Return of the Class 8 Mage
105.

Traces of an Artist (3)

As Ian had expected, the Bordon village was by no means an ordinary village.

It had been a long time since the village was taken in the hands of middle-aged man Jackson and twenty other con men, constantly exploiting the villagers who originally lived there. Of course, the villagers did not realize that they had been deceived by the young chieftain and his men. Jackson and his crew are a pretty convincing cult group.

“The soup tastes really good.” said Ian.

“Haha..ha. Right.”

Today is one of the few days that travelers go through since Jackson and his men took over the village and started living like royalty. Jackson plans to revive his old skills.

However, things did not go as he had expected from the start. Although he had finished off a bottle of sleeping pills, the light-brown haired traveller Lian did not even seem to be planning to faint anytime soon.

‘Why?’ Jackson thought to himself.

Is it because it is cheap? No, it's not that. The reason something gets cheap is because of its toxicity. That means the pill itself must work perfectly.

‘Is it expired?’

Jackson's logic just seems to stop there. It was impossible for him to think more than that. It was impossible for him to suspect the fault was in the traveler himself, not the cure. He's already eaten his third bowl.

“It's really delicious.” thought Ian.

He really enjoyed the stew. Looking back, he had never eaten like this since the age of twelve in his previous life.

It was a special meal that he had enjoyed in thirty-six years. In his hunger, however, it only looked like a side dish.

“It would be much better if he didn't mix pills.” thought Ian.

She is a witch.

Not just any witch. He is a Great Witch.

He could stop almost any potion from having any effect. But it is different from the taste and smell of pills that affect the food.

‘Nby the way..’.

Ian peered at Jackson, the middle-aged chieftain. As Ian was cleaning his boiled bowl, Jackson did his best not to show that he was confused. Jackson will never be able to fool Ian, but he is a great actor.

“Should I let it.” thought Ian inwardly.

There are many things he should pay attention to. The statue functions like an Artifact, and claims the statue as a symbol of dragon worship. He could use his strength to get the information he wanted, but decided to see how things were going.

“By the way... about the statue.” Ian started.

“Iya? Ah, the dragon statue. How about that?”

“It doesn't look like a dragon statue. Did you make it yourself? Or did you bring it from somewhere else? ”

Jackson pondered how he could answer this question.

What could be the best way to answer? He has to convince.

“It was... a few years ago. We brought the statue with us when the drought lasted longer than we expected. Things have gotten better since then. Dragon statue is like a god to us.”

It was not a lie at all, although the details were slightly different from reality.

He told the truth as a whole. It was the fact that there had been a drought, and also the fact that the dragon statue had been brought around that time.

“Does the dragon really respond to prayer?” ask Ian.

He was the one who fooled Jackson in this situation. Ian blinked in astonishment, as if completely clueless. Even if Jackson himself was a great actor, he could not win over Ian, who had all the wisdom after living two lives. One is to not talk about acting if they never pretend to have the innocence, tone, and trembling of a twelve-year-old when they were actually forty-two.

“That's what we believe.”

“Then will he answer my question?”

“If you pray sincerely, I am sure he will do it.”

“Ohh..” says Ian amazed. It was a completely fake cry of wonder. “I also want to lift the prayer, if possible for outsiders. As you probably know, it's not every day an outsider like me gets a rare opportunity like this.”.

“Of course,” says Jackson, “We can do it soon.”

He brought Ian to the statue without hesitation. The villagers who had performed their morning service could not be found. Maybe the morning service is over.

“There are no special rules in doing this. Make yourself comfortable, and pray with all your heart. As long as you mean it, the dragon will surely answer your prayers.” Jackson said as he pointed at the statue.

He looked very convincing, as did the cult.

“I'll step aside for you.” Jackson said, stay away so that ‘Lian’ can pray quietly. Ian did not think of praying. He wanted to see how the village chief and the villagers would react if something unusual happened all of a sudden.

‘If this statue is destroyed ..’ thought Ian, wondering what would happen if the foundation of this cult, this statue, would lose its power. How did the villagers react?

“Let me see your true identity.” Ian thought, smiling slightly at himself as he rolled up his strength.

His partner is just an ugly statue.

‘Permutation Mantra.’

The way Artifacts conjure magic is just like a witch does. That means it is also weak against the strongest spells that can interfere with the operation of any spell technique – Spell Interference.

“Oh, Big Dragon. Light the way for me for the rest of my journey. May I find the truth I sought on this journey, and please help me return home safely.” Ian called out in a loud voice for everyone to hear.

‘How to rob it?’ Jackson thinks inwardly while listening to Ian's ‘doa’.

Jackson has been keeping a close eye on this so-called ‘Lian’ traveler, who is praying. If he's here all the way from Greenriver, it means he's been on a long journey.

Even so, his robe was in good shape, and his skin looked healthy. It was proof that he had slept and eaten well on his way. He is sure ‘Lian’ has a good budget to travel with.

‘She seems to be able to take care of herself.’

It seems like ‘Lian’ is traveling without any bodyguards despite the large amount of money he carries everywhere. He had defended himself easily, even though Cleven was stabbed with his sword. This meant that he was confident enough in martial arts to protect himself.

‘I will gather my people first, and then we will distract him.’ Jackson thought.

It shouldn't be too difficult to turn his attention alone to a quiet place where no one is around. Soon, he would see the dragon answer his prayers, and he would start to be interested.

