Chapter 20

I nodded and replied, quite satisfied, "All right, sorry for the trouble."

His expression stiffened, and he nodded too. He stood there for a while as the politicians outside the door practically stared holes through him, so Mel had no choice but to say stiffly, "I'll head out first, then."

"Mm... oh, wait." I suddenly called him back. "My notes on runes start after page 470. If you have time, you can take a look. They're just things I worked out myself, but I hope they'll be some help to you too."

Mel's eyes lit up. He looked less upset and even managed a smile at me. He nodded. "Mm-hm. Xipei, make sure you get out soon and check how well I've practiced!"

I nodded, and Mel left with the politicians ahead of me. Watching him go, I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him. Sigh... poor Mel. Hopefully, the berserker summit-oh, no, the magic summit-wouldn't drive him mad. I hadn't expected that he still wouldn't escape that fate in the end. Those politicians' methods really were very clever.

The politicians crowded around Mel as they left, but Captain Lusien of the Shield of the New Star remained. He didn't look particularly pleased either, and I figured it was because the politicians had forced their way into taking Mel away.

Lusien still asked me politely, "Mage Field, Mage Madsen paid his bail and was released early. If you can pay yours, you may leave now as well."

I shook my head. "No, I don't think I have enough money."

Lusien nodded. "In that case, I'm afraid you'll have to serve the rest of your sentence. Mr. Madsen did offer to pay your bail just now, but under the regulations, bail must be paid by the prisoner or a relative, so we had to turn down his offer."

Hmm... no wonder Mel had looked so angry.

I sighed and thanked Lusien anyway. He nodded, and to my surprise, he even saluted me. He said the bail process was actually quite complicated, but the politicians were in such a hurry and refused to wait that even the warden could do nothing but make an exception. Since Mel and I had committed the same offense, the warden had said they couldn't make an exception for just one of us. If someone could pay for me, I could call Lusien to release me at any time, without waiting for the process either.

With that, he left.

Now I was the only one left in the prison.

I was worrying about how to spend the next few days when someone unexpected suddenly appeared at the door.

Reynold had actually come back?

Chapter 20

I stood up. Reynold stood in front of the transparent wall, his brow tightly furrowed.

"Ciprins." Reynold looked at me with a complicated expression. His brow was so furrowed now that I thought it could hold a pen in place. "How... did you end up in prison?"

"For damaging public property," I answered honestly.

But Reynold's expression grew even harder to read. I could feel him looking me up and down, and his gaze made me feel like an apprentice who couldn't even conjure a fireball properly. I couldn't help frowning too. "Did you need something from me?"

"Don't be so distant with me," Reynold said, still frowning. "I'm worried about you. You weren't hurt, were you?"

Hurt? I hadn't blown up a library, so surely I wouldn't have been hurt?

Speaking of explosions, even when I'd accidentally blown up the laboratory, I hadn't been hurt! Not only was I uninjured, none of my assistants had so much as a scratch either-even when a major accident did occasionally get out of control, a mage would always have a backup plan. How could a competent mage be easily injured by an explosion in an accident of their own making? In ancient times, some dark mages (demon kings) even kept apprentices as backup bodies, so that after being defeated, they could seize their apprentices' bodies and slip away. That was, of course, the most forbidden kind of soul magic, but my point was that grand mages could even make orderly arrangements for death. How could merely getting carried away while practicing spells blow me up?

Reynold, I've never actually asked, but just how bad are you at magic?

"Ciprins." Reynold's face was stern. Clearly, my self-control was excellent right now: none of my lengthy internal grumbling had shown on my face, so Reynold was still standing there just as before, the corners of his mouth pointing at the floor. I knew that expression could easily scare his office secretary into tears, but I wasn't his office secretary—the last time he'd given me that look was when I'd turned down the position and refused to leave the research institute.

I nodded to show I was listening, and he said rather sternly, "You've always been very calm. How did you end up provoking Mephistopheles?"

Huh?

I was a little surprised.

Uh, wait, Reynold? Haven't you gone off in the wrong direction?

"I'm sorry, Ciprins." Reynold took another step closer and pressed his hand against the wall. Judging by that, could he be trying to touch me through it?

"Ciprins, I really have wronged you, but I hope you can stay calm. No matter what, you shouldn't have gone looking for trouble with Mephistopheles. He... he might not even know who I am."

Reynold gave a bitter smile as he spoke.

Yes, I thought, nodding. You're right. Mel really doesn't know you. He was just asking me about you.

Reynold's train of thought, however, gave me plenty to ponder.

It was my turn to look at Reynold with a complicated expression. He was quite serious. He even straightened his collar and said to me solemnly, "Ciprins, I've thought a lot about this. I miss the time when we were so close, so let's forget those unpleasant things. But don't go impulsively looking for Mephistopheles again. There was never anything between him and me, and there never will be. Of course, I'll protect you too. I won't let Mephistopheles hold a grudge against you over this. He may be a grand mage of the Federation, but I'm also the chairman of the Magic Council..."

...Uh... for a moment, I fell silent, unsure what to do. After all, I hadn't studied psychology, and I didn't know why Reynold would ask to get back together after thinking about it for a few days. If I'd known, I would have taken psychology as an elective at the academy.

"Wait here. I'll go pay your bail right now. Once you're out, you can move in with me. The research institute is determined to hold you responsible for blowing up the laboratory, but don't worry. Leave that to me. You can continue the experiments you want to do in my laboratory for now..."

Wait!

"Reynold!" I had to interrupt his one-sided conversation immediately. Reynold's imagination had grown as wild as Jasmine's. He was definitely caught up in webnovel romance-brain mode now. Hadn't he considered it? How could two competent spellcasters fight over something so bizarre and trivial? Never mind that we were both mages living in modern society who knew to obey the law-even if we were both ancient dark mages, there was no chance of us fighting. Quite a few dark mages in ancient times had fought fiercely over legendary secret treasures, rare ancient spells, and the like, but I was happy to share all my knowledge with Mel.

More importantly, how could Mel possibly be angry with me?

I thought it over and couldn't help feeling sorry for Reynold. He was a mage too, after all. Was the correct answer really so hard for him to guess—that two like-minded spellcasters had hit it off and gotten carried away practicing spells together, damaging public property? So, Reynold... had he really never enjoyed a long talk about magic with someone? That was a little too miserable for a spellcaster.

"You've misunderstood, Reynold," I kindly explained. "I didn't fight with Me... Mephistopheles."

Reynold frowned. His face practically said, "I don't believe you."

I couldn't help looking at Reynold with sympathy, which seemed to puzzle him.

He shook his head helplessly. "It's best if you didn't fight. Ciprins, as I recall, you rarely lose control, apart from the time you blew up a phone during a presentation..."

Speaking of fighting, I really could spar with Mel once I got out. Although spells weren't weapons meant for fighting, and a spellcaster who focused on using them to fight would struggle to reach any academic heights, that didn't mean combat was useless. Actual combat could train many offensive and defensive spells, as well as sharpen one's reactions. It was actually a very good way to train.