A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 10 "Return to Our Lady" Order

"I never expected to fall into this predicament, and to run into a mage like this, what bad luck!" Sage thought vaguely as the pain washed over his consciousness.

"Barefoot Sagi," was the nickname the town's thugs gave him. Sagi was used to going barefoot, and when the night was quiet, his bare feet would silently enter strangers' homes, and Sagi always succeeded.

He was a thief, a fact known only to his friends who helped him dispose of stolen goods. This was a well-kept secret of Sagi; during the day he would wander the streets with a group of similarly skinny young men, and at night he would sneak out alone to commit his crimes.

His second secret was that he had joined an underground cult.

Saji's only previous mishap before tonight also occurred at the hotel. Instead of taking the terrified little man to court, the owner showed him leniency. He dismissed the staff and personally untied him.

A kind gentleman! In Sagi's eyes, the pot-bellied, bald man suddenly became amiable.

"Sir, what do you need me to do? Just don't lock me up and send me to the courthouse!"

"Don't be nervous, kid," the boss said with a strange smile. "Have you heard of Mother Earth?"

And so Saji joined an underground cult that called itself the "Return of the Mother Goddess." The innkeeper would periodically gather other believers to preach its doctrines. Saji didn't quite understand what the innkeeper was saying, but listened with the same attitude he had when listening to his grandmother's stories, and each time he would lead the applause for the innkeeper. If the first secret allowed Saji to be more generous and save face among the thugs, the second proud little secret represented an expectation, as the innkeeper proclaimed: if the great Mother Goddess returned to the earth, the barefoot Saji would be transformed into someone even more noble than the current spellcasters and divine benefactors!

A small, impoverished town couldn't make a thief rich; the more he stole, the more guarded he became. Sagi felt his "business" was getting increasingly difficult to "stock up on." The "kind" hotel owner approached him again, offering Sagi a fantastic opportunity.

"Sir, by the Holy Mother, I haven't had a single customer in days!"

"Saji, you're not allowed to do this kind of thing in the name of the Virgin Mary!" The boss was serious at first, then suddenly turned to laughter: "In the name of friendship, I have some great news for you—a fat fish has arrived at my shop, a rich guy from the capital."

"There are guards here, boss. This job can't be done!"

"What's there to be afraid of? I see just a respectable merchant, a young master, and four wooden coachmen. As for the guards, they'll be two—a dwarf and a half-elf! I'll treat them to a special wine at dinner and make sure they get a good night's sleep, understand?"

"I'll do it! I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't, boss!"

"Just rub salt into his wounds and he'll confess." After Mr. Aller returned, Rorschach relayed the thin man's confession to him.

"Return to the Holy Mother Order? The Chamber of Commerce has never heard of such a cult. Since the boss has problems, let's get going."

"Why are you running away!" Singhlev protested. "We're the victims! There's the young master mage (Rorschach's new title after forbidding him from calling him 'Master'), the young lady knight-errant, and me!" The dwarf brandished his hammer: "Arrest the innkeeper too, and let the judge preside over justice!"

"Singrev! I am now your employer! Do as I command!"

Arle, unusually flustered, quickly regained his composure and explained, "In every town's inn, the owner we meet is just a waiter. The real owners are either minor nobles or lords from the court and parliament. Why are you going to look for them? Now that the underground cult is involved, wouldn't it be asking for trouble if we didn't run away and get entangled with these people?"

"Yeah, I was wrong, please don't be angry!"

"I'm not angry! Let's get going, my dwarf grandfather!"

The group mounted their horses, and the thief, Saji, was tied up tightly. The drivers, still a little dizzy from the spiked liquor, were sobered up by Mr. Ale with smelling salts. However, when they reached Hag, the smelling salts were accidentally spilled, and Mr. Ale slapped him to wake him up.

Singer drank the most, but Rorschach saw that the dwarves were still full of energy. Dwarves have stronger poison resistance than ordinary humans; the natural history textbooks weren't lying.

The convoy set off immediately.

The commotion woke everyone at the inn, and the innkeeper, holding a torch, blocked the back gate and shouted:

"Mr. Ale, gentlemen, is it that the food at our establishment isn't to your liking, or the beds aren't soft enough? You've already paid a deposit, so why don't you stay the night before leaving?"

Despite his polite words, the three or four men he led were all carrying sticks, machetes, and pitchforks, putting on a show of hospitality.

"Master Luo Xia, I'm begging you!"

Ale shouted in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, and the word "mage" made the crowd at the door tense.

Rorschach, holding the reins in one hand and conjuring a water bullet with the other, hurled it at one of the men, while Hill raised his pistol, preparing to charge on horseback.

A gap suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"These amateur mages are nothing special, don't be afraid! Stop them!"

"What wild mage? I'm a graduate of the Magic Guild and the Empire, with both official certifications!" Rorschach really wanted to slap this boss with his graduation certificate from the Imperial Royal Magic Academy.

Although the men hesitated upon seeing a mage in the opposing group, and the innkeeper was still organizing an interception, Rorschach suddenly had an idea. He threw a huge fireball at the stable, which directly collapsed the wooden shed, and the hay immediately burst into flames, accompanied by the neighing of the innkeeper's own horse.

This move intimidated the men, but they still didn't make way.

Should we praise these people for their courage?

Luo Xia launched another attack, this time with a speed and power surpassing that of a typical low-level mage. The fireball landed on the thatched roof of the inn, instantly sending flames soaring into the sky.

"I'll blast you with the next one! Get out of the way!" Now no one dared to underestimate the young master. They saw his right hand clench, preparing to unleash another fireball.

The hotel owner, his face ashen, could only back down: "Forget about these outsiders! Damn it, fire! Fire!"

Illuminated by the firelight, the convoy sped out of the hotel and rushed into the dark wilderness without stopping.

With large trucks around, the speed was slow, especially at night. Fortunately, no one was chasing us.

"Are you afraid of killing someone?" Hill asked as he and Rorschach walked side by side.

"I don't want to. Why should a fine young man like me get myself into bloodshed?"

"You are a mage, you are an adventurer."

"so what?"

"When a thief approaches you with a knife, you first try to scare him away with a glowing stone, then aim at his torso and limbs, and finally, when that doesn't work, aim at his head."

"I just can't see it clearly. Even if he gets close to me, I can still shatter his knife into pieces."

"When you leave the inn, you can use fireball on those people directly."

"They're blocking the entrance. How am I supposed to get my convoy out using fireballs? Are we a circus, able to jump through fire hoops?"

"Okay. I understand." In the darkness, Rorschach couldn't see Hill's expression.

(End of this chapter)