Chapter 38- I don't believe you

just realized that i wrote 50k words...

huhu, I have come a long way...still I would have hit it a month sooner if I had been...regular, ahem ahem

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"Ughh"

Riz slowly opened his eyes.

"Finally awake?"

His eyes were slowly getting adjusted to the light.

"huh?"

Riz looked up and blinked a few times. He squinted his eyes and could finally see the face of the person speaking properly.

"Yo- You"

"Me? What?"

White hair that was almost shining under the morning sun. Those sky-like blue eyes. That handsome face. He was wearing pajamas which were a bit weird but,

Almost if not, Every person in the Roan kingdom would recognize this individual. Riz, as a person living in Roan, obviously recognized him.

"S-Simon-nim"

"Hmm? You seem odd."

Simon crouched down to Riz's level as their eyes met. Riz unconsciously gulped. He was now looking at one of the most famous individuals of the Kingdom from up close.

Simon's blue eyes were extremely beautiful but Riz felt scared when he locked eyes with Simon. They were filled with arrogance, pride, and coldness.

Riz didn't see a single ounce of positive emotion in Simon's eyes. He also couldn't see any extremely negative emotions too.

"Wha- What do you want from me?"

Riz tried to calm himself down, still, he couldn't help but stutter. He had tried to move the moment he opened his eyes.

Yet, His body felt like it was being pressed by a mountain. Riz was a mage. And not just any mage but a high-level mage.

He could easily become a very high-level official in the Magic Tower. He had even declined the Tower Master's invitation because he knew that there would be a civil war in the Whipper Kingdom soon.

Despite only being 28, Riz had reached this stage in the field of magic. It was an absolutely astounding achievement for a person that came from a poor background. He was well respected everywhere he went.

Still, Riz knew that he couldn't escape from this situation. First of all, he was being pressed by something heavy. Second, He didn't have his staff.

He couldn't use his normal magic because his both hands were tied in a really hard way.

"Hmm, You aren't his companion, are you?"

"Excuse me"

Riz looked at the man Simon was pointing. There he saw an unconscious assassin that was lying on the ground.

'...That guy... Those bastards.'

Riz immediately recognized the assassin. He had once fought this assassin to protect a client. This guy was a real pain to fight.

Riz also guessed why this assasin was here. There were two options, either this assassin was looking for revenge or he was tasked to assassinate Riz.

Riz knew that there was a higher chance for it to be the second. Or else it would be too much of a coincidence that this guy was here when he was also here.

"Hmm, I asked you a question. What's the silence for?"

"Uh, no nothing. He is not my acquaintance."

"...I don't believe you."

"..."

Riz looked at Simon with a 'Nani?' face while Simon looked at Riz with a 'You think I am an idiot.' expression.

Simon actually felt that this unknown guy was telling the truth. Still, he didn't believe him.

It would be pretty stupid if he let this guy go that easily. He needed to find the truth. When Simon first woke up today, he saw the assassin was struggling to get up.

Simon felt like an idiot when he remembered everything that happened yesterday. He should have been more cautious. He became a bit overconfident yesterday.

Simon should have checked the surroundings or should have at least be on guard. Although Simon did a stupid move by not paying enough attention, he was pretty surprised by this unknown mage.

Simon didn't know what exactly this guy used... but he was weird. Simon was extremely cautious of this guy. When he had first opened his eyes, The assassin was already awake.

After one hit on the head from Zero, the assassin went back to sleep. After that, Simon focused on the mage. Or... he didn't know if he should call this guy a mage.

"You, What's your name?"

"huh? me?"

"Obviously you. Who else do you see here except us?"

"Uh, Riz. Riz Sch-"

"Ok, Riz. Give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you."

"Excuse me"

"Stop saying that same phrase again and again. Tell me a reason why I shouldn't kill you right here."

"uh, uh Why do you want to kill me? It would ruin your reputation too."

"...Are you an idiot?"

"Excuse me"

Slap

Riz felt a hard slap on his face. It really hurt. What surprised him, even more, was that he clearly saw that Simon wasn't the one that slapped him.

