CHAPTER (25) : Free help?

Driscoll was a triple-awakened warlock with three abilities. One of his abilities was S-rank Truesight, which allowed him to see through disguises and any form of shape-shifting or camouflage.

As a warlock with S-rank Truesight ability, he can see through any form of shape-shifting or camouflage, so it was a piece of cake to find out Verlice's actual hair color.

Normally, he'd have pretended not to see Verlice's real hair color and stuck with the obvious one because some people like to dye their hair to change their original hair color, but he had sensed the use of sorcery.

Why else would someone use sorcery to change their hair color, if not to make the change fairly permanent and flawless, he couldn't help but be suspicious of Verlice.

Not only did Verlice use sorcery to change his hair color, but he also used an extremely powerful one.

If Driscoll's Truesight ability wasn't at S-rank, he would have had a hard time seeing through the disguise.

When he saw the shock and nervousness on Verlice's face after the disclosure, his suspicion grew even more.

"Are you a wizard or a deviant?" Driscoll asked sternly.

"I'm a wizard," Verlice replied rather nervously.

Driscoll's eyes widened briefly in shock before returning expressionless as usual, "A silver-haired wizard in the academy, interesting. Why are you here?"

Verlice was confused when he heard this question.

Why else would he be here, if not to learn and get a permanent license?

Lera explained, sighing.

Verlice felt like crying out of frustration when he heard what Lera said.

In his past life, he was insignificant and a nobody, but now that he was some big shot, he was considered a threat to the world government.

Just why was life so frustrating...?

"Why are you here?" Driscoll repeated in a slightly sharper tone.

"Why else am I here, if not to learn, get a license, and live a better life? It's alright, I'm going to leave. Look, you don't have to alert everyone. Just shut up and I'll go peacefully," Verlice replied and sighed.

He was leaving the academy anyway, so there was no need to act all respectfully and naively.

"No one is listening to us. Not even the person behind your back. So tell me, why are you here? If you're here with bad intentions, I'd advise you to leave while you still can. But if you're not here to cause trouble, then I have no right to ask you to leave. But first, I want to know why you're here," Driscoll spoke up without mincing words.

Verlice looked around to see if anyone was listening or looking at them, but it turned out that everyone was going about their business.

Even Grey, who was at his back, was looking somewhere else.

"That's one of my skills. I cast a domain in this entire room. The domain is under my control, and I foresee everything that happens in it. Not even wind can pass through it without my permission. You can speak freely, no one is listening," Driscoll clarified as he saw Verlice's eyes roam around the room in curiousity.

Verlice would have thought Driscoll was bluffing if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. No one was looking at them or even listening to their conversation.

"I have no bad intentions in coming here. I'm an orphan and I'm here to learn and also get a magic license. If you think I'm lying, then I'm ready to leave because I have no way to prove myself," Verlice explained before turning around to leave.

"Wait, I believe you!" Driscoll called out.

'Huh? He believes me? Just like that?' Verlice mused, stopping before turning back to Driscoll.

Letting out a long sigh, Driscoll said, "I believe you, and you don't have to worry about me telling anyone else. I won't tell the dean of this academy or any of my colleagues. Your identity will remain a secret between us. Until now, I'm the only one with S-rank Truesight ability in this Academy. That means no one else can see through your cover. Even if there are others with Truesight ability in this academy, I doubt they can see it. The sorcery you used to change your hair color is very powerful and can only be bypassed by someone with S-rank Truesight."

"How do I know this isn't a way to trap me here and turn me in to the government?" Verlice inquired.

"Because it's a promise," Driscoll replied curtly.

"Promise? What nonsense! I have no leverage on you, so even if you break your promise, you have nothing to lose. I'm afraid I don't believe you."

Just as Verlice turned to leave, Lera said something that made him pause.

'Are you saying I should agree with his words?' He asked, confused.

'All right, if you say so.'

Turning around and looking straight into Driscoll's eye, Verlice asked. "I hope you won't break your promise in the future." 

"Looks like you're more sensible than you act. Warlocks don't go back on their word, so you can rest assured. Are we good?" Driscoll responded, smiling mischievously.

Verlice thought for a while before deciding to ask. 

"Why are you helping me?" He couldn't help but ask because he still found it strange that Driscoll decided to help him.

He believed that Driscoll had a reason for helping him. He couldn't help him without a reason. There was no such thing as free help. At least, that's what Lera made him believe.

"I'm helping you because I want to help you," Driscoll replied shortly.

"Lies!" Verlice spat.

"Fine, I'm helping you because I'm interested in you. I'm interested in silver-haired wizards precisely. Isn't that reason enough to help someone?" Driscoll retorted. "By the way, I'm surprised you're using your abilities without a license. You know that's illegal, don't you?"

Before Verlice could open his mouth to say anything, Grey gently pushed him back and stepped forward.

"All right, I'm done playing dumb. I've been listening to your conversation the whole time. Tell me, what exactly do you want from my friend? I know he's a silver-haired wizard from the moment I saw him, but why are you making such a big deal out of it? He's not much different from us, is he? You even went so far as to tell him to leave the academy. Tell me, why do you think you have the right to do that?!" Grey exclaimed angrily.

"Looks like we have a lot of interesting students in this batch, I'm impressed," Driscoll muttered with a sly smile.

The smile on his face disappeared before anyone else could see it.