Return of The 8th Class Mage Chapter 31:
Invitation Of The Ivory Tower (1)
“Wow… . . !”
“How valuable do you think this would be?”
At the mansion which now belonged to Ian . Ledio, Vanessa, Ian and Douglas were sitting near the treasure box that was given to him by the royal family .
“To earn this much money, I would have to sell potions to the Army for at least 50 years . ”
“What if I were to help you?”
“Hmm, then approximately 49 years?”
“Daddy!”
Ledio and his son were focused on the amount of gold coins in the treasure box . How much would it be worth? That was their concern .
“It was given to my boy Ian… . ”
On the other hand, Vanessa didn’t care about the amount .
She was only concerned that the Emperor gave a present to him .
A present that was given to her son, and not to others .
“By our Emperor who lives in the royal palace… . . ”
The Emperor was the man with the most authority in the Empire .
Thusly, such a powerful man would give such a magnificent present to her son .
It was the best news she could ever hope to receive in her life as a mother .
“Is it the reason he gave me jewels without hesitation?”
Ledio mumbled quietly .
He unknowingly said it out loud .
“Jewels?”
Douglas, who was sitting next to Ledio asked .
“Did you say jewels?”
Vanessa asked about it, too .
Did someone give him jewels as well? Who?
“N . . n . . nothing . Haha . ”
Fortunately, no one asked further about it .
Ledio let out a sigh of relief .
Recently, he kept unconsciously saying what was on his mind .
‘I haven’t been able to control myself since I returned here . ’
The capital Greenriverdium was a nightmare to Ledio . Although he was born and raised here, there were so many bad things that had happened to him here as well . Especially mana addiction . He received that curse in the capital .
‘That mage might already be conducting in another region . ’
The man who caused Ledio to suffer from mana addiction .
When he did that to Ledio, he was a mage who was about to graduate from the academy . About one year had passed since then, therefore he must be conducting in another region . It was a normal process to become an official mage to conduct a region .
‘For a while, I am safe . For a while . ’
As Ledio knew, the average duration of conduction duties was 5 years .
Hence, he still had enough time .
He may leave this area after finding the cure,
or…
‘I have to stick with sir Ian . ’
Ledio had also heard the rumors .
He knew mages better than an ordinary man .
Ian was a genius . An unfathomable genius .
Soon he will be one of the Archmages .
‘I can rely on the stronger side . ’
From commoners to nobles, various people formed the Ivory Tower .
Hence, there was no value behind someone’s origin .
To the Ivory Tower, the value of a person was measured through how much magical power and talent they had .
‘Then, that **** won’t have any choice… . . ’
There existed many ways .
Ledio felt relieved .
“Please, don’t bend your backs and please don’t bow to me . It makes me feel embarrassed… . . I was once a kitchen maid as well . So… . . ”
“Huh?”
After she finished looking at the coins, Vanessa told the maids not to bow to her with sympathy . They were the maids who were sent by the Emperor along with the treasure . They were stiffly straight and bending their bodies low to bow . (E/N: for those unaware, a low bow usually signifies that they are bowing to someone with more power with them? at least I think, it is like that in japanese culture)
“M…Mrs . Page, we……”
“I know how you think . It’s not a thing I can change . Other higher men wouldn’t be allowed to do so . ”
Vanessa was once a kitchen maid of the province castle .
Her rank was lower than most other maids .
She knew how harsh their lives were .
“I won’t force you to sit and take a rest . But please, at least don’t bend your bodies . It will make your backs hurt later . I am one of the victims of such as well . ”
She advised them with her experience .
Once the waist is damaged, it won’t recover easily .
“Hmm, Mrs . Page is so kind . ”
Ledio nodded while watching Vanessa’s behavior .
Compared to Ian whose identity Ledio couldn’t even figure out, his mother was innocent and kind . One would hardly think that Vanessa was Ian’s mother .
“Waist, wasn’t it? The elixir for bones and joints… . . ”
“Daddy, wake up . ”
Douglas, while leering at his father, he stopped Ledio’s action .
“It will cause you big problems . ”
“What kind of problems?”
“She is now a noble, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, because she is the mother of a mage . ”
“So you shouldn’t have a relationship with her… . . ”
“W, what are you saying you little brat!”
Ledio was greatly embarrassed by understanding the point .
He was wondering what Douglas was saying .
“Boss won’t like it if he knew about it… . ”
Still, Douglas was looking at his father suspiciously .
