"Those wizards Lady Jill hired for the exploration work are low-level Wizard Apprentices with limited combat ability, so she's also planning to ask the Court Wizards to assign three Investigator Squads to join the Exploration Team. The team will probably have around twenty people."
Link took a sip of tea to wet his throat, then continued,
"She invited me, and I agreed. It's a good opportunity to look for clues in the Winter Forest."
A Court Wizard Investigator Squad usually consisted of one Level 3 Wizard Apprentice with strong combat skills leading one to five Level 2 Wizard Apprentices who were also skilled fighters. Link's squad was on the smaller side, and he had only recently been promoted to squad leader.
Matthew pondered for a moment, then asked, "Would the Court Wizards accept a private request like hers?"
Link spread his hands. "They don't usually take private requests, but Lady Jill is paying a lot.
"The Court Wizards have issued an official request to investigate the disappearance of an Official Member. Officially, the three Court Wizard Investigator Squads are going to the Winter Forest to investigate my grandfather's disappearance."
Matthew raised an eyebrow. A team of twenty wizards would be a force to be reckoned with anywhere. Lady Jill must have considerable influence to pull together a team of this size.
Besides, the Court Wizards rarely accepted private requests. Ordinary people could privately pay to hire Court Wizard members, but for someone like Lady Jill to get the Court Wizards to issue an official request, the price must have been enormous.
Link continued, "You're a Temporary Investigator, not an Official Member of an Investigator Squad, so it's up to you whether you join this operation. There are quite a few Contribution Points up for grabs, though. Once it's done, you'll have enough to apply for the Official Member assessment."
The Contribution Points awarded by the Court Wizards held considerable appeal for Matthew. Even if he didn't use them to apply for the Official Member assessment, he could trade them for Wizard Tools, magic, Meditation Methods, Potion Recipes, Alchemy Materials, and other Wizard Supplies.
What's more, Contribution Points could be used to obtain things that were difficult to buy elsewhere. Some resource points in the Blizzard Kingdom were monopolized by the Court Wizards, and materials produced at these Monopolized Resource Points were extremely expensive on the open market.
"I'll join too." Matthew thought it over, then agreed.
Link nodded. "Lady Jill's people need a few more days to prepare, and the other two Investigator Squads won't arrive in Whitestone Town for another three or four days.
"The Winter Forest is a dangerous place right now. You can use the time to prepare. Let Lady Alsha's people handle the Evil Ritual case for now."
They still hadn't found many clues about the Evil Ritual from a few days ago. But after so many people had died, the residents of Whitestone Town were on edge, and hardly anyone was leaving town. The strange corpses found on the Outskirts of Whitestone Town had also become less frequent.
Before heading to the Winter Forest, Matthew planned to return to Hogwarts. He needed to brew some Lethal Potions, and he was running low on ingredients in his Bag of Infinite Space. He would go to Hogsmeade Village to restock.
Hogwarts Great Hall.
Matthew was having a meal with his roommates, but today was a little different. A pile of presents covered the table in front of him.
It was November 11, Matthew's birthday.
Jerry teased him. "You seem to be more popular after beating Harry Potter. You didn't get this many presents last year."
Matthew poured a little milk into his coffee and stirred it gently. "I don't think that has much to do with it. Harry Potter's just a first-year student, after all. I think people used to be more afraid of me. After I won Annual Best Hitter, their fear turned into admiration."
Quidditch was the most popular sport in the Wizarding World. Anyone who was good at it could easily earn people's admiration.
Jerry rolled his eyes. "At least you have a clear idea of what people think of you."
Geralt nudged Jerry with his elbow and nodded toward the area diagonally across from Matthew. "Look over there."
A Slytherin girl with long, fluffy hair rested her chin in her left hand and stirred her tea with her right, staring intently at Matthew.
Matthew looked up and met her gaze.
He had just started to smile when the Slytherin girl blushed and hurriedly looked away, pretending nothing had happened.
Geralt teased him. "I bet more than half of these presents came from girls!"
Lots of girls had come over today to ask him to confirm Matthew's birthday.
Matthew took a sip of coffee. A brown owl flew into the Great Hall and dropped a package in front of him.
He picked up the package and gave the owl a chicken strip.
It was from Luna.
Inside the package was a scarf and a letter.
"When I got up this morning, I couldn't find my Airship Plum earrings.
"I thought I must have forgotten something, so I checked the calendar. It turned out today was November 11.
"Thunderbird Baby has been eating more and more lately, and the bugs I catch aren't enough to feed him anymore. Yesterday, Father went into the woods with me to catch bugs, and we finally managed to feed him until he was full.
"Thunderbird Baby started molting last week. I wove the tail feathers he shed into this scarf. I hope you like it.
"Finally, happy birthday.
"—Luna Lovegood"
Matthew took out the scarf. He had to admit Luna was very skilled at making things by hand.
It was a dark golden-brown scarf, the same color as Luna's hair. The fabric she had chosen was soft cashmere, and the Thunderbird's tail feathers were woven into it naturally, without looking out of place.
Matthew was very pleased. The weather in this world had turned chilly, so he immediately draped the dark golden-brown scarf around his neck.
Geralt felt a little envious. He'd had plenty of relationships, but he'd never experienced the kind of childhood-sweetheart romance they had.
After lunch, Matthew planned to head back to his dormitory and open his presents.
In the corridor, Matthew ran into Fred and George.
Fred and George stopped him.
"Heey, Fred, look who it is!"
Fred replied in an exaggeratedly sarcastic tone, "Oh, it's our Annual Best Hitter—Matthew Black!"
"You've got it wrong—he's not a Gryffindor!" George shook his head. "Did you forget the pile of presents we just saw?"
Fred suddenly caught on. "Oh! It's Hogwarts' heartthrob—Matthew Black!"
Matthew slapped his forehead. He didn't feel like dealing with these two clowns. Knowing them was so embarrassing.
He said helplessly, "What are you two up to? Stop giving me these embarrassing titles!"
Fred clutched his chest with both hands, as if he were about to die. "I'm heartbroken. We came to wish you a happy birthday!"
George took out a gift box and said, "Matthew—happy birthday!"
"Thanks!" Matthew raised an eyebrow and carefully accepted the present. He was a little worried it might be a prank contraption made by Fred and George.
Matthew asked cautiously, "This present—is it safe?"
George and Fred exchanged a look, then hugged each other and burst into tears.
"Fred—he's questioning our sincere friendship!"
Before you continue