Chapter 21: Reunion (II)

When Thors and Allen arrived in [City of Astrology: Sgdel], it was already evening two days later. The brilliant and dazzling sunset illuminated this ancient city, making it exceptionally beautiful.

Three years ago, Thors had visited here with the late Professor Hode. At that time, the ancient city had few inhabitants, with most areas in a state of abandonment. Only the Vandel Mage Tower, standing in the city center, housed a small number of reclusive old magi.

Their powerful abilities were no longer enough to inspire these old magi. More than power, status, or authority, they longed to explore the unknown mysteries of magic.

This was [Vandel]—the ancient ruin [Tower of Thunder]—the only pride of dark magi aside from [Heliriox]. It was also the base of the Free Dark Magi Alliance. Dissatisfied with JerryBelfort, the former vice president of the Royal Mage Association, colluding with Argus and necromancers to seize control of the country from the dark magi, numerous dark magi had gathered here over the past three years.

Thanks to Argus, this once ancient and desolate city now appeared vibrant. The damaged city walls were repaired, the ruined magic arrays were fixed, and streets, houses, and facilities were renovated one after another. Groups of mercenaries also began to frequent the area.

As soon as he entered the city, Bon Hamsworth felt immense pressure. Everywhere were dark magi dressed in black robes and wearing black-crowned wizard hats. Some gathered in street shops, explaining their understanding of a magical artifact; some stood on the roads chatting, often cursing Argus; others demonstrated their newly invented or improved magic to seek advice.

Each of them held a staff embedded with magic crystals. It could be said that the dark magi gathered here numbered no less than those in the dark magic guild during the war between the two nations eighteen years ago—perhaps even more.

Recalling the brutality of the [One-Year War], Bon Hamsworth dared not underestimate these dark magi at all. After all, a group of two thousand dark magi carried a devastating force wherever they went.

Therefore, he obediently changed into a gray robe, as the attire of a papal cardinal was far too eye-catching. The dark magi here were no match for the mercenaries he had encountered in Boydel a few days ago. Engaging in conflict with them would undoubtedly be seeking death.

Along the way, Allen occasionally greeted those dark mages, who responded by touching the brim of their wizard hats with their wands. After all, Allen wore the emblem of the Order of the Wind of Freedom on his chest plate, and the dark mages who had once helped him repel those Death Knights surely knew about it.

Seeing Thos glance around in surprise from time to time, Allen said with a smile, “Well? Big changes here, right?”

“Hmph!” Thos gave a faint smile, but then Allen whispered, “Dude, if you could help me, my knight order, along with these mages, would be enough to resist Agus’s demon army!”

“Why me?” Thos frowned in confusion. “I don’t even know them. Why do you think I can help you?”

Allen smiled mysteriously and then said in a somewhat odd tone, “You don’t know, do you? Aside from mages from the magic academies in the Glon region, more than half of the country’s mages are gathered here. Do you know why they’re here?”

“Because of Agus?”

“Yes, because Agus took control of this country away from the mages. My old man says that when interests align, people unite—businessmen do that, and mages do too!”

“And what does that prove?”

“I’m amazed by you, dude. You know very well what status Vandel holds in the hearts of mages. With Riox destroyed by Agus, those renowned elders of the Vandel Magic Tower naturally became their leaders…”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“It matters a lot. Although we were in the same dormitory back then, our magic tutors were different. Your tutor is Professor Hode, who was a student of Dean Greit and married Dean Greit’s granddaughter, Sister Abel. In short, your relationship with Vandel is much closer than mine with Scott. Of course, Ivy is the same as you… If possible, I’d really like you to be on my side!”

“Hm?” Thos stopped in his tracks and glanced at Allen suspiciously. Frowning, he asked, “Why say that?”

Allen hesitated for a moment before whispering, “Dude, I won’t hide it from you—I don’t really care, but my old man hopes to win over these Vandells. Have you heard of the former First Prince, Prince Theo? Theo Bartz Yawood—that poor guy framed by Argus. Not only did he lose his right to inherit the throne, but he also became a fugitive accused of patricide. I heard he’s now gathering strength to launch a counterattack on the Sassen…” As he spoke, he glanced at Thos and lowered his voice, “The Gallic faction is quite close to this former prince…”

Thos gave Allen a puzzled look.

