Chapter 4
"You fools! Prince Wise has light gray hair, not black! The difference is so obvious, and you guys still caught the wrong person?! Why didn't you idiots take off his hood to check?!"
A shout rang out in a cave hidden deep in the forest. The people who had personally gone to capture the prince could only lower their heads while being scolded. The one who had directed them was a man, who seemed to be a bounty hunter, seemingly the leader of this gang.
"Not to mention you also caught the wrong butler with magical power, if he uses magic, attracting the attention of the royal high-ranking magicians, we'll be dead. You guys should feel lucky that I have a magic-sealing collar."
Harumasa was lying on some straw or hay, his hood had been removed by them. But fortunately, they only took it off to check when they got here, even if they had returned, Wise's group would have already returned to the palace. However, he was unlucky enough to receive a rather painful slap on his left cheek. Do muscular people always not know how to control their strength when angry? But maybe it's true for those rude and impudent bounty hunters.
"But at least we're not at a loss... He has magic power, we can draw his magic power to reserve...", one of the three mages spoke in a low voice. It seemed that the magic power they used to cast the teleportation formation was stored magic power. Since the teleportation formation consumed quite a lot of magic power, it wasn't commonly used.
It was highly likely that the three mages had drained someone's magic power and stored it in the gem balls on their staffs. Although it looked no different from the cheap gems sold on the streets, it could absorb someone's mana and store it for a long time. Of course, it also came with a suitable spell. But if Harumasa was not mistaken, absorbing someone's mana was banned in this country, and both the spell and the gem had gradually fallen into oblivion.
It was possible that these bounty hunters had discovered ancient magic books that recorded it, as well as found the gem on the black market. Harumasa swore that no matter how well the current emperor did in eradicating the evils of society, they would still exist like an incurable disease. Those at the bottom of society did not care about the fate of others, they only cared about whether they could make a lot of money that day. That was why the black market and slave trade still existed, just not as much as before.
"Humph, then drain his mana and kill him. After we finish him off, we'll move to another area and wait for the next opportunity."
Before Harumasa could open his mouth to negotiate, one of the three mages chanted a spell, rendering him unable to speak. The three magic staffs immediately pointed at Harumasa, and the three mages chanted the spell almost in unison. A magic circle appeared right below him. Obviously, he also wanted to chant the spell to reverse this process, but the collar they put around his neck blocked his use of mana.
In just a moment, the mana gradually left his body, dividing into three streams into the three gems on the magic staffs.
One of the reasons this was forbidden was because it was inhumane, causing pain to the person whose mana was drained, and could also leave injuries to the person whose mana was drained if they weren't careful in chanting the spell.
It hurt terribly. It was worse than the pain in Harumasa's lungs when he was sick.
"The source of magical power is so abundant. As expected of the prince's personal butler, this amount of magical power can be said to be more than the amount of high-ranking magicians in the palace.", one of the three magicians said softly in a surprised tone, as if she had never absorbed this much magical power before.
This process lasted for more than an hour, and sweat appeared on Harumasa's forehead from the pain. They finally drained his magical power, causing him to cough and vomit blood. This was the most obvious sign of someone whose magical power had run out. His body was exhausted, his face pale from the pain.
"If his magical power is exhausted, then this is no longer necessary."
The leader of the men roughly removed the necklace that sealed Harumasa's magical power. Although he could breathe easier, it didn't seem to be of much help in the current situation.
"The current amount of mana reserves is more than enough to perform multiple teleportations as well as set up a barrier. If I create a magic shield, I'm sure it will be more than enough to withstand the strongest blow from the strongest mage in this kingdom.", one of the three mages commented, seemingly impressed with the amount of mana reserves they had.
"It's fortunate that he's just a butler, if he were a mage, we wouldn't be able to deal with him.", another mage gave her own opinion, her tone not much different from the first one.
"With this amount of mana, he's fully qualified to become one of the royal family's senior mages. But it seems the prince wants to use him as a servant.", the remaining mage of the three spoke up. It seemed that all three were female and most likely triplets, as their voices and figures were quite similar.
"Let's take our time killing him. After all, his mana is gone, and the high-level mages won't be able to find him."
The rough-looking leader said so, but he still told the three female mages to set up a barrier and a quick teleportation magic circle. If the high-level mages of the royal family came, they could quickly escape after infusing a bit of mana into them to activate the teleportation magic. And obviously, they wouldn't bring Harumasa along. He wasn't of any use anyway, bringing him along would only get in their way.
It was already dark outside, and it seemed like tracking down the trail wouldn't be easy. Although he really wanted to change his lying position to something more comfortable, Harumasa's body refused to cooperate. Having a large amount of mana drained from the body really had a big impact on those with mana. So when fighting, they all limited the drain of mana as much as possible.
With no other choice, Harumasa could only lie down in an uncomfortable position and sleep. It was not until the sound of raindrops falling, colliding with leaves, rocks and soil gradually created a loud sound that he suddenly opened his eyes. He didn't know why he was so unlucky today, it hadn't rained in the previous days, but today it rained.
Alright, maybe he should find a fortuneteller to help him dispel this bad luck.
The cold, damp air quickly filled the cave and the smell of damp earth began to waft up. With his weak lungs, Harumasa started coughing, but because the female magicians had not yet removed his sound-blocking magic, he couldn't wake them up. Both his arms and legs were tied tightly by vines, unable to move.
Alright, after this, he had to ask Lycaon to let him take a few weeks off.
From his back pocket, Harumasa gently pulled out a green-colored vial. He held it with his right hand and stabbed it into his left wrist, injecting the medicine into his veins.
[Ultimate Magic. Explosion.]