Why Did You Summon Me?

On that night, two legends were born in Highland City.

The first legend centered around a lone sorcerer that called himself a prophet. When Highland City was under intense attack by demons, the prophet rose to the occasion and annihilated the demons without breaking a sweat. His effort ended up saving the city from what should have been certain doom.

The second legend was about a mysterious beauty, who the people of Highland called “Purple Fae”. She was seen waltzing down the blood-soaked streets with an ethereal gait, saving many lives and tending to the injured.

Mia, who was unaware of the new name, returned to the guesthouse at dusk. She and Lulu were so exhausted, they almost had to drag themselves inside the house. After making sure that Lulu was comfortably tucked in, Mia staggered to her room.

When she opened the door, she found Baiyi inside waiting for her.

Mia forced a smile before falling into Baiyi’s open arms. “D-daddy? Little Mia is… tired…”

Before Baiyi could reply, he heard Mia’s gentle snores. She had fallen asleep.

Baiyi ruffled Mia’s hair gently before carrying her to bed. He took her heels and black socks off first, followed by the tiara and other accessories. Baiyi got a warm towel to wipe Mia’s face with, and when he was done, he tucked her in.

“Good night, Mia,” Bia whispered.

Afterward, he left the guesthouse for a stroll. As Baiyi walked down the street, he listened in on the rumors that passersby were spreading amongst themselves. Through them, he learned what Mia had been doing all day. After slaying the demons in the city with her gigantic plushie, Mia stayed behind to take care of the injured and upset, and she also had time to put out many fires that had broken out in the city during the invasion.

Purple Fae — the name people of Highland City called Mia — had devoted her time towards helping the victims of the attack. She stopped only when exhaustion overcame her, and by then, dusk had arrived.

This did not surprise Baiyi. Mia, true to her nature, always devoted herself to the service of others. Baiyi was surprised by Lulu, though. He had expected her, an average village girl, to suffer a nervous breakdown after the attack. Even if Lulu took the situation well, she would have spent the night in tears, too weak to be of any help. Contrary to his expectations, however, the brave Lulu had helped Mia with the relief effort.

Baiyi silently commended the Archmage’s eye for ladies. Lulu, the First Walker’s future spouse, did not behave like most beautiful ladies.

Baiyi wanted nothing to disturb Mia while she slept, so he had refused Dante’s request to visit.

Dante the hound had been busy. After dealing with the aftermath of the battle, he was tasked with restoring order to the city. Dante wanted to pay Baiyi a visit to express his gratitude, but Baiyi did not want to see anyone at that time.

The next afternoon, Commander Lorenz, Chiliarch Finn, Dante the hound, and the rest of the Sorcerers’ Corp paid the guesthouse a visit. Although Baiyi was embarrassed and a little unwilling, he agreed to meet them in the conference room on the first floor.

The meeting was an awkward one. None of the representatives of Highland City could forget the scene of Baiyi wiping millions of demons by himself. Despite the training they had received on conversing with high-level individuals, the representatives of Highland City were uncharacteristically prudent before Baiyi. They could not wipe the expressions of fear and reverence on their faces. This was the reaction Baiyi had been aiming for.

Baiyi chose not to speak freely with the representatives; after all, to them, he was still the mysterious ‘prophet’, so he had to maintain an air of mystery about him. This, in turn, made the representatives more queasy, and the conversation could not get past compliments and platitudes.

When the atmosphere grew solemn enough for Baiyi, he said, “Bring me to His Majesty. I can answer the question closest to his heart.”

Baiyi calmly raised a finger and drew a square in the air.

The representatives did not seem to understand what Baiyi meant, but Lorenz’s expression instantly changed.

After Baiyi had said that, he stood up and left the room. The representatives — who were preparing a celebratory dinner and planned to invite Baiyi for private discussions later on — were embarrassed. Baiyi did not care about this, though. He was more interested in spending the time staring at his daughter’s cute sleeping face ¹ .

The representatives were elites in Highland City, but they dared not utter a word after Baiyi gave them the cold shoulder. They were scared of crossing him. Hence, they had no choice but to leave the guesthouse earlier than they had planned, feeling defeated. They chose to go somewhere far away from there to continue their discussion.

“The prophet really is a mysterious man, and he is very powerful. The aura he radiated literally left me choking…”

“I felt the pressure too, but for some reason, I did not find the man to be a bad person; if it makes any sense, I found him to be agreeable.”

