No Horses

"There you go. It looks good on you."

"It's a mask. It's supposed to look good on anyone. Besides, I wouldn't know since I can't see out of this thing."

On Theodore, a mask was affixed to his face. It was one of Annaliese's masks, a mask devoid of features aside from the painted eyes. Though Theodore had initially thought that the eyes could be seen though, he was wrong. There were no holes whatsoever for his eyes to peek out of.

"Ah, I see the problem."

Retrieving the mask, Annaliese made two quick motions with her index finger. Before Theodore could fully register what she was doing, two holes had been poked where the eyes were painted on.

(Did she do that with just her fingers?)

With Theodore stunned by what he saw, Annaliese took the opportunity to place the mask on him once more.

With the grey robe and mask, both incidentally from Annaliese, Theodore wound up looking like a mini version of the master enchanter. With the two standing side by side, an uncanny pair was formed.

With his appearance hidden, going outside should no longer be a problem, provided that he was under the supervision of Annaliese. A single day of freedom, without the need to fear being discovered.

Even so, Theodore could not relax. He was thinking the same thing as Fiana. The timing of this outing was disconcerting. He had, after all, just pulled off a heist against the mother slime, destroying it in the process. What could it possibly mean for Annaliese to come find him right this moment?

Then again, perhaps it was merely paranoia. If the mages hadn't tried to arrest him yet, it simply meant that they have no proof that he was the one who did it. There was no reason to connect the incident to him whatsoever.

More likely than not, it was all just a coincidence. Nothing more, nothing less. At least, that was what Theodore believed.

"Bring him home before dinner, okay?" said Fiana, still feeling uneasy at the whole situation.

"That's the plan," Annaliese replied, seemingly oblivious to Fiana's anxiety.

With this, Kalman and Fiana would know if something had gone wrong if Theodore failed to return in the promised time.

Following Annaliese outside, leaving through the front door for the first time, Theodore found a carriage waiting for him. It reminded him of the first time Annaliese had come to get him back in Eastcliff. What was different, however, was that this particular carriage had no horse pulling it.

"It runs on Aether," Annaliese promptly answered, correctly guessing what Theodore was thinking. "It's still rather inefficient though, so you'll only see them in this city inhabited by mages. However, once improvements are made, there are plans to make production deals with the empire. We could make them more reliable on the mages than ever. When that happens, it likely won't be long before we'll be in a position to negotiate for more freedom for the mages. When that happens, even apprentices like you will be able to leave the city without problems. You'll be able to go visit home."

Theodore didn't get it, not what Annaliese had said, but why she even bothered to say it to him. It almost sounded like she didn't know what the elders in the Circle of Mages had in store for him. There was no way that the mages would ever let a possible Demon Lord go. Wholeheartedly, Theodore believed that.

"Why wait? If the mages are so powerful, why not just do whatever they want?" Theodore asked an appropriate sounding question.

"Mages are powerful, but they're not invincible. If the Three Great Powers see us as a threat and band together against us, there would be no more future for the mages. As such, we play by the rules, at least until we have enough influence to be the ones making the rules. Not to mention, there's also the Witch of Nix."

"A witch!?"

The mention of a witch caught Theodore's full attention. He had only just now heard of the witch, meaning that this witch must have appeared in the last ten years. However, his concerns extended beyond just having heard of the witch. No, a witch is an existence that even the late Demon Lord was wary of.

Unlike the mages of the Mage Tower who primarily based their magic around Aether manipulation, the witches primarily wielded the power of the Abyss, something the mages had only tapped into roughly a hundred years ago, not a lot when it came to magic, and nowhere near a fraction of what the witches were capable of. Theirs was a power that heeded not the natural laws of this world and was instead defined by the nightmares of the human mind. Though some have said that the witches had long gone extinct, the Demon Lord did not doubt that few still remained, and those that had survived over the ages were the ones that would be the most dangerous.

"It's just rumors and tall tales," Annalies answered, noting Theodore's apparent interest in the subject. "But it was said that the empire had hired a powerful witch to act as a countermeasure against the Mage Tower. Some believe this is a lie, but there are enough of us who believe that there may be some weight behind this threat. But enough about politics. The day's being wasted, we should get going."

With a wave of Annaliese's finger, the door to the carriage swung open, inviting Theodore in.

"Where will we be going?" asked Theodore as he climbed onto the horseless carriage.

"All over," Annaliese answered. "I'll be giving you a tour of the city."

***

End of Chapter 105

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