25 Melvinger Magical Society (2)

After the warning, Lady Emma was unusually silent, which was a nice change of pace.

Most of the time, the talkative lady would go on and list out all the gossip she had heard back in her household, and start to give descriptions of the newest magical theories she had come accross in her studies. Although it was quite interesting, Lady Emma was an exhausting woman.

Her pale, fair skin matched her blond hair and blue eyes perfectly. Her dresses were very ambitious, and obviously very refined, proving her status in Melvinger City. George estimated that such dresses would require several hours daily to wear them. Being the heiress of the Billing Household forced her to keep appearances.

Perhaps the reason why she was so comfortable around him, and talked so much, was because he was different, and listened to her. He had no prejudices against her for being a woman, and they definitely felt attraction towards each other. For a noble woman like herself, George was the perfect man. Handsome, mysterious and strong, not to mention that he possessed talent in alchemy.

Of course, she wanted to control George. As an acolyte, she was calculative, but George realized that acolytes were not as cold as the book depicted them. Wandering acolytes were perhaps less social than average humans, but they were humans nevertheless. It was especially true for wandering acolytes who lived among normal humans.

"We have arrived...", Lady Emma said

George smiled and kissed her, action to which she relaxed slightly.

The building was huge. Located in the core area of Melvinger City, this was the Mayor's mansion: the [Dragon Pavillon]. Not only was it the biggest building in Melvinger City, it also happened to be a treasure's trove, with the city funds stored in this place.

Of course, the reason why Melvinger City was so prosperous was directly linked to the Mayor's strength. George had come accross an interesting piece of information: the Mayor was a rank 2 acolyte, and a very strong one. He possessed wooden elemental affinity and besides his healing spells, he was also quite erudite on arrays. Knights would find it impossible to break into the Dragon Pavillon's treasury.

Two guards blocked George and Lady Emma. However, they quickly bowed upon recognizing Lady Emma's emblem. It was the crest of the Melvinger Magical Society, an orb with a cross on top of it, representing order.

George was rather surprised to see the standards of guards.

[Name - Knight (??) | Status - Healthy | Gender: Male

Attributes : Strength - 2.3 | Dexterity - 1.8 | Vitality - 2.2]

The two guards were actually full-fledged knights!

"This is the Dragon Pavillon...", Lady Emma spoke, "Although this is the Mayor's personal mansion, it also happens to be the Melvinger Magical Society's preferred meeting place. You can tell from the gardens and sculptures that it is filled with treasures, and the Mayor enjoys showing off his wealth. However, you have yet to see the most impressive room of this mansion"

George nodded: "You mentioned its library quite a few times already...Are you talking about this?"

Lady Emma smiled: "So you do listen to me after all! Indeed, the library is a place where you can find hundreds of books about magic theories, travels of wandering acolytes and much more still. He also possesses a collection of spells that he shares with all members of the Melvinger Magical Society!"

George was impressed. Besides Magus families and academies, George was finding it quite surprising that a single wandering acolyte had managed to amass so much knowledge. Even if it was built over decades of travels, this was not something that could be achieved by a simple wandering acolyte.

"How did he manage to create the library? Even magical academies would greatly restrict magical book usage", George pondered aloud

Although George said this, he had already scanned the lower floors of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy's library, which contained thousands of books. Although most of these books were not very complex, the quantity made up for quality. Still, any opportunity to expand his biochip's database would be subject to his greed, and he was definitely curious about the origins of this library.

Lady Emma smiled apologetically: "Actually...The Mayor did not create the library...The Melvinger Magical Society has existed for several centuries now. Although Melvinger City has always been known as the City of Knights, it is very prosperous and wandering acolytes have settled in the city over time. Most of the members are actually decendants of the Melvinger Magical Society founders, inheriting spells and knowledge from their own family"

George nodded: "How come there are only so few members, then?"

Lady Emma looked a bit sad: "There...there was a misunderstanding between the mayor and opposing faction of dark path wandering acolytes who did not like the Dragon Pavillon's monopoly over the Melvinger Magical Society Library...and a fight exploded. It happened twenty years ago, and it resulted in dozens of deaths, with the vast majority of survivors from the opposing faction escaping Melvinger City. The mayor was gravely injured in the fight, but never truly recovered from the curse he received. When I was a little girl, he used to have bandages on his arms only, but now, half of his body has been corrupted by this curse"

It seemed like any magical organization would find it difficult to maintain order, especially when there was no rank 3 acolytes capable of becoming a figure of authority.