Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 407 Customers
The outer side of Horo.

In a carriage heading into the city, Ritas, Miriam, and Charlotte reunited after many days.

Across from the two lost in thought, Xia Luoluo proudly raised her chin and said...

"You spoke so confidently back then, but in the end you didn't even manage to find a single helper? Luckily I was there, otherwise we'd be the only ones storming into Horo City right now!"

Besides these, Xia Luoluo also muttered things like, "You still have the nerve to stop me with this?" and "True intelligence is being able to come in handy at crucial moments," which the other two couldn't understand at all.

Ritas and Miriam exchanged a glance, shrugged, and didn't bother arguing with Charlotte.

However, to be honest, Ritas still finds it unbelievable that the Remer lineage would be willing to provide assistance. It was precisely because of his suspicion that the other party might have plotted something for them that Ritas, who carefully inspected the carriage before setting off, angered Blake Elsen, Remer's third son and Cortrienne's younger brother, who was sent by Remer Elsen.

No. Perhaps that's not the case either.

Ritas felt that Blake's attitude had been consistently poor from the moment they met, and that it had little to do with his subsequent behavior.

"So, how exactly did you convince Remer?"

"It's Uncle Remer! It's rare for someone to be willing to help us, can't you be a little more polite?"

Charlotte said with dissatisfaction, then after organizing her thoughts, she continued,

"Actually, I didn't see Uncle Remer. When I arrived at Uncle Remer's territory, he had just gone out on patrol. And after he returned from his patrol, Uncle Remer suddenly fell seriously ill."

"?"

Ritas only detected a perfunctory tone and a dismissive tone in Remer's response. But looking back, Remer didn't actually mean that. In other words, he really just unfortunately fell ill suddenly?

"Fortunately, before Uncle Remer collapsed, he instructed Blake to provide us with as much help as possible. It seems that the old man has done a good job as the head of the family all these years. Before, when you said that none of the uncles and aunts would help him after he was captured, I thought that although we Elsons are called a 'family,' we don't feel like a 'family' at all."

A fleeting hint of sadness crossed Xia Luoluo's face as she spoke, but her expression was ultimately replaced by relief.

Ritas remained silent and did not correct Charlotte's idea.

Everyone may have a different way of seeing the world and things. And no one can prove that only what they see is "correct".

During their conversation, the carriage slowly came to a stop.

The carriage door opened, revealing a handsome face that appeared somewhere between a boy and a young man.

If the goddess of bathing were present, she would surely praise the excellent genes of the Cortrienne family.

Blake Elson is like a male version of Cortrienne.

His brilliant blonde hair and excessively fair skin didn't make his naturally striking appearance appear weak. His tall stature was remarkably well-proportioned, radiating a powerful presence without being intimidating. His ruby-like eyes were clear and bright.

On this day, Blake was dressed in a smart knight's uniform, with a sky-blue shawl draped over his right shoulder and a longsword with a gold pattern on its hilt at his waist.

Although Blake was not a prince, adding a white horse to his image would undoubtedly make him perfectly fit the image of the prince on a white horse in biographical novels.

"After entering the city, we will need to walk."

Blake, who had been in a bad mood since the start of the trip, spoke with a furrowed brow to Ritas and the other two.

"What do you mean? That guy Floyd invited us to watch the game, but he still wants to search us?"

Xia Luoluo raised an eyebrow, dissatisfied.

“It was on foot; carriages aren’t allowed in the city. Nobody told you there would be an inspection. Besides, Floyd Elson didn’t invite you; he invited me.”

Blake continued impatiently.

Ritas, observing Blake, became even more puzzled as to what exactly had happened in Remo Elson's territory.

It's true that sometimes talking to Charlotte, who doesn't quite grasp the main point, does require a lot of patience. However, it shouldn't have been enough for Blake to wear his "unfriendly" expression on his face after just a few words.

“Ritas Elsen. Although I’ve heard a lot about you from others, this must be the first time we’ve met in person like this.”

Blake looked directly at Ritas, his brow furrowed, and said, ignoring Miriam.

“It’s not the first time. One year, our family was invited to Uncle Remer’s territory. We met at your mansion.”

Ritas said calmly.

"Have it?"

Blake looked puzzled, as if he were recalling something.

"I remember you were wearing a pink dress at the time."

"!"

In an instant, Blake froze. Although he still couldn't recall ever meeting Ritas, he remembered the time when he was a child and was dressed up as a girl.

Blake, looking somewhat displeased, perhaps realized that continuing to provoke Ritas, who possessed an excellent memory, would only lead to him embarrassing himself. So, he snorted coldly, beckoned to his attendant to hand him several bundles of cloth, and then tossed them to Charlotte.

"Wear this properly. You all know you're not welcome in this city. So, try to avoid trouble before the public duel begins."

After saying this, Blake walked to the front of the group, preparing to lead the main force into the city of Horo.

Although Xia Luoluo felt a little confused, she didn't say much and simply distributed the cloth to the other two people.

The tan-colored cloth bundle is actually a kind of headscarf.

This type of headscarf is a distinctive garment worn by the northern border troops in the western region.

In addition to the threat from the Monster Forest to the west, the western border also faces the threat from the great nation of Holy Bransolos to the north.

Some nomadic tribes belonging to the Holy Bransolos used to frequently raid the northern border of the western frontier. However, this was nearly a hundred years ago.

The northern border of the Western Frontier, which borders the Holy Kingdom of Bransolos, has been transformed into a vast desert over the past century, and the nomadic tribes have long since migrated away. Although the northern border guards of the Western Frontier have been retained, they have not experienced war for many years.

And now, the one in charge of this army is Ramo Elson.

