Lord of Glory

Chapter 10: Intervention By All Parties

CW: Suicide

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Paladin, who was pretending to be stupid, narrowed his eyes. Nasura, who had a helpless expression at first, changed it to one of seriousness. His eyes were filled with burning killing intent. Paladin watched Nasura's feet move away from Paladin as he took out a small magic wand from his sleeve. He held it firmly in his hand. If you looked carefully, you’d find that the surface of the dark wand was engraved with dense runes. That should be an advanced magic wand, as it had twenty sequences of runes etched on it.

"The Hands of Winter," Nasura whispered softly. A surge of cold air appeared on the edge of the wand. The breeze swept quickly towards the five guards, causing their expressions to change abruptly. Spectating all this, a thick layer of sweat formed on Paladin's forehead. He saw the guards, who were about to shout for help, become instantly encased in ice. He could only see the gleaming reflections of the frost.

The corpses looked as if they were frozen in time. This meant that they were frozen to death in an instant.

"Tch... It's a shame that I have to use magic to kill a few people who have no idea what magic is." Nasura put away his wand with disgust and turned to look at Paladin with his cold eyes.

Inside, Paladin’s mind was in disarray. Paladin, who had only recently gained power, was far from being an opponent to Nasura. To survive today, he could only pretend and prove himself to be harmless. Therefore, at this time, Paladin maintained his dumbfounded expression. He squatted down and looked at the guards, who had been frozen into ice sculptures, with apprehension on his face.

"What… What happened to them?" Although Paladin said these words, beads of sweat trickled down his body. Nasura would’ve noticed something was wrong if it hadn't been for his long black hair covering his face.

Nasura looked at the foolish man in front of him and shook the hand that was holding the wand. The murderous intent in his eyes grew stronger. Just when Paladin was about to get attacked by magic from behind, he hastily turned and ran away as if his life depended on it.

Nasura lowered his hand and murmured helplessly, "I am a noble magician, how did I fall to the point where I torture and kill ordinary people…. You are lucky, idiot." Nasura put away his wand, looked at the towering castle above his head, and ran upwards.

"Phew…." Paladin breathed a sigh of relief after confirming the terrifying magician had gone away. He knelt powerlessly on the ground and kept wiping away the sweat that was about to fall.

"I'm so tired... I really want to sleep."

Paladin was very exhausted. Although he had been working all year round, what he had experienced from last night to this morning had rendered his body and spirit incapable of bearing the burden. He needed to sleep to recharge his batteries. He needed sleep to refresh his body. However, he knew this wasn’t the right time to sleep. Escaping from here was the topmost priority. To keep himself awake, he pinched his thigh quite hard. After recovering from the severe pain, he carefully opened the side door and walked away.

Because of the dean's order, all of the students and tutors were gathered in the hall right now. They all had solemn and puzzled expressions on their faces. Originally, if the dean issued such an order, it should’ve been because of something important. Even all of the guards in this branch were dispatched. However, despite the long wait, the dean still didn't show up. Everyone became increasingly impatient.

The hushed voices of discussion could gradually be heard in the initially quiet hall. The teachers were also being indifferent to this. All of them frowned and looked preoccupied with their own thoughts. Among this large group of tutors, a dull person was sitting in the corner. They were so inconspicuous that they literally merged with the shadow in the corner.

The person was an ordinary-looking young woman. Those who saw her would only think the golden hair didn’t suit her. Adele was her name. She was an ordinary tutor who taught the basics of forming formations. She was unremarkable in appearance and extremely introverted. As a result, not many people were willing to get along with her. This such ordinary and introverted tutor was squatting in a dark corner, playing with a carving knife with a magic circle engraved on it.

The sharp carving knife twirled flexibly on her slender fingertips as if it was made to be in her hand. Her ordinary face revealed a level of excitement no one had ever seen in her before. As if some thought abruptly popped into her mind, Adele's excited expression vanished in an instant. She then turned with a worried face and timidly spoke to the frowning instructors beside her, "I think…. let's go up and see the dean…. Maybe he fell asleep?"

Several tutors around her exchanged smiles and made eye contact. Unexpectedly, this introverted Adele was so cute and she deeply respected the dean. When they gave it some thought, Adele’s suggestion was right. Sitting still was not an option.

A male tutor who was next to her nodded with a smile and said, "Okay, let's go and see what the dean is doing. Adele, let's go together."

"Well..."

.

So, under the lead of several tutors, Adele justifiably left the hall and walked towards the tower on top of the castle. When her face was obscured by shadows, more crazed and excited expressions emerged.

"It's over…. It's over…. Everything’s over…." said the dean, who hadn’t shown up at the hall for a long time. He was still cooped up in his attic. Slumped on the chair, looking at the antique scrap of paper made of leather with an unresponsive and decadent look. He kept muttering to himself incessantly.

A bronze mirror placed on the table behind him suddenly flashed golden. The smooth mirror surface began to deform. A human face pressed against the smooth copper mirror's surface, as if trying to get out of the mirror. The face slowly turned and spoke, "Ryan, have you found it?"

Thud! The decadent dean, Ryan, who was slumped on a chair, came to life in an instant. He jumped off the chair and fell to the ground in fright. There was no trace of surprise on his face regarding the voice that could be heard from behind. Still, he crawled over in a desperate manner. Looking up and pleading at the face inside the mirror. With tears and snot flowing freely down his face, Ryan said, "Not yet…. No."

"Ah, that's it. I already searched that place’s inside and outside hundreds of times and still couldn't find it. The scroll that was already determined not to be here, unexpectedly appeared right here…."

"My lord, I…."

The face in the mirror looked down at the person in front of him. Ryan was still begging desperately. He nodded slowly and said, "Don't worry, as a mason, you are excellent. I will notify the Ministry of Security. We will take care of your wife and children, as well as your illegitimate child who is studying in the Duchy of Kasmi."

As soon as he said this, Ryan’s lifeless and distressed eyes instantly lit up. The old dean bowed again and again.

"Thank you…. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you."

The face in the mirror silently nodded. Next, a golden light flashed and the bronze mirror returned to its original state. Apparently, the so-called elder had left. Ryan stood up slowly. A relaxed smile appeared on his face. It was a relief.

Ryan took out a rope from the cabinet and hung it on the beam of the room. He then made a circle with the rope by tying a knot. The rope was slowly wrapped around his neck and tightened. The smile on his face grew brighter and brighter. He stared at his feet and kicked the chair under him. His entire body was shaking. There was a guttural cracking sound coming from his throat. After a while, there was only silence….