Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 88: Chapter 79: The Troubled Hill

The not-so-large living room had been arranged with a circular sofa by Hill. In the middle, there was a round coffee table.

Hill extended his hand to invite a few people to sit down, ”Please have a seat. I haven’t introduced myself; I’m Hill Polanio, from Saral.”

A few mages also gave their names.

”Hernan McPherson.”

”Solomon Frankel.”

”Fabrizio Roy.”

”Bavi Kintros.”

”Ilyasfeil Kassel.”

Hill looked at the last person who spoke, the female mage who had been wearing a hood; she gently took off her hat, revealing a stunningly beautiful face.

He suddenly realized why these mages didn’t leave on their own like the one he had encountered at the Haifa Border.

”Mr. Polanio, you understand just by looking at me, right?” Kassel said with a wry smile, ”We all used to live in the southern part of Haifasardo in Kassel’s Earl Domain. Our teacher had a Mage Tower there. Although it was only of intermediate rank, it was enough for us.

But my surname is Kassel, and that Earl who participated in the Saral war is only my cousin.” She sighed deeply, ”I don’t know if I will be affected, so I could only follow them and leave.

Although there wasn’t a need for them to follow me, after all these years of friendship, they were worried about my safety and intended to escort me to Cortez to find a secure place.”

McPherson interrupted her stuttering story: ”Our teacher was a proper mage who always disdained the Haifasardo nobles’ ways, thus he seldom bothered with Count Kassel.

Unexpectedly, he bore a grudge. Since he couldn’t retaliate against our deceased teacher, he told the nobles in Cortez that Ilya was a very loose woman and also very knowledgeable about making those drugs.

All nonsense!

And I have no idea what he was thinking, but some Marquis requested Kassel to become his fifth wife.”

”Female mages always like to protect their own faces,” Kassel said mournfully, ”I’m not young anymore, yet I still have a beautiful face.”

Count Kassel, Hill quickly recalled, was a Grand Knight and presumably over sixty years old.

And this female mage appeared to be no more than twenty-six or twenty-seven years old.

He didn’t need to say more; they sensed the danger and sought help from the Mage Association.

And then they encountered Kronos.

McPherson continued, ”After we entered the Mage Association, at first that branch president was very protective of us.

That Marquis sent men to surround the Mage Association, injuring several apprentices. He also set a powerful Magic Array on the outskirts, killing quite a few.

Latter on, we don’t know what happened or what benefits that Marquis offered, but he suddenly changed his attitude.”

”So what?” Frankel said loudly, ”We just won’t leave the Mage Association, and he wouldn’t dare to expel us openly.

Is it just about enduring some cold looks?

Mages living in Haifasardo are long used to it.

If it weren’t for Ilya’s wealth, we would have been conned into doing that kind of rubbish work sooner or later!”

Kassel’s eyes welled up with tears, ”It’s all my fault that even an apprentice dares to give you disdainful looks.”

Hill looked at the beauty with eyes like autumn waters, unmoved, and nodded slightly, ”Then rest here. Once you arrive in Saral, it will be better.

His Majesty the King has no such leisure to bother about the relative of an Earl in Haifasardo.”

He lost interest; no matter what secrets this dumbstruck beauty carried, seeing her flirtatious gaze just made Hill feel indifferent.

He had thought he was fighting for the dignity of mages, but in the end, he was dragged into a baffling struggle.

Kronos must hate him to death by now. Why did he interfere in others’ business!

Still too young! Hill suddenly wondered, was this Cortez’s way of refusing him permission to travel?

Hill decided not to deal with these few people any longer. He stood up and said, ”I apologize for leaving you. Please make yourselves comfortable. I’ll have the Tower Spirit notify you when we arrive in Saral.”

Not minding Kassel who wanted to say more but ceased with a stiff face, Hill went straight back down to his room.

He collapsed onto the bed with a few loud groans.

Srei appeared by his side: ”Sir?”

”It’s nothing. Meddling brings nothing but trouble; it’s the same in any world.” Hill gave a bitter smile, ”Forget it, no point in regretting now, after all, they did outright disrespect me.

