The morning after the magical evaluation, Adall woke up a bit later than usual. It was not surprising to anyone in the manor, as he had spent the majority of the night recounting to the servants and guardians of the estate what he had experienced outside. He was much happier about this experience than the results he had obtained.
As he was being dressed, he noticed that the mansion was noisier than it should be at this time of the day.
"What's happening, Adélaïde?"
Adélaïde was Adall's personal servant and the chief housekeeper of the mansion where the little boy resided. Although she could assign the task of dressing him to another servant using her authority, she always did it herself for the past 10 years.
She had been entrusted with Adall since the early days of his birth, and she had taken care of him perfectly ever since. In fact, she practically considered him her own son, and this feeling was mutual.
Adélaïde paused briefly at Adall's question. She needed to think about how to explain the situation as simply as possible to a 10-year-old child. Unfortunately, she couldn't find an effective way to do so. So, she simply responded as she would to any inhabitant of the mansion.
"It's just some idiot who has put the family in a difficult position. But don't worry about it, young master, your father and the others will soon find a solution to this problem."
The noisy atmosphere in the mansion was due to the fact that early this morning, a special edition of the newspaper containing excerpts from the phases of Adall's magical evaluation had appeared. This information, supposed to remain confidential, was now available in a publication distributed worldwide. Naturally, this caused a stir when the members of the Windsor family became aware of it.
Mickael had to distance himself from his son's residence when he came across the newspaper. The pressure of a 9-star swordsman, unleashed in anger, could have caused damage to people and property in the vicinity.
Zackael had better control over the energy he released. He didn't feel the need to leave the residence like his brother did. But he was also very angry.
The two brothers had decided the night before to stay at the residence assigned to Adall for some time to ensure his safety. With a 9-star swordsman and a mage of the 9th circle nearby, one had to be truly prepared to make any sacrifices to attack this residence. Unfortunately, this consideration was no longer so obvious with the news that Adall possessed a magical sensitivity of 97%, known to all.
At the Azure Sky Mage Tower, the reaction to the newspaper was much more apocalyptic. Axelle had started a witch hunt after finally locating the recording device Alfonso had left them as a memento of his misdeeds.
She was angry at the journalist, but she blamed herself even more for not being able to discipline her employees who had been bribed with money. They worked for the Windsors, so they were naturally very well paid. Such an incident should never have happened.
But those three weren't the only Windsors to stumble upon the newspaper.
***
In a kingdom at the other end of the continent, in a sparsely populated alley, two men sat in a bar surrounded by a dozen other people lying on the ground and groaning in pain.
They both looked very young, but the performances they had just displayed moments ago had prompted the bartender to reassess their ages with a greater degree of freedom. It was Merlin and the only guardian knight he had brought with him on his journey across the world, Arthur.
"Merlin, take a look at this!" one of the characters said, handing the newspaper he had picked up from one of the bandits lying on the ground to his companion.
"Oh! Impressive, I'll have to send my nephew a huge gift this time!"
"We can also attend his birthday this year, you know?"
"Too far away to make it on time!"
"You master teleportation magic, I remind you. Nowhere in this world is truly too far for you."
"...!"
Silence!
"Hmm?"
Arthur realized that no response was coming from his companion's side anymore, and he understood what that meant. He had pulled this trick every time their conversation veered in a direction he didn't like.
Yes, he had arbitrarily decided to end the discussion, and whatever else Arthur said, he wouldn't change his mind about his silence, at least not without the magic word.
"I'm talking to you, you bastard!"
"Who are you calling a bastard, Arthur?"
"...!"
"Tch! Anyway, I've decided not to use my teleportation magic during my journey across the world, except in extreme situations. That's not the case now. So, you'll never get me to change my mind."
"Fine, Mr. Principle, let's go to a more welcoming place!"
Arthur had nothing else to do but to accept his master and friend's decision.
"Hahahaha... wait for me, Adall, your uncle will go above and beyond to find you the best gift ever."
They rose on these words and both left the bar, but not before Arthur shot one last dark look at the landlord. It was his way of telling him that next time, he better choose his customers more wisely.