Mandi had finished reviewing and organizing at least half of the tall stack of documents assigned to her by her parents. She tried to be less angry with them, to justify their punishments. The redhead had paid off two of her cousins to go to that town for petty reasons. As a result of her selfishness, she almost got her two cousins killed by a mythical monster. But it also could’ve been a bear or wildcat attack. She desperately tried to atone for her mess-ups by keeping out of everyone’s way. The thrashings were just side consequences.
Almost everyone hated her, including the wives of her cousins, but honestly, Mandi couldn’t blame them. It was only recently that she realized the downside of trying to act like a noble. No one knew the real her, except for Hector and Rose. She… was no longer sure if she’d be able to regain the trust of her family after this stunt. Being herself would make the girl seem weak, an open invitation to ridicule, bullying, and embarrassment for the Red Star.
Suddenly, a wind erupted from seemingly nowhere, scattering papers everywhere from the folders she was just about to shelve, to the tall stack, and even previously shelved folders that had their cabinets open, staged to accept new sorted documents.
Before she could react, a flame-powered fist connected with her face and she blacked out just a bit until finding herself outside of the office, on her back. Hearing Elise’s laugh, Mandi scraped herself off the floor and ran. Three fireballs capable of turning her to ashes without her magical protections whizzed past her, the shockwaves almost causing the girl to lose her balance.
Despite seeing the situation, relatives simply turned away, many of their expressions cold and uncaring. Hector and Rose were likely out on duty.
“I didn’t think Yani would convince mother to let me… train you, but it turns out you’re more of a disgrace to the family than we originally thought,” Elise called from behind.
As Mandi made it around the corner, she bumped into the worst possible person. “You insolent little…”
A flaming backhand coated her vision, along with a rush of extreme pain, as she flew through the front doors, landing painfully on the stone front pad.
Eyes fell on us in surprise as we made our way casually through the courtyard toward the front doors of the manor. Honestly, this was quite the nice place with well-maintained flower gardens, beautiful, vibrant blue-green grass, and interesting statues, though most were of a woman I assumed had to be the Red Star herself.
Now, I didn’t come here to get arrested. If Mandi decided to stay on her own, preferably with valid reasons, then I’d respect her decision. But sending a message that was likely an obvious plea for help ruled out many things. Only knowing her for a short time, this letter emanated desperation.
But this brings up one supremely huge problem with my own logic. How the fuck was I going to stay unnoticed if I got into a fight with the biggest figure in the city? Let’s say I won this fight. Did she care about her reputation or pride? If not, then she’d surely alert other houses and who knew how many allies she’d acquired.
So that left one main option and, quite frankly, the one I personally didn’t have a problem with if it meant being left alone. I couldn’t lie to this person about my identity… but I could match her might for might. Get her to listen to my proposal.
I almost threw diplomacy out the window at the scene I walked into as the front doors flung open.
Almost at the speed of sound, Mandi flew out the doors, landing painfully on the stony front pad. Moments later, a woman emerged to loom over her. Long, dark red hair, orange eyes, and somewhat angular features made up her general appearance. Dressed in a red kimono, she looked to be in her late thirties at most and exerted an aura of heat that even I felt from afar.
“I think it’s time for another round of discipline, silly girl, yes?” the woman said darkly. Smoke or perhaps steam poured from her mouth in response to her cold anger, I could tell. When the Red Star raised a flaming hand, while Mandi cowered, covering herself, I acted.
[Enemy analysis.]
Gwendolyn Wingston, Red Star.
Magician rank: 2nd realm of the Lesser Dragon.
I couldn’t even begin to think why she was stronger than the hero, but figured their service as said party couldn’t be voluntary. That or their church talked them into taking up the roles.
The earth seemed to part fucking time and space for me, because holy shit did I make record time getting there to block Gwendolyn’s attack. Her eyes widened in surprise only for a second, but the anger at some stranger daring to interfere with her beating up a powerless normal human clouded her judgement. For fuck’s sake, what was wrong with these people? Mandi didn’t so much as have her magical protections—her necklaces and jewelry gifted to her by her elder brother, Hector.
