The guards did not dare to leave, and stood at one side nervously.
There were not many of them in the City Guard Department of Ceylon City. The real army troops came under the control of the House of the Lord, forming his private army troop. Given the episode at the City Guard Department, many people had already gone to inform the troops at the House of the Lord.
Before long, out on the streets were the thunderous sounds of horse hooves galloping, charging towards the soldiers. More than 100 swordsmen surrounded the soldiers. 10 of them jumped off their horses and walked into the door of the City Guard Department. Earlier on, Jason had blown up the door with a fireball.
The leader of the group, who was wearing a swordsman's armour, drew his sword and walked into the main hall. The swordsmen behind him all drew their weapons. The armoured swordsman saw the situation in the hall, and pointed at Jason angrily, "Who are you and how dare you break into jail to rescue a prisoner? Let's fight!"
"Scoundrel," Jason berated, as he raised his finger. A green glow appeared and a jet of acid shot out towards the swordsman's face. A sizzling sound could be heard and white smoke emerged. The acid had instantly corroded this swordsman's face. He screeched in pain and collapsed to the ground.
After Jason had done the deed, he told Saleen softly, "Even if we are enemies, he should not have insulted mages. Even the emperor should not let the mage bow his head. There was no need to accord such an ill-mannered man any courtesy."
"Understand, teacher," Saleen answered in a low voice. Everyone in the hall who had heard what was said shivered more than once.
"Drag him out, he is very noisy," Jason told the soldier opposite him. Receiving amnesty, the soldier who had barged in hurriedly dragged his injured compatriot out.
"I do not have time. Who was responsible for arresting my student? Bring him to me within half an hour." Jason took out a magical hourglass, turned it over and placed it on the table.
At this point, another two armoured swordsmen walked in. Their armour suits showed their higher ranking positions, possibly officers. The two of them looked similar in stature, and were well-built. One had red-hair, and the other was blond. The blond swordsman raised his head to look at Jason, who was still maintaining the illumination, and felt a chill in his heart.
He was not an ignorant soldier. Jason's grey mage robe had two mage symbols. This indicated that he was a Grade 5 mage. Which fool had infuriated such an important person?
Mage robes had three colours - white for Grades 1-3, grey for Grades 4-6, black for Grades 7-9. The symbols on the robes represented the mage's grade. The grey-robed master was considered a Mage Master and such a figure was someone even the Lord could not afford to offend.
The red-haired swordsman bowed silently to Jason, and told the soldiers around him, "All of you, arrest the men who were connected to this matter at once. If any of them were to be left out, you will take his place."
These soldiers glanced at Jason, who was expressionless but did not seem to object. The soldiers then left in an unruly manner.
The red-haired swordsman spoke carefully to Jason, "Mage sir, is there anything else you would need me to do?"
"Em…" Jason hesitated and said, "Do not let Lord come by, I do not wish to see him."
The red-haired swordsman was momentarily surprised. He bowed his head and said, "Yes. Mage sir, this young master is hurt. May I get a holy master to come?"
"Not necessary, he can bear this little pain," Jason rejected the red-haired swordsman's kind offer. He was not anxious to treat Saleen, since it was not a serious wound. It could stay, so that Saleen could be reminded of what happened today. Was it something Saleen did, to have gotten himself arrested? No matter if it was right or wrong, the lesson could prevent similar situations from recurring in future.
The red-haired swordsman spoke briefly to the blond swordsman and the latter walked out of the hall with his head lowered. The red-haired swordsman stood at one side waiting. Saleen had thought he was doomed and did not expect his teacher to come. Things were looking up. It appeared that his teacher was not keen to respond to even the Lord.
Only now did Saleen truly understand what it had meant to be a mage. The books often depicted how mages were held in esteem, but it was difficult to imagine that had he not witnessed it. He recognized the red-haired swordsman as someone from the House of the Lord. He was not a bad person, as last mid-autumn, he had given Saleen an extra small bag of flour when he went to collect the flour that the Lord was distributing.
It took less than half an hour to capture the four soldiers who had arrested Saleen, as well as the businessman and his servants.
The six of them did not know what had happened. The businessman saw Saleen standing next to Jason and knew something was amiss. He was the first to kneel on the ground, and his servants followed suit.
"Who had arrested my student?" Jason asked coldly.
The four soldiers looked at each other, and then looked at the red-haired swordsman standing at the side. The red-haired swordsman did not appear to see them, his eyes looking upwards.
The four soldiers had no choice but to put on a bold front and answered, "It was us, we received a reported case about him…stealing Master Zhanbu's gold coin." The soldiers pointed at the businessmen, feigning innocence.
"Zhanbu? That is you, I assume. Why did you malign my student?" Jason glared at the businessman, questioning him word for word.
"Sir, it was a misunderstanding. I got the wrong person…"
"You are lying, I am giving you another chance," Jason interrupted him.
"Sir, it is the truth. I did not have any enmity with him, why would I frame him? I…"
The businessman was going on and on. Jason impatiently cast a spell, a white glow flashed and an ice pick penetrated the businessman's head, leaving a gaping bloodied hole.
