The name of the former headmaster of the Magus Academy was known to basically anyone who had knowledge of the Magus Universe.
Altus Dresden, a Supreme Magus figure who was the founder and headmaster of Magus Academy before Delbrand took over.
It had been almost four years since the man had gone missing, so it was no wonder that Headmaster Delbrand was rattled about the possibility of obtaining information regarding the man. No matter how miniscule it might be.
"Alright. Please follow me, Headmaster" Magister Barty said, beckoning with his hand.
The man quickly led them towards a building just hundreds of meters away from the headquarters – the place where the prisoner was held.
This was the second time Emery entered the Magus Alliance Prison in Golden City and he was surprised at how different it was now compared to the last time he visited, which was just two days ago.
In the span of a single day, the previously almost empty cells on Level 1 were filled with hundreds of people. These were the newly captured whose status hadn't been processed yet.
With thismany criminals, Emery couldn't help but to question the degree of security in this place.
There were many saint and magus-level guards patrolling and protecting the prison, but from what he could see, their numbers were simply not nearly enough to deal with this many people if something happened. And from the looks of it, Headmaster Delbrand also had the same concern.
"Is it wise to keep all of them here in the same place?"
Hearing the question, Magister Barty glanced at the headmaster before saying, "Normally, we would transfer some of them to other sectors. Unfortunately, we can't do that. Not right now."
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of 5 figures, all of whom were wearing prison guard uniforms. Four were magus level, while the last one was a grand magus. The other party was a middle-aged man with intimidating countenance, his right eye was covered with a metal eyepatch.
"You have nothing to worry about. The prisoners are all secured," the eyepatched man said. It seemed he heard Headmaster Delbrand's question.
Seeing the figure, Magister Barty quickly introduced the other party. Apparently, the man was the warden of this prison, who had been waiting to monitor this specific occasion and make sure nothing went wrong.
Accompanied by the new entourage, Emery and Headmaster Delbrand made their way into the construct that proceeded to carry them down to Level 4, which housed fugitives of magus-level or similar importance.
Once again, the same sight as Level 1 could be seen in this place. Emery remembered the previous time he was here, only one of the three cells was occupied, but now it seemed to be nearly full of inmates exuding magus-level signatures.
Some of these new inmates looked like they were still engulfed by anger as they relentlessly attempted to smash the glass-like bars restraining them with all their strength. Alas not even a sound was heard from beyond the glass.
Emery showed a surprised expression when he saw a familiar figure held within one of these cells. It was a man dressed in all black, wearing a pair of glasses that perched neatly on his unique-looking sharp nose.
Indeed, there was no mistake. The other party was the intruder who had sneaked into Terra Palace to kidnap him at the beginning of the year. A mercenary called Black Jackal.
The man seemed to notice him as well. He knocked on the glass, giving gestures that looked like he wanted to speak. Alas, Emery chose to ignore him and kept walking forward following the group.
Emery reached the end of the hallway moments later. There, he saw two familiar figures locked in cells located opposite each other.
One was Annara, while the other one was the one the headmaster came for. A Magus Academy instructor from the Darkness Institute, the man who had given Emery some guidance regarding gravity magic: Magus Cassian Newt.
Even though he knew they were here for the magus, Emery couldn't help but observe Annara first. The female half-blood apparently looked very surprised at his arrival. She tried to hide it of course, but Emery, who knew her enough, instinctively noticed from her odd reaction that something suspicious was going on.
Without saying anything, the Warden accessed Magus Cassian's cell. Immediately after, the nearly opaque glass turned a little clear, meaning they could communicate with the magus without problem now.
Noticing the changes, Magus Cassian turned his head and smiled, "Took you long enough… I was almost bored to death."
Ignoring the remark, Headmaster Delbrand stepped forward and went straight into business. "Tell us what you know about Headmaster Altus. Tell me now."
The smile on the magus' face became even wider when he heard those words. He quickly replied with a flattering smile, "Of course… Of course… But first I need a guarantee – a blood contract, to be exact – that I will be absolved from any wrongdoing."
A snort was given by the headmaster. "Huh! Cassian, you are an embarrassment to the Academy, tell me what you know now and I promise that I will help you receive minimum punishment."
Magus Cassian still adopted his nonchalant, easygoing attitude, unfazed by Headmaster Delbrand's intense gaze.
"Aaa… Delbrand, you were always his favorite and faithful dog. Well, what I'm about to say here is everything, from what had happened to your precious senior the past four years and where he is now. So I need a written guarantee by the Alliance."
Emery, who only silently observed the exchange, saw Headmaster Delbrand turn silent. It lasted for a while before he said something that bewildered him.
"I believe he knows something, but why does he urgently call me here now ofall times and ask for an Alliance's blood contract that needs days to make."
Even though the question wasn't directed to him, Magister Barty seemed to agree with the headmaster's thoughts and quickly responded, "He's most likely stalling for time."
Turning his head to the magister, Headmaster Delbrand said, "You're right. But the question is for what?"
It was at this time that the faces of everyone in the group changed as they felt a wave of tremors shake the prison. Immediately, all of them instinctively knew something big was happening outside, as there was no way small matters could bring about impact this deep underground.
As expected, Magister Barty swiftly received information from his men outside. His face changed drastically as he hatefully said, "Those crazy bastards! They dare to attack our headquarters?!"
