After their brief encounter with the Acid Bulls, Lucian and Cecilia resumed their ride to Urythius, a ride that would take them nine days to arrive. Whenever the carriage stopped during the night, Lucian would take those chances to learn the spell Fortify Sight from Cecilia. He didn’t want to be at a disadvantage by not gathering information from afar while being undetected.

Lucian also took note of the different ways the fauna lived in harmony with the fauna on the way. At one point in their nine-day ride, Lucian saw a pond with a flock of magical beasts. As he was getting ready to cast his magic in the case said magical beasts attacked, Cecilia stopped him from doing so. The beasts that were in the pond were the blue-striped water herons. They wouldn’t attack first and fly away even if attacked, making them one of the few docile ones. And thus, they walked by the beasts without a fight.

As the ninth afternoon ended, they saw the capital after the carriage had climbed over the hill. Even at a distance, the city looked formidable; Lucian could feel the magic coming from the walls of the city and gave a feeling that no attack could ever topple those walls. With the advent of evening, the carriage had finally reached the city, and Lucian could finally see what the city was like after being dropped off.

The city was bustling with life, more so than the town of Unasu. Some children were playing tag among themselves. Merchants rolled out their carpets with items Lucian had never seen. The things were exotic; one item played a soothing melody with the press of a button, while another rotated oddly at a fixed axis. Yet somehow, the odd rotation was weirdly satisfying.

Further on, Lucian could see merchants that sold monster parts that could be made into potions. These parts were of at least C-class beasts, just like how Cecilia had told him earlier. The prices for each one of these parts were insane to Lucian, as they costed more than eight months of his family’s pay. But this amount was a fair one for mages. Lucian had now felt how different the world of a mage is.

The food that they sold wasn’t very different from what they sold back in Unasu, except for the odd beast food item that he saw here and there. The food was cooked with the same assortment of spices that they had in Unasu, so it didn’t amaze Lucian that much.

After an hour had passed, Lucian and Cecilia arrived at the estate that she owned. The estate was as big as the one Lucian saw in Unasu. The walls here were thick and protected with magic. The garden had a variety of flowers of different colours that Cecilia herself maintained. The main building was four times the size of his tavern and was luxuriously decorated inside. The marble floor went well with the gold engraved walls. An occasional vase would be sitting on a pedestal in the hall, which had flowers taken from the garden in them. There were way too many rooms for just one person in the estate. And each room was furnished and decorated like the room of a noble.

After Lucian had finished his sightseeing of the estate, Cecilia had something to say to him.

“Tomorrow, I’ll have to go somewhere for some work. I hope you continue your training in the meantime. You’re going to fall behind others if you slack off.”

“You don’t have to tell me that. I’ll follow through the routine, no matter how much I hate it.”

Cecilia smiles at his determination and ruffles Lucian’s head, much to his protests. As they had their dinner at the estate prepared by the hired chef, Lucian thought about how overly presented the dishes were, compared to the amount they served.

“Don’t worry. You can have a second serving if you want.” Said Cecilia as if she could read Lucian’s mind.

Lucian didn’t hesitate to do so and piled up plates as he went on a food binge. After finishing their dinner, they both went to sleep in their own rooms, tired from the ride they had, as well as sore from the awkward positions they had to sleep in.

The following day, Cecilia went to see the promise that she had made to Rian months ago. She arrived at the city’s magic research centre, where all the new theorems and practical applications of magic and mana training were developed.

“Greetings, I am Cecilia Vespera.”Cecilia announced after flinging the doors open. She had always disliked dealing with the bookworms of the city.

“I am here at the behest of Sir Rian Frostmane.”

“Yes, yes, I’ll be there shortly.” The voice came from above, from the walkway above Cecilia’s head.

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After a minute, a balding man stood before Cecilia. The man had black dust all over his clothes, with his hands being the dirtiest part of his body. He had a sour expression on his face seeing Cecilia.

“Director.” Said Cecilia with a nod that served as a greeting.

“We have the books that need decrypting on the first floor. Follow me.”

The director led Cecilia to a room where a table lay in the middle, filled to the edge with books. The books, however, were not typical, as foul mana seeped through the hardcover of the books. She already knew that decrypting these books would be an arduous task.

