Once old Walker had left the room, only Leilin and Fuleisa remained inside.
This Knight knew of Leilin's identity as a Wizard, so Leilin's posture grew more relaxed.
Half-reclining in his chair, Leilin narrowed his eyes slightly. "Any progress on the investigation of the Withered Forest?"
Fuleisa lowered his head in respect. "Respected Young Master! Per your orders, I sent out multiple scouting parties to investigate the Withered Forest. After suffering one death and two seriously wounded, we finally obtained some leads!"
The Withered Forest incident had directly caused a reduction in herb production from the Dark Night Forest. Prior to this, the various major powers had all sent people to investigate as well, but many of the scouts and rangers they dispatched had been attacked within the forest.
According to eyewitnesses, they were ambushed by some unknown shadow in the woods. All they knew was that it was an incredibly fast creature — beyond that, they had learned nothing at all.
"Speak!" Leilin's expression remained perfectly calm.
"One thief finally caught a clear glimpse of the creature's appearance during one of its attacks! This is a sketch drawn based on his description!"
The Knight handed a piece of parchment to Leilin.
Leilin took it and studied the image. The parchment depicted a massive creature resembling a four-legged lizard, its entire body covered in scales, its tongue forked, with a small horn atop its head.
"What else did the thief say?" Leilin asked.
"The creature is over two meters long, earth-yellow in color, and extraordinarily fast!" Fuleisa added from the side.
"That kind of appearance?" Leilin quickly searched his memory for the catalog of anomalous creatures he had seen at the Academy. "It's somewhat similar to a blue lizard, but the coloring is wrong, and it also bears some resemblance to a snake!"
"However, since some human scouts managed to escape, this creature's danger level shouldn't be too high — at least a Second-rank Apprentice should be able to handle it!" Leilin felt reassured.
That said, he still had no intention of taking action himself. Putting aside the fact that his potion experiments had reached a critical stage, even the Withered Forest hadn't been fully investigated yet. Without absolute necessity, Leilin had no desire to put himself at risk.
"Spread the word — whoever captures or kills that creature, I'll pay two thousand gold coins! And for any of its bodily materials — scales, blood, skin keratin, anything at all — I'll buy them at two hundred gold coins apiece!"
Leilin said this in an offhand tone.
"Yes! I'll go post the quest immediately!" Fuleisa bowed.
"Go ahead!" Leilin waved his hand, and Fuleisa bowed once more before striding out.
……
Three days later, in a small canyon east of Polar Night City.
Leilin walked along a rugged mountain path, dressed in a black robe. With all his stats above 3, these obstacles posed absolutely no problem for him whatsoever — he strolled along as casually as if walking through his own backyard.
Behind him, Gelin wore a suit of armor, with a mask covering his helmet that concealed his face.
"We've arrived — the Bulei Canyon Market!" Leilin murmured, sensing the faint magical energy fluctuations in the air around them.
This market was the small resource exchange point near Polar Night City, the one marked on the map that Biji had given Leilin. It was precisely this market that had been half the reason Leilin chose this mission in the first place.
"Halt!" A girl's voice rang out. Leilin looked toward the source and spotted a little girl riding a goat, driving it toward them.
The goat's four hooves hopped and bounced along the steep cliff face with surprising speed, and in moments it had arrived right in front of Leilin.
"You're a Wizard?" The little girl looked Leilin up and down and asked flatly.
"That's right. I'm a wandering Wizard looking to enter the market. This is my servant!" Leilin gestured back toward Gelin behind him.
"Your servant has reached the rank of Knight? Impressive!" The little girl gave a thumbs-up. "The fee is one Magic Stone, and your servant counts as one person too! If you think it's too expensive, you can have him wait outside!"
"That won't be necessary!" Leilin pulled out two Magic Stones and handed them to the little girl.
"I'd like to know where inside the canyon I can get the latest intelligence!" Leilin added casually.
"You must be new around here? I've got the best information network in this entire place!" The little girl tossed her head smugly, striking a pose that practically begged him to ask for her help.
Leilin was somewhat speechless. According to the Chip's scan, this little girl was a Third-rank Apprentice — and her strength was even above Meierfeile's. She definitely wasn't young, yet for some reason she had maintained the appearance of a child.
"Please, Warden, tell me — what's the cost for information?" Leilin gave a slight bow.
"You seem alright to me. One Magic Stone per piece of information!" The little girl adopted an expression that said she was doing him a favor.
"Fine!" Leilin gave a wry smile and handed over a Magic Stone.
"How is the war at Black Bone Forest Academy going?"
"Nine out of ten Wizards who come here to buy information ask exactly that!" The little girl scratched her head. "According to yesterday's news, Black Bone Forest is still holding on thanks to their magical formations, but quite a few Apprentices have died!"