Chapter 43: Predestined Fate? (Part 2)

Aibel was absent from dinner that day.
In the following two or three days, not only Jiang Zhe and the others but even Professor Hodde couldn’t see Aibel at all. The young genius astrologer kept himself locked in his room day and night, refusing to see anyone… well, except Elder Jives.
This situation left Professor Hodde utterly puzzled and increasingly anxious. After all, they had been away from the Riox Academy for nearly seven or eight days, long past the original deadline. Not to mention Father Andrew and Dean Grete, who were still waiting for news at the academy, even just the lessons missed by the children around him made Professor Hodde feel he needed to get answers from Aibel.
So, Professor Hodde went to see Elder Jives…
But to his surprise, Elder Jives knew nothing about the questions Professor Hodde asked. Watching the old man’s hesitant expression, Professor Hodde guessed that Aibel must have told him something.
After all, at the Mage Tower Vandel, Aibel was like a “little witch”—every renowned old professor bowed to her. She was the beloved apprentice of Vandel and the only genius apprentice there.
More importantly, Aibel managed the daily routines of all the old professors. After all, those who lived in Vandel willingly had given up fame, wealth, and status. Due to their life experiences, they had abandoned external riches in pursuit of inner fulfillment. Yet, these old magicians were too old, with severely weakened memories—like the forgetful Elder Jives. Without Aibel, he might be standing pitifully outside Vandel, struggling to recall the spell to enter the tower.
It could be said that without Aibel, the tower would fall into chaos, lacking much of its joy and laughter.
For this reason, when Professor Hodde asked the old professors in Vandel about Aibel, they always seemed gloomy and indifferent. After all, the purpose of Professor Hodde’s visit couldn’t be hidden from the old magicians of Vandel.
Now, it was already the third day, yet Professor Hodde still had no clue about Aibel.

“Do you think the professor did something wrong?” Watching Professor Hodde pace anxiously around the room with a troubled expression, Allen smiled slyly, tossing out sarcastic remarks while teasing the chess piece standing on the long table—one of the puppet chess pieces given to the kids by the famous alchemist, Professor Jerbart: [Castle—Kanso]. Perhaps this was the biggest gain for the kids on this trip. According to Elder Jives, these puppet chess pieces took Professor Jerbart a year or two to create, using many precious alchemical materials—far different from ordinary dolls. Allen had Jiang Zhe try it out, and Kanso’s high level of magic resistance allowed it to withstand Jiang Zhe’s fireball spell without any damage. After all, Jiang Zhe’s fireball was not like those cast by ordinary magic apprentices; even Allen would get burned if he tried to withstand it. However, to Allen’s disappointment, Kanso’s appearance was simply ridiculous—its bulky size and slow movements meant that despite having the greatest strength among the four puppet chess pieces, it was useless if it couldn’t even hit its opponent. Among the pieces given by Professor Jerbart, Allen’s puppet, Castle Kanso, had the highest defense and strongest strength, but its speed was the slowest. If it fought against the other three puppet chess pieces, it would likely end up as a target. The fastest was Lavia’s puppet chess piece, [Queen—Queenin]. It was also the most beautiful of all, dressed in a gorgeous black noble outfit. Although its “skin” was covered with unavoidable alchemical patterns resembling webbing, it didn’t diminish its charm at all. Scott’s puppet chess piece was [Knight—Knight], clad in a knight’s armor that made Allen extremely envious. Its expressionless face made it the coldest among all the puppets, just like its owner, Scott. It carried a knight’s spear in its left hand and a shield engraved with a cross emblem in its right, making it the most aggressive among the puppet chess pieces. In comparison, Jiang Zhe’s puppet chess piece, [Soldier—Sogyes], seemed rather pitiful. It wore shoddy, inferior soldier’s armor, and its weapon was just a long spear that clearly didn’t seem reliable. Not only was its defense weaker than Castle Kanso’s, its speed worse than Queenin’s, and its offensive ability inferior to Knight’s, but its confused expression also made Jiang Zhe shake his head.

