Magic Was Dead Until I Returned

Chapter 002

A sorcerer? Bahram dismissed the idea as quickly as it entered his mind.

He thought the idea was ridiculous. It was a fact that Linden was a prisoner, and there were no sorcerers in the whole Crest family.

Along with the death of the Eight Elemental Magic Gods, magic had withered since the rift war with the demons. Although their connection with magic had not been completely severed, any remaining sorcerer in the empire enjoyed supreme status due to the scarcity of them.

Would Ivan and Karl go against Linden if he was a sorcerer?!

But… who else could it be if not Linden?

Bahram examined the charred body of the tattooed warrior, Felix, which lay on the ground. He thought the incident odd and could not put his finger on it. Eventually, he gave up and exited the dungeon without thinking about it.

"I suppose I should report to Master Karl."

He arrived at Karl's house shortly after. His father, Ivan, an elder of the family, was also present. He informed them of everything that had occurred in the dungeon.

"So, you're saying Felix spontaneously combusted before entering Linden's cell and died in the dungeon." After listening to it, Karl also thought it was strange.

"Yes, Master Karl. I also examined Felix's body," Bahram nodded. "I didn't find any combustibles on it, but he still burst into flames suddenly."

"Father, Linden is such a lucky bastard, isn't he? Felix was about to kill him, but then caught fire and died. What are the chances of that happening?" Karl shifted his gaze to the side, where his father was standing.

Ivan sipped his red wine and coldly said, "You two can look into Felix's death. However, we can't make another move at Linden tonight. A warrior has died in the dungeon. At this time, it would be too suspicious if Linden died there as well."

Ivan was obviously unconcerned about Felix's death; he was more concerned about Linden.

"Tomorrow, the Council of Elders will hold a trial for Linden's 'theft'. I'd like to silence him completely before the trial, but since you two have failed, we'll have to go through the usual procedure." He explained.

"Father, will this trial be problematic for us?" Karl was a little worried.

"Relax! I still have some influence over the council! Given how valuable 'that thing' is, Linden's crime warrants the death penalty if more than two elders find him guilty." Ivan sneered.

"That's great!" Karl also let out a chuckle.

Bahram was baffled to hear the conversation between the father and son. Wilkin had used to look after Ivan, but after he went missing, Ivan took over Wilkin's position as an elder and also treated his son in such a poor manner.

This guy's a psycho!

Bahram was unconcerned with these details. As long as he could make friends with Ivan, the ruthless new elder, he did not care about reputation or morality.

"No one talks about what happened tonight. Do you understand?" Ivan glanced at Bahram.

"Yes, sir!" Bahram said and gave Ivan a flattering smile.

…

In the dungeon, a ray of morning light shone in between the iron windows.

After a night of meditation, Linden had accumulated some magical power in his spiritual consciousness. Compared to his heyday, this power was like a drop in the ocean. At least he could defend himself.

"Brother, is the Council of Elders holding a trial for your theft today? You didn't steal anything," Lilyana said innocently, looking at the sunlight shining into the cell.

"Karl is the one who wronged you! I believe you simply need to explain what happened to us in the past few days at the trial. The elders will clear our name. They will hold Karl and Ivan accountable for their crimes."

Naive! Lilyana's viewpoint was so naive! Seeing his sister's innocent smile, Linden knew this matter was not that simple.

He quickly thought to himself, Karl falsely accused me of stealing, but I have no idea what I took. The crime not only had me jailed, but it also dragged Lilyana along with me. It even necessitated a trial before the Council of Elders. Karl also attempted to murder me prior to the trial. Based on these facts, it has to be a very valuable item.

What could it be?

Soon, he uncovered something in his memory. It was enough to make all of the Crest family's warriors covet it. Even Lord Randy regarded it as a valuable asset.

It was the blood of the Earth Dragon, Galli!

Lord Randy had spent a fortune arranging for his guards to purchase the treasure at an auction in the Mabel Province. He intended to use it to raise a "Dragon Blood Warrior", a warrior with dragon's blood for their family… He could only imagine Lord Randy's rage if the dragon's blood was stolen as soon as it was returned.

If the culprit was Karl, not only could he get his hands on the dragon's blood, he could also use the opportunity to get rid of him and frame him for the crime. It was a brilliant scheme that killed two birds with one stone.

"You two! Come out now!"

Just as Linden was working out the details of the incident, two jailers stepped forward and escorted Lilyana and him out of the prison. They unfastened their handcuffs and anklets.