The name of the former headmaster of the Magus Academy was known to basically anyone who had knowledge of the Magus Universe.
Altus Dresden, a Supreme Magus figure who was the founder and headmaster of Magus Academy before Delbrand took over.
It had been almost four years since the man had gone missing, so it was no wonder that Headmaster Delbrand was rattled about the possibility of obtaining information regarding the man. No matter how miniscule it might be.
"Alright. Please follow me, Headmaster" Magister Barty said, beckoning with his hand.
The man quickly led them towards a building just hundreds of meters away from the headquarters – the place where the prisoner was held.
This was the second time Emery entered the Magus Alliance Prison in Golden City and he was surprised at how different it was now compared to the last time he visited, which was just two days ago.
In the span of a single day, the previously almost empty cells on Level 1 were filled with hundreds of people. These were the newly captured whose status hadn't been processed yet.
With thismany criminals, Emery couldn't help but to question the degree of security in this place.
There were many saint and magus-level guards patrolling and protecting the prison, but from what he could see, their numbers were simply not nearly enough to deal with this many people if something happened. And from the looks of it, Headmaster Delbrand also had the same concern.
"Is it wise to keep all of them here in the same place?"
Hearing the question, Magister Barty glanced at the headmaster before saying, "Normally, we would transfer some of them to other sectors. Unfortunately, we can't do that. Not right now."
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of 5 figures, all of whom were wearing prison guard uniforms. Four were magus level, while the last one was a grand magus. The other party was a middle-aged man with intimidating countenance, his right eye was covered with a metal eyepatch.
"You have nothing to worry about. The prisoners are all secured," the eyepatched man said. It seemed he heard Headmaster Delbrand's question.
Seeing the figure, Magister Barty quickly introduced the other party. Apparently, the man was the warden of this prison, who had been waiting to monitor this specific occasion and make sure nothing went wrong.
Accompanied by the new entourage, Emery and Headmaster Delbrand made their way into the construct that proceeded to carry them down to Level 4, which housed fugitives of magus-level or similar importance.
Once again, the same sight as Level 1 could be seen in this place. Emery remembered the previous time he was here, only one of the three cells was occupied, but now it seemed to be nearly full of inmates exuding magus-level signatures.
Some of these new inmates looked like they were still engulfed by anger as they relentlessly attempted to smash the glass-like bars restraining them with all their strength. Alas not even a sound was heard from beyond the glass.
Emery showed a surprised expression when he saw a familiar figure held within one of these cells. It was a man dressed in all black, wearing a pair of glasses that perched neatly on his unique-looking sharp nose.
Indeed, there was no mistake. The other party was the intruder who had sneaked into Terra Palace to kidnap him at the beginning of the year. A mercenary called Black Jackal.
The man seemed to notice him as well. He knocked on the glass, giving gestures that looked like he wanted to speak. Alas, Emery chose to ignore him and kept walking forward following the group.
Emery reached the end of the hallway moments later. There, he saw two familiar figures locked in cells located opposite each other.
One was Annara, while the other one was the one the headmaster came for. A Magus Academy instructor from the Darkness Institute, the man who had given Emery some guidance regarding gravity magic: Magus Cassian Newt.
Even though he knew they were here for the magus, Emery couldn't help but observe Annara first. The female half-blood apparently looked very surprised at his arrival. She tried to hide it of course, but Emery, who knew her enough, instinctively noticed from her odd reaction that something suspicious was going on.
Without saying anything, the Warden accessed Magus Cassian's cell. Immediately after, the nearly opaque glass turned a little clear, meaning they could communicate with the magus without problem now.
Noticing the changes, Magus Cassian turned his head and smiled, "Took you long enough… I was almost bored to death."
Ignoring the remark, Headmaster Delbrand stepped forward and went straight into business. "Tell us what you know about Headmaster Altus. Tell me now."
The smile on the magus' face became even wider when he heard those words. He quickly replied with a flattering smile, "Of course… Of course… But first I need a guarantee – a blood contract, to be exact – that I will be absolved from any wrongdoing."
A snort was given by the headmaster. "Huh! Cassian, you are an embarrassment to the Academy, tell me what you know now and I promise that I will help you receive minimum punishment."
Magus Cassian still adopted his nonchalant, easygoing attitude, unfazed by Headmaster Delbrand's intense gaze.
"Aaa… Delbrand, you were always his favorite and faithful dog. Well, what I'm about to say here is everything, from what had happened to your precious senior the past four years and where he is now. So I need a written guarantee by the Alliance."
Emery, who only silently observed the exchange, saw Headmaster Delbrand turn silent. It lasted for a while before he said something that bewildered him.
"I believe he knows something, but why does he urgently call me here now ofall times and ask for an Alliance's blood contract that needs days to make."
Even though the question wasn't directed to him, Magister Barty seemed to agree with the headmaster's thoughts and quickly responded, "He's most likely stalling for time."
Turning his head to the magister, Headmaster Delbrand said, "You're right. But the question is for what?"
It was at this time that the faces of everyone in the group changed as they felt a wave of tremors shake the prison. Immediately, all of them instinctively knew something big was happening outside, as there was no way small matters could bring about impact this deep underground.
As expected, Magister Barty swiftly received information from his men outside. His face changed drastically as he hatefully said, "Those crazy bastards! They dare to attack our headquarters?!"
