Chapter 5

The soldiers dared not leave, trembling as they accompanied on the side.

There weren't many people in the Silan City Guard, as the real military was completely under the control of the Lord of the city, forming the Lord's private guard. With the commotion at the City Guard, someone had already gone to inform the Lord's guard at the city lord's mansion.

Before long, the streets outside were thundering with the sound of hooves, racing towards the City Guard. Over a hundred swordsmen surrounded the City Guard, with ten dismounting and walking into the City Guard's gate. The main gate had already been destroyed by Jason's fireball.

The leader of this group of swordsmen, clad in armor, drew his sword and approached the main hall. The swordsmen behind him also drew their weapons.

Upon seeing the situation in the hall, the armored swordsman became furious and pointed at Jason, saying, "Who are you to dare to raid the prison! Surrender immediately."

"Rubbish," Jason rebuked, pointing his finger. A green light flashed, and a stream of acid shot out, hitting the armored swordsman squarely in the face. With a sizzling sound, white smoke billowed, and the acid instantly corroded the swordsman's facial skin. The swordsman screamed and fell to the ground.

After completing this action, Jason turned to Salin beside him and said gently, "Even if they are enemies, they should not insult a mage. Even if it's an emperor, they cannot make a mage bow their head. Such impudence does not warrant politeness."

"Understood, Master," Salin replied softly, his words heard by everyone in the hall, sending shivers down their spines.

"Take him out, he's too noisy," Jason said to the soldiers on the other side. The intruding soldiers dispersed like an amnesty, quickly dragging away the injured swordsman.

"I don't have much time. Who brought my student here? Bring them to me within half an hour," Jason said as he casually took out a magic hourglass and placed it on the nearby table, flipping it over.

At this moment, two armored swordsmen walked in, obviously much more senior, resembling officers. These two swordsmen were tall and imposing, one with red hair and the other with golden hair. The one with red hair looked up and saw Jason maintaining the illumination spell, sending a chill down his spine.

He wasn't an ordinary soldier who hadn't seen much. There were two magic marks on Jason's gray robe, indicating he was a level five mage. Which idiot had provoked such a big shot?

Mage robes came in three colors: white for levels one to three, gray for levels four to six, and black for levels seven to nine. The magic marks on the mage robe represented the mage's level, and a gray-robed mage was already considered a great mage. Such a person, even the city lord couldn't afford to offend.

The red-haired swordsman silently saluted Jason and then said to the surrounding soldiers, "All of you, immediately go and arrest anyone related to this matter. If one is missing, I'll have you replace them."

These soldiers glanced at Jason with their eyes, Jason remained expressionless, seeming not to oppose, and only then did the soldiers disperse in a hurry.

The red-haired swordsman then cautiously asked Jason, "Master Mage, what else do you need from me?"

"Hmm," Jason pondered for a moment, "Don't let your lord come here. I don't want to see him."

The red-haired swordsman was taken aback, bowing his head, "Yes, Master Mage, this young master is injured. Shall I fetch a healer for him?"

"No need, the pain is bearable for him," Jason refused the red-haired swordsman's kindness. He wasn't in a hurry to treat Salin either. It was just a minor injury. Keeping Salin around for a while longer would help him remember today's events. Salin must have done something to get himself arrested. Whether right or wrong, a lesson had to be learned to avoid similar incidents in the future.

The red-haired swordsman whispered a few words to the golden-haired swordsman, who then bowed and left the hall. The red-haired swordsman stayed behind, accompanying Salin. Initially, Salin thought he was done for, but to his surprise, with the arrival of his master, the situation immediately changed. Judging from his master's tone, even the city lord himself wasn't worth paying attention to.

Salin then understood the significance of a mage. Although books had described the status of mages, it was hard to believe without seeing it firsthand. He recognized the red-haired swordsman, who was from the city lord's mansion. While not a bad person, he had even given Salin an extra small bag of flour last year during the Mid-Autumn Festival when Salin went to collect flour distributed by the city lord.

In less than half an hour, four soldiers who had arrested Salin, along with the merchant and his servants, were all brought in.

The six of them didn't know what had happened. When the merchant saw Salin standing beside Jason, he knew things were not good. He was the first to kneel down, and his servants followed suit.

"Who arrested my student?" Jason asked coldly.

The four soldiers looked at each other, then glanced at the red-haired swordsman standing aside. The red-haired swordsman seemed to ignore them, looking upward. The four soldiers had no choice but to answer, "We did, we received a report saying he stole Lord Zhanbu's gold coins."

Pointing at the merchant, the soldiers looked innocent.

"Zhanbu? Is it you? Why did you falsely accuse my student?" Jason stared at the merchant, asking each word.

"My lord, it's a misunderstanding, I mistook him for someone else."

"You're lying, I'll give you one more chance," Jason interrupted him.

"My lord, it's really like this, I have no enmity with him, why would I frame him? I—"

Before the merchant could continue, Jason, impatient, released a spell. A white light flashed, and an ice spike pierced through the merchant's head, leaving a hole the size of a teacup as blood gushed out.

