The Prince Of Magic

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[... Earlier ...]

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It had been almost a whole week since Yan Qing followed his master's order.

Investigating the murder sites around France had been a time-consuming and weary task, especially since some were situated in rural locations of the country, but the assassin did it without complaint.

The only issue he had was that he wished Kieran had accompanied him. At least then, he would have had someone to share the boredom.

And boy, was it one of the uneventful tasks he had ever undertaken from his master.

While not unfamiliar to visiting creepy locations in the past, Yan would rather wash the dishes in the estate and trim the shrubs by the garden, make shapes out of them, than to do this task again.

Since the murder scenes had already been searched and cleaned by the local officials, all that Yan had done was search the areas in a thorough matter, which ended up uneventful for the most part.

Luckily, Yan was a Servant. His constitution was far stronger than an average human, albeit downgraded by the vessel he was currently using.

At least, that was what he had thought at first.

When he had visited the first murder site in his list, Yan felt something inside him was being restrained, almost as if his body was being weighed down by something even though there was no object to detain him.

What was even stranger was that the feeling became more noticeable the more he ventured deeper and stand near the spots where the victims had been murdered.

From there, he would sense an ominous energy that was similar to the object that he and the others had found back in his master's world.

Yan wondered if that was the reason he felt such a niggling sensation.

Granted, his master had already confirmed the effects coming from outside of the wizarding communities, but they were minimal in amount.

And comparing it to the murder sites in their world, the difference was quite significant, considering the ones that he had seen here were more eerie and ominous in nature.

Due to these effects, Yan's investigation had stretched to a week than a few days, longer than he had initially expected.

On the bright side, the murder site he was about to visit today would be the last, and he would finally return to his master with the results he found.

'Hmm… maybe I should call master and let him know about these effects…'

Whilst Yan mused on this thought, he was about to jump over the gates of a large office building – which had been closed down by the authorities, due to the murders that occurred inside – when he saw a shadow of a figure slipped inside from where he stood.

Quickly, the assassin became alert and did not waste any time following after the intruder, albeit mindful of his approach so as to not let his target become aware of his presence.

As he moved into position to ambush his target, Yan slowly let out a devilish smile.

'Hmph, at least I'll have something interesting to report to master later on…'

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[... Present ...]

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"… and that's what happened." Yan Qing said as he finished his report.

Surrounding the assassin were his fellow retainers, and seated in the middle of a three-person couch was his master, Hadrian.

The young mage in question appeared thoughtful, brows furrowed and his arms crossed over his c.h.e.s.t as he listened to his story.

The news that he heard from Yan brought forth a seed of concern in him.

He had already discussed the subject with his grandfather before, but the issue was turning out to be worse than they both suspect.

The negative effects of the ominous energies from the murder sites in this world seemed to be more significant than the ones they had sensed in their world, and what was alarming was that they affected his retainers more than him.

Perhaps the purpose behind it was to affect beings like Heroic Spirits, not mages like Hadrian.

'Or maybe it doesn't affect me because of the Spider's blessing?'

It was a compelling thought, given the fact that the source of ominous energy that he had sensed from an unknown distance, however briefly it might had been, was confirmed to be of alien origin by his own grandfather, the magician of the Kaleidoscope himself.

It would make sense, seeing as beings with alien origins can resist the abilities of those similar to them.

Hadrian was careful in assuming it as 'resistance' rather than 'immunity' due to the lack of proof on his end.

If it were so, then facing Prelati with the negative effects of the eldritch magic would not be an issue to Hadrian.

On the other hand, his retainers would the only ones affected by it, providing the ancient cretin an advantage once they come to clash in the future.

As his retainers chatter with each other, mostly asking Yan questions here and there, Hadrian mused on how he would need to curb the problem.

For the moment, nothing comes to mind.

At least, none that does not make him resort to using the SERAPH of the automaton.

Idly, his emerald eyes then glanced to the item adorning the ring finger of his left hand.

Frowning, Hadrian sighed, shaking his head as if to turn away from such a reckless idea.

'No, I can't resort to such a tactic. I promised opa, and the consequences that would follow after will just endanger this world from that thing…' He huffed, as much as it pained him to admit it.

But, the need to summon a Caster-class servant becomes more prominent.

Perhaps, by then, he would be able to conjure a plan in making his servants more able in the upcoming battle against Prelati and his/her ilk.

Snapping himself out of reverie, Hadrian turned his attention back to Yan, who was in middle of cursing Kieran for throwing a banana peel at him – one that appeared to be black and soggy already.

"Yan, where is the person that you detained?" Hadrian asked, interrupting the assassin from throttling his fellow retainer.

Surprised, Yan turned to his master with blinking lime colored eyes.

"Ah, he's in an abandoned warehouse that I found nearby." Yan answered, straightening his posture but not before giving the grinning Kieran a stink eye. "Dude acted so suspicious when I followed him inside the building, so I thought to capture him and give him an interrogation."

"And you just left him there?" Charles asked, slightly baffled.

"Course not. I made sure to strike him by one of the pressure points around the jaw, so that he can be asleep for hours. He'll probably wake up tomorrow, morning at the earliest." Yan paused, then added as an afterthought. "For insurance, I made sure to restrain his movements with the hinged handcuffs that I nabbed from that policeman I saw nearby."

"So… you gave that guy the knuckle sandwich of his life, tied him up, and hoped he'll wake up at that time?" Kieran listed, skeptical and amused.

"Well, if you went with me, then I probably wouldn't be worried that he might wake up and escape, now do I?" Yan returned through gritted teeth, making Kieran chuckle unrepentantly.

"Have you interrogated him yet?" Hadrian interrupted, causing the assassin to turn to him.

"No, not yet. I was thinking that you might want to be there when I do it." Yan said, looking a bit hesitant on forwarding his idea to his master.

Sensing the assassin's insecurity, Hadrian smiled to reassure him.

"I'll be there. I want to hear what he has to say." The young mage said, much to the assassin's relief.

Discerning that that was the end of their group talk, Arash spoke for the first time since the meeting began.

"So, what now, master?" The bowman asked, glancing at his master.

Hadrian sighed, standing up carefully from the couch with his familiars perching on his shoulder and his head.

"Now, I want you, Yan and Kieran to secure the warehouse where he left that man. There's a high probably that he's linked to Prelati somehow, and we need to find that cretin's location soon and check on his recent activities. I would rather not let this cat and mouse game stand any longer than I have to." Hadrian instructed as he glanced to each retainer that he called out.

"Roger." Arash smiled.

"Ya got it, boss!" Kieran said, giving him a jaunty salute.

Instead of responding, Yan Qing simply nodded his head in confirmation.

"What about us?" Astolfo asked suddenly, pouting as he was left out.

"You'll be outside the warehouse with Charles tomorrow, securing the warehouse from outside." Hadrian said to the pink haired paladin knight, who nodded in understanding.

"Standing guard, master?" Charles asked, looking a bit disappointed.

"It's better that way, lest you wanna see Yan do his thing to that guy." Kieran reasoned in a bored tone.

Then, the amber eyed retainer paused, nose wrinkling in disgust.

"Wait, that came out f.u.c.k.i.n.g wrong…" He muttered, amber eyes narrowed as he stared to the side.

"Moron…" Yan called out, smirking when Kieran glared at him.

"You both are." Charles cut in with a sigh.

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