Surprised, William watched as Cale caught the man with light brown hair, spun around several times, and then came to a stop. Cale and the stranger embraced intimately before the High-Magician let go of the stranger and set him down on the ground. The stranger was a good head shorter than Cale, had tousled, shoulder-length hair, and wore similar clothing to Cale. For a moment they both remained silent, grinning dumbly, before Cale raised his hand and smacked the stranger on the head.
"How many times have I told you not to jump off any buildings?", admonished Cale to the stranger, who let out a soft "ouch" and rubbed his head. "And what's with that setup? What have you done to your hair and man, look at that uniform. Grischa will only scold you again!"
An almost malicious laugh was received by Cale in response from the stranger to whom he was straightening his uniform. Annoyed, Cale heaved a sigh and held his forehead without looking at his old classmate. One day, he would kill Yusuf himself if he kept playing with his nerves like that.
"I missed you, Caleb", the mage gave out, causing Cale to run his hand through his hair.
"Yeah, I missed you too", Cale threw back half-heartedly. In reality, he hadn't missed Yusuf one bit. The two had become friends because Yusuf had been bullied a lot during school and Cale had kept people off his back a few times. In hindsight, not his wisest decision, as Yusuf developed into a henchman who wouldn't leave Cale alone. The only positive thing Cale saw in their apparent friendship was his skill. Yusuf was one of the best mages in town, and thanks to his loyalty, Cale knew he could exploit Yusuf for his plans. "Guys, this is my good friend Yusuf. We studied together at the Magistrat. Don't let that smile fool you, he's a real pain in the ass."
Yusuf? The name rang a bell in William's head. He had heard the name before, but in what context? Had Cale told him about him at some point, or was the magician a celebrity?
Yusuf turned to the group and greeted them with a bow, as the crowds returned to their original positions and gave the mage strange looks.
"Yusuf, the tall man with the sword is Ben, next to him is William. The little girl is Aletta and the archer to her right is Philippa", the mage explained slowly, pointing to each person in turn. While Aletta complained loudly that she wasn't small, the others suddenly realized something completely different.
Yusuf was blind.
All at once, William remembered what Cale had told him at the time. He had a friend in Exarion who could see with his mana, much like the blind creatures from the plains, the Caryfaren. This had to be that mage.
"The four of them will be staying with me for a while, so behave", he admonished Yusuf as he reached for his bag.
"You have guests? That I am allowed to witness this is a wo.... ow!" retorted Yusuf with amusement, but Cale interrupted his statement with another blow to the head. Sullenly, Yusuf rubbed his head as he turned to the others. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Yusuf Mirai. You are welcome to call me Yusuf, I prefer that myself. I teach the upper grades at the Magistrat, if you have any questions you can usually find me with them."
"So tell me, what was it like as an Anuxer? Did you have fun? Did you kill a lot of creatures? What was it like in Sylve? What's Bellator like? Did you get to meet the king? Did you bring a Levione?", blurted out Yusuf, but Cale answered none of his questions. He literally pushed his old classmate forward, as it was soon their turn to report to the soldiers. William, on the other hand, was puzzled by the mage's questions. First about the comment regarding the King of Sylve, but afterwards he wondered why Yusuf assumed that Cale was carrying a Levione? The unofficial blood crystal of Mornet. Weren't these extremely expensive and similarly difficult to obtain as the magic crystals?
"Aren't you forgetting something, dear?", announced Cale angrily. "I'm pretty mad at you! How could you tell Grischa everything? You and I had an agreement."
"Eh... But my students did a wonderful job defending the city. What should I have done, rebelled against the 1st seat? You know how Grischa can be. Sometimes he scares me more than Sefra."
"No one can top Sefra", Cale casually threw back, sighing before thinking of the unpleasant incidents with her. It was definitely too early for that discussion, he needed a break from the whole trip for now, he could deal ith a little kid's questions later. "Let's talk about it tomorrow. If you know I'm here, I can't really hide from Grischa. He'll behead me if I don't report to him."
"I want to hear the stories. You promised!"
"And you promised to keep quiet. Guess that's equalizing justice", Cale countered annoyed, which unintentionally made William giggle. They weren't necessarily acting like two old friends, but rather like father and son. The way Ben sometimes acted towards Aletta.
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After a few minutes, it was finally their turn, and to William's surprise, both guards didn't seem too pleased to see his group. However, when he realized that their gazes moved from Yusuf to Cale, and then they subsequently exhaled in relief, William was even more irritated. Cale took over the talking and announced all the arrivals, though he too had noticed the expression on the two mages' faces.
"How long had Sir Mirai been bugging you?", Cale carefully asked, so that only William could really understand him. Both men exhaled in annoyance and just shook their heads.
