The Record of Unusual Creature

Hao Ren was caught slightly off guard when Rheia, the tiny mage suddenly agreed to the idea. He had prepared plenty of other rhetorics but none of them were of use. He could only look at the former in slight disbelief. “Don’t you want to understand more?”

“Understand what? You want me to wait for you to admit that you’re a blacklisted group?” Rheia asked as she shook her staff. “Seeing your reaction, I do believe that you are some adventurers falling on hard times. But color me curious, it’s uncommon to see children in mercenary groups nowadays, no?”

As she spoke, her vision fell upon Y’lisabet. The little devil was uncomfortably adjusting the pointed hat on her head (it was meant to hide her demon horns as Hao Ren and the rest did not notice any demons going about freely). The moment she heard Rheia, she immediately looked up and bared her fangs. “You’re the child! How old can you be compared to me with that body of yours?”

“Such a rowdy lass.” Rheia’s eyes widened slightly in surprise before grinning. “Don’t look at me like that. I am a proper adult. Alright, this is not a proper place to talk. Wanna come to my wizard tower? If we are to introduce ourselves properly, sitting by the warm hearth would be the best, right?”

And so this rather headstrong mage just invited a group of unknown adventurers that had suddenly appeared before her to her wizard tower to rest. This was not due to carelessness, conversely, it was a very calculated move. A mage within their own wizard tower would be able to employ powers many folds stronger, plus the tower itself usually had plenty of automatic defensive measures. So, “inviting a group of strangers into their own tower” was actually the best way to determine if someone was friendly or hostile. If they really were a group up to no good, they would hesitate at such an invitation. Anyone wanting to shank a mage would normally try to do so outside the mage’s own tower, and not foolishly walk into her own turf.

Of course, there was a possibility of some super OP assassins sneaking into a wizard’s tower and unleashing musou[1] attacks. But if a wizard was to attract such visitors, going to the tower itself was pretty much pointless, and the question turned into where the person would die…

Hao Ren was quite aware of the in and outs of this, as Holletta too was a world were magical civilizations flourished and he had contacts with the mages there before. So facing Rheia’s invitation, he acted like he was pondering something for a short while before agreeing. “Alright, we don’t have anywhere to go tonight anyway. But before we go there can I ask what’s the commission about?”

This was a pertinent question, and if they did not ask it, these self-proclaimed “out-of-luck adventurers” would look suspicious, so Rheia answered without much thought while she nodded. “Actually it’s just following me into some ruins to look for stuff. Of course, there will be danger, but it’s not like what you’ve heard from the guild. Every last mercenary who went with me came home alive! If you don’t believe me, you can ask them tomorrow!”

Seeing how agitated the little mage was, Hao Ren could not help but smile, “Alright, alright. We’ll trust our employer. But you still need to let us know what the mission is about.”

“Of course. I value trust the most.” Rheia said as she puffed her chest up before pointing towards the end of the alley with her staff, “Then follow me. Let’s go to my place.”

The little mage led Hao Ren across the winding and complex alley of White Maple Leaf City, and all the paths they traversed were alleyways not used by the common folk. The several-hundred-year-old city was like an ever-expanding ant hive, as generations upon generations of civilian buildings and streets had created layers of the city’s main body. Within the glorious walls were tons of labyrinthine ancient streets. If outsiders got lost in there, they would probably feel like they would never see the sun again. Only long-time citizens of the place dared to map out their path along the messy streets, and the mage was clearly a well-qualified “local”.

At her lead the group had passed through the stacked up civilian area and entered the wizardry zone at the southeast corner of the city without even passing through any proper city gates.

It was nightfall by then.

There was a saying, that the nobility were not necessary mages, but all mages were at least part nobility. As the body of unsurpassed knowledge and power, mages were the symbol of progress and advancement of knowledge, and thus the place they congregate would be extraordinary.

The mages were authorized to live in the city center together with the lord and nobility. However the arrogant and bookish shut-ins clearly preferred somewhere quieter, and all of the city’s wizardry zones were outside the main city. White Maple Leaf city was no exception.

Its wizardry zone was located to the southeast of the city and was the only place without a wall. But the barrier formed by over a dozen wizard towers and all sorts of automatic defensive automatons made the area more defensible than any walls. Over there, the glow from many magical devices and drifting magical particles in the area lit up the entire place. The place was on par with the brilliant brightness of the lord’s manor, and the magic towers standing silently in the night gave the city a much more mysterious vibrancy.

