Black Hearted Mage

The owner of Barton Black Tea, Duke Barton, has his residence in Fire Maple City, and this precious black tea originates from the Duke's territory in the east of the imperial capital.

It is worth mentioning that this Duke of Patton has no blood relationship with the Patton from ten thousand years ago, and the word Patton does not even appear in his name.

However, the duchy has always retained its original name, for no other reason than that it is the resting place of the great Duchess Vivian Barton, also the most powerful magic warrior on the Roland Continent. She was also the only student of Kaisus's ancestor, Raven Rhodes, on the Roland Continent.

According to historical records, Vivian passed away at the age of nearly three thousand, far exceeding the lifespan of a great magician. Her tomb is located within the Dukedom of Barton, protected by an extremely powerful magic circle, which was created by Raven.

After bathing, Caesars felt refreshed and changed into a black noble robe embroidered with gold thread and dotted with gold buttons.

"Vera, tell the coachman to prepare the horses immediately. I'm going to the Duke of Barton's mansion!"

"Okay, young master, I'll arrange it right away!"

The carriage set off quickly, jogging along the wide streets towards the inner city. The Duke's Palace was in the eastern part of the inner city, and the carriage arrived quickly.

The Duke's Palace is also a garden castle, and it is an ancient castle that has experienced the ravages of wind and rain.

"Sir, the Duke is not at home!"

Upon hearing that Caesars was going to visit Duke Barton, the guards outside the castle immediately informed the visitor.

"Who can make the decision in the Duke's Mansion?"

"The Duchess can!"

"Then go and report it. I need to discuss something with the Duchess!"

"Sir, your carriage can go directly in. We guards are not allowed to enter the castle. The butler and maid will report to the Duchess!"

The guards opened the gate of the courtyard wall, and Caesars' carriage drove in. The rules of the Duke's Palace were very strict. Unless it was an extremely urgent matter, the guards were strictly prohibited from entering the castle.

Caesar had met the old Duke of Barton once, but he didn't expect his rules to be so strict.

Passing through the meticulously manicured gardens, the carriage stopped at the gates of the tall and stately castle. A middle-aged woman in a housekeeper's robe stood at the entrance of the bronze gate, gazing at the sudden arrival of the carriage with a puzzled expression. The housekeeper quickly reflected, confirming that the Duke's residence had no visitors scheduled for the day.

"Sir, who are you visiting?"

Seeing that Caesar was wearing a black noble robe, the gold embroidery reached one-fifth of the robe, especially at the cuffs, the patterns of the gold embroidery were very exquisite.

The housekeeper had a very discerning eye and could tell at a glance that this was a noble robe that could only be worn by the Duke and his heir.

"I'm visiting the Duchess. I have something to discuss with her. It's nothing too important!"

"Please come in!"

Caesar was welcomed into the castle's living room. The housekeeper immediately ordered the maid to serve tea and asked another maid to inform the Duchess.

Caesars sat on the sofa and carefully looked at the layout of the hall. If he guessed correctly, this Duke of Barton should be a general who had led troops, or his elders or ancestors had been soldiers.

On both sides of the living room were many armors and weapons, some brand new, some broken. These armors and weapons were placed on special shelves, showing the glorious achievements and exploits of the Duke's Mansion.

Just then, a woman in a gorgeous long dress walked in. Her beauty almost made Caesar cry out in surprise. Is this the Duchess? She looked so young, definitely no older than thirty. Even more astonishing, her face bore a striking resemblance to Joanna.

"Excuse me, sir, who are you?"

The Duchess sat on the sofa and looked at Caesars, whose skin was delicate and fair. He looked underage. The housekeeper had all the maids leave the living room, and only three people were left in the extremely simple living room.

"Duchess, my name is Caesars, a descendant of the Carvel family, and I'm a magician from the Northern Tower. I've taken the liberty of visiting you to purchase a batch of the finest black tea. One more thing: I'd like to visit the Duchy and pay my respects to the Duchess's tomb!"

Caesar's answer surprised both the Duchess and the housekeeper. The man who came to the Duke's residence to buy tea was a magician from the Northern Tower.

