The Prince Of Magic

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Someone had been manipulating the war from behind the scenes.

Not only that, they found that that person had also been the instigator of what had been happening in the world recently.

The continuous wars around the world. The countless bodies of innocent people, and the regression of mankind's growth in population, all of which were caused by the wars.

The encounter led to a final battle, and Arin and his Servant tried to defeat the instigator of the wars, but unfortunately, the Servant of that person was too strong.

Moreover, the Master of that Servant had no intention of letting them leave the area alive.

Cornered and left with no choice, Arin had decided to send Waver Velvet back to Earth rather than to worry over his own safety and leave that place alive.

Waver had protested at first, but when he heard of the man's words, he too knew that the situation was already out of their hands.

'Everyone must know of what is going on here, and that won't happen if you die here as well!'

There was no other choice, but to do the smart thing in that situation. They were overwhelmed, and no matter what they tried to do, it was not enough to defeat the enemy.

Someone had to inform the people there of what was truly happening on the Moon, and Arin chose Waver over himself to do it instead of being selfish.

Caught between the right and wrong, Waver was left with no choice when Arin had cast a spell upon him that causes the target to leave the Moon without the risk of being detected by the Moon Cell.

Waking up in the soul transference coffin was not one of the things that Lord El-Melloi II was fond of recalling in his life, nor will he ever be.

The aftermath of the event had been quite draining on him as well.

Possessing important information related to the Moon Cell, he prepared himself to face the music and informed his superiors about what had happened.

Due to complicated circ.u.mstances and as a reward for his efforts, Waver Velvet was given the name of 'Lord El-Melloi II' to replace Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald as the acting Head of his house.

Apparently, his former mentor was the Head and he left the household with no one worthy to inherit his position. The house does not lack in numbers, but no one had the capabilities who can truly hold the position, much to their chagrin.

The youngest of their family had talent and the potential to be, but the higher-ups deemed her still too young to act as the Head of their household.

Instead, the higher-ups of the Mage's Association made the decision for them and gave Waver the Head position, due to his capabilities being closer and similar to the previous Head of the house.

From then on, Waver Velvet was known as 'Lord El-Melloi II'.

It had not been easy for him to be accepted in their household, but they had no other choice in the matter, not unless they incurred the wrath of both the higher-ups of the Mage's Association and the old Wizard Marshall for their previous Head's actions against his son-in-law.

But, the one that Lord El-Melloi II would always remember during the aftermath of the event was the expressions of the people that were close to Arin von Aelfryth.

Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg appeared unemotional, but the narrowing of his crimson eyes had been quite telling of what was exactly his thoughts about the matter.

The infamous man did not expressed any anger towards him.

No, it had been quite obvious to Waver that the man was angered by the results of the event, not by the fact that Waver was the only one to survive it.

On the other hand, the expression upon Lucia von Schweinorg's face, the wife of his savior, had been almost the same, but the telling of her sadness and grief had been palpable.

The long-haired professor closed his eyes, focusing on inhaling the cigarette on his lips.

The guilt in his c.h.e.s.t of watching Arin face against that person before he was forcefully ejected out of the Moon Cell's arena remained quite strong.

The guilt became even stronger when he heard the news of his once pupil and the son of his savior, Hadrianus Mathius von Schweinorg, had intentions to participate in the next war.

When Hadrian was still young, Lord El-Melloi II had been requested by the Wizard Marshall to teach the boy about the basics of Magecraft at home.

As the next Head of the Schweinorg house, Hadrian must learn the basics of Magecraft first.

The old Magician has intentions of teaching the boy the art of True Magic in the future, but since he had yet to reach the level that Zelretch had deemed proper, the Magecraft comes first.

Of course, he accepted the offer because he was curious about the boy himself. His guilt influencing his decision was simply part of the reason why he accepted the request without complaint.

He had seen and been around the young man for a few years, and Lord El-Melloi found him to be an impressive boy, who was not afraid of hard work and m.a.t.u.r.e for his age.