What endless possibilities are there?
Fighting against Castle Kanso, he stood there letting them attack, yet couldn’t break through their defenses; fighting against Knight Knight, he was knocked down in no time; fighting against Queen Queen… There’s no need to fight at all—just look at Lavia’s smug smile to know.
Useless, completely useless!
Watching that pawn puppet return to his side pitifully, Jiang Zhe helplessly covered his forehead. Although sometimes he felt this pawn puppet was somewhat similar to himself, he wasn’t that weak, right?
If Allen stood there letting him attack… Hmph!
“I’m asking you a question, buddy. What are you thinking?” Allen asked, puzzled, after pushing Jiang Zhe, who was inexplicably smiling coldly.
“Huh?” Coming back to his senses, Jiang Zhe smiled awkwardly before, as if remembering something, turning to look at Professor Hodde walking back and forth in the nearby room and saying with a strange expression, “Surely not. What are you talking about? You know what kind of person the professor is!”
“Exactly because I know,” Allen said in a low voice, looking at Jiang Zhe’s confused expression, “Think about it. These past few days, even I could tell Sister Abel’s feelings. Surely the professor can tell too, right? But what did the professor say? It’s written in novels—um… a young knight saves a beautiful girl, and the girl is willing to give herself to him…”
“Enough, enough,” Lavia waved her hand to cut off Allen, rolling her eyes and saying irritably, “Don’t try to explain everything with stories from knight novels. The professor is a magician, not some knight…”
“Hehe, I don’t like hearing that,” Allen retorted unhappily, pointing at Lavia, “Although I’m an apprentice magician now, my heart still admires knights. If you call me Knight Allen in the future, I’ll also…”
“I don’t want to deal with you,” Lavia pushed the innocent Allen aside forcefully and sat down next to Jiang Zhe, whispering to Scott and Jiang Zhe, “I don’t think it’s like that. From our women’s perspective…”
“Women’s perspective?” Jiang Zhe’s eye twitched as he glanced up and down at Lavia, instantly making her face turn red.
“Do you want to listen or not!”
“Let’s listen,” Scott said, raising his hand to defuse the situation before Jiang Zhe could speak. “Sos, just let Lavia talk… Go ahead, Lavia. We’re all listening.”

“That’s more like it,” Jiang Zhe muttered, glancing at her sideways. Lavia lowered her head slightly and spoke in a hushed voice, “I think Sister Abel likes the professor. Otherwise, if she really had her mind made up that day, she would have sent us back to Riox already…”
“Nonsense!” Allen muttered softly. When he looked up, he saw Lavia’s angry gaze and quickly tried to appease her, “Go ahead, talk. I won’t interrupt!”
Glancing at Allen irritably, Lavia turned to Professor Hodde and continued, “I don’t think Sister Abel would harm the professor. Since she changed her mind and didn’t want to go back to Riox with us, there must be a reason…”
Jiang Zhe gave Lavia a mocking look, shook his head, and said irritably, “That’s the same as saying nothing! Who doesn’t know there’s a reason? Go away!” As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Queen Qunin, the pawn puppet sitting on Lavia’s shoulder, suddenly disappear. Then, he felt a slight pain at the side of his neck. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the pawn puppet holding a ridiculous-looking miniature dagger, aiming it at his neck.
“Lavia…”
Seeing Jiang Zhe’s embarrassment, Lavia’s eyes curved into crescents as if she hadn’t seen anything. She blinked and asked in confusion, “What is it?”
“…”
Feeling the slight pain at his neck and seeing the malicious smiles on his two accomplices’ faces, Jiang Zhe turned to look at his own pawn puppet. He saw Soldier Soghes staring timidly at the queen puppet on Jiang Zhe’s shoulder.
Instantly, Jiang Zhe lost his temper. He tried to grab the culprit several times, but unfortunately, the queen puppet was too fast, and he failed to catch her.
In a fit of anger, Jiang Zhe snapped his fingers.
“Snap!”
In an instant, after a faint scream, Lavia held her puppet Qunin and glared angrily at Jiang Zhe, “What’s the matter with you?! She was just joking with you!” As she spoke, she looked at her puppet with concern, noticing its noble dress slightly scorched from the fire. Then, she glared fiercely at Jiang Zhe again.
But surprisingly, Jiang Zhe’s move actually worked. The once arrogant look in the pawn puppet’s eyes as it stared at Jiang Zhe now carried a hint of barely noticeable fear.
Sigh, one still has to rely on oneself…