"A few days, it felt like months, though. You don't know how relieved we are that you're finally in town, High-Magician Leuen", one of the guards explained, to which Cale apologized several times. He downright promised them that he would punish Yusuf accordingly before the group could enter the city.
As expected, the city was full of people. Everywhere you looked - people. Merchants, mages, Anuxers, travelers - even people looking for their friends and families could be found at every intersection. People in the most different skin and hair colors and dressed in clothes that ranged from poor peasants to nobles. William also spotted quite a few soldiers and mages as they made their way along the main path. A wide open space stretched out before them, with several merchants selling their wares, and he was looking forward to when he could explore the city.
"Yesterday the elder had a secret meeting with the council", Yusuf spoke up after a while, so William and Cale's attention fell to the blind mage who was walking elegantly through the crowds.
"Really? What kind of secret meeting? How do you know?"
"You know I have my contacts."
"That means you overheard them."
"Call it what you like", the mage replied with a shrug. For a moment, he filled the conversation with silence, which visibly annoyed Cale.
"So?", he finally raised his voice again.
"So what?", replied Yusuf dryly.
"What were you talking about?"
"Ah, so late already, I'm going to be late for class", Yusuf dodged with a grin, taking a little distance from his friend and raising his hands ignorantly.
"Yusuf! Don't run away", Cale scolded him, but Yusuf vanished into thin air behind the next person who passed by. "That little rat..."
Cale forced himself not to get any more upset with Yusuf. What had he expected him too? That he had actually overheard the conversation? The council wouldn't let that happen. They were not that stupid and inattentive. But if what he said was really true, then Cale had to find out what the council had been talking about.
Taking a deep breath, he led the group through the crowds to the entrance of the Magistrat. Two mages at the entrance bowed and greeted Cale politely before allowing him and his entourage to enter. All at once, the crowds were gone, but each additional person they crossed paths with carried a comparative amount of mana.
"This is one of the main buildings of the Magistrat. Here you will only find students of the Magistrat, mages, or other high-ranking people. Therefore, please behave accordingly. After all, if anything should happen, it will fall back on me, since I bear all the responsibility for you."
"All right", Aletta admitted softly, looking around uncertainly. William could understand why she did the deed. It was an oppressive feeling to be surrounded by so much mana, let alone move around the Magistrat so freely. Quietly, the four followed Cale through the complex, every now and then encountering young people who bowed to Cale without addressing him. For William, walking through the hallways and the servants stepping aside to show him respect felt like being back in the palace.
"Cale?", Philippa raised softly as she saw the bow for the second time. "Shall we bow to the others as well?"
"In my presence, do as I do. If I don't bow, you don't have to do it, either. If I do, then imitate me, because then our opposite is a noble or in rank above me", Cale explained, leading the group up a nobly decorated staircase to the third floor, which also led directly to the roof. The only people above Cale in rank were the other High-Magicians, with whom he had a relatively relaxed relationship. Except for the Elder and Aaron Thopas, with whom he always behaved respectful, having never managed to befriend them. "If you are traveling alone, you usually have to bow all the time because you are not officially announced guests of the Magistrat. It is best to pay attention to what your opposite does. If he bows in passing, you can follow him. If he ignores you completely, move aside and bow. Mages usually won't call you out for mistakes, but with nobles... it could happen."
Cale led his group down a hallway, which was fully glazed on one side. From here they had a wonderful view of the garden in the courtyard of the building, and some students were hanging out there under the tree. To their right, they found doors with numbers and names at long intervals, which made William strongly suspect that people lived here. Nervously, he swallowed. He had to get used to the oppressive silence and the greetings. Not an impossibility, but he certainly didn't want to be a burden to Cale.
"All right. We'll behave", Ben spoke up, before the whole group stopped in front of a dark door. Someone in the distance was talking, but no one could really understand him. Only Cale had immediately recognized the voice, which is why he briskly wanted to enter the apartment.
"Here we are", Cale announced, pointing to the entrance of his apartment, to the right William could see the number '12' and read his name 'Caleb Leuen'. Cale approached the door, held his hand against it and turned to face his friend, "The doors here react to mana, you'll have to give him some of it, so you can enter and exit without me."
William immediately understood what he was talking about, while Philippa and Aletta gave him a strange look. Ben, however, was the first to step to the door and follow Cale's instruction.
"How many people can enter here without you?", asked William curiously.
"Besides yourselves? Just Grischa Vonstetten", Cale explained calmly, watching his group add their mana to the door one by one. This was the very first time he brought someone to his house and not the other way around. A strange feeling, but somehow the thought made Cale happy. "Well then, welcome, I would say. Make yourselves at home."