming closer to Ian recently, he was able to manage himself to smile .
Otherwise, he would be **** his pants .
“Dragon Spear Luganis . ”
“…… . yeah, yeah?”
“I can see the red feather on it . So is it… . ?”
Ian said while looking at Luca’s spear with a red feather .
A teasing voice and wink as a child .
‘So he read… . . ’
He hadn’t shown his novel to others .
Well, its first reader was Mr . Mage now .
Luca felt ashamed and wanted to go hide in a hole .
‘By the way, how can he read?’
It was quite an interesting fact that Ian can read the letters .
Although he became a mage, but it happened just a month ago .
Before that, he was just a son of a kitchen maid .
He wouldn’t have had a chance to learn letters .
‘When someone becomes a mage, then does he learn letters automatically?’
It took Luca a few years to read and write letters .
Of course, he didn’t know all of them yet .
He still had to learn many words and a lot of grammar .
“Y . . you can read?”
Luca questioned courageously .
What if magic allowed him to read letters?
It is going to be very useful information .
“Of course . I am a mage . ”
“S . . so a mage can read letters with the power of magic?”
“Of course . A Mage is the best . ”
“Wow… . . !”
Luca took Ian’s joke seriously .
Ian laughed quietly while watching his stunned face .
‘I’ve always wondered, but now I am sure . ’
Ian knew Luca .
Precisely, he knew the book Luca had written .
He never had read it but heard about it .
‘I heard about him when I just decided to leave the capital in my former life . ’
In the Mogrian province, Ian was the most famous .
However, there was another man who had a lot of money and was just as famous as Ian .
‘Luca Luca’
The novelist earned a lot of money .
The novelist used the nickname ‘Luca Luca . ’
Ian was sure it was him who would become a novelist .
Although he wasn’t famous yet .
“Mr . Mage, Here you are . ”
Someone called Ian .
It was the veteran knight, Eric .
“We are now ready to return to the province castle . ”
Ian looked at Ledio’s house .
Since the village was small, he easily found it .
‘Does he need more time?’
Ledio said to give him some time to think .
Ian thought he has given Ledio enough time .
“Ok, let’s move . ”
“Then, we will depart one hour later . ”
Llyod village was restored .
Same as Soil village which was assaulted as well .
The house of Macspadden doubled the number of guard soldiers .
“By the way, Luca, what are you doing here?”
After finishing the report, Eric asked Luca .
“I . . I was taking a rest for a while…… . ”
“While your comrades were preparing to return?”
“I couldn’t see anything that needed help… . . ”
“Are there any more excuses?”
“S . . sorry sir!”
Eric was a knight who was born to a non-noble family .
Thanks to that, he didn’t look down on other soldiers and he was friendly to them .
Of course, he knew his duty and respected his orders .
‘Well, he will have a hard time . ’
Ian shortly felt sympathy for Luca .
Ian walked to Ledio’s house .
Did he need more time?
*Scree…*
At that moment,
The door of the hut was opened .
“Huh? Mr . Mage?”
Douglas and Ian made eye contact with each other .
Behind him, Ledio walked out .
While carrying a huge bag with him .
Not only on his back but in his hands .
“Have you decided?”
Ledio nodded .
“I have no choice . I better live longer at least . ”
Ledio roughly tousled Douglas’ hair .
He decided to survive by any means necessary for his only son .
“Wise decision . ”
“Please keep the promise . ”
“Of course . ”
The enemy of his former life Ian met coincidentally, now joined his side .
It was a good start .
“Have you said goodbye to the village people?”
“I just drank shortly with the village men, only had a few . I was just a stranger who was brewing strange medicine . ”
Ledio’s voice as bitter .
Of course, the village people acted normally .
Ledio didn’t blame them as well .
“S . . sir… . ”
Douglas came to Ian and opened his mouth .
Mages were fearful existences to people .
He acted carefully .
“Can you really… . . can you really cure my father?”
“I promise . ”
“Really?”
“Really . ”
“Then… . You are my captain now!”
“Huh?”
Captain .
What a cute word which suits a young kid .
In his former life, this innocent kid became a man filled with anger and hate .
