Chapter 148 - "The Second Case Of Dark Mana In Topazeon"

"Excuse me, Mister Zen, how are you related to the previous royal family, the Silverblades?" Ivory asked. Could it be that he's the heir she needed to find? If that's the case, she and Sigmund would be together sooner than she expected!

"Apologies. How can I erase my surname?" Zen suddenly asked, dodging Ivory's question. He forgot that his parents told him to hide it. "I made a mistake."

"If you really are a true Silverblade, please do not be afraid. We are your allies," Lucius explained.

"Ah, then… Alright. Please do not show this to anyone," he told them. "When will I start working?"

Fiora replied with a smile, "You may start tomorrow. Would you rather take the morning, or the night shift?"

"The night shift, please."

As soon as Zen left the room, Sigmund approached them and asked, "Is he really a Silverblade?"

"He put it in his name, but he wanted to remove it. Did he really make an error, or was it because he let his guard down, that's why he accidentally put in his real surname?" Ivory wondered.

Lucius noticed that Fiora looked at them in a confused expression, "Can you get us a jar of water?"

"Sure!" 

When the receptionist went out of the room and closed the door, they continued their conversation.

Ivory asked her Vampire Servant, "Can you sense his mana?"

But he shook his head. "He's a normal person."

"Then he's not the one we're looking for," she sighed. "Geez, I thought it was the prince."

"He did not have a birthmark in his arm. I've seen the prince's mark, so I am sure it's not him," Sigmund said. "If he's Prince Levian, his mana should be plentiful."

"Anyhow, we should keep him with us. What if he's really a Silverblade?" Lucius suggested. "Let us get to know him more."

Hours passed, and the three applicants were finally decided on.

The mathematics whiz Zen Silverblade would be assigned in managing the budget and shopping for goods and supplies.

The young lady who lived next door, Grisha Mayward, would be assigned to do the household chores and cooking.

And finally, the middle-aged man and ex-town guard named Trevor Drumelt would be assigned to do the heavy chores. He will also serve as a guard for the inn.

Now that the Precious Inn staff were completed, it was finally opened after two days of training them for their duties.

One day, while Zen was allocating the budget alone at the receptionist's desk, Ivory went to him and asked, "Zen, can I meet your parents?" She was curious if Zen knew of the Silverblade prince.

"Is there something you need?" he glanced at her and paused what he was doing.

She nodded, "Please. I want to ask them something really important."

"I see," he smiled, and his dimples showed, "Would you like to meet them later?"

"Sure! That would be great!" she beamed a smile at him.

Sigmund, who heard this conversation, interrupted them, "I'll come as well."

And so, after Zen's shift, he led them to his humble abode. Like most houses, his home had a curved facade with a yellow round door. The whole roof was also covered with moss and the walkway was surrounded with small flowers. 

"Come in, please. Sit down, and feel at home," Zen uttered, then went to fetch his parents in the laundry area.

Sigmund and Ivory sat on the sofa in the small yet cozy living room, which was just beside the dining area. They looked around, curious if there were traces of the past royal family, but they did not see anything unusual at all. 

It only had verdun green winged chairs in front of the fireplace with a two-colored rectangular rug underneath. There were some scrolls on top of the fireplace shelf, some small decors, and nothing more. 

A moment later, Zen returned with an old couple, whom he introduced as his parents.

But as soon as Sigmund sensed their mana, he grabbed Ivory's arm to stand up and then pulled her behind him.

"Sigmund? What's wrong?" Ivory asked worriedly. She looked back at the old couple, who stared blankly at them.

"Ivory… They're infested with Dark Mana," he fixed his gaze at the couple.

"What!?"

Zen was already confused with the behavior they had been showing, and without delay, Ivory grabbed a chalk from the shelf above the fireplace and started drawing a big, magic symbol at the door.

"Can you please tell me what's going on here?" the young man creased his brows.

"Zen Silverblade… Do you know that they might not be your parents? And maybe if they're really your parents, apologies, but they're not in their right minds anymore," Sigmund voiced out, watching the old couple carefully.

"I'm done, Sigmund. Let's get out of here, or else we'll be harmed as well."

"Oh shoot. I forgot we both have some Dark Mana in us," Sigmund slowly moved backwards towards the door. As soon as the old couple walked towards them like zombies, he and Ivory quickly stepped out and closed the door! 

Sigmund held the door, while Ivory placed her palm on the surface. Concentrating her mana on the other side of the door where the magic symbol was drawn, she closed her eyes and said the incantations. 

Through the small gaps of the door and the windows, they saw the inside of the room glowed with a blinding white light. They did not only hear the old couple shriek in pain, but also heard Zen crying. Ivory felt bad for the young lad, but she had no other choice. She had to cleanse the old couple, and they had to know why they were infested with Dark Mana in the first place!

Black smoke came out from the windows. When it dissipated into thin air and there was no more screaming, Ivory and Sigmund went back inside. They saw Zen kneeling beside his parents, trying to wake them up.

Ivory bent down and patted Zen's back, "Do not worry. They'll wake up later."

"What did you do to them? What happened?" the crying man asked.

It was Sigmund who explained the situation, "We took out the evil entity within them. It's something you might not understand. But now that they're cleansed, they'll be back to their usual selves."

They waited for Zen to calm down and afterwards, Sigmund helped him carry the old couple to their bedroom. Later on, they both woke up, confused about what happened.

"Mother, Father, how are you feeling?" Zen asked with tears in his eyes. He was so relieved that they had already woken up.

The old couple looked at each other, before one of them said, "Apologies, but… who are you?"

His brows raised, "I am your son, Zen."

"But we do not have a son…"

They were all surprised. How come they could not remember Zen? It was only the Dark Mana that they removed, not the memories.

While Zen talked with his parents and tried to make them remember him, Ivory took Sigmund to the corner of the room.

She said discreetly, "Are there cases wherein the memories while having Dark Mana are forgotten? If I remember correctly, those we cleansed are aware of what they did. Remember when the thirty maid servants were cleansed? They said that they could not control themselves. That means they knew that it was out of their own will."

Sigmund sighed, "Ivory, we still have a lot of questions about this Dark Mana. I also wonder if the Dark Mana is also the reason why I could not remember everything that happened during the time I was framed to be the murderer of the Silverblade family."

"It can be the reason. Just look at what happened," she responded, worried about Zen. His parents did not die, but they could not remember him. It was almost the same as dying.

"Or perhaps, there might be a separate enchantment spell that suppressed or altered their memories."

Ivory suggested, "Let's take Zen with us. How about it?"

"As long as he's not a hindrance to me and you…" Sigmund whispered, and Ivory pinched his bicep.

"Choose a time to joke around, you meanie," she said, then rolled her eyes on him. Ivory then approached the old couple, and took the chance to ask how much they do remember. 

After some thinking, the old man shared what's on his mind, "I can't remember anything at all."

"Even so, are you willing to take Zen, and treat you both as his parents-"

"Apologies, but we have daughters living in Sapphiros Town. If we're gone for too long, they'll be worried about us… We might have to travel there very soon," the old lady replied. "I am sure, the real parents of this young man might also still be looking for him."

Zen furrowed his brows. He knew he could not bring back the happy past anymore. "Every joy I experienced with the two of you as my parents were fake after all," he rushed out with heavy steps, then ran hastily in the marketplace while crying.