He opened his eyes to the sound of birds chirping and the rustling of the leaves. Faint conversations could be heard all around, though none of them were directed at him. After taking a few seconds to completely wake from his sleep, Alaric finally remembered where they spent the previous night.
Rubbing his eyes, he raised his body and sat down, stretching his limbs and yawning. He had a pretty refreshing sleep and was feeling energetic all over. Alaric briefly remembered having some unpleasant dreams, but he didn't recall their contents. Despite that, he had slept well, maybe due to the fact that he wasn't using a bed, which he despised with all his heart, but a mattress laid on the ground. Alaric preferred this style more than the huge and super-soft beds given to him so far.
The rumbling of his stomach urged him to get up to his feet and leave the rowdy room. Once he opened the door, he saw people busy with various tasks, a lively scene unfolding throughout the hideout. Alaric couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat upon witnessing the scene. The incidents of last night were still vivid in his mind, as well as the faces of the dead and the pain of the injured, but now, it seemed like everyone else had forgotten about them, and were busy with their everyday life. It left a trace of numbness inside Alaric's heart. There was no way he could forget all of the people who died because of him.
'If only I could do some magic...'
He could've saved a few people at least, if not more.
"Ah, you are awake, young master!"
An old voice pulled Alaric out of his thoughts. An old man was waving at him, standing at the entrance of another building not too far away. A pleasing aroma could be smelled, coming from the direction of that structure, making Alaric wonder if that place was the kitchen.
"The food will be ready soon, master, please wait a little bit longer."
Alaric gave a nod to his head with a smile, watching his butler turn back and enter the building. It was pretty embarrassing and uncomfortable, being served by such an elderly person, but no matter what Alaric said, Ranger wouldn't accept sitting aside and letting the youngsters do the job. Alaric had no way to fight against the old man.
'So there is some time left until the breakfast... I wonder where can I wash my face...'
He stepped down the stairs and walked around in hopes of finding a washroom. There were a lot of people around, but Alaric didn't think he had the courage to approach anyone and state his question. It was better to search and find it himself.
That might not have been not proper reasoning as he found himself lost after a few turns and crossings.
'Why should someone build a hideout in such a complicated manner?' He grumbled. 'To help them in the situation when they are found by the enemy? This can definitely confuse the enemies...' He found the answer to his questions soon enough. Alaric hoped he could find a washroom as fast, too.
"Are you sure about that? You'll get a high position from the start, in addition to being under my supervision until you fully awaken your Aura. Isn't it a pretty good offer?"
"It is a good offer."
Alaric halted upon hearing two familiar voices and turned to them as if finally finding his saviors, however, stopped upon seeing them having a serious conversation.
"But I have other matters to take care of."
"Other matters..." The woman with a buffed body and tight, male outfit repeated the words spoken by Raven.
"Is it related to that blue-haired saint?"
Raven frowned upon the mention of the blue-haired saint. Alaric jolted up slightly too. It wasn't a good thing to eavesdrop, and he had to make his presence known before the two of them spoke anything secret, or something they didn't hope other to find out, however, he was too curious about the blue-haired saint that he too wanted to hear more about him. He could apologize to them later for secretly listening to their conversation, right?
'Or maybe they already know of my presence, they are super strong individuals, after all.'
"Do you know that boy? Hmm? Why don't you tell me more about him? I might be able to help you in taking care of your tasks, don't you think so?"
Raven's answer came quick and sharp, "It's none of your business."
"Oho! So rude! I'm here offering you my help, you know, that's not a nice thing to say." The woman didn't seem shaken at all despite her words. "I was just curious, you know. That saint didn't seem like a simple saint at all, and neither was he inexperienced. I wonder how can a mere servant be like that?! Do you have any ideas?"
"I said it's none of your business."
"Hmm, so cold." The woman hummed, shrugged her shoulders, and suddenly turned to the side. "What about you, young master, do you have any ideas?"
"Hic!"
Alaric gasped in surprise and jumped out from behind a tree, head lowered and shoulders raised, eyes glued to the ground like a child caught at the scene of the crime.
"I-I'm sorry!"
"Aww, no! Don't apologize!"
The Boss shook her head with a chuckle. She didn't sound angry at all. It gave Alaric the courage to raise his head a little bit and peek at the woman.
"...."
But he soon snapped his head down again, flinching from fright.
'Why is he looking at me like that?'
The kind of look Raven was giving him was enough to kill him from fear. It was a kind of murderous glare, with clear offensive intents, mixed with a threatening aura pressing down on Alaric. The young boy was left flabbergasted, wondering what has he done wrong to offend this person.
"Oooo~"
The Boss whistled at the sight.