“It’s ridiculous, right?” Allen shrugged with a bitter smile. “I don’t want this either, but we have to be cautious. In the past, Operelles had to pay triple the tax to the empire every year, yet all we got was the title of nouveau riche. The main reason the merchants formed a knight order this time is to free Operelles from imperial control. The merchants want autonomy and the right to become nobles. But as you know, no ruler would allow such a thing—whether it was the former king or any First Prince. They probably still see us as their money bags. That’s why the merchants asked me to win over the Vandells—they don’t want that prince to get their support, even if the Vandells stay neutral!”

“A class conflict, then…”

“Yes,” Allen said with a bitter smile, shaking his head. “My old man is the only merchant in the guild to have been granted a count title, but it’s just symbolic. He can’t even get a family crest. When he meets real nobles, even just lords, he has to take off his hat in respect. You can imagine how angry the merchants of Operelles are… Argus might just be a prelude to war in this country!—Oh, that was my old man who said it.”

“A prelude…” Thos hummed softly and headed toward the Mage Tower of the Vandells.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the ancient ruins in the city center—the Thunder Tower of the Vandells. Perhaps it was the only building in this drastically changed city that Thos found familiar.

The huge structure floating in midair, the ever-flowing waterfalls, and the rainbows formed by the mist were truly magnificent, leaving Father Bond in awe. After all, he had never seen such anti-gravity structures before.

After staring for a long time in astonishment, Father Bond said foolishly, “How… how do we get up there? I can’t use teleportation or spatial displacement…”
“Even if you could, you still couldn’t get in,” Allen said with a teasing smile, pointing to the three pyramids representing wind, thunder, and ice floating around Vandel. “If anyone tries to use spatial teleportation magic to get up there, they’d better be prepared to be thrown back down…”
“Then… how do we get up there?”
“A spell! We need a spell!” With that, Allen walked to the lake beneath Vandel and spoke in a low voice toward the water’s surface, “Apu!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, a large wave surged up from the lake, as if alive, lifting the four of them before turning into a giant bubble that carried them slowly upward.
“A… Apu?” As the bubble rose higher, Father Bond swallowed hard, trying to distract himself from the height, and asked out of curiosity.
“That’s right,” Allen explained with a smile, perhaps noticing Sos’s surprised expression. “The original spell was too long and hard to remember. At least few of the elders could recall it, so Sister Eber changed it to something simpler…”
“Oh,” Father Bond said oddly, with relief in Sos’s eyes. “But if it’s too simple, anyone can get up here, right?”
“Yes, anyone can!”
“What if it’s enemies who want to destroy Vandel? Like that man named Agus…” Father Bond asked doubtfully. As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a bit foolish—after all, there were about two thousand dark magicians living in the city, along with numerous mercenaries. One or two enemies wouldn’t make a difference, and if there were too many, the city would surely activate its protective shield. Besides, a magic city of this scale must have detection devices similar to the Eye of Truth. After all, this was the City of Astrology, once the city of astrologers who were experts at predicting the future using crystal balls. How could it be so easily infiltrated by enemies?
Perhaps guessing Father Bond’s thoughts from his awkward expression, Allen shrugged and added, “Actually, this is just a threshold. It’s not a real gate. The ‘gate’ is up there!”
“A gate?” Father Bond looked puzzled, while Sos already knew who it was.
The gate—who else but that guy, the one who called himself Vandel’s guardian, Gadian!

