The Lord Is Too Overbearing

As Chester looked into Charles' incomprehensible, empty eyes, he unconsciously gulped dryly. Other than the fact he had never seen Redford used Magic, this strange behaviour of Charles was another thing he found suspicious.

The first impression he had got from Charles when Charles had greeted them the moment they had stepped their foot in Southevile Viscountcy wasn't good. He didn't like the way Charles was so into his "act."

Although Redford had explained that Charles had done that just to mess with them—the person had also been embarrassed when he was called out—Chester still couldn't get rid off the sense of incongruence he had felt that time.

There was something off-putting from Charles' "genuine" flustered reaction. It had felt so deliberate—it was like he was forcing himself to agree with Redford that he really didn't do what he had said he had done.

Still, saying that Charles had really done what everyone had heard he had done 10 years ago would be quite farfetched since Redford and Charles' family were still breathing and alive ... At least, until he could prove they were not.

"Kuhum!" Knowing that he hadn't given a response to Charles for a quite some time, Chester immediately said, "Oh, I am just enjoying the moment without feeling left out."

"Ahaha. I can see that." Charles smiled knowingly. "Everyone tends to forget their surrounding whenever they are 'reminiscing' their old time."

"Yeah, I wish I was older... Or maybe not. It sucks being old." Chester shivered lightly. "Speaking about old, I don't mean to be rude, but does Marquess Redford have an ailment or a special circumstance? I haven't seen him use Magic."

"Is it your way of saying old people shall work too?" Charles teased.

"No, you got me wrong." Chester waved his hand lightly in denial. "Old folks have a right to rest after all. I am just wondering why such a great Mage has decided to not lend a hand at all ... I mean, Marquess Redford could have helped a lot."

As Chester smiled at Charles, Charles gradually lost his smile. He stared at Chester incomprehensibly with his cold, empty eyes, making it harder for Chester to keep his smile.

The silence was preserved that way for a couple of seconds. Chester became more jittery in each passing second as he heavily considered attacking Chester the moment he noticed Charles' finger twitched.

"Huuh... About that, huh?"

Luckily, Charles stopped looking intensely at Chester not long after. He sighed then sat beside Chester, making Chester heave a sigh of relief, but still not made him let his guard down.

"Well... As a Mage yourself, you must know that while age matters to us, it is only in terms of how far we will go: the older we get the more we master Magic, but the less step we have to further our research. There is no such case as getting bad due to old age."

"That is indeed the case..." Chester lightly nodded his head.

"My father doesn't suffer from a certain ailment, but he has indeed a certain circumstance." Charles put his pointer finger to his head then tapped it lightly. "Something is preventing him to do it."

"... Do you mean it literally?"

Chester slowly turned his head to Charles, and met Charles' emotionless face. He kept his face straight, but his suspicion towards Charles had been more than doubled.

Considering how wicked Charles was depicted in the story he had heard people had talked about, it was possible that Charles was secretly hinting that he was controlling his father's mind.

Such a thing was easily achievable since many Spells were made for that purpose. That was still, in the end, hypothetical; he still couldn't prove if Charles was truly up to something.

"It depends on how you see things, Chester. People like me, who never believe in mental shackles, will take it figuratively, meanwhile people who try to understand human mind will take it literally."

"Did something happen to Marquess Redford that scarred his psyche?" Chester asked carefully.

"Just a little accident." Charles smiled lightly. "He accidentally did something that he wished he would never do to his family, and it scarred him for eternity."

"What happened?"

"He..." Charles looked up to the sky then sighed. "My father once tried teaching my sister a Spell. My sister was so enthusiastic about it, so he had no choice but to listen to her request. He is a loving father after all."

Charles frowned lightly then continued, "My sister's enthusiasm got my father hyped, and that made him forget that his daughter had just learnt how to use Magic ... In result, an uncontrollable Spell had almost taken my sister's life that day."

"Marquess Redford blamed himself for that?" Chester quirked his eyebrow. "That is not something that one should be able to predict. It was not his—"

"I have said the same thing to my father many times, but he still keeps blaming himself. He believes that being an experienced Mage should have allowed him to predict something like that to happen, so his guilt remains strong."

Charles sighed forlornly. "He always calls himself a failure as a Mage for not being able to handle a rampaging Spell from a Third Circle Mage. He believes he can't do anymore Magic, and thus he never uses Magic anymore."

"That is... Way complicated than I thought," Chester remarked softly. "When did this happen if I may know?"

