Chapter 300: Clown’s Action
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
“It’s a city in the Sky?! In the Kingdom of Holm?” Mercury repeated the words out of great surprise.
Hanger and Reindeer were also shocked, “Rentato? Near the capital?!”
It was totally out of their expectation, like how Lucien felt when he first heard where the Congress was. They simply could not imagine that the Congress of Magic could exist above board right in front of people’s eyes in the country across the strait.
They thought that the Congress was probably deep into the mountain ranges, or even in another dimension or demiplane, which was secretly connected to the main material world.
Philosopher, Viscount Klein, had more or less heard something from Count Hayne, Count Rafati, and some other big nobles, so he remained relatively calm.
Looking at the surprised faces of the apprentices, Lucien felt quite satisfied, “Yes, the Congress is in Allyn. It’s gained some support from the nobles in Holm, and its power has way surpassed that of the Church in the kingdom. Right now, if it was not because of the nobles’ wish to maintain the power balance between the three parties, and if it was not because of the great cost the Church has paid to hold the Radiance Church, the kingdom would have been under the Congress’ control.”
“It’s… It’s unbelievable…” Mercury murmured, and she still could not believe what she just heard. She was born and also grew up in the Duchy of Violet, and in her mind, the Church’s power was greater than anything else, even across different dimensions. If the Church had not been divided, most sorcerers would have died out already. How was it possible that the Congress of Magic could overpower the Church?
Mercury was not alone here. Even including Philosopher, the apprentices present were all very surprised and confused. Although Philosopher had heard something about the kingdom across the strait, because he was not qualified enough to sit close to the grand duke, the information he had was also very limited.
In order to give him more confidence, Lucien briefly told them the history of the development of the Congress of Magic, the achievement made by some great arcanists from the Congress and its current situation. In the end, Lucien said to them, “The Congress has been the second most influential power across the continent. In Allyn, you can learn arcana and basic magic for free, and you don’t need to hide anymore. Instead, you can earn yourself status and wealth that you deserve by learning magic.”
Lucien was not trying to exaggerate anything, but his plain tone made the apprentices thrilled. Their great excitement left their body slightly shaking, as they finally saw the light in the seemingly endless darkness.
Although Mercury was quite calm most of the time, now she almost burst into tears, “Then Mr. Professor… What shall we do? I think the Church must have blocked the strait… Can you lead us to get there?”
What she said reminded the other apprentices—they realized that they were not in Allyn yet, and there were still lots of dangers waiting for them ahead.
“I’ve got my own things to deal with. I cannot do this for you.” Lucien first rejected them and then told them the two possible routes to get there. Then he added, “If you’ve got any magic items that can make you fly, consider to take the route in the north through Schachran Empire. If you don’t, go to Sturk and find Ferryman. There you have to prove to them that you’re qualified to be sent to Allyn. So try to show them your ability and potential if you haven’t become a real sorcerer when you arrive in Sturk.”
Lucien did not tell them who Granneuve was, because there might be a spy from the Church among the apprentices. Lucien only told them how to find Ferryman.
Learning from the lesson a few years ago, the liaisons from the congress now had a strict series of procedures to observe, question, identify and test the apprentices. So even if the spy told the night watchers how to find Ferryman, it would still be very hard for the night watchers to get to Allyn.
Mercury calmed down a little, “Thank you, Mr. Professor. If there’s a chance, I hope to see you in Allyn.”
The apprentices including Philosopher knew that they had to work really hard to prove that they were useful to the Congress in order to obtain the chance of going to Allyn. This was the cost they had to pay, and they were well aware of it.
“I hope that you can tell this to other apprentices and sorcerers who you can trust. Don’t be selfish. Give others the chance to choose.” Lucien nodded, and then he added, “After tonight, you might want to change an identity and find another place to hide. I’m concerned that there are still spies from the Church in other magic groups.”
