Another World: The Failed Magician

About an hour after Goodtrill left, there was another knock on the door.

"Enter."

A woman dressed in a silver-white mage's robe, adorned with several magical crystals, entered. A badge depicting a silver-white dragon was pinned to her garment.

The woman is the court's chief magician, named Anviel, and is said to have lived for 200 years. She is one of the most powerful magicians on the continent.

The woman entered the room and saw Wibnir slumped on the table, with two empty bottles lying at his feet. He looked exactly like a drunkard.

Anwier's eyes were full of disdain.

After glancing at the woman, Wibnir said, "I've always been curious about how long you've lived. I remember seeing you when I first became an administrator, and you looked exactly the same. That must have been fifty or sixty years ago. And you still look the same."

“Wibnir, I remember telling you a long time ago that it is impolite to ask a lady’s name.”

"The main problem is that I'm really annoyed to see you old monsters all with such youthful faces."

"If you wish, you can regain your youthful appearance right now and even live a longer life. All you have to do is accept the dragon's blood."

"No, no, no! That thing is terrifying. If an ordinary person like me were to receive dragon blood, I would explode on the spot."

"You don't need to worry about that. I have a way to let you absorb dragon blood. I can also guarantee that you can live for at least another 100 years."

"Yes! For an elderly person who is nearing the end of their life, this is indeed an attractive option."

"So, you agree?"

Webnil did not answer the question directly: "I am actually quite curious. Polier's ideas have always been quite controversial with mine, and we even had a complete falling out today, but he still asked you to extend my lifespan, which I don't quite understand."

Anviel said coldly, "Since you dare to call the king by his name, do you want to die?"

After he finished speaking, a chilling atmosphere filled the room.

Seeing that the old man still didn't seem to care, Anviel continued coldly, "Your Majesty, to have ruled the empire for 500 years, how could we possibly fathom his wisdom? Your Majesty, I have asked you to tell you that as long as you accept the position of Chief Administrator of the Dragonblood Silver Dragon Empire, it will still be yours. Although you have always been very rebellious, His Majesty the King appreciates your talent. Therefore, he has given you this opportunity, and I hope you can seize it."

"What if I don't accept it?"

"You won't accept? Then I'm sorry, Weibnir, you know too many of the Empire's secrets. If you don't accept, I'll have no choice but to kill you now."

After he finished speaking, the old man could feel the murderous intent permeating the air. He could sense that if he refused, the result would certainly be death.

“But I don’t think it will come to that. By accepting the dragon’s blood, you can not only return to the center of power, but also gain the longevity that others have longed for. I believe no one can refuse this condition.”

"Hahaha!" Upon hearing this, the old man burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Anviel asked, her face showing great displeasure.

"I've been an administrator for a full 60 years, and I've found that you old monsters all have one thing in common: extraordinary stubbornness and arrogance."

"What do you mean?"

"What makes you think no one will refuse this offer! Who wants your damn dragon blood! I am a pure human being, and I will die as a human being. My epitaph can only say that I am human. The dragon blood you spent most of your life to obtain is worthless in my eyes."

Anviel was thoroughly enraged by these words. Her eyes turned into vertical pupils and emitted a majestic and terrifying golden light, making people want to submit on the spot.

Under this terrifying aura, even an ordinary person like Wibnir couldn't speak.

After a moment, Anviel closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, they were normal human eyes, and the terrifying aura dissipated.

But at this point, Wibnir was lying on the ground, barely alive.

"You have one last chance to choose."

His injuries prevented Wibnir from speaking, but with his last bit of strength, he gave Anviel a thumbs up.

"It seems you're no different under the threat of death."

Just as Anwier revealed a slight smile, the raised thumb turned slightly and slowly turned downwards, revealing an inverted thumb in front of her.

The old man's eyes were full of mockery and contempt.

A memory flooded Anviel's mind.

Four years ago, she received a letter from Del, saying that a child with great magical talent had appeared in their area, and they hoped she could go and see him.

When she arrived, the six-year-old boy displayed astonishing magical talent and boundless imagination.

This touched the heart of the mage, who had lived for over a hundred years, and she wanted to take the boy as her apprentice.

After observing the boy for eight years, she decided to take him as her apprentice. But then a sudden change occurred, and a competition completely destroyed the boy.

After much hesitation, she exchanged a bottle of extremely precious dragon blood from the silver dragon clan. She believed that as long as the boy consumed the dragon blood, he would surely become a great dragon language mage in the future.

She approached the boy, shared her thoughts, and stated that she would take him as her disciple if he was willing to consume the dragon's blood.

But the boy's answer was beyond her expectations. She still remembers what the disheveled boy said to her that night under the dim oil lamp, looking at the bright red dragon blood on the table.

“Sister Anwei’er, I am human, and I only want to be human.”

The two never saw each other again after that night. Later, she heard that the people of the Loca Federation had taken the boy away.

She never heard from the boy again after that.

An Wei'er looked at the dying old man, her heart filled with complex emotions.

Just then, a silver lightsaber appeared out of thin air and struck, piercing the old man's heart. Webnir's aura completely dissipated at that moment.

A man dressed like Anweier stood at the door of the wooden house, holding a staff that exuded magical energy.

An Wei'er angrily asked the man, "Who gave you permission to make a move?"

The man put away his staff and said, "Since he has refused, he must die. I was merely carrying out the king's orders, so what?"

Unable to refute the man's words, An Wei'er snorted coldly and disappeared from the spot.

With a casual wave of his hand, the man conjured a flame that completely set the dilapidated wooden house ablaze.

The flames shot into the sky, instantly waking the people sleeping soundly next to the wooden house.

"It's on fire!"

"Run!"

The once quiet slum was instantly thrown into chaos.

……

Having just left the slums, Goodtrill arrived at the deepest part of the Radiant Knights prison.

