Mage's Profound Truths

Chapter 25: True Identity

A ball of fire radiating intense heat floated beside Merlin, and with its threat, Jiya didn’t dare to move and only watched Merlin silently.

Merlin nodded in satisfaction and said in a deep voice, “I ask one question, you answer one.”

“Merlin, actually we are not enemies. You are Mr. Aeta’s disciple, you…”

Before Jiya could finish speaking, Merlin raised his hand again, and a fireball shot toward her. Jiya, lying on the ground, was startled and quickly waved the dagger in her hand, trying to block the fireball.

“Ssshh.”

Though the fireball was only the size of a fist, its temperature was high enough to melt refined iron. As soon as Jiya’s dagger touched it, it began to melt into a puddle of molten metal.

The small fireball pressed on, brushing past Jiya’s arm and slamming into the wall.

Jiya’s sleeve was burned into tattered strips, and the once fair and delicate arm now bore a blackened burn mark from the fireball’s terrifying heat.

The smell of roasted meat filled the small wooden hut.

The intense pain caused cold sweat to pour from Jiya, and a hint of fear appeared in her eyes as she looked at Merlin.

“It seems you now understand. I ask one question, you answer one.”

Jiya clenched her silver teeth and gave a slight nod, but dared not say more.

“What is your relationship with Teacher Aeta?”

Merlin began his questioning.

Jiya shifted her body slightly and leaned back against the wall before replying, “Mr. Aeta is my superior. I am his subordinate. We were both sent by the Black Moon Kingdom.”

A sudden clarity dawned on Merlin—so both Jiya and old man Aeta were spies sent by the Black Moon Kingdom to gather intelligence in the Bright Kingdom. No wonder chubby Gutt couldn’t dig up any information about Jiya’s identity.

“Teacher Aeta was discovered by the Church. Why weren’t you?”

“We hardly ever met in person and exchanged intelligence only through coded messages. Mr. Aeta was exposed because he was a spellcaster. He went to Grand City once and was accidentally discovered by the Church. A spellcaster, regardless of identity, is always eliminated by the Church.”

“So you're saying the Church didn’t discover that Teacher Aeta was from the Black Moon Kingdom, but targeted him just because he was a spellcaster?”

“That should be the case. Otherwise, with the Church’s capabilities, I would have been arrested long ago.”

Merlin stared hard at Jiya. From her answers, he didn’t detect anything suspicious, so her responses were probably true.

Merlin knew very well that in the Bright Kingdom, heresy was absolutely intolerable. Old man Aeta was discovered and killed by mages from the Church’s Inquisition solely because he was a spellcaster.

Perhaps even the Church didn’t know Aeta’s real identity—that besides being a spellcaster, he was also a secret agent sent by the Black Moon Kingdom.

The air grew heavy. Merlin’s silence made Jiya uneasy; she knew the man before her was thinking about what to do with her.

“Besides you, who else knows Teacher Aeta’s identity?”

Merlin paused for a moment, his tone becoming sharp. If someone else knew Aeta’s identity, they could use it to threaten him. Merlin didn’t want to get involved in the conflict between the Black Moon and Bright Kingdoms.

So, if anyone else knew Aeta’s true identity, Jiya couldn’t be allowed to live.

Sensing Merlin’s intent, Jiya looked anxious and quickly said, “Besides me, no one knows Mr. Aeta’s identity. Merlin, I can still be useful to you. Though you’ve become a noble spellcaster, in the Bright Kingdom, you’re a heretic and always at risk of being discovered by the Church. With me, I can at least help gather information for you. When you want to leave the Bright Kingdom, I can help you…”

Jiya looked pitiful, and with her stunning beauty, she easily evoked sympathy.

“Get up.”

Finally, Merlin spoke slowly. The fireball in front of him gradually dissipated into a wisp of black smoke.

“Whew…”

Leaning against the wall, Jiya finally let out a sigh of relief and breathed heavily. She gently wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and stood up shakily, supporting her injured arm.

Though Jiya stood up, she didn’t leave immediately. Instead, she began to remove her clothing. She took off the large black robe she wore, revealing a thick white fur coat underneath.

Without the robe’s concealment, Jiya’s voluptuous figure was exposed. However, her face was pale and covered in sweat—her injury clearly diminished her beauty.

“I’ll have to trouble you to deal with these.”

Jiya pointed to the pile of clothes on the ground. The robe was stained with blood, and wearing it outside would definitely raise suspicion.

Merlin gently raised his right hand, and a fireball flew out, landing on the pile of clothes. In the blink of an eye, they were set ablaze and reduced to ashes.