Sighing, Jiang Zhe instinctively glanced at his soldier puppet. Increibly, he saw a look of longing and realization in its eyes.
Goodness… is this still a puppet?
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” Perhaps sensing the surge of fire energy, Professor Hodde, who had been lost in his thoughts, suddenly snapped back to reality. He glanced at Jiang Zhe, then at Lavia, and said weakly, “Sos, as a boy, don’t keep bullying Lavia…”
“I… I’m bullying her?” Jiang Zhe stared in shock at Lavia, who looked smug, and at the queen puppet perched on her shoulder, grinning at him. He chuckled and slowly raised his right hand.
Before Jiang Zhe could do anything, the queen puppet quickly hid in Lavia’s palm, peeking at him fearfully.
“Professor, look!” Lavia muttered unhappily.
“Alright, alright.” Professor Hodde, seemingly tired, walked over and gently scolded Jiang Zhe a bit before returning to the issue that concerned him.
“What do you think… should I go and ask her myself?”
The four kids exchanged glances and nodded.
“But…” Professor Hodde rubbed his hands together, looking embarrassed. “What if she doesn’t open the door?”
“Professor, why are you so stupid?” Allen shook his head seriously and said in a strange tone, “Just do as I say. If she doesn’t open the door, just stand at the door and say, ‘If you don’t open the door, I’ll stand here forever.’ Let’s see if she opens it… Oh, and she has to know you’re outside; otherwise, it’s pointless…”
Professor Hodde looked at Allen oddly and said awkwardly, “Will this method work? Vander’s room has restrictions. As long as the owner inside wants it, no matter how loud it is outside, they can’t hear anything…”
“Uh, well…”
Looking at Allen’s embarrassed expression, Scott shook his head and said thoughtfully, “I think it’s better for the professor to ask her directly. There’s no need to hide anything…”
“I agree with Scott!” Jiang Zhe said, tapping Soldier Sogjes’ head as it looked up at him pitifully.
“It’s best to say a few kind words too,” Lavia added. “Has the professor ever done anything to upset Sister Aibel? Apologize or something…” As she spoke, she glanced at Jiang Zhe, clearly implying something.

“No…” Professor Hod walked back and forth in the room before shaking his head. “I haven’t seen her in almost ten years. What could I possibly do to upset her?”
“Professor?” Jiang Zhe was puzzled by why Ravia kept staring at him. He paused for a moment before turning to Professor Hod and saying, “It’s useless to just think here. It’s better to do as Scott suggested—go and ask directly.”
Professor Hod pondered for a while before nodding. “You’re right!” With that, he hurriedly left.
Watching Professor Hod go, Scott asked Jiang Zhe, “What do you think?”
Jiang Zhe, who was playing with his puppet, shook his head and said softly, “Uncertain!” As he looked up, he happened to see Ravia staring at him intently. Puzzled, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
“You know!” Ravia snapped.
“What do I know?”
“You! Apologize!”
“Why should I apologize for no reason…”
“Because just now…” She pointed at the queen puppet holding her finger. “It was just joking with you!”
“Joking?” Jiang Zhe smirked at the puppet and whispered, “Next time, I’ll burn her to a crisp!” As soon as he said that, the puppet shuddered as if it were human.
“Thors! You… you bastard!”
“Can’t you come up with something new?” Those words made Ravia’s face turn red. Jiang Zhe glanced at his soldier puppet, Sogjes, and couldn’t help but hit its head hard with his finger.
What a disappointment! What’s the use of you at all?
At that time, Jiang Zhe still didn’t understand the true meaning of Professor Wellman’s words, “Soldiers represent infinite possibilities.”
Leaving Jiang Zhe and the others aside, Professor Hod arrived outside Abel’s room.
He hesitated outside for a long time before slowly raising his hand to knock on the door.
To his surprise, Abel didn’t refuse to open the door as Allen had said. The door opened right away.
“I knew you’d come, Hod!”
Hearing the same words as a few days ago, Professor Hod’s mood was different, because he saw Abel’s swollen, red eyes and faint traces of tears.
“What… what are you looking at?” Seeming to notice Professor Hod’s dazed expression, Abel thought of something, turned around, wiped her cheeks with the edge of her magical robe, and then turned back, staring at Professor Hod with an odd expression.