"Mr. Caesars, the Duke's Mansion only has tea for entertaining guests. If you want to buy tea, you should go to Barton Trading Company. Also, can you demonstrate some magic?"

"Ah? I'm so sorry. I was careless and didn't ask before coming here!"

Caesars felt a little embarrassed. He didn't think about it before coming here, and a magic ball condensed in his hand.

"I don't want these little tricks. I want the most powerful offensive spells you can cast on that heavy magic steel armor. If the spell can leave a mark on that armor, I'll sell you Barton Black Tea at half price!"

After the young Duchess finished speaking, Caesars began to look directly at her, as well as the housekeeper standing beside her. There was no magical fluctuation coming from them, but they didn't look like ordinary people either. They were probably warriors too.

"The Duchess is an archer, right? Although there are no calluses on her right hand, the knuckles of her index and middle fingers are noticeably thicker. She has offensive spells, but I'm afraid this heavy magic steel armor will be severely damaged!"

"Mr. Caesars, you have a good eye. My finger bones are deformed, and no amount of maintenance will help. The armor is ruined, so let it be. There are several sets of heavy armor like this in the warehouse!"

"Duchess, may I ask, were you a mercenary in the past?"

The young and beautiful Duchess nodded slightly, and Caesars understood. The old Duke, nearly ninety years old, had no qualms about marrying a woman who looked like Joanna.

Nobles valued status and position, and generally chose to marry among themselves. But the Duke of Barton violated this rule for the sake of his beautiful young wife.

"Then I'll try my magic!"

Kaisas had only learned this new spell today and had never cast it once. The spell was very short, only eight syllables. It wasn't in the common language of Roland Continent, but was simply annotated with the tones of the common language.

A short spell only needed to be recited silently, and a gray-black sphere, about the size of a head, with a faint dark green glow on its surface, emerged. After the sphere left Caesar's hand, the dark green magic light suddenly lit up and flew towards the magic steel heavy armor at an extremely fast speed.

There was a muffled "puff" sound, and the sphere did not explode completely. Instead, it stuck firmly to the magic steel armor like a ball of glue.

A slight "hissing" sound continued to be heard, and the rust on the magic steel heavy armor was falling off, and then gray iron chips kept falling like fine sand.

With a clang, the magic steel armor fell to the floor, scattering iron and wood chips. It turned out that the wooden frame supporting the heavy armor had rotted away, turning it into a pile of broken wood chips.

"What a powerful spell! Mr. Caesars, help me kill someone and I'll give you free tea!"

The Duchess's words shocked Caesar. The other party's request was too direct. She wanted him to kill someone right away.

"Duchess, the tea doesn't have to be free. I need a large quantity. Regarding the murder, you should ask the Duke. I'm not a killer!"

"That old ghost doesn't dare to kill the other party!"

The words "old ghost" betrayed a sense of resentment, enough to show that the Duke and Duchess were not on good terms. Caesars also became interested, and it was a good opportunity to inquire about the dark side of the imperial capital.

"Who is this person that even the Duke doesn't dare to kill?"

"A notorious old mercenary, the deputy leader of the Golden Viper Mercenary Group—Trudeau!"

"He's just the deputy leader of a mercenary group. Why doesn't Duke Barton dare to kill him?"

As soon as Caesar heard about the Golden Viper Mercenary Group, his interest grew even stronger. He guessed that this resentful Duchess must know the person behind the Golden Viper.

"Behind the Golden Viper Mercenary Group are three powerful earls, two great magicians from the Magic Guild, and members of the royal family are also involved. Their number isn't the 500 or 600 people rumored, but over 3,000!"

"Duchess, the mercenary group has priests, and the Church of St. Laurent should also be involved!" Caesars added.

The Duchess said nothing, but nodded slightly.

In the subsequent conversation, it was revealed that the housekeeper was also a mercenary and the Duchess's aunt. They came from a well-known mercenary family. Because of a map, she had a conflict with several mercenaries. These mercenaries were from the Viper Mercenary Group and they were not wearing leather armor with the logo.