“Yeah, you’re onto something. He has to be really nice to so quickly assent to Centurion Dante’s plea for help. I expect people as powerful as the prophet to be extremely arrogant, but the man is nothing like that, at all.”

“Speaking of which, why did you think he calls himself a prophet’? His power is the real deal, so why would he demean himself so by resorting to a title used mostly by those that con villagers?”

The sorcerers discussed amongst themselves calmly, whilst Lorenz and Finn had solemn expressions on their faces.

The prophet’s request had left them stunned. Although Commander Lorenz had the authority to bring the prophet to see the Emperor, now was not the right time. After all, they knew nothing about this prophet, especially his identity and intention.

As the high-ranked commander of Highland City’s army base, Lorenz was privy to some of the Empire’s most important secrets. He knew that the Emperor currently had a problem with the Book of Servitude. This left even Lorenz, a veteran commander, rattled. If the public got wind of this information, they would descend into panic. Thus, the matter was marked top-secret, and no news of it was leaked.

However, the prophet knew about it . That must have been what he meant when he drew a square — to signify a book — in the air earlier! Thus, the prophet was actually a genuine seer, or the matter with the Book of Servitude was somehow related to him!

Had the prophet not been more powerful than every military personnel on Highland City’s payroll, Lorenz would have ordered his arrest there and then.

“Is his request unreasonable?” Finn asked in a low voice. He was not privy to as many secrets as Lorenz was, so while he knew that the Emperor had a problem, he did not know what that problem was.

“You may already know that His Majesty has been  concerned about a certain matter as of late. You should also know that hostile forces seek to use this opportunity to harm His Majesty. The number of strangers with unidentifiable backgrounds in the Imperial Capital has increased greatly,” Lorenz explained. “Hence, I’m not comfortable bringing such a dangerous man to see our emperor, but at the same time, I do not dare reject his offer and risk crossing him.”

One of Lorenz’s attendants hurried over and announced, “Sir, the captain of the Praetorian Sorcerers has arrived.”

Lorenz’s expression brightened. He could finally pass the burden onto someone else!

Captain Aegis had met Baiyi before, during his inspection of Aegir. Lorenz quickly returned to the barracks and met Captain Aegis, after which he narrated everything that had happened.

In the evening, Captain Aegis paid Baiyi a visit. Mia was awake and was chatting with Lulu in her room. As Baiyi was not interested in eavesdropping on their conversation, he decided to see the captain, inviting the man up to his room.

Aegis was the progenitor of Baiyi’s ‘eldest daughter’, so Baiyi’s impression of him was good. The warm welcome that Baiyi gave Aegis made it obvious.

Before Aegis came over, Lorenz had warned him of the power that Baiyi possessed. He had shared his suspicions with Aegis and even offered to accompany him, but Aegis had declined.

“I did not expect us to meet again so soon.” Aegis smiled, albeit in an accusatory manner. “I also did not expect you to possess powers so great, even the Empire’s army is spooked. I really do wonder how this managed to elude me the first time I met you.”

“I have no intention to meddle in worldly affairs, Captain, but a terrible future has been revealed to me. It must be averted,” Baiyi replied, feigning an air of mystery. Without offering any explanation, he said, “Please, bring me to His Majesty.”

“I will inform His Majesty of everything that has happened, but the meeting is something His Majesty must decide,” Aegis replied with a grave expression. He gave Baiyi a once-over and said, “I will be frank; I intend to persuade His Majesty to decline your request. A powerful threat like you should not be allowed into the Imperial Capital.”

“Believe me,” Baiyi said, feigning solemnity, “I’m the only person in this universe that will not harm him.”

Captain Aegis did not reply; he left without a word. He did not bother to ask Baiyi about his background. Captain Aegis was not wrong; at the end of the day, only the Emperor could decide whether or not the meeting would hold.

Captain Aegis hurried back to the capital and met the emperor. The emperor, who was seated in his study, did not say a word as Captain Aegis read out his report.

“Bring him in,” the emperor said instantly.

“Your Majesty, please reconsider. This man may be responsible for the massacre in the woods,” Captain Aegis quickly replied, visibly concerned. “According to the report I received from Highland City’s army, this man’s power is seemingly limitless. He is dangerous.”

“I’m well aware of that,” the Emperor replied calmly. “Only someone like that can be interested in the Book of Servitude, so I wish to see him personally. This is an enemy I must face alone.”

Aegis sighed. He knew that he could not change the Emperor’s mind. He could only hope that the prophet was genuine.

He really wished that the prophet was not responsible for the Emperor’s problem or the massacre that had occurred in the woods.