Chapter 74

With a splash, he pulled a person out of the water like a radish.

The man instinctively thrashed about, but in a short moment, he seemed to give up and was easily lifted high into the air by Mel. Mel instinctively wanted to pinch him or throw him to the ground, but fortunately, he had excellent self-control and stopped in time.

"Huh?"

Everyone was stunned.

Mel pulled the missing Reynold out of the water—alive, intact but somewhat damaged, and Reynold.

Chapter 74

A hush fell over the room. Suddenly, I remembered a popular internet slang term that Moli had taught me before—"honey-scented embarrassment."

In this silence that seemed destined to last forever, it was Reynold who broke the awkward silence first. He coughed, spitting out a bunch of water, and held the reed stalk in his hand... a reed stalk?

Hollow reed stalks?

Reynold, a mage, relies on this primitive thing to breathe underwater?

Oh my god, I'm about to scream!

... Luckily, we broke up early! Otherwise, would I have found a lover or an apprentice? Especially a particularly disobedient and arrogant apprentice. If you put that kind of student in an ancient black mage's tower, they'd be turned into materials in less than half a day, and then used up to ashes in another half day!

No, no, I am a good monk living in modern society, and I understand the law.

So the more serious problem is... Reynold is being tortured by his kidnappers, isn't he? How come they're so useless...?

... No, Mel, don't throw him! If you throw him, we'll have to catch him again. We still have important things to do!

Honestly, why did Mel pull Mel out of the lake? The kidnappers wouldn't be so kind as to let him swim, would they? Did they kidnap the Dragon King and think Reynold was useless and needed feeding, so they threw him out to drown?

Moli, speaking for me, asked the awkward question, "What are you doing here? We were just about to rescue you!"

Reynold was pale and a little swollen from being soaked, his fingers all wrinkled. He wiped the water from his face, coughed twice, and then answered with great difficulty, "I escaped. There were no high-level mages among the kidnappers... Well, now I also think that the magical anti-magic shackles in our Federation prison are unreliable. The anti-magic effect of Magitech is completely inferior to traditional anti-magic... That thing really can't restrain a mage."

Under our sharp gazes, Mel trembled, seemingly understanding the deeper meaning in our eyes. A blush rose on Reynold pale face, and he stammered, "Don't look at me like that. I really am a mage... I'm a level seven mage, after all. There are fewer than a hundred level seven mages and above in the entire Federation."

Level 7?

Oh, I see, level seven according to modern standards. But I still don't Mel and asked, "Level seven, can you cast Lightning Storm instantly?"

Reynold replied in alarm, "Lightning Storm is a forbidden spell; who can cast it instantly?"

Anna was also shocked. "When did Lightning Storm become a forbidden spell? The collector's edition of my personal magazine that I finally managed to snag last time was blasted to smithereens by the teacher with a single Lightning Storm!"

"Yes," Mel nodded, saying affectionately, "And Anna was completely unharmed after being bombed, so what kind of forbidden spell is that?"

"It's not like nothing happened at all, teacher. You ruined my new hairstyle, forcing me to get it done all over again," Anna said angrily.

"That pink wavy hairstyle from last time? Anna, your skin tone really doesn't suit cute pink tones," Mel replied.

"I suggest highlights in blonde." Goliath reached out and touched Anna's hair. "Elves have such beautiful hair; you can't tell it's been dyed or damaged at all."

Reynold wore a look of despair, which was hardly the expression one would expect from someone overjoyed to be rescued.

"Then why are you hiding in the lake?" Goliath asked Reynold.

At this moment, Reynold also noticed that there was a Goliath among us, and realized that he was being held high in the air by Mel, with a white dragon staring at him. His face turned even whiter than the scales of Xuefeng.

"Goliath, Grand Commander of the Temple of Light?" Reynold said dryly, "You're here too."

"Good day, Mr. Speaker. I'm on leave," Goliath replied with a smile. He then channeled his Holy Light and cast two Basic Healing Spell on Reynold. For a paladin, casting two Basic Healing Spell was quite impressive. We then noticed that Reynold had several wounds on his body. Although they were no longer bleeding, they had been badly soaked in water. As soon as the healing spells touched them, the signs of inflammation and festering subsided.

However, wounds can heal, but clothes cannot, so Reynold was still wearing tattered clothes.

"Thank you." Reynold's complexion had improved considerably, and he seemed to have calmed down. He then began to explain the situation to us automatically:

"Those thugs took me to a large underground space. I was blindfolded the whole time and couldn't see what it was like inside. I only know that I was led around inside for a long time... After I escaped, I wasn't confident that I could explore on my own, so I swam back along the waterway. I remember that it was here that the kidnappers dug out the tracking device from my body. I think the Federation will send people to search for me at the last place I disappeared, since this area isn't safe. I heard the sound of a small reconnaissance drone earlier, so I hid underwater and have been waiting for rescue here."

I nodded. Reynold's approach was indeed good; we rescued him just as we arrived.

It seems Reynold's arrogance has been effectively alleviated. He knows his magical abilities aren't up to par and has stopped showing off by running around. Thinking about it now, I still find it unbelievable. I spent so much time with him, constantly telling him I could Flight Spell, and he never believed me, treating me like a little wizard trying to save face?

Oh, that time I helped burn cyborgs outside the Capitol, I remember he saw me flying, did he automatically imagine that I was hiding a small flying machine under my robe?

I'm a bit worried. My arrogance might be getting better, but the excessive overthinking caused by my delusions is still there!

He can even imagine a scenario where Mel and I fight over him and end up in jail. I think I should ask Anna to help him register an author account on Jinjiang Literature City. Reynold's imagination is sure to be a hit; it sounds much more exciting than that TV series that Dragon Emperor is making again!

"Mission accomplished," I said. "Let's go home and collect the money. We'll also take Reynold to get checked out."

Reynold paused, then asked, "Get the money?"

Moli kindly explained to him, "Because the kidnappers demanded a ransom of one hundred million from the Federation for you. Ms. Crow said that if we rescue you, the one hundred million will all be my teacher's! Teacher, I'm applying to install fiber optic internet; 100 Mbps bandwidth would be the best!"

Reynold's expression twisted, but there was clearly a lot of information in those words. I couldn't tell what Reynold was struggling with; it could be the hundred million, or it could be my taking the money to save him. But once I handed him over to Ms. Crow, my mission was complete, and the rest was up to him and Ms. Crow.

"Wait!" Reynold suddenly said, "The kidnappers haven't announced that I escaped, have they?"

Moli and Anna took out their phones, searched for a while, and replied, "No, the news didn't mention it, and the kidnappers don't have any video footage."

"Wait a while before returning to the Federation. I think the kidnappers might not know I've been rescued and are still secretly searching for me, while using the video they've recorded to threaten the Federation." Reynold's expression turned serious. Although he was still in that ridiculous position of being held in mid-air, he seemed to have regained some of his dignity as the Speaker of the Magic Council. His words also made me notice that Reynold had many injuries, far more than I had seen in the live stream.

... What a clever kidnapper! It seems the video of cutting Reynold was filmed in advance and then broadcast in segments at set times each day. I knew it! How could they keep letting him bleed out? What if he really died? Wouldn't they then have no leverage to restrain the Federation?

"Then what do you think we should do?" Goliath asked politely.

"We have sufficient fighting strength now. We should go back to that secret base to investigate again. I don't think the organization that dared to kidnap me is simple, and His Majesty the Dragon Emperor is still in their hands. If we can rescue His Majesty the Dragon Emperor, it will also benefit the relations between the two countries and the reputation of the Federation."