The Records of an Overpowered Herb Hunter

7.4 Falling Lights

- Before -

In a bright ballroom where a massive chandelier hangs, elegant ladies and gentlemen clad in ballgowns and sleek tuxedos waltz to the royal orchestra. Three members of Magician Extraordinaire stood a corner, looking at the peaceful scene in front of them. The chattering and light laughter was worlds away from the battle that they had suffered through less than a day before.

"How's Tsukasa?" Heiki asked, taking a sip of his cocktail but frowned and glared at the offending drink.

"He's still in a coma. Probably from the shock. Not much damage was done but the psychological impact might be hard to get over." Yuki had received the information when she wanted to visit Tsukasa but was coldly turned away by the palace guards.

"Well yeah! No one would ever think that their teammate would be a secret assassin out to get them." Takeshi pulled on the tie that was suffocating him. He took the entire tray of refreshments from a passing waiter and threw the small bites into his mouth. They were tasty but were too small to actually fill him up.

The banquet seemed so ironic to Heiki, where the nobles were laughing like nothing had happened when almost half of the Protectors were dead while a number of the students were gone too, although the numbers were not as significant. They managed to escape with the help of the Protectors and the teleportation crystals but a large majority were heavily injured.

Aki's action of going around to eliminate the nearby assassins helped to keep the numbers as it was. Who knows how heavy the damage would have been if Aki was not around.

"Put away that scowl, Heiki. If your dad sees it, you will get scolded again." Yuki whispered as she gave a demure smile to a passing lady. Her aura was totally different than when she was holding a magic staff in the battlefield. Despite how down to earth the Magician Extraordinaire seemed, it was undeniable that they were part of the noble faction.

Prince Klye was seated at the front of the ballroom to host this party. Kyle kept a warm smile on his face as he greeted the nobles, as if portraying an image of a generous ruler. Beside him was a familiar man with a scar across his left eye. Instead of the usual unruly mob, his black hair was slicked back neatly and with the nicely pressed tux, Roku looked like an entirely different person.

"Well, now you look like a Duke. It's been a while since I have seen you in that get-up." Kyle smiled teasingly as Roku gave him a bored look.

"Speaking of which, where is Aki?"

Roku tensed at that question. Although it wasn't obvious, Kyle who was closely observing Roku saw his reaction. He felt amused at his response, as if Roku was a mother hen ready to protect his own.

"I don't know. Probably back out in the field."

"Ahhh... You Hunters are all the same, never the ones for all these pompous and glittering occasions." Kyle waved dismissively at the scene in front of him. A look of disgust flashed across his eyes, but he immediately placed it away, giving Roku an apologetic look.

"You do know this is still necessary to appease the rest of the nobles."

Roku scoffed. It was so heartbreaking to lose their children, children who they have already abandoned and sent them to the magic academy. Although it's a top magic academy, many nobles had actually gone through the back door. Those who were dumped here were failures that were not good enough to enter the Royal Academy or into knighthood. This was why they had the test in the first place. A test which was specially made for these noble children to ensure that after graduating, they would still be able to survive on their own. Although many were not privy to that fact.