The Prince Of Magic

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After making their way out of the building, Hadrian and company were greeted to the sight of the hidden magical street of Paris, Montmartre.

The 'Place Cachée'.

Just like the French ministry building before, the outside magical district of Paris was crowded.

It was lively but relaxed, if Hadrian were to compare it to the busy city streets of London, which was a good change of pace in his opinion.

Anywhere they looked, there were wizards, witches and other magical races present, minding their own business.

It was a curious sight for the servants and, even more so, to Hadrian.

"When those couple said witches and wizards, they really meant it…" Charles muttered, glancing around.

"Yeah, no kidding." Yan Qing agreed.

"King Hassan would probably fit right in here." Arash joked, chuckling.

"They probably wouldn't even bat an eyelash!" Astolfo added, giggling

Humming, Kieran turned to Hadrian after having his fill of surveying his surroundings.

"Hm, so what's the plan, boss?" He asked, looking nonchalant despite having one hand still on the back of Astolfo's coat to prevent the latter from running off.

"Oi! I thought we're going along with what I got in mind!" Astolfo protested.

"One, I don't trust what's gonna come out of your mouth. Two, this is also your first time being here, so how the hell would you know where to go, huh?" Kieran retorted in a challenging tone.

"Uh, eto, we'll just go as we wander around?" Astolfo said unsurely, avoiding eye contact as he laughed nervously.

The deadpanned stares from his fellow retainers were enough to silence the pink haired knight's protests.

After a moment of thought, Hadrian answered.

"I suppose we'll just walk around. This is our first time in the magical community in this world, so what's better than to wander here?" The young mage gestured to the lively scenery before them.

"Hm, alright." Kieran shrugged, having no issues with it.

One knight did, however.

"Oi! Isn't that what I suggested?!" Astolfo exclaimed indignantly.

His words went unheard as Kieran dragged him along, following after their master who had walked on ahead of them.

In comfortable silence, Hadrian and his retainers walked on one side of the street with no particular destination in mind.

Their heads turned this way and that, taking in the sights as they chat with each other every once in a while.

Surprisingly, Hadrian was enjoying himself by simply taking in the scenery.

It was a nice change of pace from his daily routine.

Hadrian had been to Paris before, several times, but that was in his world.

One of the things that stood out to him about the French was their languid way of living, almost like a smooth flowing river, and it can be easily seen through their movements and body language. The streets, while crowded and busy, moved along in an unhurried pace that reminded Hadrian of what he had seen in his world, albeit that was from the ordinary folk, not the mages.

Here though, the similarity seemed to be apparent as well.

Hadrian was almost envious of them, given his previous life was naught but filled with worries, tragedies and responsibilities.

'A king's life is always filled with thorns, both inside and out…' The young mage remarked, recalling the words of one of his ancestors.

Shaking his head from negative thoughts, Hadrian distracted himself by looking around as he continued to walk forward, his retainers trailing after him.

Unknown to him, everywhere he walked, people would subconsciously make way for him to move forward. Most of the time, they would looked startled, as if questioning themselves before their gazes befell upon him, and then, they would stare as they watched him passed them by without giving them a single glance.

Their amaze and admiring gazes were clear as the blue skies itself, but their curiosity to his identity was even more.

Hadrian, however, remained oblivious to this as he walked by from one window shop to another.

His retainers, on the other hand, were not as ignorant.

Having witnessed a similar sight before, the retainers laughed among themselves as they followed after their master.

"Hailed as a genius mage, yet still so oblivious to admirers." Charles remarked, shaking his head with a chuckle.

"Eh, it's one of his charming qualities, non?" Astolfo grinned.

"Wait till he realizes that he's popular, no matter where he goes." Yan Qing pitched in.

"I think that won't be any time soon." Arash agreed with a laugh.

Ignorant of his retainers' chatter, Hadrian began to peruse a few shops that caught his eye.

The first was a bookstore called 'Magillard' that sells, obviously, magical books regarding certain topics in the magical arts.

Hadrian had found quite a number of such in the Flamel's library, but, while enlightening to have had read through them, he wanted to know what kind of materials that the average wizards and witches would read and learn. Knowing the difference in the levels of the wizarding people would be a boon for him to know than to be unaware about it.

The second was an apothecary shop called 'Dr. Aziz Branchiflore', which was in Rue Girardon.

Over the weekends, Hadrian had begun learning about brewing magical potions under Nicolas Flamel's tutelage.

Some of his retainers found the subject a bore to bear, but to Hadrian, learning more about how potions were brewed in this world would only be to his benefit and theirs. Brewing potions back in his world in his first life, and now second, were different in their methods, but one thing remained always the same. The effects of potions would always depend on how it was brewed and the ingredients it was made.

In a way, it was eerily similar to cooking. Good food would always come out great if it was made with care and its high quality ingredients.

Thus, Hadrian was curious on what the shop has to offer.

That, and also because Nicolas had asked him to get some fresh ingredients for his potion.

The man seemed to have something in mind, if the mischievous glint in his eye was of any indication.

And lastly, the third shop that Hadrian entered was a candy shop called 'K. Rammelle's Enchantée', much to the amus.e.m.e.nt of his retainers.

"Geez, master, even when we're here, your taste seems to be the same." Charles remarked, staring at the numerous items in Hadrian's basket.

The candies were mostly chocolates frogs and small bags of almonds covered in chocolate. There were some that are different, such as long strawberry sour strips and fruit flavored lollipops.

What was unique to these candies was that most of them were casted with animated charms, spells that enabled the object to be 'alive' in a way.

