64 — Chapter 64

No matter how sincere the mayor’s tone might have sounded to others, to me it came off bitter and forced. The way he spoke, the way he smiled—it all felt fake. Especially that tone.

“Everyone must be busy, so I’ll pay you all right away. Bring it in.”

The mayor spoke with a smile plastered across his face, then turned his head toward the door and gave the order in a commanding voice. Almost instantly, the door opened and two men entered, each carrying a wooden chest. When they set them down on the table, I heard the faint clinking of coins from within.

“Sounds like money,” John murmured from behind me, clearly responding to that metallic sound.

At the mayor’s signal, the two men bowed slightly and quietly left the room.

“In this chest,” the mayor said, opening the one to his left, “there are pouches, each containing five gold coins of ten-gold denomination.”

The chest itself was ornate and old-fashioned, decorated with inlaid gems and elegant carvings. Even the box alone looked expensive enough to make a noble jealous.
Inside were several small brown cloth pouches neatly arranged.

Then the mayor opened the other chest and continued.

“This one holds two pouches, each containing three fifty-gold coins. Kain and the Black Mage may take these.”

When he stepped back, the twenty-odd humans who had been standing nearby immediately surged toward the first chest like a flock of starving crows. Only John remained behind me, calm as ever.

“Don’t push!”

“You bastard! Why are you taking two?!”

Shouts broke out near the chest as the group began fighting over their shares.
Pathetic.

While I simply watched the chaos unfold, the Black Mage stepped forward, picked up two of the brown pouches, and handed one to me. I took the pouch—it was satisfyingly heavy—and sent it into my subspace storage.

“You use magic too?”

The Black Mage sounded almost startled, likely sensing the faint mana fluctuation from my subspace spell. Speaking to Heaven’s heir so casually—this one really needed to fix his tone. I only nodded in response.

“Kain, you use magic too? That’s amazing,” John said, clearly intrigued.

Of course, it wouldn’t make sense to him. Humans, after all, struggled to believe anything that didn’t fit their narrow frame of understanding.

I didn’t bother answering. Instead, I watched the others scrambling for gold.

Watching them claw over coins stirred a mix of pity and resignation. Pitiful, yes—but in a way, expected. That was human nature.

I turned my gaze toward the mayor. He was smiling. Not a kind smile—an arrogant one. His chin was lifted slightly, eyes looking down at the room as though everyone here existed for his amusement.

He was enjoying this.

It rubbed me the wrong way.

“Those who’ve received your payment may leave now. Haha! Oh, and Kain, Black Mage—please stay behind for a moment.”

The mayor’s laughter filled the room. Several of the adventurers—or whatever they were—took their money and left, grinning. The noise dwindled quickly, leaving the space quiet again.

Altari, the self-proclaimed leader of the knights, didn’t even bother with a proper farewell. He just pocketed his share and strolled off, laughing like an idiot. Soon, only four people remained: me, John, the Black Mage, and the mayor himself.

“I’ll give the smiling gentleman over there a hundred gold,” the mayor said, walking toward me while taking out a small pouch.

John stepped forward, accepted it, and returned to stand behind me.

The mayor watched that exchange with a strange, knowing smirk before speaking again.

I didn’t like it.

I didn’t like him.

“There’s something I wish to discuss. Follow me.”

His tone was firm—borderline arrogant. For someone treating me as a “guest,” his manners left much to be desired.

“You go take care of it.”

I said to the Black Mage, still staring at the door the mayor had exited through. He should be more than enough on his own.

“Got it. Got it.”

Lifting the hem of his gray robe with one hand, he muttered as he left the room. Once he was done with the mayor and back from the mansion, I’d make sure he fixed that tone of his. John too. Better to deal with it now than postpone it until I found the other two subordinates.

“Let’s go.”

I spoke briefly and stepped out of the room. The familiar interior of the mansion came into view—the grand staircase, the polished floors, the doorway leading to the garden outside. When I stepped out, the sky was painted red with sunset. The crimson light made everything look majestic, divine even. The greatness of nature. A gentle wind brushed past, teasing my hair and setting it swaying.

As I looked out at the burning sky, I spoke.

“Where do you think we’ll find the most wanted criminals?”

Was that a foolish question?

“Hmm, probably in the Empire,” John said lightly.

