Right in front of everyone's eyes, the man named Joker suddenly disappeared from the magic cube. The governor was dumbfounded because he thought the princess made him disappeared, but for Princess Riquel herself, she was utterly shocked because she didn't feel the existence of the man anymore. It was just like the man evaporated into the air. But even if the man really evaporated, the particle should be still inside and yet, the reality pointed it to her that the captive had already escaped from it.
Princess Riquel moved closer, decreasing the magic cube into small size. She looked everywhere and found there was indeed nothing inside. It was such a shocking event because it was the first time that someone could escape successfully from her clutch. No wonder the man like clown was only laughing with no anxiety. Apparently, Joker believed this kind of magic was only an amateurish move for him. Right now, she was thinking hard how could the man escaped from there.
Truthfully, there was a probability to break the magic cube if Joker was very much stronger than her. The man then could break the space magic and got away from it. Still, the magic cube was still fine with no broken surface. She started to wonder if this was related to a dark magic. Everyone knew this magic was very mysterious. Only a handful person knew about it which mostly came from the dark wizards themselves. There might be a probability of it, but she believed if the man used any kind of magic, she should feel the mana fluctuation. In the end, there was none of it and the man just vanished from this world.
While Princess Riquel and the governor were confused of what happening, the clown manifested once again not far behind them. The two people slowly turned around and gasped to see the captive looked fine. His clown face was still smiling, but Princess Riquel felt the man was mocking her. It was unacceptable but facing this kind of strange occurrence, she couldn't rush herself to him. There was something she needed to confirm first before capturing the man for a second time.
"You! How did you escape?" the princess asked.
"Hmm… It's a secret…"
"Do you also use space magic?" the governor added.
"Hmm… I don't think so…"
"Are you the same group with dark wizards?" the princess asked another question.
"Hmm… Of course, not…"
Every time the people asked, Joker only answered simply with short words. His nature was like a clown which never treated everyone seriously. Despite a few threats by Princess Riquel and the governor, Joker seemingly was bored. The man even yawned and circled around on the spot. When he was tired of answering any more questions, he then looked at the two people.
"I think it's my time to go. Next time if you want to catch me, bring someone stronger…"
"WAIT!" Princess Riquel tried to stop him.
The man didn't wait and he quickly disappeared from his spot. There was no trace of magic in the surrounding, convincing both of Princess Riquel and the governor that the man was gone. Both of them looked solemn, thinking whether this man was the enemy or not. His target seemed to be the dark wizards but there was also a chance that he might target anyone else. If the man named Joker wanted to assassinate someone, it seemed he could do it easily without much hindrance.
While the governor of Luminos City managed to keep people safe today, he was still shocked to see the man from before could bypass the space magic easily. The present royalty was famous of having a space attribute as their magic. It almost overpowered any other kind of magic, making them to be the best among people in the kingdom. That was one of many reasons that they could rule the land for centuries. If somehow, there was another way to fight the space magic, then there would be a power struggle. The fate of everyone would be shaken. For sure, there would be a faction in supporting the present ruler and another faction for rebelling. By then, he didn't know what choice he would pick.
On the other hand, Baston heaved a sigh of relief. After the successful sneak attack, he didn't summon the puppet back to the old book. He let both of Princess Riquel and the governor gave a chase to the puppet while he controlled another one to bring the old book far away from the scene. The puppet disguised as Joker was finally caught and he stalled for the time so the real him could get away safely. By the time everyone searched for any people nearby, he had already escaped far from there. There was also a possibility that a whole city would be turned upside down but the governor wouldn't likely do it since it affected the business. At least, he would let the city officers to ask the questions and monitor everyone for a couple of days.
The puppet disguised as a stranger kept walking while Baston controlled Joker from inside the old book. When the clown was in pinch, he just summoned him back. The puppet disguised as rat before followed the two people and the fat boy decided to transform it into Joker. This kind of move shocked Princess Riquel and the governor, but Baston made it like this to label Joker as the mysterious person even more. He wondered what kind of rumor it would be by the time it started to spread.
Taking a look at deserted alley, Baston replaced the puppet with the real him then before he continued to walk. Looking at the perfect result, he was happy that he could accomplish the quest. Although he was afraid of getting the worst performance, but thankfully, the new combined magic became the biggest help. It broke through the magic cube before penetrating the dark wizard. The combination of ice and flare magic was indeed very strong, piercing the victim just like a sheet of paper. With this, another new puppet was secured.
