1273: Chapter 20 The Courage of the Northern District Wizard 1273: Chapter 20 The Courage of the Northern District Wizard “How dare you!!!”
A shriek erupted from a dark corner of the street, and a short Trickster in a ragged grey robe burst out, grabbing hold of Oleg’s coat with bravery and crying out, “How dare you kick a Wizard’s mushrooms!”
Oleg stopped in his tracks and glanced down in confusion.
This short Trickster was sowhat hunchbacked, with grey-white boils hanging from both cheeks, sparse eyebrows, and elongated eyes that drooped downwards at the corners.
This gave his gaze an inexplicably fierce quality when he looked at people.
Oleg recognized him as a destitute from the North District, fond of setting up scams and cons on normal days.
If soone was willing to offer a few Copper Coins, this man would not have a problem licking the muddy soles of their boots.
The bite of alcohol had dulled Oleg’s wits, but even in his stupor, after this pauper yanked on his coat a couple of tis, he pieced things together—the Wizard ‘creating’ these sunshine-bubble mushrooms must be nearby, and this pauper was hoping to curry favor with the Wizard and earn a few reward coins.
So, he looked around.
Soon, he saw two Young Wizards about ten ters away.
One wore a red robe, handso and refined, likely a student at the First University; the other was a Witch wrapped in a cloak, wearing a wide-brimd hat, her face indistinct.
Following the sparse sunshine bubbles around her, one could vaguely make out a pair of curious, bright eyes.
“Disgusting stinkbug,” Oleg spit viciously in the destitute’s face and then kicked him squarely in the chest, “Since you’re so keen on brown-nosing Wizards, get in there and do it…”
The pauper scread as he flew through the air in a twisted arc, finally landing not far from the two Young Wizards.
He did not get up but instead continued screaming, crawling a few steps closer to the Young Wizards, stretching out his arms in an attempt to grab the Witch’s skirt.
“Oh gracious miss, have rcy,” he sang in an odd tone, “I’ve been kicked and broken by that bear…
for your mushrooms…
please, show rcy and give a potion to cleanse the toxins!”
A chorus of raucous laughter echoed from the shadows on either side of the street.
At this mont, everyone understood the pauper’s intentions.
The toxins in his body must have been unbearable, leading him to such a dangerous sche.
…
As that sunshine-bubble-spewing mushroom was kicked away by Oleg, Zheng Qing and Jiang Yu were quietly discussing the various changes the ‘Age of Magicians’ might bring.
Thus, the interaction between the destitute and Oleg did not catch their attention.
Not until laughter filled the street, and a dark shadow crashed down not far in front of them, did the Young Wizards beco alert.
Zheng Qing pulled out a piece of Talisman Paper while Jiang Yu’s fingers rested on the spine of the Law Book.
Before they could discern what had transpired, they saw a grotesque, plague-ridden, filthy Trickster crawling towards them, reaching out to grab Jiang Yu’s skirt.
“Ah!” the Witch let out a small scream, pressing down on the Magic Book Spine.
“Bang!”
As soon as the pauper’s fingertips grazed the Witch’s skirt, he recoiled as if struck by a high-voltage electric shock.
Bouncing ball-like on the ground a few tis, he eventually crashed heavily against the curb, silent.
Like a duck that had been grabbed by the neck.
The laughter that had just begun to swell on both sides of the street abruptly ceased, and the street corner fell into an eerie and unsettling silence.
Zheng Qing acutely sensed an elusive and ominous ill will around him.
This was the hostility that had been aroused after a wizard had “bullied” a trickster.
Even the grey-robed bear-like man who had initially kicked the pauper towards the two young wizards was eyeing the young wizards with a malicious gaze.
“We might have been set up,” Zheng Qing grabbed the witch’s arm, his lips moving as he whispered.
His eyes cautiously scanned the shadows at the street corners, not realizing that his actions were slightly overstepping the bounds of propriety.
“I think I’ve hurt soone,” the witch swallowed, her fingers clutching the law book turning sowhat pale.
“That’s not the point,” Zheng Qing pinched the witch’s arm, signaling her to shift her gaze away from the pauper and to pay attention to the perilous situation they were in—Zheng Qing had already caught sight of a trickster holding a suspicious-looking tool erging from the shadows.
He wasn’t just scaring himself.
On Buji Island, there were news stories every year of conflicts between wizards and tricksters.
Although their magic power was weak, due to their familiarity with wizards, tricksters still had the ability to harm them.
Every year, when freshn enrolled, the seniors would warn these young ones not to venture lightly into North Beta Town—there were always rumors on the island of little wizards wandering into the North District, ending up losing their eyes, tongues, or even hearts.
It was said that tricksters would transplanted the tongues of wizards onto themselves to acquire the ability to chant spells.
The street grew even quieter.
To conserve magic power, Jiang Yu lessened her support for ‘Other Moon Micro,’ and suddenly, there were fewer mushroom people running about the streets, and the previously brightened street plunged back into darkness.
“What happened here!” a slightly anxious voice called out from not too far away, accompanied by a rattling of footsteps.
Looking in the direction of the voice, Zheng Qing saw a young, golden-curled, sowhat frail-appearing trickster leap past the ‘Bear Man’ and run towards the scene.
Unlike other tricksters, this one who had spoken had a black tadpole-shaped curse mark on his forehead.
Zheng Qing and Jiang Yu discreetly exchanged glances, releasing a sigh of relief.
In his view, with a Northern District Wizard present, as long as they explained the situation clearly, given their relationship with Sister Korma, they would definitely be able to resolve the matter calmly and safely.
Before he could speak, a grating voice ca from a shadow at the street corner:
“Those two wizards were bullying people with their magic…
everyone saw it.”
A chorus of agreent arose from the shadows around them, but just like that grating voice, Zheng Qing could only hear the sounds, unable to see the figures.
The young man arched his eyebrows.
“This is an accident,” he raised his voice slightly, imdiately overpowering those noisy voices outside the scene: “No one is bullying anyone, this is just an accident!”
“We can judge for ourselves whether it’s an accident, outsiders.” Although the Northern District Wizard was lean, his attitude was unexpectedly firm: “Now, hand over your law books and co with …”
“Hu-la-la-la,” the rough laughter of the ‘Bear Man’ echoed through the street: “Albani, you’ve got more courage than you look.
I thought you only dared to pull out your law book in front of your own people.”
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