Chapter 370: Chapter 337: "Life Secret Scripture" and Great Mage Martin

’He could defeat an entire squad of Elite Knights with a wave of his hand. This was definitely no street Illusionist.’

"What happened then? Did you catch him?"

"We did."

Alex’s expression turned strange again.

"Just as he was about to break out of Black Stone Castle, he ran right into... well, he ran right into Lord Sun."

Raylo froze for a moment.

Even Alex seemed to find the scene a bit bizarre as he described it.

"At that moment, Lord Sun had just finished his morning patrol and was returning to Black Stone Castle. He noticed the commotion on the ground and... and extended the tip of one of his claws."

"The man’s Chain Lightning was annihilated before it even touched Lord Sun’s scales. Then, Lord Sun used that same claw tip to pin him to the ground, immobilizing him completely."

A hundred-meter-long Golden Dragon, using a single claw tip to pin down a human who was casting powerful magic.

Raylo also found the image somewhat comical.

"After a preliminary assessment," Alex said, "that man is a genuine Tier Four Great Mage."

"A Tier Four Great Mage?"

Raylo took the report, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

’This is no ordinary powerhouse.’

A Tier Four Great Mage would be treated as a guest of honor in any Kingdom, granted a title and a fief, and become a pillar of a major power.

Even if he were down on his luck, he could register with the Mercenary Guild and easily take on high-paying missions to live a comfortable life.

How could he have ended up in a small tavern, relying on clumsy tricks to earn a few Copper Sparrows for drinks?

Everything about it felt incongruous and illogical.

"Did he say where he’s from?"

Raylo asked.

Alex shook his head.

"He’s tight-lipped, won’t say a thing. He just keeps muttering that he’s not a fraud and complaining that our Knights dirtied his only Mage Robe."

Raylo stood up and said,

"Bring him to the castle’s great hall. I’ll see him myself."

「In the castle’s great hall.」

In the center of the hall, a scrawny, middle-aged man was bound by the hands with a Magic Rope.

He wore a gray Magic Robe that was faded from washing and splattered with mud at the hem. A long tear ran down the front, revealing an equally old linen shirt underneath.

His messy hair was matted, his face pale, and his lips chapped.

Raylo paced before him. He didn’t sit down, but simply surveyed the man from a superior height.

A squad of his Personal Guard stood nearby, hands on their sword hilts, the atmosphere grim.

"A Great Mage?"

Raylo’s voice echoed in the hall, his tone unreadable.

"With a status such as yours, why were you performing like a common charlatan in my territory?"

The middle-aged man pressed his lips together and turned his head to the side, a clear gesture of non-cooperation.

Raylo wasn’t surprised. He changed the question.

"Name? Where are you from?"

The man remained silent.

Alex stood behind Raylo, his brows furrowed. The prisoner’s stubbornness was beyond his expectations.

Any Lord would find an unidentified, powerful Caster to be a difficult problem.

"It seems you have great confidence in your Magic."

Raylo circled him, his gaze as sharp as a hawk’s.

"Do you think the dungeons of Black Stone Territory can’t hold you?"

"Or perhaps, you think I wouldn’t dare do anything to a Great Mage?"

The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed, but he still said nothing.

The silence in the hall was oppressive.

Just then, Moonlight jumped down from the desk where it had been lying. Something about this disheveled Mage seemed to have piqued its interest.

It circled the chair twice, its pale golden eyes seeming to size up the middle-aged man.

At first, the middle-aged man paid no mind to the large white cat, but as Moonlight drew near, his muscles tensed instantly.

Moonlight stopped in front of him, tilted its head, and suddenly extended a paw.

"What are you doing?!"

The man growled, trying to struggle, but two Knights behind him held his shoulders and arms, keeping him immobile.

Moonlight’s claws didn’t harm him. With a light hook of its sharp tip, it seemed to pass right through his Magic Robe and shirt.

SHH-RIP!

The sound of tearing fabric rang out, but to everyone’s amazement, Moonlight’s claw pulled something... invisible from inside the man’s clothes.

It wasn’t empty.

Rather, it was something no one present could see.

Moonlight let out a soft growl. Dangling from its claw tip, a small pouch wrapped in a nearly transparent, gossamer-like gauze slowly materialized in the air.

Faint Magic Power flowed across the gauze, perfectly blocking any attempt at detection and distorting the light to render it almost invisible.

"A Space Storage Pouch?"

Alex cried out in shock. Although he couldn’t see it, he could guess from the man’s instantly ashen face that Moonlight had found something crucial.

Moonlight snatched the invisible pouch in its mouth, leaped nimbly onto the long table nearby, and pawed at it a couple of times. It seemed to want to open it but found it was protected by a complex spatial seal.

It looked up impatiently and let out an "Awooo~" in the direction of the fireplace.

By the fireplace, Coal Ball, who had been sleeping soundly, shot up from its cushion with a start.

It shook its head groggily, and upon seeing that its boss, Moonlight, was summoning it, immediately scampered over eagerly.

Coal Ball ran to the table and scrambled up the leg in a few quick movements.

It glanced at the pouch pinned down by Moonlight, yawned, then extended its own chubby little black paw and waved it casually at the pouch.