301 Unexpected (2/2)
Her direct boss, the elderly mage Charlie, used his authority to allow Roland to mysteriously be able to take his subordinates out of jail every single day so easily—Cher's compatriots viewed this as further evidence of his confusion due to advanced age. It also caused Cher to view this ”weakling who must have gotten his highest-level emblems through backdoor connections” with great displeasure. However, when she saw Roland's completely unemotional icy gaze today, she felt like she was actually the criminal who was to be judged, instead. She felt like a frog being gazed at by a snake, frozen, unable to move. She realized that she had likely made a huge mistake, treating a tiger as a gentle housecat. This Roland person was definitely someone highly dangerous.
”Oh, since the law states that the punishment should be death by hanging, in that case, there's no need to trouble the police mages any longer. Let's just execute them right here and now.”
Roland suddenly smiled as if his heartless emotions from earlier were nothing but an illusion. He seemed just like the same kind person who always apologized helplessly. The words he said just now still made Cher feel like she was dreaming.
”Hang them? Hang them all right here? There are more than ten archmages' descendants here! One of them is even related to the Sword of Order's vice leader! Just how many mage organizations are you intending on antagonizing all at once?”
”Wait a moment, my granduncle—I apologize! I'll pay you for all the damages incurred, don't kill m—ahhh!!”
Cher hoped to god that Roland was only trying to scare the young criminals. However, she soon discovered that his words were no mere threats. His subordinates brought out several ropes that they put on the arsonists' necks and then dragged them outside. A few pitiful screams later, everything suddenly fell silent.
When Cher regained her senses and hurriedly rushed outside, she inhaled deeply when she saw the scene before her.
No matter if it was a tall centaur, a young knight, or a cute wood spirit, all of them carried out the executions with practiced movements, successfully hanging the arsonists onto the trees in a single try. There was no pity and no wasted words. It was as if this was just a daily task to everyone.
”Hang them all up at the entrance. Send that Andrei's grandnephew's head to the Sword of Order's main headquarters and tell them that Roland is waiting for Andrei to come and receive his descendant's corpse.”
I didn't even spare a glance for Cher whose face was turning pale as I kicked away the arsonists' explosives. As I expected, I found a black crystal and some bottles containing dark green liquid.
”Black crystal cores. As long as this is ignited, the entire street will go up in an explosion. How truly vicious of them. This dark green liquid is doublelife snake venom—toxic to the extent of being instantly fatal upon contact to normal humans.”
From the very start, I didn't think that these youngsters would be able to threaten me. But now, I was faced with the fact that not only did they break past my magical defenses, but they even caused even Yawen, who was at the peak of Gold rank, to become injured. This far surpassed these useless novices' personal abilities. There was definitely someone behind them, egging them on. These kids' rather special statuses were also a way of testing the waters against me, to test how I would react against such a challenge, and to see if I was still the same Yongye from back in the day.
”You all want to see Yongye? As you wish—I'll show him to you. Consequences? Hmm, what's that? Is it edible? This kid's granduncle is Andrei? What a joke. Since when would Andrei dare to act so arrogantly in front of me?”
I knew that this was both a test for me and an attempt to suppress me. If I acted weakly, there would be plenty of trouble for me in the future.
”I don't even need to investigate who's really supporting them. I'll just kill anyone who dares to antagonize me like this.”
The next day when Thorn Garden opened, it was the worst day for its business ever since its reopening. After all, all the ”dolls” hanging from the front door of the store along with the wooden signs underneath their feet announcing their crimes made most of the customers stop in fear and surprise.
Yet, there were customers who had opposite reactions. The older mages who had a huge amount of emblems on their chest were surprised for a moment, but were then pleasantly surprised that there wasn't a long line of customers that they had to wait through today. They happily smiled and entered the store, and even chatted amongst themselves in an amused fashion as they repeatedly pointed at the corpses.
”Oh, isn't that the youngster from Halin's family?”
”Ha, how pitiful. He became cannon fodder for somebody else?”
”There's even the young one from Andrei's family? Haha, there's going to be a good show to watch later.”
”What good show are you talking about? Do you think that Andrei will dare to mess with Roland? Besides, is it worth risking his entire family's lives for the sake of a grandnephew that's who-knows-how-many generations removed from him? At the very most, he'll just say a few words of anger for the sake of saving face, nothing more.”
When Cher returned to the police station in a state of confusion, she discovered that she had actually watched a vigilante execution take place. When she finally calmed down and began preparing to summon people in order to prevent something more troublesome from occurring, her boss, the old mage Charlie, stopped her.
”Don't worry about it. With how little strength we have, there's nothing we can do. When he gets angry, nobody can stop him.”
This time, Cher was unable to remain silent anymore as she recalled Roland's icy gaze. She instinctively felt that Charlie was correct. Whatever Roland wanted, he was probably capable of doing it. Perhaps not a single person in the Cloud Tower would be able to stop him.
She faintly perceived that Roland who was always smiling had something analogous to a ruler in his heart. As long as one didn't tread on his bottom line, Roland would be able to maintain a thick skin and smile as he retrieved his underlings that always caused so much trouble. But the moment someone crossed the line against him, he would unhesitatingly kill that person even if that person was the emperor of some country.
”Just who is he? Why are you so afraid of him?”
She had already asked this question many times before. But now, Cher was no longer satisfied with just being waved off. If Charlie kept giving her an excuse to not answer, she was prepared to even go to the main Mystical Blade headquarters to ask all the leaders about Roland.
All the police mages sent inquisitive looks in Charlie's direction. Old Charlie maintained his silence for quite a while before he finally pulled out his smoking pipe and began puffing on it.
”…He's probably the most dangerous mage in the entire Cloud Tower. No, change that to the most dangerous mage in the entire world. There's no mistake. It's not convenient for me to say, but if you all go back to your homes and ask any elders in your families who are over one hundred years old, they should all know why nobody should pick a fight with that man.”
”Archmage Andrei suddenly returned to the Cloud Tower and angrily stormed off, heading for Thorn Garden!”
This sudden piece of news sent the police station into a turmoil yet again. This time, old Charlie didn't stop the young police mages. However, by the time they hurriedly rushed over to Thorn Garden, they saw an inconceivable sight.
The SemiGod ranked archmage Andrei was actually being fiercely scolded by that young mage in front of Thorn Garden's doorstep, and Andrei was even lowering his head and apologizing.
As for me? The biggest trouble of today was just beginning. Scolding a junior of mine who I used to even be on good terms with for accidentally getting ensnared in a plot due to his foolish grandnephew was nothing. However, I, who had always ranked last in almost all my classes and failed so many as well, was actually supposed to become a teacher and teach a lesson later this afternoon.
That was a far greater challenge.