The Patient Wizard Chapter 27

Chapter 27 – Calculation (17)

Chris looked around cautiously before answering.

“Alex.”

“Why?”

Chris couldn’t answer. When all the knights glared at him with stern eyes urging him to speak, he whispered in a low voice.

“He has the worst personality.”

“Is he a criminal type?”

“I don’t know about that, but his relationship with the prince was terrible. The other team members liked the prince.”

“Are you falsely accusing him because he tried to kill you?”

Carl asked in surprise.

“Did Alex try to kill Chris?”

Bianca made a gesture of wielding a dagger.

“He even drew a weapon to try to kill him.”

“Then Chris’s claim would be difficult to trust.”

Chris grumbled.

“I never said Alex was the culprit.”

“You said he was suspicious?”

“I only said that because the knight kept forcing me to answer. I don’t really think he’s the culprit.”

A moment of silence passed. The silence was broken by the sound of Carl moving.

“If there’s nothing more to ask, I’ll go now.”

Bianca said.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

After Carl had left, Chris raised his hand.

“Can I leave now, too?”

“Stay with us until we interrogate Alex.”

“Why?”

“You’re the only one here who knows Alex. If he seems to be lying, give us a signal.”

Michael quietly went outside. It seemed like he was going to call Alex, but I wonder if Alex would come after having experienced a knight’s blade aimed at his neck.

“I’m hungry. Let’s have lunch.”

They moved to the dining hall. While they were eating steak sandwiches ordered for lunch, Michael returned.

“Alex will come in an hour.”

“Good. You eat too. The steak sandwiches here are delicious.”

An hour passed as they ate, drank tea, and conversed. Alex appeared with a complexion as pale as snow piled on the road.

“Nice to meet you, Commander of the Royal Knights.”

He seems to have learned the knight’s identity in the past few days.

Jan said.

“To receive greetings from a shinsa! This is an honor I’m experiencing for the first time in my life!”

It was clearly a sarcastic remark. There’s no way the kingdom’s top knight would speak of honor to a shinsa. Only wizards of at least the ninth level can receive such respect.

“Please don’t say such things, even as a joke.”

“It’s not a joke.”

“Please speak comfortably. It’s burdensome.”

Jan’s eyebrow twitched.

“Such a person speaks informally and mocks the prince!”

Alex’s face flushed.

“In the Magic Tower, outside status doesn’t operate. Only skill matters. Even that slave over there ate at the same table as us and meditated in the same place.”

Chris interjected.

“I have never once spoken informally with the nobles. Even during meditation, I always gave up my seat, and when we were in similar places, I stayed on the floor by their feet. I never even let my shadow intrude. When Lord Alex tried to kill me… That was the first time I spoke informally.”

Alex glared at Chris as if to kill him.

“That fellow harbors ill will toward me. Don’t believe him.”

Bianca shows a respectful attitude toward Catherine and Frank. However her tone when speaking to Alex was not pleasant.

“What ill will?”

“He seems to be jealous.”

“Jealous of what?”

“High status, feeling magic, good looks, wealth, having many strong friends… There’s a lot to be jealous of.”

“Is that why you bullied the prince, because you’re so great?”

Jan is the Commander of the Knights. So he bowed his head, but there’s no need to do that for a young woman. Alex glared at her.

“Who are you?”

“Bianca of the Royal Knights.”

“Your position?”

“Regular knight.”

“A mere regular knight dares to speak carelessly to a Shinsa of the Magic Tower.”

Bianca openly mocked him.

“What’s so great about being a Shinsa?”

“Wizards look down on the kingdom’s nobility.”

“You’re not a wizard. You’re just a Shinsa.”

Alex glared at Bianca in anger. Bianca smirked as she watched him breathing roughly.

“You’re laughing?”

Bianca laughed again demonstratively. Alex clenched his fists and trembled, but he couldn’t throw a fit because of the Commander of the Knights.

Jan said.

“Why did you try to kill Chris?”

“He falsely accused me.”

“From what I saw, it wasn’t a false accusation.”

“There’s no way I would have killed the prince.”

“You don’t have an alibi, do you?”

“Noble blood flows in my body. Do you think someone who knows noble pride like me would secretly kill Mark? If I wanted to kill him, I would have honorably challenged him to a duel.”

Chris blurted out.

“You were in the last place, weren’t you?”

Alex glared with dagger eyes.

“What did you say?”

“I heard you were always in last place and took out your stress by bullying the prince. Then impulsively, stab him!”

“Still falsely accusing! You must be desperate to die.”

Chris lifted his chin, exposing his neck.

“Kill me if you can.”

“You seem to be acting up because you trust the Commander of the Knights, but do you think they’ll stay at the Magic Tower forever? We’ll see later.”

This was a bit frightening. Chris quickly lowered his chin.

John said,

“You have quite the presence.”

Michael followed up.

“If a shinsa is like this, they might start a rebellion when they become a wizard.”

At the mention of rebellion, Alex’s face, which had been flushed with anger, quickly cooled. Alex gritted his teeth. An ominous air swirled around.

Jan commanded.

“Tell us everything that happened on the day the prince died, without omitting anything.”

Alex exhaled roughly, full of discontent. But he couldn’t refuse the order. His statement took a long time. They questioned him about even the most trivial things, and by the time the statement progressed to the Lion hall, the surroundings had darkened.

By this point, it was impossible not to know that he was under suspicion. Alex burst out in frustration.

“How many times are you going to ask the same question? I told you I was lying in bed, tired, and then received a message!”

“Why were you looking for the prince that day?”

“This is the tenth time you’ve asked this question. I told you I wanted to help him.”