Surprisingly, the young man does not take after his father, nor his grandfather for that matter.

In the mystical arts, he takes after them a lot. But, in terms of personality, only specks of it.

He found the boy to be m.a.t.u.r.e yet somewhat carefree, calm yet happy-going, somewhat naive yet smart and quite cunning, and among other things.

It had been quite the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e for him to find out that the boy had a knack for playing games. Video games, to be precise. When he had introduced a console game to him, Hadrian was quick to pick up on the mechanics of the game and even managed to beat him.

Never did Lord El-Melloi II thought that he would find a kindred spirit, a fellow gamer, in someone as young and talented as Hadrianus Mathius von Schweinorg.

In addition to his skills in playing games, the boy have proven himself quite worthy of the title as the Heir to house Schweinorg through his obvious talent in Magecraft.

Since his admission in the Clock Tower, Hadrian had taken to the lessons taught by all the professors much like how a sponge would absorbed water.

It had been quite the impressive sight to witness a boy of fourteen years old create his own brand of Magecraft, though he heard from Hadrian that he modeled it after his father's Magecraft.

Even so, it was still an impressive thing to see nonetheless.

In fact, it had even impressed the higher-ups of the Clock Tower greatly, to the point that they had decided to give him a title as a way for others to acknowledge his efforts and great talent.

The 'Prince of Magic', they dubbed him.

Lord El-Melloi II found the title to be suitable for him, as well as the others.

Hadrian though, does not seems to care about it.

The boy even looked irritated by the title sometimes, if the long-haired professor can guess correctly by the twitch of the boy's eyebrow every time he hears it.

It didn't helped his case at all when the Queen of the Clock Tower, Lorelei Barthomeloi, had decided to take him under her wing when she was requested by Lord Zelretch to teach the boy the advance levels of Magecraft to improve Hadrian's capabilities as a Magus.

The Queen had accepted the task.

It helped that the boy had relations to the late user of the First True Magic, who was a close friend of hers in the past. That, and she was also interested in his capabilities as a Magus after she had heard of his great wealth of talent from her peers within the Mage's Association.

Lord El-Melloi II was not surprised when he had first heard of this news.

While his capabilities as a Magus had earned him the respect and renown that he had long for in the past, his skills in Magecraft would never mount up to the level of the Queen's.

In an honest fight, Lorelei would overwhelm and kill him before he can even activate his circuits and cast a single spell.

That was simply how terrifyingly impressive the Queen's abilities as a Magus.

Under her strict tutelage, Hadrian's growth as a Magus grew in leaps and beyond what many of them had expected.

Lord El-Melloi II even heard from Lord Zelretch that he might soon be ready to learn the basics of True Magic, which surprised him since the old man had taken ten years to be prepared and another ten to hone his craft and technique in handling the obscure mystical art called the 'Kaleidoscope'.

And at that time, Hadrian was simply fourteen years of age.

That was why, when he heard the boy had volunteered to participate in the war last year, he had voiced his disapproval of Hadrian's decision.

He knew the reason why Hadrian wanted to participate, and he had disapproved of his choice.

It was quite obvious that the boy wanted to find out what happened to his father by himself.

The two of them argued about it, and it ended with Hadrian walking away from him, resolute in his going in his own way. The scene of watching the boy's back retreating made him recall of when he had been younger, naive and too confident for his own good.

Lord El-Melloi II had been quite bitter about it ever since.

However, in the end, his worries were unfounded when the boy had done something that his father had failed to accomplished.

At the mere age of fourteen years old, Hadrian had won the war, and the Moon Cell was no longer available to be claimed by other people.

The news had rocked the entirety of the moonlit world.

The magi of the Mage's Association had been elated, especially the Clock Tower's, while the Western European Conglomerate were angry but resigned to the outcome.