“Heh,” Professor Hode smiled faintly and said softly, “It’s been a long time since we last met, hasn’t it, Abel?”
“What are you saying? Weren’t it the day before yesterday…?” As she spoke, Abel seemed to remember something, nodded, and with a hint of laziness and sigh, said, “About ten years, I guess…” She glanced at Professor Hode and murmured, “The silly Hode of old has become an excellent magician, but the silly girl of old is still the same silly girl…”
“That’s not true at all,” Professor Hode shook his head and said with a smile, “You’re also an excellent magician now, and the hope of astrology. If you wish, you can receive orders from the Royal Magicians at any time. Unlike me, I’m still working under the old dean, busy all year long, earning a few gold coins, and even having to pay tuition in advance for some brat…”
“Giggle, giggle,” Abel chuckled, then gave Professor Hode a deep look and said softly, “Let’s talk inside. Close the door.”
“Mm!”
After closing the door, Professor Hode followed Abel into the room. The mess inside, especially all the shattered items on the floor, made Professor Hode feel somewhat ashamed—these were all precious magical artifacts!
Seeming to read Professor Hode’s thoughts, Abel stuck out her tongue playfully like a girl and said, “This time, a lot of precious things were broken. Grandpa Jives is easy to deal with, but Grandpa Canbard will definitely get angry if he finds out. But luckily, Grandpa Canbard is busy researching the theory of gravity repulsion and doesn’t know about this yet. Hehe…”
“Heh… hehe,” Professor Hode chuckled dryly twice, then shifted his gaze from the mess in the room to Abel. After hesitating for a moment, he said softly, “Abel, will you come back to Riox with me?”
Abel remained silent. After waiting for over a minute, she spoke in a strange tone, “Is it because of Grandmaster Greta… Um, is it because my grandfather asked you to come?” She turned around, looked at Professor Hode, and shook her head, saying, “You’ve always been like this. When will you learn to think about your own affairs? The old dean, the old dean… I got tired of hearing that ten years ago!”
“Then you must be mistaken. Ten years ago, I mentioned Instructor Barrett…”
“You!”

“Alright, I misremembered, I really did,” Professor Hodde conceded with a self-mocking smile, recalling, “After Mentor Barrett left, if it weren’t for the old dean…” He glanced at Abel and said awkwardly, “Can I stop talking? Anyway, the old dean and Mentor Barrett are the people I, Hodde Kendi, respect the most in my life—this will never change!”
“You’re such a stubborn person…” Abel shook her head impatiently. It seemed she thought of something; her eyes shifted, and she bit her lip before saying, “Hodde, if I let you stay in Vandel…”
“Hm?” Professor Hodde frowned at Abel, looking puzzled.
Abel showed signs of hesitation. After glancing at Professor Hodde, she took a deep breath and said, “Hodde, stay in Vandel. Don’t go back to Riox!”
Professor Hodde was stunned. He frowned at Abel and asked, not understanding, “Why?”
“Because… because…” After a full minute, looking into Professor Hodde’s eyes, Abel couldn’t hold back anymore. With a choked voice, she shouted, “Because you’ll die, you idiot! Idiot, idiot, idiot!”
“I…?” Professor Hodde was shocked. He pointed at himself in a daze and murmured, “I’ll die?”
“Mm,” Abel nodded reluctantly, lowering her head and speaking softly, “I saw it, Hodde. As long as I follow you back to Riox, everything I saw will become reality… You’ll die, Hodde. I didn’t want to tell you at first; I just planned to send you all back to Riox. But Grandpa Jives said you should be told so that you can make a decision…”
“I… I’ll die?” Professor Hodde still couldn’t recover from this shocking news. After being stunned for over a minute, he sighed deeply, shook his head, and said with a light laugh, “How is that possible? Don’t scare me…” As he spoke, he turned to look at Abel. Seeing no trace of a smile in her eyes, his heart sank.
“How… how will I die?”
Abel remained silent.
“Tell me, Abel!”
Hearing the imperative tone in his voice, Abel glanced at Professor Hodde and said softly, “I only see fragments of the future, so I can’t predict exactly what will happen. But you… Hodde, do you remember the man you asked me to predict a few days ago?”

