Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

—

The Mages under Cook did not leave the concert hall. They knew they were at the center of Banlo City. If they used their magic outside of the concert hall, they would be asking for death. Both the Magic Association and the leaders in Banlo City would execute them right on the spot.

Zhao Manyan looked back at the concert hall. He saw the conductor in a tuxedo, Cook, standing on top of the building. He combed back his disheveled fringe of hair, revealing vicious eyes filled with resentment.

He was staring at Zhao Manyan, who had ruined everything!

“Let’s hope their faction doesn’t win. Otherwise, I might die very soon!” Zhao Manyan rubbed his nose.

“They won’t.”

Sancha heard a strange noise coming from the concert hall after she finished the sentence.

Cook was holding a dagger in his hand, and had stabbed himself in the throat. His blood was pouring down like a spring.

The fresh blood stained Cook’s tuxedo, yet his eyes were still glaring at Zhao Manyan, as if he was about to turn into a vengeful spirit.

His life drained away rapidly. He eventually fell from the building into the fountain outside the hall. He was dead.

“It looks like he doesn’t want to implicate his superiors.” Zhao Manyan was not surprised by Cook’s decision.

Their political parties were known to the public, and they might become leaders of the countries around the Andes Mountains. The Yellows had gone to extreme measures in trying to kidnap the daughter of a bank’s CEO for his vote. The man who controlled the economy of the Andes Federation was surely going to make the Yellows pay in less than a day.

Cook was leading the operation. He had no chance of survival under the pressure of someone so powerful.

Unfortunately for him, his operation had failed. Killing himself meant he was bearing full responsibility for his actions. It had nothing to do with his party.

Either way, he was already a dead man!

“They are like a bunch of lunatics. They will do anything to achieve their goals. I’m not planning to tell my father what happened,” Sancha sighed.

“You are worried that your father might do something reckless?” Zhao Manyan asked.

Sancha shook her head and replied, “The truth is, a kidnapping won’t alter my father’s decision. His eyes are only focused on the Andes Federation. I’m just a tool for him to gather more resources through marriage.” She sighed. “Forget it, you will never understand it, since you don’t have a background like mine. I have no intention to involve you in my mess, either.”

Zhao Manyan smiled.

He would never understand? His family might be richer than hers!

The marriage she had mentioned was obviously an arranged marriage between families that were well-matched in terms of social status.

The Zhao Financial Group was cooperating with the Andes Federation Bank. They were using the marriage between Zhao Youqian and Sancha to build trust on both sides. Zhao Manyan was well aware of Sancha’s situation from the very beginning. He also realized why Zhao Youqian had chosen Sancha as his fiancée.

“Let’s go back to the Aorus Sacred Institute. It’s safer there.” Sancha did not even bother looking at Cook’s corpse.

Sancha knew making the incident public would only cause more conflicts. She had no choice but to keep quiet about it, despite the shock and humiliation she had gone through. It was enough relief that she was unharmed. However, she had no clue if she would be so lucky as to have a reliable Mage by her side the next time!

“Mm, I’ll escort you home,” Zhao Manyan said.

——

Zhao Manyan helped Sancha as they walked through the Central Plaza. A man in a jacket came up to them in a panic.

“Miss Sancha, are you alright? I didn’t receive the signal from you!” the man exclaimed.

“I’m fine, I turned it off by accident. I didn’t want it to disturb me while I was enjoying the concert,” Sancha replied smoothly.

“Oh, that’s great… you must be Lecturer Zhao Yanzu, I was in your patrol class!” the man said with a smile.

“Aren’t you the guy who destroyed the fields of a village?” Zhao Manyan blurted out in surprise.

“Yes, that was my bad. Actually, I’m Miss Sancha’s bodyguard. I know you are a powerful Mage, so I didn’t follow you two very closely. Miss Sancha prefers to have some personal space,” the student said sincerely.

“You are dismissed,” Sancha waved her hand. She did not want to talk too much with the bodyguard.

“Understood, about the concert…”

“I don’t want you to utter nonsense in front of my father,” Sancha glared at him.

“Understood. Either way, I should thank Lecturer Zhao Yanzu for his help,” the student agreed promptly.

——

Zhao Manyan fell into deep thought as he watched the student leave.

He still had no clue what the student was up to. Was he using the identity of a bodyguard to hide his affiliation with the Black Vatican? Or was he pretending to be a bodyguard to approach Sancha?…

After all, Zhao Manyan had yet to see him do anything suspicious, except for destroying the fields that had been planted with Frenzy Poppies to get rid of the evidence.

“If he’s a bodyguard, he should be stronger than he seems if he’s disguising himself as a student. I wonder what level he is in the Black Vatican,” Zhao Manyan mumbled to himself.

“Do you feel like you are being watched? If you are uncomfortable with it…” Sancha said apologetically after she noticed the frown on Zhao Manyan’s face.

“I don’t mind it ,since I enjoyed my time with you. That being said, your bodyguard is a little slow to react. Those people might have turned the concert hall into an enclosed cage, but it took him so long just to arrive. I’m not sure if he’s a capable bodyguard,” Zhao Manyan warned her.

“I should really thank you,” Sancha forced a smile.

“You don’t have to. If you really want to repay my kindness, you may perform a piece for me. I believe your skills are on par with the masters who perform on stage. I might be able to forget the unpleasant stuff today if I can enjoy your performance alone,” Zhao Manyan suggested.

“Where should we go then?”

“Is your place convenient?”

“Mm… sure,” Sancha nodded after a slight hesitation.

Zhao Manyan remained calm on the surface, but the song of victory was already playing in his heart!

He should thank the martyrs for lending him a hand to speed up his progress!