The Sword and The Shadow

Morning the next day, Leguna went to Myr's abode with heavy eye bags.

"Yaaawn…"

"Kid, where were you last night?" Marolyt couldn't help but ask.

Even if Leguna was worried about his daughter, he couldn't have spent the whole night without sleeping, could he?

"I've left Melindor for nearly a month, you know. Xeno held up the whole night to update me on what happened," he complained as he let out another yawn, "I didn't get to sleep a wink."

"Hah! Well deserved!" Marolyt said as he reveled in schadenfreude.

Even though his daughter was still unconscious, his mood had improved for some reason after Leguna's return. It was as if his presence would ensure his daughter would be safe from now on.

"Oh, by the way, pops, make sure to hold back when you see Grandmaster Myr later. We'll have to count on him to wake Annie up!"

"Who could've known he didn't have anything to do with this?" he said unhappily, "That guy's usually so stuck up and doesn't even take me seriously! But all of a sudden he came over and offered to help Annie? It's definitely suspicious!"

"The grandmaster really admires Annie, you know."

He could tell that Marolyt didn't really hold much against Myr. They just don't get along well due to their weird temperaments. So, he couldn't really stomach the fact that he required Myr's help to heal his daughter.

"Tch! That old fellow is just a showoff, that's all. I'm willing to bet Kevin's life that even he doesn't know how to help her!"

Leguna was speechless. It seemed that only the Wandering Lance Kevin could stomach Marolyt's personality. But now, the Wandering Lance truly went wandering. According to what Leguna knew, the man was going all over the place in Hocke to do Pyro's bidding and spreading the faith. The level of ulterior motives he held was comparable to Marolyt's.

Looking at the displeased Marolyt, Leguna could only patiently deal with him. He had already expended much effort to get him to see Grandmaster Myr, and now, he had to try to convince him to hold back. He thought that it would be harder than winning against Marolyt in a fight.

Regardless, Marolyt had to come along. After all, he was the one who chased away someone genuinely wanting to help. How could he not at least show some humility now that he needed Myr's help? Leguna decided to trick Marolyt to come along first and deal with what came after later.

Since Myr was said to be busy with some alchemy experiments, Leguna and Marolyt met him there. The magus apprentice looked as if they were working on something urgent and asked them to wait, saying that the grandmaster would be with them shortly.

"Can't you ask him to come right away?" Marolyt grumbled.

"I'm sorry…"

Perhaps because they've spent quite a lot of time with Myr, the apprentice magus wasn't shocked in the slightest to see Marolyt. He poured him a cup of tea.

"Grandmaster Myr is working on an important experiment, so we aren't allowed to interrupt."

"That old fellow…"

Just as Marolyt was about to slam the table, Marolyt hurriedly waved him down with a pleading look.

Marolyt saw his expression and thought about his unconscious daughter and waved his hand in frustration. "Fine, I'll just wait here. Don't serve me tea, I want alcohol. I heard Myr snuck a few bottles of good stuff from the royals."

Leguna smacked his forehead. Marolyt was quite the drinker, but he didn't think he would go so far as to come to Myr's for a drink.

The magus didn't object to it and later returned with a bottle of fine grape wine and two exquisite wine glasses.

"I don't need any," Leguna politely refused.

He was there on serious business. It was one thing for Marolyt to drink and soothe his nerves. But he couldn't since it wouldn't be appropriate for both of them to end up drunk when Myr came to see them.

The bottle the apprentice brought them was left to mature for five years in the best winery of the empire, Rosseau. Leguna only needed a whiff to tell that it was good wine and Marolyt was really satisfied with it. He returned to his gangly habits and chugged directly from the bottle instead of using the glass.

Marolyt managed to down three bottles in a short hour. That kind of alcohol tolerance was definitely far above the average person's. A normal person would no doubt have collapsed. Marolyt also understood that getting drunk was the best part of drinking, so he didn't use his impetus to purge the alcohol either.

His face was now flushed and he began to burp nonstop.

"Hey, hey!" Marolyt said as he rapped on the table, "Is Myr not done yet? He doesn't take nearly as long when fooling around with women!"

"Grandmaster Myr is at the pinnacle of the magic world in our empire. Sir Marolyt, please watch your phrasing," the student rebutted.

"Tch! There's someone who actually worships that skinny, little old man?!" Marolyt spat.

"What did you say?!" Myr's voice rang like thunder at the entrance.

"Grandmaster Myr." Leguna hurriedly bowed, but before he could tell him why they were there, Myr yelled at Marolyt, "Who are you calling a little old man?!"

Myr absolutely hated being called that. It was as if they were mocking the flaws of his body. Normal people were terrified enough to see Myr like that, but Marolyt didn't care. So what if he was the authority of magic in Hocke? Marolyt was the galestorm swordsaint! No matter how terrifying his magic, he wasn't a myth rank, so he definitely wouldn't be able to take Marolyt's saint realm strength!

So, Marolyt intentionally stood up to show his tip-top physique. He looked down on Myr in an exaggerated motion and said, "Why, you of course."

"Pops, you--"

"--Get out!"

"Tch, you think I wanted to come? Your wine was great. Thanks for the hospitality."

Marolyt sounded like he was waiting for those exact words and slammed the bottle on the table and prepared to leave.

"Pops, wait!"

Leguna quickly grabbed the drunk man. Since Marolyt wasn't willing to play nice, Leguna had to do it all on his own. With one hand pulling on Marolyt, Leguna bowed deeply. "Grandmaster Myr, I'm here because I need your help to save Annie."

"Annie?--" Myr smirked. "--What are you to her? Why are you the one doing the begging? Shouldn't the one beside you be doing it?"

"Please, for Annie's sake--" Leguna bowed even deeper. "--Please help me, I beg you. I, Leguna, will definitely not forget your act of kindness."

Myr seemed rather moved. Since Leguna had gone so far to say that, he budged slightly. But when he turned to look at the stinking face of Marolyt, his anger swelled again. He glared at Leguna and said, "I've said it has nothing to do with you. Your begging doesn't count!"

"What?! Burp!--" Marolyt turned to them. "--You want me to yield? Hmph! I'm saying forget it! You're not even a myth-realm magus, just a high order! Why don't you drink your own piss and look into the mirror before wanting me to yield to you!"

"Pops…" Leguna hurried to stop.

Marolyt emphasized 'high order', much to Myr's bubbling wrath. His face was flushed red and he conjured a purple-red staff which was taller than him out of thin air and knocked it against the ground. "I'll show you how a high-order magus can beat out all the teeth of a saint-realm fighter like you!"

"Grandmaster Myr, please calm down…"

"Huh, challenge accepted! Let's go out for a tussle then?"

Marolyt didn't care and called Azureflash out before heading out.

"Hmph! Who's afraid of you!"

Myr prepared to leave as well.

"You two…"

When they heard that voice, both Marolyt and Myr felt a chill down their spines. They turned around with a stupefied look and saw Leguna glaring at them with a face full of rage.

"Can you f*cking stop?!" he roared like a lion.

He had completely ignored the fact that either of those seniors held the power to instantly crush him.

Both of them didn't know how to react. They were people who stood at the peak of power and wouldn't be talked down on by a junior like Leguna apart from those in their own circle. They didn't know what to respond with out of nowhere.

Leguna stepped forward as an angered king would to his ministers.