Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 120 (Part 2)

“Oh.”

When Rodin and his group entered, someone sitting in a corner sneered. The voice was irritating enough that Rodin instinctively turned his head.

“Hmm.”

“So, the fledgling has dared to step out of his nest. How brave.”

The one provoking Rodin was wearing the robes of the Cedria Tower, with a 4th-circle designation. He was one of the mages who had stood behind Elder Kendrick during the argument at the Richmond Marquisate.

‘His name was Holton.’

Rodin ignored him and sat down at an empty table.

Jena read the room and positioned herself between Rodin and the man, while Bianca, unaware of the situation, simply looked at the menu across from them.

“Rodin, look at this!”

“I’ll have the same.”

Their food was served soon after. The restaurant seemed to keep some dishes in constant rotation due to high customer turnover.

As Rodin’s group waited for their meal, Holton disappeared from the restaurant. He had returned to his lodging to report Rodin’s presence to the mage tower.

‘Annoying, but it’s better to face this head-on.’

Rodin steeled himself and finished the meal.

Back at his lodging, Holton took out a communication orb. Its wavelength was already set to Sedria Tower, so there was no need for adjustments.

He infused the orb with magical energy and chanted in runic script, waiting for the connection.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

He waited for a while, but there was no response. He tried several times, but the result was the same.

“Is the orb broken?”

He raised the orb to his eyes and inspected it carefully. There was no crack or flaw.

Holton, a 4th-circle mage, found it easy to handle communication magic.

“What’s wrong with this?”

He tried infusing energy again, but the connection failed each time.

“Ah, this is driving me crazy.”

Unbeknownst to Holton, communication with Cedria Tower was impossible at the moment. The mages accompanying the knights of the Lennox Kingdom had taken control of the communication wavelengths to coordinate their operation against a massive monster.

The Lennox Kingdom had deployed 500 knights and a full contingent of 100 mages from the magic corps to deal with the beast.

To ensure seamless communication, they had unified the transmission frequency, blocking all others.

“Why! Why won’t it work when I’m just trying to report!”

There was no use screaming. No matter how much energy he poured in, the connection remained impossible.

“That insolent brat.”

Holton ground his teeth, recalling the figure he saw at the restaurant.

In truth, Holton hadn’t recognized Rodin.

Rodin had kept his hood pulled low, hiding his face. Just because their robes were similar didn’t mean he could be sure they were the same person.

However, he clearly remembered the girl who was with him. After their previous confrontation, Holton had extensively investigated Rodin’s residence and those who lived there.

He knew how many people were in the house, their names, and their appearances.

That’s why he recognized Rodin despite not seeing his face.

“How lucky.”

Holton lacked the courage to confront Rodin alone. He could only seethe in frustration without daring to act.

Elder Kendrick had mentioned that Rodin was a 4th-circle mage, like himself. Holton didn’t think he would lose, but he wasn’t sure he would win either.

That’s why he had intended to report the encounter, only to be thwarted by an unexpected communication problem.

The next day, Rodin departed from Asir without incident.

An hour later, they crossed the border and entered the Tevia Kingdom.

From there, everything went smoothly.

There was no anticipated attack from the Cedria Tower, nor did they encounter any monsters.

They did hear in one village that the Lennox Kingdom’s knights had failed to subdue a beast, and there were rumors that the monster had crossed into Tebia.

“That’s odd.”

The Cedria Tower, which he expected would confront him, was silent, yet suddenly, the threat of the beast was looming closer. There was a chance they could cross paths while traveling.

“Young master.”

“Yes?”

Jena looked back from the driver’s seat and asked.

Rodin set down the book he was reading and glanced toward the driver’s seat.

“What will you do if we run into the beast?”

“It depends on the situation. If civilians are under attack, I’ll have no choice but to fight.”

If he could sense the beast from afar, avoiding it was preferable. Rodin had no inclination to risk his life in a fight with an uncertain outcome.

“You’re a good person, young master.”

“Me? That can’t be right. I’m not a bad person, but I’m not exactly good either.”

“But you said you’d protect the civilians.”

“It’s not about noble self-sacrifice. I could ignore a stone in the road of the next town over, but if it’s in front of my house, I have to move it. It’s annoying to look at.”

Rodin wasn’t one to seek out acts of kindness. If a villain committed misdeeds in some far-off place, it wasn’t his concern.

But if that villain was causing trouble in his vicinity, he couldn’t just ignore it. It would bother him, and there was a chance someone he knew could get hurt.

“There are many people who wouldn’t even do that.”

“Well, I think we have a decent chance if we face it.”

Even if someone taunted him at close range but was strong enough that he couldn’t win, Rodin was ready to grit his teeth and endure with a smile.

In the special forces training center, when he was relatively weaker, he never refused an order. He always quietly fulfilled his duties as a trainee and slave.

“I’ll do my best to protect us.”

“The best way is not to fight at all.”

“True enough.”

“Monsters. About thirty of them.”

At Rodin’s words, Jena called for Karis. Almost simultaneously, the two carriages came to a halt.

“Rodin! More monsters?”

“Yes, we’ve been running into them unusually often.”

It had only been three days since they left Asir, and already, this was their fourth encounter with monsters.

“Should we handle them all?”

“Hold on. Larry, what do you think?”

“I’ll fight.”

Each monster encounter provided Larry with practical combat experience. Bianca had tried using Strength magic on him once but soon gave up.

With Larry’s unique swordsmanship, extra strength didn’t dramatically improve his skill. It would only be meaningful against a powerful opponent; against similar-level foes, whether Strength was cast or not didn’t make much difference.