Translator: Satya
Translation Checker: Silavin
Proofreader: Bluerazbeary
“WTF? I hear you saying WTF quite often. What does that mean?” Alfea asked Ye Chui.
(Satya: For some ‘unknown" reason every time Ye Chui says WTF it changes to something different on our website. It seems this word is not allowed to exist in our universe)
“… never mind that. Why would anyone suspect Miss Dawkins or me of being a Dark Magician?” Ye Chui asked, and Debbie, who was busy setting up the table, also sat down to listen in. Anxiety filled Debbie"s face as she waited for Alfea; all while holding tightly onto Ye Chui"s hand.
The atmosphere was so tense that even the Dragon Baby who was drinking milk rushed up to Ye Chui"s shoulders with a serious look on his face.
Looking at how tense Ye Chui, Debbie and Dragon Baby were, Alfea started to speak in a fury while waving her hand, “Well, everyone knows that Guild Master Oupu had enmity with you and yesterday you took miss Dawkins to Oupu Mansion to cause trouble with him. And not to mention your meteoric rise in power is making everyone suspicious about you having fallen to darkness in order to kill Guild Master Oupu. But you need not worry as father declared his support and trust that you are not a Dark Magician even after the church"s repeated accusations, which has eased a lot of tension with the city"s people. Mr. Booth, who knew you for a while now also pledged that you can"t be a Dark Magician since their temperaments and yours do not match up. With both Booth"s and fathers" affirmations, the warrant that the church has issued has been dissolved.
Alfea"s words eased Ye Chui and Debbie"s minds and looking at the now relaxed Ye Chui and Debbie, the Dragon Baby was also relieved.
Ye Chui then thought of the nearsighted miss and asked: “then, what about Miss Dawkins?”
“She still is the prime suspect. Booth ripped the arrest warrant but still, the church did not give up.” Alfea spoke with a solemn face, ” although father and Booth believe that Dawkins is innocent, the church does not want to let this matter slide. And to top that off, Bishop Faria came to the City Lord"s Manor with his followers threatening that Dawkins would be punished by the Seven G.o.ds.”
“If Dawkins was a Dark Magician, then would she go seriously injuring someone in broad daylight before she went off to only come back and kill him? You would have to be a complete fool to not see the sheer nonsense.” Ye Chui spoke while pondering, [he remembered that Booth did say that Dawkins had experienced many hardships from childhood but did not bother asking anything more about it], “it seems that there is more to the story than that.”
“… Dawkins has some special circ.u.mstances which are making it hard for Booth and father to help her much. Dawkins"s parents are said to be Dark Magicians.” Alfea spoke with hesitation. Her father told her not to speak of this matter to any outsiders but for her, Debbie and Ye Chui are no outsiders so she continued, “Dawkins"s birth and childhood are kept secret. She was brought up under severe surveillance and suspicion… so when there was a Dark Magician attack in Stan City, she became the prime suspect. and as for you, you are suspected of being under her influence.”
“What do her parents be Dark Magicians has anything with Miss Dawkins? And how does that influence Hammer!” Debbie complained knowing that Dawkins helped Ye Chui deal with Oupu yesterday, giving her a good impression of the ‘near-sighted young miss “the church is really nosy.” Debbie said in irritation.
“The Church is present all over the continent. It is the largest organization other than the Seven Empires. However, the Mattan Empire limits its involvement in the Empire so the church is doing everything it can to uproot the Mattan Empire. Considering that Dawkins is one of the geniuses" of the Mattan Empire, it is going to do everything in its power to remove a future threat.” Alfea said rubbing her brows feeling a headache.
Stan City is but a small remote city of the Mattan Empire and these politics did not affect it in the past. But with the arrival of Dawkins, all that changed as this place was the most ideal to deal with her with little resistance and now Stan City was dragged into the torrents of power struggle breaking its tranquility.
Ye Chui frowned as he got a deeper understanding of the nature of the Church.
“Well, Hammer, you should not worry too much. You are the student that Booth chose and someone who is recognized by Father. So, the church will not trouble you much.” Alfea the proceeded to stand, she buckledthe long sword to her belt, “I must go find my teacher for today"s sword lessons.”
Alfea blushed when she said that. She is having three sessions per week, and each time she gets a lesson from Iron-Swordsman she gets a chance to get closer and intimate with Iron-Swordsman, maybe even get in a relationship with him? So for her, each of her learning sessions is of utmost importance.
“Oh wait, Iron-Swordsman said he had something came up and could not teach you today and that you should practice by yourself today.” Ye Chui said following her.
Alfea: "……"
Ye Chui explained: “He said he was going to investigate the Dark Magician since he is now the people"s hero” noticing Alfea"s face getting increasingly ugly, he stopped and stood up to leave, “well then, I will go look for my teacher to clear some doubts. So… see you later…”
saying that he hurriedly left the room.
