Author's notes
Mana surprises Shimon when ...
Mahaado decides ...
The Leader of the Court of the magicians and also the Holy Guardian of the Pharaoh decides ...
Chapter 11 - Mahaado and Mana
The girl screams in fear because she was scared, causing some guards to approach the place. They are dismissed with a brief wave from Shimon. They bow in respect to the royal Councilor and grand vizier before disappearing into the corridor.
"Grandpa Shimon, you scared me!" The young woman exclaims, putting her hand on her chest while her heart was beating fast with the shock she took.
"I apologize. I couldn't resist. You were so busy hiding in the vase. But to answer my question, you ran away from your classes again, right?" He asks in a confirmation tone.
"That magic was boring. She wanted to learn fun magic."
He arches his brow. Her eyes were only visible because of the cloth mask he wore partially covering her face while asking:
"Fun magic?"
"Yes!" She exclaims with excitement.
He patted her head paternally because despite being considered a girl, she still had the same childlike aura as when she was little and that was a source of constant concern for Mahaado who had confessed that she needed to have two additional pairs of eyes behind her head to to be able to watch his apprentice lively and equally fugitive who usually gets into trouble.
"All spells are important. There are spells that I don't like and for that reason, I stopped learning, Mana. We can't have in this life just what we like."
She jumped high from where she was when she heard her sensei's voice that magically appeared behind her with a frown.
"Hi." The young woman speaks shyly while she scratches her chin after slowly turning her head.
He sighs, placing his fingers on his forehead while Shimon smiles at the scene because he always sees their interaction as being father and daughter.
The magician crosses his arms in front of his body, showing Mana a severe face.
"I think I will return to the study." She speaks blandly, tapping her index fingers together.
"I think it's a good idea if you want to eat dessert for dinner and until you learn the basics of that spell, you won't have dessert. It's been a few days since you've been studying this magic and if you hadn't run away from your lessons, you would have dominated. After all, it is not a complex magic. "
Shimon shows a drop on his forehead when he sees the young woman's face moist from the tears that fall copiously, and she pouted while she spoke:
"Professor Mahaado is mean ... I want candy!"
"Am I evil ?! He exclaims indignantly." Who is it that makes me stop my duties to chase her through the palace complex which is gigantic along with the fact that there are many vessels for me to look for her golden magic. In fact, hiding your golden magic was the only magic you dedicated yourself to learning hard and now I understand the reason for so much determination.
Then she cries from there, with the leader of all the magicians at Pharaoh's court sighing tiredly as she massages her temples.
"She only engages in magical techniques that provide some immediate benefit."
"Mana is young and it doesn't help that she is very childish, yet. When she is older, she will be more responsible and for sure, she will repay everything you taught by becoming a magnificent magician, assuming in the future his title as leader of the magicians of the court of Per'a'ah. She has incredible latent magical power. You said it yourself, as well as a natural ability with magic. In fact, this is what made him go to that side of the market, finding it and making Per'a'ah aware of illicit decisions that were taking place in his empire, as effectively suppressing. It was her strong magic that made sure you found her.
Upon hearing this, the magician ends up remembering the day he found her.
It was an ordinary day and he had gone to the Market near the palace because he had confiscated some magical items that were dangerous the day before. It was one of his fellow apprentices who took their superior to the site after feeling an unusual magical concentration. Mahaado was part of the group that went to the place.
The problem with magic items is that if the magic was not done correctly and the materials indicated were used, they could have serious consequences, making people who are not magic or without knowledge of magic, be at risk when buying these objects. Mastering the art of imbuing magic in objects was very difficult and there were incompatible substances that had serious consequences, depending on the magic used.
In addition, there were certain spells that were prohibited from being imbued in items. The creation of objects with the spells listed as prohibited, caused extremely severe punishments.
Gold was one of the best substances to imbue with magic while in relation to jewelry, it depended on the material that made it up.
After all, not all of them could be impregnated with magic and a good wizard would know which substances he could handle and which he could not.
Unfortunately, there were some false magicians with overly basic knowledge who did magic beyond their means, putting people's lives at risk just for money because these objects were more expensive than usual.
They had discovered it through magical techniques along with access to the meager documents of the goods, finding out who the buyers were, as well as finding out who had created the items. The culprits were arrested and punished accordingly.
Even so, his superior who was Leader of the Court of the Magi and Hem-netjr (high priest), having Sennen Ringu on his neck for being part of the sacred Guardians of Per'a'ah Akhenamkhanen, decided that he had an obligation to check all markets.
Therefore, he felt the best magicians to the most distant markets while Mahaado was responsible for overseeing the markets near the palace.
Despite being just an apprentice, he was sent to the Market near the palace for being the most powerful and skillful of them along with the fact that he was tipped to be his successor in the magicians' court and future bearer of Sennen Ringu.
At that moment, the young magician apprentice was escorted by palace guards when he entered a store and started checking the product purchase scrolls, confirming the regularity of the magic used and the items imbued with magical power and then leaving that store to find another stall that sold magic jewelry.
Then, he felt a powerful magic source, but latent due to the pattern of magical emanation, indicating that it had not been developed yet.
Of course, he didn't rival his powers, but the level he displayed was above any of the other magicians who had been training magic for years with him.
Promptly, he runs through the streets towards the magic fountain and when he turns a corner, he sees a four-year-old child tied to chains and crying in silence while there was a sign indicating that he was for sale and that he was a virgin.