"Things seem so serious here~" The only unserious person there was her. "Don't be so mean to him, my dear friend," she put a hand over Raven's shoulder, giggling. "Ahh, all of this is making me even more curious about that servant. Hey, young master, where have you gotten that boy from? Aren't you curious as well? Oh no, wouldn't it be bad if this master or his people revealed that servant's sainthood to The Empire?"
Alaric's eyes widened at those words, heart skipping a beat. Feeling extremely wronged, he gathered all his courage to refute the woman.
"There is no way I would do such a thing! I won't tell anyone, nor will I allow any of the witnesses to reveal it!"
Even if he was clueless, he knew that those with Aether were forced to live in The Empire if found out. Alaric didn't know what was so bad about it, as those people received top treatment and high salaries, but seeing as to how Ian had kept his power a secret to this day, it meant that he had no desire to live in The Empire. Alaric too, didn't want his friend to go to another place.
"I mean, how can you guarantee that your knights or servants won't do anything? What about the people of those two other families?"
"...."
Alaric had no answer to that. He could... Ask them? Kindly request? Or such...? But they could just refuse it...
"Pfffttt!" The Boss burst into laughter. "Don't make such an expression, young master, I'll take care of it for you guys!"
"Uh? How?"
Alaric gathered all his courage to look up once again, still feeling frightened of Raven's glare.
"I'll threaten them, how else?"
"What?"
Pat Pat
The woman hit Raven's back hard, still giggling, "I want to recruit him as much as I want to snatch away this blacky! I'mma do a favor for him, hehe!"
"...."
Alaric was once again, left speechless. She was going to threaten the knights and the servants? Wasn't that too mean? They hadn't done anything wrong though. Plus, why was she showing interest in his attendant? Ian was Alaric's attendant, not a Resistance member! Alaric wouldn't let her take his friend away!
"What do you think, Mr. Raven? Would you still reject my offer if I recruit that saint as well? You are allowed to attend to any personal business while working for The Resistance, you know."
"...."
Raven's sharp gaze shifted back to The Boss.
"You can't recruit him," he paused for a brief second. "Even if he accepts, I won't allow it."
"...."
"...."
The boy sounded pretty serious. None of the two other people present could respond to his bold words. A brief silence descended upon them.
"I mean, why not?" The Boss finally managed to utter something. "He is just a servant-"
"Shut it!"
"...."
"...."
The astonished woman did as she was told, closing her mouth and not saying any more words. Seeing her silent, deep black pupils turned over to Alaric and seized him up as if staring right into his soul. For some reason, Alaric thought the man meant to say something with that gaze, something along the lines of 'I will kill you soon,' or such. The son of the count was scared to tears.
After glaring daggers at him for a few more seconds, Raven suddenly turned around, walking away from the due.
"....So bold."
The Boss watched him leave with a wide grin spread across her face. "I like spirited youth like this, hehe, I'll definitely add him to my army!"
She was confident and energetic, not moved or hurt at all by the boy's impolite behavior.
"Anyway, young master, why are you here? Something you need?"
At those words, Alaric suddenly remembered his purpose of wandering around in the hideout. He was searching for a restroom! There was no way he could say such a thing to this woman!
"I-I was just... Taking a walk..."
"Is that so..."
At the dubious mumble, Alaric strongly nodded his head.
"Yes yes, sorry for interrupting you two!"
He hoped to get to know more about his attendant through these two swordpeople's conversation, but he ended up receiving only death glares instead.
'My friend Ian, it seems you are going to have a tough life.'
Alaric wondered whether to tell Ian about this conversation or not while walking away from The Boss at an unusually high speed.
'Man, I wonder if magic books can be found in this place...'
This was a huge army's hideout, so shouldn't there be some learning books or such sort? Alaric wanted to know, and there was no one better to ask than the head of the said army, who was, by coincidence, not too far away from him, but Alaric didn't see the courage or ability in himself to strike a conversation with The Boss.
"Oh, young master!"
"Aaah!"
A voice came from behind, startling him out of his wits, making him jump up and turn around in a split second. What he found behind him was a blue-haired youth with a blank face and gaped mouth, staring at Alaric as if looking at the most stupid creature in the world.
"Eh, Ian!"
Alaric was used to Ian's expression. He was constantly under this kind of judgmental gaze, so it didn't bother him at all anymore. He was rather glad at finally finding someone he knew and could ask for help.
Alaric opened his mouth to inquire about a nearby bathroom but paused for a second and changed the sentence he was about to say.
"Hey, come closer!"
He peeked in the direction of The Resistance's boss and lowered his voice, whispering into the confused Ian's ear.