The Empire, huh. It was quite far from here—at least several weeks of travel. If I went alone, I could get there quickly, but those two were another matter.

Could they keep up? No… I’d have to use magic instead. Which meant I needed coordinates.

“Do you know any coordinates for safe teleportation zones within the Empire?”

As I spoke, I felt it—the distinct ripple of other-dimensional mana. The Black Mage had started casting. Was it fear magic? Or perhaps a curse spell?

“Coordinates? Not a clue,” John replied cheerfully.

I figured as much. The Black Mage would know, though. He’d been wandering the continent for years. I’d noticed the worn-out boots he wore the first time we met—they told their own story.

[Finish up quickly and come out.]

I sent a voice transmission to the Black Mage inside the mansion. Better fast than thorough, in every sense.

A moment later, the mana emanating from the mansion fluctuated sharply. The waves of power shook violently for an instant—judging by the flow, he’d finished it all in one go.

Didn’t seem like he’d killed anyone, though…

“What’ll we be doing once we reach the Academy?” John asked curiously, pulling me from my thoughts.

At that moment, I spotted movement—someone stepping out through the mansion doors. I turned my gaze toward the figure emerging into the garden.

“Don’t worry. I already have plans.”

The Black Mage was walking toward us, his steps light, almost casual. In one hand, he held a small pouch—heavy, judging by the way it hung.

I eyed it briefly and asked,

“What’s that?”

The Black Mage glanced at the pouch in his hand, then spoke in that same chilling, eerie voice of his. The more I heard it, the more it suited him perfectly.

“Gold coins. Gold,” he said.

He loosened the pouch’s drawstring and tilted it open. Inside, a heap of dull yellow coins gleamed faintly under the light. So he’d shaken someone down for money.

“Take it. Take it,” he said again, extending the pouch toward me. Guess he wanted me to have it.

I took the pouch and asked, “How much?”

“Five hundred. Five hundred gold.”

Hmm. That meant I only needed about fifteen hundred more. I accepted the coins and sent them into subspace storage. John made a startled sound beside me, but I ignored him and turned back to the Black Mage.

“Do you know the coordinates of any teleportation-safe zones within the Empire?”

The Black Mage fell silent for a moment, stroking his staff with thin fingers. When he did, I caught a flicker of mana movement within the gray wood—brief but distinct—before it faded away. Definitely a staff imbued with magic.

“I know. I know. A forest not far from the Imperial Capital,” he said in that rasping tone of his, then recited the coordinates.

That worked perfectly. Any place within the Empire would do, and a forest near the capital was ideal. I memorized the coordinates and spoke.

“We’re going to the Empire. Grab on.”

I gave the order and began preparing the spell. Teleporting three people wasn’t simple—it required far more focus. Just holding onto me wasn’t enough. I had to calculate the exact three-dimensional outline of the objects being teleported together and synchronize our spatial coordinates.

Because of that, after casting a teleport like this, it became difficult to use any other spell for a while. I cleared my thoughts and focused. Gradually, the image took shape—the mana arrangement, the fusion, the rhythm. As the spell neared completion, I began the activation chant.

A powerful surge of mana burst around me, forming intense waves of wind. The strength of the distortion matched the distance we were about to travel.

“Whoaah!” John yelped, sounding far too excitable for his age. Well, that was typical of him.

The Black Mage, on the other hand, stayed silent—but I could feel his grip trembling through my arm. Understandable. There were probably fewer than thirty 6th-class mages on the entire continent, and Teleport was a 6th-class spell. A 4th-class mage like him had every reason to be impressed.

Once the casting circle stabilized, I spoke the activation word.

“Teleport.”

A brilliant sphere of white light enveloped the three of us—John, the Black Mage, and me. The world vanished in an instant.

All that remained was emptiness. No light, no sound, no sensation—just the vast nothingness I’d become all too familiar with. And yet, even after so many times, the feeling wasn’t pleasant. That faint, suffocating pressure—like being swallowed by silence itself—wrapped tightly around me.

A sudden thought crossed my mind: perhaps I was still suppressing myself, still unable to relax even now.

Was this the side effect of spending over a hundred years in the Demon Realm?

Why couldn’t I just feel at ease—simply look around me and take in the world without tension?

Why was I incapable of that?

The questions tangled in my chest, heavy and unmoving, as if something deep inside refused to let go.