A minute later, Father Bond saw the door Allen had mentioned. Compared to Vandel’s tower floating in mid-air, seeing that “door” made him almost pop out his eyes.
“What, what, what is this?”
“Please don’t call me ‘what,’ you rude guy!” The door with a human face glared angrily at Father Bond and said irritably, “Call me ‘handsome Guardian’ or ‘stunning Guardian.’ And please don’t point at my handsome nose!”
“H-handsome nose…” Father Bond swallowed hard as he stared at the protruding rock, giving a disapproving look.
Perhaps noticing Father Bond’s expression, Guardian said angrily, “What’s that look? It’s extremely rude! — You want to go in, right? I’ll give you one last chance. Call me ‘handsome Guardian,’ and I’ll let you in!”
“…” Father Bond forced a wry smile and glancedappealingingly at Thos. Before he could speak, Allen said cheerfully, “Guardian, it’s the same every time. Sister Abel will beat you!”
“Abel…” Father Bond clearly saw the human face on the iron door change instantly. It glanced furtively around before saying nervously, “It’s fine. She’s already resting. She won’t know…” Then, as if it saw Allen, it said unhappily, “You little brat are too cute. You scare me every time. I’ll punish you—make you call me ‘handsome Guardian’ and ‘stunning Guardian’ three times, hahaha!”
Allen helplessly shook his head and called out the phrases three times as ordered, then said irritably, “Okay, fine! Open the door already. We have things to do!”
“It’s just you!” Guardian snorted and shook its face, then said slyly, looking at Thos, Father Bond, and Argi, “There are others too!” As it spoke, its expression suddenly froze, and it murmured to Thos, “Huh? You’re the little brat who came here three years ago, right…”
“Yes!” Thos gave a faint smile and said softly, “Long time no see, Guardian!”
“It’s the handsome, stunning, strong Guardian!” Guardian added with a snort, about to say more when suddenly a woman’s voice came from inside the door.
“Guardian, you want to get beaten again, right? Open the door!”

“……” Suddenly, Gadian’s expression changed drastically. With a sweaty look, he silently opened the door, revealing a woman’s voice inside. She then spoke in a flattering, almost obsequious tone, “A-Abel Lord, w-weren’t you resting…?”
“Hmph!” The woman glared fiercely at Gadian and said coldly, “I’ll deal with you later!”
“Y-yes…”
Under Father Bond’s astonished gaze, the woman named Abel appeared to be in her twenties, extremely beautiful. With her mature charm, she didn’t seem threatening at all, yet the once-so-arrogant door remained silent.
“Hey, Sister Abel!” Allen greeted her jokingly.
“Oh, it’s Allen,” Abel nodded, then turned to Thors and said, “I knew you’d come back, but a few days later than I expected…” She examined Thors carefully, frowned, and said, “I hate irresponsible men the most. Your bastard mentor is one, and so are you! —Also, what’s with all those messy powers you have?”
Looking at the two rings on Abel’s left ring finger, Thors sighed slightly and said with a bitter smile, “It’s holy power…”
“Holy power? Isn’t it just synthesized elements? What’s so special about it that you’d abandon your own people like your bastard mentor and stay in Salonia for three years?” As she spoke, Abel took out a golden box from her mouth and pulled out a cigarette.
Seeing Abel put the golden box back in her pocket and then search another one, Thors raised his hand and pointed at the cigarette in her mouth. Instantly, a flame appeared on it.
After a brief pause, Abel’s expression softened. She looked at Thors and said softly, “It seems you haven’t fallen short of what your bastard mentor taught you! —I’ll teach you a lesson later!” Then, glancing at Father Bond, she said indifferently, “Cardinal of Salonia, what brings you to our Vandel?”
“Uh,” Hearing her domineering tone, Father Bond was stunned. He looked at Thors, who had turned away, and then at Allen, who was staring at the sky. Not knowing what to do, Father Bond stammered for a long time, “Um… Hello, beautiful lady, I…”

