Chapter 6 : Chapter 6
Chapter 6: An Opportunity!
Seeing him act that way, Martie did not argue any further. At that moment, someone else in the tavern was already shouting for more ale.
Martie picked up several cups of golden wheat ale and walked over. When she glanced back at Jiang Lin’s busy figure, her mood improved somewhat.
The drunkards were already sprawled all over the place. Martie calmly stepped past those who had passed out on the floor and set cup after cup of golden wheat ale onto the tables.
Just as she placed the last few cups on Knight Kline’s table, a hand suddenly seized her wrist.
Martie was startled. The moment she saw that the owner of that shriveled hand was a mage, the expression on her face changed at once. Even so, she forced herself to keep smiling as she asked,
“Sir Mage, is there something else you would like?”
As she spoke, Martie tried to pull her hand free, only to realize that no matter how hard she tried, she could not break loose.
Mage Orr had already removed his hood. On his flushed, drunken face, his eyes were filled with nothing but greed and desire.
He looked at Martie and gave a hoarse, ugly laugh. “I want you to attend to me tonight. That is an honor for you, isn’t it?”
“That is not a very funny joke, Sir Mage. There are so many people watching!” Martie’s face had gone pale. A powerful sense of unease surged through her heart, and she instinctively looked toward the bar.
That unconscious reaction made her forget Jiang Lin’s identity issue entirely.
And at that moment, Jiang Lin had already noticed what was happening. His heart sank slightly. He drew the small knife used for cutting meat from beneath the bar and hid it up his sleeve. His eyes gradually turned cold as he walked toward Martie.
Even if he did not yet know whether these people truly possessed real strength, the plea in Martie’s eyes was enough.
If only to repay her for taking him in, Jiang Lin had no reason not to intervene.
The mage seemed to have lost all restraint. He grabbed both of Martie’s hands and began pulling her toward himself.
For a moment, Martie was so frightened that she could only struggle desperately and try to cry out in resistance.
At the end of the day, she was just a young woman.
And she had no standing whatsoever to oppose a mage.
Martie’s voice quickly drew the attention of quite a few people in the tavern. The moment they saw what was happening, they all froze.
But not a single one dared step forward to stop him or even to speak up.
They were commoners too...
“What? Is my status not high enough for you to serve me?” Mage Orr sounded irritated. Perhaps because he was drunk, he no longer cared about consequences.
He reached under the table, picked up his staff, and activated his magic. The crystal set into the staff immediately began to shine, drawing startled gasps from many around them.
“Are you not afraid I’ll blow this wretched tavern to pieces with magic?” Mage Orr looked at the girl with haughty disdain.
If this were not such a miserable backwater, a woman like her would never even deserve a second glance from him.
“Please, don’t!” Panic had completely overtaken Martie’s face. The tavern was everything she had. It was also what her father had left her. Her body was trembling, but she still tried her best to suppress her terror.
And at that very instant, Jiang Lin, who had already drawn near to Martie, suddenly froze. Beneath the linen robe, his body began trembling slightly.
A moment ago, he had felt a fluctuation of spiritual power!
It was that crystal embedded in the staff!
Forcefully suppressing the wild surge of excitement in his heart, Jiang Lin strode forward, reached out, and pulled Martie over to his side in one swift motion.
The force of it was so sudden that Mage Orr failed to react in time.
Even Knight Kline and the others, who had been pretending to be dead weight up until now, showed a flicker of surprise as they looked at the hooded figure now standing beside Martie.
At that moment, every eye in the tavern turned toward them.
Even the drunkards who had not yet completely passed out were stunned. None of them had imagined that anyone would dare resist a mage like this.
The tavern, which had still been somewhat lively a moment before, fell into absolute silence.
Everyone stared at the two sides confronting each other inside the tavern, but in their hearts, they were already mourning the fate of Martie and Jiang Lin.
The outcome of offending a mage was easy enough to imagine.
Even in Gerson City, if a mage killed someone, no law would punish him.
Not to mention that this Mage Orr served under the lord of Gerson City.
The atmosphere gradually became tense.
Jiang Lin kept hold of Martie, gently patting her back in silent comfort.
From beneath his robe, his gaze rested coldly on the shriveled mage before him, though in truth, he was more focused on the staff in the man’s hand.
That crystal giving off faint fluctuations of spiritual power.
“Are you looking to die? No commoner has ever dared treat me like this. I advise you that there had better be a beauty under that robe. And even then, you’ll still serve me!”
Mage Orr staggered to his feet, glaring viciously at Jiang Lin as he waved the staff in his hand. But no spell came out. He was clearly drunk beyond reason.
At the side, Knight Kline unconsciously frowned when he heard those words.
