The Mysterious Black Magician

Rea pulled the hood to cover her face. Yman briefly glanced at her, then turned back his eyes to the front, to the approaching person.

"Uhm, is there something that we may help you with, Mister?" Yman asked calmly when the person approached them. It was a middle-aged man based on how he saw him.

The man briefly glanced at Rea and Yana before his eyes focused on him. "Ah… before that, my name is Sauro Browne. A beast-men from the empire." Sauro Browne knew that it was always good to show equity before asking questions to a stranger.

Yman was quite surprised upon seeing his pair of beast ears. He sent another glance at Rea before introducing himself as well. Since the other party introduced himself, he too had to respond to it. Though, it wasn't necessary at all..

After himself, Mr. Sauro Browne opened his mouth again. "I just wanted to ask if you know that person in the tarpaulin."

Yman narrowed his eyes. He did not answer right away and stared for at most 2 seconds at Mr. Sauro Browne before he responded. "Sorry, Mister Browne, we have no idea as well. As you can see, the city is also trying to uncover his identity," he replied with a straight face.

Sistela was wondering if her partner was a natural-born liar. She just found it not long. It was when she was the one piloting his body. She learned that whenever her partner uses the Black Mana, she would lose her senses and become a full-fledged AI.

After Sauro heard Yman's reply, he nodded. "I see, fair enough. Okay, thanks for your time, Mister Yman," Sauro thanked him before excusing himself.

"No, it's nothing, Mister," after saying his reply, both of them proceeded to their original plan.

Sauro Browne went away to find some source of information regarding the Mysterious Black Knight. Well, he was called the Mysterious Black Magician in this city. But he believes that they were the same person.

Yman wondered why a person from the empire was looking for him. After getting themselves a table in one of the corners of the pub, he whispered to Rea if she knew Mister Sauro. Rea just nodded. Yman did not ask further as they were currently in the presence of many people.

Meanwhile, they were sitting near the window. Rea and Yana were beside each other. In front of them were Yman and Sistela.

He rolled his eyes around the pub. It was lively. But he wasn't surprised about it as it was only natural since it was lunchtime. His only concern was his sister. It was her first time around many people. But after looking at her, he noticed no displeasure from her. It looks like his sister was the type of person who could easily adjust to her surroundings.

"Yana, are you okay?"

Even though he noticed no dissatisfaction from her expression, he wanted to confirm it by asking her.

Yana stared at her brother for a second, then tilted her head. "Yes bro, I'm fine," she nodded her head repeatedly.

"Okay…" Yman smiled at her sister and nodded.

After doing it, someone came to their table and asked enthusiastically. "May I take your order, sir!?" The group glanced in reflex. But Yman was stunned after seeing who it was. No wonder the voice seemed familiar to him.

"Y-you?!" He called out of surprise. It was Seven. But how did she get here? Isn't she working in the pub in Encantasia Academy?

Then how and why is she here? He wanted to ask her but he remembered that he was in human form right now. So Seven would probably not know him. 

Seven noticed the dumbfounded face of Yman. She tilted her head in wonder. "Uhm, Sir, did I meet you before?" Yman was taken aback by Seven's unexpected question. "No, no, no, probably not!" He denied it strongly, but it only caused suspicion from Rea, who was staring at her with cold eyes. 

He wondered why Rea looked so mad at him. Could it be that he was the reason for her silence a while ago? Did he do something bad to her? Yes, he did! Could it be, she figured out what he did to her? Yman felt a cold sweat running down his back. It would be bad if Rea filed a report to him. He would certainly be massaging the cold iron bars inside the prison if she did it.

However, Yman's reaction only made Rea feel more suspicious of him. Could it be… this pub girl is his g-g-girlfriend? Wait! Could it be that Crimson was the type of person who is not content with one woman? Rea asked herself while her face under the hood started to feel hot. How despicable!? Womanizer! She bellowed in mind.

In Yman's mind, he repeatedly chanted the words I'm not guilty, I'm not guilty, I'm not guilty… I'm just curious!

Yana and Seven blinked their eyes towards the two who suddenly fell silent while staring at each other. Sistela, on the other hand, was not in the mood to mind the people around her. She was squatting on the table.

"Uhm, uh, errr… may I take your order…?" Seven asked in a skeptical voice.

Just then, Yman and Rea snapped back to reality. But when Yman sent a glance at her, she pouted and looked away. Looks like he needed to prepare for the worst. Yman thought so.

The group ate their lunch in silence. Around them, the other customers were noisily talking about the competition. Some asked who were their best contestants. And some made a guess for the last pair to come out in the final. Yman focused his ears. He wanted to know if some people would choose him.

Unfortunately, he was disappointed when no one chose him. The majority of people inside choose Almina, Kiko, Keremi, Brai, and the other trainees from the elite class.

There were also those who chose Bob and Destroyer. But how come no one chose him?! Yman was so furious. He wanted to beat those guy's asses. Just you wait! He thought annoyingly. 

While Yman was whimpering inwardly. Someone called out. "Hey!"

Yman and the others glanced to where the voice came from.

Suddenly, "Another woman!?" Rea subconsciously muttered upon seeing the silver-haired beaut, who was walking towards their table. It was easy to tell that the target of her call was Crimson as she was staring at him with smiling eyes.