Summoned and Unwanted

The old man suddenly tapped his staff, used as a cane, on the ground. His lips moved to murmur quick and quiet words.

By the time Lupa completely shapeshifted into combat form after she had previously deactivated it, the wind increased, and it started circling around them.

[A large amount of mana is moving the wind! A Wind Dome is swiftly forming around us!]

After Kazumi spoke the last word of the sentence, the wind dome became visible, and its power of protection felt unmatched.

Vincent and Kazumi became certain the old man was using a magic contract scroll to hide his identity and fool inspection skills. It made them wonder how much mana Mimi smelled coursing through the old man’s veins.

A moment after the wind dome was erected, those inside could hear the sound of arrows covered in energy break the moment the tip touched the wind dome.

[The energy in the arrows is similar to Wild Blow. It means we would most likely have been injured and unable to fight properly or, worse, have to sit the fight out.]

-I will watch over this old man. I will not let him do any funny business.-

.....

[Ok.] Kazumi quickly left Vincent’s body, but the arrows stopped shooting. Not only were they unsuccessful, but they needed to leave as their location was made public.

Kazumi looked in her memories. She discovered the directions of two assassins, but before returning to Vincent and telling him, something she couldn’t believe happened.

The old man tapped the staff. The wind dome changed into a vortex shooting to the sky. The vortex dispersed, or that is what everyone could see with their naked eye.

Kazumi’s eyes could see the flow of mana with her Mana Sense. She could see the wind disperse and form what appeared to be wind arrows.

In the blink of an eye, the arrows accurately shot toward the direction Kazumi discovered the assassins to be.

Kazumi soon saw a faint red mist in every direction the wind arrows went. It made Kazumi believe the assassins were all killed without taking a single glance at them.

Kazumi returned to Vincent. As she told him what she saw and what kind of monster the old man in front of them was, Vincent broke into a cold sweat.

The old man looked at the five in front of him.

Vincent looked undecided on what to do. The old man deemed Vincent a good leader since they did not know if the old man in front of them was their enemy or not.

Lupa, with her claws extended, was like a dog waiting for the order to attack. The old man deemed her reliable yet impatient.

Ester was covered in earth sigil tattoos, and above the back of her hands were two wind sigils. The old man could now confirm Ester was most definitely a Sigil Mage.

Mimi held her rapier in her hand firmly. The old man could feel her bloodlust directed at him as a warning.

Awa looked more confused than hostile or dependent on someone to save her. The old man didn’t know Awa was almost killed by someone she knew and respected. The thought of someone she didn’t know trying to kill her didn’t pass her mind.

“Is everyone uninjured?” The old man acted worried all of a sudden and asked.

“That did you use, Luciano? Or is that your real name since you should not know how to use the wind dome.” Vincent asked cautiously.

“Ho ho. This old man’s name is indeed Luciano.” Luciano looked at Vincent and smiled. “I never expected to meet another user of inspection so close to each other.”

[I have a bad feeling about this man. He is too mysterious to keep conversing with him.]

“Let’s leave. This old man is hiding his identity with a powerful magic contract scroll.” Vincent tapped on Lupa’s shoulder and continued, “We are not here to fight him.”

The group of soldiers returned. They saw numerous arrows broken into many pieces circling the participants of the judgment by combat.

“Is anyone injured?” One soldier asked.

“Do you know the direction of the arrows?” Another asked.

“I will bring more soldiers to escort the participants inside safe and sound.” A soldier said before leaving in a hurry.

“Ho ho. Only my coin bag is hurt.” The old man responded while taking out a high-quality wind dome spell scroll. “Good thing I brought a spare with me.”

Vincent, Kazumi, and Mimi were not so gullible to believe his words. Not after knowing how much mana in his body there was. Regardless of the truth, the old man was richer than they expected.

Ester looked at the ordinary-looking sword in her hand. She wondered why a man with enough money to have high-quality scrolls of mid-level spells in his possession would offer a cheap sword.

Regardless of the price, the sword in her hand was similar to her heirloom sword in both appearance and weight.

Ester gently shook her head to remove useless thoughts because she didn’t know the old man was rich before he saved their lives.

“Luciano from the city of Berlucia. Age. Sixty. Occupation. Casual assistant mage tutor.” The soldier reading the old man’s identity card said.

The soldiers looked at the old man with enough money to be a mid-class to high-class noble. They started to express doubt as the old man looked older than sixty years old, yet they couldn’t investigate the old man further until they had a just cause.

The soldiers knew of certain cases where nobles hid their age and identity to travel or roam the streets. In other cases, nobles would not want others to know their real age. After the old man displayed a lot of wealth and hailed from another kingdom, they decided it would be best to only keep an eye on him.

“Is there something wrong, officer? Can I have my identification returned, as I have been getting quite forgetful recently? I do not want to lose it.” Lucanio said while extending his hand.

“N-no.” The soldier stuttered before returning the identification back to the old man.

A large group of soldiers arrived, accompanied by the soldier that left recently. They formed two long lines by standing one meter apart from each other. A vice-captain appeared, walking in the path.

[This is quite unexpected. It is like we are VIPs, and only a red carpet is missing.]

“Please follow me. I will escort the Lionheart team to the arena safely.” The vice-captain said.

“Go, young dancer. I hope I can see your blade dance, even for a little bit.” Luciano told Ester with a wrinkly beaming smile on his face.

Ester tossed the sword in the air. As it reached shoulder high, Ester swiftly extended her hand and grabbed the handle with her fingers.

“I will try not to disappoint. ” Ester said while flipping the sword with her finger strength and waving motion.

Ester took out her gender-bound bag of holding with her other hand and stored the sword, similar to sheeting the blade in its scabbard. After her performance preview was completed, she heard a few people, mostly the young, clapping.

Ester felt oddly relieved to see the old man in front of her being happy by the little demonstration.

Ester couldn’t exactly explain the reason yet, such feelings made her wonder if there were more people with similar facial features to her father in the Berlucia Kingdom that could allow her to recall her parents.

Ester turned around and followed Vincent to the arena. She glanced at the old man and revealed a faint smile.

More groups of soldiers appeared, with vice captions leading them. They spread out to ask the people what they witnessed.

The report was later sent to the higher-ups. The bodies of thirteen assassins were found on rooftops. Their death was miserable and excruciating.

All of the thirteen assassins died from the same method. Their lungs were punctured beyond repair by what appeared to be a mana made projectile.

The torture they experienced and the trauma their bodies suffered from made the higher-ups conclude two scenarios. The murderer had deep resentment for the thirteen assassins. Or the murderer was a deranged killer.

*Arena Seating Area*

In the seating area of the Lionheart team, there weren’t many people sitting because they wanted to. The seating on the side of the side most favored to win was almost full up. The people had to find a seat on the opposite side, yet they couldn’t sit anywhere.

A portion of the Lionheart team’s side was reserved. It was similar to VIP seats. On these seats were the residents of the Emerald Lionheart Mansion, Lilith’s and Awa’s parents, and other people who had connections with them, such as the BABBO team and Fabio fabric store owner.

In the front row sat Iris, Lilith, Sakura, Sofy, Plow, and Mirey. Behind them sat Maid Xu, Lilith, and Awa’s parents.

“Ladies and gentelmen. I, Egidio Faulkner, will be the commentator for this event that has taken all kingdoms by storm.”

“I can see different races from different places have come to witness a judgment by combat that has not been heard of for so long.”

“Most of us had almost forgotten about this type of honorable trial, yet now everyone in the entire world will not only remember the judgment by combat still exists, but the six noble families involved will most definitely be at the center of attention for the weeks to come.”