Golden Griffin! Conspiracy!

At the edge of Thanedd Island stood a small wooden hut that had not been repaired in a long time.

"Creak—"

The battered wooden door groaned open, and a chilling gust blew in from outside, making everyone gathered around the workbench shudder. They turned with grim faces, wanting to see who could be so inconsiderate as to visit in the dead of night without even knocking.

"Roglides, didn't your father, Duke Rodegris, teach you to knock before entering?" The middle-aged man with a grizzled goatee, dressed in a black mage's robe, rebuked him coldly. "Shut the door!"

The Sorcerer called Berendir Roglides smiled and strolled inside at an unhurried pace. He muttered a few words, patted his damp robe, and let the moisture trapped in the soaked fabric evaporate under magic before finally closing the door beneath the hostile glares of those inside.

"I'm only an illegitimate son. How could I possibly have had the honor of being personally taught by Duke Rodegris?" Berendir Roglides twisted his mouth into a flippant grin. "Besides, I was going to knock. It's just that your door didn't seem to be 'locked.' It opened with one push..."

"Sir Agostino Austin, how did the Sorceresses of Aretuza arrange such a shabby place for you?"

Berendir Roglides slowly walked in, surveying the dilapidated hut. Clicking his tongue, he exclaimed, "Even the Honeysuckle Alchemy Workshop has spacious rooms with fireplaces. You Golden Griffin are Redania's strongest supernatural organization..."

"And where are you any better off?" Agostino Austin, the goateed Sorcerer in black robes, snorted unhappily and cut him off.

Berendir Roglides shrugged and readily admitted it. "I'm indeed worse off than you. At least you have a room. The moment the conference ended a few days ago, those whores from Aretuza cornered me in my room, speaking