“Got it, Mr. Professor,” the apprentices answered seriously. They completely trusted Professor’s words, and no one wanted to fail when they were almost there at the edge of the light.
After a while, Hanger said to Professor with some passion, “Mr. Professor, you mentioned something about arcana and basic magic. As a profound middle-rank mage, can you make some brief introduction of them? As for the pay, you can pick any magic materials that we have here…”
“It’s free to make some basic introduction…” said Lucien in a plain tone. In fact, the materials here brought by the apprentices were just nothing in his eyes.
Hearing that, all the apprentices including philosopher stood up and gave Lucien a respectful salute following the manner of the ancient magic empire.
Then Lucien started to explain magic system using the arcana way of thinking. All of the apprentices were shocked, as they had never heard something like this before, but the new way of thinking definitely had brought them lots of thoughts.
It was different from last time when they read the journal, Arcana. Last time they were totally lost, while this time because Lucien was great at explaining profound theories using simple language, the apprentices saw a new gate behind which there was an ocean of knowledge!
At the end of the gathering, the apprentices and Philosopher were still immersed in the new world of knowledge. Even though there were parts that contradicted what they knew, what Professor said was very persuasive.
At their current level, and because they had never received any systematic education after a profound leader, it was the best time for them to absorb new knowledge like a piece of sponge.
After leaving the basement, the apprentices and Philosopher again gave Lucien a respectful salute with their right hand on their forehead, “Hope we can learn more from you if there’s chance in the future, Mr. Professor.”
In their eyes, Professor was not just some mysterious and important sorcerer on the Cleansing List anymore, but more like a representation of arcana and the Congress of Magic.
Lucien grinned, “My students don’t like me that much. If there’s chance, I hope you all won’t regret.”
“…?” The apprentices were very confused. Then they watched Professor and Philosopher leaving together.
…
Down in the sewers of Aalto.
“What? Professor’s in Aalto right now?!” Clown suddenly stood up and his eyes stared at Juliana like they were going to burn.
Juliana was both thrilled and nervous, “Yes, an hour ago, we’ve confirmed it from our spy that he just attended the gathering of the magic group. ”
The spy reported to them immediately after the gathering. After all, Professor was on the Cleansing List, and what he had done could never be forgotten by the Night Watch.
Clown suddenly became silent, then he burst out laughing, but his laughter sounded crazy and sad, “Lucien Evans is in Aalto. Professor then also shows up in Aalto. If they are not connected, I’d rather put myself on the burning post! Those cardinals up there should see now…”
“Just stay here and wait for the good news. When we catch Professor and find the evidence that shows Lucien Evans is connected to him, you can go back to the Inquisition!” said Juliana joyfully.
Clown shook his head, “No, I need to seize the chance. I need to catch Professor myself.”
“It might be Professor’s conspiracy…” Juliana hurriedly said to Clown. “Professor might be here just because of you! Let us do this for you!”
The three leaders in charge of the Inquisition were all level six radiant knights, although they were not as powerful as the level-seven red-robed cardinals, they were enough to catch Professor. Any conspiracies were simply nothing in front of the absolute power.
Clown shook his head firmly, “Maybe there’ll be someone behind controlling the Inquisition or the Church to buy Professor more time. I have to be quick, and I must take revenge for the more than twenty teammates of mine who died in that forest. I’ll never forget what happened to us. I’ll be very careful.”
Clown had no idea what Professor’s purpose was. There seemed to be pointless for Professor to kill him.
“I see. Please take care.” Juliana knew that Clown would not change his mind, so she nodded.
Clown laughed, “Professor could never expect that we’ve got all the information about Philosopher!”
The night watchers had spent months investigating apprentices who were relatively close to Professor. Although they lost Owl because he died in the remains of the Magic Lock, Philosopher finally led them to find Professor.
“Then you’d better hurry. You want to find Professor before the other night watchers come.” Juliana reminded him. After all, Clown was also on the night watchers’ target list.