With his stare, Ledio broke out in a cold sweat .
‘He’s daring to go against me, isn’t he?’
As Douglas hung around with Ian, he acted more like an adult .
He was still too young to experience puberty .
‘It can be a side effect I never expected . ’
He decided to take Ian’s deal for his son, but now he regretted it a little .
“Ian . How was the meeting with the Emperor, his highness?”
Vanessa greeted Ian .
Ian had returned to the mansion from the palace .
“You just need to say it to his highness once . ”
“B-but……”
As Ian entered, the maids bent their bodies again . They knew that the young mage, Ian Page, was the boss of this family .
“It seems these coins and maids, all of them are gifts of the Emperor, his highness . I don’t know if we deserve to have it… . ”
“Mom, I told you no more bad times . So you didn’t believe me about it?”
“D, didn’t believe? No way . I just couldn’t imagine this much!”
Truly, she couldn’t even imagine it .
All of a sudden, her son became a great mage in one day .
In addition, he received a call from the Emperor, and was escorted to the capital .
Furthermore, he received these rewards after having a meeting with the Emperor .
‘I couldn’t ever imagine this much even in my dream . ’
Vanessa had lived a very harsh life .
Especially after she had lost her husband . She would happily cry out whenever she heard good news about her son . Because it was her only desire and happiness . However this situation, it was not just a ‘little good’ news, wasn’t it? She still felt like she is dreaming .
“Well, then I should wait longer until you realize what has happened to you . ”
Ian understood his mother .
So there was nothing to feel sad about nor was there a reason to be in a hurry .
She just needed more time .
‘I couldn’t do this in my former life . ’
After she smiled happily, Ian looked at Ledio .
Ian had no idea why, but Ledio seemed nervous .
“Let’s have a conversation . ”
“C, conversation? With me?”
Ledio was freaked out .
What’s going on?
“Why are you suprised?”
“N, nothing . Good . Conversation is good . ”
While murmuring, he leered at Douglas .
There must be something between them .
Ian shrugged his shoulder curiously .
Then, he entered the quiet room with Ledio .
“I want you to brew a potion . ”
“What sort of potion do you want?”
“A potion with this mushroom . ”
Ian pulled out the mushrooms he had collected one by one .
Even Ledio had never seen that grey mushroom before .
It was a natural . It hadn’t been discovered in this timeline yet .
“What is this mushroom?”
“It’s called stone heart mushroom, a poisonous one . ”
“A poisonous mushroom? What sort of potion would you make with it… . ”
Of course, there were potions which were based on poisonous ingredients .
However, the elixirs that Ian had wanted before, such that they enhanced the magical power of a consumer, none of them used poisonous ingredients .
“It paralyzes nerve systems . It stops the heart as well . ”
“This mushroom?”
“Yes . Treat it with caution since it’s a deadly one . ”
It was a scarily dangerous mushroom .
While shaking his body, Ledio looked at the mushroom .
Stone heart mushroom was it? Would it even be recorded on the illustrated book?
“Then what kind of potion do you want me to brew with such dangerous ingredients? I may able to brew a poison, but not a potion… . ”
“Do you know interrogation magic?”
“I do . ”
Ledio also experienced it once in his past .
The **** mage, who caused mana addiction to him, once used it on Ledio .
Ledio knew it very well .
“I want to avoid the interrogation magic . ”
Soon, Ledio understood Ian’s thoughts .
Actually, he was already able to guess it when he heard the words, interrogation magic .
“Can you brew it?”
“I think I can, but is it urgent?”
“It is . The faster, the better . ”
“Hmm… . ”
Ledio thought briefly .
Then he could recite a few ingredients .
He could brew such a potion by mixing those ingredients well .
“Sigh, Douglas won’t like it… . . ”
Ledio spoke out unexpected words .
“Ah, these types of potions need a lot of experiments . To find out whether the potion works properly, or if there are any side effects . Since we couldn’t just try it on a human, we usually try it on animals . Such as mice and rabbits .
Although Douglas wanted to be an alchemist, he had grown up as a normal child . Killing many animals won’t make him happy .
“Douglas may cry out and beg me not to do experiments on animals . ”
“I will try to persuade him . ”
It won’t be that hard . Ian nodded his head .
Suddenly,
“Sir Ian . ”
A maid’s voice could be heard through the door .
“The ivory tower sent you a letter . ”