I nodded at Milia to get Mandi. My dryad fiancée wasted no time pulling her away from the oncoming melee with vines. At this time, Howie was emerging and, judging by the sweat and horrified look on his face, he just found out that Mandi got attacked. I saw a smiling girl that looked to either be Mandi’s age or slightly older standing nearby with flames dancing around her. Were they both attacking a powerless girl? We were talking about my fucking apprentice, who not only took a step in the right direction of bettering herself as a person, but even worked hard for the shop without being asked to. Someone without any magic whatsoever could be killed in one strike from the fire. Were they… were they planning to kill her? Like, what happened the prior week wasn’t that big of a fucking deal. No harm, no foul. Sure, a little punishment such as being grounded would work, but Mandi was eighteen. An adult, who actually showed remorse. Also, the noble attitude thing turned out to be a façade, though we figured that out on our own quickly.
The red light that always showed around me when I was fucking pissed erupted into existence and I bored down a killing instinct so… heavy, I can’t describe it, that the Red Star found herself struggling to stand. Being better at controlling my powers, I directed it all at her. Instead of outright delivering fucking heavenly punishment to this bitch, though she deserved it, I asked her a question first. So much for keeping on the quiet side. Perhaps I could bullshit my way out of this.
“Were you planning to execute her, Red Star?” I asked, voice dark. “If I’m not mistaken, this young girl here is but a mortal. I’m sure the Lord Ruler would love to hear about overpowered magicians terrorizing the common people, yes?”
“Who are you…?” the Red Star managed to get out. She was quickly shaking off the effects of my killing intent and would be on my ass soon. Or run. It depended on her pride. “Are you a part of the Lord Ruler’s envoy?”
“That’s not important,” I snapped. “Answer my question. Were you planning to execute this girl?”
“Of course not, idiot!” she barked. “Why would I execute my own daughter? You’re clearly not from around Wingston, so you don’t know how things work. But when you do something stupid in this family, endangering lives, wasting our resources, and don’t so much as return with something to make the expenses worth it, except great shame, you get punished. Not to the highest degree, but short from banishment. The beatings are a mercy.”
“Beatings? You call roasting her with fire beatings? Also, she’s eighteen, made one silly mistake in your eyes, and is working to atone for it. You can’t cut her a little slack and look the other way? What she did wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“You… you sound like you know what happened?” Gwendolyn said. She shook her head. “There’s no way the Lord Ruler’s envoy would’ve learned of those rumors or cared to send someone all the way out here. You’re no court magician. Who are you? And how dare you intrude on my property!”
She finally broke free of my killing intent and attacked, only to be surprised that her fire did jack shit, except snuff out whenever it got within a foot of me. For such a spicy potion, it did its job really well. Perhaps, too well thanks to its ridiculously high grade and quality.
“Red Star, calm down,” I said.
“Nate!” Mandi was finally out of her daze and running to me. “Mother, stop!”
The Red Star gaped at her daughter, clearly taken aback by the sudden strength in her voice.
“Lady Wingston, he is the one who saved our lives,” Howie said.
Gwendolyn let some kind of energy-like blue fire in her hands die off. The killing intent produced by this mysterious flame vanished too. Did I mention that both Milia and I took the potion of God Flame? I originally intended to get Mandi some vengeance, that was if the Red Star planned to kill her daughter. I wouldn’t stoop to her level, but after the battle, well, I’d make sure she’d never want to use her magic again.
That’s right, I wasn’t fucking around. No, I didn’t want to blast Mandi’s mother to smithereens, but one thing I learned about this world was how little they gave a damn when it came to people’s lives. I wasn’t a saint, definitely not a white knight, but I was from modern Earth. As I’ve said before, the old world had its own set of problems, but in a world where might was right, super people ruled lands, somebody had to be the voice of reason. It shouldn’t have to be me nor Milia.