"Do you think these people have any kind of magic books here?"
"...Magic books?"
"Shh!" The golden-haired master pressed a finger against his lips. "Yeah, books that can teach me how to do magic. Do you think there are any here? The ones I've found from the villages and Barnett's books aren't teaching anything, they are just history and theory!"
The blue-haired boy raised a brow, staring deep into Alaric's amber eyes, with a look screaming that his master was truly stupid.
"Why don't you ask that woman about it?"
He had seen how Alaric passed The Boss as if running away, why hadn't he asked her, but was questioning him, who was a nobody here?
"No! You ask!"
"Why me?"
Alaric clenched his fists in desperation.
"You ask her! You are my attendant so you should do it!"
The master gave a push to his servant, throwing him towards the woman who was gradually walking away.
"Why should I do it? You are the master, you want books, not me!"
"Nooo, pleasseee, you do it! I'll stay right behind your back, okay? Go ask her before she leaves! Hurry hurry!"
"Wha-"
Ian, dumbfounded, was forced to run to catch up to the woman.
"Ah..." Alaric suddenly gasped, reaching out a hand towards his friend who was already gone. "I forgot to ask about the bathroom..."
- - - - -
Alaric couldn't take his eye off the stack of books on his servant's hands. The blue-haired boy could barely hold the heavy pile of magic books, so he threw them on the couch inside the room as soon as he entered. Alaric, at his side, rushed to excitedly check on them, gaping as he read through their titles.
[A Study on Mana, Techniques, and Tricks]
[Basic Formulations and Calculations]
[Begginers Step by Step: Circulating Mana]
[Begginers Step by Step: Casting spells]
[Begginers Step by Step: Defences and Offences]
[Through Spell Guide: A Combination of Spells, Basic to Complicated, by James Adcam]
"Woooww!"
Alaric gasped and exclaimed despite not understanding a single word from the books.
"You really brought magic books!" His sparkling eyes shifted to his attendant, who seemed like a savior in his vision. "You took so long to come back so I thought something might've gone wrong. How did you get these all? What about the price? How should we pay?"
Ian was already sitting at the breakfast table, despite not being invited to, and tearing apart a piece of bread. He had been going around and doing stuff since waking up, without taking a single bit of food, so he was about to go crazy from hunger.
"Nothing."
He munched on a jelly-soaked toast.
"Nothing? Why? They can't possibly give these all to us for free."
"They just did."
Ian shrugged his shoulders.
"Is that why it took you so long to come back? Were you negotiating with The Boss over the price? You didn't have to! We could pay them!"
Ian shook his head without giving any explanations. He'd been away for nearly an hour after being pushed to converse with The Boss, leaving his master worried and stressed over the possible outcome. He regretted being so greedy and asking for magic books. What if something happened to him? Alaric had seen how that woman beat the shit out of her subordinate, Alex, who had stepped out of the line, what if she beat up Ian as well because of asking for too much??
However, seeing how his blue-haired friend was stuffing food into his mouth like a starved buffon, Alaric could tell that he was fine, finally heaving a sigh of relief.
"But are you sure? Is it really okay for me to have these?"
"Ymm!"
'Does that sound mean a positive answer?' Alaric tilted his head.
Too excited to go back to breakfast, he sat down on the ground, cheerily flipping the pages of his book. He couldn't understand anything from their contents, so he just stared at the pics, trying to comprehend their meaning.
"But no yo nelly mant no nearn manig?"
"...." Alaric blinked multiple times and took a few seconds to think, but couldn't make out the words 'spoken' by his attendant.
"Finish your breakfast first, Ian..."
"Mmm..."
Ian shook his head as if in disappointment, while not seeming disappointed at all, and went back to eating, eyes glinting in delight upon looking at the food.
'But why isn't anyone saying anything about my 'rude' actions?'
Ranger didn't even glare at him like he would when Ian did anything wrong. Was it because of his demonstration last night? Was he scared of him, or seeing him in a new light? Ian preferred their usual behavior thought, he didn't like this kind of change.
'They'll return back to normal in a few days.'
Once they leave this hideout and enter The Empire, the others will gradually forget about these events and act as usual.
'Uh, of course, I can't get close to Imperial Castle. Hmm, but I don't want to leave Alaric yet. What should I do? There are also some matters I should take care of if I want to start everything anew...'
The food was gradually disappearing from the table as if met with a typhon.
'I think I should find out about Raven's identity first before doing anything else. He might be a huge variable in the incoming future...'
Once again, the picture of a little boy appeared in his vision. A child, with no distinguishable facial features, all lost in his long-forgotten memories, with only his slightly curly black hair and old wooden sword being unaffected by the flood of time, was diligently swinging his sword up and down, as serious as a child could be. A man, hands on his hips, black hair as dark as the child's, was monitoring him not far away, correcting him every time he failed to keep his posture with a light demeanor.
