Chapter 67: A kind - hearted fool

The next morning, Lathel and Catrina left the estate fairly early.

After yesterday’s outing, Lathel had originally planned to stay and rest, but Pandora kept reminding him about learning basic magic. The Original Sin Core had made his body stronger, and his mana pathways were more stable than before, but if he truly wanted to learn how to use his strength, he still needed to understand at least the basic knowledge that even children in this world learned from a young age.

Catrina knew he wanted to buy books, so she volunteered to go with him. Before leaving the estate, she had already taken out the silver thread from yesterday, but Lathel only glanced at it once before Catrina silently put it away again, making Pandora immediately laugh.

"Looks like she really remembers."

Lathel was slightly surprised as well. At least after everything that had happened, Catrina was genuinely trying to change the things he disliked, even if the way she changed sometimes still left others unsure how to react.

The two walked through several streets and arrived near the central plaza. Many bookstores and Magic Item shops were concentrated here, and there was also a small branch office responsible for registering candidates for the Magic Academy entrance examination.

Lathel had just spotted the Academy’s emblem in the distance when a loud shout suddenly came from ahead.

"You! Stop right there!"

A small crowd had gathered beside a fruit stall. Catrina normally had no interest in such matters, but when she saw Lathel looking over, she stopped with him.

At the center of the crowd was a young man around Lathel’s age. His slightly messy hair was brownish blond, his skin tanned, and his body looked fairly strong, but his clothes were made from ordinary coarse fabric. A middle-aged woman wrapped in a thin blanket was strapped to his back, while he had to support his mother’s legs with one hand and continuously bend down with the other to pick up apples rolling across the ground.

The stall owner angrily shouted, "You knocked over all my goods and you’re still pretending to be stupid?"

The young man hurriedly replied, "Sorry. I’ll pay."

"Pay? Do you even know how much all of this costs?"

"I don’t."

The stall owner became even angrier. "You don’t know, yet you’re saying you’ll pay?!"

The young man fell silent and thought very seriously for a moment before answering, "...Then tell me the price."

Lathel: "..."

Pandora was also silent for several seconds before reaching a conclusion.

"There’s something wrong with this person."

Catrina looked coldly at the scene in front of them and said, "He didn’t do it."

Lathel turned toward her, and Catrina indicated with her eyes toward a little boy hiding behind a stone pillar nearby. The child was holding a wooden ball, his face pale. Just from his reaction, it was obvious that he had been the one who ran past and crashed into the stall.

Lathel immediately walked over. Catrina did not stop him and simply followed behind.

He raised his hand and pointed toward the child.

Everyone immediately looked in that direction.

The boy froze for a moment before lowering his head. "It was... it was me. I ran too fast... and bumped into the table leg..."

The father standing nearby immediately stepped forward and apologized. "Whatever it costs, I’ll pay."

The stall owner looked at the young man, his expression slightly awkward. "Then... about what happened just now..."

The young man was still crouching down and picking up apples. Hearing that, he simply shook his head.

"It’s fine. The goods already fell anyway."

He placed the final apple back on the table as though being wrongly accused and scolded was not worth caring about.

Catrina looked at him as if she were observing someone extremely difficult to understand.

Lathel was not much different.

In the end, the stall owner accepted payment from the child’s father and said nothing more, while the crowd quickly dispersed.

Only then did the young man turn toward Lathel.

"Thank you."

Lathel nodded and used sign language out of habit.

It’s nothing.

The young man’s eyes immediately widened.

Then he raised both hands as well.

He started waving them around.

One hand pointed toward the sky while the other touched his chest. Then he rotated his wrist, raised two fingers, and patted his own shoulder.

Lathel froze.

Catrina stared too.

Pandora asked in confusion, "What is he doing?"

Lathel genuinely had no idea.

The young man continued making another series of strange gestures. After a while, he finally stopped and gave him a bright smile.

"I’m talking to you."

Lathel: "..."

He immediately took out his writing board.

[I can read.]

The young man froze.

"...Oh."

The two stared at each other in silence for several seconds before the young man finally nodded very seriously.

"That makes things much easier."

Pandora immediately burst out laughing. "I like him already."

Even Lathel could not help it. The corner of his lips curved slightly.

At that moment, the woman on the young man’s back suddenly moved. She looked at Lathel with slightly unfocused eyes, then reached into her pocket. It took her quite a while before she managed to take out a small, slightly misshapen candy and hold it out toward him.

"Eat."

Lathel was slightly surprised.