What happens in the Holy Grail War, stays in the war. All candidates were aware of the consequences of participating in the event, and the rules had been straightforward.

Even though the Moon Cell started the war, the rules that it had issued was strict yet straightforward, and the major candidates of the war can only deem the Moon Cell as a fair system.

Harsh and brutal, but fair all the same.

It also helped ease their worries that the Moon Cell was careful in selecting candidates to participate in the event, considering as there had been no average humans and (or) civilians that were involved.

Their chosen candidate, Leonardo B. Harway, did not come through and was defeated by the famous 'Prince of Magic', Hadrianus Mathius von Schweinorg, of the Clock Tower.

Although, Lord El-Melloi II heard from Hadrian that there had been minor setbacks along the way, but in the end, he had emerged victorious and survived the event.

The outcome had been decided, and the winner was finally revealed.

There will be no more wars. No more battles to the death. No more wishes to be granted. The Moon Cell had decided who its owner was going to be, and so the grail wars had soon came to a close.

The inner side of the Moon was no longer available to be hacked in. After the war was done, it was simply no longer accessible to all people, no matter what they tried.

It was as if it was no longer there, and that the Moon Cell doesn't exist any more.

Everything soon went back to normal.

Lands that suffered wars were slowly being restored to its healthy state. Buildings were being built, and civilization were flourishing. People were happy.

All magi went back to their own businesses, doing what they always loved to do, such as advancing their research on Magecraft and trying to reach the Root of Akasha as was the norm.

There was one person who was not particularly happy, and that was Hadrian himself.

After his victorious return from the Holy Grail War, many people from the moonlit world had began to correlate the title with his name, calling him the 'Prince' instead of just his name.

His recent achievement did not simply made him famous among their kind, but in every corners of the moonlit world.

Lord El-Melloi II even heard from Zelretch that his colleagues in the circles of the 27 Dead Apostles were taking an interest in the boy.

Now, he does not know which was worse.

The Dead Apostles taking an interest in the boy, or Zelretch being happy and quite proud about it.

Ignore the man's bout of eccentricity that time, he did remember informing the boy about it. And as expected, he did not took the news well, by the looks of the frown that was on his face.

Nevertheless, even with all the fame and power, Hadrian did not let those things stopped him from living his life in the way he wanted to.

Which was something Lord El-Melloi II found to be strange yet admirable.

The boy was obviously strong, not just physically, but also mentally. Hadrian obviously knows what he wants, and he knows how to get it no matter what anyone says.

'He's determined...' The long-haired professor mused, putting out his cigarette in the ash tray. 'Wish I had been like that when I was young. Maybe then...'

Lord El-Melloi II shook his head.

He had been there, and he did not want to remain there while he was not alone in the room. In a private area, perhaps he can mull over about his thoughts, but not now.

Arin's family did not even blame him for what happened in the previous war. They knew the risks, and they had been prepared for the outcome of the result.

While his guilt remains strong and alive, Lord El-Melloi II knew that they don't hold him accounted for what had happened, no matter what his guilt and thoughts says otherwise.

It had taken him quite a while to realized that, but in the end, he had made peace with it.

But alas, not all things was peaceful, and soon enough, there was trouble brewing in the distance.

The one being the recent murders that had been occurring around the world, such as the one that contains information of the case inside the folder on the table.

When it happened, the Mage's Association had taken a tremendous effort in keeping the case tight and only known to their kind. To the average masses, they had to carefully manipulate the media to avoid panics and riots when it was first known in the news.

Numerous counts of murders occurred around the world, and it was found that most of them were done with via the Magecraft, which threatens the safety of the Magi's existence from being exposed to the average humans and the world.

The power of what the humans called the Media was something to feared, seeing as it can threaten the secrecy of their kind to be in the spotlight.

And so, the Mage's Association ordered the matter to be thoroughly investigated and discover who was behind the recent murders by ordering most Magi in their ranks, including himself.

Thanks to the Holy Grail War, many members from different families had perished.

