Chapter 100

Then the capital's garrison arrived. All the patrolmen of the Holy Dragon Empire's Dragon Capital were dragon knights. They landed from the sky, picked up the girl, and then the leader shook his head, his face full of regret.

I quickly squeezed through the crowd and touched the girl's neck. She was still alive and should be out of danger.

"Her lumbar vertebrae are broken, and three vertebrae are shattered. She probably can't be a knight anymore," the leading dragon knight sighed. "Even if we can get a priest to treat her, or use the best medical equipment, the repaired spine will never be as flexible and supple as before, and it might not be able to withstand the knight's battle Dou Qi and break again on its own."

The girl seemed to have woken up; she slightly opened her eyes, which were still swollen, so she could only open them a crack.

I suddenly felt very sad.

I should have acted sooner, instead of foolishly standing there waiting to watch some knightly duel. Nor should I have held back because of some conspiracy. I'm not a politician, nor a sheriff, nor...

Criminal Investigation

Police, I'm just a dark mage. I shouldn't have bothered with those schemes I don't understand. If I had killed them all the moment I sensed their intentions, this apprentice knight wouldn't have been hurt at all.

I am extremely sad now. I remember the look in that girl's eyes when she drew her sword—so bright, so brave.

"I'm sorry." I touched the girl's forehead and felt a handful of sweat from the pain.

"No," the girl replied weakly, "There's no need for an apology, Your Excellency."

It seems she already knows who I am, which makes me even sadder. "I'm sorry, really, I..."

I didn't actually need her rescue; she ruined her future for someone who didn't need saving at all.

"What if you really are the one who needs my help?" the girl replied, "I will step forward because I am a knight, regardless of your strength. Besides, no one has ever said that a knight can abandon upholding justice when the victim is stronger!"

I couldn't help but laugh at her. Just listen to her, she can come up with such cringeworthy sentences full of old-fashioned knightly jargon. In another two years, won't this little girl turn into a rigid, super old-fashioned knight like Lusien?

She was then lifted onto the dragon's back by the dragon riders and prepared to be taken away. I also saw her wave to me, clench her fist, and give me a thumbs-up.

Are kids these days all so positive and motivated? So those experts who previously denounced modern technology, like cell phones and video games, for ruining young people's values were just charlatans!

So, my mood improved again—I'd made up my mind. Once Reynold and the others had investigated the Machine Zealots' lair, Mel and I would lead our undead legion and shadow army to wipe them out! We'd teach them a lesson—how dangerous dark mages are, and how absolutely not to mess with them!

I suddenly remembered that in my teacher's notes, he had written about many necromancy spells that could be used to cure difficult diseases. For example, one of his students—who is now my senior—once drained the blood of a knight who was cursed, then cast two immortality spells on him. When the knight was tortured until he regenerated new blood, his curse was cured.

Hmm... in that case, could I also look into how to treat a broken spine?

This is a new topic! I'll write it down and put it on my schedule when I get home!

Using glue like I glued my second teacher back together definitely won't work, so... well, I'll have to work on that with Mel when I get back!

Oops!

Oh no, I forgot we're still on the street! Mel grabbed my waist and Teleportation to the top of a building. Then he chanted another spell, and whoosh, we were teleported to the Dragon Emperor's Palace. Mel had obviously been here before, and we had even cast a location spell on the little Ruiduo. We went straight into her room, picked up the sleeping elf, and the next second, we activated teleportation, returning to our mage tower thousands of miles away.

Phew, completely safe now.

Just then, I felt a ticklish sensation on my chest. I looked down, a little confused— Ruiduo was lying on my chest, her little hands pinching my breast, her eyes wide with bewilderment, seemingly unaware of what she was doing...

You...

Mel, this little guy isn't your private...

Having a child

Huh? Look what she's doing!

Is this something you inherited?

I looked at Ruiduo, who was repeatedly clutching my chest, and thought for a long time before finally deciding not to paste her on the wall. Unlike those two mischievous apprentices, this little sprite was so tiny; she couldn't just be pasted on the wall like that. I decisively transformed back into my original form and used magic to dress myself in a proper robe—I'll just bury this thing about turning into a girl as a dark history from now on!

The long-absent Butler poked his head out from the wall, spotted the elf in my arms, and began to dance with joy.

Forehead...

No! That's not how it works!

Butler, listen to me!

Mel and I stared blankly as the Butler danced and floated away, pulling out a bunch of silver, misty ribbons and writing words in the air as he went—

"Our Mel has finally had a baby with his Xipei! Advancement for the wizarding world! I finally have a grandson!"

No, the magical world hasn't actually invented a spell for men to have children with other men!

Besides...

Mel exclaimed, "What's wrong with my grandson? Butler... what are you talking about?"

The ghost in front of them suddenly paused, then with a whoosh, it retracted all its tentacles, froze nervously, and quickly scattered the words in front of it.

But we are both mages, so we wouldn't miss such a prominent line of large, silvery-white characters.

"What exactly is going on?" Mel asked with a strange expression. "You... you... what's your relationship with me?"

We exchanged a glance and together attacked the ghost Butler, pulling him back to us and hanging him upside down from the ceiling. When the two little forest spirits saw the Butler hanging upside down from the ceiling, they instinctively flew over and clung to his tentacles, perfectly disguising themselves as chandeliers.

Then Mel and I each cast a Silence Spell to stop Kobayashi from singing.

"Mr. Butler," Mel said, arms crossed, his face grim, "Do you think I have no way to deal with ghosts?"

I thought about it for a moment. My senior brother had even tormented demons, so I summoned that demon, held it in my hand, and used it as a teaching example. "You see, my sect can even deal with demons. You're just a ghost, so why risk trying our new spell?"

The devil in my hand and the Butler trembled together, then, in perfect unison, began to play dead.

Mel raised an eyebrow, and I sensed he wasn't in a particularly good mood. Mel had told me he was also an orphan, growing up in the teacher's tower, never having had or seen his parents. Although I knew Mel didn't want to go through with any family reunion, those of us who were orphans inevitably wondered why we were abandoned by our biological parents.

Therefore, the Butler's remark about "having a grandson" is far too easy to make people overthink.

"You're back."

Suddenly, another voice came from above. Mel and I looked up, and the tower had somehow reappeared with the memories left by Mel's teacher. In the echoing memories, the Yamier was still wearing a white robe, his long hair falling to his chest, and his smile was gentle and serene. Seeing the phantom of his teacher, Mel's mood improved again.

He answered as usual, talking to himself, "Yes, we also brought back an elf!"

As he said this, I lifted up Ruiduo. Ruiduo probably couldn't distinguish between living people and phantoms yet. She opened her little hands to Teacher Yamier, making a gesture as if asking for a hug.

The phantom of Teacher Yamier nodded and smiled at us, "She's lovely."

Yes, I think so too...

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