In this extravagant and superior zone, Rheia’s dilapidated wizard tower stood out like a sore thumb.

Her tower was closest to the civilian area and was a stone building about twenty meters tall. The tower was showing clear signs of age and a critical lack of maintenance. The walls outside were pockmarked and cracked because the paint had been long washed away by the elements. At a few more serious places, the magical conduits buried within the tower walls were exposed and were throwing out sparks into the air. Looking upwards, there were windows that could not be shut properly and broken windowsills. A metal bar stuck out from one of the windows and on it were yet-to-dry clothes.

Compared to this tower, the rest of the others in sight were much more magnificent.

Hao Ren lowered his head silently as he wondered the only possible way to let Rheia’s tower stay within the area is to hang a ‘to be demolished’ sign on it…

“This is my tower!” Rheia pointed towards the door with her staff. She then noticed the gaze of Hao Ren and his crew and was felt a little awkward. “Haa… Money has been tight these past two years so I haven’t spruced it up much. But don’t you worry, it’s a mage’s property. As long as the magic circuits are intact there is no problem. Most of the stuff inside is pretty useful, with hot water and warm air. Let me tell you, don’t judge the tower for being old, this is a symbol of history. This is one of the earliest towers built in this area, and when my master’s master’s master was still alive, this was the tallest building around!”

After that, the tower pretty much stayed the same, right? How long had this lady mage been destitute?

Lily sneakily poked Vivian by the arm, “Eh Battie, found your relative in poverty, eh?”

“Shut up!”

Rheia felt that awkwardness cannot go on and the best way to end that is to get the group of people’s eyes off the surrounding buildings. She then quickly ushered her guests into her tower. “Ahem, come with me. Treat it like your own home. Ah, watch your steps when you go in. That brick is a little loose…”

The group entered the wizard tower and like Rheia had said, while the building may look sorry on the outside, its facilities within were complete. There were at least working lights, four-legged tables and a door that can be shut…

The magical circuits inside the tower were working as per normal, and a warm breeze dispelled the chilly wind of the night. The circular main hall may have looked simple, but there was a warm fireplace, and chairs to rest on. It was more than sufficient to entertain a small group of guests.

Rheia threw her staff nonchalantly as she got into the building and took off her tattered robes. The two items then fly by themselves to the nearby hat stand and item rack and deposited themselves there. She then changed into a simple pair of home clothes and came before the fireplace as she touched one of the bronze sculpture. With that, the flames in the fireplace became brighter, and the fireplace itself changed into a different shape.

Seems like an illusory device.

“There is a warm wind magic circle here, and we don’t actually need a fireplace. But my master liked this sort of pointless items, said it made the place feels more homely, so I just left them as they were.” Rheia said as she commanded the shiny bronze teapot, cups and plates to make tea before signaling to Hao Ren and the rest to get a place to sit. “Get a seat. Don’t be shy. This wizard tower does not have all those inane house rules. Just sit where ever you like.”

Hao Ren sat by the fireplace and looked around the place. After discounting the furniture and some unknown magical devices, he saw a row of photo frames hanging by the opposite wall, and every frame had the upper body picture of a mage. The half-body pictures were nodding and greeting the guests in the hall and beneath the frames were their names.

“My master, my master’s master, and the various other masters…Hah, all of them a bunch of wacky weirdos.” Rheia noticed Hao Ren was looking at the pictures and sighed resignedly. “The first generation, died after challenging a dragon while smashed; the second generation, died after overdosing as he challenged a dragon; the third generation, after overdosing on medicine and alcohol, died challenging a swarm of dragons; the fourth generation, a teetotaler, but went to propose to a dragon and got killed by the dragon’s mate… My master was probably the most normal of them. He did not even manage to challenge a dragon and got blown to smithereens by his own dragonslayer spell.”

“…What sort of grudge does your family have against dragons?” Hao Ren asked.

“Don’t even mention it. I’m frankly tired of it.” Rheia shrugged. “Before I start the mission brief, we need to introduce… Eh? Miss, what’s that on your shoulder?”

She looked quizzically at Vivian as there was a little lass the size of a hand sitting on Vivian’s shoulder.

Hao Ren was shocked as he caught sight of the little one, “Oh sh*t, how did this bugger…”

“Biu biu biu!”