Mages looked down on everyone who couldn't cast spells. They called them mudbloods, pitchfork-wielding farmers, and foul-smelling brutes. But those people had one advantage no mage possessed: strong bodies.
Out in the wild, the only difference between a poor farmer and an elite warrior facing a Fireball was a brief scream or a brief roar. But no ruler of the City-States would let mages run wild on their territory.
Both Siltovis and the Imperial Capital had Legendary, eternal-grade Eyes of Inspection. So when the Knights' Order patrolling Montreal Mountain received a report from the Eyes of Inspection, they charged into Black Hat Street.
Olin led the group. When she spotted Annan, he spotted her too. Her tall figure was clad in gleaming silver knight's armor, her brown hair tied in a ponytail behind her head. She gripped a Broadsword in her right hand and carried her helmet under her left arm, looking every bit a valkyrie.
"What happened?"
"They threatened me." Annan immediately pointed at the figure behind the counter.
Olin turned to the Shadow Brotherhood's receptionist. "Quetone... what did you promise us?"
"We didn't do anything!" the figure called Quetone shouted. "He's the one who suddenly cast a spell and broke the rules."
"He said that once I came here, I wouldn't be leaving."
"I said, 'Do you think you can come and go from the Shadow Brotherhood as you please?' And I was only trying to scare you!"
"Now that you've been caught, you say you were only trying to scare me? If Olin—"
Shing—
Olin angled her Broadsword.
"—if the Knights' Order Commander hadn't arrived, you'd have sold me to some noblewoman by now, wouldn't you?"
"We don't sell people!"
Damn it... damn it! Quetone had thought someone who had won so many honors at Annan's age