The people who witnessed my spell casting looked around and most of them ended up in confusion because they couldn't see me. And how could they when they're too busy looking at their general eye level.

  Very few turned their eyes downward and an even smaller number of people recognized me after spotting me. The ones that did are adventurers, more specifically the ones who bought scrolls from me.

  Mages raised a curious yet skeptical eyebrow while looking at my wand while warriors swapped their gazes between me and the now frozen adventurer, but only their eyes. They didn't make it obvious but I caught it, and now I know that they're going to see if I'm a threat or not.

  "That was a simple water ball right?" Someone spoke up, a priest from the looks of things, thanks to his religion being centered around a Pricorian artifact, he should be familiar with their tongue, lying to him isn't a good idea.

  "Yes." Not that I was planning to lie in the first place, I am, however, going to take advantage of this whole situation to advertise my scrolls. I don't even need to plan for that! It's just instinct by this point. "My wand can turn that one spell into three different ice spells under specific circumstances."

  "Fascinating." The priest stalked forward, only to then stop when a burly, gauntleted arm blocked his path.

  From how the gauntlets looked so polished and the high quality leather underneath them, the man must be a guard, the armor he's wearing also said that much. A long beard grew from the man's chin, covering most of his neck, his face was mostly bare however, and it gave him the same kind of look as a hermit.

  "You're the one responsible for using the spell in the vicinity of civilians?" Punctual, blunt, and straight to the point. A true professional, is what I would say if I didn't know this was all orchestrated.

  "Yes, but there's a reason for that, to begin with, that man caused a disturbance in my family's shop!" Thanks to this being some noble's ploy, there's no way in hell I would get out of this, this won't stop me from being annoying and slowing things down as much as possible.

  "That is not a proper reason to use your magic in the middle of Ghorise." Oh hey! The guard didn't sound like he was rehearsing a bunch of words he was told to say, he seemed to be genuine just now.

  "Oh, and what would I have done then?" Look, even a horse can predict what he's going to reply, anyone can. He literally arrived moments after I cast my spell— because it's all a set up. Guess his integrity doesn't extend to schemes. — so that's what he's gonna argue with.

  "We're here moments after the disturbance happened aren't we?" He gestured at his fellow guards, palm flat. I looked and noticed that the adventurers and civilians around us were nodding in agreement.

  For most people, this would be where they would lose the argument and give the guards a justification to arrest them without resistance and I am the same! I can salvage this, but why should I? The end result will be the same no matter what regardless of what I do or say.

  Grinning, I nodded. "Sorry, yes, I completely understand that I went and acted impulsively." The look on his face! Bet he didn't expect me to apologize, let alone so fluently! "But you need to understand that someone like him was causing a ruckus and ruining the festival! Surely you can't blame me for trying to keep the Day of Piling as peaceful as I can right?"

  And is my trump card, I could have argued more, give out more points about how the actor who forced me to cast a spell was the one who should be blamed and that I am innocent, there's so many things I can do here that would force the guard to accept that I used magic out of self defense.

  And all of them won't change anything, because I would meet the noble who orchestrated everything no matter what, are they more cunning than me? No. They are, however, more persistent and if I don't go now I would only face more harassment, and the store can't afford that.

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  I am more than satisfied with being able to use my best argument to escape any kind of prison sentence.

  Prisons here are no joke. Human rights? Nope. Nothing like that exists right now, and they don't care if you're a child or an adult either, you're going to the same prison.

  "Yes, I can't argue with that." The guard thankfully conceded, there's no way he'll let me go even with this admission though. "But you still have to come with me to give me a full overview of what happened."

  And there it is.

  "Sure, lead the way." My reply made the guy visibly relax, like he was glad that I finally agreed to come with him. Is anyone perceptive enough to look past the obvious scheme I wonder? Or is it just me?

  "Come with us."

  So I did. Like a good little duckling, I tailed the group of guards, who also now have the apprehended criminal under shackles. As one, we moved, before we left though, I told my family that everything is going to be fine.

  "It's okay, I'm okay." Placating my mother while doing my best not to wince from how tight she was holding me— she'll definitely misread the expression as me holding back pain. — took a lot from me, possibly more than interacting with the guards.

  "Rontress, none of us have broken the law before... I can't believe you would be the first one." She says, voice heartbroken. "We can close the shop to go with you—"

  "Don't." A sharp edge grew in my tone. Scolding my mother like I'm the one who gave birth to her instead isn't unfamiliar to me, and both times I've felt guilty. I feel the same now. "Okay? I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me, I'll be back as soon as I'm done."

  Which I think will be a while, nobles aren't exactly known to be lenient. These guys can manage though, they'll do great even! I'm sure of it.

  "Alright, I need to go." I say as I catch the guards staring at me, they never stopped walking and waited for me for some reason. "Goodbye."

  With one last hug, I left my mother's side and ran after the guards.

  Not a single one of us talked during the walk, not even for basic conversation. No one paid attention to me either, making it clear that the guards weren't taking this as seriously as they're supposed to.

  They're probably just expecting payment for getting me to the noble, and my obedience is lowering their guard. I just hope that they actually imprison the guy who attacked our store, they probably won't, or worse, this guy is another guard pretending to be a criminal.

  Reaching the prison was relieving, I did keep my vigilance, even as I sat down in front of the guard captain telling him what happened and why I had to use my magic in an act of self defense. He seemed to believe me but I'm not really sure. I wasn't paying attention to his expression since I was waiting for the other shoe to drop and for a noble to ambush me.

  Nothing like that happened during the investigation, and only when I left the prison did the person responsible for orchestrating all of this reveal themselves.

  At the time, I thought that I was just being paranoid and that everything that happened was just a coincidence, no one actually planned it and I can go back to the store safe and sound.

  Boy was I wrong.

  Walking down the street, guard down, and practically rushing was my biggest mistake. I was cornered between three gigantic buildings, there is no alleyway for me to run to, and there's no one I can ask for help either, it was like the street had been emptied.

  Well, that's because it was. And there's only one person in the entirety of Ghorise who can pull this off.

  "Hello."

  Standing before me is a girl roughly my age, possibly a few months older, she had pure black hair, brown eyes that shone under the lamp, and skin so fair and flawless that it made her seem otherworldly.

  Even at her age, it's clear that she would grow into someone beautiful, yet at the same time, intimidating.

  Despite its simplicity, the dress that she's wearing— a long silken gown with a leafy motif and the color of summer. — had an air of money to it, just looking at it made it obvious that it's worth several hundred times my current net worth.

  She looked out of place in this dingy street, like a goddess had descended to the mortal plane and made everything lacking. Like a masterful artwork in a wall full of shit.

  It wasn't her dress or her face that made her presence so overwhelming however.

  "I greeted you, didn't I?" Ifira Sterzoga Haromago didn't look impatient, she had more self control than to let something like that slip.

  ... That would be her commanding presence. It's so strong that it forced me to bow in apology without thinking.

  "Sorry." I apologized and for some reason, I felt the need to lie, my words driven by self-preservation. "You looked so perfect that I froze when I saw you,"

  "Is that so?" She didn't sound amused, I couldn't see her face though so what she's thinking is lost to me. "Straighten your back, I have a few questions to ask."