Chapter 41: Silly

"Alex I found something amazing!!" Exclaims Ain.

Alex is slightly surprised at that. "Really? What is it?"

Ain's childish smile widens. "A young master."

Alex smiles at that too. Lily is confused at this not understanding what they mean. But Alex and Ain were happy about something. 

The phrase 'young master', is something usually used by the outside world to call the Wayne Kingdom people. The people who act like spoiled brats due to their heritage are the same brats who die young when they come to the Magic Academy. 

Because they think that being Nobles protects you. Nope, that is just a title, it doesn't make someone strong. That is the thought of every mage. 

But the young masters were also a very good income thing, they usually carried priceless artifacts and lots of money given to them by their parents or sect/clan. 

That is why 99% of the 'young masters' have accidents in their journeys. Truly a sad fate for anyone to endure, but Alex didn't care about any of this. He just wanted to see what good artifact he could get for himself.

He just looked at Ain, he didn't even need to say anything as she nodded. She knew that Alex will now start getting four million gold coins every month, so he didn't need the money. She could keep it. But he would get the artifacts.

Lily looked even more confused now, it seemed like Ain and Alex were having conversations just by looking into each other's eyes like an old married couple.

"Uhhh… what do you mean by a young master?" Asks Lily.

Kekekekeke- 

The two mages looked at her with devilish smiles on their faces.

…

Ain… or as she was known by her real name Julie, she was playing along with Alex. She didn't care about wasting time, she is over two hundred years old already. Even then her body hasn't aged a bit since she was in her twenties… even if it had, for a mage like her body modification is easy. She just had to use her <Legendary Ability> which is very suited for body modification.

'He is quite amusing.' Contemplates Julie. She is teasing Lily, but her mind is also on another thing. Since Alex doesn't know of her identity, he had just let something slip. Something that would normally be useless to anyone else, but to someone like her… who as the Headmistress of the Academy has information about everyone who enters this place. She knows their personalities to a point that not even the people themselves would. 

For example, Alex has the urge to crack his fingers when he is nervous. A useless fact but on her hands… also what Alex just spilled was that he knew about the 'young master hunt' that goes through the academy. 

She is 100% sure that Alex didn't learn about that in the Academy, and neither did he learn it in Gungai City. The Headmistress's interest in Alex has peaked even before he set foot on Magic Academy. 

She had planned to help Alex grow in many ways. She had asked the Mage of Gungai City to make some of his little experiments go around the city while Alex was doing his little escapades. 

Of course, this was her way of teaching him how to be careful at doing certain things. The time the guards called her evil, she had them killed, she did it to teach Alex the reach of mages and what they can do. Of course, she would never guess that Alex knew of this. His situation is so bizarre, that even if he said it, no one would believe it.

But she figured out a lot at the same time, in Gungai City she learned that he was reincarnated. And just now from his 'young master hunting' knowledge, she just confirmed that Alex must have been part of the Magic Academy in the past too. 

Most likely a mage… but he could have been a staff member too. She doesn't take that possibility out of her mind. 

'He must have been from around these two hundred years.' Contemplates Julie once more, after all, the magic academy has only been around for two hundred years, and the young master hunting tradition is as old as the Academy itself. Back then, there were nobles from other countries too who were dumb like the ones in the Wayne Kingdom, but now they are like rare delicacies.

…

After Ain and Alex explain the gist of things to Lily, she seems to think something and finally says. "Ah! I get now. So we just have to fight his guards and take the treasure."

Ain and Alex both look disgusted as Lily says that. This once again makes the little girl confused.

"Fight?! Do I look that desperate?" Says Alex as he looks at Ain.

She also looks at him and adds. "I don't think Lily understands what Mages are…"

Lily is even more confused at this. So Alex points at himself and Ain. "Look at us, what do you see?"

"Uhhh… Mages?" Answers Lily unsure. 

"Yes, Mages." Says Ain. 