Then, all Jackson had to do was convince her. Tell him he has something better to show him .anything will work. There are many things to deceive him.

“…”

But things get weird.

Jackson believes the statue will begin soon.

Sculpture lighting, that is.

‘What is..?’

Just that morning, during the morning service of the villagers, the statue was well lit.

Why did it suddenly stop?

‘Is it broken? Is that possible?’

All this time, since ‘ he ‘ sculpted the statue, never wrong. He's sure of it. SO why is it on strike now, after all this time?

‘Sial! Doesn't help at all.’

“Hmm... I pray with all my heart, but it seems that it is not enough. He did not respond..” murmured Ian, looking at the chieftain. He sounded much more disappointed than he seemed.

“Of course not. Sometimes we don't get answers either. Especially after the morning service. Why don't you try attending another service later?”

“Other guess?”

“We always have service for dragons in this village. If you are in no hurry, how about staying in our city for tonight? We will lend you a room to stay as well.”

“No need for that ..” Ian started resisting, but Jackson's head waved his hand indifferently.

“Always there are rarely guests in our village. Every guest is special to us. If you leave without feeling satisfied, we will also not calm down.”

Jackson can be very convincing. He had the dignity as the sect leader.

“Good…. If you say so.. alright.”

It was not a bad offer for Ian either. If he pretended to stay in the room they offered, he might be able to figure out how they would take care of the damaged statue.

“Ayo through here. Let me take you to the room you're going to live in.”

Ian was taken to a special room on the right side of Jackson's cabin. First impression, it looked like a reception room for guests.

‘I'll wait until he's off guard. Then, we hunt.’ Jackson thought inwardly as he left the room he led ‘Lian’. Repairing the statue was his top priority. For the sake of fooling the rich traveler and taking his money. To exploit all the stupid villagers.

“Oi, Collin!” Ian called one of his servants.

It was the same villagers who asked him how the morning service should be conducted.

He was a big and fierce-looking person.

“Are you looking for me, brother-I mean, Chief?”

“Bring the boy to me soon.”

“It looks like his mental illness relapsed again earlier.”

Jackson pulled out a bottle. It was a bottle filled with dark purple liquid.

“It's a sedative. Give it to him and bring him to me. Soon!”

“Ya.iya sir. I'll be right back.”

“And Estavan!”

Another waiter rushed in.

Unlike Collin, he had a small figure.

“You take the children and keep the villagers away. Don't let them get close to the statue, am I clear? Also, keep an eye on our guest – do you understand?”

“Ya head.”

Time passed and soon, the cruel-looking maid, Collin, brought someone along.

No – he's dragging someone. Maybe he did have a sedative, because he looked dazed, drunk with the medicine.

It was Cleven. It was a crazy kid who tried to attack and trap Ian as an assassin after teleporting from thin air.

“Sorry before. Don't we have a guest present? I hope you understand, because you are a good boy.” Jackson said, patting Cleven on the head.

The boy seemed to have calmed down from before.

The purple sedative seems to work.

“So..the reason we called you is because. Thanks to your statue, we can.. Ahem! Anyway, we seem to have a problem. Will you see us? ”

The Cleven boy walked up to the stone statue. He still looked dazed, medicine drunk, but he glared at the statue with bright eyes.

“…”

Cleven quietly raised his tools and hammer. He then started to hit the dragon statues all over. He seems to be overdone when Chief Jackson specifically asks him to fix it. It was as if he had destroyed the statue.

“Well, do you think you can fix it?”

Jackson does not seem to be bothered by Cleven's actions.

BAM! A BAAM! A BANG! BAM!

Cleven did not answer. He simply continued to wave his equipment and hammer, hitting the statue. The ugly statue looks worse than before.

“More careful. He must defend his dragon form!”

Cleven continued on with a hammer, unperturbed by what people had told him. In some parts, he exerted his full strength, while seemingly carving something at the bottom of the statue. Just as his unique fixer-upper process was about to end, Jackson spoke up.

“You're done? Did you fix it? ”

“…”

“That's the problem with this drug.” Jackson muttered, clicking his tongue.

He walked up to the statue and started muttering whatever came to his mind.

“Please help us to keep doing this. and uhm.. also.”

Just then, streams of light burst out from the statue. The disturbance of the Spell that Ian cast on the statue was broken. The crazy boy had broken his spell with his hammer.

“Iya!” Jackson shouted triumphantly and pointed to his servant, gesturing for him to bring Cleven back.

He did not bother to give Cleven, much less give her a compliment.

“Cute with me.” Collin grunting. The cruel-looking maid grabbed Cleven by the neck and took him home. Cleven House is a warehouse in a remote part of Bordon Village, with a key on its door.

“Stay here until you regain consciousness,” command Collin. He closed the door with BANG .

The door was locked with a click, but Cleven remained silent. He just stared into space.

“I... do not remember..” Cleven muttered for the first time since he took his medicine. His voice was different from when he shouted at Ian earlier, calling him a murderer. His voice seemed much more mature.

“Who am I?”

No one can hear the question.

As the question came out of his mouth, the soft voice of a man replied.

Read the latest chapter in the novel Only

“I also wonder it.”

At the same time, the body slowly emerged from thin air.

“Who are you, so you are able to handle Artifacts?”

It was a light brown haired wanderer.

Ian had come out of his Transparency Spell.