Sword God in a World of Magic

"Move! Make space for the next ones!" one of the guards told Shang with annoyance.

Shang moved to the side, and a couple of seconds later, Soran appeared on top of the wall.

Soran had a nice conversation with the stationed guards once again before leading the team down the wall.

"And that's that," Soran said as he turned to everyone. "It was nice seeing some of you again."

Sarah immediately left without saying anything. Apparently, the Magic Contract annoyed her quite a bit.

Elver and Astor also said their goodbyes before following Sarah.

"Shang, follow me," Soran said after everyone left.

Shang only nodded and followed Soran.

After a couple of minutes, they returned to the academy.

Soran immediately led Shang to the main building and to the fifth floor, which was reserved for teachers.

The two of them entered Soran's office and sat down.

SHING!

Soran summoned a gigantic stack of papers, which heavily hit the desk in his office.

Then, he looked at Shang with a smile. "Want to find out who hired the Cleaner?" he asked.

Shang's eyes shone, and he nodded.

"Tell me what you know and who you suspect," Soran said.

Shang recounted his thoughts about who could have wanted him dead.

It essentially boiled down to that it had to be one of the students.

Soran nodded. "That's what I thought," he said as he took the huge stack of papers into his hands.

"Tell me of everyone you met that might have a motive for wanting you dead."

Shang thought for a bit and decided to go in chronological order.

"The guy in the entrance exam. The one I beat up," Shang said.

"Michael Brestow," Soran said as he searched through the papers until he found the student's file.

"He's in the Preparation Grade right now, and he is about average. Nothing has changed for him. I severely doubt that it's him," Soran said.

Shang nodded. He hadn't thought that he would have been the one to send the Cleaner, but Shang wanted to be thorough.

"Stars Gerbon," Shang said. "I was the reason for his strongest helper leaving, and I beat his two cronies up. I also tore his jaw off."

Soran grimaced a bit, but he looked for Stars' file.

then, thanks to his background," Soran said. "After you two met, everyone around him abandoned him. He had trouble adjusting for the next couple of weeks, but he eventually settled in. Right now, he's in the Advanced Grade, and he belongs to the top

with the other students, and whenever someone brings up his old behavior, he gets angry out of shame. His family has the funds to hire such a powerful Cleaner, but I doubt that they would do so because of a mere spat between two students. His parents might even want to thank you for putting some

"I doubt it's him."

was also surprised about something. "How do you know so many details about

are required to report nearly

it's my job to read through all the

'Understandable,' Shang thought.

about his three cronies?"

of the cronies from Stars' file

to laziness," Soran said as he put the first file

It's also not him." Soran

dead," Soran

Shang was involved in this

the file away. "He died about 18 months later in the northeastern Wild Forest. You can imagine

"Vanishing Snake?" Shang asked.

Soran nodded.

"It's not him."

moment, Shang

Shang only had one more run-in with the

was the worst

argued with anyone. He had simply stayed by

one

last fight with three students,"

Soran said with a frown. "That wasn't

then, I tried my very best to convince teacher to expel you. You can imagine how that went," Soran said with a

that Soran wanted to expel him back

never tried to use any underhanded methods to get rid of him. He had voiced his concern to the Dean, and he

difficult with

can understand why,"

my decision now," Soran said.

Shang only absentmindedly nodded.

looked through the files and retrieved three

you kicked,"

read through the

he raised an

an

the Warrior's Academy three days later," Soran

his brows. Now, they were up

said. "Just a couple of months

was in the weekly match between the Anti-Mage

a Late Apprentice, and he

with a questioning look at

file again, and he had to chuckle. "Interesting. He was below average in our academy, but he quickly became rather good

path. But instead of turning into

that he might even feel thankful to you," Soran said with a

you, he would probably still be near the bottom in our

back

with all his power, broke several of his bones, and the guy had been convulsing on the ground as he was choking

such an event would result in the victim finding their own path and rising through