"Exactly." Confirms Alex. "Mages, the type of people who just need to get hit by one punch from a warrior and we die. And you want us to fight?"

Ain once again confirms Alex's origins in her mind as she hears what he says. "Only a desperate mage fights."

"Yep, a Mage will rarely fight. He will first try poison, and if that doesn't work, I would say kidnapping someone important to the victim and using that as leverage." Explains Alex causally. 

Ain nods at that with a smile on her face. "Yep, we are weak and fragile. Just imagining getting a paper cut makes me afraid to step outside."

Then both Ain and Alex get malicious looks on their faces and both of them say at the same time. "We want to kill our enemies, not fight them."

'Since when did they get so synchronized?' Wonders Lily, feeling weird as she sees Ain and Alex acting like they have known each other for a lifetime. 

Still, she can only sigh, her mind lingering at what Alex and Ain just said to her. Honestly, she thought only Alex was that type of Mage who would rather not fight his enemies. But it seems that even someone like Ain knew of this. 'Mages are terrifying, definitely shouldn't anger any of them needlessly. Also… I need to train harder.'

"I am going for some training." Says Lily, taking a pouch of gold and getting ready to rent a heavy Ki concentrated room on the Ki Tower. It is because of things like that, they can reach new heights as warriors, even in a place called Magic City.

..

..

Of course as Lily went away, Alex just looked at Ain. Because while she was observing him, he was doing the same.

"Who are you Ain?" Asks Alex suddenly, with a gentle smile on his face.

Ain reciprocates the smile. "Why I am just a simple and childish girl."

"I see…" Mumbles Alex. He has observed her, and he knows that she isn't as simple as she appears at all. Also, she just got information on him, but she got some on her too. 'Your everyday student can't get access to who will travel to Magic City.'

Ain still has a smile on her face. She can easily guess what Alex is thinking, so she continues talking. "Kid, if someone acts silly, talks silly, and looks silly… then they are silly."

"I see…" Alex again answers simply. Once more he is reminded of the unknown that the teen girl is. Of course, he would never assume that someone like the Headmistress would do something like this because in-game she was a very proud person who always seemed to be concerned with getting stronger. 

But… Alex made the wrong assumption that the NPC that he thought knew best in the game even revealed her true self to him during his hours upon hours that he spent with her in the game.

Truly, both of them had the wrong assumptions for each other. Both having plans for each other, their intelligence being their downfall… not letting them think outside the box. 

Neither of them knew how long this 'relationship' of theirs would last. Both were the type of people who would extend their hand for a handshake while having their other hand behind their back holding a knife.

"Then I will treat you like the silly girl that you are." Says Alex finally, without knowing that he insulted the Headmistress.

Ain just smiles at this sweetly. She doesn't care about insults against her person, she never did. Though she still killed people when they insulted her publicly with three or more people. This was her strategy, intelligent people won't feel loyalty, they would just want to use her as a stepping stone if they could. Love wouldn't keep the people in line… but fear would.

"Anyway, I will send you a magic message later with the information." Says Ain, walking away.

Alex only scratches his head in confusion as she walks away. He contemplates making her 'disappear' but she is too much of an unknown so he dismisses the thought immediately.

===============

A/N: They are at each other's throats in a way, while in another they are also very alike. But at the same time… Alex and the Headmistress hate people like themselves the most.

Also even in the game, the Headmistress never revealed her true self to Alex. He knows that obviously… but he could never guess how much she actually hid from him.

P.S: Intelligence doesn't mean Omnipotence, both Alex and Julie (the Headmistress) are smart, we can see that from their thought process. 

But at the same time, they can't figure out something that is too wild to even imagine… something that only someone with an outside of the box mentality would guess. But at the same time, Alex is letting many things slip as he doesn't know who Ain really is.

....

 Don't forget to throw some power stones :)

...

If you want to read ahead of the public release, or just want to support me.

you can join my p atreon :

p@treon.com/Numera