Supreme Magus

"What guardian king? There's no such thing and I have no special power!" Trion half said and half whined.

"Don't say that, kid!" Bromann sternly waved his finger under Trion's nose. "If people hear you, you'll ruin Zekell's business."

Bromann's angry façade crumbled as everyone started laughing.

"Oh, exalted one, we submit to your glory." Rizel mock-venerated Trion with ample movements of his arms. "We also expect you to pay for our drinks since you are a god and stuff. We mortals wouldn't dare offend you."

"What about the food?" Asked an indignant Khars asked. "We can't drink beer without meaty and salty snacks!"

"Pay it out of your pocket or I will make you." Raaz mock-glared at his friend. "My son is the guardian deity of the East, not of freeloaders!"

More laughter ensued.

When they reached Lutia and people started to beg Trion for his protection and blessing, he silently begged Mogar to swallow him whole.

'This is so embarrassing!'

He thought.

'I always envied Lith but now that I'm under the spotlight, I want to go back to being a nobody. How the heck does he deal with this madness while making it look so easy?'

***

Lith reached Lutia last while staying incognito.

Everyone expected to see him fly on his wings, with his seven eyes open, or at least wearing his Supreme Magus robe so no one paid attention to a tall farmer.

'I guess it's true that the clothes make the man.'

He thought while greeting the original citizens of Lutia who recognized him and welcomed him back without using his name to let him have his privacy.

Having to remain close enough to all his Demons at the same time not to restrict their movements, Lith sat at a small family restaurant on the outskirts of the city, far away from the temple of the All-Father.

'All in all, this new Lutia is a nightmare.'

He inwardly grunted.

'The crowd, the traffic, the noise, and even plenty of guards!'

He saw pairs of soldiers patrolling the area, their enchanted spears shining under the sunlight in a silent threat. The three squads of the Queen's Corps weren't enough to protect Lutia anymore.

They kept following and protecting those like Zekell who had a tight connection with Lith but everyone else was now on their own. Lutia's crime rate was still low, but the city was no longer known as "the Graveyard".

Things like muggings, burglaries, and petty crimes had become sadly common. Organized crime gave Lutia a wide berth because magical beasts, undead, and a fiery-tempered Magus, all with a license to kill, were very bad for business.

"What can I get you?" Asked a middle-aged woman with a gentle face.

"The house specialty, thank you." Lith had already eaten, but with his real size a human serving was but crumbs.

"Can I bring you something to drink?"

"Just water. It's too early to drink." He replied.

"Are you new to Lutia? I've never seen you around these parts before." The woman asked after passing the order to the kitchen.

It was a slow day and the handsome stranger looked like a good match for her daughter.

"This Lutia? Yes." Lith replied. "What happened to the peaceful, quiet city I left?"

"You mean the silent rotting corpse of a city?" She asked with a reproachful tone. "You mustn't have come here in a long while."

"You can say that." Between the Tower Warp and the private Warp Gate, Lith only went to Lutia to pick up Rena or visit Zekell, always Warping straight to his destination.

"It's all thanks to Magus Verhen. After he was reinstated as a war hero and then crowned Magus, Lutia has never stopped healing." The deep gratitude and admiration in the woman's voice made said Magus feel like a jerk.

"Once the public Warp Gate was completed, the city was reborn and started to grow again. My family lost everything in the war, cursed be Thrud's name. We moved to Lutia to escape the frontlines and now we are proud of our new home.

"All that temple nonsense is a bit over the top, but those weirdos kept the symptoms of my illness under control until we saved enough to afford a real healer so I'm deeply grateful to them. You too should be thankful to Magus Verhen, young man.

"He won the war for us, keeps the whole Lutia safe with his presence, and personally watches over us from his house up there." She pointed in the direction of Lith's house.

'I do no such thing.'

Lith swallowed hard.

'For a woman who claims not to be a believer of the temple of the All-Father, she has a nigh-blind faith in me.'

"How is business going?" Lith quickly changed the topic as the woman brought him what looked like steamed lamb in a green peas sauce.

Being praised in Court or by someone who wanted something from him was a pain Lith was used to whereas being honestly praised by a stranger felt awkward.

"Not well, sadly." The woman sighed. "This is the only place we could afford and being on the perennial outskirts of Lutia doesn't help. The city can't expand further without invading the lands of Magus Verhen which means we're stuck here until better times come."

Away from the Gate and the main commercial district, the restaurant was indeed in a bad location. Unless someone arrived on foot from the road or had business in the area, there was no way to discover the restaurant.

"Sorry to hear." Lamb wasn't among Lith's favorite foods. He had gotten quite sick of it during his service as a Ranger in the north.

"Don't worry, sir, this too will pass." She replied with a warm smile. "My husband is a great brewer from Maekosh. I'm sure that as soon as enough people taste his beers, just word of mouth will make-"

"Come again?" Lith cut her short, his interest in her personal matters spiking.

"Didn't I tell you? We ran away from our hometown during the War of the Griffons." The woman said. "Maekosh is a xenophobic garbage dump. The moment word of Thrud's Skinwalkers spread, those idiots started a witch hunt.

"Neighbor turned against neighbor and mere rumors were enough for innocents to be tortured. My husband and I came to Lutia because we believed the place that raised Ranger Verhen couldn't be as barbaric and thanks the gods, we were right."

Lith was torn between the wish to taste the beer and his promise to Kamila.

"I'm sure everything will be fine. Do you sell kegs of beer or just mugs?" He asked.

"Getting our hands on the right ingredients is hard and the brewing takes a long time." She sighed. "We were hoping to keep our reserve exclusive for the restaurant, but at this point, we can't turn down business. Why? Are you interested?"

"Maybe." Lith sighed back. "I can't drink it myself and before making a purchase I need the opinion of someone I t-"

"There you are!" A familiar voice said as the woman went pale in fright, took a few quick steps back until she was behind the restaurant door, and locked it shut.