———The power went out just as I turned on my computer to start work this morning, so I had to sneak out again and rush home to update. Sorry for the delay. Also, it's Monday — please vote! I want to make the weekly recommendation list~
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In the damp, stifling darkness of night, several Magic Apprentices clad in black hooded robes — the kind that would immediately brand anyone who saw them as sinister, mysterious figures — deliberately chose to walk in the shadows cast by the houses. Even when they occasionally encountered drunkards along the way, they simply ignored them and passed by without incident.
But Lucian and the others didn't let their guard down because of that. Traveling in the darkness, besides drunkards and those whose identities could never see the light of day — those who belonged to the world behind the veil of light — were also the Night Watchmen of the Church's Tribunal. They prowled every corner of the night like greedy vultures, chasing the scent of blood and carrion. The Black Gloves on their hands were the stuff of nightmares for every mage and Magic Apprentice in Altor.
"Professor, it's this house here," Sage said. After more than ten minutes of walking, just as they were about to leave the densely packed, labyrinthine, filth-ridden streets of Adrang District and reach the city gate leading toward the Nobility District, Sage came to a stop and pointed toward a house that looked just as unremarkable as the many dilapidated buildings surrounding it.
As for Sage, both White Honey Sugar and Smale trusted him to a reasonable degree. Each cast their own detection-type Arcane Magic spells to do a cursory check on the house and its surroundings. Once they confirmed it was safe, they followed Sage inside. Lucian noticed that the detection spells they used covered every scouting spell he knew except for Bat's Scream, so he skipped his own check and simply extended his spiritual sense — after all, the limitation of Bat's Scream was that it couldn't detect what was inside a building.
The interior of the rundown house was thick with cobwebs, clearly uninhabited for a long time. As Sage walked toward the bedroom, he remarked casually, "Beggars used to come here to sleep, but in the last few months, the beggars in Altor have all gone missing for some reason."
Neither Lucian nor White Honey Sugar said anything, but Smale found it a bit odd and remarked, "Why would beggars go missing? What could they possibly be doing?"
"Heard it's related to evil creatures," Sage answered in a flat tone, as though he'd heard some inside information. Lucian and White Honey Sugar remained silent.
Once they entered the bedroom, Sage moved aside a broken chest and used the corresponding spell to dispel a concealed magical trap, opening the entrance.
A wave of cold, chilling air blew outward from within, yet it carried no hint of putrid stench or stale atmosphere — as if this hidden passage saw regular use.
*Could Sage be someone from the Nobility District, regularly using this passage to reach Adrang District for secret gatherings?* The thought crossed the minds of Lucian, White Honey Sugar, and the others, but no one was foolish enough to actually ask.
After checking the tunnel, the Magic Apprentices filed in one by one under Sage's lead, then sealed the entrance behind them.
The passage was remarkably smooth and even, lined with the same luminescent moss found in sewers. Its eerie, cold fluorescent glow was unsettling enough to make one's skin crawl and teeth chatter.
Lucian and the others noticed that every ten meters along the ceiling of the passage, a Minor Fossil to Mud magic circle had been set up.
These simplified magic circles could be activated by anyone using spiritual sense.
Sensing the puzzled looks from the Professor, White Honey Sugar, and Owl, Sage offered a smiling explanation: "These are set up so we can destroy the passage in an emergency — to prevent it from being discovered."
"I appreciate your caution and thoroughness," Lucian said, his voice raspy and unpleasant, matching the manner befitting a mage of the Professor's formidable standing.
White Honey Sugar smiled as well. "I feel much more at ease now."
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Ten minutes later, in a shadowy corner of the Nobility District, concealed beneath the canopy of many tall, shade-giving trees, Lucian and the others climbed out one by one. Led by Sage, who was familiar with the area, they quickly located Baron Laurent's old three-story villa — overgrown with creeping vines, desolate and eerie, looking every bit like a haunted house.
A lone soldier stood guard outside the iron gate of the villa's surrounding wall. He wore only ordinary leather armor, unlike the soldiers guarding other noble estates Lucian had passed on the way here, who wore silver-gray chainmail. This was yet another indication of Baron Laurent's decline.
Smale surveyed the surrounding environment and made a suggestion: "It's very remote here, and there's only one guard. Why don't we just go in directly, Professor? What do you think?"
"As long as we don't cause a commotion," Lucian replied, gesturing for Smale to try.
Sage, whose face was hidden beneath his black hood, stepped forward ahead of Smale. In his aged voice, tinged with amusement, he said: "For this kind of task, it would be better left to an apprentice of the Astrology school. Wouldn't you agree, Professor?"
Lucian let out an eerie laugh. "Excellent. Specialist tasks should be handled by specialists."
Although they weren't entirely accustomed to the Professor's vocabulary and grammatical habits, White Honey Sugar, Sage, and the others understood his meaning perfectly well and nodded — that was exactly right.
Since the Professor had made his decision, Smale could only shrug. "Then I'll coordinate with you, Sage."
Luke stood drowsily before the main gate of Baron Laurent's villa, yawning from time to time, silently grumbling about Baron Laurent in his head: *Holding balls every few days — just desperately clinging to the last shred of noble dignity. Hmph, only ten silver nolars a month for us soldiers loyal to the Laurent family. Back when my father and grandfather served under the old Baron, it was twenty silver nolars.*
Midway through his complaints and his battle against sleep, Luke suddenly heard an owl hooting. The low, warbling sound sent a chill through him and made him apprehensive. He couldn't help but turn to look, cursing: "Go catch your mice already, and stop dawdling like my sixty-year-old grandmother."
In the pitch-black night, Luke couldn't see a thing. But when he turned back, he discovered that barely a dozen paces away stood a mysterious figure shrouded head to toe in a black robe — sinister and terrifying.
Immense fear struck Luke's heart. He was about to cry out when he saw the black-robed figure raise its head slightly and look him in the eyes.
Beneath the shadow of the hood, the nose, mouth, and cheeks of this terrifying figure were all blurred and indistinct. Only the eyes were clear, sharp, and vivid — as though they were right before him.
Within those deep, dark pupils, countless brilliant points of light shimmered into being, intricate beyond measure, dreamlike and ethereal — like stars scattered across the night sky.
"The stars…" Gazing into those eyes, Luke's expression first went slack with confusion, then quickly relaxed. He felt that the figure before him was someone he trusted and respected more than anyone in the world.
Sage, seeing that Luke had been hypnotized by the Eye of Stars, walked up to him and spoke in his calm, unhurried aged voice: "We are here to attend the Baron's ball. Open the gate and let us in. Keep your voice down — don't wake anyone."
"As you wish. It is my duty," Luke replied, turning to slowly push the gate open just a crack.
Then Lucian, Sage, White Honey Sugar, and Smale slipped carefully through the gate and made their way toward the darkened villa.
After they entered, Luke did not close the gate. Instead, he turned around, stood tall and proud, and kept guard with a dedication and enthusiasm he had never shown before. It was as though a fire burned inside his chest, and he wanted to do more for that gentleman.
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The villa's wooden door was firmly bolted from within, and every window was draped with heavy curtains to prevent even a sliver of light from escaping. The main hall was drenched in an atmosphere of thick, dissolute sensuality — men's heavy breathing, women's moans, perfume mingled with body odor and bodily fluids, all combining into a strange, blood-stirring scent that saturated every corner of the air.