There were so many things happened at the same day, making Baston felt exhausted. The fat boy then got back to the inn. He should probably check on Luke, but Paradise Resort was too far and he doubted the staff would let a mere servant went in without his lord. Taking account on what Viktor said of mind control ability, Luke should be fine since the fat man and the dark wizard were already dead by his hands. He wondered what happened to the fake Viktor once the controller died. He was curious but he had to wait for Luke to come back and explained everything to him. In the meantime, he also needed to arrange what kind of information he should explain to the noble boy.
The existence of the dark wizard was unexpected here. Whether Viktor's action was controlled fully by someone or the fat man was attracted for personal interest, Baston didn't know for sure since he already killed both of them. The investigation just stopped in here, leaving many questions unanswered. He was sure Princess Riquel and the governor must be busy looking for Joker right now. They could search from top to bottom and they would never find a trace of the clown man. The magic from the old book was too obscure to detect which even space magic couldn't contain the puppets.
Speaking of magic, it seemed the space magic took much energy to cast. Looking at the chase before, Princess Riquel was panting more and more every time she casted magic cube to Joker. At first, he though her stamina was just too low, making the girl became exhausted from just simple running. But if he looked closely, the princess almost didn't run at the beginning because she just teleported nearby while closing the net. The start wasn't much until he just got away many times. After that, the princess rarely teleported and just after him by running personally. It wouldn't make sense if her stamina was really low to begin with, she should avoid running at any cost. Baston then concluded the magic cube needed much more than any other kind of magic. According to overpowered effect displayed by space magic, it seemed his guess was correct.
It might be good news, but Baston wondered if he didn't use puppet but the real him, it would be a bad since he couldn't escape. Once the magic cube was erected and closing, there was no way to go unless he hid inside the old book. By then, it would be a doom for him since he just revealed his deepest secret. To avoid this, never confronting space magic user directly unless he was sure he could escape unscathed. For this reason, any royalty must be deemed as dangerous people for him at the moment.
Moving on, there was a question regarding the purpose of dark wizards. The explosion incident at Prius Academy plus the mind control ability should have a link between them. Viktor told him before he died that the dark wizard needed corpse as the experiment. Perhaps, by using a magic like mind control, they could make a dead person into living puppet. Luke should be the victim if Baston didn't intervene. But before that, he wondered what was the explosion for at the academy back then. If the dark wizards needed a corpse, they must look for the complete one. Blowing up the academy would make many people blew up their bodies too, resulting many parts of victims scattered away. It was too gore to imagine it.
"The incident at Prius Academy is related to this dark wizard. Then, who is responsible for the incident at the small town before?" Baston thought.
Today's event reminded him what happened at the little girl back then. There was a strange potion disguised as the juices for the already dead people. With the help of the statue, it acted as the antenna to control the life within the resident. When he destroyed it, all people who should be dead finally went back to where they belonged. Although the people around were furious and upset, he still thought it was for the best. If they still lived in their happy dreams, who knew what would happen to the small town? The dark wizards should pursue destruction and any kindness from them was just a deceit.
"Tok… tok… tok…"
Someone knocked the door and without the reply, the door opened and Luke came into view. The noble boy looked fine without any wound on him. Baston predicted the fake Viktor should challenge him until death, but seeing the boy was alright made him glad. However, the fat boy wondered if the fake Viktor was worse than Luke because even the clothes was still clean and neat. It was just like Luke never fought with the fat man. Did something happen with the man then?
"What happened after I left?" Baston started.
Luke heaved a sigh, sitting on the couch, "After you left, Viktor comes to me. He challenges me with the excuse of humiliating his servant."
"He cares for his servant?"
"Surely not…" Luke chuckled, "It was just a desperate excuse to fight me. In the end, I won easily without doing anything."
"The fake one just surrendered?"
"No, he just went mad suddenly before his body turned into lifeless…"
"Such a bizarre death…"
"Exactly…" Luke then stared at Baston, pondering what he wanted to say, "Then, about you… What happened at your side after you left?"
"This will be troublesome to explain…" Baston thought.
It would be easier to explain about Viktor's death, but for the dark wizard, he didn't know where he had to start from. There wasn't much friction at the beginning, but since the dark wizard suddenly appeared in Luminos City, Luke must be wondering if there was a connection between Baston and the dark wizards themselves. The news about Viktor's involvement with dark wizard would leave unanswered question then. The fat boy wondered whether he had to involve Luke with his made-up drama or not. He could just get away with it if he told him a little about the cult.