Jiang Lin caught that reaction and slowly let out a quiet laugh.
“I never would have imagined that the esteemed Sir Mage was this kind of man. Still, I can understand it. Golden wheat ale is good liquor, and getting drunk is only natural.”
Then Jiang Lin raised his voice and said in a deeper tone,
“You are drunk, Sir Mage. You should go upstairs and rest. There are so many people watching. If word gets out, it will surely affect your noble status.”
When he said noble, Jiang Lin stressed the word slightly. Then he turned to Knight Kline and smiled.
“And I imagine this knight here is a righteous knight who would never stand by and watch something like this happen. Isn’t that so?”
The moment those words fell, the people in the tavern all turned to look at Knight Kline.
Under the weight of all those burning gazes, Knight Kline instantly felt as though he were sitting on needles. In his heart, he had already cursed that old mage hundreds of times.
That lecherous old bastard.
No wonder he was so old and still had not advanced to second-tier mage.
In Gerson City, he could play however he liked, but now he had dragged Kline into this. If word got out, it would be an absolute humiliation. It was not as though they could just kill everyone in the tavern.
Killing them all would be easy, but what about the rest of the town outside?
Were they supposed to kill everyone there too?
Would that not be exhausting to death?
Besides, this was the town where Aunt Heath lived.
Clearing his throat, Knight Kline stood up, grabbed Mage Orr by the shoulder, and said in a grave voice,
“Sir Orr, you are drunk. I’ll take you back.”
At the same time, the other three also rose to their feet.
“Kline, even you want to side with these commoners? Back in Gerson City, you’ve done plenty of—” Mage Orr seemed to laugh in anger, but before he could finish, Knight Kline’s tall body suddenly pressed in close.
A gauntleted hand clamped over his mouth and stopped him from saying another word.
Knight Kline’s eyes were icy as he ground out in a low voice, “Do not forget our real business!”
Seeing the coldness in Knight Kline’s eyes, and perhaps recalling that so-called real business, Orr finally regained a trace of sobriety. Still, the feeling of being offended by such a young knight left him deeply displeased.
With a cold snort, Mage Orr fixed Jiang Lin with a vicious glare, but said nothing more.
Seeing the tension ease at last, everyone present let out a breath of relief.
Knight Kline composed himself once again and placed a pouch of copper coins on the table.
“My deepest apologies. I apologize to everyone on behalf of my companion for his recklessness. I hope you will all forget this unpleasantness. And of course, do not let word of it spread. This concerns a mage’s honor, after all, does it not?”
As soon as he finished speaking, the people in the tavern all hurried to promise as much.
They did not dare speak of it anyway. The legendary archmages of the stories were far removed from their lives, but the mages of Gerson City were not.
But Jiang Lin felt only intense disgust in his heart.
A mage’s honor?
Did that mean they could humiliate innocent people as they pleased?
Sure enough, the scum of this place were no different from the beasts of the Tianxuan Dao Sect.
All of them were equally sanctimonious.
“I’m sorry.”
Knight Kline looked toward Martie, who was still shaken, but Jiang Lin stepped in front of her.
“We are the ones who should be grateful. Grateful to the righteous Sir Knight.”
After saying that, Jiang Lin spoke no further. In his view, this young knight seemed to care deeply about his own status, or rather, about his honor being stained.
So from the very beginning, Jiang Lin had already decided how to handle this.
He would make use of this young knight’s strong sense of honor.
Of course, in Jiang Lin’s eyes, that sense of honor was nothing more than a hypocritical facade.
His gaze shifted once more to the staff in Mage Orr’s hand.
Knight Kline nodded. He had no wish to remain here any longer, and turned to leave with the others.
But just then, the servant who had barely made his presence felt until now suddenly spoke up.
“Wait, Sir Knight!”
As he spoke, the servant stepped in front of Jiang Lin and abruptly tried to yank down his hood, only to grab empty air.
Jiang Lin stared coldly at the thin servant.
It was one of the two servants from that morning.
“You had better give me a reasonable explanation!” Knight Kline frowned. His patience was almost completely exhausted.
“I-It’s him.” Summoning his courage, the servant pointed at Jiang Lin and shouted, “He’s a demi-human! Honored Sir Knight, hurry and arrest him!”
The instant those words were spoken, Knight Kline, Mage Orr, and the three warriors all turned at once, their eyes locking onto Jiang Lin.
“Oh? So he’s a demi-human after all. No wonder he was wearing a hood!”
The atmosphere, which had only just relaxed, turned colder than ever.
Jiang Lin slowly stepped back.
Beneath his robe, the hand that had remained hidden tightened around the knife.
His eyes were already overflowing with killing intent.