"Don't be such an idiot. Mages can detect lies. Now tell me, why did you frame my student?" After killing the merchant, Jason turned to the servant. He wasn't aiming to convict them but wanted to know if Salin had done something to provoke this.

The servant was already terrified, lying prostrate on the ground, wailing, "My lord, it's not my idea, it's the master's. He wanted to buy Young Master Meitart's house but didn't want to go through the city hall procedures. Young Master Meitart never dies, so the master came up with this idea. It really has nothing to do with me."

"I know it's not your fault," Jason said before releasing another spell, a pale blue wind blade. It instantly severed the servant's head, blood spurting out, and the head, still crying with tears and snot, rolled aside.

After finishing all this, Jason turned to Salin beside him and said, "Salin, it's indeed not your fault. Come with me." Addressing the four soldiers nearby, he continued, "You four, always so keen on catching people. I'm not pleased with it, so let's just chop off your hands to prevent any further mistakes, shall we? Better than losing your heads."

"Sir, your student is unharmed, is he not?" the red-haired swordsman interjected, pleading.

Jason stood up, ignoring the red-haired swordsman, and led Salin out of the hall. However, his voice echoed in the hall, "I spared them because my student is unharmed. If any of them had died, I would have made all of you accompany them in death. Tomorrow, tally up the possessions of that Exhib fellow, send them outside the city as compensation for my student. Lose a coin, and I'll kill a person."

The red-haired swordsman shivered at the thought. Without a mage in Xilan City, if this fifth-level mage really caused trouble, even the massacre of the city was a possibility. Quietly, he drew his sword and approached the four soldiers.

Salin was led by Jason, exiting Xilan City. The guards at the city gate had already received the news and hastily opened the gates, ushering the two 'plague gods' out.

Back at their ancestral home, Jason finally cast a healing spell for Salin. While treating him, he inquired about what had happened during the day. Salin explained in detail, and Jason roughly understood the situation. He didn't blame Salin; after all, the child couldn't possibly comprehend the wickedness of human nature. This lesson must have made Salin realize that in this era, power was the ultimate truth.

After the treatment, Salin returned to his room to rest, pondering over the day's events repeatedly. Without Jason, no amount of gold would have saved him; it would only have made him an accomplice in his own demise.

"I must become strong, I must! I must!" He lay on his bed with wide-open eyes, unable to sleep. The room felt dark, reminiscent of the dungeon. The feelings of palpitation and despair hadn't faded; the fear of death corroded his young soul. Feeling around, he got out of bed, lit the candle on the table, and then closed his eyes, slowly drifting to sleep.

The next morning, the red-haired swordsman arrived with the gold coins. Apparently, he had been busy last night, as counting the assets wasn't an easy task. Jason didn't say much to him, simply instructing Salin to handle it and discuss any matters with him.

The red-haired swordsman anxiously sat in the front hall. Salin descended from upstairs, prompting the red-haired swordsman to stand up hurriedly and greet him, "Young Master Metatlin, you're awake."

Salin still wasn't accustomed to the warmth from the other side. In the past, these swordsmen from the Lord's Manor treated him as if he didn't exist. The red-haired swordsman might be a good person, but without Jason, he would have simply been someone who helped him get an extra bag of flour during festivals. Perhaps he had already forgotten about that?

"Young Master Metatlin," noticing Salin's distraction, the red-haired swordsman tentatively called out.

"Yes, what is it?" Salin responded.

The red-haired swordsman awkwardly replied, "The assets of Exhib have been tallied. In total, there are 2,200 gold coins, along with two properties, some livestock, approximately worth 400 gold coins. The properties are difficult to sell, so they will remain unpaid for now. Once sold, I'll deliver the gold coins. Here are two bank deposit slips totaling 2,000 gold coins and 200 gold coins in cash."

Placing four money pouches on the table, each filled to the brim, the red-haired swordsman's announcement made Salin's eyelids twitch. However, after yesterday's ordeal, he didn't rush to count the gold coins. Instead, he calmly said, "You can have those two properties for 300 gold coins. If convenient, bring the money this afternoon, and also help deliver half a year's worth of rice, flour, spices, and dried meat. Can you do that?"

"No problem!" The red-haired swordsman was overjoyed. Originally, selling those two properties for four hundred gold coins would have been quite challenging. But now, with Salin willing to sell them at a discount, he would earn several dozen gold coins in profit, without having to worry about filling the deficit himself.

After seeing off the red-haired swordsman, Salin, carrying four money pouches and two bank deposit slips, arrived at Jason's magic laboratory.

"Teacher, these are for you."

"Put them over there. If you make progress in your magic and need a lot of money, ask me for it later," Jason replied, declining Salin's money. He didn't care about the gold coins; he was just irritated last night. A small merchant dared to offend the dignity of a mage and repeatedly lie to him. So, he casually raided Exhib's home to compensate himself and Salin.