“Argus?” Professor Hode glanced at Aibel inexplicably, then suddenly understood and said in disbelief, “You mean I was killed by that man?”
Aibel sighed softly, crossing her arms as if recalling something, and said, “I only saw you covered in blood, talking to that man, and then… then…” She trembled all over, tears welling up uncontrollably.
“I couldn’t see what happened after that, but I heard your screams… Hode, I was so scared, so scared…”
“No, no,” Professor Hode felt a bit awkward as he felt her softness in his arms and said soothingly, “Maybe you heard wrong. It wasn’t my voice at all.”
“I couldn’t have heard wrong!” The lovely girl in his arms raised her head and said angrily.
“Uh,” Professor Hode scratched his head with a sheepish smile and said, “Maybe what you saw was just one of the many futures that could be unfavorable to me. Maybe the future that will actually happen isn’t what you saw. Astrology isn’t absolute, right?”
“It seems like you know a bit about it after all,” Aibel glanced at Professor Hode playfully, sighed gently, leaned on his chest, and murmured, “You’re right. Astrology only shows the most likely futures… I’ve thought carefully about it these past two days. I hope…” Her voice choked up again. “But what if… what if…”
“There’s no need to worry about ‘what ifs,’” Professor Hode said softly, stroking Aibel’s smooth hair. “Although the old dean said Argus is dangerous, I have no hatred toward him. It’s not to the point of killing each other. My task is to take you back. As for what happens after that, that’s the business of the Imperial Royal Magi. What does it have to do with me, a mere teaching professor at the Riox Academy?”
“You make it sound so easy,” Aibel muttered, then raised her head and looked at Professor Hode hesitantly. “What if… what if I don’t want to go back with you?”
“Then I’ll just have to go back by myself?”
“You… you really don’t want to stay in Vandel?”
“I…”
“Alright, alright,” Aibel interrupted him. After thinking carefully, she said seriously, “I can go back with you, Hode, but I have one condition!”
“What condition?”
“You must not get involved in anything related to that man!”
“Heh, so that’s it…”
“Will you agree?”

“Hehe,” Professor Hodde smiled and nodded, saying, “I originally didn’t plan to get involved. That wasn’t something I could handle. Even if that man turned the world upside down, there were still so many great magicians, right? I, Hodde Kendi, never thought of becoming a hero. If I hadn’t met Mentor Barrett back then, maybe my wish would have been to live a peaceful life…”
“And now?”
“Now?” Professor Hodde thought for a moment before saying softly, “Now, I just hope Rex can be safe, the old dean can be safe, my students can be safe…”
Before Professor Hodde could finish, Aibel hurriedly interjected, “That’s it? What else?”
“There’s…” Glancing at Aibel in his arms, Professor Hodde’s face turned red. After hesitating for a long time, he said, “There’s also… I hope you can be safe…”
Immediately, Aibel’s expression darkened. She pushed Professor Hodde away angrily and said, “I don’t need you to worry about my safety. If you had the time, you’d think of something else instead, you jerk!”
“Huh?”
“Get out! Get out!” Before Professor Hodde could explain, Aibel pushed him out of the room and slammed the door shut.
Staring at the closed door, Professor Hodde scratched his head awkwardly and smiled self-deprecatingly.
Argus…
From what Father Andrew said, that man seemed to be plotting something. But it was fine as long as it didn’t endanger Rex, the old dean, his students… or Aibel… cough!
His face turning slightly red, Professor Hodde glanced around nervously. Seeing no one around, he quietly left. Compared to before, he was finally at ease now, as he had completed the task assigned to him by the old dean.
Inside the room, Aibel, leaning against the door and listening quietly to Professor Hodde’s retreating footsteps, was also relieved, because Professor Hodde had promised her he wouldn’t get involved in anything related to that man, Argus.
But would the future really change because of this?
The future is called the future precisely because sometimes, even if you know what will happen, it’s difficult to change it due to various issues that arise…
Yes, it’s very difficult!