There is no need to describe in detail what happened next. There is only one way to go about offending the Golden Viper Mercenary United Bureau - your family will be destroyed and your life will be ruined.

"Duchess, my current strength is still very low, I can't accept this mission for the time being!"

"As long as I live, this mission will remain in effect. The Duchess's tomb is unguarded, and there is no need for it. No one can approach it, but can only stand forty yards away and look at it!"

The Duchess took the paper and pen handed to her by the butler and quickly wrote a few lines of text, which was a receipt for buying tea at half price. Then, with her right hand, which was wearing a ring, she punched the receipt on the tea table hard.

Others would take off the ring and then put the mark on it, but this Duchess is really unique.

As soon as Caesars left the Duke's Castle, the Duchess and the housekeeper arrived at the location of the magic steel heavy armor. The heavy armor had been severely corroded and was almost penetrated.

"Aunt, clean this place up and don't tell anyone about this!"

The housekeeper nodded and quickly cleaned up the rotten iron and debris on the floor.

Caesars sat in the carriage, lost in thought. The Golden Viper Mercenary Group's strength had surpassed his expectations. The Dukedom of Barton was half a day's journey from Fire Maple City, so he would have to go tomorrow. He only had one small task to complete: place a bottle of perfume made from blackthorn flowers on the Duchess's coffin.

"Kaissa!"

A familiar voice called out urgently, and the driver immediately stopped the carriage. Caesars looked out the window and saw several young men in fancy clothes harassing Avril across the street.

Caesars quickly got off the carriage and while running across the street, he was already casting curse spells, which were both weakness curses and fatigue curses that had no killing power.

Avril pushed hard a few times, and the young men fell to the ground.

"Avril, what's going on with them? Why are they bothering you?

"They are the people you described, noble sons who have entered the estrus period, and are also students of the magic academy. They won't die, right? I just saw you cast a spell!" Avril adjusted her long skirt, looked at the people lying on the ground, and answered angrily.

"They're fine, just weakened by a spell. They'll recover in a few minutes. Avril, introduce your suitors to me. They're all sons of noble families!"

"Avril, who is he?"

Before Avril could answer, several weak young men sat up with difficulty and questioned in unison.

"I am Caesars Cavil, Avril's uncle and the descendant of the great magician Joanna. You are so bold as to have evil intentions towards my niece!"

"You're a magician!"

A young man exclaimed. He was a senior magic apprentice. Only a formal magician could make him lose the ability to resist so easily.

"That's right. I'm a magician from the Northland Tower. The magicians at the Imperial Capital Magic Academy have always been called wooden mages by us. Their magical combat power is close to zero. You will be like this in the future!"

Caesars said this casually, and Avril on the side was filled with hatred. She was also a member of the magic academy.

"Kaisas, are you telling the truth? Are the magicians in the magic academy really so vulnerable?"

Avril didn't quite believe what Caesars said, but the meditation technique she was using now was given to her by him, and it was much better than the meditation technique taught at the magic academy.

"If we fight against the magicians from the Magic Guild, we should be able to fight back and forth. After all, both sides are wooden mages. But if we fight with me in a magic battle, I can make them lie on the ground with just one or two spells!"

"Caesars, I don't quite believe it. Do you guys believe it?" Avril still didn't believe it, but she felt that Caesars would not talk nonsense.

Several young people have stood up. They don't believe what Caesars said at all and several of them keep shaking their heads.

"Then I'll fight a magician. I've never fought a magician since I started learning magic, so I'll just practice my spells on the target!"

"Kaisas, come with me to the magic academy. There are plenty of magicians there!"

"Is it far?"

"Kaisas, we are standing at the entrance of the Magic Academy. Do you think it is far?"

Caesar looked around. This place looked like a large castle. He didn't expect it to be the Imperial Capital Magic Academy.

"Why isn't there even a plaque? At least a name should be written on it, right?"

"What plaque do you need? The castle without guards is the Imperial Capital Magic Academy. Everyone in Fire Maple City knows it!"