Chapter Twenty-Nine: Wolf Attack (Part 1)

“All—all of them killed!?” Even the ice-cold beauty West, usually so composed, couldn’t help but change her expression at those words. Semily quickly raised his head and glanced toward the nearby group; thankfully, those fools were still lost in their own enjoyment, utterly oblivious to Ver’s shocking statement.

“Are you mad!?” Lys’s face showed a hint of astonishment. She wondered if perhaps Ver had blurted out such words in a moment of anger, not truly meaning them.

“Why not?” Ver lifted his head and looked at the pretty-faced Semily and the others, his tone perfectly natural. “This task seems simple on the surface, but anyone with half a brain can see the hidden dangers lurking behind it. But did you notice? Those trash over there—what do they understand? Other than adding unnecessary trouble for us, that’s all they do. And when the crisis comes, they won’t be any help; in fact, they’ll become a burden, maybe even drag us down! Just as West and Lys said, if we take this bunch of idiots along, something is bound to happen!”

“Then why not just leave them here…?” Semily understood Ver’s meaning perfectly. It wasn’t that he lacked the courage to kill them; it was simply that the magic guild was already so sparse in numbers. Without them, it might become quieter, but such a drastic move would make the guild even more desolate!

“Do you really think they’ll obediently stay in the wild forest and wait for us for several days?” Ver mercilessly shattered Semily’s last illusion. Expecting these pampered fools to remain in this desolate forest for days—if they agreed, that would be a miracle!

Yet, even so, Semily could not bring himself to act. His thinking was fundamentally different from Ver’s. To Semily, perhaps House and his companions had some flaws in character, but they were nonetheless mages, and their abilities were at least passable—for this era, anyway. But Ver’s view was not the same. In his eyes, a fifth-tier mage was hardly worth mentioning; in the age of magic, a mage’s strength was only slightly above that of an apprentice. What Ver valued was the honor of being a mage, and House and his ilk not only failed to understand it, they were constantly undermining it. That was the source of Ver’s true rage!

Listening to Ver, West and the others felt a strange sense rising within. This youth’s mind seemed more mature and seasoned than their own. Though his words made things difficult, oddly enough, not one of them objected. In the end, all eyes turned to Semily.

Semily knew that the decision rested with him. He understood that, with a single word, Lys and the others beside him would move to eliminate House and his group. But could he truly be so ruthless? His worries were, perhaps, far more complicated than Ver’s.

Seeing Semily’s conflicted expression, Ver merely sighed inwardly. The outcome was all but set.

Sure enough, after careful consideration, Semily decided to take House and the others along to complete the task.

House and his ignorant companions, still lost in their pleasures, had no idea that moments before, they had nearly been sentenced to death.

Ver approached their carriage, his face expressionless, and said, “Get out. Leave the coachman and those two women here.”

Hearing Ver’s command, House nearly agreed out of fear. Since the beating he received last time, his dread of Ver had almost surpassed his fear of Semily. But when he saw the dissatisfied looks of the mages behind him, a flicker of hope stirred, and he summoned the courage to protest, “Leave the carriage? How can we? All our food is in there. Without it, what are we supposed to do?”

“There’s no need for all that. The journey isn’t far—we can get by with some dry rations. As for water, we’re traveling through forest; I doubt we’ll be short on that,” Ver replied, mercilessly shattering House’s hopes. At that moment, the mages behind House, for once, united and cried out, “How can we? We are mages—how can we endure such hardship?”

These words made Ver’s brow furrow. He was about to speak, but Lys and West had already silently stepped forward, wands in hand, their icy and fiery beauty poised to act at any further protest.

Seeing Lys and West’s stance, House felt a sudden panic. The memory of West’s power almost made him capitulate and abandon the carriage. But the thought of giving in so easily felt humiliating. He glanced at the mages behind him, gathered a bit of courage, and protested again, “Ver, you can’t be so unreasonable…”

“Unreasonable? Hmph, House, it’s you who are unreasonable, isn’t it? Don’t tell me you still haven’t figured out what we’re here to do. This task doesn’t require irrelevant people tagging along—not to mention what you’ve done. A grand, luxurious carriage, filled with who knows how many tempting sweets, a coachman, and even two maids! Are you here to work, or are you here to indulge yourself?”

Ver sneered, his face full of contempt for House and his group. House flushed bright red at Ver’s scorn, though whether from shame or anger was unclear.

In the end, under the pressure, House and his companions abandoned their carriage, leaving the coachman and the two delicate maids behind. As for the nine low-level soulmasters, Ver kept them; perhaps, in his mind, those nine would prove far more useful than House and his foolish friends.