The Apathetic Mage Loves Cats

Chapter 10: Inauguration

"Has everyone been accounted for?" Romand asked, looking down at the papers scattered on the table.

"Yes, sir. Every mage is currently here." Romand nodded and fished a paper out from underneath loads of others, holding it up to briefly glance at it. The rest of us went to the other side of the table so that we could all watch Romand as he got ready to assign us roles.

I stood next to Drac and flicked his hand away as he rushed to brush my hair, messing it up in the process. I glared at him and he smirked as Romand continued to speak.

"Alright, as I'm sure everyone here knows, today is an extremely important day. I don't want anyone slacking off because it could mean life or death. If anyone lets anything happen to the citizens here, then you will be stripped of your mage's title." I heard an audible gulp from behind me as all the mage's worried over Romand's last sentence. It was true that Romand had the power strip any mage here of their title, but whether he would do that or not was a different question. Despite how he acts, he can be pretty soft-hearted, so as long as you didn't have any major screw-ups, you were pretty much guaranteed to continue to have your job.

"Alright, let's assign roles."

~

I sighed, propping my head in my right hand that rested against my knee as I watched Romand give another speech to the mages. Everyone was assigned positions and roles. There was a group assigned for watching the prince, which consisted of Akan, Romand, and Lucyna. They believed that Prince Caiden would be pretty well protected considering Romand would be there, but Akan and Lucy would be a backup if something did happen. The next group was the ones who would guard the castle itself, patrolling and watching for anyone suspicious as well as making sure that nothing that came in or out was a threat. That group consisted of about 10 mages who were a little more skilled and had more knowledge out in the field. The leader of this group was Nene since she was the most skilled out of them all. The last group and the one with the most mages of all calibers were the ones who were out in the crowd, watching for anyone suspicious and reporting back to Drac. There were roughly 20 people in this group, who all were assigned a partner. Unfortunately for me, I was put in this group, assigned with Drac.

"Alright, now that we have assigned all the roles and everyone knows where they are needed, head out. And keep communicating. The ceremony will start in approximately 30 minutes, be ready for anything." Romand spoke, throwing a paper on the table and immediately burning everything there with a snap of his fingers, making sure that no one would be able to know of the Prince's whereabouts if they so happen to get any of the papers on the desk.

I groaned and followed Drac out, who was ushering all the mage's out of the door. "You heard the boss! Let's go!" he shouted, making his way out the door and towards the entrance of the castle.

"Can't you be a little... I don't know... less excited?" I asked, walking behind him. The mages around me were gossiping, worrying about the outcome, and hoping that everything would go over smoothly. Drac laughed as he made his way down the steps and towards the front of the castle, towards the fence and the town where there was already a crowd of people gathered and standing, waiting for the Prince to speak. At the sight of us, a whisper rushed forward as they all got excited for the ceremony to finally begin.

"Don't be upset, Al." Drac chided, slapping me on the back so I slightly stumbled. A glare was sent his way, but he chose to ignore its piercing gaze. "You should also be more excited! The Prince is finally being inaugurated; shouldn't everyone be happy about it?" I scoffed, and looked off in the distance, remembering the face of the small coward-like child that I had met around 13 years ago. Obviously, people change over time, but how much could this person's personality change considering how nervous he was to begin with?