Elite Mages’ Academy (Web Novel)
chapter-488

Chapter 488: Difficult Situation

The Time Rewind scene stopped there. Following that, Xiao Lin’s vision blurred, spun, and went dark. When light returned, he had already returned to the present.

Even if it was just a small-scale rewind, it still used up all his physical and mental strength. Coupled with the weakness he felt after dismissing Ruin, Xiao Lin could only lean against the wall to support his own body.

The guards noticed his odd state, and hurried over to support him. Thanks to Liang Taibai’s instructions, they knew that he was no ordinary person from Dawn Academy, and did not dare offend him.

After returning to the embassy, Xiao Lin did not dare go rest. Liang Taibai had errands to run out of his office, so Xiao Lin could only wait in the office, repeating the name ‘Sheiksa’ on his lips. That was the biggest thing he learned with Time Rewind, which was the name the mysterious man brought up. Xiao Lin wanted to wait for Liang Taibai to return before investigating, since the man was obviously more familiar with the Rosa Kingdom.

However, after repeating the name a few times, he felt a sense of familiarity with it. As he waited, Xiao Lin suddenly stood up from the sofa, losing all sense of fatigue as he hurried to the desk. He looked through a pile of documents–examination materials that Liang Taibai showed him yesterday.

Xiao Lin only stopped after flipping through and finding a few familiar words. It was the list of royal members they were supposed to escort, and there was a name on that list: Sheiksa.

Sheiksa, male, 26 years old. The tenth in line for the throne of the Rosa Kingdom. He kept a low profile, and rarely participated in court matters. As the tenth in line, it meant that, unless he hit the jackpot, he had no hope at all to take the throne in his lifetime. However, since he had a personality that was easy to control, Dawn Academy had deliberately added him into the list to be escorted.

The fact that they were locked in the royal prison meant that there was definitely someone pulling the strings inside. Yet, looking at the information, Xiao Lin began to suspect that Sheiksa might actually be a puppet being controlled by someone else.

When Liang Taibai returned, Xiao Lin immediately reported the situation to him. Liang Taibai wisely refrained from asking him where the information was from, and instead indignantly brought him to see Sheiksa. As a prince of the Rosa Kingdom, the man was actually in an awkward spot. Thanks to the impending danger facing their kingdom, Dawn Academy’s embassy was more powerful than him. Naturally, no one dared offend Dawn Academy for a prince without any real power.

Even though Sheiksa was listed as 26 years old, Xiao Lin almost thought he was 62. He looked very old. His hair was sparse, a mix of black and white. The wrinkles on his face were numerous. Even though he was wearing eye-catching clothes, he still looked like he was caught off guard, and lacked the dignity or aura of royalty.

“You’re Sheiksa?” With Liang Taibai’s permission, Xiao Lin immediately asked him this. Since the Rosa Kingdom was familiar with Mandarin, language was not a problem at all.

“Yes-yes I am.” Sheiksa stuttered out an answer, looking obviously very nervous.

“I’ve got enough evidence to prove that you had allied with outsiders to kidnap our students. Do you admit it?” Xiao Lin’s face was cold, it was best to assert dominance immediately when faced with cowards like him, in order to scare the other party.

However, Sheiksa’s performance surprised even him. Xiao Lin had been worried about what to do if he refused to admit it, but he did not expect Sheiksa’s expression to immediately pale when he said so. The prince’s entire body collapsed, like he had lost his bones, saying, “I said I would definitely be discovered. What can I do? I really didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean to do it!”

Xiao Lin and Liang Taibai looked at each other. After that, they interrogated the prince for an hour. The prince spilled everything. Around half a month ago, a man in a black hood had found him, claiming to be able to seize the throne for him as long as he helped provide a hideout and a list of Dawn Academy’s people in Rosa.

After some threats and promises, the weak-willed Sheiksa agreed. After that was everything Xiao Lin already knew about. As for the hiding spot of the black-robed person, Sheiksa did not know at all, because after moving the class monitors away, the black-robed man disappeared as well.

It was pointless to be angry at that point. Liang Taibai had just removed Sheiksa’s name from the escort list, but the following investigation yielded no results.

It was already the third day, and the two of them were feeling a sense of urgency. On a normal schedule, they only had a few days before the group would be out of the Rosa Kingdom’s soil. If they allowed the black-robed individual to take the monitors out of the kingdom, then it would mean that they would leave the coverage of a resurrection tower. At that point, it would be very difficult to find them. After all, Dawn Academy’s relationship with the other powers was not the best.

To Dawn Academy, what they stood to lose was not only a few class monitors; it also concerned their dignity and honor. If they allowed their own people to be kidnapped so easily in a subordinate country, it would be a massive humiliation.

That was why Liang Taibai had prioritized that news so much when he heard of it. Based on what he said, the situation had already been reported, and Dawn City would send a skilled squad over to investigate, but receiving the news and getting here would take them at least two more days.

In the two key days, Xiao Lin could only move around in panic without any clues. Cheng Ming and the others had woken up as well, but they did not have any useful information either. After understanding the severity of the situation, all of them had wanted to help, which Xiao Lin allowed. After all, it was just a few extra eyes.

A turning point came during the evening, just as Xiao Lin was preparing to head back to the embassy after a wild goose chase. In the shroud of the evening, the scarcely populated city felt extremely deserted.

“Big Brother Xiao Lin! Big Brother Xiao Lin!”

A clear and soft voice could be heard from the corner of a street. Xiao Lin was on alert, and immediately looked over. There stood a slender girl in the shadows. The darkness of the streets blurred her face, but Xiao Lin could still tell with a glance that it was Ibeiya, who had been missing for a long time.

“Ibeiya!”

Xiao Lin shouted, but the girl did not respond. Instead, she turned around and ran away. He immediately followed. Ibeiya was not fast, nor was she slow. She was standing still after a while of running, as if waiting for Xiao Lin to catch up. Once he did, she would once again run away, never responding at all to Xiao Lin’s shouts.