After officially entering Horo City, Ritas and his group discovered that there were no civilians to be seen on the streets.

It wasn't that Freud evacuated the city's inhabitants after occupying Horo. Rather, besides inviting almost all the prominent figures of the Elson family, he ordered that everyone in the city must attend today's public duel, which was essentially a public execution.

"It seems the other uncles and aunts didn't come in person either?" On the empty street, Xia Luoluo, who had been looking around, also saw other orderly troops heading towards the arena. However, although she recognized some of the flags, she didn't see her familiar relatives in the crowd.

“Not coming was the right choice. Otherwise, all the ‘Elsons’ would have gathered together and burned them all down; that would have been the simplest way to solve the problem.”

Ritas responded casually.

He was referring, of course, to the simplest way for Freud, not to his own.
However, at times, Ritas did have ideas such as destroying everything in the West and then rebuilding from the ruins.

After all, this method is undoubtedly the most time-efficient way to correct the distortions accumulated over a long period. Even if the Elson family is completely wiped out in the process, it's actually a good thing for Ritas personally.

The fact that those powerful and influential "Elsons" did not come to Horo City in person was not only out of caution, but also to send a signal.

They do not want to change the "status quo". Moreover, they are confident to a certain extent that no matter who the "head of the family" is, whether it is a new head or an old head, the existing "order" in the western region will not be changed.

Ritas, of course, did not feel obligated to waste his time and energy on these people.

"Don't actually set it on fire!"

Charlotte warned Ritas. Before Ritas could respond, Miriam beside him awkwardly shifted his gaze to the side.

"Letting you in seems to have gone more smoothly than expected. However, don't really expect that we alone can stop this public duel. Even including the reserves hidden outside the city, we only have four hundred men in total. Meanwhile, Freud's regular army in this city has no less than three thousand men."

Blake Elson, who had been walking at the very front, slowed down slightly and spoke quietly with Ritas and the others.

Upon entering the city, sensing the oppressive atmosphere of an impending storm, Blake suppressed his personal emotions and became serious.

"There's no point in worrying. Just stick to the plan and make sure you secure the escape route after rescuing Roland."

Ritas said calmly.

"A plan? What kind of plan is that!"

The young Blake couldn't suppress his excitement.

In all his life, he had never seen a more unreliable, chaotic, or hasty plan.

All the Northern Border Army did was try to bring Ritas and the others to the scene of a public duel, and then ensure their escape route, acting as they saw fit.

"With only a few days, it's impossible to formulate a meticulous plan. Moreover, even if you could formulate a complex plan, you wouldn't have the ability to execute it perfectly. In that case, why not just 'improve' once you get there?"

Moreover, you yourselves are an "unexpected situation".

Out of consideration for Charlotte's feelings, who had miraculously found help, Ritas only added this sentence in his mind.

"The renowned 'Professor of Demonic Arts' is actually only at this level, so you really will become the 'winners'?"

"The winner?"

Ritas didn't take Blake's sarcasm to heart, but he became interested in the words that appeared abruptly and that Blake subconsciously poured his emotions into.

".nothing."

Blake abruptly ended the conversation and once again walked to the front of the group.

Ritas, however, lacked confidence regarding what would happen next. But now...
Ritas took out the white disc, which remained silent all day, and stared at it for a while.

Now, all we can do is hope that everything is as the goddess of bathing once said. Only "magic" can defeat "magic".

Amidst some "noise," the Western Northern army column continued toward the arena.

Just as everyone had already seen the huge, roofless building appear before their eyes.

Suddenly, a sound filled with excitement and wildness came from above.

"Found the mouse, meow!"

Subconsciously looking up, Ritas and the others saw a dark shadow that seemed to have leaped up from nowhere and hung high in the air, as if enveloped in the center of the blazing sun.

"spread!"

As Ritas shouted, the heavy protective barrier unfolded rapidly as if by instinct, enveloping only him and Miriam, and then pushing the surrounding border troops, including Charlotte, far away.

In the spacious area that was suddenly cleared out, azure protective barriers appeared in the shape of giant eggshells.

At the same moment, the lithe figure that leaped high into the air slowly flipped its body as if unaffected by gravity, and then, like a falling meteorite, suddenly kicked down in the direction of Ritas.

Ritas could only barely make out that the other party seemed to be a brown-skinned girl when the protective barrier was violently attacked in the next instant.

The crackling sounds continued as the girl's flying kick shattered seven layers of protective barriers in an instant, and the subsequent force shattered nearly ten more layers of protection.

Even so, her attack still failed to reach Ritas's main body.

Because, apart from the fact that Ritas's protective barrier still had some remaining, while she was shattering the protective barrier, the barrier was also reassembling and restoring itself at a slightly slower pace.

"So hard."

After the kick, the brown-skinned girl landed far away with another backflip, her expression showing disbelief. She even forgot to add her quirky speech.

"Then please leave this customer to me."

As the brown-skinned girl landed, a snap of fingers rang out, and a red cylindrical stream of air appeared on the ground in front of Ritas. The next moment, a slightly overweight, bald, middle-aged man appeared in that spot.

"Excuse me, could you transfer your protective barrier to me?"

The middle-aged man asked Ritas this question.

Although Ritas did not answer, the thought that arose in his mind was, "How could it be transferred?"

"Oh dear, this client is very determined. It seems I'll have to use three times the price to force a takeover."

As he spoke, Ritas witnessed an unbelievable scene unfolding before his eyes.

Nearly ten gold bars, gleaming with dazzling golden light, appeared out of thin air and landed with a "clink" at his feet, piling up.

In the next instant, all the protective barriers that had been protecting him suddenly shifted to surround the middle-aged man, shielding him and the brown-skinned girl.

(End of this chapter)