I've Got A Mana Processor In A Magic World -
Chapter 60: Dawn
Chapter 60: Dawn
"I told you to be more vigilant with him," Frederick scolded. "Who knows where he is or what he’s up to right now? A strong otherworlder... roaming free in our world."
"Relax. He’s not going to be making any moves soon. He’s still mostly injured, you know."
"I thought you said he was faking his injury," Zephyr frowned.
"I didn’t say that," Veronica replied. "I said he’s not as injured as he pretends to be. There’s a difference."
"We have to find him," Frederick cut in, pacing. "I have eyes and ears throughout this town. I’ll put them to work immediately. Do what you can from your end, Veronica."
"Yeah, yeah," she waved a hand dismissively. "We don’t need to fret so much. The next time he shows his face will be the end of him."
"I don’t think he’ll be that easy to kill," Zephyr snorted. "I don’t know who he really is, but I can tell you he’s at least a Tier 3, probably even a Tier 4."
"I can take on Tier 3’s from your world. Tier 4 might prove difficult... But I’ll still come out on top." Veronica shrugged. "And that’s giving you the benefit of the doubt. I’ve seen your partner... assessed him... Beneath that grotesque face of his, I can tell he’s still in his mid-twenties. There’s no way he’s a Tier 4." She chuckled. "You’re overestimating his capabilities for someone so young."
Zephyr shook his head. "I don’t think I am. I’ve seen someone even stronger at the same age." He thought back to Grand Commander Regina with a shudder.
Frederick noticed the slight tremor of Zephyr’s body and raised a brow in surprise. "Okay, let’s take the boy’s word for it. Send out a red warning."
"Huh?!" Veronica exclaimed. "A red warning?" She said, word-for-word. "For something so little...? I refuse."
"That was not a request." Frederick’s voice went cold as he stared Veronica in the eye.
She met his gaze defiantly without backing down.
A silence dragged for some seconds before Frederick’s gaze steadily wore down her resolve.
Frederick saw the acceptance in her eyes, then relaxed before explaining further. "We don’t know the man as much as the boy does. Remember, they came from somewhere else together..."
Veronica scoffed lightly, still unconvinced. "I can still take him on regardless..." she muttered under her breath.
Frederick heard her statement but didn’t comment on it, choosing to end the conversation there.
A satisfied, triumphant smile couldn’t help but break out on Zephyr’s face as he watched Veronica acquiesce. Her pompous attitude had been getting on his nerves the entire time.
Thankfully, she was busy starting up a small artifact and didn’t notice Zephyr’s expression, else she might just have started another bout of argument.
"As for you." Frederick drew Zephyr’s attention, noticing his smile. "Try to rest up. You’ll be leaving this town at dawn." He pulled out a small pocket watch and flipped it open. "That’s in less than four hours."
"Veronica here would be leaving with you... Play nice."
"Huh? What about you?" Zephyr quickly asked, his smile disappearing.
"This is my town," he spread his arms, displaying the scales that fully covered them. "I have to remain here... but don’t be too frantic, I won’t send you on a journey alone with Veronica. That’s a recipe for disaster." He smiled.
Veronica scoffed at the statement but remained quiet, still brooding from the earlier argument.
"Rita would be coming with you," Frederick said.
"Rita? She knows about all this?" Zephyr gestured at both of them.
"No. But she will now. She was bound to at some point anyway. Why not bring her into the fold now?" Frederick shrugged before pushing off the wall he leaned against.
"Well, that’ll be all for now. I trust you have no belongings of note at your hideout? Even if you do, forget about it."
"I’ll be seeing you at dawn," he nodded, removing the furniture Zephyr used to barricade the door before opening it and stepping out.
Zephyr stared pointedly at Veronica. "Aren’t you going to leave?"
She rolled her eyes, stood up from the wooden chair, and activated a spell model that made her fade out of existence, without as much as a word.
Zephyr’s eye twitched. He knew she was here to protect him... but he just couldn’t get used to her overbearing attitude.
He let out a breath, deciding to let it be for the night. He needed to rest. He packed up all the scattered parchments of spell models on the floor and arranged them into a pile before settling on the bed. It was small, but it served its purpose.
Before Zephyr went into deep sleep, he sent a probe to Aegis to confirm whether the analysis was done, but he still got no reply.
.
.
The rest of his sleep was uneventful. He was woken early at dawn, and together with Rita, who seemed to have been briefed about him, he stepped into the prepared carriage and waited for their journey to start.
Despite being informed, after they settled in the carriage, Rita stared. She analyzed Zephyr’s face with curiosity and awe. Besides the fact that his face was always hidden behind a cloak, it turned out he was also a pureblood human. Basically, what an exalted was. The novelty of it astounded her.
"You know I’m still just like you, right?" Zephyr asked.
"So that’s how you really sound like..." She said. "Usually you always put on this gruff, stony voice, but I had a feeling you were not as old as you portrayed yourself to be."
"But I didn’t expect us to be of the same age." She shook her head.
"Well, I had to do what I had to survive," Zephyr said. "How much have you been briefed so far?"
Rita replied, "Uhm, just about you and your origin, and the fact that we’re headed to where Madam Veronica supposedly learned magic!" She finished the latter part of her statement with more excitement in her voice.
"Is she that great?" Zephyr genuinely asked. "Veronica?"
"She’s one of the youngest and best Tier 4 mages in the whole kingdom," Rita explained. "I would even go as far as to say there is no one in this kingdom that can hold a candle to her within the same age bracket. She’s achieved what others take many years to do within just a couple."
"Hmm... Well, enough of that. You said we’re headed to where Veronica learned magic," Zephyr said.
"At least that’s what I heard," Rita replied.
"But the way I cast magic is different from you guys—"
"There’ll be someone there to guide you. You don’t have to worry." Frederick’s voice suddenly cut in as he opened the doors to the cabin. He nodded at his daughter in greeting as his eyes softened. Veronica entered the cabin just after he opened the door, settling herself next to Rita, who seemed excited by being so close to someone she idolized.
"Wear this." Veronica handed a necklace to Zephyr with an outstretched arm.
Zephyr received it. "What’s this?" He asked.
"Put it on." Frederick motioned.
Zephyr looked between the three natives who watched him with various levels of interest.
He put the necklace on. "So, what should I do now?" He asked, then noticed Rita’s wide eyes.
"What?" He turned quickly to look at his reflection on the window. What he saw took him aback. There were scales that covered his eyes, faded down the sides of his face, to his neck, and even his arms.
He held an arm up and inspected it slowly in curiosity.
There was a dissonance between what he was seeing and what his body was feeling. He could see scales on his arms, but he knew for sure that there wasn’t anything there.
"That’s a basic illusion spell enchanted into that necklace," Veronica said. "It would suffice for when we need to move in public during this journey. It’s better than the cloak you’re always wearing that makes you look suspicious." She knocked twice on the pane separating them from the coach driver, signaling to start moving.
Frederick said a few words of encouragement to his daughter before parting swiftly. She was to apprentice under Veronica just as she’d always wanted, but her father knew she was in for a daunting task.
The carriage rolled down the empty cobbled streets as the first cock began to crow.
This was the start of a new Chapter for Zephyr. He didn’t know what it would bring, but he was prepared to tackle it head-on.
Just as they crossed the pitiful gate of the town, Zephyr found his attention drawn to a particular section of the dark as the first crack of light began to shine through the horizon.
’Someone was watching just now.’
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