He notices a man approaching her.
"Stop crying!" He exclaims like an angry voice.
He raises his hand to strike it, with the child cringing while the bruise was visible on one side of her face.
However, before the man's hand goes down to the child's face to slap him, the aggressor feels his body being paralyzed and when looking ahead, he sees a young man with furious features who had raised his arm, using magic to immobilize him while the guards responsible for his escort appeared behind him, waiting for his orders.
With a lateral movement, Mahaado throws him to the side because when he saw him preparing to hit the little girl, he felt unprecedented fury.
After doing this, the apprentice goes to the girl who curls up against the wall, with him seeing her worth. The magician takes the bag of money he was carrying with him, counting the gold coins and after separating the value on a kind of table, magically removes her handcuffs.
"Where are your parents?" He asks gently after bending one knee, resting his arms crossed on the bent knee.
In the meantime, the salesman gets up and goes to rage when he looks at the gold coins that make him suppress any complaint while showing a frown on his face, deciding to answer his slave's buyer when he sees that she would not answer his question.
"Her mother died of an illness and I am her stepfather. I loved her mother and did everything I could to cure her to the point of contracting debts for the medicines. With the amount I received from her sale, I will be able to pay the debts and I will profit a little from it.
"Did the Judges authorize this sale?" Mahaado asks as he narrows his eyes at the seller
"Yes. I am not doing anything illegal."
The magician's apprentice knew that under certain conditions, Egyptians could be enslaved while slaves brought from elsewhere could be sold freely.
That girl was an Egyptian and to be made a slave, she needed to be framed in one of the rules created by Akhenamkhanen. It was the most he managed to do to contain slavery in his empire to the maximum because previously there was no restriction on enslaving Egyptians and one of the accepted conditions was the debt acquired by the person himself.
However, in this case, it was not that child who contracted the debt, but that man. He was supposed to be a slave and not the girl.
For this reason, the existence of Egyptians for sale was so rare, even more small children although he confessed that he thought the increase in Egyptian slaves for sale was strange, as he looked at the slave auctions and their sales, decided to communicate to his teacher and Per'a'ah Aknamkanon for his suspicions.
After all, he was suspicious that those who were supposed to watch over the laws were not fulfilling their obligations or were ignoring the laws in interpreting them the way they wanted because the fact that the girl's slavery could never have been authorized was stark.
Mahaado uses magic without the other's realizing it to access his mind.
"Arrest this man!" He orders the guards to escort him after having the confirmation he wanted when reading the mind of the man beside him.
"What? What do you mean?" The salesman asks showing a mixture of confusion and indignation in the face of him as he was restrained by the guards.
"According to Egyptian slavery rules, this girl should never have been enslaved. It was you who got the debt and not her."
"The Judges authorized her sale! I didn't do anything wrong!"
"I saw in your mind that you knew about this law and even so, you went on with the intention of enslaving it. So, you are not innocent in that respect. Take this garbage away!"
The guards consent and after arresting him, two of them drag him through the streets to carry out the order given.
Mahaado picks up his gold coins, holding them, for later, by a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder so that she stops shaking.
"Could you look at me?" He asks as softly as possible while showing a comforting smile on his face while he looks kindly at the girl.
The little girl swallows, raising her face timidly and then gaining the courage to look at him, being surprised to see the kind and gentle face.
"You're safe. What's your name?"
"Manna."
"Nice to meet you, Mana. I am Mahaado." He speaks smiling gently as he enveloped her in her comforting golden magic because she was too terrified.
Then, the girl ends up closing her eyes, relaxing by the magical aura that made her fall asleep with him gently taking her in her arms and then returning to the palace, deciding to return tomorrow with the inspection.
Later that day, the Judges had been arrested because they distorted the laws instead of following them, whether for personal vanity, economic interest or for other benefits.
In relation to Mana, she had been one of the cases that they approved for arrogance, judging the merchant's motive for selling the girl as being right instead of adhering to the laws that would prohibit the child's slavery.
In the end, it was their arrogance that denounced them, causing new Judges to be appointed by Per'a'ah to review their decisions and occupy their positions while releasing many innocents over the days.
It was decided that the former Judges should pay compensation to those who were unjustly enslaved and also to the buyers, provided that they acquired them without knowledge of the laws, with few contemplating these requirements because the majority knew the laws well. Those who were aware of this law and who knew the origin of the slaves he acquired were arrested and even those who did not research the source were also punished because they had to be sure of the origin of the Egyptian slaves.
In addition to paying compensation, those who were convicted had their property seized by the empire and if they had titles, they lost them at the same time as becoming slaves because they were considered criminals.
Severe punishment for the slavery of criminals served as a warning to all. People should pay attention to the laws and make sure of the conditions and origin of the slaves they wish to acquire, as well as those who sold them.
In the late afternoon, Mana had eaten a tasty meal brought by slaves and some of his cuts and abrasions had been treated by Mahaado, as well as the cuff marks on his wrists and ankles after they were removed.
She had recovered her excitement, and she was stroked on the head by the young man, making her smile, with him being happy to see that the girl had relaxed in her company to the point of a smile appearing on his boyish face.
"You have great hidden magical powers, Mana. My teacher saw this. When he brought you here, he was surprised to feel her hidden magic."
"Do I have magical powers?" She asks smiling immensely after eagerly swallowing the dessert, without chewing it properly because she has never tasted anything so delicious.