The Prince Of Magic - Chapter 109

“… Prelati? Wait, isn’t that name from –”

“In minor myths related to Bluebeard, the once good guy turned insane serial child murderer after Jeanne D’arc was burned by the pillar? Yes, yes, it is.” Zelretch cut in with a nod.

Hadrian blinked, shifted his gaze to the photo then back to the old magician.

“He should be long dead by the time the world entered the 20th century, so how is he still alive? Wasn’t he a mortal? And if I recall correctly, Prelati was always described in the stories as a male, so how is this young woman Prelati? Is she related to the man, a relative perhaps?” Hadrian carefully elaborated, recalling the information from the books he had read in the past.

“From what I know, Prelati was an ordinary mortal. But, he was an apostle to an eldritch god long, long ago. He’s weak but not an ordinary mortal. Information on his past is still scarce, so a small amount was all that I could get from a very reliable source of mine. Even I’m not exactly sure how old that wretched arse is when I heard of his existence for the first time.” Zelretch huffed, scowling slightly.

“It sounds as if you’ve encountered him, opa.” Hadrian said by way of asking.

Zelretch turned to him with a neutral expression that gave nothing away.

“I had, much to my luck and displeasure.” The old magician admitted, looking a bit irritated.

“When?”

The old magician scratched his beard in thought, leaning back into his chair before meeting his grandson’s attentive gaze.

“I met Prelati when I went to visit an old friend of mine in Romania. It was one of those encounters that you wish had never happened. This was years ago, so I doubt you would remember, enkel. You were probably a few months old back then.” Zelretch added, noticing Hadrian’s brows rose in surprise.

“It was that bad?” Hadrian asked, curious but slightly tentative.

The young mage noticed his grandfather’s mood had soured by the topic’s subject at hand.

“Hah, worse. It made me wish I had never noticed that wretched f.u.c.ker.” Zelretch scoffed.

Keenly aware of the clear irritation and disgust in his tone, Hadrian remained silent as he let the older man continue.

When his grandfather starts to cuss, it meant that he was about to go on a rant.

And just as he thought of it, the old magician did exactly what he expected him to do.

“I encountered him when he was about to kidnapped two children. I was only passing by, but I noticed him activating his circuits and I was disgusted, not just by his intentions and what he was about to do to those poor children, but by his very presence. The feel of his magical energy was so disgusting, it offended my sensibilities to the point that I want to kill him. Just imagine, there was a group of dead, rotten fishes situated near your nose. The smell wouldn’t go away, even if you cover up nose and don’t breathe for a few seconds. He was that unpleasant.” Zelretch growled, crimson eyes flashing in anger.

“So what’d you do?” Hadrian asked, morbidly curious.

“I attacked him, of course. Bloody bastard was so occupied with what he was doing, he didn’t sensed me approaching him till it was too late. He tried to put up a fight at first, but I just went and kept attacking him until he just turned into a small pile of nasty mush. I think he was too stunned with what just happened to him to retaliate after that. For the record, I don’t know why he’s a girl now, so don’t ask. Chances are, he probably got tired of using male containers and wanted a change of pace by choosing the opposite gender. The wretched tosser is that sick in the head.” Zelretch sneered.

Hadrian shook his head, if not to wave off the image of the last part that his grandfather had said.

“So you tried to kill him and it didn’t work?”

“Hn, I did. But, clearly, it wasn’t enough to really end the wretched tosser. At least Crimson Moon, the bastard, died at the full brunt of my true magic. That ancient pedo? Not so much.” Zelretch said with a slight shake of his head, letting out a frustrated sigh.

“And you say that he’s my target?” How in the Root am I going to kill him when you can’t? I’m not a magician.” Hadrian said, incredulous.

“I’m a Magician, but you have something that I don’t.” Zelretch said with a knowing look.

“And what is –” Hadrian paused, connecting the dots in his mind.

Silence took over the room for a moment before the young mage continued.

“It’s my eyes, isn’t it?” Hadrian uttered, stating it in a way that was not a question.

A small grin made its way back to the old magician’s aging countenance.

“Hit the nail right on the head, enkel.” If possible, the grin stretched further up as his tone became ominous. “When I say that your eyes special, I do mean it. I have never seen a unique and higher quality of mystic eyes than yours. At its current state, it would be powerful enough to overcome whatever aces that wretched pedo might have under his sleeve.”

Even in the face of genuine compliment, Hadrian took it in slide, absorbing the words but not reacting much to it.

Instead, there was something else important and it was the one thing that occupied his mind at that very moment.

“What’s the catch?” Hadrian asked, observing his grandfather closely.

While young in body, he was not so naïve to think that everything would go as his grandfather was planning.

Everything has its downsides. It’s not merely his opinion, but a fact of life that he learned through all of the hardsh.i.p.s and countless of trials.

The grin on his grandfather’s face turned wry.

“Thing is, while I had manage to successfully locate that wretch in no time, there’s an issue that needs to be addressed.”

Zelretch paused, crimson eyes roving upwards to the ceiling in thought.

Few moments passed, he coughed into his hand to break the brief silence.

“Well, a couple of issues, perhaps.” The old magician admitted, appearing a bit sheepish.

Hadrian frowned, slightly annoyed by the older man’s delay.

“Out with it, opa.” The young mage urged.

“Alright, alright.” Zelretch sighed, and then he met his grandson’s eyes as he continued. “The ancient wretch is in a different world, so you’ll have to travel there via the Kaleidoscope and eliminate the tosser for good to close the murder cases fully.”

…

“… Pardon?”

…