Chapter 39: Sage Yemada
"I'm deeply sorry, my prince, for the damage my young colleague has done here," the Sage who had called out to Felix cleared his throat as he spoke. He then signaled at one of the two female Sages with them.
The lady stepped forward and approached Felix, who just stood there in the mess he had created, staring back at them as if he hadn't done anything wrong.
"And what do you have to say to our patrons?" the lady spoke to Felix for all to hear.
Felix paused to look at her with a raised brow, then at the rest of the onlookers waiting for his answer.
"I have nothing to say," he replied plainly.
Aside from the fact that the knights were just fancy armor stands for decoration or whatever, Felix was certain there was something in the room and could feel the magic seeping out of the protection barrier behind the door.
The Sage's lips twitched uncontrollably at Felix's blunt reply, then she locked her arm around his shoulders and pulled him away. "Excuse us," she forced a smile, made a slight bow to the nobles, and was about to pull Felix away.
"Your young colleague's actions aren't wrong." The crown prince suddenly spoke up with a smile. "She must have felt the powerful magic behind the room even with the barrier up, and got curious. This proves she has a strong perception to back up her strength. I'm impressed."
Felix's ears perked up as the Sage pulling him paused to hear what the prince had to say.
"That's actually the room we decided to stow away all of Lady Morwen's cursed belongings, away from the people's reach," the prince said, which got an "Oh," from Felix.
That explains everything now.
"But if Lady Felix shows interest in them, we'll be happy to hand them over to you." The prince said with an amicable smile.
Felix was just about to reply when the Sage tightened her grip on his shoulder to seal his lips, then made another short bow and pulled Felix away.
Felix was definitely going to take that offer, because why not? He had no use for necromancy ritual items and materials, but he could find one or two things useful, then sell off the rest on the Champions trade platform for a high price.
"Lumengarde is one of the territories that aren't friendly with Sages, but you just changed that by saving the city," the Sage spoke up as they disappeared from the nobles' sight, relaxing her grip on Felix's shoulder. "So we're trying not to spoil that, as our territory of exploration has just expanded," she explained.
Felix only nodded his head in understanding.
"My name is Yemada, by the way." She introduced, as she finally let go of his shoulder.
"Yemada? Are you Asian?" Felix asked curiously as he ran forward and turned to get a closer look at her face.
Only then did he notice those undeniable Asian features on her pretty face.
"Ah, you're Asian!" Felix exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Stop that," Yemada reprimanded, but the hard blush on her cheeks betrayed her.
Yemada was a tall and slender beautiful young lady, with curly black hair and sharp facial features. She had a walking pose that evoked an authority that most might misinterpret for arrogance. But it was simply confidence.
"I'm from Japan." She finally revealed with a smile that might have come off brighter than she intended.
"Japan?" Felix reiterated smilingly, still backtracking his steps while facing her.
Then he clasped his hands together enthusiastically and made a short bow. "Thank you on behalf of all Japan for the great anime. I enjoyed them in my time. Arigato, Yemada-san!" Felix said dramatically.
Yemada's face was now as red as an overripe tomato, and she had hit her smile limits and couldn't smile any harder. If Felix didn't stop now her face might just explode.
Felix laughed as he returned to walking by her side.
"Do you know what a Champion is?" Felix decided to bring it up after they'd walked in silence for a minute.
Yemada paused in surprise to look at Felix. She opened her mouth and closed it like she wanted to say something but no words came out.
After a brief minute of an intense stare-down, Sage Yemada finally found the voice to speak.
"Have you been chosen?" Was the only thing she could mutter.
Felix wanted to keep it a secret for the time being, at least until he learned of its implications and how the Sage council treated those who were chosen.
"I was just asking—"
"Don't lie to me," Yemada cut him off.
The Champion concept was a kind of secret within the Sage council and big families. And the fact that Felix was asking about it when he wasn't of any Sage bloodline and couldn't have said he had heard it from Aaron, because even Aaron as a member of the Walton family shouldn't be privy to that information yet.
So he must have either encountered a Champion, which was very unlikely as they don't go about announcing their presence, or he had a personal encounter himself with a Primordial and was now a Champion himself.
"… Yes." Felix replied after a long pause.
Yemada exhaled the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Though it was a good thing that another one had been chosen from Earth, to her and the Sage council, Felix was a genius who hit Level 4 in just a few days while still in training. Now, imagine what he could do when he was let into Vastoria.
He was one of the Sage council's most prized assets. But now they'd lost him to the cause, as all the other Champions chosen had disappeared one after the other to other worlds, never to return as if they'd forgotten where they came from, too engrossed in their grand adventures... or worse, dead.
Yemada smiled ironically, "At this point, I don't know if you should be punished or given a medal."
Felix could only smirk sheepishly.
"So, you have your 'lobby' now?" she asked curiously.
"Yeah… wanna see something cool?"