“After mocking, despising, and bullying him usually, you suddenly wanted to help? That doesn’t make sense.”

“I was reflecting on the past and trying to become a new person.”

Chris muttered to himself.

“Of all days, that day.”

When one reaches the level of gyesin, one’s senses improve. The knights also had developed their senses, so everyone heard Chris’s muttering.

“You shut up!”

Alex flared up angrily.

“Oh, you heard? You have good ears.”

Jan said.

“Chris made a good point. Why did you reform on the day the prince died?”

“I was publicly reprimanded the day before.”

“You must have been stressed. So you sought out the prince to relieve stress.”

“No.”

“So you eventually met the prince and…”

“No. I didn’t meet him that day.”

Alex shouted.

“I didn’t meet him!”

“You’re shouting because you feel guilty.”

“I’m shouting because it’s unfair. It’s unfair.”

The statement progressed to the part where they reached the Lion hall, received the alibi interrogation, and were included in the suspect group.

“Because of that bastard!”

Alex blamed Chris again.

“I, who had no crime, almost burned to death.”

“If, really, with a one in a thousand chance, assuming you didn’t kill him, who do you think did?”

Alex answered immediately, without any hesitation.

“Smith is the culprit.”

“On what basis?”

“He’s a slave.”

Alex didn’t add any further explanation, as if that was enough.

“Isn’t it too simplistic to say he’s the culprit because he’s a slave?”

“As you can see from Chris, the slaves in the Lion hall are of poor quality. That girl, Alice is also extremely arrogant. Despite being ugly.”

Chris smiled faintly.

Jan had been observing Chris frequently. He asked.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because Alice was admitted to Junior level on the last train. Seeing Alex speak ill of her, it seems she’s training well.”

“Is she pretty?”

“No, she’s ugly.”

“How much?”

“Very.”

“If she’s that ugly, then he’s just stating facts, so it’s not speaking ill, right?”

“He said she’s arrogant. Alice is a kind and thoughtful person. She hid that she felt magic until the last day because she was worried I would be troubled.”

Alex said,

“You misjudged her. She is arrogant.”

“It seems you’re angry because Alice, who started later, surpassed you.”

Alex was exhausted. Now, he didn’t even have the energy to get angry.

“Think what you want.”

John asked Alex.

“Besides being a slave, is there anything suspicious about Smith?”

“He was surprisingly strong. He also had sharp edges to his personality. Smith tried not to acknowledge the difference in status. Chris over there may be ill-mannered, but he at least acknowledged status. At least until Mark died.”

Jan asked Chris.

“Why did you do that?”

“Excluding the terribly ill-mannered Alex… Those nobles didn’t mistreat me because of my status. I thought there was no need to create conflict when I could just bow my head a little. Besides, they were also important customers to me.”

The statement entered a lull for a while, then heated up again at the part where the suspects were burned.

“Why didn’t you die?”

Blood vessels stood out on Alex’s neck.

“What kind of question is that! Do you wish I had died?”

No one answered. Their silence conveyed that perhaps it would have been better if he had.

“Wow, really.”

Alex was dumbfounded.

“I think I’ve said this a hundred times today, but I’ll say it again. I am innocent.”

“You were away from the flames.”

“I was lucky.”

“Do you think it was simply luck?”

Alex furrowed his brow deeply in thought. Eventually, his mouth opened.

“I was a bit apart from those three. I’m a winner, and they’re losers, so there’s bound to be a wall between us. It seems Wizard Randall decided to clear out the larger chunk first.”

“Larger chunk?”

“It’s more efficient to kill the three gathered together first, right?”

“Who was the wizard who saved you?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know who saved your life? Does that make sense?”

“I really don’t know.”

Alex tore at his hair.

“The other wizards keep asking about it too, and it’s driving me crazy.”

Now, they had asked everything there was to ask. It seemed there was nothing more to dig up.

Jan commanded.

“Come here at this time the day after tomorrow.”

“I’ve already given my statement, why do I have to come again?”

“We need to verify if your statement is correct.”

“Sigh.”

Alex exhaled.

“Do as you please.”

After Alex left, the remaining people had a late dinner. After the meal, Chris tried to leave. Jan stopped him again, and Chris started to get an ominous feeling. Somehow, he had a bad premonition.

*    *    *

The next day, Alice visited the VIP hall. This was the first time Chris had met Alice since the last class. He was very glad to see her, but because of the surrounding knights, he couldn’t address her familiarly. He expressed his gladness only with eye contact and a slight bow.

“Have you eaten breakfast?”

Bianca asked with a kind smile.

“Yes. I have.”

Alice greeted politely.

“Thank you.”

“Since you’ve already eaten, let’s talk over tea.”

Unlike with Alex, the atmosphere was warm and friendly.

They drank tea in the living room and had a light conversation about life in the Magic Tower. When the teacups were about half empty, Jan got to the main point.

“Could you tell us about that day, starting from the morning?”

“Yes.”

Alice drank the rest of her tea in one go and began her story. Until the part about heading to the village with Chris, the conversation proceeded casually. They didn’t ask for detailed explanations or additional questions. No one interrupted her.

The statement flowed smoothly until a sudden catastrophe arrived.

“The prince wore a stupid helmet and…”

Jan interrupted.

“What helmet?”

“A helmet that supposedly helps detect magic.”

“Chris must have seen the helmet too, right?”

At that point, Chris’s breathing quickened. On the day the prince died, Alice was interrogated by the wizards. At that time, she omitted the story about the magic helmet. Since she had hidden it even in front of the intimidating wizards, Chris assumed she wouldn’t mention the magic helmet today, either. But Alice didn’t do that.