The argument was becoming more and more out of hand that Cygnus decided to intervene and stop the both of them. Hwaquin was already on his feet to stop his fellow soldier from going further.
"Alright, enough already. We've heard the both of you so let's calm down for a while." Astrophos stood up then he signaled Hwaquin to leave the room with the woman first.
Hwaquin pulled the woman as they left the room while Cygnus was only standing in front of Nina without saying anything. Astrophos looked at the butler and saw him nodding his head so he gave the group one last look before he too left.
"My dear Nina, I've told you already to reign in your anger so, why are you arguing with that woman again?" Cygnus asked. It was already unpleasant that those soldiers thought highly of themselves and now Nina was butting heads with them.
Nina bowed her head, "I'm so sorry master. I've been holding myself back but that woman has been making these remarks that were getting on my nerves ever since we went out for the investigation." She was clenching her hands while explaining the reason behind her actions.
Actually, she had been holding herself back because she did not want to see that master's look again. She endured throughout the time that they were together but she could not remain still once the accusations from the woman's mouth came out.
Cygnus stepped back and sat on the chair once again, "Humans, you should have gotten used to how eccentric they are already. But this time that woman is indeed foolish. I did not think that the discrimination in this world is even more serious than those previous worlds."
He started to drum his fingers on the table with a disappointed look on his face. He felt like the worlds he was visiting were becoming more and more unreasonable. 'Will he ever find a world where he can live peacefully after this one?' This thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"Forgive me master, this will not happen again in the future." Nina apologized once again with her body now relaxed. She had calmed down now as she raised her head and looked at the master who still looked serious.
"Alright, I'll let it pass for today since I also found that woman's words to be offensive. For now, you should return to your room and rest. We should all go and rest." Cygnus finally stood up and left the room. He looked around but saw that the woman and Hwaquin were nowhere to be found.
The night deepened but those creatures did not appear and the night passed peacefully. Came the morning with Cygnus and Astrophos standing in front of the major's base. Hwaquin came to welcome them and led them to where the major was.
"Sir Rigel, you've come so early in the morning, what's the matter?" The major stood up from where he was sitting and walked up towards them. "Why don't the both of you have a seat first?" He gestured at the couches inside his study.
The two guests didn't make a fuss and just accepted the major's gesture. The three of them sat down while the major waited for any of them to say the reason why they came so early in the morning.
"Are you actually testing our patience Major Ginehart?" Astrophos spoke first after he saw how the major was smiling so casually. He did not believe that the major had no idea of what happened yesterday.
"What do you mean Grand Mage?" The smile on the major's face disappeared at those words.
"Don't act dumb major. If I knew that you sent those people to annoy us, we wouldn't have agreed to your request. We accepted it in order to help but it seemed that we were actually being played," Astrophos sneered.
He was a coward but he wouldn't run away just because he was at a disadvantage. The master had pointed it out so many times, so this time he will face the enemy without running away. Astrophos looked serious but Ginehart started to have a frown on his face.
"If this is about the soldiers who were sent to cooperate with you, I apologize for their rude behavior. I have already told Lieutenant Lisbon to give them a punishment," Ginehart simply explained. He did not expect that the grand mage would react strongly to what had happened.
Although it was not his intention, he still allowed those people to join them in the investigation even though he knew that they held malice against magic users. It was also his way of having a reason to punish them.
"Major, if you don't know how to control your people, how can we trust you in the future? We are not even sure if the people you will send to help us turned out to be people who will stab us in the back." This time it was Cgynus who spoke. He had been observing the major and reading his mind throughout his conversation with Astrophos.
He was really impressed with how the major was thinking but he would not let himself be played in the hands of a mortal. The right to deceive people was his exclusive hobby so he must put this major in his place.
Cgynus's comment made the room silent and for a moment, the major felt that the man was a different person because of how the atmosphere changed the moment he spoke.
"Once again, I apologize for that and I will properly discipline my men in the future." Majro Ginehart cannot believe that he was apologizing agin. He frowned to himself but if disappeared immediately after he made eye contact with Cygnus.
After that, Astrophos straightened his back and spoke, "We came here today to tell you the result of our short investigation yesterday and to tell you that after this report we will not participate in this mess any longer."
Major Ginehart was slightly taken aback by the grand mage's words. This was not the result that he was aiming for when he listed their help in the case. He was hoping that they would brush this incident off and still continue to investigate but before he could voice out his objection, Cygnus spoke once again.
"If you want to enlist somebody else's help, you can go ahead and contact the Mage Association. As for us, we will wash our hands of this case and besides it is not within our expertise to handle the case. Haven't you forgotten that we are not official mages yet and the grand mage's role was to accompany us to the capital, not to solve cases that the military is handling." Those words made the major stop on his attempt to talk it out with them.
He stared at Cygnus then he closed his eyes and tilted his head up for a while. "Alright, I'll do that then and let you be until the day we depart from this place."
"Thank you for understanding our situation, Major. The truth is, I have been nervous since yesterday because of what we found out so I decided to back out and when I told the grand mage, he also agreed." Cygnus sighed with his hand on top of his chest.
His shoulders slumped as he felt relief when the major finally agreed with them. The tense atmosphere slowly eased up and so did his fast-beating heart. Ginehart gritted his teeth and did not know what he should feel. Just a while ago, Cgynus seemed to be a different person but now he was back to how the major remembered him to be.
To all my readers out there! I'll be leaving you again another chapter before 12 am comes (in our country). Enjoy this chapter! And don't forget to support it too while you're at it!