The Great Mage Returns after 4000 Years – Chapter 23 – Sonia Aquarid (3)
Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
“Th-, thank you for your help.”
Luther hurriedly bowed.
Frey looked over at him and Luther immediately became nervous because he did not know what this strange man would say.
He had helped them, but he also might not have approached them with good intentions.
“No problem. Are you hurt?”
As Frey responded to him, Luther let out a sigh of relief.
Now that he thought about it, if such a powerful wizard truly had any bad intentions towards them then they might have already been buried in the ground together with the group of mercenaries.
“The mercenaries…are they all dead?”
It was Sonia who spoke next.
Frey nodded.
“Do you want to see the bodies?”
“N-, no. That’s okay.”
Sonia was a cold woman so she wasn’t usually embarrassed, but she stuttered because she was still amazed.
She believed that he would really show her the mercenaries’ corpses if she had answered too late.
She cleared her throat a few times before finally speaking in the proper tone befitting a noble lady.
“Thank you for your help. I’m Sonia Aquarid from the Luanoble Kingdom.”
Although he was her benefactor, it was not easy for her to speak formally. For a woman, Sonia usually spoke in a very cold, stiff tone and she rarely used respectful speech.
However Frey shook his head slightly when he heard her words.
‘Aquarid? I think I heard that somewhere before.’
It felt relatively recent, but since it didn’t come to his mind after he thought about it for a moment, he determined that it wasn’t that important.
“I am Frey Blake. From the Kastkau Empire.”
Sonia was surprised when there was no change in his expression even after she had revealed her identity.
This was because the Aquarid family was one of the most well known knight families on the continent.
Even if he was from the Empire, he should have heard of it.
‘Is he a commoner?’
In reality, she thought he was a commoner because of his unsightly appearance. Even the beggars on the streets of the kingdom were much cleaner than he was.
He was also smelly, but Sonia took care to not reveal her thoughts.
However Luther’s next actions surprised her.
“I see, so you’re a member of the Blake Family.”
When Sonia turned her questioning gaze to him, he answered with a smile.
“It is one of the most famous wizard families. It has produced some of the most outstanding wizards who supported the Kastkau Empire.”
Luther continued, feeling his explanation was a bit insufficient.
“Earl Isaka Blake, the current head, is one of the eight 7 star wizards in the empire, and is the head of one of the six Magic Towers.”
“…that’s right.”
Luther’s reactions indicated that he was a member of a family that was at least on the same level as the Aquarid family.
Sonia turned to look at Frey in amazement as she recalled the magic that he had just used.
Hundreds of light shapes had flown from his fingertips and constantly suppressed the mercenaries, and when they thought it was over, the ground opened up and devoured all of them.
It had been a beautiful and also overwhelming scene.
‘I could never beat all of them.’
Especially the man with the scar on his face. It was the first time that Sonia had been confronted by such an anomalous and unconventional swordsman.
Even if she was to duel him one on one, she could not guarantee her victory.
To deal with such a group without getting a single scratch.
‘This is definitely a first class wizard.’
It was at that moment that Sonia’s impression of the wizard changed greatly.
After a while, she tilted her head.
‘But why does such a person look so terrible?’
Frey looked toward where the mercenaries had been buried and opened his mouth.
“They must have been waiting in the mountains for more than a month. It seems that you are their target, is there any reason for that?”
“How did you know that they stayed for a month?”
“That was when corpses were first found nearby. They seemed to have captured people from the city who were wandering nearby and tortured them.”
Sonia nodded at that.
Their speech and behaviour were very vulgar and lowly.
Luther also nodded.
“For a month…that seems to coincide with the time that we left the Luanoble Kingdom. It could be that someone hired them. The Aquarid family has just as many enemies as we have comrades.”
But they knew one thing.
Given that these mercenaries were so strong, the person who hired them must also have a considerable amount of power.
Frey seemed to think about something before saying slowly.
“So what will you do now?”
“First we need to go to a city. I heard that there is a city called Ispaniola nearby.”
“Just follow the boulevard when you meet it. It is not that far away.”
Luther sighed in relief.
“That’s great.”
“On the way here I found traces of battle. A lot of the corpses seemed to be from your party, what will you do with their bodies?”