"Do not be so idiotic: mages can detect lies. You tell me, why was my student framed?" Jason asked the servant, after killing the businessman. He was not pursuing the matter to prosecute someone, but had wanted to know if Saleen had invited trouble.
The servant had already wet his pants in fear. He flung himself onto the ground and wailed, "Sir, it was not my idea. My master had wanted to buy Master Metatrin's house but wanted to avoid the procedures at the city government office. Master Metatrin had all along managed to escape death so my master thought of this idea. It was really not my doing…"
"I know it has nothing to do with you," Jason said and flung a wind blade at him. The light green wind blade instantly sliced off the servant's head. Blood spluttered and the head, along with the mucus and tears, rolled over to one side.
After Jason had done this, he told Saleen, who was next to him, "Saleen, it was indeed not your fault. Come back with me. Four of you, I am not pleased at your propensity to arrest people. Better chop off your hands, in case you arrest the wrong person in future, and end up losing your lives."
"Sir, your student was unharmed, how about…" the red-haired swordsman started to plead on their behalf.
Jason stood up, and pulled Saleen out of the hall, without glancing at the red-haired swordsman. His voice rang out in the hall, "I had spared them because my student was unharmed. If he were dead, all of you would join him in burial. Tomorrow, sort out that Zhanbu's assets and send them to the outskirts as an apology to my student. I will kill one person for every gold coin omitted."
The red-haired swordsman had a cold shiver. There was not a single mage in Ceylon City, and if this Grade 5 mage were to wreak havoc, a massacre could possibly occur.
With Saleen in tow, Jason walked out of Ceylon City. The soldiers at the gate who already had received word earlier, opened the city gates hurriedly, hoping for the departure of the "troublemakers".
Back at the ancestral home, Jason used Rain Magic to treat Saleen's injuries. While treating Saleen, Jason questioned him on the details of the happenings in the day. Saleen carefully related the details, so that Jason could understand what had happened.
He did not blame Saleen. Being a child, he would not know the deviousness some people can have. This lesson was sufficient to help Saleen understand that in this world, strength was the absolute principle.
After the treatment, Saleen returned to his room to rest, recollecting what had happened that day. If not for his teacher, his gold coins could have caused him to lose his life instead.
He must become stronger, he must, he must!
His eyes remained opened, as he lay on the bed, unable to fall asleep. It was dark in the room, reminding him of his time in the dungeon. The heart palpitations and desperate feeling had yet to diminish, the fear of death had eroded his young soul. Saleen felt his way out of his bed and lit the candle on the table. Only then could he close his eyes and slip into slumber.
The next morning, the red-haired swordsman came running with gold coins. It appeared as though he had had a busy night tabulating the deceased's assets. Jason did not say anything to him and let Saleen attend to him.
The red-haired swordsman sat uneasily in the front hall, as Saleen came running down from upstairs. The red-haired swordsman hurriedly stood up and greeted Saleen, "Master Metatrin, you are up."
Saleen was unused to the other party's warm greeting. Previously, when he walked along the streets, the Lord's swordsmen would treat him as though he were invisible. The red-haired swordsman may be a kind person at heart, but if not for his teacher's request, the only kind thing he had done was to have helped Saleen to an extra bag of flour during the festive season. He probably had forgotten about this incident?
"Master Metatrin…" the red-haired swordsman called out to Saleen, who was lost in his own thoughts.
"Um, what is it?"
The red-haired swordsman answered somewhat embarrassingly, "Zhanbu's assets have been tabulated. There are about 2,200 gold coins, as well as two properties and some livestock worth about 400 gold coins. It is a bad time to sell the properties so it would have to be outstanding. After they have been sold, I will send the gold coins over. Here are the bank notes for 2,000 gold coins and here are the 200 gold coins."
The red-haired swordsman put the four money bags on the table, each one of them packed to the brim.
Saleen's eyelids could not stop twitching. Despite the previous day's suffering, he did not pounce forward to count the gold coins. However, he said solemnly, "Those two properties, they are yours if you can raise 300 gold coins. If it is convenient, send the money over this afternoon, and also bring me half a year's supply of rice, flour, seasoning and dried meat, possible?"
"No problem!" the red-haired swordsman was delighted. It would have been a challenge to sell both properties for 400 gold coins. He was fearful about Jason's warning - I will kill one person for every omitted gold coin. Now that Saleen was willing to sell them to him at a discount, he could gain tens of gold coins and not worry about any shortfall.
After sending off the red-haired swordsman, Saleen brought the four money bags and two Qin Empire bank deposit notes to Jason's magic laboratory.
"Put it with you. If your magic skills improve, you would need a lot of money. Get more from me when you have used them up," Jason did not take Saleen's money. He could care less about this small amount of gold coins. He was just a little bothered the night before, that an unimportant businessman had insulted his dignity and lied to him. This was why he had taken the chance to seize Zhanbu's assets, as compensation for himself and Saleen.