NOVEL NEXT Chapter 94: Paving A Way
Weekends are supposed to be the day where students get to enjoy their freedom from seeing their teachers at least for two consecutive days. But we all know that is not the case for me.
As much as I wanted to give it a rest at least even just for a while, I know I cannot do that anymore, not when we all are aware that someone has already the knowledge about what we are doing here.
"Again," Alex's voice instantly grabbed my attention and snapped me back to reality.
Getting back to my senses, I started generating flames in both my hands and tried to hit the target dummy he placed a few yards away from me that is plainly made of wood. I did what he told me to do, but as I can see it in his face right now, he seems unhappy with what I have done.
"Your mind is drifting somewhere," he pointed out, his keen eyes piercing right at my direction. "Causing your focus to lose for a second."
"It's nothing," I immediately replied, "I was just thinking how to achieve the move you are asking me to execute. That's all."
He seemed finally convinced.
"Alright. If you say so."
Later on, he called it a day and was about to do his thing of walking away from here and heading right to his office when a castle guard suddenly went here on the rear portion of the castle, looking quite serious as ever.
"What is it?" Alex was the one to ask the guard before I had the chance to speak.
"Someone wants to see the prince. He introduces himself as a citizen from Citrus Town who seeks help from his majesty." the castle guard explained in a business-like tone.
"And what kind of assistance could it be? Did he specifically say what it is?" I curiously asked.
"He hasn't, your majesty," the guard shrugged. "The man says he will only speak the matter to you, in private."
I nodded. "Very well then. Bring him to the drawing-room at once. I will be there in less than a minute."
The castle guard curtly nodded at me before leaving here. Alex, on the other hand, looked at me as if I went insane in front of him or anything of that sort.
"What? Did I do something wrong?" I can't help but arch one eyebrow at him for the way he acts right now.
"You don't know this guy, and yet you agreed to speak with him?" Alex scoffed. "Of course it is only natural for me to be quite confused by your sudden action without even consulting us."
"But this must be something important for him to waste his time and effort going a thousand kilometers away just to get here and speak to the prince," I tried to reason out with him, hoping that he would understand my side in doing this.
"And I know what it feels like to have no voice in the society, so that's why I need to see this man and know what concerns him." Then I lifted my firm gaze at him. "And from there, perhaps you will find a way to deal with his problem as a member of the royal council."
I did not wait for his response and walked away from here and back inside the castle as soon as possible to meet with this stranger who seeks the prince's company.
Two servants opened the doors of the drawing-room for me to enter and closed it once again when they made sure that I had already entered inside.
A guard stood upright on a corner as our chaperone, which I tried to ignore by focusing on an old man sitting on a red couch in front of a large window, where the sunlight illuminated the entire room without adding light.
As soon as he saw my presence, the bearded man whose body is fragile to look at immediately stood up while he carried with him his staff. I craned my head to look for his company, but there was none.
What a brave thing to do to travel alone with that kind of body he has.
"Good day, sir." I greeted as politely as I could. "I see you didn't bring anyone with you to accompany you on your journey here."
"My family is already gone, killed by the plague attacking our small town at the moment." the man said in a very heavy accent, I must say. "I have no one to accompany me here."
Plague?
My chest tightened upon hearing that.
"I'm so sorry to hear that, and for your loss," I crooned, my eyes avoiding any eye contact as I said those words. "Anyway, you mentioned something about the plague. Is that why you are here, am I right?"
"Yes, we need your help to resolve this one, Prince Arthur. " he said as if he is on the verge of crying. "We need you, please."
"I would very much like to be of your assistance. But first, in order for me to help you, can you state the whole scenario for me to have a better picture of the things happening in your area?"
"Absolutely, your highness."
"And do you want something to eat and drink while we are discussing such matters?"
"That wouldn't be unnecessary, thank you."
"Very well then. Let's get to the point, shall we?"
The man only nodded at me before starting to discuss to me all the things that I need to know in this curse that he began narrating to me about.
Once I already got the bigger picture of it, I told the man to wait for a while in the drawing-room to look for my mentors to consult with them regarding this one. I had the guard keep his eyes on the man while I am on my way to deliver dreadful news to my mentors.
They were gathered in the prince's office as it appeared that they were discussing something when I suddenly entered the scene, and they just kept quiet right there. I chose to ignore what just took place and instead focused on the matter as to why I am here.
"The man that just came to me is in the drawing-room as of now, and he delivers such dreadful news that we need to take care of as quickly as we can," I announced, making them silent for another minute.
It was then when Lucas asked, "What is it?"
"The man just spoke to me about a plague that came in Citrus Town just now, killing all their animals, root crops and even non-wizards that couldn't stand its fatal attack in just a heap of a moment. Basically, it could kill life itself in that place."
All three of them looked devastated as they all looked at me in disbelief.
"The dark wizards are on it once again, I see…" Alex muttered causing my eyebrows to snap together.
"The--who--now?" I curiously asked.
"The dark wizards, dummy," Alex repeated himself. "That's what we are all discussing earlier. Clearly, they are starting to strike the world once again, and Gilead is on their priority list."
"Wait, I thought it says in history that all of them were killed already during the final stages of Dark Ages by the prince's ancestors?" I stated, recalling the history of Gilead that my father so loves to tell me when I was a kid before bedtime.
"Not all of them,"
All heads turned towards Lancelot who spoke just now. My eyes widened in horror for what he said a while ago.
"Heroes in the past were able to kill the greatest threat that mankind has ever faced: the leader of the Dark Wizards whose name is Salazar. Without the world knowing, there was actually one who managed to survive during the epic battle of the Dark Ages and escaped death by teleporting himself out of the battlefield. Our people spent centuries finding this dark wizard named Raven, but to no luck, up until now we still haven't found them." Lancelot thoroughly explained to me.
I can't believe it. If that man or woman is freely roaming the world, then that simply means we are all in serious danger. Dark Ages, so we speak, could repeat itself at any moment once this culprit cannot be captured right away.
"It has come to our attention that Raven is beginning his hunt for every master wizard in the world, to which we personally believed is why Prince Arthur is missing in the first place. It could be he was abducted by the culprit, or he went there himself to face the enemy, alone."
He is hunting every master wizard, huh? Could it be that… he was the cause of my father's death as well? That illness he suffered from, is it caused by his plague? Or is it something else?
"And what would he gain from killing all the master wizards, huh?" I asked.
"I strongly believed that…" Lancelot continued with his explanation. "... Raven and his comrades were paving a way for their leader-- his brother--- to be reborn once again…"