The trial was about to begin in the Crest family's Central Hall.

All senior members of the family were seated before a row of long tables. All of them had silver beards and hair, and they exuded majesty. The five seats in front of the long tables were occupied by five elders from the Council of Elders.

Ivan was one of them. The seat he occupied had previously belonged to Wilkin, Linden's father.

"How dare you stand before the elders of the family, Linden! Kneel!" Ivan jumped from his seat among the elders and yelled at him. Many in the audience showed signs of excitement when they heard the scolding.

"What a surprise! Lord Ivan attacked Linden first."

"Haha! It will be difficult for Linden to escape unscathed this time! Given his soft nature, he would immediately kneel and confess his crime."

One after another, many members of the family were beside themselves with speculation.

They were all too familiar with Linden's character. His temperament was the polar opposite of the resoluteness of his father. It could be described as weak because he was indecisive and vulnerable. This was the reason why, after Wilkin's disappearance, the animosity and belittling that came from the family never stopped.

"Kneel?" Just when everyone thought Linden would eventually kneel and admit his crime, as Elder Ivan had wished, he chuckled faintly.

He did not kneel. Instead, he raised his head to look at the elders. He questioned, "According to family rules, only those who are guilty have to kneel. I am innocent. Why should I bow down to a sanctimonious hypocrite like yourself?"

Wow! The audience erupted into a heated discussion as soon as Linden said this. No one had expected him to refuse Ivan's command to kneel. He even publicly chastised Ivan for being a sanctimonious hypocrite.

"Hmm?" Ivan frowned.

Being the old fox he was, he pretended to be devastated and said, "Linden, I know you are angry and dissatisfied with me. You've always assumed that I have a good personal relationship with your father. So if anything happens to you, you can count on me to stand by your side and support you. Unfortunately, Linden, there are rules to be followed. Our family has its own set of rules. Aside from that, what you stole is extremely valuable to the family."

"Stole? I'd like to ask you, Lord Ivan, what exactly did I steal from the family?" Linden replied.

"Linden, stop playing dumb! Don't you realize what you've taken? Don't you see how vital it is to our family? Evidence was discovered in your room by the guards. You stole the dragon's blood. What are you going to say about it?" Karl rose to his feet and chastised Linden.

In his hand was a delicate transparent bottle. A faintly visible picture of a dragon calling up to the sky was engraved on the bottle.

"Oh my! That's… It's the blood of the Earth Dragon, Galli!"

"Oh, my god! This is what Linden stole? I should've known about this long ago. If it weren't for such a priceless item, why would the Council of Elders judge his crime? How bold of Linden!"

A heated debate had erupted in the hall. That bottle had been seen by almost everyone in the Crest family. When the dragon's blood was returned to the family, Lord Randy took it out and showed it to everyone in the family. He promised to give the dragon blood to someone in the family who had the most potential. He intended to raise a Dragon Blood Warrior for the family.

Before this, everyone in the family had a chance to compete for the dragon's blood, but it's all gone now, leaving an empty bottle behind. Those who came to watch the trial were furious when they saw the bottle.

"This is unheard of!"

"The patriarch had declared that the owner of the dragon's blood had to be decided through a test. Linden had snatched the dragon's blood and taken it for himself. Our family's reputation has been tarnished. For that, he has to be severely punished."

"Yes! Punish him!"

Everyone denounced Linden after Karl presented the "evidence".

Linden was unconcerned about all this. "If an empty bottle is enough to act as evidence, then as long as Karl wants, anyone could be the thief!" he said, looking at those who raised their fists to scold him like some clown.

"Linden, what do you mean? The evidence is conclusive! Do you want to continue to deny it?" Karl's eyes narrowed as he looked at Linden.

"Karl, you claim I was the one who stole the dragon's blood, but all you have in your hand is an empty bottle. Where is the dragon's blood?" Linden asked.

"It's pretty obvious! You drank it!" Karl gave Linden a dumbfounded look.

"Are you aware of how to consume Earth Dragon Galli's blood? What changes would you notice in the bodies of those who drank dragon blood?" Linden glared pointedly at Karl!

"How should I know? It wasn't me who went out and stole it!" Linden's glare made Karl feel a little uneasy. He unbuttoned his collar button.

"Well, since you don't know, I'll enlighten you!" Linden locked his gaze onto Karl.

Karl unconsciously took a step back due to the coldness in his eyes.