“…They all have families. It would be great if we could take them home but we can’t afford to. So the least we can do is bury them.”
“I’ll help.”
Luther wanted to refuse as a courtesy but Frey’s offer was like a welcome rain after a long drought.
He couldn’t help but ask with a happy face.
“…are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Th-, thank you. So while you collect the bodies, could you please check to see if there are any survivors?”
Frey shook his head.
Luther sobered up and felt that he had asked for too much but Frey then spoke.
“Ispaniola. There is a warp stone there, I’ll take them there so you can send them back to Luanoble.”
“Can you really?”
It was an unimaginable proposal.
Sonia, Luther and the two maids could not help but stare at him with wide eyes.
Frey nodded.
“I have to stop by the city anyway. And I need to take care of the other bodies as well.”
* * *
Frey showcased his amazing magic again as he carried the bodies to the city.
He stacked the bodies on a wagon with broken wheels and used that to move them.
Sonia and her maids only looked on in admiration, but only Luther knew how ridiculous his actions truly were.
‘He should not be more than thirty…’
He could not imagine how heavy the wagon was to move.
Moreover, Ispaniola wasn’t only ten minutes away.
Instead it took them a few hours to get to the city on foot. Nevertheless, Frey did not show any kind of strain at all.
In fact he was still able to have normal conversations with Sonia and Luther.
This was proof that he was not devoting much of his attention to the spell that he was using.
“Twenty?! Really?”
“That’s right.”
“I thought you would be at least over thirty…”
“That’s rude.”
Frey and Sonia seemed to become quite close. The two seemed to be years apart but in truth they were the same age.
Luther looked at the sight with a curious gaze.
‘She’s fully acknowledged him.’
Usually it was incredibly difficult for Sonia to become acquainted with a man.
Especially when it was not someone that she was related to.
Even in Luanoble, the number of true friends that Sonia had could be counted on one hand.
So the sight of her chatting with a man, and one from another country, was a very unfamiliar sight for Luther who had watched her from a young age.
‘That’s fine. With the amount of talent that this Blake boy has, it would be fine for her to marry him.’
After all, the Blake family was comparable to the Aquarid family.
If the agreement with the Jun family didn’t go well, then Luther would suggest this to the head of the house himself.
Eventually, they arrived at the city without Frey losing a drop of sweat. By this time, Luther was looking at him as if seeing a monster.
‘His mana capacity is amazing.’
Only then did he begin to ponder about Frey’s unkempt appearance. Perhaps it had something to do with training.
After all, the mana concentration in the Ispania Mountains was known for being extremely dense.
Even so, there were probably extremely few people who would be willing to train in the place that was given the name Hell Mountains.
Shortly after arriving in Ispaniola, Luther immediately sent the bodies back to the Luanoble Kingdom.
He hired a mercenary guild to escort them and sent one of the two remaining maids to guide them.
Meanwhile, Frey seemed to have left the other bodies with the city guard.
These bodies belong to the inhabitants of the city that had been murdered.
When it was all over, Luther seemed to come out of his daze.
Although Sonia had higher status, she had the least amount of experience, so it was up to him to express his gratitude first.
“Thank you very much. I do not know how to repay your gratitude…”
“It was nothing.”
Frey didn’t seem to be very sociable.
He never had much to say and seemed very cold.
“Then I will take my leave. I hope the rest of your journey will be better.”
“Wa-, please wait.”
Luther hurriedly tried to stop Frey.
Frey only turned his head to look back at Luther.
“Please let me give you a reward.”
“I didn’t do it hoping for a reward.”
“I know, but…please. If I was to let you go like this then the Aquarid family would be considered dishonourable…”
“…”
Luther was quite desperate.
As long as Frey was a child from a noble family, then he should show them this bit of courtesy, otherwise they would be in his debt.
No, the political implications aside. Luther really wanted to repay Frey for all that he had done for them.
“Please Frey. Let me repay your favor.”
Sonia also bowed her head.
It was very rare for her to bow.
Only
Frey was lost for words for a moment, before he let out a sigh.
“I’ll only accept dinner.”
“Th-, thank you.”
They were lucky, if he had decided to be stubborn, then he would have left without hesitation.
Luther’s face was shining with happiness and Frey spoke after a moment.
“I know a good place, let’s go there.”
“Alright.”