The young man immediately smiled. "My mother likes giving people food. Just take it."

Lathel looked at the woman.

She continued stubbornly holding the candy out in front of him, so in the end he could only accept it.

The smile on her face immediately became brighter, and then she gently patted her son’s shoulder.

"You eat too."

"I already ate."

Growl.

A very clear sound came from the young man’s stomach.

Everyone fell silent.

He maintained his smile as though nothing had happened.

"That was the sound of mana."

Catrina: "..."

Lathel lowered his head, his shoulders trembling slightly.

Pandora had already burst out laughing. "I take it back. I really like him."

The woman looked at her son again and called, "Elias."

The young man immediately replied, "Yes, Mother."

She stroked his hair for a while before suddenly asking, "Where is Elias?"

The young man paused.

Lathel also looked up.

Elias showed no irritation. He merely tilted his head slightly and answered, "I’m right here."

The woman immediately shook her head.

"No."

Elias thought for a moment before asking naturally, "Then who am I?"

It took her a long time to remember a name.

"...George."

Elias immediately nodded. "All right. Today I’m George."

The woman became satisfied and wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck before resting her head on his shoulder.

Catrina watched the scene for a while, and the expression in her eyes behind the mask changed slightly.

Lathel also understood that the woman was clearly not completely lucid.

But Elias showed no impatience.

He did not explain or correct his mother.

He simply went along with her.

Lathel wrote on the board:

[Is your mother ill?]

After reading it, Elias’s smile faded slightly.

"Yeah."

He gently adjusted his posture so his mother could lie more comfortably before saying, "Something happened a few years ago. Since then, Mother often forgets things. Sometimes she even thinks I’m still only ten years old."

Lathel looked at the woman.

She was playing with a lock of Elias’s hair as though she were truly taking care of a child.

"She’s doing pretty well today." Elias smiled. "At least she remembered my name once."

There was no sadness in his voice, nor any intention of complaining.

He simply spoke about it as though it were something completely ordinary.

Lathel continued writing:

[Where are you taking her?]

"The Academy."

Lathel looked slightly surprised.

Elias immediately explained, "I’m not taking Mother there to study."

Catrina said coldly, "I don’t think anyone would misunderstand that badly."

Elias: "..."

He scratched his head. "I’m going to register for the entrance examination."

Lathel looked toward the Academy emblem.

Elias raised a hand and pointed in the same direction.

"I heard that people who perform well can enter the great library, and they can also meet high-level Healers. I want to find a way to cure Mother."

Catrina looked at him. "The Royal Magic Academy is not a place you can enter simply because you want to."

"I know."

"The examination is extremely difficult."

"I know."

"How have you prepared?"

Elias immediately fell into thought.

Only after a very long time did he answer seriously.

"...I’m strong."

Catrina: "..."

Lathel lowered his head and laughed.

Elias hurriedly added, "I can run fast too."

Catrina did not answer.

"And I know how to fight a little."

She remained silent.

Elias began to feel that something was wrong with his answers, so he thought some more and said, "I heard there are lots of smart people in the Academy."

Catrina asked, "And?"

"I’m not very smart."

No one disagreed.

Elias smiled brightly again. "So as long as I get inside and find a smart person willing to help me, that should work."

Catrina looked at him for a while. "You intend to enter one of the hardest Academies in the kingdom with that plan?"

Elias thought about it before nodding, though his voice was not particularly certain.

"...Yes?"

Lathel finally could not hold it back.

A faint, hoarse laugh escaped his throat.

The sound was unclear and even slightly strange, but it was unmistakably laughter.

Elias immediately turned toward him.

Lathel paused.

He normally disliked other people paying attention to the sounds he made, but Elias did not look at his throat or act as though there were anything strange about it.

He only smiled even wider and said,

"You can laugh."

Lathel frowned.

Elias had no intention of mocking him and simply added naturally,

"That’s good."

That was all.

He did not ask why Lathel could not speak.

He did not stare at his throat.

Nor did he show any pity.

Lathel remained silent for several seconds before smiling faintly as well.

The group continued toward the registration area.

Along the way, Elias barely stopped talking, but most of it was about things that did not matter. He talked about his hometown, about how his mother used to be an excellent cook, about the first time he practiced magic and accidentally burned down half a chicken coop, and even seriously mentioned the one chicken that survived and had stared at him like an enemy ever since.

Lathel simply listened, occasionally writing a few replies, while Catrina mostly walked silently beside them.

When they reached an intersection, the sudden neighing of a horse rang out.