Having a sweet tooth since his first life, Hadrian could not help himself from wanting to try each of them with his familiars, who also happened to enjoy eating food of great quality.

Clearly, the master's taste in food reflects in his familiars as well.

"Silence, you." Hadrian glared at the cheeky retainer. "And for your information, most of these would be eaten by Ryu and Fou, not me."

Said servant merely brushed off the glare and chuckled at his master's expense.

"Sure, sure." Charles grinned, clearly not buying his excuse.

After a paying the cashier for his purchases with three gold coins (of which the wizarding world termed as 'Bezant' in France), Hadrian left the colorful candy shop with his retainers in tow, leaving a blushing young female cashier at his wake after he gave her one gold bezant as a tip for her service.

Feeling refreshed, the young mage can't help but conclude that today was a good day for him.

The retainers though, followed after him with a few bags in their hands and under their arms.

Some of them made their own purchases from some shops they individually went to, but most of the bags they were holding were for their master's. The young mage only had one pair of hands, and while he can, he opted not to use his three spatial inventories to store the items in. He was not exactly in a private location, and doing so might garner him unwanted attention.

The ancient Babylonian king might be uncaring to the consequences to what his actions would bring for most of the time, but Hadrian was not him.

Spatial inventory was a rare, if not impossible feat in this world. Better to let the masses ignorant of it for as long as Hadrian can.

Hadrian snapped out of his musings when one of his retainers spoke.

"Ugh, can we go get something to eat? I'm hungry from all this walking." Kieran asked, shoulders slumping a bit.

"Yeah, my feet's getting a bit sore too." Yan Qing added, stretching his limbs upwards with a groan.

"You're probably still getting used to your body, I think." Charles mused aloud.

"Hmm, maybe." The assassin agreed with a sigh.

Noticing the slightly worn expressions in their faces, Hadrian had decided that they were due for a small break then and there.

"Okay, why don't we adjourn in that café?" Hadrian suggested, pointing to the two story building with tables and chairs situated outside its establishment.

Murmurs of agreement were made, and they went to the café.

His retainers chose a table located at the upper floor. From there, they can see the street as the crowd moved along their ways.

As the others went up the stairs, Hadrian was about to follow after Charles when something to his right caught his gaze.

It was a newspaper stand.

The newspapers were charmed to have moving pictures, which Hadrian found to be a common thing in wizarding societies. But, it was the headline and the front page of the newspapers that caught his full attention. In large, bold letters, the title of the story was displayed. The words were written in French, but the automaton helped translate it for him.

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[ Grizzly Murders in Muggle Locations ]

[ Wizards and Witches Missing ]

[ Mysterious Magical Cult on the Loose? ]

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Walking forward, Hadrian took one from the stand.

He paid the vendor tending to the stand one silver bezant, which rendered the latter bowing to him in gratitude for his generosity.

Acknowledging him with a nod, Hadrian went to go up the stairs, meeting Charles halfway there.

"Ah, master, where'd you go? I was just about to find you." Charles asked, looking over his form like a worried caretaker.

Hadrian sighed, then brought the hand that was holding the newspaper.

"I was just getting this. I want to read it." The young mage said as he followed the knight up the stairs.

"The others had already taken their seats, so you can sit beside mine." Charles smiled as he gestured to the chairs.

"Thanks."

After he sat down and stated his order after taking a quick glance at the menu, Hadrian returned to the newspaper and read its contents.

Illiterate as he was in French, the automaton was more than happy to translate the contents of the front page for him in his mind.

In a few minutes, Hadrian read the newspaper in silence as his retainers chat around him.

What he discovered caused his brows to meet and a frown to appear on his face.

Three significant parts of the wizarding newspaper contained mostly about the murders, which Hadrian was especially interested in.

The wizarding people seemed to be unaware of the true situation, but Hadrian was not most people. The stories were accompanied with pictures, displayed in black and white but most were censored.

It might a string of coincidences, but all three stories were related by one thing.

Murders caused by one mysterious cult that had yet to be found and accounted for.

Looking above the papers, Hadrian glanced over to his retainers.

His servants might construed their exhaustion as natural, but the young mage felt something amiss.

While Hadrian felt relaxed earlier, his moment of peace broke when he took notice of the headlines on the newspaper. Similar to having cold water poured over him. The piece of news broke him out of his tranquil state, causing him to return to his usual calm but calculative stance.

Closing his eyes briefly, Hadrian tried to get a feel of the magic in the air and frowned when his instincts rang a little.

The magic of the earth was there, powerful, pure and ever present.

However, something was strange.

There was an unknown element trying to overpower Gaia's presence, something unpleasant and troubling. The unknown presence was malicious, eerie, and strange. It was weak, a sliver in actuality, but he had sensed it. Perhaps it might be due to the distance, but the presence was troubling by itself even though its influence upon the world was weak.

The young mage felt the presence came from the west, but it ended in a brief second before disappearing altogether.

Hadrian could not get a true grasp on what it was, but he would bet that it was not good.

Concluding that it might be related to the murders, Hadrian put the newspaper down with a sigh as he opened his eyes.

Looking to the front, his retainers were still engaged in amicable chatter, which he was hesitant to interrupt.

Leaning back in his chair, Hadrian smiled as he left his retainers to their own world.

He would have time to break his suspicions to them later on.

For now, he'll let them relax and have fun. They deserved a break every once and a while.

Looking at the blue skies of Paris, Hadrian concluded that it was still a good day, despite the ill news that he had recently discovered.

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