Numbers x Casket-Chapter 26: Prove Your Worth

"Heh? Are you serious about that?" Celine stated with a playful smile.

Then, she stepped a little closer and grabbed the man's collar downward.

"What if I tell you that I want you? I'm much better than someone standing behind her father's glory," she whispered, then glanced at the Grand Lord's daughter, who was still sitting beside the appraiser.

"Then I'll gladly decline," Efraim answered with a calm expression.

"That's not fair! You didn't even think about it!" Celine complained.

Meanwhile, Lindsay placed the glass of wine on the table, and with a cold-hearted gaze, she glared at Celine. Both of them stared at each other; no one was saying a thing, but the look in their eyes was enough to convey their message.

"H-hey, stop that." Efraim tried to pacify the women the moment he felt the tension getting more intense.

He removed Celine's hand from his robe as gently as he could and positioned himself in between the two, but Lindsay stood up and pushed him to the side.

"Well, I'm not afraid of lightning, and I'm pretty sure that I can handle a few sparks as well," Lindsay stated with a mischievous smile.

Then she took a step forward and crossed her arms before speaking once again.

"How about you? Are you capable of escaping a black hole?" she asked with a not-so-obvious threat.

"Would you like to see me try?" Celine answered.

"That would be an honor to dispose—I mean, to play with a pillar," Lindsay replied.

The atmosphere around them started to have friction as their energy fluctuated in the air. However, it came to a halt when the Grand Lord came over.

"Both of you, knock it off," Riel stated, and a gust of wind pushed the two women apart from each other.

"You girls, bickering as always," he added, shaking his head.

"But she started it first!" Celine and Lindsay exclaimed at the same time.

However, Riel ignored their cries and focused his attention on the appraiser.

With a heavy and firm tone, he ordered. "Come with me!"

"What?" Lindsay snapped upon hearing her father's order.

She glared at him and looked at Efraim.

"No, you're not going anywhere," she compelled with a strong resolve.

Meanwhile, Efraim tried to discern the Grand Lord's real purpose, and he even came in person to him. If he really wanted, he could just ask his servant to fetch him or to deliver the message.

"Don't be too overprotective, my daughter; I just want to ask your friend a few questions in private," Riel replied without averting his gaze from the appraiser, giving emphasis to the word at the end of his sentence.

Efraim inhaled a deep breath before stepping forward; however, Lindsay grabbed his arm, causing him to look back.

The woman gently shook her head as soon as their eyes met, but Efraim let out a smile.

"It's okay; I see no harm from his invitation," he assured the woman.

Upon seeing this, Lindsay glanced at Celine, her gaze asking for help; however, she just shrugged off her shoulders and didn't say a thing. After all, she was not a pillar for nothing; she had no authority to challenge and question the highest form of existence in Celestia.

Efraim freed his arm from Lindsay's grasp and walked towards the Grand Lord.

'You won't kill me in private, will you?' he asked inside his thoughts, and different kinds of questions began to form in his mind as he pondered what the man really wanted from him.

"Great! Now shall we?" Riel said the moment Efraim came closer.

Then, he snapped his fingers, and a magic circle materialized beneath them before they disappeared from the event's place.

. . . . .

In a room filled with nothing but books, a library to be exact, Efraim and Riel appeared next to each other. The appraiser roamed his eyes, and he was even surprised upon seeing the towering shelves of different kinds of manuals and records.

"Pretty nice, isn't it? This place holds Celestia's greatest treasures. All you can see here are complex magic spells passed down from generations to generations," Riel stated.

Then he looked straight in the appraiser's eyes.

"And no one was allowed to enter here, even my own daughter, without my approval," he added.

Afterward, he walked towards one of the shelves and grabbed a piece of book. It had a black color, and unlike the others, there were no intricate scriptures or text on its cover.

The next second, Riel opened it, flipped a few pages, and glanced at the appraiser.

"This book contained records about the Oriental Plains and its rulers, mostly about the eight factions fighting for power," Riel stated.

Clueless about what he wanted to convey, Efraim just stared at the Grand Lord and listened to his every word.

"Farfalla, Nightfall, Falchion, and so on. These factions agreed to cease the fighting a decade ago due to the unusual movements of the fiends..." Riel paused for a second and closed the book, then stepped a little closer towards the appraiser before continuing. "However, we all know that they are just waiting for a chance to destroy one another, so spies are pretty common nowadays."

Efraim shook his head and let out a disappointed smirk after hearing the Grand Lord's statement.

"You're accusing me of being one," he stated, his voice calm and collected.

"I'm not saying such a thing," Riel replied.

Then, with his gaze staring straight at the appraiser's eyes, he spoke again.

"I'm just wondering... curious how a person who had almost zero identity managed to know the reverse grip swordsmanship," he said.

"Those sword maniacs are pretty careful in passing down their techniques after all," he added, smiling.

However, that smile was like that of a predator waiting for a chance to devour its prey.

'One wrong answer and I won't be leaving this place alive,' Efraim contemplated as he felt the sudden increase of tension in the air.

Thus, he cleared his thoughts, and without averting his gaze from the Grand Lord, he answered.

"I'm not associated with them, although reverse grip swordsmanship is not that common; they are not the only ones who knew such a thing. There were different kinds of variations, like how magic spells differed just from altering a simple line from its circle's patterns," Efraim said.

Then he raised both of his hands in the air and smiled.

"And if I'm a spy for them, do you really think I would expose myself by using such a technique?" he added; confidence was written all over his face.

Riel couldn't help but nod his head in amazement; he was somewhat satisfied by the young man's answer, though he still had his doubts about his identity.

"You're right in that aspect," he replied.

Then he snapped his fingers, and the door several distances away from them opened.

"Greetings, Grand Lord. I am here to gladly receive your orders," said a woman as soon as she stepped inside the room.

Efraim glanced at her for a moment, gauging the woman's strength.

'Seventy-four, seriously? This place contained a lot of monsters,' he thought upon seeing the numbers written in golden color.

"Cecile, prepare the training facility; I want to test something," Riel stated.

"As you wish," the woman replied, and then she moved out of the room after lowering her head to give respect.

Afterward, Riel diverted his gaze back to the appraiser.

"And for you, I'm going to send you back now," he said.

Then a magic circle appeared underneath Efraim.

"Wait, hold on!" Efraim requested, interrupting the Grand Lord's casting.

"What's the matter?" Riel asked, curious about the appraiser's sudden action.

"Why did you really stop us earlier?" he asked in a voice so serious.

The Grand Lord knitted his brows in confusion as if he found Efraim's question absurd.

"What do you mean? I already announced my reason: to find the strongest for my daughter, nothing more, nothing less," Riel replied.

Efraim didn't reply right away; he continued staring at the Grand Lord as if expecting a concrete, deeper answer.

"You won't choose a second string over a fourth string just like that; there's definitely a catch," he uttered.

"Hmmnn, I commend you for having that kind of thinking!" Riel exclaimed, and the magic circle underneath Efraim began to emanate light.

"But if you really want to stand by Lindsay's side, prove your worth in the upcoming festival," the Grand Lord added.

Then Efraim's image disappeared from his sight.

. . . . .

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Meanwhile, in the backyard of a mansion located in a certain place inside the Arcane City. There was an old man standing near a fountain. Seconds later, the sounds of footsteps destroyed the melancholic sound coming from the flowing of water when someone approached him from behind.

"Zack, you've returned already," the old man stated without even looking back.

"How's the event?" he added.

However, Zack kept his silence for a moment, causing the old man to turn around, and upon seeing his son's furious state, something snapped inside of him.

"Tell me! What happened?" he asked.

. . . . .