87 A Chaotic Visit (1)

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It didn't take long for Hadrian and co to arrive at the Clock Tower in London.

Escorting him on the way there were Charles, Dia and Arturia.

His lavender haired servant, Medusa, however, had left from the group temporarily when she saw a bookstore nearby the building, which she used the latter to excuse herself and check to see if there were any new books in the establishment that she would like.

As per usual, his two familiars were inside a dark brown satchel to keep themselves hidden, they poke their little heads out to see their surroundings.

In his right hand, Hadrian was holding a medium sized box containing the food that his former mentor likes.

He figured that he might as well bought something for Lord El-Melloi II since he had not seen him for the past few months, due to their mutual responsibilities and tasks for the Mage's Association.

When they stepped foot in the building, almost all eyes were upon them.

Specifically, on the young mage of the Schweinorg house, Hadrian.

Hadrian himself didn't pay the other mages sneaking glances and whispering at his wake any attention, considering as he was already too used to this kind of attention. The cheeky retainer, Charles, however, was not so ignorant. Instead, he took note of the whispers and glances, laughing quietly to himself from the small entertainment he was provided with.

Although, his fun gets cut off whenever he met the bright emerald eyes of Arturia Pendragon, who stared at him with a slight reproaching expression whenever she heard him laughed.

Having escorted his liege many times, Charles blinked when he realized that Hadrian was not going to the direction where his master's office was situated.

"Uh, master, I thought you're going to visit Lady Lorelei?" The cheeky retainer asked, slightly confused.

"I'm going to visit Lord El-Melloi II first." Hadrian answered without looking back. "There's something I must discuss with him first."

"Ah, okay." Charles nodded in acceptance.

After a few minutes, he and the other arrived to the office of his former mentor.

Hadrian rapped his knuckles gently on the dark wooden door before turning the knob and pushing it open, then he leaned the side of his body and checked the inside of the room.

Unlike most mages offices, Lord El-Melloi II's was a bit smaller and less decorated in wealth.

But, his study was filled with many, many books on magical theories about modern magecraft, and other various trinkets that offices of many magi were rarely seen without.

His former mentor might be a lord of the El-Melloi household, but that was only in name and title.

The true heir (or heiress) to the house was deemed too young to take on the duties of a Lord, so his former mentor was simply holding the position till the heir becomes old enough to inherit the position.

"Hello?" The young mage greeted, then his brows raised upwards in surprise.

Instead of seeing Lord El-Melloi II, occupying the office were his three friends and classmates, Flat Escardos, Caules Forvedge Yggdmillennia and Svin Glascheit.

And two of them were wrestling against one another, while the last was sighing at their antics.

"ACK! Stop it, you crazy bastard!" Caules shouted, looking highly irritated at the foolish blonde's actions.

"Ah, come on, Caules! It won't hurt, I promise!" Flat reassured, smiling widely.

The foolish blonde was trying to push his new invention towards his fellow classmate (guinea pig), who stared at the device with a wary eyes as he tried to keep it away with both of his hands.

Caules simply wanted to ask his teacher for advice, but he got ambushed by his blonde classmate, who was trying to make him test out a new invention that Flat himself made. Said invention seemed to look like one of those devices that he had seen a few years back, one that appears to be nuclear in nature.

Needless to say, Caules was unwilling to find out what the mystic code can do, especially when it was made by someone as unpredictable as Flat Escardos.

As if a final nail to the coffin, Flat's next words didn't gave the assurance that he thought it would bring to Caules.

"It'll just sting a little, aaaand then it'll be done!" Flat chirped with a refreshing grin.

"What are you talking about?! You're not making any sense, you dolt! First, it won't hurt. Now, it'll sting?! Make up your mind!" Caules demanded, annoyed by the grin the blonde was sporting.

"Just a little test, man! Come on! Don't be a baby! It'll go fine!" Flat encouraged, pushing the strange-looking mystic code.

"SHUT UP!"

Standing by the side of the couch his two classmates were wrestling on, Svin had his arms crossed over his chest and sighed.

"Idiots…" The docile-looking young man muttered under his breath.

Having seen enough, Hadrian had decided to make his presence known to them.

"What are you lot doing?" The young mage asked, his tone tinged with a bit of exasperation.

"Hm?" All three heads swiveled towards the door and their eyes widened when they saw him.

"Oh yo, Adri! You're back!" Flat greeted with a wide grin.

The foolish blonde got off the couch and skipped over to him, causing Caules to sigh in relief when the crazy blonde's attention was finally off of him.

Svin, who was standing near the couch, saw his reaction and smiled wryly. He then patted the spectacled mage's shoulder a few times in sympathy, causing the latter's eyebrows to twitch in irritation.

"Oh, is that for me, bruh?" Flat asked, pointing to the brown box he was carrying in his right hand.

"No, this is for Lord El-Melloi II." Hadrian said, smiling bemusedly at Flat's 'aww' of disappointment.

He was a bit thrown off guard by Flat calling him 'bruh', seeing as he was used to hearing it more from his male retainers than the foolish blonde.

"Hey, man, glad to see you again." Caules said with a small smile as Hadrian entered the room.

"Caules. Svin." The young mage gave the two a nod of acknowledgement, which Svin returned with one of his own.

"If you're here for Lord El-Melloi, he's not here." Svin spoke, having an idea of his reason to visit.

"Where is he then?" Hadrian asked instead.

"He's in a meeting with the High Council." Caules said with a sigh, glancing at Flat warily (who set his strange mystic code on his lap) from time to time.

"About what?" Hadrian inquired, curious by the reason.

"He's relaying our reports." Flat interjected, helping himself with some beverages and small cakes that he found (and stole) in his mentor's hidden refrigerator.

While Hadrian made no move to stop him, he has a feeling that his former mentor would not be so happy to discover that the food he kept in reserve was being devoured at a scary pace by Flat.

"Ah…" Hadrian nodded, understanding the situation.

'Hmm, he's probably informing them of their recent findings…' He mused, watching idly as his two familiars got out of the satchel to join Flat in devouring the food he spread on the coffee table.

He was about to speak again when the door of the office suddenly slammed open, jolting his retainers into protective position.

But, they relaxed when they saw who it was.

Except for Hadrian, whose body shivered as a chill went down his spine at the sight of the newcomer.

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