Mysterious Maneuver

"Have you found Ishus?"

"No. He's disappeared, and the Tracking Magic we placed on him has failed too."

"Keep looking. That bastard has to pay for this."

"Now isn't the time to go after Ishus."

"Damn it, we never should have brought in an outsider to handle this."

"Didn't you agree with it too?"

The meeting room had already descended into chaos. None of the "important figures" seated there had expected to be toyed with by such an insignificant nobody.

Just then, the meeting room door was suddenly thrown open. A panting male wizard rushed inside and shouted, "The gold prize—the gold prize has appeared!"

"Who?"

"Who won the gold prize?"

Everyone in the meeting room leaped to their feet and stared anxiously at the breathless wizard, as though they wanted to hit the man who kept stopping halfway through his sentences with a Cruciatus Curse.

"It's Number 17." The wizard looked as though he were about to cry. "Number 17, the youngest contestant, won the championship and the gold prize."

In an instant, the "important figures" in the meeting room seemed to lose all strength and collapsed back into their chairs.

How could an underage wizard possibly win the gold prize?

That was impossible!

No matter what, they refused to believe it.

"Number 17 is a Muggle Wizard. How could he possibly win the gold prize? We should file a formal complaint with the International Confederation of Wizards!" someone shouted furiously. His proposal immediately drew agreement from the others.

"The wizards who won their bets will be coming to claim their prize money soon," the wizard who had brought the news reminded them quietly.

The person in charge of the betting pool looked at the people before him, took a deep breath, and told the wizard beside him, "Have