Chapter 19: New Path
Hur Ice Afungus LV 38 Ice Magician LV ?? ?????? [Emperor of Ice Empire] [???] [???] [Forbidden Technique Possessor] [b.l.o.o.d.y Ice Crystal]
Although I could see one of his cla.s.s, however, his other cla.s.s was not revealed.
As an empire which has Ice Magic as its pride, to think the emperor would have a cla.s.s that is stronger than his Ice Magician cla.s.s, this fact is making all of my hair stand on end.
I definitely must not anger this guy. Otherwise, I will no longer be able to move about freely in this entire continent…
The emperor’s hair was already grey in color, yet his pair of deep blue eyes held a cold light. He wore a blue robe with gold linings, and on the tip of his staff which he was holding, the cold aura emitting from the gem could be felt even from afar.
“Do not be afraid, since you’re a friend of Mich.e.l.le, I will naturally not do anything that would harm you. However, if you were to harm Mich.e.l.le, then that’s a different matter.”
“… I’m fully aware of that. So, the reason why you wish to see me this late in the night was to tell me not to bully your empire’s princess?”
“Hahaha! Interesting. As expected, you’re different from those people who would only flatter me with praises.”
The old man laughed, and stood up.
“That’s probably one of the reasons why you’re growing so quickly, I guess.”
Hearing his words, my mouth twitched.
This guy… Did he realize something?
“It was only a few months ago when you first enrolled into this academy. Back then, your magic ability was not as strong as Princess Mich.e.l.le’s, right? But now, there’s practically no one in your current grade that can stand up to you. Isn’t that so?”
“This…”
“Even if you don’t say it yourself, Dan was able to tell that your abilities had improved greatly. Just to let you know, Dan’s level is much higher than yours. Thus, he would naturally be able to gauge your strength with a simple glance.”
“I see…”
Then wouldn’t that mean there’s a lot of people who realized my jump in levels? And these people actually turned a blind eye?
Fortunately, they are not able to evaluate my actual level numerically, otherwise, at that time, my jump in 5 levels would have definitely frightened several people…
Wait a minute, if I recall, this guy called Dan was there when my level raised. So I caught his eye ever since then?
“Alright, I did work very hard to improve my abilities. But is there anything wrong with doing so?”
“Of course not. Rather, I’m very happy that you did. Because, you specialize in Ice Magic!”
The old man’s grin became wider.
“In other words, you hope that I would become a citizen of your Ice Empire?”
“Of course. In any case, you’re wanted by your country, aren’t you?”
“That kind of thing…”
“Do not deny it. After all, I’m fully aware of your ident.i.ty. Back then, when Dan reported about you, I immediately became interested in you. However, my intelligence department was only able to find information about you up to when you first appear right before enrolling into the academy. And that’s when your bounty was commissioned by a small kingdom called Mitch.e.l.l. Though, that king is an idiot, to think he would push his mistake onto you. But that’s understandable, after all, they’re a small country, hahaha. But there’s something else I’m interested in as well. You seemed to have entered the Wood household, and you were able to use ‘Ice Armor’ in the tournament earlier. I’m not wrong about that, right?”
“Un… You aren’t wrong.”
Alright, since you even used your intelligence department to investigate a small character like me, then, I have no choice but to admit to everything.
“Do you plan on sending me to Mitch.e.l.l Kingdom for the judgment of my crimes?”
“Hahaha. Of course not. In the morning, I saw that you were pretty close to your other half, the young lady of the Wood household. Since your fiancee did not say a word about you, then I can’t really force myself into your matters. Don’t you think so?”
“…”
“Hahaha. Don’t mind it. Regarding the Wood household, in this entire continent, there’s even a branch family in another continent… No, the branch family should be in this continent, to be exact. Your other half is only a small part of the Wood household in the Mitch.e.l.l Kingdom, hence, naturally, I know about about their household. But, their household generally keep to a low profile. In this case, you have seen it yourself. Even though two of their important figures disappeared, there’s not even a single reaction. Or if I were to put in another way, they are not that important to the main household at all.”
“Umm, I really appreciate that you used so many of your resources to not only investigate about me, but also matters regarding my fiancee. However, if I may ask, what are you getting at?”
Are you really here just to chat? Are you kidding me?
“Don’t rush. There’s always a certain procedure to doing things. But, since you asked, then I will be blunt.”
He kept his smile, and with a stern look, he asked.
“Just who are you?”
“…”
The same exact question, again. You guys are irritating, you know? Geez. ‘World’, you designed such an ident.i.ty for me, but it’s totally half-a.s.sed. At the very least, give me some background regarding myself.
In this world, my ident.i.ty is basically someone who was living under a rock the entire time, before I escaped the Beginners’ Village. How am I supposed to live like this?
“Alright, I can only tell you this. I don’t even know of my own ident.i.ty.”
I shrugged.
“If it’s possible, I even hope you can help me find out about my past.”
“…”
He revealed a shocked expression after hearing my answer. He stared at me for quite a while, and then evidently went into deep thoughts.
“Interesting. I guess since I already said so much, you don’t have a need to lie to me, right? But since you don’t even know it yourself… I guess it’s still a mystery. Very well. I will appoint some people to investigate about your past. But since things turned out this way, I will skip a step then. Boy, do you want to become a citizen of our Ice Empire?”
…
Hearing this, it was my turn to get startled.
“You mean… Changing my nationality?”
“Nationality? You’re pretty good with your choice of words. That’s right, I hope that you could join our Ice Empire. If that happens, your bounty will lose its effect. After all, as a citizen of an empire, we will not allow a small kingdom like Mitch.e.l.l to even attempt to arrest you.”
Wow! An empire sure is overpowered. So is it fine for a regular empire citizen to kill a couple of kingdom citizens?
Of course, since this was an issue of morality, I did not dare to ask. After all, if I were to get a definite answer, I would probably feel insecure.
“Looks like there’s several benefits to being an empire citizen. But, this doesn’t really help me that much, right? The thing about my bounty is already several months old. If no one were to especially investigate my ident.i.ty, then I wouldn’t be found out, right?”
“Hmhm. Originally, that’s the case. But, did you forget what you did earlier in the afternoon?”
“In the afternoon…”
I used my weird battle style and exterminated the Fire-type team who used cheat mods…
c.r.a.p, how the h.e.l.l did I forget about this?
Probably, everyone in this academy is currently checking out my profile, right?
Looks like I did several things that I shouldn’t have today.
“Alright, looks like you have thoroughly thought this through. Indeed, I no longer have any escape routes.”
“You could still decide to flee, right?”
“I still wish to study peacefully.”
“Oh, right, that’s the reason why you came to this academy, wasn’t it… Then let’s both propose a condition.”
The old man slightly smiled, and hinted me to walk over.
“My condition is for you to become a citizen of our Ice Empire. After that, I will directly bestow you the t.i.tle as one of our empire’s State Magician, and you will be one of our empire’s forces. In exchange, I will provide you with all of our empire’s magic research and materials. As long as you do not spend too much money…”
“You’re saying I’m even allowed to take a look at your empire’s hidden magic skill books?”
“That’s right.”
“Deal!”
“Then, everything is settled.”
t.i.tle Unlocked: [Ice Empire Citizen]
Familiarity with all Ice Empire citizens increased.
t.i.tle Unlocked: [Ice Empire’s State Magician]
Obtained the rights to use Ice Empire’s magic research and materials.
Main Quest: Revenge
Revealed: New Possible Ending
Requirement: Lead a country to liberate Mitch.e.l.l Kingdom.
Reward(s): Position as Provincial Chief, 1,000,000 EXP