148 Part 1
Return of the 8th Class Mage
Chapter 148 Need for Chance (2)
There was the sound of a hammer battering away at steel. Ian had stepped into Halia’s smithy, and he heard more than hammering noises.
“What do you think? It’s lighter, right?”
“All of them are amazing items. I never knew that equipment like these existed in this world…”
“You do have an eye for items. You really are the best swordsman in the human race. Right, how about trying on these? They are long boots made with the best of my skills recently. If you wear them…”
One of the voices was the blacksmith Halia’s voice, but the other was a familiar one, albeit strange in this place.
“Sir Oliver?”
The voice belonged to Oliver, the Crown Prince’s escort knight. Excitement laced his deep baritone.
“It will be an honor to have that chance.”
“Come over here. It’s a bit heavy to hold with your hands, but when you get them on your feet! They become weightless like a feather, but they also have all the functions you need. Even if that magician, the owner of this villa bombarded you with magic, these boots, and your feet will remain unscathed. I assure it.”
“Amazing!”
The blacksmith Halia and the knight Oliver were deep in animated conversation regarding weaponry and protective equipment, which was a field of common interest for them.
Perhaps because of the shared camaraderie, they seemed to be on the best of terms after only a few days.
‘Well, if Sir Oliver is properly armed with artifacts…’
He will become an incredible monster with a sword in his hands. If Ian had not existed, Oliver would become a legendary warrior who would bring doom to all magicians.
‘Come to think of it, he does not say much after that day, and is friendly to the artisans.’
Oliver helped Ian rescue Evantus and met creatures who are not human such as fairies, dragonians, and even immortal artisans. In other words, Oliver had set a foot outside human history.
However, he did not question Ian or perhaps was just not saying anything out loud.
‘He would have to be curious.’
Ian thought that despite the fact he had explained to an extent before rescuing Evantus, Oliver was showing great restraint. He really was noble.
‘Where is the Crown Prince?’
Oliver never left the Crown Prince’s side, except for emergencies, official duties, and rare personal training time.
Therefore, with Oliver’s personality factored in, he would not be alone to discuss and try out weaponry with Halia.
At that moment, Ian heard a page turn. Even though Ian had strengthened his hearing, the page was being loudly turned, as if the person who was doing it wanted to announce that he or she was reading a book.
Ian looked where the sound was coming from and understood what was going on since he saw the reason Oliver could stay here for a while turning the pages with some force.
‘There’s the Crown Prince.’
The crown prince, Hayden Greenriver sat under a large tree and looked like a statue with platinum blond hair in the front gardens of Halia’s smithy. The 2nd Royal Guards were protecting the crown prince from a distance, and he was reading a thick book as they surrounded him.
He looked like he was waiting for Oliver to come out, and Ian was sure he was not mistaken.
The crown prince was really waiting. Ian was looking at a master waiting for his guard and not the other way around.
‘I’m seeing some strange things this time around.’
Ian was shocked by the book the crown prince was reading. It was About Rulership by Mauro Greenriver. Ian had been observing the book cover with reinforced eyesight, and his eyes widened at seeing Hayden read a political treatise that contained the essence of Mauro Greenriver, who was one of the five great rulers of the Greenriver Empire. Ian made sure he was seeing the crown prince with the book, and he was not someone else.
‘I thought it would be a novel, or at the most a rudimentary book.’
Ian’s shock came from underestimating the crown prince’s abilities.
‘Is he really the crown prince I know?’
He had been told that the dimensions split at the moment someone rewound time, but Hayden seemed to be a completely different person from the one Ian had known in his past life.
‘There’s no need to interrupt him.’
Hayden would make a fuss if he saw Ian, and the best course of action would be to go to another place quietly.
Ian resumed his walk, and he stayed on the path inside the villa. As he strolled along the open road that surrounded the villa, he saw a small cultivation plot near Halia’s smithy. Ledio and Douglas grew medicinal herbs here.
“Oh? Master Ian?’’
Ian met Ledio, who was going back to his house with a basket of herbs. Douglas had been following his father, and they hurried to Ian’s side.
“I heard that you had been in the library for the last few days. So, did you solve the problem?”
Ian had not been planning to be in the library all day, but his actions seemed to have aroused worry under the current situation.
“I’m managing the situation. Where were you going with all those herbs?”
Ian could not talk much about that issue and changed the subject. Ledio understood Ian’s intentions since he had quick wits.
“I am preparing medicine for Evantus, and these are the ingredients.”
“They’re all for him? Is his condition that serious? The last time I saw him…”
“No, no, he is alright and just wants to get better as quickly as possible.”
“Is there a special reason?”
“I’m not sure, but he is saying that he has no time to lie down and had much work to do. He seemed anxious.”
Ian nodded because he knew that Evantus’s top priority was his descendant’s life span. He would find each day much more precious than ordinary people, and desire to chase after the dragon.
‘I do need to talk to him.’
Ian found Evantus’s ultimate goal, the whereabouts of the dragon. The problem was when he should do so, and the problem required some time to think through. The kin might become Ian’s enemies, and Ian wanted to delay that outcome as much as possible.
“Alright, please take care of him.”
Ian bowed courteously, and Ledio did the same. It was almost instinctual since while they had known each other intimately for a long time, Ian was the second-in-command of the Empire.