Sitting at the edge of a high platform, he was swinging his legs, watching the scene unfold, impatiently waiting for the training period to finish, slightly worried about the tasks he'd put off to another time and his clothes that might get dirty, or the probability of his mother finding out that he was slacking off, or hearing his father's scolding. He too wanted to join the due in training, but not with a sword. He didn't like swords. Instead, he clasped his tiny hands and mumbled a prayer under his lips, a voice that wasn't heard by anyone but himself.
'There is no way he's still alive... And he can't be Raven of all people.'
Raven was probably the same high-position swordmaster of his memories, a crucial member of The Resistance and a fierce blade nurtured only to kill. He was like a savage beast, not knowing anything but how to fight, not even mercy and pity. The child of his memories was nothing like him. He couldn't be alive. There was no way he could be Raven, The Resistance's Blade, someone who fought for the same goal as Ian but never recognized him, nor was never recognized by Ian.
Ian shook his head, trying to shake off the thought that was haunting him. Finally swallowing his last bite of breakfast, Ian turned to Alaric and repeated the same words a few minutes before.
"But do you really want to learn magic?"
Alaric didn't look away from a complicated symbol drawn on one of the pages while answering, "Yeah, why not?"
"Why though?"
"Why not, though?"
"...Don't you have a proper reason for your goal?"
Alaric shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess this is the routine."
"Routine?" Ian asked in confusion. "What routine?"
"Like, you either get a system or gain a sudden power you didn't have before and train in them, and such."
"....Huh?"
"Then you'll change from a side character to someone who is actually useful to the story..." Alaric scrunched up his brows, disgusted. "Nah, there is no way I'd do this. I'd rather run and hide."
Again, incomprehensible words were spoken by Alaric, but that didn't seem to be the end.
"It's fine, though. I don't really like systems, they don't even match with the theme of this book. Magic is fine. It's exciting too. I always like to do magic. However, it's only fine if I don't use it in front of the important figures, don't you think?"
"...." Ian glanced at the wolf pup climbing up his foot for a second before looking back at his master.
"What system are you talking about?"
Why would he get a... system all of a sudden? What kind of system? Like, some kind of science? How was he supposed to train a system? A system couldn't be raised... or tamed... No, what sort of system did he mean?
"....Don't harp too long on that." Alaric chuckled as he flipped the page. "I actually like magic and I think I'll need it later. You know, being able to protect yourself is better than not being able to protect yourself."
Despite Alaric's words, Ian couldn't shake off the thought of a system in his mind. He barely managed to divert his attention back to reality.
"Well, yeah," what his master said was true. "But you are the son of a count."
"Can't the sons of the counts become mages?"
"...They can, but you'll be too busy working on the state's affairs to learn magic."
"Hey!"
Alaric snapped the book close and stood up to pick up some papers from the desk.
"I've told you, I don't want to become a count."
Ranger, cleaning the breakfast table, halted upon the words, a frown visible on his face.
"Young master-"
"I've already talked with Father. Everyone is happier this way."
Alaric's answer was firm and unhesitant as if he'd long solidified his resolve over the decision he'd taken.
"This way, I can spend all my time learning magic. It's more exciting than being a ruler."
His words didn't leave any place for anyone to object. The servants left the room after clearing the table and went to prepare for departure. Ian, who wasn't forced to work despite being one of the servants, plopped down on the sofa as if was natural and scanned the books beside him.
'Well, seems like things won't go as usual...'
Ian was strongly against Alaric's decision at first, believing that Elaria Poqlen wasn't capable of ruling over a state, but it seemed that his opinion didn't matter here at all. Ian could somehow persuade Alaric to take back his position if he worked hard, but he gave up on that after thinking things through. He wanted to see how would things change.
"Then, what do you think about joining the academy?"
Instead of returning things back to normal, he decided to make use of the unusual turn of events to their fullest.
"The academy?"
"You have a noble-born, have a lot of money, and are showing potential, on top of being eager to learn. You can be admitted to the academy if you try a little bit."
"You mean The Academy of Magic and Science?"
"Yeah."
The Academy of Magic and Science was one of the largest educational institutes on the continent. It wouldn't be exaggerating to say that almost all of the high-level mages and scholars graduated from that place. It was a land for the geniuses, where only the fit could keep up with the flow of the lessons.
"I-I haven't thought of that before..."
Alaric stood in the middle of the room, staring at the books he was bestowed and his friend sitting beside them. His friend had a smile on his face.