Chapter 246: Master Hoffman
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Of course, if the bigger ant was willing to be nice to him, he might not reject it.
Yeah, just like what Sarsen did.
After all, he was one of the only two Archmages in this trial. After he clinched the championship and set up his new guild, he would need some manpower. Since his mentor would be busy with work in the Supreme Council, he needed to depend on what he had.
An obedient Archmage would be of great help to him.
After acknowledging him slightly, Gryffindor had been waiting for Lin Li to suck up to him. Then, he would just casually act humbly and friendly to him, allowing Lin Li to be less awkward and at the same time maintain his own status. Yeah, just like how he treated Sarsen. Gryffindor believed that he did not need to wait long for Lin Li to do it.
Since he was much more powerful than the other mages participating in the trial, it was common sense for them to suck up to him in order to be treated less harshly later.
Furthermore, the finals allowed accidents. If he were to inflict too harsh a blow, it would be a pity to die due to that.
In the end…
Gryffindor waited for quite a while, only to realize the fella named Felic had no intentions of getting close to himself. He continued to talk to Sarsen about meaningless things such as the weather and about life.
Gryffindor frowned, and got unhappy.
He could not understand why meaningless things could be more important as compared to being friends with himself. It concerned life and death. If Gryffindor were to hate on Lin Li, he could just exert more force in the finals and a corpse would be sent back to Jarrosus.
Having had the title as the magic genius of Felan, Gryffindor had forever been the center of attention anywhere he went. Unlike the usual, it was the first time he was treated like air today. After feeling surprised, an unexplainable rage rose from his heart. How could the country bumpkin from Jarrosus treat him as though he was invisible?
Gryffindor was fuming. If Sarsen was not there, he would turn and leave on Felic. What was so great about a country bumpkin having the abilities of an Archmage?? How could Felic belittle him? Yet, after looking at Sarsen beside him, he swallowed his anger.
Since the country mage had no background, if he were to kill Felic in the finals, no one would step in. On the contrary, he had to ensure he would not put Sarsen in a hard position. As his mentor was the President of the Nightfall City Guild of Magic, he would need a lot of his help after he set up the new guild in Breezy Plains.
Gryffindor tried his best to suppress his rage as two men conversed.
“Oh, yes. Mage Felic, I heard Mr. Macklin said you left the guild for quite some time?” Ever since he saw how respectful the two pharmacists were to Lin Li, Sarsen knew clearly that this young mage from Jarrosus was not someone he should trifle with.
Furthermore, as Sarsen was not very close to Lin Li—like Mason and Orrin—he needed to watch his language and speak to him courteously. Gryffindor could not help but be infuriated when he saw how Sarsen treated Lin Li.
“I had no choice, either. My dear mentor felt that I’m too weak and needed more practice. The old man instructed me to go places as part of training…” Lin Li grumbled. He was half-lying.
“Hehe, Mr. Macklin is like that. He is known to be strict toward his students…” Sarsen comforted Lin Li, assuming that the “mentor” Lin Li mentioned was Macklin. In reality, Macklin was the only mentor that would treat his students so harshly. Sarsen did not expect the real “mentor” Lin Li was referring to was one that had even higher expectations compared to Macklin…
“Erm, actually…” Lin Li paused. Since Sarsen assumed that mentor was Macklin, Lin Li was not that foolish to correct him. He took the chance to weave some more complaints about Macklin, framing the poor innocent old man.
Sarsen seemed to be engrossed in the conversation, and had no intention to leave.
Gryffindor, on the other hand, was already very impatient. If he could, he really wanted to leave them. He could not suppress his disdain when he saw that country bumpkin. Gryffindor felt that Sarsen must have lost his mind to treat that mage from Jarrosus with extreme kindness.
Did he think all Archmages were invincible? Was he hoping that the bumpkin would be less harsh on him during the finals?
