*Splash splash*
The old man threw some water on the unconscious boy to wake him up.
*Blink blink*
The boy slowly opened his eyes, looking around before quickly trying to sit up and ready his mana, only to find himself restrained.
"Don't worry, you are safe here."
He heard a soft, calming voice that immediately dispelled his anxiety. He turned towards the individual who spoke.
In front of him stood an old man with sharp features, ocean-blue eyes, and silver-white hair, appearing around 60 years old. He wore loose white and grey robes adorned with black trinkets, exuding a divine and ancient aura.
The old man gave the confused boy a smile before introducing himself.
"I am sure you have a lot of questions you want to ask, but first, let me introduce myself. I am Takamura Hikari, former Sword Saint and Headmaster of Regia Nevaris. What's your name?"
The boy hesitantly nodded. "My name is Kazuki. I am an orphan, so I don't have a family name."
Hikari nodded, having already confirmed the details from the Domus Orphanage.
"How long have you been practicing magic?"
Kazuki was surprised but quickly understood that Hikari must have sensed his mana heart. "I awakened to magic when I was 8 and started learning it when I was 9."
Hikari was skeptical but quickly changed his expression and asked the main crux of the situation. "Who were those bandits?"
Kazuki became uncomfortable. It was clear he didn't like to talk about this, but he knew how important it was to share the information.
"They are a group of black marketers who sell children with magical abilities to noble houses to be trained as assassins. They mainly target orphanages and slums to avoid attracting the attention of the Inquisitors."
Hikari thought for a moment before deciding to ask something he had been wondering about for quite some time.
"Why not take help from the Inquisitors yourself? I'm sure they would have made a move if you had contacted them. They are supposed to protect the peace of this city. They wouldn't ignore something like this, would they?"
Kazuki scoffed before revealing the grim truth. "They only asked if that organization was targeting children of any noble lineage, and after confirming that wasn't the case, they made empty promises about doing something. But of course, they didn't. The Inquisitors only take action if the peace of nobles is harmed."
Kazuki's mockery was clear. He was discontent that the Inquisitors had turned a blind eye to the attacks they faced by the Obscura Organization, but there wasn't much that could be done about it.
A grave look appeared on Hikari's face. It was just as he had expected. The Inquisitors may have been formed by the Royal Family to protect the people, but the nobles held much power in domestic matters. The Inquisitors had no choice but to prioritize the nobles, unless they wanted to incur backlash and be replaced.
"What if I help in solving the issue?" Hikari said unexpectedly, eliciting surprise from Kazuki.
"That'd be great!" he exclaimed. "If it comes from you, I'm sure even the nobles will be forced to help."
It was the truth. As the Headmaster of the most renowned magic academy of the three kingdoms, Hikari had as much influence as the Royal Family. Even they couldn't ignore him.
"But I can't help you without something in return."
Kazuki was confused, wondering what he could possibly provide to someone of Hikari's standing, but he still asked, "What can I do to help?"
"As you may know, I don't have any children or relatives, so there is no one who can take over after me. If I take actions that displease the nobles, they will try to replace me. To counter that, I want to adopt you so they can't use the excuse that I don't have any heirs to replace me."
Kazuki nodded. It made sense that there would be no need to replace Hikari as long as he had legal heirs who could take over for him.
"But why me?"
He asked the obvious question. Even if his position would be threatened by being involved in this situation, Hikari could have easily solved it by adopting earlier. It didn't seem like he had never expected his position to be threatened.
"Well, I never found someone with as much raw talent as you, especially in refining ambient mana unconsciously. Did you only learn magic?"
"I do practice swordsmanship, but I'm not that good at it. I only know the techniques I saw the city knights train in."
Hikari took a closer look at Kazuki's form and nodded appreciatively. "It seems I wasn't wrong. You do seem to have the basics correct."
Kazuki shrugged. It wasn't like he had received formal training in either discipline. Hikari laughed a little.
"Alright, I'll submit the adoption papers to the Bureau of Administration tomorrow. Your magic and sword arts training will also start tomorrow," Hikari spoke with a big smile. "Be prepared, boy. I won't let you ruin my reputation. You won't be allowed to rest unless you can reach a level where you can knock down those uptight noble brats or at least match them."
Seeing the sadistic grin on Hikari's face, a chill ran down Kazuki's spine as he started regretting agreeing to it without thinking it through, but it was already too late.
*Sigh*
Kazuki exhaled deeply and stood up to go pack his stuff. But before he left, Hikari offhandedly remarked, "By the way…"