Chapter 104: The Great Magician

“Louis.” Claude said, “Then we’ll head out first. —Bach, the carriage is ready. We’ll go to the palace together... Hmm? Hmm??”

Claude the Earl searched for a long time before realizing that the three university masters had already picked up their robes and dashed away in a blur.

The moment they reached the halfway point, Bach turned back and called out to Louis, “We’re going to wander the city too, Mr. Louis. Wait for us! We’ll fetch our luggage down—we’ll wait by the carriage!”

Without even glancing at Claude the Earl.

Claude’s mouth twitched.

These three big shots had suddenly changed their minds and decided not to meet the king today after all.

No wonder. They had no intention of rushing to see the king—these “Sorrento University Masters” enjoyed a high status in the palace.

Their relationship with the king wasn’t that they found it difficult to see him; it was the reverse. Especially Queen Delfinia, who treated the three of them like teachers.

So they weren’t in a hurry to reach the palace, and it seemed the three masters planned to follow Louis today.

Claude didn’t bother thinking further. He had guessed correctly. The true great magician was this one, while those three mage gentlemen had already taken Louis as their teacher.

“Very well. Sir Ron and the others know the city of Albion well.” Here Claude glanced at Kate, the one standing farthest from Louis among the strolling crowd, and frowned slightly. Why run so far? This was a guest. She was his daughter—she needed to entertain him properly.

Indeed, their family was conservative and believed in the Moon Goddess, so the upbringing they had received since childhood emphasized not getting close to gentlemen. But that depended on the situation.

“—Kate.” Claude sounded somewhat displeased. “These next few days I may not be home. When I am, you must entertain Mr. Louis properly.”

“Yes, Father.” Kate nodded to her father with perfect reserve, not even sparing Louis a glance.

Seeing Kate’s indifferent attitude, Claude suddenly understood—last night, when Louis had been slightly tipsy at the dinner table and a little flirtatious, it had repelled his conservative and reserved daughter.

He sighed inwardly and didn’t want to say more about the many favors he owed his daughter. He walked away.

But downstairs in Louis’s room, Bishop John’s mouth twitched slightly as he said nothing. He gave Louis a nod and a smile.

The invitation to the Moon Court didn’t worry Bishop John. We have many ties to the Holy Oak Tree—the “Special Affairs Handling Detective Agency” beside the Holy Oak Tree Academy, we remember it. Just wait. Later I’ll definitely call and have the bishop send you here!

This holy knight was absolutely one of ours from the Moon Court!

The bishop and the priests followed Claude the Earl. The moment Claude and the others rounded the corner and vanished from sight, the reserved, conservative, and exceedingly elegant Miss Kate Claude suddenly flew over and clung to Louis, hugging his arm, rubbing against him like a cat, and asking her dear master where they were going to play today.

“Anywhere as long as you’re with me.” Louis looked at Osiris’s good best friend and big sister, patted her head like petting a kitten, and smiled. “Let’s go.”

After a stroll by the small lake with Kate, Louis saw that Ron and the others had already loaded their luggage at the carriage in the entrance square. So he took Kate over as well.

Today he did intend to visit the Mage Association.

Ever since chatting with the three mages at yesterday’s dinner table, Louis had discovered that they were truly knowledgeable—far more than mere showmen. They understood a great deal beyond magic.

Even the haphazard magic spells scribbled in that book struck Louis as impressive.

Indeed, the formulas these three seniors had written were useless in practice, yet theoretically correct. After removing all the extraneous nonsense they had mistakenly added from various books and making slight adjustments, they became excellent spells, and among them were eighteen powerful ones strong enough to be treasured in the Holy Oak Academy library.

Louis suddenly understood why wizards feared wild wizards who had mastered magic. Once they learned it, they became far more powerful than the aristocratic wizards who indulged in inbreeding and stagnation. Look at those eighteen self-created powerful spells.

The entire Holy Oak Academy’s two hundred thousand wizards had produced only a few powerful spells in the past decade or so. Even the exorcism spell still relied on that three-thousand-year-old relic!

And these powerful spells, if placed in the Holy Oak Academy, could be recorded in the library’s top-shelf collection of magic books—semi-finished “exorcism spell” material that could be revered as classic new magic.

Additionally, yesterday in the three mages’ books Louis had found some special formulas. The Magic Lovers Association seemed to be exploring ways to channel magic continuously.

The direction the three walked pointed to using materials to assist.

Though their formulas were completely wrong, Louis had already revised them and added array-based spellcasting knowledge.

This new magic powder was relatively inexpensive. It could absorb magical elements from the environment, condense them into magic arrays, and directly aid mages in casting spells, compensating for their own power deficiencies—these were their “wands.”

Last night the three had apparently worked through the night and produced some new magic powder.

If they were clever, they would one day discover that this substance could be used to make magic scrolls...

And the Holy Oak Academy still had no magic scrolls...

Yet wizards had never developed magic scrolls, for two reasons: they undervalued innovation and knowledge, and scrolls were something anyone could use.

So aristocratic wizards both hoped for and disliked the arrival of magic scrolls.

“However, it doesn’t matter if you don’t want this thing to appear. Someone wants it to appear.”

It was not because the blueprint for the Seven Treasure Ship had been burned that no great ship would ever sail the seas in this world.

Quickly, Louis and Kate reached the small square in front of the castle gate and saw the three mages—Helen, who had just watched the mermaid, was also joining the fun.

Among the three, two were now behind Kate’s carriage, loading the luggage, while Ron held a book and looked at its contents with obvious pain. Many servants were also watching them curiously.

“Is our magic powder formula off?” Bach spoke while scattering some more powder into the air. “Ron, try again? The one that brings the gods back to life.”

Here Bach gave the old wound on his chest a fond pat, visibly excited. Once these eighteen spells truly worked, facing werewolves and vampires would no longer require desperate charges.

The resurrected statues would be far more than merely strong—they would awaken the sacred power accumulated on their bodies for years, turning them into heavenly soldiers and generals.

They would first be smashed into paste, then used with that “Flame Soul Burn” or whatever it was called.

“Right, did I misread it? I feel a bit dizzy...”

Suddenly a series of rumbling stone-mill sounds echoed. The servants all lifted their heads woodenly, staring at the castle’s stone statues like a flock of ducks.

The statues slowly tilted their heads, looking toward the servants.

The butler suddenly grabbed Ron’s arm tightly and pointed tremblingly at the castle. The three mages frowned, glanced over, and stood dumbfounded.

Helen turned back and clapped excitedly, jumping up. “These spells are far more powerful than the professors’!”

She ran over and hugged Louis’s arm. “Louis, Louis, you’re too amazing. Ron and the others have become real mages!”

The butler and servants in the distance stared woodenly. Kate saw the scene and looked at Louis woodenly as well.

Louis smiled brightly.

He had just noticed that the storybook had changed the name for these three “magic-loving muggles and wild wizards.”

[Or rather, from scholars they had been promoted to “Great Magicians.”]