After Getting an Apprentice (Continued)

There really were a lot of things to worry about after taking on an apprentice.

Just then, the news came on.

The magic summit was one of the biggest events in recent days, so of course the news covered it first. I watched attentively. This was probably the first time I had ever paid such close attention to the news, but... I had forgotten to ask Moli what those subtitles floating all over the screen were. News broadcasts on normal televisions didn't have this stuff blocking the view!

I looked everywhere, but I couldn't figure out how to get rid of the annoying subtitles. After watching for a little while, I roughly guessed that they were comments posted in real time by people online. Moli had told me before that one purpose of social networks was real-time interaction, and that many young people liked the feeling that the world was small.

But the words did block the screen a bit. The poor anchorwoman's face was buried in them.

The anchor began by enthusiastically introducing the schedule for today's summit. Then she told everyone that the archmage Mephistopheles Madsen, who had mysteriously disappeared on the opening day, had been found. Mel's face appeared on the screen. He wore a reserved, elegant smile, his chin raised slightly, making him look proud but not excessively so. Then I saw that those annoying subtitles had all drifted to the top and bottom of the screen, where they lined up neatly:

"It's a rare chance to see the dark mage's real face. Get out of the way and let me see my idol's handsome face!"

"Remember this man. He's the one. Mom, I'm going to marry him!"

"Get lost, person above. Watch out or a shadow will twist your neck. Look at me, my idol! I have a metal prosthetic neck. Twist it all you want!"

Still, not a single one actually covered Mel's face.

Hmm, these young people were quite considerate.

The news anchor said in a very gossipy tone that the archmage had been found in prison, charged with damaging the Grand Library. However, because the constable had not revealed why Mephistopheles had damaged the Grand Library...

The news really wasn't serious these days. The host actually started discussing with a mage why Mephistopheles would damage the library.

I recognized that mage too—it was the five-star old man.

They actually listed several different theories, one, two, three, four, five, as though they were discussing advanced spells. Then the subtitles floating all over the place buried their faces again and filled up with people bickering.

Tsk, young people these days had too much time on their hands.

The five-star old man wore his five-star uniform, his belly stretching the buttons taut. I was quite worried that the buttons might pop off and smash the camera in front of them.

"...We've learned that the archmage was arrested together with another mage. As for the circumstances at the time..." The five-star old man waved his short, stubby fingers and spouted nonsense. "...That mage is a favorite of Reynold, the speaker of the council. He was very difficult to control at the research institute and didn't have much talent... though he was good-looking... so we infer that this mage, relying on Speaker Reynold's backing, recklessly provoked Mephistopheles Madsen..."

I watched the gossip with relish. Although the subject of the gossip was... er, me, it really was entertaining.

Just as I had always said, these people didn't have the word magic from myths and legends. They could say whatever they liked. The facts would always remain the facts; they wouldn't change just because people talked nonsense, and my actual relationship with Mel wouldn't turn bad just because they said it was bad.

Provocation? Hahaha, I laughed. I should try it next time, but how was I supposed to provoke Mel? That was a difficult question. Should I find a couple of introductory acting tutorial videos to watch? Although that knowledge would be no help with magic, it would be interesting to learn about. A mage's accomplishments depended not only on how diligently he practiced spells, but also on how broad his horizons were. Although the archmages of ancient times shut themselves away in their towers doing research, and many didn't go out for years at a time, to the point that a little sunlight could practically melt them, their mage eyes covered the surrounding regions, their magic servants could fly right across half a continent, and the apprentices they sent to various places were too numerous to count. Some apprentices even served as court mages, passing the latest firsthand news on to their teachers. Looked at that way, we mages had been "online" since ancient times, though what we connected to was the magic network.

I noticed that someone among the drifting subtitles had actually said:

"I think Speaker Reynold likes Archmage Madsen, so this little mage was unhappy about it and wanted to cause trouble?"

Hmm... that guess was a little accurate. The first half was indeed true.

As it happened, my phone rang just then. I looked down at it and sighed... it was Reynold.

Why was he everywhere?

I sighed, reached out, and hung up, then promptly blocked him. I had specifically asked Moli how to block someone before. Although I didn't think people necessarily had to be at each other's throats after a breakup, that was provided both sides had parted peacefully, rather than one wanting to break up and the other refusing. I really didn't quite understand why Reynold wasn't pursuing Mel. This was such a good opportunity. When Mel hadn't been in the capital, there had at least been a reason to find a substitute, but now that the real person was here, why was Reynold still chasing after me?

It seemed I needed to put my plan to study psychology on the agenda. But I wasn't very confident either. Reynold could get along with everyone even among those seasoned politicians, so even if I did study psychology, I probably still wouldn't be able to figure out what was going on with him.

Still, I was glad for Mel. Hopefully Reynold hadn't gone to bother him. He already had enough headaches as it was, and with Reynold added to the mix, I was rather worried Mel would get so irritated that he'd go on a rampage.

...I would see if I had any new and interesting spells left and bring them to Mel next time. They should cheer him up.

While I was thinking, my phone rang again. I looked down and saw an unfamiliar number.

After thinking it over, I was rather worried that Reynold had called me from a different number. After all, no one ever contacted me normally, so I hung up again. But the number called back very quickly, making me frown. If Reynold kept changing numbers, would I have to keep blocking them? Should I just turn my phone off?

When I hung up for the third time, it sent a text instead.

"Field, this is Angela, the warden. Answer my call."

Huh?

The phone rang again, and I answered. Sure enough, the holographic projection showed the black-haired, black-clad Ms. Crow.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Are all archmages this hard to communicate with?"

"I'm sorry. I thought it was someone else, so I hung up," I said apologetically. "That was very rude of me. What can I do for you?"

Ms. Angela's lips curved in a smile. Her lips were pitch-black too, but when she smiled, she looked very imposing. She didn't bring to mind the little abyssal demons that could only hop around everywhere at all.

"I just wanted to ask where you were on the night the prison was attacked."

My heart skipped a beat. Could there still be surveillance footage of Mel and me that we hadn't completely deleted? Now that I thought about it, that seemed quite possible. Neither of us was very good at operating electronic devices. Although Mel had deleted the surveillance footage, neither of us could guarantee that we had done it properly and completely.

After thinking it over, I gave an ambiguous answer. "I was in the prison."

"You and Mephistopheles killed those cyborgs who broke into the prison, didn't you?" Angela went straight to the heart of the matter.

I fell silent for a moment. I simply couldn't lie to such an outstanding lady's face. The sight of her fighting bravely was still clear in my mind, and deceiving her would make me feel terrible, so I had no choice but to answer truthfully. "Yes. I'm sorry we left our cell without permission. Please forgive us."

"I knew it. I was wondering how those uncoordinated good-for-nothings in the cellblock could possibly have pulled that off." Understanding dawned on Angela's face. "Hey, do me two favors and we'll let this matter drop. Deal?"

I nodded without hesitation. "Please, go ahead."

"Come to the prison when you have time and improve the mage cellblock for me. By the look of it, it can't hold archmages of your caliber at all." Angela folded her arms, her expression icy. "Whoever designed the prison was completely useless."