NOVEL NEXT Chapter 133: Hayden's New Life
"There," the mage said as he confirmed that the spell worked on the slave…
"Try to harm anyone here, and your heart stops."
The butler sighed after seeing this... "Must you always be so dramatic, Renji?"
The mage—Renji—shrugged.
"The kid killed two first-circle mages. You really think a 'please don't stab the baby heir' would work?"
"He's still trained by the Obsidian Tower and their minds had been altered already. Furthermore, can't you see the collar? It's still in effect." The butler reminded the mage, but in the end, he just let it go.
After all, it was already there.
The mage then left, and there were only the two of them once again… As Hayden was about to ask what he needed to do, a maid appeared, her face as expressive as stone.
Hayden wasn't sure if she was tired or if she just didn't care that much about the new person within the manor.
Without a word, she guided Hayden to a small chamber—his new quarters.
The room contained a narrow bed, a washbasin, a folded set of black-and-silver uniforms, and a few casual clothes.
"Change," the maid ordered. "You will attend Lady Julia at dawn. You're supposed to be trained, right?"
"Yes… But I'm still not familiar with this place." Hayden replied.
"You'll get used to it. There's not much to do." The maid said and left the room.
As the door clicked shut, Hayden paused for a moment and used his Lens to scan the surroundings…
Unexpectedly, there weren't any signs of Spells or Magic around.
'Their security is a bit too lax… They only have that one mysterious mage…' Hayden mused as he realized that this manor was too weird.
Nonetheless, after confirming that no one was watching him, he finally allowed his smile to fade.
Then, he looked at the data sent by his Lens about the curse that was placed on him.
[ Full scan initiated.]
[ Curse analysis: 87% complete.
Weakness detected: Proximity-based.
Range: Manor grounds only. ]
[ Additional observation: Mage Renji is at least a Third-Circle Mage. Enhanced physicality suggests hybrid Aura-Mage training. ]
'What? Does it mean that the curse is only effective if I harm anyone within the Manor Grounds? What if it's outside?' Hayden mused as he realized that the curse that was cast on him seemed to have a catalyst that could only stay within the Manor's area.
It seemed that Renji and the Old Butler had simply acted just now to make it seem like the curse was actually very powerful.
Nonetheless, the shock didn't end there, the Ocularis Lens had actually noticed that Renji wasn't just capable of using Mana, he was also capable of using Aura! It was very impressive, and it was the first time Hayden had seen one.
He didn't think that this was actually possible…
'As expected of the Archmage's Manor, it's really special.' He mused.
In any case, Hayden felt a bit tired already.
After changing his clothes to comfortable ones, he lay on his bed immediately.
He wasn't worried about being harmed here since they would've done so already if they planned to do something. Furthermore, he would have to serve the young lady of the house.
There shouldn't be any reason for them to bully him unless he wasn't serving her properly…
'Still… The collar's analysis had stagnated. It'll be harder to escape unless I can remove it… I hope staying here will help me learn more about it.' Hayden mused as he soon fell asleep.
***
The moment Hayden's breathing steadied into sleep, the old butler —Judge— moved.
With a flick of his wrist, he activated a sound-dampening ward in the manor's study and gathered some of the remaining occupants…
This includes Renji, the Mage Guard, Leny, the maid, Dock, the groundskeeper, and Daisy, the cook.
As for the other maid and the coachman, they were already resting.
"Well?" Renji grunted. "Is he what we needed?"
Judge didn't immediately answer as he looked at the monitoring artifact linked to Hayden's room. This monitoring artifact couldn't provide him with plenty of information. As a matter of fact, it only helped him know if the slave was still in his room, or whether he was alive or not.
Nonetheless, everyone here, including the maid and coachman, was a magician, although some of them weren't trained enough to form a Mana Circle.
"Potentially. His combat records are genuine. The Obsidian Tower's conditioning seems intact, but…" He paused. "He seemed a bit too perfect, so I'm worried."
Leny's brow twitched as she heard this. "I noticed that his collar is working correctly. There shouldn't be a problem since it's the Obsidian Tower. However, I'll still monitor him."
Dock chuckled at this... "I don't think we should be too wary of that ten-year-old kid. It's the Archmage's request to take the boy and train him anyway. Maybe he has some sort of potential or he knows something we don't… Let's just trust the lord's instructions to us and make the kid work as we were told."
"Maybe he's just absorbing his new place. He's unfamiliar and is now meeting new people. It's a normal reaction. Wouldn't you be, after months in that Tower?" Daisy, the cook, added.
Judge, the old butler, was satisfied with the members of the manor voicing out their thoughts on this matter.
In any case, Lady Julia would soon attend a Magic Academy, and she needed a capable servant not too far from her age. A mage servant was definitely not a good option, so a young Aura User would just be fine.
***
On the next day, Hayden woke up to a sharp knock on his door.
After opening the door, he saw Leny standing there. She was holding a tray of steaming tea and buttered bread, and her expression hadn't changed.
"Eat. You have twenty minutes before Lady Julia wakes."
"Oh… I understand." Hayden realized that this maid was actually quite kind since she would even serve him his meal, even though he could just take it from the kitchen.