Before he could ask anything else, Zoltan was gone, too.
"The hell's going on?" Konrad muttered, seeing his old master disappear in the crowd. "Black Mage? Him? Last time we met, all he could do was illusions."
"Oh, he's been training," Lily claimed while wolfing down a whole slice of cake at once.
"Yes. Ser Zoltan also fought alongside Maou Midori and Stella to stop the invaders," Eyna added as well. "But I'm as surprised as you are that he didn't join them today, Master."
"Mmm," the demoness yelped, slamming her chest from swallowing too fast. "Reminds me—"
She shoved the packed plate into Konrad's hand and disappeared without another word.
"What?!" Konrad rasped, turning around, blinking, but—
His first wife had already been gone for good.
"She is Zoltan's stand-in for today," Gabrielle noted. "But I guess she forgot."
And where did she appear from? She had been at the other end of the hall a mere second ago, talking to some sketchy-looking churchpeople. Or was he actually losing his mind?
"So you do know what's the deal with them?" he demanded.
But before the angel would answer, the air inside those lavish halls changed.
"We are thankful for you attending this ball on such short notice," the king's voice boomed. "But we felt the need to address some things that had happened lately in front of everyone."
He stood on an elevated stage between his knights, Helena, and the Silver Mage, but—
Such nervous energy.
The crowd fell silent as nobles and retainers all turned to face the king.
But somehow, Konrad still felt an overwhelming pressure from them all.
As if everyone was staring at him, even though—
'They have you on their minds, yes,' Paula offered. 'And since we have some serious spellcasters here, they might have been prying a bit further. No worries, though—I'm still here.'
So someone was trying to read his mind? Or flat-out take over?!
"As you are aware, we restored the house of Halstadt and reinstated their rule over Halaima."
A low murmur washed over the crowd, and now some faces actually turned towards him, too.
"And while there was some friction with the Church, the takeover was peaceful."
"It was, huh?" Konrad scoffed, but kept his voice low. "That's not how I remember it."
The king was too far from him to hear, though, and continued.
"And this had also turned out to be our best decision so far," he claimed. "As Lord Halstadt had not only stopped an invading nomadic force. He also defeated Maou Midori by himself."
Also not exactly true, but he let it slide.
"Now, we know what you might be thinking," the king said. "That he came from nowhere and earned too much power for himself. That he's an unknown, a threat, with dangerous ambition."
"Here we go again," the unwilling Duke of Halaima grunted. "As if I was asking for any of this."
"But we've sent our own, Princess Helena, to investigate, and her reports were positive. His achievements also speak for themselves. And for the sceptics—we'll test him, for you all to see."
Yeah. He wasn't sure how to feel about that.
Or what that test would even be about?
But the nobles no longer pretended to look away, and all stared him down.
'Straighten your back. Head up. Chest out,' Paula commanded. 'They are looking for weakness.'
Yes. He was aware. But this pressure—
"And there's no better place to start his testing than with his claim to be the White Mage," the king claimed. And that's when the crowd actually lost their shit. "Behold, the court's candidate."
King Ronald waved his left hand, and Zoltan walked up to the stage.
"Are you kidding me?" Konrad scoffed, crossing his arms.
"While he is only a candidate, we wish to gift him the name Black Mage."
The poor illusionist must have gotten part of that pressure, too, since he stumbled.
"A beastman? As a Mage?!" some nobles protested, and Konrad felt bad for his old master.
"They used to be valuable slaves," another noted close to his right. "But to make them a Mage?"
Well, if that annoying king had one saving grace, it was that he abolished slavery, though.
"This man is the Green Mage's apprentice. They returned together to Kasserlane," Ronald claimed. Which, again, wasn't exactly true, but wasn't an outright lie, either.
"The Green Mage returned?" someone asked.
"Was he gone?" another scoffed. "That grumbling old man took someone from a lesser race?"
"Now I don't know who to root for," a noble laughed, shooting Konrad a glance. "I wanted to see that upstart lose, but when he's going to fight a beastman—what a farce."
With that, he could at least agree.
He wasn't looking forward to fighting anyone from the start.
Especially not his old master, but—
Now, he felt like he should let him win to shut up all those bastards.
'Would not recommend,' Paula butted in. 'I have caught some unsaid thoughts, and more than half of these nobles are out for your blood. Which is—what did you even do to them?!'
Hah. As if he knew.
Existing was more than enough.
Both for these aristocrats and God.
"These two will enter a friendly bout using only their magic and no outside help. We are sure their performances will convince you all, and we'll welcome the first new Mage in decades."
"Ugh, do I have to?" Konrad moaned, but Gabrielle slid her arm underneath his.
"Don't underestimate him," she warned. "He had a lot of potential locked up inside him. And in my Time Bubbles, and fighting for his life against the invaders, he finally unlocked them all."
That's not what he meant, but—
"You knew about this?" he snapped. "And trained him, too?! When did you want to tell me?"
"You were asleep ever since you came back from irradiating my place," the angel pointed out.
And ouch. Her arm had almost broken his.
It seemed like she wasn't going to let go of that accident anytime soon.
"I-it's not about whether he's strong or not," Konrad moaned, failing to free his hand. "I don't want to fight him for anyone's entertainment. No matter which one of us would lose, it'd be—"
"No. That's not the goal." Gabrielle finally let him go. "But if you two put up a good show?"
'Hmm. Yeah. She has a point,' Paula noted, too. 'These nobles look down on you and that guy as well. But they would all shit themselves once you two went at it with real intent.'
Well, sure. He could've incinerated the entire hall with less than half his mana.
He knew that.
But apart from looking down on him or being envious, they also saw him as a threat.
"Is this still part of me lying low?" he asked, shaking his sore arm. "Because here I thought the goal was to seem small and insignificant. And not to prove I could destroy the entire kingdom."
"I'll admit, you're in a tough spot," the angel smirked. "You'll have to find a precarious balance."
Yeah, yeah. So helpful.
"You're enjoying this, don't you?" Konrad grumbled.
"Only a little," Gabby said. "But the thing is, I'm also in a tough spot with you."