A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 184 Wedding Ceremony Warm-up

"Awake? We're almost there." The clear female voice fully woke Luo Xia up; strictly speaking, his sleep had been interrupted by the noise outside the car.

According to Bavarian tradition, the first day of May is a festival. To celebrate and bless the newlyweds, the royal family grants permission for the entire city gates of Würzburg to be opened, and a carnival is about to begin.

So, in the three days leading up to the wedding, the villagers of the city and surrounding areas had spontaneously formed a market. Colorful tents lined the streets, stretching from the city center square all the way to the city gates. Under the tents, there were merchants and traders as well as performers singing and playing instruments. Rorschach even saw someone leading a small herd of cattle to trade.

A passing minstrel strumming his harp drifted into their carriage, and a melody floated in:

"Sunshine covers the ground, grapevines grow tall;"

"The air is filled with the fragrance of flowers, the princess is about to get married."

I wonder who the groom will be.

"The Grand Duke in the east is majestic and powerful, while the knight in the south is handsome and dashing."

"But if you ask me, the Grand Duke is old and frail, and the knights don't know how to cherish delicate flowers."

"Beautiful princess, married to a poet, singing every day, joy and happiness forever!"

The audience burst into laughter, jokingly mocking the singer's tune: "If I married you, I'd be singing on an empty stomach every day!"

"Since you all know my stomach is rumbling, please treat me to a good meal!"

Rorschach really wanted to give a reward. Just then, their carriage stopped, and the driver's voice came: "My lords, please wait a moment." Rorschach poked his head out and saw that a herd of passing cattle was blocking the road into the city.

"Redhead, do you really think this is a marketplace? Quickly lead all the animals away!" The sheriff was overwhelmed by the stench from the cows that were grazing and farting.

The cattle dealer did indeed have a head of messy red hair: "Sir, it wasn't easy for me to come all the way from the other side of the mountain."

"Alright, if you don't leave, I won't leave either. I'll just stay here and keep an eye on you. I'll collect 20% tax on every large head I sell, and 10% on every calf. Also, this open space is public land of the city, and we have to pay the city hall three silver coins every day."

"Sir, I'm leaving now! I won't sell it anymore!"

"snort!"

The traffic congestion was thus relieved, and the carriages slowly began to move forward again. A comical scene unfolded at the city gate: a red velvet banner, representing the royal family, was flanked by purple banners.

Purple was the representative color of royalty in the old imperial era. In the current empire, both the royal family and the Bain royal family use red, with darker shades indicating higher status. Purple is now mostly seen on the robes of mid-level mages. The old empire has been gone for countless years, so no one cares about it anymore.

The reappearance of the purple flag atop the city walls today is neither a restoration of the old empire nor the sacrificial offering of two mid-level mages to the heavens at the city gate, but rather the death of "Fonda," the sponsor and designated beverage supplier for this wedding.

On the left is the slogan "Enjoy the vitality of Fonda," and on the right is a simple line drawing of the bottle "designed" by Rorschach. The color here is certainly not the same bone purple as Rorschach's robes, but an artificial purple obtained by the alchemists of Istani through the oxidation of coal tar.

In Rorschach's professional opinion, it is called aniline violet.

After entering the city, there were tents distributing free soft drinks, which you had to finish on the spot and leave the glass bottles behind.

"It's so lively." Ms. Elizabeth wasn't quite used to the atmosphere, which was completely opposite to that of the Arcane Tower. Driven by curiosity, she watched for a while, and then closed the car window.

"Thank you for giving me a ride." Once they reached the square, Rorschach could walk to the Mage Tower, so he got out of the car and said goodbye to Ou Yeni.

Elizabeth nodded. "You're welcome. If it weren't for your words, I probably wouldn't be back here."

Rorschach, leaning on his cane, walked toward Bart's office, but the tower's doors and windows were now tightly shut. He rang the bell, but there was no response after a long while.

"Bart isn't here?" Just as he was thinking this, a figure fell from the sky, the trajectory of which was outlined by blood.

Fifteen minutes ago.

"I'm sorry, Lord Bart is not here. If you have something important to discuss with him, you can come upstairs." Bart's assistant opened the door for the visitor, initially startled by his fierce appearance, but then noticing the mage badge on his chest, he quickly ushered him in.

"Okay, excuse me." Mariano took off his soft hat and handed it to his assistant. He was a typical southerner from the mainland, with black hair, blue eyes, and a neatly combed beard. He was originally just a handsome middle-aged man, but the scars on his face and his tense expression startled the young assistant.

"Follow me, please wait in the reception room." The two spiraled up the tower. The guide was just a boy who had attended a grammar school. He himself did not know magic. He first worked in the merchant guild and then followed the young master to the position of assistant to the town's mage.

"How long will it take for Mage Bart to return?" Mariano hesitated. As a patrol inspector, he shouldn't have contacted the resident mage who was being assessed, but now he had no choice but to do so.

"It might be soon, or it might be tonight. You should know that my young master's wedding day is just around the corner."

He discovered an astonishing secret, which was originally just the tip of the iceberg, but the clues he found while patrolling various places were pieced together, making him tremble with fear.

Unfortunately, he discovered the other party, and the other party discovered him as well, and Mariano couldn't be sure who "the other party" was. Now that the guild was untrustworthy, perhaps finding the Arcane Tower would be a better option, but the journey was too far, and the other party was already approaching.

As for why Bart was reliable, the reason is simple: the young resident mage was on the list, just like him. This unexpectedly obtained list, along with other documents, was stored in Mariano's storage bag.

"He's not here. Should I stay or leave?" Mariano couldn't make up his mind. And while he was hesitating, he had unknowingly walked up to the mage tower.

"Please have some tea." The assistant brought over a porcelain cup, containing tea and neatly arranged sugar cubes. Mariano cautiously refrained from drinking, licking his dry lips before asking again, "Approximately how long will it take for Mage Bart to return?"

"I don't know. What do you want to see him about? I can pass on the message."

"No, I have something important to discuss with Bart in person. How about this, where might he be? I'll go find him myself."

"No need, sir. How much do you know? Why don't you tell me first?"

"I know"

Bart's assistant's eyes were already unfocused, and Mariano also fell into a brief daze, but he quickly realized that the voice was not coming from the assistant.

It was a woman's voice, but the tone was deep and almost like a man's.

"Have you broken free from control?" The owner of the voice was somewhat surprised, and footsteps sounded.

Behind him, instead of stepping on carpet, there was the sound of footsteps on wooden planks, meaning Mariano was at least two meters away. He listened to the footsteps and voices to determine their location. He didn't know why the enemy hadn't made a move.

The woman continued her nagging: "This mage tower has nothing to eat but beans, and I have to provide tea and sugar cubes. Yet you refuse to drink tea and forget all this, and you also refuse to answer me obediently, which puts me in a difficult position."

Mariano sprang to his feet, flinging the teacup behind him, splashing tea everywhere. The instant the man turned, a chilling aura rose, and the tea turned into icy mist.

The amount of icy mist far exceeded that of a normal cup of tea, and the ice crystals were still growing and spreading, reflecting a crystalline, cold light in the sunlight, while simultaneously blocking Mariano's movements.

The woman took a step back, and in the instant before the countless tiny ice crystals fell to the ground, a rapier shattered the teacup and pierced through it. The shards of the teacup were also imbued with kinetic energy and sprayed out like shotgun pellets towards the location Mariano anticipated the enemy's presence.

"Difficult to handle? Then don't do it!" Mariano roared.

(End of this chapter)