At dusk, in the Slums outside the Nordland Territory of the Secas Empire, two uninvited guests arrived.
The leading man was around thirty, dressed in fitted leather armor with a longsword at his waist. His dark golden hair hung loose behind him, making him seem utterly out of place amid the dilapidated, decaying slums. Naturally, he immediately drew countless malicious stares.
Hungry mobs and thieves lurked in the shadows, their knife-sharp gazes sweeping over the two men.
But when they saw the Holy Light Marks on their clothes, those prying eyes immediately withdrew.
In the Secas Empire, some might not recognize the imperial flag, but no one was unaware of the Holy Light Mark...
It was the symbol of the Emissaries of God!
Aside from clergy clad in Temple Robes, only witch hunters bore Holy Light Marks on their clothing!
Rumor had it that every witch hunter had received God's blessing and possessed abilities far beyond ordinary men. No one was willing to provoke such targets.
Noticing the hidden figures vanish, Andre gave a disdainful smile. Yet the faint stench drifting through the ruined streets soon made him frown.
"Sure enough, Bishop Antioch was right. These witches are like rats—they love hiding in dark, stinking corners like this." Andre looked over the filth and excrement lingering in the shadowy corners of the street, covered his nose, and complained.
"We'd better stay alert, Andre. What we're dealing with this time is no ordinary target," the leading man said, unable to resist warning him about his ostentatious manner.
A few days earlier, a major incident had occurred in the Duke Nordland Territory. A wizard named Coru had attempted to beguile the Duke's second daughter. Fortunately, the guards stationed there discovered him in time, preventing Duke Nordland's young daughter from being seduced by the devil.
The brutality of that encirclement battle remained vivid in everyone's mind.
To capture that audacious wizard, Duke Nordland had dispatched two full companies of guards in pursuit. Even so, they suffered grievous losses. If Lord Bishop of the Church had not arrived in the end, Duke Nordland would have been utterly disgraced!
And their target this time was Coru's apprentice, also a wizard!
"Don't worry, Blainey." Andre sneered. "We're only dealing with a Wizard Apprentice who's studied magic for a few months. People like that usually know only one or two little tricks. Believe me, even a farmer swinging a hoe is harder to deal with."
Over the past half year since joining the Witch Hunter Squad, he had taken part in several hunts for wizards.
At first, Andre had been extremely fearful of those wizards said to be called upon by the devil.
But after truly encountering them, Andre discovered that they were nowhere near as terrifying as he had imagined. Most were hardly a threat. Their magic was limited in power, and some were not even as reliable as crossbows and longswords.
Those unskilled apprentices, in particular, could only be called useless. Once distracted, they could not cast magic in battle and could only be slaughtered at will.
What pleased Andre most was the high bounty for capturing wizards. Duke Nordland was even more generous—capturing an apprentice alive earned a full six Secas Gold Coins, enough for them to live extravagantly for quite some time!
Of course, killing one was worth only half as much.
Blainey glanced at Andre without arguing, but he did not lower his guard.
In his experience, witch hunters who placed too much faith in intelligence rarely lived long...
The Slums outside the Nordland Territory were not large, and few people came and went. Relying on his identity as a witch hunter, Andre made a few threats and quickly confirmed the target's hiding place from a vagrant.
It was a building that could barely be called a house. The red-brick walls were pitted and covered in green vines, while the door looked ready to collapse, as though it would fall apart with the slightest push.
Their target was right before them, yet neither man made an immediate move.
Andre shot his partner a glance, cursed inwardly, and stepped forward first. He pressed his palm against the door and tugged hard at the bolt with his callused fingers. The seemingly rickety door did not budge at all; something was clearly bracing it from behind.
Andre gritted his teeth and kicked the door with all his strength.
A violent crash rang out. The door shattered open, revealing the room inside.
The cramped room had clearly been neglected and was a complete mess, with heaps of trash piled in the corners.
A candle burned on a wooden table nearby. Disturbed by the gust stirred up when the door was forced open, its feeble flame flickered twice before going out.
The previously well-lit room immediately became dim. Only a trace of light filtered through the open window, faintly revealing a worn blanket dragged from the bed all the way to the window.
Blainey, who entered after him, surveyed the room. His gaze was soon drawn to a scrap of paper lying on the floor.
Andre, who had entered first, noticed it as well. He bent down and picked up the crumpled note, and his expression darkened after reading it.
"Damn it, looks like we're too late. This brat has already gone to meet up with the other apprentices!" Andre said angrily. Looking at the room, he immediately pieced together what had happened.
The target they were after, that Wizard Apprentice, had received word before they arrived. Without even having time to pack, he had fled in advance.
But judging by the candle that had only just gone out and the lingering warmth in the bed, he should not have gone far.
At that thought, Andre grew anxious and prepared to leave at once. That was six Secas Gold Coins—he could not let them get away like this.
Once the target met up with the other Wizard Apprentices, capturing him would become difficult. More than that, Andre feared that other bounty hunters might beat them to the prize.
"Wait..."
Just as Andre hurried toward the window to give chase, Blainey reached out and stopped him. Amid Andre's impatient expression, he pointed toward the desk beside them.
Andre turned to look. Aside from the extinguished candle, more than a dozen copper coins and several sheets of paper covered in strange symbols and drawings lay scattered across the tabletop.
After a moment's thought, Andre quickly understood what his companion meant. If the Wizard Apprentice had left after receiving word, he would not have abandoned easily carried coins, much less these "valuable" magical manuscripts.
Andre, who had experience hunting wizards, knew full well that most wizards would rather die than abandon what they called their research notes.
That meant the target was very likely still hiding in this room...
Andre gave a cold laugh. The trail left by the dragged blanket, the open window, and the fallen note all suggested that the target had already escaped.
Clearly, this Wizard Apprentice had used a clever trick to mislead them elsewhere. It might even have been a trap. He had nearly been fooled.
At that very moment, Lynn, hidden in the darkness, was breaking out in a cold sweat. In the face of this potentially fatal danger, his mind had become unusually stimulated, and under the influence of magic, his scattered consciousness continuously spread outward.
He could even affect the flow of air to some extent and extinguish the candle. His breathing also made no sound. Thanks to this, he had managed to hide beneath the eyes of the two witch hunters.
Ignoring Andre's realization, Blainey inspected the room again, soon fixing his gaze on a dark-red cabinet standing beside the window.
The cabinet was only shoulder-high, its surface coated in dust. It stood very close to the open window and was inconspicuous in this dilapidated, drafty house, yet it was large enough to fit a curled-up adult man...
Thanks to readers dsf23dd for the 1,500 Qidian Coins, and 20180222162706940 and You're So Lonely for the 100 Qidian Coins.
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