Chapter 218 - Deller

What a magnificent city. Adion thought as he put his head out through the carriage window and looked down the road. 

The city of Deller sprawled out in somewhat of a jumbled mess, but there was beauty in the chaos.

“Quite the beautiful city, don’t you think?” Creva asked with a small smile, slouching down lazily on her seat as she looked at Adion.

The two had traveled together for a few days now, and Creva had lost all pretenses of being a revered Soul mage. If Adion didn’t know any better, he would think she really was just a fellow student, no stronger than he was. 

“It was only a small outpost 300 years ago,” Creva explained, “With no plans of ever expanding into anything more. But over time, the territory we conquered expanded, and Deller expanded bit by bit. Plans were made for other towns to be built close by, since there was no infrastructure in place here. But for whatever reason, that never came to fruition, and we got this chaotic mess of a city.”

“I think it looks nice. It gives the city a certain personality,” Adion answered honestly, tucking his head inside the carriage again and sitting down.

“That’s for sure,” Creva agreed, “You’ll notice that it’s almost like traveling through time as you make your way through the city. It’s like no other place I’ve been to.”

“Still, we won’t stay here, right? I want to head back as soon as possible.” Adion said, not caring to explore anything before getting home and seeing his family.

“I understand you’re in a rush,” Creva said, “We’ll just stay and rest for the night. I left in a hurry, so I’ll have to make some arrangements before leaving for Cyalis with you.”

“That’s fine,” Adion said, “How do we handle White?” 

“I could arrange for him to enter the city, but it would be quite troublesome, and would certainly delay us. As a Diamond beast, he is in quite a tricky situation. Not weak enough to be treated with disregard, but not strong enough to be able to be treated with caution,” Creva said, “It would be easier for him to wait for us to leave.”

“I understand,” Adion said. He instructed White, who was still trailing behind them, that he should wait on the southern side of the city and join them again the next morning. 

White had no issues with that and quickly disappeared into the woods. 

It’s better to be cautious. I’ll show him around Cyalis to make up for it. There, I won’t have to worry about anyone attacking him with me around.

The carriage entered the city, receiving bows from the guards at the inner city gate. 

“Are there many Noble families in Deller?” Adion asked. Only family clans with a Soul mage could become a Noble family, which wasn’t something common anywhere on Shiora. Still, the big cities usually had a few of them. 

“There are four, but it might be three soon,” Creva answered, somewhat somber.

“Why is that?” Adion asked.

“Soft Soul Ermis died in battle during the war in the Valis Kingdom,” Creva answered.

Adion turned quiet. I guess it’s not exactly my fault…But I still feel somewhat burdened. 

“They have a clever girl who will start the Academy next spring, however. There is hope for the future,” Creva said, “No one would put pressure on their family when Ermis died fighting for the Academy.”

“Not now perhaps. But what about a century from now? Will people still remember?” Adion questioned.

“You sound like an old man,” Creva said with a small laugh, “Don’t worry. Ermis was good to me. I’ll remember.”

The carriage moved slowly through the city. Unlike Cyalis, which had wide and structured roads, Deller shifted from Noble courtyards and busy commercial streets to narrow alleys with no order. 

Finally, after over an hour’s journey, the carriage came to a stop in front of a pair of gates leading into the Helmis manor. 

“Here we are,” Creva said, getting on her feet, “I’m dying to stretch my legs.”

Adion followed her, and the two crossed the guarded gates and headed up a small hill to the main mansion. 

“I’m afraid I won’t have much time to entertain you during your visit,” Creva said, “I’ll have someone take care of you. Do you want to go out our rest in the mansion?”

“I’ll just rest here,” Adion answered, “No need to go through any trouble. Just take care of your business.”

“Alright,” Creva nodded.

Just as they closed in on the mansion, the doors opened, and a middle-aged but quite beautiful woman stepped out with a smile on her face.

The woman ran to Creva and Adion without much grace and called out, “Aunt!”

“Falici,” Creva called out with a smile and hugged the woman. She turned to Adion and introduced him, “This is my great-niece Falici. And this is Adion Remori, the disciple of the Headmaster.”

Great-niece?

Adion felt it was somewhat strange that a woman could be called that by someone who looked more than 20 years younger, but still smiled in greeting.

“So this is the famous Adion Remori?” Falici asked, “Soft Soul Hugo is going to be thrilled. He has been stopping by every other day since he heard you went to the Outskirts to bring him back.”

“How did he find out I went to bring Adion back?” Creva asked.

“I don’t know,” Falici answered, “He came by a few days ago and asked about it, that’s how I found out about it. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

“It was supposed to be kept a secret,” Creva muttered.

Seems like communicating through so many toubans makes it impossible to keep things from spreading. Adion thought with a sigh.

I just hope it won’t reach Heavenly Light.

“Whatever, we’ll be on our way in the morning,” Creva said, “If he shows up later, tell him we already left.”

“Are you sure?” Falici asked, “He’s been looking forward to it.”

“Why is he looking forward to seeing me?” Adion couldn’t help but ask.

“Who wouldn’t be?” Falici asked with a laugh, “Everyone has been talking about you for the past months. If reaching Silver at such a young age could somewhat explain the Headmaster taking you in, it can’t explain why Heavenly Light risked so much to kidnap you. A lot of theories have been spreading. So…what’s the secret?”

Adion looked at Falici’s curious face and didn’t know what to say.