"It was around 7 years ago, if I recall correctly."

"Has your sister decided to stop practicing Magic ever since?"

"Yeah, she has stopped years ago." Charles nodded lightly. "She has been traumatized, and she also doesn't want to make our father remember about what happened that day."

Chester sighed then shook his head bitterly. Standing up from the ground where he had been sitting on, he stretched his stiff body, then stood right in front of Charles.

"That was too bad, Charles. We didn't only lose one great Mage, but also a future great Mage." Chester smiled, but suddenly his eyes turned cold. "As far as I know however, Charissa Blois had not the talent to be a Mage."

Charles instantly turned rigid, meanwhile the temperature suddenly dropped dramatically. He looked up at Chester with widened eyes, and Chester greeted him with his cold look.

"You shouldn't have widened your eyes, Charles Blois." Chester sneered coldly. "No, you should have remembered your family better. What kind of brother who forgets his little sister?"

"What are you talking about? I don't—"

Boom!

As Charles was trying to talk his way out, Chester, who had been preparing himself sneakily, launched the Spell he had cast beforehand at Charles.

Charles, unfortunately, didn't get hit, but it was enough to make him drop his farce. As he stood right beside the ground that had been damaged by Chester's Spell, he looked at Chester with his cold, murderous eyes.

"I have been worrying about you for the past three days, but who knows you are sharper than I have expected, Chester? You got me." Charles laughed coldly.

"What are you planning, Charles? Who are those people we see?!" Chester called out his Grimoire, preparing to launch another Spell.

"Oh, you suspect the people too? I thought you were only suspecting me." Charles laughed cheerily. "Ah, you can come at me if you want to know about those people." He motioned Chester to come with his finger.

"Your deed will never remain unpunished, Charles," Chester said coldly. "To think that I have ever sympathized with someone like you..."

"There is no need to look at me with such hatred. As a Mage, you, too, have ambition, don't you?" Charles looked knowingly at Chester. "Well, I am just on my way to achieve mine."

Having enough of Charles' nonsense, Chester sent a Fire Element Spell towards Charles. His fury for being played around made him fuel his Spell with more Mana than necessary, allowing the ordinary Spell to become an extraordinary Spell.

Boom!

Charles, once again, could dodge the Spell easily, but he was still impressed by how quick Chester could cast his Spell. He couldn't even help praising Chester inwardly as he looked at Chester's five Magic Circles that were blaring intensely.

They might be all Major Circles, but Chester was utilizing them so effectively, they functioned no differently from Grand Circles. Of course, it still doesn't mean Chester's Major Circles were on par with real Grand Circles.

"I reckon from how it looks and how it feels, you have just gotten your fifth Magic Circle not long ago." Charles smirked. "It is impressive to think that you can already handle it that well."

"[Hellfire]!"

"Oh, crap."

Burst!

A pillar of a brightly burning fire emerged from the ground where Charles was standing on. He, once again, managed get away from it, but Chester didn't have any plan to let him go; Chester kept spamming [Hellfire] at him.

Each time Charles stepped his foot on the ground, a red Magic Circle would appear on it, then a fire pillar would emerge in the next moment. He always moved quicker than the fire pillars, however it was clear that he was annoyed as much as he was having fun.

"Alright, it is my turn to pay him back." Charles smirked as he dodged another [Hellfire]. "Have a taste of my Art, Chester! [Hands of Sinners]!"

A sickening pressure immediately surrounded Charles and overwhelmed the surrounding. Ten black, ethereal hands came out of his back before entering the ground and headed towards Chester.

As he had been alarmed by the sickening aura he had felt the moment Charles activated his Art however, Chester made a distance instead of blocking the Art. He wasn't sure what could stop it.

"A great choice to avoid it, Chester. However, I must tell you in advance that the moment you decided to stand in my way, you have only one fate—die." Charles grinned manically. "You should've pretended that my Bewitchment splendidly works on you!"

Chester was sweating coldly. He had been using his Mana without reserve as he had been planning to alert the other Mages in the vicinity.

It was much to his shock and utter bewilderment that not only none of the Mages had sensed his raging Mana, but also none of them heard the commotion the commotion yet.

That was the moment he realized Charles had gotten him.

"I have to leave."

He felt bad for leaving Blake behind, but for the current him, nothing mattered more than his life. Alas, getting out wasn't as easy as he had pictured.

"Where are you going, Chester?"

... What could he do against a Seventh Circle Mage after all?