Maybe it was to prevent the mages of Haifasardo from knowing that I helped them, but with such methods, it’s not surprising they hit a snag.”

”You didn’t expect this ironclad plan of mine to directly undermine you, did you?”

Srei laughed, ”Everyone knew you had left Haifasardo for Cortez, yet he did not take precautions—that was too foolish of him.”

Hill sat up and noticed the clothes on his body, ”Do Mages from Haifasardo have a fondness for robes brought by the Undead Tribe?”

He thought about it, those two apprentices must have taken on the task of offending and driving away the Haifasardo Mage.

If it weren’t for some life-or-death matter, no Mage would bother staying and taking that annoyance; they’d simply fly to the next city.

After all, they were newcomers to Cortez, and generally would not directly harm apprentices, to avoid offending the local Mages of Cortez.

Moreover, he had taken insurance, employing two beautiful female apprentices—who would bother to argue when faced with pretty girls, rather just turning around and walking away?

Kronos had also been overconfident; although he had inquired about Hill from Commins on the Haifasardo border, he hadn’t expected Hill to travel overnight with such speed by carriage.

He hadn’t even instructed the female apprentice at the front desk to watch out for a young man with golden hair and blue eyes.

The Magisters from Saral wouldn’t put up with this nonsense!

He also hadn’t expected Hill to be wearing a robe almost identical to those of Haifasardo Mages.

In fact, if Kronos had shown a better attitude towards the Mages of Haifasardo and communicated more, he would’ve known that these are all Saral Undead robe styles.

Although the Undead wore a variety of odd clothes, this type of robe was particularly popular with many Mages.

Elegant, dashing, and full of the mysterious air of a Mage—yet, once the outer robe was removed, it was convenient for conducting experiments.

Most Mages in Saral wore these robes.

The Mages of Haifasardo, for some reason, had picked up on this trend and it spread rapidly.

The Female Mage from Cassel wore a very body-hugging Undead women’s robe.

Hill curled his lips as the lady deliberately adjusted her posture on the sofa, showing off her slim waist and ample hips, as well as the black silk thighs revealed by the slit in her robe.

At first, she was silent and expressionless, but after learning Hill’s identity, she began to present herself as a sexy and oppressed mature woman at every opportunity.

Mages in their twenties are just so alluring, Hill inwardly joked.

But did this lady really never consider that Hill, who was of noble birth, wouldn’t know about Countess Cassel’s age?

Not every naïve young man fresh from his home would fall for a glamorous woman older than his own father, no matter how beautiful she might be.

Moreover, Hill touched his face, after seeing so much, his aesthetic standards had risen significantly.

The Female Mage from Cassel was perhaps too confident—had she seduced too many innocent young men?

A Low-rank Mage wouldn’t understand that Mages aged slowly but they did still age gradually.

However, for Magisters who had reconstructed their Elemental Bodies, changing their appearance was actually possible.

Maintaining eternal youth was not a difficult task.

It’s just that many Mages were already of a certain age when they became Magisters, and they were accustomed to a mature and steady appearance.

After Hill awakened as a Magician, his Elven Bloodline was also activated, which is why he still looked youthful.

Hill thought it was quite nice, eternal youth was always a wonderful aspiration from the past.

The only trouble was situations like this, where people took him for a foolish kid and tried to trick him.

Hill looked at Srei, ”Once we’re at sea, contact List to inform him of the situation.

My grandfather should have a connection with Spencer, get him to take over. Let’s head straight to Spencer’s city.

Tell him, I don’t want to know about any major secrets or treasures, I just want to disentangle myself completely from this affair!”

Srei voiced his agreement repeatedly.

Seeing Hill full of dissatisfaction, Cohen, who was perched by the window, flew down and gently flapped his wings, patting Hill in comfort.

Hill smiled silently, ”It’s okay, I’ve just come to understand myself better—I’m destined to be a technical recluse!”

He gently stroked Cohen’s head, ”With Cohen’s comfort, I feel much better!”

The ship had already entered the sea, and after Hill and Cohen played around for a while, he thought about going out to catch some fresh air and let Cohen fly around.

After all, he had already sealed off the deckhouse above.

Srei appeared with a hesitant expression, ”Sir, there’s a problem.”