“It’s not that exaggerated, is it?” Adion said with an awkward smile.

“I’m afraid it is,” Falici said with a smile, “At least here in Deller. People might not know the name of their king, but they know the name Adion Remori.”

Damn that’s cool.

Adion couldn’t stop himself from feeling a little proud. But he tried his best to hide it.

“So? What’s so special about you?” Falici asked again.

“Aren’t you a scholar?” Creva questioned, flicking Falici on her forehead, “Figure it out yourself.”

“I have a theory, but I need to confirm it, right?” Falici asked.

“What’s your theory?” Adion asked, a little curious.

“You have the blood of the Fire Phoenix in you,” Falici said, looking at Adion with anticipation. “That’s why fire has gotten easier to control. The Phoenix is back, and you have been chosen by it to carry out its will in the world.”

Adion opened his mouth in shock.

“I’m right?” Falici asked excitedly. Adion couldn’t help but feel like everyone in this family acted like young girls, no matter their age.

“I’m afraid not,” Adion said, shaking his head.

Well, I guess it’s not completely wrong. I did swallow a pill made from the blood of the Fire Phoenix and gained Authority over fire from it. If I wanted to…I might be able to convince people that I am chosen by the Fire Phoenix.

That might be a convenient identity to use in the future.

“Are you telling the truth?” Falici asked. 

“He is,” Creva said, “Go get Gerro, I need to talk to him.”

“Alright,” Falici said, turning back reluctantly, “Do you know, aunt?”

“At least come up with a better theory before discussing it with me,” Creva said with a scowl.

“Fine, fine,” Falici said, scurrying back into the mansion.

Adion looked curiously at Creva. He had never told her anything about his space powers. He couldn’t help but be curious if she had any theories of her own.

Creva noticed Adion’s look and turned to look at him with a smirk, “It wasn’t hard to figure out.”

“You figured it out?” Adion asked.

“You basically told me, making it boring,” Creva said with a small pout.

I did?

“Even if you’re very good at aura control for a Silver mage, especially one so young, you are nothing in front of a Soul mage. I heard you were a fire mage, but I can’t sense the fire element from your core. In fact, I can’t sense any element I’m familiar with. Since you can’t hide it from me, it means you have an element I can’t recognize. You said you arrived here through a teleportation formation, but they aren’t so easy to use as far as I know. You having a space core would perfectly explain everything, including why Heavenly Light wanted to kidnap you so badly.”

Can you really deduce my secrets so casually?

Damn. Why does this feel so familiar?

Adion saw Sell’s face smirking at him in his mind.

“Is it that easy to figure out?” Adion asked with a sigh, not trying to hide it. Since his enemies knew, it didn’t matter that his allies did.

“I’m sure quite a few people have guessed it,” Creva said, “But it wouldn’t be so easy to confirm without spending time with you.”

Still. It probably won’t be long before it spreads all over Shiora. Something like a space mage appearing isn’t going to be able to stay hidden now that so many people know about it.

“There is still a lot of things I don’t know though,” Creva said, “I hope you can indulge me.”

“Sure,” Adion said.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Creva said, walking to the mansion again, “There will be plenty of time during our journey to Cyalis.”

I have to be careful what I say. Creva is too smart. I can’t let her know about my Authority. That is my best trump card, and Heavenly Light can never be allowed to know about it.

“Since you’re a part of the Scrolls, you should like reading, right?” Creva asked, “I can have someone take you to the library if you’d like.”

“That’d be nice,” Adion said, always eager to learn something new.

“Good,” Creva nodded with smile, “You can stay there as long as you like, I’ll have food brought over. Just read and relax.”

Adion and Creva entered the big mansion. Creva called over a maid and instructed her to guide Adion to the library. 

“Just let someone know when you get tired and you’ll be shown to a guest room,” Creva said, “We can set off whenever you’re ready tomorrow. I’ll be up at sunrise.”

Will you? Adion doubted it. Creva had slept late into the morning every day during their journey. Adion didn’t mind much, though. It gave him time to paint and meditate.

“Thank you,” Adion said.

Creva walked off, heading up a spiraling staircase, and Adion was led away by the maid to a corridor to the side. 

It didn’t take long before they reached the library. It was nothing compared to the facilities at the Academy, but it was certainly big for a private library. 

Looks like this is a family of scholars. Adion thought as he walked through the library, shelf after shelf filled with books and scrolls. 

At the end of the room, there were a few desks, couches, and armchairs available for reading and studying. 

“Are you looking to read anything specific, young master?” The maid asked. 

“I’ll just have a look around,” Adion answered. 

As he took a look around, he noticed a podium with a book placed on it. It was covered in glass, and the book looked untouched. 

“What’s this?” Adion asked, turning back to the maid who was quietly following him. 

“That is the work published by Soft Soul Creva after her studies as a scholar at the Academy,” The maid answered, “It was put there by the previous head of the family.”

Creva waved off her research as an insignificant paper. But it looks like her family takes a lot of pride in it. 

“Can I read it?” Adion asked, curious about Creva’s research.

“There are probably no books with more copies in the library,” The maid answered with a smile, “I’ll take you to where they are kept.”

Soon, Adion was seated in a comfortable armchair with some light snacks in front of him, holding a book with the title ‘Mana core and the Soul.’

This is the way to travel. Adion thought, resting his head comfortably and opening the book.