The Red Star quickly righted herself, brushing off dust, though she likely realized I hadn’t broken even the slightest of sweats, even under the intense blue flame. Her ace, I was sure. Howie noticed by the way he looked at me.
I turned to Mandi. “You’re looking worse for wear,” I said. “I hope you’re well enough to pack your things.”
Her eyes widened. “Pack my things?”
“As my third apprentice, I’ll require you to live in the town,” I announced. “Of course we’ve prepared a house for you. We’re also assuming Howie’s coming along, as well.”
The butler flinched before sneaking a peak at Gwendolyn.
“You’re a… you’re a master magician,” the Red Star said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Yet you’re allowing me to live after insulting you. Why?”
Mandi gaped at her mother, then looked at me, eyes containing a plea.
I sighed. “Is there somewhere we can all sit down and chat? I asked. “Perhaps we can start with introductions.”
I turned to the girl at the door and emitted a decent bit of killing intent. Her flames snuffed out as she trembled with utter fear. These people really were rude. Thankfully, the horrified glare from her mother and the follow-up yell at least let me know there was at least some reason within the Red Star.
“Elise, you go to your room!” Gwendolyn yelled. “You’re on restrictions for a year! Are you out of your mind, attacking this man? Can you not sense his power? Go meditate now!” Her will smashed down on the girl, forcing her to run even faster. It was quite easy to tell Elise bullied Mandi a lot.
The other redhead looked snakish with her eyes, very thin, bony in a way, and emitted a vibe that let me know that I’d be better off trusting a hallow fragment over her. Knowing that Mandi lived with these kinds of people only made me feel even worse for her. No wonder why she wore a façade.
The Red Star seemed to fall in a daze, staring at me for a moment before flinching.
“Please follow me,” she quickly said. She looked as if she wanted to say something bitchy to Mandi, but one hard stare from me slapped away such internal planning. Instead, she kept quiet, knowing that there wasn’t a thing she could do. That was how things operated in a land where might was right. Fucked up, yes. But in this case, it’d stop these people from abusing Mandi, you know, a normal human. They acted as if she’d murdered someone, forgetting that teenagers make plenty of mistakes. Hell, I know I did, but we’re not going to get into those. Too embarrassing.
Anyway, Gwendolyn took us to a dining room, ordered the servants to make tea, putting emphasis on the special flavors for important occasions. The maid flinched before hurrying to follow orders.
“Just going to put this out there, if that tea is poisoned, you will die,” I said. “That’s what you’re expecting me to say, right?”
For a second, it looked as if the soul left Gwendolyn’s body. Milia couldn’t help but laugh, reminding me how lucky it is to marry someone with an expansive sense of humor. Even if that admittedly may have been done in bad taste. But I would not be treated like a fool. Even Mandi looked as if she was about to pass out. Poisoned tea was probably common in this family, or at least with their relatives, especially that snaky girl.
“Master Magician… Nate, was it?” the Red Star began.
“Please just call me Nate or, if you have to, Sir Nate,” I said. “And this is my betrothed, Milia. Keep my powers a secret, by the way.”
“S… Sir Nate,” Gwendolyn said. “We do not need something as childish as poisoned tea in this household, though some competing relatives have tried. Besides, hearing that you were the one that saved my daughter, Winn, and Lou after doing something stupid, changes everything. Howie feigned not knowing your identity, which I assume was your request, yes?”
“Of course, but it’s really no big deal if my name gets out, so don’t even consider trying to use that against me,” I said. Mandi looked as if she was trying to make herself smaller. The petite woman was certainly no damsel and if she had something to say, I’d urge her. Which was why I gave her a look, encouraging her to do so. But the glare from Gwendolyn prevented words from coming out of her mouth.
