Mischievous

Cygnus could not help but look at the major with a frown, the idea of traveling with these people was not that appealing to him. Astrophos was also not comfortable with the idea.

"What if we don't want to? Traveling with soldiers will surely attract too much attention and we want to enter the capital in an unnoticeable manner," Cygnus argued. He narrowed his eyes and waited for the major to speak and convince them.

"You have a point but traveling with us will be much safer than traveling on your own, even though you are all mages and you have a person accompanying you from the tower, the road will still pose danger to all of you." The major intertwined his fingers and placed both elbows on his knees as he stared at Cygnus.

The two of them stayed silent for a few seconds before Cygnus spoke again, "What danger can we face out there when we are just traveling like anybody else?"

With this question, the major could not help but smile. It seems that these people were not knowledgeable about what was happening around the kingdom. Even the mage who was accompanying them didn't speak.

"Once you pass through this forest, anyone can attack you and your group. Especially because you don't bear any noble insignia, that alone can make anybody attack you." The major gave a small smile which irritated Cygnus, "And that will also be the case once they know that you are mages."

Though irritated, Cygnus did not show it on his face and continued with the conversation. "Who would even attack people without any valid reason?"

Ginehart looked at Astrophos but the man insisted on keeping quiet so he needed to explain this matter to them. "From what town did you come from?"

"Moonvale!" Nina answered without thinking which only earned her a glare from Cygnus. She bowed her head in embarrassment. She could only stare at the ground because she did not want to meet the master's gaze.

The major retracted his hands and relaxed his posture, "As I have thought, you are from a pretty far place so I understand the lack of information. Aside from bandits and monsters, mages or aspiring mages or in general people who possess mana will encounter Mage Hunters and that is true in these parts of the kingdom."

Hearing the word Mage Hunters, Astrophos sighed. He then felt a fierce glare being sent his way but he refused to look at the man. Mage Hunters were people who kill mages for either fun, prestige or reward. They don't appear in places that do not have any mages, like Moonvale. The place was miles away from the capital and no mages came from that place for the past twenty years so they didn't bother checking it out.

These hunters preferred to stay in towns or any place where they can hunt people with mana. There were also extreme cases where some mages were found dead and their mana cores missing but most of the time, these mage hunters were after the rewards.

"Mage hunters are scattered around this area, since this place is an entrance for anyone who wants to be a mage. Even if you hide your mana, they will still have a way to know if the travelers passing by have mana or not. That's the reason why most groups who decide to go to the capital employ bodyguards, even if it is a bit expensive. And now I am offering you a good deal, you don't need to pay yet I am willing to offer protection to your group." Ginehart looked smug like he had won already but Cygnus did not budge. He did not avert his gaze but the major saw how he had clenched his jaws.

"Master, if I may," Mr. C stepped in, he looked at Cygnus and saw him nod his head. "The major's proposal is reasonable. Since both of you and Nina are not yet mages and had little training, we could use their help. It will also be easier for Mr. Astrophos to protect us if he has some help."

Astrophos snapped his head at the butler's direction, he could only give a forced smile even though his eyelids were already twitching. What protection? Who is lacking in training? What was the butler talking about? He moved his gaze towards Nina and finally on Cygnus who both remained silent.

While seeing their reaction and what had been happening for the past hour already, a terrible thought was formed in his mind. If he thought carefully about it, Cygnus and Nina were not their usual selves but he only thought that it was normal because they were not normal people to begin with. One more thing, was that, Mr. C was acting normal and now he was speaking nonsense.

'Are they perhaps acting?' He suddenly thought to himself and when he looked at Cygnus again, he received a smirk from the man which confirmed his guess. He inhaled a bit sharply but immediately calmed himself.

"What do you think Mr. Astrophos?" Cygnus subtly changed his expression, his brows almost met with his forehead scrunched up.

Astrophos wanted to shout in frustration but he was already embroiled in these theatrics they decided to play so with no other choice, he needed to go along with them. "Since magic hunters are involved, we can use their help. Although the kingdom's militia is mainly composed of non-magic users, they are trained to fight against any mage and I've actually heard of your accomplishments Major Linius Ginehart, so we can certainly count on them."

He specifically emphasized on the word 'accomplishments' to hint that they should not be deceiving such a person. Linius Ginehart was known to be ruthless, a mission is a mission, and if one would try to deceive or offend him, they'll find themselves under his oppressive power. Some of them even ended up dead.

As if he did not understand Astrophos's message, Cygnus continued to frown while he appeared to be thinking. He was considering their words but before he would make his decision, he wanted to ask the major one last question, "Why? Why did you want to travel with us and even go as far as to offer protection for free when you only just met us for only over an hour?"

"Because I find your group interesting and besides that we need a reason to return to the capital," was his simple answer. "For the other reasons, I am allowed to keep that to myself for now, right?"

Since they were offering for free, no matter what their reason was as long as they reached the capital safely, then everything was fine. "If that's the case, as long as you can promise our safety then I have no problems with that. But if any of us will be harmed during this journey, you'll have to take responsibility."

Major Ginehart could not help but feel an itch in his heart at the pressure that the young man suddenly emitted. It was only for a short while but the major knew that he was worth observing for the meantime.