'Is, Is someone invisible?!'

But, After the pain subsided a bit, Riz quickly dismissed that idea. Invisibility magic was very rare magic. Only the highest level mages or magic devices could make someone invisible.

Riz wasn't the best mage but he could easily sense the use of Mana around him. And he knew for a fact that no magic or magic device was being used.

'Is this, Is this his mysteri-"

"Don't make me repeat myself more."

"Tell me. Is he your acquaintance?"

"N-no"

"Then, what are you doing here?"

"Ju-Just pas- I was returning after completing my work."

"What work?"

"To deliver something."

"Are you a delivery man or something?"

"Excus- Pardon me."

Slap

"What was the spell you used?"

"..."

"Why do you use a staff?"

"..."

"Why did you attack me if you aren't his friend?"

"..."

Slap

"I told you to answer me. Stop staying silent. Answer my questions. Do you understand?"

Riz was more than 10 years older than Simon. Still, he felt like he was a brat in front of Simon.

"...Yes sir."

Riz didn't shout in pain whenever he was being slapped but his face was swollen at this point. Whoever slapped him was powerful.

'Ah, How did I end up like this?'

Riz could only complain in his heart meekly while answering all the questions that Simon asked. If Riz was any younger, he might not have been able to hold back the tears.

...

"I see."

Simon nodded his head as if to say he understood. He had a completely indifferent expression. Much different compared to Riz, who was almost about to bawl his eyes out.

But, Simon didn't care much. He gathered his thoughts and summarized all the information he heard from Riz.

'So this assassin is a random assassin hired to kill him. But, I happened to be here at the wrong place and wrong time so he mistook me for the mage and attacked me. After I took care of him, Riz arrived. He is a High-class mage but probably the weakest among all of them.'

Riz actually seemed a bit pitiful but Simon wasn't the type to have pity on people that attack him. Even if it was a misunderstanding.

'This Riz seems to be special in drugs and illusions. He isn't an illusionist neither an alchemist. His magic can just be used for making the targets hallucinate.'

Simon looked at Riz, who was still pinned down on the ground.

'He used his magic to makes me hallucinate that I was losing my strength and dying. In reality, He just made us hallucinate and used sleeping powder on us after weakening us.'

'He doesn't even use that staff for magic. It's filled with sleeping powder and other weird stuff.'

Riz actually used the staff to fight anybody that came in for a close combat fight. Simon sighed before ordering Zero to let Riz go.

He had ordered the Zero to pin down the assassin and the other 4 to keep Riz down. After knocking out the assassin again, Simon switched the puppets.

So Zero was pinning down Riz on the ground.

"Huh?"

Riz immediately got up after realizing he was free. He immediately looked at Simon warily.

"...Why did you let me go?"

"...Why should I kill you? Or do you wanna actually die?"

'...Weren't you saying you would kill me?'

Riz kept that thought to himself before slowly backing away.

Simon threw the staff towards Riz, who caught it and looked at it and Simon. Simon turned around and walked away.

That's when Riz immediately threw the staff at Simon and hit the target. He immediately began to release a new spell but,

"You don't learn do you?"

"Excuse m-"

Before Riz could complete his sentence and the spell he felt pressure in his neck. Suddenly it grew big enough to again pin him down on the ground.

Riz's plan was to use the staff as a distraction and then attack Simon but it obviously failed.

"Don't try anything funny. Do you think I will still spare you if you act like this?"

"..."

Riz gulped again. He was about to speak but felt the pressure lighten. Soon, he stood up. Riz backed away but didn't go far.

He still stayed there to observe Simon. Of course, Simon saw this and was even annoyed slightly but he chose to ignore this guy.

Simon walked over the assassin and,

Slap

Riz shivered slightly and moved a bit further. On the other hand, Simon was actually surprised. This assassin didn't wake up after that slap.

'Did Zero's punch back then kill him?'

Simon looked at the unmoving assassin. He wanted to check if this guy was breathing but decided not to.

'What if it's a trap?'