The magi in all of the remaining factions had dwindled to a mere 3000, and only 1500 of them were deemed capable to be a part of the investigation teams handling the cases.

Needless to say, it had been quite a busy few months as the majority of the magi in all factions tried to investigate the strange murder cases, working together from time to time when they meet.

Hadrian and his other pupils had also been part of the investigation, and they are working with each other to look into the cases to see if they can find anything new by going to the locations where the murders had began and was discovered.

Last he had seen of the boy was around a week ago, when Hadrian had paid a visit to let him know that he was going abroad to find something that relates to the case.

Lord El-Melloi II simply waved the boy away, but he didn't know where he would be going. So, he asked the one who would most likely know about the whereabouts of his former pupil.

Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg himself.

The long-haired professor noticed the man smile at the mention of his grandson, obviously proud.

That was something that he noticed about the Wizard Marshall lately. The old Magician was certainly proud of Hadrian, especially after he had emerged victorious from the war.

Now, many would think that the old Magician would be indifferent to his grandson's achievements, considering his (in)famous reputation and being a Magus of great renown himself.

But, it seems that the old man may be more human than he is as a Magus, despite his eccentricities and how people perceived him as.

'Now, wouldn't that be ironic?' Lord El-Melloi II mused, resisting the urge to smirk. 'The powerful and great Magician of the Clock Tower being more compassionate than how most magi are.'

He was broken out of his musings when the other man began to speak.

"He's currently in America at my behest." The old Magician said, walking around the couch and seat himself in the center as he continued. "I heard from my sources that they saw something odd there, so I sent him to investigate it immediately."

"What type of oddity was it for you to send him there personally?"

"The dangerous kind." Zelretch answered with a mysterious smile.

Lord El-Melloi II frowned, looking thoughtful.

He wondered why the old Magician answered him vaguely, but he also trusts the man to tell him the truth soon if what Hadrian found was something worthy of their attention or not.

He had worked with the Wizard Marshall numerous times in the past, enough to be able to discern the other man's habits by now.

If he answered a question vaguely, then it simply means that he's unsure of whether how much the information he found was true or false.

But, that's not the part that concerned Lord El-Melloi II.

As if reading his mind, Zelretch's smile widen.

"You do not need to worry." The old Magician assured him as he leaned back against the couch. "He will be safe, and his companions are there with him to ensure his protection."

"I know that, but that's not the only thing I'm concerned about." Lord El-Melloi II shook his head.

"Then what is?" Zelretch asked with a raised brow.

"The one behind these cases, and their true intentions."

Immediately, the ageing countenance of the Wizard Marshall stilled and darkened, causing the long-haired professor to pause and remain silent.

It was one of these moments that reminded Lord El-Melloi II who was the person in front of him.

This was not the doting and proud grandfather of the boy who had been his pupil. No, this was the facade of the powerful Magician of the Second True Magic, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg.

He may have aged and changed a little, but the old Magician remain as one of the strongest people in the moonlit world even to the present day, and everyone knows this.

"Ah... that." Zelretch spoke slowly, calm yet solemn.

The old Magician laid an arm upon the top of the English regency sofa and tilted his head to the left, almost glaring as he directed his gaze upon the folder on the table.

"These cases." Zelretch began, turning his gaze back to him. "They remind me of something that I do not care nor ever want to recall. It's something I would prefer to keep dead and buried. Just even the thought of it irritates more than I could ever admit."

Surprised by this admission, Lord El-Melloi II couldn't help but asked.

"What does it remind you of?"

"The past." Zelretch answered, almost snarling out of anger. "One that I should've put an end to..."

Leaving the younger man to ponder about his answers, Zelretch turned his head to look at the view by the window, idly noting the gray clouds that covered the skies of London.

A storm was brewing in the distance, and Zelretch had a feeling that his grandson was going to be in the center of it.

Perhaps it is time for Hadrian to learn the ways of True Magic.

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