In the deepest part of the prison cell, a red-haired girl dressed in martial arts attire was lying in an unsightly sleeping position on the cold prison bed.

The girl was none other than Firefly, the last of the 12 seats of the Radiant Knights, who had been captured by the Radiant Knights.

"Hey! Wake up!"

After Goodtrill called for her for a long time, the girl finally woke up, still half asleep.

Firefly gently rubbed her eyes and looked at Goodtrill, saying irritably, "What are you doing! It's so late, if you're not sleeping, others are. Big brother, is there something important you need to do?"

"The king has ordered me to hand you over to the Silver Dragon Guard."

"No! Big brother, the Silver Dragon Guards are all a bunch of lunatics, don't drag me into this. I was really wrong, big brother, I was just yelling at you when I wasn't fully awake, you have to believe me, it really wasn't my intention."

As she spoke, Firefly blinked her eyes, trying to squeeze out two non-existent tears.

"As the Grand Master of the Radiant Knights, I cannot disobey the King's orders."

"Tch! You should have said so earlier, you wasted my time." After saying that, Firefly was completely deflated.

"If you are willing to tell me everything about the Heavenly Punishment, I can help you plead with His Majesty."

"Hahaha!" Upon hearing this, Firefly burst into laughter, clutching her stomach.

Don't you believe what I'm saying?

"Mr. Knight, has anyone ever told you before that you're too naive?"

Goodtler remained silent.

"I won't say anything. I have nothing to say to you bunch of Silver Dragon's lackeys."

"Why?" Goodtrill, who had been silent, suddenly asked.

"What do you want to ask, Mr. Knight? But I should warn you beforehand that I'm not in a very good mood right now, so I might not be able to answer your question."

"You're probably not even 20 yet."

"What! Why are you asking this?! You wouldn't happen to have a crush on me, would you? (???;)"

Firefly clutched her chest tightly with both hands, slowly shrinking into the corner and watching Goodtrill warily.

“From our exchange, I could sense that you have a very youthful life force. I want to know why you joined Tianfa. You're already a high-level martial artist before you're even 20 years old, which means you have great talent, and the Empire treats people like you very well. Why would you give up such a promising future to join Tianfa? I don't understand.”

"Oh, that's what you wanted to ask me. You startled me."

The firefly slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of course, it's because they can't stand the rule of the silver dragons. It's a human country, yet it's ruled by a group of giant dragons."

"His Majesty the King is human."

"Huh? You mean that guy whose whole body is flowing with dragon blood? He's only humanoid, what kind of human is he? He's just the leader of your bunch of lackeys."

After speaking, Firefly glanced cautiously at Goodtrill, afraid that he might be angry.

Hearing this, Goodtrill's expression wasn't very good, but he remained relatively calm.

"But at least under the Silver Dragon's rule, the Empire is now the strongest nation on the continent, isn't it?"

"What does this have to do with me? Its power and wealth are only enjoyed by nobles like you, dragon people, and dragons. What does it have to do with ordinary humans like me?"

"That's not how it works! The very purpose of our Radiant Knights is to protect ordinary civilians, isn't it?"

Goodtrill retorted loudly.

"Oh. Sir Knight, is that what you think?"

"Yes, what's wrong with that? If it weren't for protecting civilians, why would we be traveling all over the place to eliminate those monsters? So I think what you said is wrong."

After saying all that in one breath, Goodtrill finally calmed down.

Firefly watched Goodtrill with great interest.

"In that case, I'll tell you some things, Mr. Knight, but you have to promise me you won't get angry."

"You said."

"Promise me first."

"Okay, I promise you."

Firefly, abandoning her previous playful and lazy demeanor, asked seriously, "Do you know where magic crystals come from?"

"It was dug out of a magic crystal mine."

"Do you know how much magic crystal ore is produced in a year?"

"A medium-sized magic crystal mine should produce the equivalent of 5 top-grade magic crystals in a year."

"I didn't expect you to know so much. Do you know the mortality rate of miners in a magic crystal mine in the Silver Dragon Empire?"

"..."

"I'm telling you now, more than 80%, and a medium-sized magic crystal mine requires tens of thousands of ordinary miners to operate."

"Where did you get this information from? How am I supposed to know if what you're saying is true?"

"Why don't you verify it yourself privately?"

Seeing his silence, Firefly continued, "And an ordinary miner's income is almost enough to support himself. It's ironic, isn't it? They do dangerous work, generate huge profits, but in the end, they can only barely make ends meet. Guess where all the magic crystals they dig up end up?"

Firefly pointed to a magic crystal on the Goodtiriel sword and said, "They all ended up in the pockets of the nobles and those silver dragons. All the magic crystals on you are stained with blood."

"It's ironic that the number of civilians who die each year from exploitation and persecution far exceeds the number killed by monsters."

"And you said your Radiant Knights protect civilians, so why was no one there to protect us when my homeland was destroyed by a silver dragon? Why could those dragons slaughter people on human lands without paying any price?"

"So I joined the Heavenly Punishment! I will drive these greedy dragons out of this country! I will exterminate those dragon dogs."

"Impossible. You're definitely lying to me, aren't you?"

Goodtrill looked at the firefly in the prison and saw that her face was full of mockery and disdain.

Just as Goodtrill was about to say something more, a group of soldiers in black armor entered, their armor embroidered with a giant dragon coiled around a sword.

This insignia signifies the identity of these soldiers: the Silver Dragon Guard, a force directly under the King and the Silver Dragon Clan. They are also the strongest force in the Silver Dragon Empire.

Goodtrill watched as Firefly was dragged out of prison.

Just before leaving, Firefly glanced at him and said, "If you want to know if I'm lying to you, why don't you go and verify it yourself, Mr. Knight?"