“I’ll leave first. The city guards sometimes patrol here—this place isn’t safe.”

After speaking, Jiya gently covered her injured arm and quickly turned to leave the hut.

Merlin watched her figure disappear into the distance, then walked a few more circles inside old Aeta’s hut. Almost everything inside had been taken away, leaving an empty room.

Seeing that there was nothing of value left in the hut, Merlin prepared to leave too. After all, staying here too long would definitely be unsafe, whether or not the city guards were patrolling.

※※※

A graceful figure wandered through the streets for a while before finally stopping—it was none other than Jia, who had just left the cabin.

Jia bit her lip tightly, her hand still bleeding, and the cloth wrapped around it was nearly soaked red. She turned to glance toward Elder Aita's cabin, snorted coldly, and muttered under her breath, “i***t!”

After cursing, the movement seemed to tug at her wound again, causing cold sweat to break out from the pain. She could only support herself lightly on the wall and slowly walked toward a small courtyard ahead.

The courtyard was surrounded by tall walls, enclosing a classical-style pavilion. The environment was pleasant, but the yard was empty with no one in sight.

Jia, clutching her arm, stumbled into the courtyard. By this time, the cloth in her hand could no longer stop the bleeding—bright red blood dripped onto the ground, shocking to the eyes.

“Lord Lorin!”

Jia arrived before the house, but did not knock. Instead, she respectfully stood outside and softly called out.

“Jia, you’re injured? What happened?”

A hoarse voice came quickly from inside the house, sounding a bit surprised.

“Lord Lorin, when I went to Elder Aita’s cabin, I ran into Wilson Merlin. I didn’t expect that Elder Aita had actually accepted Wilson Merlin as his true disciple. He has already become a spellcaster, and it was him who injured me.”

Jia briefly explained what had happened.

The person inside the room was silent for a long time before slowly speaking: “These spellcasters are always reckless and brazen. They don’t care about the kingdom at all. That old Aita went to Grand City on his own for a spellcasting artifact and got discovered by the Church of Light... Hmph, luckily he’s already dead and didn’t expose us. Otherwise, all our years of effort here would’ve been ruined!”

“Lord Lorin” inside the house seemed very dissatisfied with spellcasters, especially with Elder Aita. Jia naturally dared not say anything—whether it was Elder Aita or the one called “Lord Lorin,” both held far higher status than she did.

After venting his dissatisfaction with Elder Aita, “Lord Lorin” asked in a low voice, “Does this Merlin know about our existence?”

Jia’s expression shifted slightly, and she quickly said, “Lord Lorin, Elder Aita seems to have only taught Merlin things related to spellcasting and didn’t mention us. Otherwise, I fear I wouldn’t have made it back today.”

“This Merlin is ultimately a threat. We absolutely cannot risk exposure, so he must be eliminated! Jia, since he let you go, he must have lowered his guard against you. Think of a way to lure him to the house. Hmph, I’ll take care of him personally.”

“Lord Lorin, Merlin has already become a spellcaster. It won’t be easy to kill him.”

“Don’t worry. He’s only just become one. With me acting suddenly, killing him will be as easy as turning a hand! These spellcasters, when unprepared, are no different from ordinary people...”

Lord Lorin spoke with unquestionable certainty, and Jia could only nod, though her expression was slightly dark.

“Jia, you’ve been stationed in the Light Kingdom for nearly a year. I’ll apply to have you transferred back.”

Though softly spoken, Jia still heard it clearly. Her gloomy expression immediately turned into a trace of delight. Her pale face, due to blood loss, even regained a bit of color from excitement.

“Thank you, Lord Lorin!”

After speaking, Jia quickly left the courtyard.

※※※

Back in Wilson Castle, Merlin returned to his room and gently removed the scarf around his neck. There was a blotch of blood on it.

Standing in front of the mirror, Merlin tilted his head and looked at the wound on his neck. It had clotted and stopped bleeding. The cut was not long—it looked like it was caused by a branch.

Such a wound would heal in two days, leaving no scar behind.

Merlin tossed the bloodstained scarf into a basin and threw a fireball into it. Soon, the scarf was burned to ashes.

He then opened the windows to ventilate the room. Only after the smell from the burning scarf dispersed did he open the door and go downstairs.

The butler was still directing the servants to cut down a large tree in the yard and move it out of the castle.

Heavy snow had piled on the tree, and with last night’s strong wind, the tree had been blown over.

Merlin squinted as he watched the sweating servants busying themselves, when suddenly the sound of hooves echoed outside the castle—it was Moss’s carriage returning with Meixue.

Merlin quickly stood up. He had been waiting here precisely for Meixue’s return.