“Sir Nate, Mandi has an obligation to marry Gaston Astral,” Gwendolyn said. “I’m afraid she’s going to have to decline—”
“Being an apprentice of mine will take priority over this,” I interrupted coldly, done with this bullshit. “All obligations will be nullified. I heard how Gaston sleeps around with women, right there in the open.” I delivered Gwendolyn a killing intent that would make the Grim Reaper smile or rush in to break up a potential fight. “A humiliating insult to her is a direct insult to me. Do you understand!?”
I didn’t mean for every light in the damn room to flicker out and my weird red rage aura to manifest, but this lady pissed me the hell off. “How the hell does one sell out the dignity of their own damn daughter, anyway?”
At this point, the Red Star was on the ground, kowtowing and actually begging for forgiveness.
“Get up please,” I said. “I didn’t come here to make you bow down. Why aren’t you angry in Mandi’s stead? The humiliation is a direct insult to you above all.”
Gwendolyn flinched and went silent, likely seething that someone had her in the interrogating position.
“Forget it, it doesn’t matter,” I said after a moment. “What matters is that the insult to my apprentice must be paid.”
Playing this role felt weird, but Milia insisted that it was necessary and, well, seeing how these people treated others only proved the dryad right.
Gwendolyn looked terrified at the master magician that had her life within his hands.
“First, you stop treating your daughter like garbage,” I said. “Originally, I had no intention of accepting her as an apprentice, but lo and behold, she proved herself.”
At this point, others, I assume were her relatives, were peeking in. Winn and Lou, knowing me, only watched, pale. Hector and Rose were nowhere to be found, working whatever job they were assigned. Without them to protect Mandi, I wouldn’t be surprised if they harassed her.
“W… we can’t abandon the obligation,” the Red Star said, seemingly lost.
“You could just assign another daughter to marry him,” I suggested, then pointed at the girl that nobody should trust. “She’ll be the replacement. And now that the issue of my apprentice is settled, I’ve got a proposal.”
Gwendolyn flinched. “Having Yani marry him instead is actually not a bad idea.”
Yani nearly fell. “But Mother! Elise should do it.”
“Silence!” the Red Star snapped. “Gaston will pick.”
Elise, who just happened to walk in, clearly disobeying orders to meditate, went pale. She tried to protest, but her mother’s mind was made up. After seeing how they treated Mandi, I honestly had no fucks to give if they ended up with the playboy noble.
“About this proposal,” Gwendolyn said, nervousness in her voice, reminding me yet again just how much master magicians were feared.
“Nothing big, I just want it to be clear that I’m a friendly,” I said. “Just a potion maker, nothing more. Mandi may have not found her spark, but her training will be that of magical items.”
Now, I had no real obligation to tell them this, but her mother needed to know that Mandi wasn’t simply wasting her time.
“After all is well, she’ll certainly be on par with a regular magician, perhaps even better,” I said. “She may even discover her spark. But you’ll have to give her a chance.”
Gwendolyn’s icy stare bore down on her daughter for a long time. Then like ice melting in the summer, she relented with a sigh.
“You’re training with a master magician, an experience that one only rarely gets, even after a hundred generations,” the Red Star said. “Since you were chosen, you must prove yourself. Only then will your honor amongst this family be restored.”
“I won’t let you down!” Mandi said, fire in her eyes as she bowed. That was likely as close as an acknowledgement from the big lady herself that she’d get until we produced works. Fortunately for the teenager, I received the perfect book for her after defeating a double S-ranked boss monster.
Gwendolyn turned back to me. “I understand what you’re implying, therefore you will be treated as a friend of the family.” She addressed the entire room, including her husband that walked in. Mr. Wingston, as I remembered, the tax collector. “Sir Nate’s visit will be kept in this room. Any leaks from you will be met with severe punishment.” She turned back to me. “I do not understand why you’re hiding yourself, but will graciously accept your training offer. You are free to trade in Wingston as you please.”
I accepted her handshake, pleased with the exact words I was hoping to hear.
