CH449

“Uh, so is this a common occurrence?” Ben asked, trying to be polite despite the numerous questions the reaction had filled his head with, all while Killi was busy rubbing her own.

“Well, he startles easily and is a bit of a worrier, but this was definitely more extreme than usual. Gods above, just what could have set that boy off now?”

He noticed the keyword ‘now’ hinting that there were surely other events like that one, even if potentially less random, but didn’t have much time to think on it. As he was taking a second to figure out where to steer the conversation after such a thing, his thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of feet as the guards stationed at the beginning of each staircase rushed up in a desperate bid to get to the top, ten of them with spells on their fingertips, ready to fire.

Oh, I really don’t like whatever’s happening here.

He pushed the majority of his minds to the limits of their speed as he watched spells fire, light and dark as what looked like a wall sprung up around him and his homunculi, at least it would have appeared so if his resistances weren’t so high. With them being what they were, he was able to see through it with ease, getting to watch as the rest of the guards threw themselves forward with one giving orders from the background.

“Sleep didn’t work, focus on protecting Miss Killi! Havov, hit him with a drain spell!”

That one hit him before the rest got close enough, Havov clearly ready to fire before the order was given, with a result he could at least feel. His life force was draining, albeit slower than he was sure any of them expected, all while he was left thinking of what to do.

Everyone was moving too fast for him to get a word in, but at the same time, he was able to think at a speed that left them moving in slow motion, giving him the leeway to consider his next move.

Okay, I’m a decent eighty percent sure I’m completely innocent of any wrongdoing here so let’s just keep myself safe and try not to escalate things. It looks like they either don’t have or won’t use more physical magics, probably to protect the books, and I can deal with this level of drain for a while. That just leaves the three that are about to appear through the illusion to try and punch me in the face.

They didn’t know he could see them and it was ultimately what led to their downfall. Ben didn’t even need to move to protect himself, all he did was carefully watch as each one ran, waiting with how slow their movements looked in his eyes for their feet to get as close together as they could before he materialized his mana, a strong metal chain binding each of their legs together and bringing them to the ground.

All of that only pumped their fears. He was showing no effect from the drain or sleep spells being cast on him and had just taken out the three with combat skills without moving a muscle, just what had they been told to deal with?

Ben for his part spent what felt like a minute to him feeling overwhelmingly smug before trying to actually deal with the situation.

Not so easy to kill anymore, am I! Getting pegged in the face with that snowball before was just a fluke!

There was nobody to answer his regained sense of pride, nor did he need it. After letting himself enjoy that small sense of victory he carefully sculpted his expression before he spoke up, the bit of smugness he let himself feel before being nothing but a flicker across his lips, so fast that no one watching would have picked up on it.

“So, before we go on can I at least be told why you’re all attacking me?” He asked, trying to sound calm. “I’m pretty certain I haven’t done anything wrong.”

Even as Killi took her distance, watching him through cautious eyes, she couldn’t help but agree, especially since it didn’t seem like Ben had any intention of causing harm or escalating things. All he’d done was protect himself, the most injuries anyone had sustained were bruises from falling to the floor. “What’s this all about? What did Verbum see to deserve such a reaction?”

It was the one who’d been giving orders at the back who spoke up, staff in hand and obviously considering casting something slightly more dangerous. “It’s his status, there’s-”

“Wait,” Killi said, cutting him off and pinching her brow. “All of this wasn’t because of something in the boy’s history, but his status of all things? You must be joking. Haven’t I told everyone not to take my idiot student’s worries so seriously? If you’re going to attack everyone with something a little complicated in their status then you’ll be attacking hundreds.”

“It’s not just one thing ma’am,” Another guard said. “We were told that there’s specifically sixteen points of major concern, spread across nine titles, five jobs, and two skills, though we didn’t get anything more specific beyond that he’s extraordinarily powerful.”

“I’m sorry, how many titles?” She asked, looking at Ben with renewed concern as his mask slipped just enough to give away his cheer.

“Awe shucks, I don’t know if I would say extraordinarily powerful,” he told them. “But I do manage pretty well for myself I guess. Either way, if everyone is willing to not attack me, I’ll explain pretty much any point of concern you all have, so can we please be cool?”

Even as he was saying it though, his mind was working in a completely different direction. The man from before, Verbum, had seen his status. Sure, Ben and the soul mages could as well, but that really just pointed to one specific thing outside of those outliers. An awakened analysis skill.

Hello, new best friend.

Killi motioned the guards to stand down, taking a far calmer look as she did. “Alright, I’m sorry for the inconvenience but if you don’t mind then I’d appreciate it. Wonoth, you stay with me, the rest of you get back to your regular work.”

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“But miss-”

“Even if it is my student’s fault, the library has just attacked a person on no grounds other than the status they bear,” She told them coldly. “And seeing as how nobody was harmed beyond some small bruises when he obviously had the advantage, we will be treating him with all due respect, especially considering he’s willing to talk through the very things that just got him attacked. Am I being clear?”

“Yes ma’am,” They said in unison.

“Good. And while you’re at it, find my student and send him back to me in a bit. It seems that after all of these years, he still needs to be further educated.”

With that they left back to their respective posts, only the one who seemed to be the leader was staying with them as they went to take a seat at the table, Ben first sitting his homunculi down and leaving them out of his range as he was looked at curiously for the act.

“I can only use them if they’re close enough to me,” He explained. “I figured this would make everyone a bit more comfortable anyway. Now, I’m going to reach into my pocket and get my card out, nothing nefarious so no trying to attack me please.”