“Alright . Call me like that then . ”
“Yes! Captain!”
The conversation between young son and Ian who acted like a mature man .
While Ledio listened to this weird conversation, he pulled something from his bag .
It was a flask with a long lid .
“This is my contract gift . ”
Ledio handed it to Ian .
Ian gently shook the flask .
“Something is in here . ”
It was a flask filled with an unidentified liquid .
Would it be the elixir he had brewed?
But normally, elixir wouldn’t be contained in such a flask .
“It’s an alcohol . ”
“Alcohol?”
“I drank it with the other men all the night, and that’s the last one…”
Although Ian acted like matured man, did he just give alcohol to a kid?
“Well, I’m not saying it’s real alcohol . Actually, it is alcohol, but …… What should I say . ”
“Alcohol that’s good for your body?”
Douglas tried to help his father .
However, It wasn’t a description that Ledio wanted .
“It is sort of… . a half elixir . ”
“Hmm, half elixir . ”
“What do you mean ‘half’?”
“It is good for your body but it tastes like alcohol . ”
“Then it won’t make me drunk?”
“It makes you drunk . ”
Then isn’t it alcohol?
“But its effect I guarantee . Unlike standard elixir that increases your power in the long term, It is a potion which gives immediate effect……”
Ledio added a long description .
It was the new side of Ledio which he hadn’t shown to Ian before .
Maybe this was his real character .
It also proved that he decided firmly .
“Mr . Mage!”
Suddenly,
A soldier came to Ian .
“A messenger from the province castle is coming . ”
A soldier pointed to the hill outside of the village .
Indeed, a man was coming while riding a horse .
With the Mogrian flag on his back .
*Clip-clop! Clip-clop! Clip-clop!*
The sound of hoofbeats was closing in .
Ian walked to the entrance of the village .
Other people also followed Ian .
“Woah! woah!”
The rider calmed his horse as he saw Ian .
By his appearance, He was a province soldier .
“Mr . Mage . ”
“You may speak . ”
“You better hurry to go back to the province castle . ”
An urgent voice came from the rider .
“Is there any problem?”
“The messenger informed us that the crown prince has passed Garmath river . ”
“Garmath river? Already?”
“The message arrived today’s morning . ”
Not only Ian, but Eric and other soldiers started to make noise .
Garmath river is the river which is located at the beginning of the north side .
It would take only around two days to the province castle .
‘Why were they informed so late… . ’
In common sense, they should inform the castle ten days beforehand, via communication post . So the province had enough time to prepare to welcome the crown prince .
‘I’d better move quickly . ’
There was not enough time to move altogether .
Unless every one of the convoys and Ledio family rode horses .
“Please lend me a horse . ”
After Ian decided, he said to the rider .
“Do you know how to ride?”
“I don’t know riding technique, and my legs are too short . ”
Ian’s body was too small so he needed a custom saddle .
Due to that, the rider asked in confusion .
“Then how do you… . ”
“I will befriend it shortly . ”
Ian approached the horse while saying that .
While petting the horse, Ian cast a spell on it .
The magic that made him able to control a peaceful animal .
“Taming . ”
Then, the horse waved its tongue to Ian .
Taming magic started to work .
“I will see you there later . ”
Ian rode the horse immediately .
Being honest, he was hanging onto it as strongly as he can .
“Sir Eric, please come along with the alchemist over there . ”
“Yeah? Who is he… . . ”
“I thank you . See you there . ”
After Ian asked Eric to **** Ledio and Douglas, he whispered to the horse .
“Let’s go to the province castle . Will you?”
*Prrrrrgghh!*
As a reply, the horse whined .
It started to run straight to the province castle .
There was no need to pull its bridle, nor kick its stomach .
“……”
Eric suddenly received Ian’s favor .
He gazed at Ledio .
Ledio didn’t avoid his eyes .
It was a totally awkward situation .
“My name is Ledio . I am an alchemist . ”
Ledio tried first to get rid of this weird situation .
“My name is Eric, A knight of the Mogrian knight order . ”
However, after the greeting, the awkwardness started again . (E/N: cue the tumbleweed)
Eventually, they just looked at Ian’s backside which was getting far .
For a long time .