True Face

"Magic..." Exia mumbled blankly as he gawked at the view of Mister Braun lying on the ground miserably. His hair was stood erect as if being electrocuted while simultaneously a cloud of smoke continuously oozed out from Mister Braun's exposed back.

"Is that magic? There is a sorcerer among us?" One of the passersby exclaimed in an astonished manner.

"That guy! That guy is the sorcerer! I saw him acting abnormally just before." Another passerby pointed at Bernard, who looked calmly despite being discovered.

Ignoring their accusation, Bernard draped his arms over Exia's shoulder and said intimidatingly, "This boy is under my surveillance. Anyone who dares harm him would have to face me."

Turning to Exia, who still had blank looks plastered over his face, Bernard ordered, "You could go to Ardelt now. I'll deal with the rest."

Nodding his head slowly, Exia thanked Bernard with much reluctance as he got plenty of questions to ask but couldn't do so after taking a peek at Bernard's unreadable expression.

Seeing Exia's figure goes farther from his sight, Bernard coldly glanced at a certain alley before he broke his gaze and strode toward the library under many pair of hesitant eyes. They initially wanted to inquire matter regarding sorcery, but seeing Bernard cold's attitude, especially when he proclaimed the boy before was under his supervision with such a menacing gaze, they no longer dare to obstruct him from going away.

...

Exia, who was immersed in his own world didn't realize he already arrived in Smith's Blacksmith and only snapped out from his thought upon hearing Ardelt's voice, "What are you daydreaming about?"

Scratching his back head, Exia mumbled in response, "Ummm...Is Sir Bernard actually a sorcerer?"

Widening his eyes in shock, Ardelt remained quiet for a moment before asked in surprise, "How did you know? Did he told you about that?"

"No, but he performed magic earlier in front of a library. Many people also witnessed it." Exia replied thoughtfully and recalled his experience earlier. He felt mostly shocked and amazed instead of scared by the appearance of an electric spark. Probably because he was used to getting struck by the scarlet orb, the appearance of an electric spark from nothingness astonished him more since he never saw stuff like that in his entire life.

"He did it?" Ardelt said in suspicion while narrowing his eyes slightly, showing how he had a hard time believing Exia's words.

"Yeah, you can just ask the people around that area later if you don't believe me, teacher," Exia replied with a smile.

"Well, I'm believed in you," Ardelt said and ushered Exia to go insides to continue his study.

Turning his eyes in the library's direction, Ardelt muttered under his breath, "What's your plan, Bernard?"

...

After earning a big chunk of money, Exia thinks he wasn't in dire need of money anymore and could spend his daily activity by focusing on learning to read and forging. Henceforth, he ended up studying until afternoon.

"Teacher, I'm gonna head home now." After studying for almost half a day, Exia feels tired and the only thing he wishes to do was now collapsed on his bed and lay there like a dead man.

Turning his attention from many notes scattered over his desk to Exia, Ardelt said in a concerned manner, "Okay, be careful on your way home."

Nodding his head, Exia proceeds to saunter toward the entrance door and leave under Ardelt's keen eyes.

Continuing to scribbling for a few minutes, Ardelt paused at his actions before tapping his pen uneasily, 'From Exia's story, I could tell something was brewing behind all of this. Bernard wasn't the kind of person who willingly exposes his identity to help others unless he gained benefits from it.'

'Wait! Benefit?' Ardelt's mind immediately alarmed. He quickly stood up from his seats and grabbed the sword from his basket before stormed out of his room without bothering to lock it.

'Shit! You better not get into any trouble soon, Exia!'

...

"Kekeke, he's completely unguarded now. Should we kidnap him now?" A man clad in a black robe covering his whole figure whispered in a husky voice.

"Yeah, considering how that boy also caused my failure, I couldn't wait to torture his body and soul." Another man coated in black robe whispered back as he licked his lips full of malicious intent.

"Go!"

Exia, who was thinking about how to persuade Sir Bernard to teach him magic, suddenly felt a brush of sharp winds come from his back. Turning his head in curiosity, Exia caught two figures wearing a black cloak were rushed at him at full speed.

'Shit!' Just as he about to turn around, he heard someone chanting, "Sleep!"

Instantly, Exia felt his eyes grew heavier and all his limbs become weak as a puddle. Akin to being lullabied, Exia couldn't resist a temptation to sleep and eventually closed his eyes after resisting it for seconds. Before his body touched the ground, one of the black-robed men caught him and carried his body like a shack, "Let's go."

They quickly dashed away, leaving the bystander in a dumbstruck state, while Ardelt, who comes late could only stare at their backs frustratedly and cursed out loud, "Fuck!"

Ardelt was about to chase them when he sensed someone's palm placed atop his shoulder, "Don't."

Recognizing it was Bernard's voice, Ardelt's face turned furious. Turning his body, Ardelt immediately grabbed the collar of Bernard's suit, "Don't? Are you fucking serious? Someone's life is at stake now!"

Still maintaining his deadpan-expression, Bernard sneered, "Since when did you become a self-righteous person, Ardelt? Did the appearance of Exia really trigger your father's instinct? Exia is only a stranger for us. The death of him wouldn't matter so much, right?"

"You!! You're crazy.." Ardelt muttered in horror while gradually loosening his grip at Bernard's collar.

Brushing Ardelt's hand, Bernard patted his crumpled collar and spoke, "Did you forget your goal, Ardelt?"

Involuntarily clenched his fist, Ardelt stared at Bernard with eyes full of hatred, "Of course not. My sole reason for existence was just to kill Thirteen with my own hands."

"That's the Ardelt I know." Bernard praised before continuing, "What I'm doing right now is to use Exia as a bait to locate their position. I was initially planned to remain low-key until the convoy arrived. But, if I managed to catch those rats by myself, wouldn't I get a much better reward than the promised?"

"With it, I could buy several scrolls and learned a new spell!" At this time, Bernard's gentle face was no more in sight. Rather, greediness seems to have taken over his mind currently."

"You really are turned crazy," Ardelt mumbled while staring at Bernard as if seeing an insane person.

"Tch, stop being a hypocrite person. I also could inquire about Thirteen's location by searching through their memories. That's why let's cooperate. It's a win-win situation for us." Bernard forwarded his hand.

Feeling conflicted for a moment, Ardelt accepted Bernard's hand despite his disgust, "For your information, I agree to cooperate with you only for the sake of Exia since you're the only one who can track their traces."

"That doesn't matter. Our goal just happened to cross each other. Anyway, happy cooperation," Bernard flashed a smile.