A carriage was rushing toward them at extremely high speed.

The driver desperately pulled on the reins and shouted,

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

A child standing in the middle of the road completely froze.

The moment Lathel saw it,

Elias moved.

Without the slightest hesitation.

He lowered his body and quickly said, "Hold Mother for me!"

Lathel only had enough time to reach out before Elias transferred the woman from his back into the support of Lathel and Catrina, then immediately rushed forward.

"Elias!"

His mother cried out in panic.

Elias ran over, grabbed the child, and used his entire body to roll to the side.

The carriage swept past them at an extremely close distance.

BOOM!

The wheel crashed into a wooden crate before stopping several meters away.

Elias lay on the ground with the child still unharmed in his arms.

He raised his head, and after seeing that the child was uninjured, he smiled.

"Thank goodness."

Catrina’s expression immediately turned cold. "You almost died."

Elias pushed himself upright. "Yeah."

"You weren’t afraid?"

"I was." He brushed the dust off his clothes. "Very afraid."

Catrina frowned. "Then why did you still rush out?"

Elias looked at the crying child before turning back toward her.

"If I stood there thinking about whether I should save them..."

He scratched his head.

"...it probably would’ve been too late."

Catrina fell silent.

So did Lathel.

No one knew that much later, those exact words would be what got him killed.

For now, they only made Catrina look at Elias like an idiot who did not value his own life, while Lathel slowly smiled.

For some reason, he found this person very easy to be around.

After putting his mother back on his back, Elias continued walking with the two of them toward the registration branch.

When they reached the entrance, he finally stopped and turned around.

"I’m going in first."

Lathel nodded.

Elias waved. "See you tomorrow!"

Lathel paused slightly before writing:

[Tomorrow?]

Elias looked at the board. "You’re going to the Academy too, aren’t you?"

Lathel turned toward Catrina.

Catrina: "..."

Elias immediately misunderstood.

"Oh, she won’t let you?"

Catrina looked at him. "Who did you say won’t let him?"

"Nothing."

Elias immediately turned back toward Lathel. "Then I’ll see you at the registration area tomorrow!"

The woman on his back also waved.

"See you tomorrow!"

Elias had barely started running when she immediately patted his shoulder.

"Slow down!"

"Yes!"

He answered obediently, but his speed did not decrease at all.

Lathel stood there watching the two figures gradually disappear into the distance.

Pandora laughed. "This guy really is an idiot."

Lathel did not disagree.

He simply continued watching for a little longer.

...

At the same time, inside the auction house, Kiyome sat on the sofa with slightly reddened eyes from lack of sleep, while Aldric did not look much better. His hair was messy, his face pale, and bandages still wrapped around his chest. It was obvious that both of them had stayed awake almost the entire night because of the crying voices and the handprints that kept appearing inside the room.

A female subordinate entered.

"My Lady."

Kiyome immediately raised her head. "The report on Lathel?"

"Yes."

Aldric had originally been resting with his eyes closed, outwardly showing no interest.

The subordinate continued, "This morning, Lathel left the estate with Duchess Veyr. Along the way, he came into contact with a young man."

Kiyome immediately asked, "Identity?"

"We haven’t completely confirmed it yet. His name is Elias."

Aldric immediately opened his eyes.

"Elias?"

The female subordinate looked at him. "Yes."

Aldric pushed himself upright.

The pain in his chest made him frown, but this time it was not enough to stop him.

"Full name."

The subordinate looked toward Kiyome.

She nodded.

"Elias Halden."

Aldric’s expression immediately changed.

Kiyome noticed it clearly and asked, "You know him?"

Aldric did not answer.

Elias Halden.

Of course he knew him.

In the plot, Elias was one of the most outstanding candidates in this year’s Academy examination. He came from an ordinary background and possessed extremely high talent, but his personality was foolish enough that he always liked interfering in other people’s affairs.

More importantly, Elias was supposed to appear later.

Not now.

Aldric’s hand slowly clenched.

Everything that had happened recently immediately connected inside his mind.

Leviana.

Catrina.

Kiyome.

Events continuously deviating from the plot.

And now even Elias had appeared earlier than expected.

Once again, everything revolved around the same person.

Aldric’s gaze slowly turned cold.

’Lathel.’

Kiyome watched his expression, but before she could ask anything else, a child’s voice sounded from the corner of the room again.

"...Mister..."

Aldric: "..."

Kiyome closed her eyes.

She was truly starting to feel tired.

But what was more frightening was that everything seemed to have only just begun.