As Simon was thinking an idea came to his mind. He turned around.

"Oie, Riz."

"Excuse m- Yes?"

'Is this guy doing it on purpose?'

Simon was actually starting to get annoyed at him. He had this bad guy act for so long that even he felt weirded out.

Simon never expected that acting would be this hard. He was good at acting but keeping it up for a long time was really a pain.

"Come here."

"Huh?"

"Don't make me repeat myself."

Riz obediently followed Simon's order after hearing the last sentence. Maybe Simon had traumatized this guy.

"Check if he is alive."

"..."

"Don't ma-"

Riz immediately checked the breathing and pulse of the assassin.

"He is alive. Just unconscious."

"I see... bring him with me."

"Ex-"

Slap

...

Simon finally arrived back in the backyard of the house. He didn't know the reason but nobody seemed to stay here. Well, It was better for Simon if things were like this.

"Where is this?"

"No need to know. Bring him here."

Simon had ordered Riz to bring the assassin back with him. Why? Simon had been gone for an entire night.

Although nobody should have noticed him, It would be bad if somebody found his empty room. In case a servant finds the room empty and they search for him.

If they don't find Simon then Amiru will freak out. It will be considered a serious matter and he would have to face many troubles.

Thus, Simon decided to sneak back in. After a few minutes, he even succeeded. Finally, Simon entered his room. His room was a pretty big room.

"Put him on the ground and don't let him do anything funny. Cast noise cancellation magic in this room."

'The black dragon would notice the magic spell but probably won't move much because of Cale's order(to stay by Cale's side).'

Simon had it all sorted out. He went into the bathroom to take a quick shower. He wasn't afraid of Rez escaping because he had already talked enough with Rez on the way.

Which may or may not have included a little bit of threatening, slapping, and making a deal.

Even if this guy tried to escape, Simon had assigned all of his puppets to not let anybody pass through the window. And if this guy used the door, he would probably die in the hands of the knights.

With that thought, Simon entered the bathroom.

...

Simon got out of the shower and as expected, Rez was still there. The assassin seemed to be snoring pretty loudly.

Simon walked towards a chair and sat down comfortably. It felt nice to sit here than the outside woods.

"Wake up."

Along with Simon's words, A slap was also delivered to the assassin's face.

"Huh? ...It's you, bastards."

The assassin had actually woken up on the way, Simon wanted to send this guy to another sleep session but Rez did the job for him.

"Yea, It's me. What will you do?"

"You are gonna DIE."

The assassin began to head towards Simon but was again immediately pinned to the ground but the invisible Zero.

Rez watched this from the side and finally realized how powerful Simon was.

'To be able to control things like this at will... It's just like what I heard.'

There was another news that flew about the so-called White Saint. It's said that he can control anything he likes without even touching it.

Nothing can escape his grasp.

Rez finally understood the meaning of this sentence. As the man who had to touch the ground the most, He had the most knowledge about Simon's powers except Simon.

'It feels like you are being grabbed by someone but there is nobody.'

'Eek, he can make me kneel like this without even touching me.

The assassin's power was equal to a High-grade Knight. Too bad for him that Zero's power was equal to the strongest Highest-grade Knight to ever exist.

It was truly a bad situation for the assassin. Rez knew it as he saw Simon do the same thing that was done to him but worse.

The assassin had a strong spirit at first but after a few of those mysterious slaps, started to bawl his eyes out.

Rez's sound cancellation barrier had saved them or else this much sound might have called over the entire village nearby.

That's when a door opened behind them. Simon turned around and saw a Maes, who was holding a plate that was supposedly his.

'Shit'

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hah, bet you didn't expect a new chapter this soon. ahem ahem, so I tried something very different and I would like to say that.

writing this was the biggest pain of my life. oh god I messed the time in one place and my entire brain almost malfuntioned. doesnt matter if you dont understand, no need to understand.

also, imma spoil this for you but the only reason I wrote Rez is cuz I wanted to give a minion to Simon.

also, I need to sleep, bye

if u find any problems, tell me. i will try to solve them after waking up... bye