Chapter 24: You will do it either way (1/2)
Compared to the night when Irea turned out to be quite talkative, during the walking part, she became as mute as everyone else in her group. From the outsider's perspective, it seemed that the ancients didn't want to waste their strength on useless blabbing about when they could direct said strength to just moving faster or longer.
With the constant threat of the humiliated Kerren plaguing the minds of everyone in the group, Layn had a hard time holding back. As a royal archmage, he wasn't used to running around from some arrogant pricks. Out of all the harm that living in the palace has brought to his life, this was the one thing he actually enjoyed.
But right now, no one cared or even knew about his authority. In fact, the kingdom that would grant him such authority has yet to appear on the maps. And honestly speaking, judging from the fact that it was clearly an ancient world, it would still take at least several hundred years before it would form, assuming that the disaster would be right around the corner!
Yet, there was a chance that Layn's spell threw him to the past even further than he worried it did. Given how little information remained about the life of the ancients in the modern age, Layn was unable to judge which of the ancient periods he was in right now. After all, just asking questions that could help him to learn the truth would easily expose his real identity!
”Okay. Everyone, short break.” After nearly a half of the entire day spent walking and walking alone, Karter finally gave an order to the stop. From the looks of it, while it was taxing on them as well, the ancients were still capable of maintaining the pace. The only one that truly required some rest, was the archmage.
'Dang it. Not only did I made that idiot chase us, now I'm the one stalling the walk!' Cursing himself in his mind, Layn felt the weight of responsibility for his own weakness falling on top of his shoulders. That's why, as soon as everyone took the chance to instantly sit down and rest a bit, the archmage actually approached the only person he managed to get to know better in the entire group.
”Hey… I know it might sound stupid, but could you tell me at least the basics of the basics? I know you guys said it would be better if I held with all my questions until we reach the academy…” Starting out with such a tone, Layn felt this kind of attitude was necessary. After all, he was going to ask the girl for something that her entire group already agreed to be a stupid request.
But Layn wasn't all that worried about learning faulty means. In the end, no matter what, magic was magic. Even if the way in which the archmage used it was greatly different from what the locals were doing, the basic principles shouldn't be that much different. With this in mind, although he could talk about it openly, Layn was still quite certain that he could perfect any of the faulty techniques that he would ever obtain from the ancient world.
”As I told you, it will be better…” Groaning slightly before starting with the usual response, Irea suddenly stopped speaking when she noticed the look on Layn's face. Swallowing down a gulp of saliva, she took a deep breath before leaning back on her hands.
”I don't want to slow everyone down during the march. Just give me a hint, anything. If my hopes are right, then I should be able to figure out the rest on my own…” Intent on somehow passing the information about his skills without revealing his true background, Layn noticed that he made a mistake when the girl suddenly sent him a sharp look.
”Try to figure it out yourself? Are you out of your mind?!” For a moment, at least three of the fellow ancients looked towards the two of them, attracted by Irea's sudden shout. Noticing the attention that she brought on the two of them, the girl lowered her head before finishing in a whisper. ”I guess that if I don't teach you, you will still try to learn it on your own.”
Suddenly slapping her delicious-looking thighs with her palms, Irea nodded at the archmage.
”Come here.” Reaching out with her hands, the girl clearly had something on her mind. Not sure what to make out of this peculiar situation, Layn ultimately decided to just go with the flow. Accepting the girl's touch, he allowed her gentle hands to wrap on his cheeks before pulling his head closer.