The Golem Mage

734: Home Sweet Home.

734: Home Sweet Home.

The moment Alec laid eyes on the mage who had arrived, he exhaled in relief, finally, someone familiar was here, and this humiliating ordeal was about to end.

“We greet Sir Steven.

This—” the five city guards greeted in unison, with the lead guard attempting to explain the situation, however, Steven simply raised his hand, cutting him off before he could say more.

“You can all leave now.

I’ll handle this from here,” Steven ordered, motioning for Alec and his group to follow him.

“Welcome back home,” Steven said as they walked through the city hall’s huge compound, Alec and his companions trailing behind.

With a city guardian escorting them, no other city guards dared to stop or challenge them until they reached the city hall gates.

“Steven, I’ll admit it’s good to see you doing well, you’ve even managed to become a city guardian, that’s impressive but I still don’t understand why that guard treated me so poorly,” Alec said, narrowing his eyes at Steven.

Out of curiosity, Alec attempted to gauge Steven’s realm with his mental powers and quickly realized he had stepped into the Low Tier 4 Mage realm, which explained his new role.

In the city hall’s hierarchy, low-rank mages served as city guards, mid-ranks as city guardians, and high-ranks as city commanders.

But despite being at the lowest level among city guardians, Steven now wielded significantly more authority than before.

“I’m sorry you had to endure that kind of treatment, especially on the day you returned, but brace yourself, things haven’t been the same since you and the others left the city, that’s all I can say for now.

I look forward to seeing you all on the battlefield during the upcoming Blood Moon War,” Steven said, before turning his back toward them and walking back the way he came.

Though Steven’s words were cryptic and left Alec with many unanswered questions, one thing was clear, Steven’s intentions toward them were still good.

It was evident he had gone out of his way to help Alec, and for that, Alec was grateful.

Because if Alec had followed through with his plan to force those mages into submission, or if a different city guardian had arrived, he doubted he would have walked away so easily without a fight.

Steven’s demeanour told Alec everything he needed to know, his slumped posture, lowered head, and the sadness radiating off him were palpable to someone like Alec, whose heightened mental acuity made such observations effortless.

However, despite considering Steven a friend, Alec didn’t feel he was close enough to pry into whatever personal struggles weighed him down.

“Let’s find a carriage to take us home.

We can’t just stand here.

I keep getting a bad feeling from the way those city guards were looking at us.

I don’t want to overthink it, but something feels off,” Agnes said with Alec nodding in agreement, and they quickly moved away from the city hall gates.

—

Within minutes, their carriage arrived at the gates of the Gordons clan, as they stepped down, Alec tossed a magic crystal to the driver.

The man’s eyes widened in disbelief as he realized the sheer value of what had just landed in his hand.

Before the driver could utter a word, Alec waved him off, his gaze fixed on the gates of the Gordons clan, the driver, too stunned to protest his sudden fortune, whipped his mutated horses into motion and sped away.

Alec hadn’t intended to be so generous.

He simply lacked silver or gold coins and had no choice but to use the magic crystal, the standard currency for mages.

A single low-tier magic crystal was worth a hundred thousand gold coins, making Alec’s driver an incredibly wealthy man overnight.

But Alec’s thoughts weren’t on the driver or the money., his focus was on the burnt and damaged gates of the Gordons clan, an unsettling sight that filled him with anger.

And Steven’s warning about changes since his last visit now rang loudly in his mind.

Sophie and Endrick exchanged confused glances as they took in the destruction, but they said nothing, silently following Alec through the gates.

“Alec!!!!”

A thunderous shout echoed from the inner region just as Alec and his group walked a short distance into the outer region, at the sound of the familiar voice, the rest of the Gordons’ clansmen visibly relaxed, as relief washed over their faces as they saw their clan elders and a few family members approaching.

Everyone except Alec.

The moment his name was called, he knew he was doomed.

He had anticipated this confrontation with his Grandfather but, despite all his mental preparation In his mind, he still couldn’t muster the same confidence to face him head on in reality.

“Hey, old man,” Alec greeted nervously, forcing a weak laugh as he watched his grandfather, George Gordons, storm toward him.

“You smelly brat!

You stole three bottles of my finest, most expensive wine!

You’re going to pay for every last cent I spent on those!” George bellowed as he reached Alec and clamped a hand firmly onto his shoulder before he could even think about running.

“Oh crap,” Alec muttered, his face paling as he realized that, despite his improved realm, he still couldn’t break free from his grandfather’s iron grip.

“See you all later,” George said to the group before the ground beneath him and Alec caved in, swallowing them both before sealing shut.

The others, left staring at the now-sealed ground, exchanged amused glances.

“Yeah, he’s so screwed.

Wouldn’t want to be him right now,” Arthur chuckled, with Brandon and Knight both nodding in agreement, smirking at Alec’s predicament.

“Let’s head inside the clan,” Agnes said, prompting the group to move forward.

Sophie and Endrick followed nervously, sticking close as they exchanged polite hugs and greetings with the family members waiting for them as they entered the Inner region.

The stark contrast between the clan’s vibrant, well-maintained inner region and the charred, damaged outer gates didn’t go unnoticed as they walked through.