Before Father Bond could finish speaking, Aibel raised her left hand, adorned with two rings, and said coldly, “A lady!—The term ‘beautiful young lady’ is only fitting for women deceived by bad men. At your age, don’t you even understand that?!”
“Uh, yes!—I’m sorry, beautiful lady…”
“Drop the prefix. Do you think I, like other women, enjoy such polite flattery?”
“It’s not flattery…” Father Bond wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke carefully, “It’s this, madam: I’ve come to Vandel at the Pope’s orders to discuss some matters regarding Argus with you… I believe you’re aware of the function of that dark altar, that evil and sinister entity. The Church believes it must be destroyed…”
“Enough!” Aibel interrupted Father Bond coldly. “Whether it’s the Empire, Argus, or Vandel, we don’t need you hypocrites to meddle in our affairs. Don’t think others don’t know what schemes you’re plotting!—We’ll deal with Argus ourselves. Stay out of it!” With that, she glanced at Allen and said, “Allen, take this so-called Church man to the guest room, find a room and lock him in there. Let him rest here overnight. That’ll be our courtesy. Have him leave as soon as it gets light tomorrow!”
“Uh?” Father Bond was so stunned he couldn’t say a word. After thinking for a moment and about to speak, he saw Allen give him a subtle eye signal, whispering, “Shh!—Don’t talk. She seems in a bad mood now. It’s best not to anger her…”
“But…”
“Don’t worry. What she’s saying now is just out of anger. It’ll pass once she calms down… Listen to me!”
“Uh, okay!” Father Bond forced a smile. He had seen clearly just now—this lady even made the man beside her, ‘Lord Volmon Kleist,’ seem to respect her greatly… Well, not exactly respect, more like… In any case, Father Bond had never seen such silent dominance before.
“What are you waiting for, Allen?”
“Yes, yes!” Allen gave a cheerful knightly salute, then shot Sos a ‘good luck’ look before laughing as he headed inside the tower. Only Aibel and Sos remained, oh, and Gadian, who was eyes closed and too scared to speak.

“Huh!” After taking a few puffs of smoke, Aibel sighed deeply at Sos and said in an unusually gentle tone, “What have you been doing these three years? When it comes to being irresponsible, you’re just like that jerk of a mentor…”
“I…” For some reason, Sos was speechless.
“Are you too afraid to come back?” Aibel leaned against the wall and sighed, speaking in a strange tone. “If it were your jerk of a mentor, he’d definitely be too afraid to come back too… Just lingering outside the door, not even having the courage to knock… Idiot! If he came back, I would definitely open the door for him… Yes, I would open it for him. Even if I forgive him in my heart, I’ll never say it out loud. I’ll make him say a bunch of flattering words before I reluctantly forgive him… Hehe!” With a sad expression, she forced a few laughs, then sighed softly, extinguished her cigarette, and said quietly, “Go in! I have no right to blame you, but someone else does. Go!”
Nodding, Sos silently walked inside. As he walked, he suddenly stopped and said softly, “I’m sorry. I couldn’t make it back then…”
Turning around, Aibel shook her head and smiled. “Idiot, you shouldn’t say that to me! If it’s an apology, let your jerk of a mentor come and apologize to me himself! I’ve arranged her in your old room… Go. She doesn’t know you’re coming back yet. Give her a surprise!”
“Mm!”
Following his vague memories, Sos arrived at his old room. But he hesitated for a long time before daring to knock. His right hand rose and fell again and again.
Yes, how could he get in?
Recalling how she had watched him leave silently with tears in her eyes, and how he had promised her he would return soon—could a simple “I’m back” really erase everything?
Somehow, the memories became clearer, as if her tearful smile had happened just last night…
After what felt like a long time, the door suddenly creaked open, startling the Sos in his memories.
He raised his head in shock, only to see her equally astonished face…
Three years apart, the once naive girl had grown much more mature. Her light blue eyes were still as clear as lake water. Her delicate, fair face was slightly flushed from sheer surprise, and her slightly parted red lips trembled gently. No, it was her whole body that was trembling slightly.

“Thos…” Looking at the speechless Thos, the girl hesitantly raised her right hand and gently touched his face, then murmured, “It’s not a dream…” As she spoke, the surprise on her face was replaced by delight, her clear light-blue eyes instantly filling with tears, which then streamed down her cheeks.
“I’m… I’m sorry,” she said, frantically wiping the tears from her face with her hand, lowering her head in confusion. After taking a few deep breaths, she raised her head and met Thos’s gaze, saying softly, “You’re back, Thos…”
Hearing that gentle voice and seeing her expression of joyful tears, Thos felt an overwhelming heaviness in his heart, as if a string deep within him had been touched. Unconsciously, he stepped forward, gently embraced the girl, stroked her hair with his face, and said softly, “Ah, I’m back…”
They stood there, huddled at the open door of the room, for a long time…