Ye Chui was lost in thought as he was hurrying to the City Lord"s Manor whether Vivian was called to the Church for the same reason, the Dark Magician.
"……”
“Teacher, why are you so sure that I am not the Dark Magician.”
Ye Chui asked Booth once he sat in the City Lord"s Manor"s courtyard with a solemn look on his face. Considering his recent increase in power and Oupu"s death, it was easy to doubt him for a Dark Magician, so he did not understand why Booth did not have an ounce of doubt towards him.
“He He, I knew you would ask that.” Booth replied sitting on a stool and taking a leisurely sip from the cup of coffee in his hand, and gently said, “yes, you have grown so fast that it is easy to doubt you for being a Dark Magician… but you have an aspect to you that, I firmly believe, will not let you fall into the darkness.”
“An aspect in me?” Ye Chui stared for a moment and let out an embarra.s.sed laugh, “Teacher, are you saying that I have a n.o.ble quality to me…”
Booth: “… no, to be honest, I have never seen a more shameless person in my life.”
(Silavin: Pfft! Well, I"m somewhat like that as well.)
Ye Chui: "…"
Booth smiled and continued: “What I was talking about was your thirst for knowledge.”
"Intellectual curiosity?" Ye Chui has gawked.
Booth nodded, “Yes. Curiosity. A curiosity that a Dark Magic would never have because they have . It is a dark spell that allows the caster to consume a magician"s soul and absorb both the power and the knowledge of the victim and transfer them into the caster. Therefore, a Dark Magician is never curious to learn anything new as they can simply consume a soul and obtain knowledge, which makes a person who fell into darkness repel all other elements and their understandings instinctively.”
Ye Chui stared: “Dark Magic is so overbearing to think it could consume other Magician"s knowledge.”
Booth shook his head: “There are hidden dangers while walking the shorter road. It is true that Dark Magic increases your power faster, at the same time it also brings many dangers with it. The knowledge it gives is not earned or understood decreasing its effectiveness and makes it impossible to show its power to the fullest. It also impedes your magic perception. All in all, the gains it brings are not enough to offset the losses.”
“So that"s how it is.” Ye Chui nodded with understanding. Ye Chui finally understood that his constant pursuit of knowledge and the impeccable habits that he developed, also his curiosity with which he consults Booth are what have convinced Booth that he was not a Dark Magician. then he looked towards Dawkins who was playing with the Dragon Baby with no worry, to the point that she was comfortable with all the allegations of being Dark Magician, put him to ease his worries.
But Ye Chui was able to see some other things from her eyes as well ……”
Noticing where Ye Chui was looking at, Booth sighed: “Dawkins is not a Dark Magician, that I am sure of that. I knew her since she was a child. She is like a daughter to me." he looked at Ye Chui and said, “Hammer, promise me that you will do everything to catch that Dark Magician and that you will protect Dawkins. She is Mattan Empire"s hope, Ye Chui. you must not let the Church succeed.”
[Dawkins is a dual element Level 9 Magician. She alone is powerful enough to flatten the entire Stan City. Why does she need my protection?]
Ye Chui quickly understood what Booth meant when he said that the church had great influence. They knew that there was no one in Stan City who can handle Dawkins, but what about the people of Stan City. The church would use the ma.s.s"s fear of Dark Magician and condemn Dawkins to a grave fate. what can she do against public outrage? Kill them all?
But then again, there was one person in Stan City who has just as much, if not more, following as the church does.
coming to this conclusion Ye Chui smiled and whispered: “Teacher, I will give you my word. As the Iron-Swordsman, I will protect Miss Dawkins.”
he was the one to drag Dawkins into this mess by taking her to meet Oupu. And now that Oupu died, she has become the prime suspect of being a Dark Magician. This made Ye Chui feel responsible. Not to mention, he was also accused of being in cahoots with the Dark Magician. The Iron-Swordsman"s enmity with the church, in other words, his ‘almost" hatred towards the church and this incident made Ye Chui convinced that he was destined to be the Church"s enemy.
Booth nodded with a smile. The church always acts from the shadows. It is not difficult for Dawkins to face off a mere 200 followers but if the church were to use their right to arrest her in the open, then that would be difficult. The only one who can counter that would be Ye Chui with his current reputation.
Ye Chui was curious about Dawkins"s past which made Booth trust her so much but considering that Dawkins was just a few feet away, he did not ask Booth directly. Instead, he proceeded with talking about magic theory: “Teacher, how do we engrave fixed coordinated into a Teleportation Scroll?”
Ye Chui was eager to leave Stan City and explore, so he wanted to grasp the concepts of s.p.a.ce Magic related scrolls, especially the Teleportation Scroll and how to make them. He wanted to create some sort of method to summon the Magic Beasts in the Ancient Tomb as they have reached a controllable level.
At the same time, he had upgraded his Iron-Swordsman suit, probably using Dragon Language magic, to enchant the suit and push it battle prowess to the next level.