"Ah, that really was delicious." Zorn rubbed his round belly and leaned back in his chair with a satisfied sigh. "Cana, have you had enough?" He looked over at Cana, who nodded silently.
Zorn sat up straight, his expression turning serious as he addressed the old man still eating across from him. "Sir, isn't your son home?" At those words, the middle-aged man sipping wine beside them and the woman serving her father-in-law both froze. The old man's expression changed as well, and just as he was about to speak, his "son" spoke up.
"Haha, what are you talking about, sir mage? I'm his son, and she's my wife..." The middle-aged man hurriedly cut in, pointing at the woman beside him as if trying to prove something.
"Shut up. I wasn't asking you. Sir, tell me. Don't be afraid." Zorn's face darkened as he sharply interrupted the middle-aged man. Then he turned to the old man with a gentle smile, assuring him that they were there to help.
"N-no, they're not. My son is... S-save..." The old man answered one word at a time, his voice trembling with apparent effort, as though it had been sealed away for a long time and had only just broken through.
Crash! The woman let go, and her bowl and chopsticks fell to the floor and broke. The middle-aged man stopped talking too. His panicked expression went blank, and he calmly drank the last of the wine in his hand.
"What a pain. We could've just killed them. We're almost done anyway, but we still had to put on an act." The woman dropped the pretense, tearing off her apron and smoothing back her hair. Magic power surged through her body, and with a turn, her appearance changed. Her virtuous, gentle wife's appearance instantly became alluring, and her gaze turned vicious.
"All right, sir, I'll take your request." Zorn and Cana stood up, rubbing their fists and glaring at the pair with disdain. Their gazes were cold and sharp, like frost in the depths of winter.
"Don't get cocky, brat." The woman seemed unable to bear their disdain. A flash of anger crossed her face as she rushed forward and unleashed sound wave magic. The attack used sound as its medium, spreading and echoing through the air like a ghostly scream and raising a powerful wave of sound.
"Could you stop shouting? There's an old man here," Zorn said calmly from beside the old man. Zorn covered Cana's ears with both hands, while Cana covered the old man's. Small shields protected Zorn's own ears, and a ring of light formed a defensive shield around them.
"When...?" The woman's pupils contracted. She stopped her sound wave attack and turned in shock toward Zorn, Cana, and the old man beside her, with Zorn and Cana still smiling.
The middle-aged man's expression turned serious as well. He began to take them seriously, looking gravely at Zorn and the other two, who were still at ease.
"Cana, help the old man inside first. Leave this to me," Zorn said to her with a calm smile.
"All right. Be careful, Zorn." Cana carefully helped the old man to his feet and guided him into the house one step at a time.
"Don't worry. It's nothing. I'll take care of it quickly." Zorn acted as though it were a trivial matter.
"You really don't take us seriously, do you?" The woman composed herself and realized that her strength might indeed pose no threat to Zorn. She then turned to the middle-aged man beside her.
The middle-aged man was also staring grimly at Zorn, who still showed no concern whatsoever. In that brief moment earlier, he had felt no magical fluctuations at all.
That meant the boy before him had mastered magic power to an exceptional degree, or his magic power was at least a level above his own.
Neither possibility was good for them. It looked like they really had to fight for their lives this time, and a fierce fighting spirit welled up in him.
Light flashed in his hand, and with a turn of his wrist, he gripped a black blade. His body tensed as he prepared for battle, his eyes fixed on Zorn.
Seeing how tense the two were, Zorn grew a little more serious. Magic power surged around him, and an imposing aura struck the pair in an instant.
"Can you tell me where you've taken the villagers you're controlling?" Zorn kept his eyes fixed on them as terrifying golden magic power burst forth, bearing down on them with even greater pressure.
"Th-this, this kind of magic power... How is it possible? My body, my body can't move at all."
Fear immediately appeared on the woman's face. Her legs trembled, and she could barely stand. She wanted to fall, but she couldn't muster the strength to move and remained frozen in place.
The middle-aged man fared a little better. Gripping his blade tightly, he unleashed a considerable amount of magic power and forcibly broke through the pressure Zorn had placed on them.
Zorn took the opportunity to withdraw his magic power. The woman immediately collapsed to the ground, instantly losing the strength to fight.
The middle-aged man gathered considerable magic power in his blade and swung, sending a blue-green slash straight at Zorn.
Without hurrying, Zorn extended and closed his hand, forming a sword from gathered light. With a casual swing, he sent a matching slash crashing into the blue-green one. A gust of wind burst out, sweeping up all the surrounding dust and stones. The two slashes held against each other for a moment before canceling each other out and vanishing.
"Tell me where the villagers are. It'll save us the trouble. How about it, mister?"
"No. We're just a little short of success. We can't give up now."
"Oh, really?"
Zorn released the Light Sword in his hand, and it floated slowly in the air. As he spread his hands, it split into countless Light Swords that surrounded them.
Seeing this, the middle-aged man gritted his teeth, more determined than ever. He tightened his grip on his black sword and sidestepped in front of the woman, who was still standing there in a daze.
"Hey, mister, you're making me look like a villain. You're putting me in a difficult position."
"Don't die on me, mister."
Despite his words, Zorn still launched the Light Swords without holding back. Countless blades shot forward.
Boom, boom, boom! Clouds of dust billowed up in an instant. Now and then, a Light Sword was knocked away, and Zorn dispersed it with a wave of his hand.
When the Light Sword attack ended, Zorn reached out and formed an even larger Light Sword, angling it straight at the man and woman in the dust.
"Impressive, mister. You could still protect your companion under an attack like that. You must be the strongest in your guild, right?"
"Cough, cough... Argh!" The middle-aged man braced himself on his sword with one hand and clutched his chest with the other. After spitting out a mouthful of blood, he stared grimly at the enormous Light Sword aimed at them.
He really couldn't hold out any longer. This kid was a monster. A casual attack had exhausted all his magic power, leaving him with no other choice.
"We... didn't hurt the villagers. We only wanted to open the ruins. We only drew magic power from those mages to open the ruins."
The man haltingly explained their objective, then waited quietly for Zorn's reaction. He had no other options now.
"Mister, do you think we'd really have eaten and chatted with you until now if you'd hurt the villagers?" Zorn said coldly.
His words left the middle-aged man speechless for a moment, and he said nothing more.
"Now you have only one choice: release the villagers and come back to the Magic Council with us to accept your punishment."
"Zorn, what about the ruins this time...?" Cana suddenly spoke up behind him.
"Don't worry. It was already taken care of while we were eating," Zorn told Cana lightly.
"What?" The middle-aged man froze.
Meanwhile, at the ruins...
"So strong... Who are you...?" A small, thin young man stood with one arm hanging limply, staring in shock at the man before him.
To be continued...