At the same time, the gazes of the people towards the mages were not friendly.
The old man was from their town and these mages were the outsiders. It was obvious which side the local people chose to support. In addition, they were unable to provide evidence of the old man selling contraband. Therefore, the surrounding spectators would not support the mages.
Which side the people chose could not in itself decide anything. However, the mage guild cared about their reputation. Although they often oppressed free mages, they would never lay a hand on the mortals.
— This was also the order that came from the Queen.
"You see? If you are unable to provide proof, then you are abusing your power. If this piece of news was spread out, how are you going to explain to the Queen?" Benjamin rode the wind and reprimanded.
The mages’ expression darkened as if they had stepped on dog poop.
"You… Just you wait, we will head back now to retrieve evidence. We will be back in a few days to confiscate your property!"
It was a stalemate between both the parties for a moment. In the end, the mages exchanged glances and said this.
They glared at Benjamin and the old man after they were done and turned to push away from the crowd in a supposedly valiant way.
As they walked, they soared into the sky, escaping from this disastrous scene as fast as possible, and disappear from everyone’s sight.
Everyone looked at the direction they left. It was a momentary silence.
Benjamin shook his head.
To think they still left threats while escaping like a bunch of cowards. These mages really didn’t want to lose their faces.
But… To hell with them. This matter had already been resolved smoothly. To begin with, they had no evidence at all. These people could not defeat Benjamin and needed an excuse to leave, never to return. They would not publicize this act of embarrassment. Hence, Benjamin did not have to worry about this raising the suspicions of the Queen.
He turned to look at the old man with a smug.
"My words have come true. Hope you would keep your promise."
The old man stared at Benjamin with disdain. However, he did not go back on his word. He snorted with displeasure while walking back into the shop, "Go to bed, we depart tomorrow."
Benjamin knew the old man was in an awful mood and so he did not say more. Instead, he nodded.
"Sure."
And so the busy night returned to its tranquility. The gathering people saw that nothing else was going on, and eventually left. As Benjamin did not have anything else to do, he retreated to the inn for a good night’s sleep.
He entered the old man’s shop in the morning the next day.
The door was unlocked and the racks were empty. The shop assistant hurriedly packed boxes after boxes of materials. Benjamin passed through the front to the back and knocked on the door.
"Are you ready to go?"
With a clank, the door opened from the inside.
"Let’s go." The old man wore a long robe and slowly walked out of the room while hugging his cat. Expressionlessly, he glanced at Benjamin and exited.
Benjamin frowned and could not help but ask, "Where's your luggage?"
"Help me with that box in the room." The old man’s tone revealed a slight displeasure, "Do you expect me to carry it myself at such an old age?"
"…"
Benjamin felt helpless about this.
However, he did indeed scheme against him, so it was normal for him to be dissatisfied. He did not say anything further and summoned a water vapor to drag the large box. He followed the old man out.
Once they were out of the Town of Hank, they flew towards Carretas. However, to Benjamin, the old man’s flight was simply too slow. It wasn’t long when he summoned water vapor to carried both of them forwards.
"We will be working together to decipher the Queen’s magic potion. I hope you would not be angry about what happened yesterday." While flying, Benjamin turned to look at the silent old man.
Looking at the old man now, he was worried that he would delay his work.
"A loss is a loss. I will keep my promise." The old man shook his head and did not bother to look at Benjamin. He stiffened his face as he answered.
Benjamin nodded, "Please believe that I had never wanted to hurt you nor your shop. It wasn’t a scene that I could control."
"Do you think I am stupid? Those mages from the mage guild were summoned by you." The old man could not stand it any longer and sounded sarcastic, "It’s my fault that I didn’t think you could instruct those from the mage guild."
"How could I instruct them? The Queen has me on an arrest warrant. If they could recognize me there and then, a troop of thousands of mages would be coming for me."
The old man turned, "So you’re saying that the appearance of the mages from the guild has nothing to do with you?"
Benjamin scratched his head and laughed awkwardly, "Well, not really...They came mainly because of the guild master. The Queen’s magic potion and the formula were given to me by the guild master. He is different from the others in the mage guild. He has always hoped to escape from the Queen’s gnaws."
"Guild master…" The old man was taken by surprise, "Do you mean Blake, that old fool?"
Benjamin was struck.
"You know each other?"
Instantly, the old man’s expression became sour, "I do not know him."
"…"
Benjamin was rendered speechless.
He could be better at pretending. Such an obvious display, the old man probably not only knew the guild master but also had grudges against him. What he felt strange was that the guild master handled it so well and did not display anything out of the ordinary when he mentioned about the old man.
…Was something fishy was going on?
"Don’t tell me that the reason you are hostile towards the mage guild is that of the guild master? What’s your beef with him?" Benjamin couldn't help but ask.
The old man did not say a word.
"Senior, we will be cooperating soon. No one will be happy seeing your sour face every day," Benjamin advised. It couldn't be helped, the old man’s attitude was worrisome. Even if he was pushed to the edge, he should at least show some enthusiasm.
A moment of silence later, the old man finally spoke.
"...That fool, we had the same teacher."
Benjamin was stunned.
And here he thought it was some grudge. He didn’t think that they went way back.
"Then how did you guys end up like this? Why stop the contact? Since you’re taught by the same teacher. You could ask him for help and you’d be in a better-off situation than now."
The old man snorted coldly and impatiently rebutted, "So much nonsense. If you have the strength, why don’t you fly faster?"
"..."
Benjamin helplessly shook his head.
Well, whatever history they had was none of his business. The old man following him back to Carretas for the potion research and teaching his potion mages were sufficient enough.
In the sky of Icor, Benjamin and the old man were clouded by the surge of water vapor and sprung to the East like a shooting star.