Chapter 90: Are You a God?
"What do you think of Hildegard? Did she seem like someone capable of something like this?"
Viva hesitated for a moment as she tried to reorganise her thoughts. The conversation that Viva had with Hildegard was just her asking a few questions about what Hildegard had been doing in the library and how the explosion had gone off. Hildegard explained what she could, but there was a cold detachment in Hildegard’s behaviour. Almost like Hildegard had already accepted her fate and Hildegard didn’t even care about the outcome of the investigation. But even in that situation, Viva still caught glimpses of vulnerability in Hildegard, and Viva could tell that the girl was absolutely terrified.
Viva just couldn’t see Hildegard as the sort of person to kill eighteen students with Hellfire. Viva sighed while staring up at the ceiling, and she answered in a low voice.
"I just don’t see it, honestly. I’ve looked at everything. Her school records are impeccable. She isn’t a troublemaker or a bully, and the only complaint I’ve heard from teachers is that the other students are uncomfortable around her due to her affinity. She is perfect on paper no matter how you look at it. This just doesn’t make sense."
Percy appeared from above and floated down to the ground before putting a potion bottle on Viva’s forehead. Viva blinked and grabbed the bottle before looking at the bright blue liquid curiously.
"What’s this?"
"Don’t ask pointless questions. Just drink it."
That was all Percy said, and Viva immediately shivered as she was reminded of what happened the last time she drank a potion Percy gave her! She had literally died! Viva glared at the bottle before calling out to Percy!
"I won’t drink it till you tell me what it is!"
Percy turned to Viva with a raised brow, and Viva felt her cheeks redden when she saw the look on his face. For a moment, Viva was able to hold onto her confidence! Percy had literally killed her once, so she felt she had a right to ask for an explanation before accepting any more potions from him! But it wasn’t long before Percy easily won the stare-down and Viva looked away in defeat! Viva’s mind was still warning her against this, but Viva convinced herself that Percy wouldn’t give her something that was dangerous.
’Even if he kills me again, I’m sure he can bring me back... I hope.’
Viva couldn’t believe that this was her life now! Since when was life and death no longer a big deal to her? Ever since Viva met Percy, it felt like nothing in her life made sense anymore! Viva let out a sigh before she opened the potion with a dreadful expression on her face! Viva glanced at Percy one more time and saw that Percy was waiting for her impatiently, and Viva finally threw the potion back and drank it.
Viva was prepared to taste something horrible, but she was surprised when a pleasant taste flowed down her tongue before a fresh, energetic sensation came over her! Viva’s eyes widened into full wakefulness, and her cat ears perked up once again! It felt like Viva had just woken up from ten hours of sleep, and Viva looked at the bottle in her hand in shock! What in the world is this!?
Percy could easily see the question on Viva’s face, and he answered calmly while taking the potion bottle and putting it away.
"It’s called [Pep Up] potion. It gives you the equivalent energy of eight full hours of sleep."
Viva looked at the bottle with wide eyes, and she immediately asked Percy if she could get an entire crate of it! There were potions on the market that could help you gain energy, but most of the common ones were simply energy drinks that gave you a small boost of extra energy for the day! There wasn’t a single one that gave as much energy as this! For someone like Viva who was used to having early mornings and late nights, discovering a potion like this was the equivalent of finding gold!
"I’ll give you half my salary for the next year if you want! I’ll even give you all my savings! Just give me more!"
Viva was almost on her knees begging for more potions, but Percy just waved her away.
"I don’t need your salary. If you really need it, then come around. I’ll be happy to make more for you. Just remember that it’s not safe to take too much of it for long periods, and even though it gives a lot of energy, it’s not a substitute for a good night’s sleep."
Viva felt an unbelievable surge of gratitude flowing through her heart when she heard this, and she looked up at Percy with the reverence of a believer gazing upon their deity!
"Are you a god?"
Viva joined her hands together and went to her knees in praise, and Percy just scoffed and told her to get up. They still had to talk about Hildegard’s case. Percy put the potion bottle to the side before he spoke up calmly.
"What exactly is going to happen to Hildegard if you don’t find any evidence of her crime? Will you let her go?"
Viva became serious as she got back on topic and leaned back in her seat.
"We’ve actually been considering that possibility for some time now. If there is no direct evidence, then the law states that we have to release her. But things are different for Hildegard because she’s a third-class magical risk and there was no one else in the room that had the [Hellfire] affinity. We might be forced to take this before a High Council, and if that happens, I’m afraid there’s almost no chance she can walk away freely."
The High Council was a seat of judges made up of some of the most accomplished mages in the kingdom. Whenever there was a magical incident that was serious enough to affect the entire city and the City Guard couldn’t solve the matter themselves, then a High Council of relevant mages would be formed, and the mages would look over the matter and figure out the truth.
Since the High Council is made up of the most accomplished mages in the kingdom, their word is taken as law, and the moment a High Council says that someone is guilty of a magical crime, then there is nothing else that can save that person from being prosecuted! There had only been one incident where the High Council’s ruling was overturned, and that was back during the Demihuman war when Verati overturned a council’s order and granted mercy to the Dragon King to bring about the current peace.
Percy hummed as he considered Viva’s words. He tapped his finger on the table a few times, and he allowed his thoughts to flow freely before finally speaking up a few seconds later.
"Have you heard of a Magical technique called Synchronization?"
Viva narrowed her eyes curiously and shook her head, and Percy continued tapping his finger against the table as he spoke.
"It was an old technique created sometime during the war. Back then, there were a lot of humans who were too weak to keep up with the greater strength of the demihumans, and many cities were at risk of being eradicated. So to survive, a magic researcher came up with a brilliant technique that would allow mages to pool their strength together and boost the output of their magic spells."