Return of The 8th Class Mage Chapter 41:
“Sir Oliver?”
Ian was surprised . It was Captain Oliver .
The reason Ian was surprised was due to Oliver’s tuxedo .
Ian hadn’t seen him wear anything but heavy armor .
He looked quite awkward wearing formal attire .
“Sir Ian . ”
It seemed that he didn’t like his current appearance either .
Even without Ian asking,
“His Highness, The Crown Prince ordered me to do so . ”
He told Ian why he was wearing a tuxedo .
It seemed the crown prince had invited him as well, and he might have been ordered to wear formal attire and not armor .
“I guess you are better suited to wearing armor . ”
“Khm!”
With Ian’s joke, he coughed .
He has never shown this embarrassed side of him before .
He wasn’t the type of man for the Fashionable Society .
“………”
A silence followed after Ian’s joke .
It was Oliver who broke the silence first .
“…… . . I heard about it . ”
“What did you hear? What are you talking about?”
“People are saying that you defeated archmage Helene in combat . ”
“You heard about it? That’s strange; the Ivory Tower usually prefers to keep their internal activities a secret . ”
“Without intelligence activities, there is no use for knights in this era . ”
In this era .
It was an era where mages are considered as the strongest force available .
Swordsmen were just consumable units . Or considered as housekeepers .
Or even as decoration .
Oliver’s voice had an edge of bitterness to it .
“And I read the letter you had sent to highness, as well . ”
“So, is that part of ‘intelligence activities of knights’ as well?”
“No . The crown prince highness showed me directly . ”
Ian tried to make a joke, but Oliver didn’t sway this time .
“I was surprised . Your born talent can explain why you became Archmage at a very young age, those sort of things . However, the content of your letter… . . It seems you know not only the political circumstance of the crown prince, but also see through his characteristics as well . ”
The current circumstances the crown prince confronted and his characteristics .
Like in Ian’s former life, it was headed for the worst case scenario .
Nobody considered the crown prince to be capable of taking the position of the emperor .
Even his royal servant, Oliver as well .
“It made me suspect whether you are just a young boy . ”
“Haha, I just went through a complex life……”
Ian made an excuse .
Oliver had a sip of alcohol .
Although he didn’t look like he was drunk, he was .
“However, the most surprising thing was that His Highness, The Crown Prince tries to listen whenever you say something . He even ignores the Emperor’s order, but he listens to the advice of a young mage . ”
To Oliver, it was an amazing thing .
It seemed the crown prince might be able to change into a better man .
“So, I have to confirm . ”
“Confirm?”
“Who did you choose?”
Oliver had to find out .
Whether Ian was a powerful ally or a dangerous enemy .
“It doesn’t matter who you support . It will rather be who do you stand for . As I know, the Ivory Tower supports the 5th prince . So I want to ask . Are you standing with the Ivory Tower?”
His question was straight .
It wasn’t a proper question for a young kid .
However, Oliver was serious .
Age didn’t matter to him .
He already saw Ian Page’s power .
Due to Ian’s letter, he already knew Ian’s capabilities .
Also, he already felt his bravery at his mansion a few months ago .
“I think you are drunk . I didn’t make a choice……”
“Sorry, but I need a clear answer . So I can judge,”
Suddenly, Oliver’s eyes shone .
His monstrous mental focus had drawn away from the drunkenness at once .
“Ally or enemy . ”
The mage of the Ivory Tower, who may be able to control the crown prince .
Oliver had to define this dangerous boy clearly .
Oliver could choose a different prince and be the most famous and glorious knight in history .
However, he chose to be the first knight of the crown prince .
So, he wanted to find out .
“It’s a meaningless question . ”
Ian opened his mouth slowly .
It wasn’t the answer that Oliver wanted .
“Who would speak the truth in this situation?”
What he said made sense .
He could just lie to him that he will support the crown prince .
There was no point to the question .
“Whether you speak lies or truth . ”
However, Oliver wasn’t a fool .
He already considered that .
However, the reason he was so desperate was,
“I will decide to believe it or not . ”
Because he saw some possibility from Ian .
He concluded that Ian might support the crown prince .
“Well, I don’t know yet . ”
“I only want a clear answer . ”
“But I really don’t know . ”
Ian replied seriously .
He never planned to support someone .
He didn’t care who would become the next emperor nor about the unity of the continent .
He just wanted to interrupt every single plan of Ragnar .
And he wanted to take revenge on him at a very critical point .
At that point, he might restore most of his power .
Then, he’d just happily live with precious people .
“But . ”
Ian looked at Oliver’s eyes straightly .
The 2nd royal knight captain, Oliver Reywood .
The last knight who guarded the crown prince before he died .
Ian could give him some different answer .
“I will NEVER support the 5th crown prince . ”
Surprised, Oliver looked around .
It was a much more straightforward confirmation than he had expected .
However, there was no chance that anybody heard what Ian said .
Ian had already concealed his surroundings with a silence spell .
Only Oliver could hear Ian’s answer .
“Is it enough?”
“For now, very . ”
“That’s good to hear . ”
“Then, may I ask you one favor?”
“Speak first, I will decide later . ”
“Before you choose which side you want to support, be my duel opponent . ”
“Duel opponent?”
With the unexpected question, Ian shook his head curiously .
Not only checking Ian’s standing but now Oliver asked Ian to be his duel partner?
“I need the power to confront . ”
“A mage?”
“That’s right . ”
It was quite a rare opportunity for knights to duel with a mage .
There was no chance at all .
And Oliver needed it the most .
“Your sword may be pointed at me later, might it not?”
“I won’t deny it . ”
“You are thick skinned . ”
Oliver didn’t deny it either .
He was desperate, though .
He needed to have some combat experience against a mage .
“I refuse . ”
“May I ask you a reason?”
“There is no benefit for me . ”
It was a straight and clear reason .
There was no benefit .
“What if I pay you some reward?”
“I don’t know is there any reward that will satisfy me . ”
Whenever Ian had time, he trained himself .
From inventing mana breath to improving spell formulae .
To Ian, time was essential .
No amount of money was enough to move him .
He might have to do it if the emperor or crown prince asked him to .