What a joke…
So what if he was an Archmage? He was just a more skillful one among his age group. Compared to the other mages in the whole of Felan Kingdom, he was a nobody. He had neither social status nor background. Apart from that trial and becoming the student of Macklin by luck, what other abilities did he have?
Furthermore…
If Sarsen wanted Felic to go easy on him at the finals, he had to ensure Felic would not be killed first.
Gryffindor had heard that a moron had offended Matthias the moment he arrived in Alanna. He found out that the fool’s name was Felic after he asked further.
“What an idiot…” Gryffindor mumbled as he rolled his eyes. He could not understand why there would be such a stupid fella who dared to offend Matthias. Who was Matthias? He was the son of Wilhelm, the second heir of the Marathon Family. Even Gryffindor would never want to offend Matthias himself. Why did that mindless dude from Jarrosus do that…?
At this moment, Gryffindor really hoped to tell Sarsen to stop talking to Felic. It was meaningless to flatter somebody who was not going to make it to the finals. He was sure that people from the Marathon Family would be after Felic. Not even his mentor, Macklin, would dare to offend the family just to save a student from that mess.
Of course, Gryffindor could not say those thoughts out loud. Even if he were to say it, he would not say it in front of Lin Li…
Hence, he remained quiet grumpily.
“Oh dear, it’s so late now. I’m so sorry, Mage Sarsen. I have to go.” Lin Li apologized to Sarsen after noticing how dark the sky was. He wanted to end the conversation quickly, fearing that he would need to take quite some time to find a restaurant to have his meal at this rush hour.
“Let’s talk again next time, then,” Sarsen said as he smiled. Just when he wanted to leave with Gryffindor, they heard the sound of a conversation.
The voices belonged to a few Archmages in the guild, as well as Mr. Macklin. Oh, there was an unfamiliar voice too.
When Sarsen was still trying to figure out whom that voice belonged to, Lin Li frowned, knowing that it was his unlucky day. If he were to know he was going to meet him, he would not have stayed to chat with Sarsen.
I need to escape quickly!
“Mage Sarsen, I’m going to take my leave now…”
Lin Li had no time to care anymore. After bidding Sarsen goodbye in a hurry, he turned towards the exit of the guild hall. However, after he made his first step, Macklin spoke.
“Felic, you are here! I was looking for you…”
No one knew what Macklin was up to. His old and wrinkly face was grinning widely as he walked down the stairs in high spirits. Others might think that this old dude found his second spring.
“Can you not find me?” Lin Li asked impatiently after seeing the fatso behind Macklin. Didn’t he promise Hoffman he was going to take some days to consider his offer? Why was he so anxious to make his way to the Guild of Magic to look for him??
“And you two, come over here too…” Macklin gestured to Sarsen and Gryffindor while he grabbed onto Lin Li, who was trying to make his escape.
“Let me introduce Hoffman to you. He is from the Glittergold trade union. I’m sure you have heard his name, right?”
“Hoffman…” Sarsen repeated the name in bewilderment. How could he not have heard of Hoffman’s name? Hoffman was not only the man managing nearly half of the businesses in the Glittergold trade union, but also an esteemed Conjurer. If he were to stamp his feet lightly on Breezy Plains, the entire Breezy Plains would shake.
On top of that…
Sarsen had heard from his mentor that this Mr. Hoffman in front of him was a true Master Pharmacist!
Oh God, he is a Master in Pharmaceutics…!
Sarsen had never dreamed to be able to meet a Master Pharmacist in his entire life. With Mr. Hoffman, who were those pharmacists who made things difficult for his mentor, and the two fellas that treated him with disdain? Although the title “Pharmacist” and “Master Pharmacist” only differed by a single word, the actual difference in status was as wide as the distance of heaven and hell.
“I-i-it’s my pleasure to meet you, M-M-Master Hoffman…!” Sarsen stuttered as he greeted the man.
As compared to Sarsen, Gryffindor was relatively calmer. Since his mentor was from the Supreme Council, he had a lot encounters with renowned individuals. He was surprised at first, but managed to calm down quickly.