Chapter 36: Ch 36: A invitation you cannot ignore
The day of the Holy Festival arrived and Cardinal Flux looked at the preparations with a proud look on his face.
He had personally overseen some of these preparations all for the sake of giving Kael a worthy ’gift’. Now, he just needed the Grand Master to show up so he could start his plan.
"Cardinal Flux, all preparations are ready. They are calling for you to give the opening speech. But...are you sure you should be doing all this? The people would call you an attention seeker-"
"It will be fine. Some people will always have a negative opinion about me, no matter what I do. But I need to be there for the people who believe in me."
This was all bullshit but the priest (his new assistant) took his words seriously and nodded.
"I understand, Cardinal."
The man nodded and showed a resolute look on his face. It was a shame that this man was going to get devoured by the Cardinal as well when the time came.
But there were some things that needed to be done for the sake of one’s development.
"Did Sir Kael tell us when he and the hero would be arriving?"
Cardinal Flux asked, trying to contain his excitement. But his aide had an uncertain look on his face.
"Actually, about that, Cardinal...We did not get a reply, which should usually mean that they are coming. But we have not seen anything so far. Since the festival has already started, could it be that they decided not to come?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Cardinal Flux froze but the smile remained on his face. Somehow, it looked even creepier than him actually smiling.
The assistant flinched before he took a step back and repeated himself.
"Grand Master Kael is still young, so it is possible that he does not know about the unwritten rules of society. S-So it is possible he did not know that he was supposed to send us a reply-"
"Tsk."
Cardinal Flux let out a frustrated sigh before he realized where he was and immediately controlled his emotions.
"While it is possible that this was what happened, we cannot say anything without confirmation. However, this is a problem now. The news that we sent an invitation out to the hero has already spread. There are many people who came here to meet the hero. They will all be rather disappointed."
Cardinal Flux let out a sad sigh this time, but he was actually a little happy with this development.
The reason behind this was because he knew he could milk this situation.
By spreading word about Grand Master Kael’s lack of response to show how irresponsible he was as a guardian, he could begin to sow seeds of doubt in people’s minds.
And once it was done, the trust people had in that kid would never return.
’Usually, we cannot take the hero back from his teacher. But if we have the public on our side, then even the Tower would be forced to take action.’
Somehow, this small act had turned out to be an unexpected profit the Cardinal had not seen coming.
For now, he needed to finish his speech and then he could think about using the Grand Master’s name for his own benefit.
_________
’These bitches really think they can use me however they wish? Now I feel glad I sent a familiar to keep an eye on things.’
Kael’s left eye twitched as he kept watching the Cardinal and his assistant (the new one) talking.
Their conversation sounded normal on the surface, but he could pick up the hints that Cardinal Flux was dropping.
If he went to the festival, then he would fall into a trap. But if he did not go, then he would also fall into a trap.
And while he did not care about his reputation a single bit, he did not want it to affect the kids.
If Cardinal Flux’s plan worked and the Tower did deem him irresponsible due to his age and lack of social experience, then his mission would fail, right? It would also interfere with the kids’ development.
So Kael had no choice but to head to the festival and take the kids there with him.
He sent a message to his familiars to call everyone back and within five minutes, the emergency meeting started.
...
"There has been a change in plans. I know I said that we were not going to the festival, but some important people have shown up and we will have to go now. Does anyone here not want to go? You can tell me and I will keep you out of it."
Kael assured the trio in front of him.
He gave them some time to think but they all shook their heads almost immediately.
"If you think we should go, then I have no reason to oppose your words."
"I want to go as well."
"Might as well kill some time."
The trio agreed easily which made the tension in Kael’s shoulders bleed away.
He had been thinking of making magical clones of these kids if they did not want to attend with him, but he was happy to see that he would not need to do such a thing. At the same time, this also made his situation much worse.
"First, I am going to cast rune magic on you so that I can always know your location and make sure you are safe. And here, keep these on you at all times. Since there will likely be magic locks around the festival, I want to provide you with some divine protection."
Kael handed them the lockets he had gotten through his ’secret’ route (the black market) and everyone quickly took one from him.
"Are you not going to wear one as well?"
Seraphina asked as she looked at his bare neck and Kael let out a depressed laugh.
"As someone from the Tower, I cannot wear holy items unless they are gifts from the temple. It’s...something political, but you don’t need to worry. I doubt there is anyone out there who can harm me anyway."
Kael pointed out but Seraphina still looked unsure. So he patted her on the head to calm her down before he teleported them all out to the festival.
If he could not avoid being at the festival, then he could at least make sure the people who wanted him there regretted their decision.