“If you would be so kind as to get to work as soon as possible.” Said the director, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Cecilia scoffed at the director’s snarky remark and went to work. She took one of the books and began to pour mana into it. As she poured mana into it, she discovered what type of magic had been casted on the book.

Hmmm. Obscuring magic, decomposition magic, as well a type of magic that I do not know. The work is never easy.

Cecilia found it challenging to probe more as with each second, the chance to destroy the book became more.

Is it the unknown magic type that’s interfering with the probe, thought Cecilia as she stopped for a second to figure out her next move.

I guess I have to find out what type of magic it is before I go any further.

After hours of studying the formation of the unknown magic type’s circle, Cecilia would finally know what the unknown magic type was.

Undead magic? What type of book is this?

After figuring out the last type of magic, Cecilia started to decipher the book. This time without any interruptions.

M-My god. What type of lunacy is this? I have to contact Rian about this, thought Cecilia, her mind unnerved, as she went out of the research centre in a hurry to reach her estate. At the same time, in the estate, a different commotion took place that Lucian took notice of.

“Where is Cecilia!? Bring her to me this instant!” shouted a small child, who was dressed magnificently, with fabric smooth as silk and a face that looked like it was treated with more care than one would care for their daughter. The child was also accompanied by guards, who wore white chest plates with gems engraved on the armour. The gems emanated mana, similar to the necklace Cecilia wore.

At the estate, the maids and manservants were distressed at the arrival of the small child. Comparing their height differences, the manservants could easily throw the child out for misbehaving and trespassing but couldn’t do so for reasons unknown to Lucian. He would then ask one of the maids who the child was.

“What!? Don’t you know him? He is the third child of His Majesty, Prince Eugene Aurvale.”

“Huh? What’s a prince doing here?”

Before the maid could answer his question, the prince took notice of him and beckoned for him.

“You there. The one dressed differently from these servants. Who are you, and why are you here?”

“Er- Greetings, Your Highness. I am Lucian, and I am here because this is my teacher’s estate, and she teaches me here.”

“Your teacher? Lady Vespera is your teacher?”

“Sorry? Vespera? Is her first name Cecilia, by any chance?”

“You impudent fool! Stop besmirching Lady Vespera’s name with your mouth.”

“…”

Silence surrounded the vast hall, so much so that the rustling of the clothes of the maids in the same hall could be heard. The more time Lucian spent with the prince, the more unbearable he found him. But he couldn’t say anything to him, as the consequences for upsetting a member of the royal family were very dire.

“Hah… Forget it. I’ll forgive you this once since punishing you would dishearten Lady Vespera greatly.”

“T-Thank you for mercy, Your Highness.” Said Lucian, being careful not to show his annoyance.

“What brings His Highness here?”

“I just wanted to meet Cecilia. She would always show me magic whenever I asked her.”

“Is that so? What type of magic did she show His Highness?”

“She didn’t show many any dangerous magic, saying that my father forbade her from doing so. She would show me flames coming out from her hand that would swirl in the air however she wanted.”

Lucian thought for a second.

“If it’s alright with Your Highness, I could show you the same magic.”

“Really? You can do that?”

“Yes, I can.”

“Then do it. You have my permission.”

Lucian didn’t like the child very much. To him, the child was the embodiment of arrogance, who would punish people for minor inconveniences. But even Lucian knew that having a prince like you would do wonders for his career.

Lucian then casted Ignition, following which he concentrated on swirling the flames into the path he wanted. As he showed the trick to the prince, the prince stared at the fire with great interest.

After the show, the prince clapped for Lucian, following which he breathed a sigh of relief. Part of it was because he had just finished part of his training, so he was still tired. Part of it was because he felt like he didn’t annoy the prince and would live to see another day.

“That was amazing! As expected of the disciple of Lady Vespera. If you couldn’t do this, then you would have brought shame to her name.”

“Aha. Is that so? I’m glad it was to your liking.”

As the two were talking, the estate door flung open, with Cecilia walking absurdly fast through it. She would then greet the prince and would go to the room that had magical apparatuses. Seeing that Cecilia didn’t even spend a moment with the prince, the prince got upset, yet didn’t throw a tantrum this time. With this, Lucian started to think of his teacher’s status and the situation. How was she allowed to ignore the prince without any repercussions? And why did she have such a serious look as she entered the room?