Luna's Gift

"Lady Jill has hired some low-level wizard apprentices for the exploration work—they're not strong in combat—so she's also planning to apply to the Court Wizard for three Investigator Squads to join the Exploration Team. The team size should be around twenty people."

Link took a sip of black tea to moisten his throat, then continued, "She invited me, and I agreed. This is a good chance to look for clues in the Winter Forest."

A Court Wizard Investigator Squad usually consisted of one Level 3 Wizard Apprentice with strong Combat Capability leading one to five Level 2 Wizard Apprentices with strong Combat Capability. Link's squad was on the smaller side; he hadn't been promoted to squad leader long ago.

Matthew pondered for a moment, then asked, "Would the Court Wizard even accept a Private Commission like hers?"

Link spread his hands. "They wouldn't take ordinary Private Commissions, but Lady Jill offered too much.

The Court Wizard released an internal commission to investigate the disappearance of an Official Member. Nominally, the three Court Wizard Investigator Squads are heading to the Winter Forest to look into my grandfather's disappearance."

Matthew raised an eyebrow. A team of twenty wizards was a force to be reckoned with anywhere. For Lady Jill to pull together a team of this size, she had considerable influence.

Moreover, the Court Wizard rarely took Private Commissions. Ordinary people could privately hire Court Wizard members with money, but for someone like Lady Jill to get the Court Wizard to release an official commission required a massive cost.

Link continued, "You're a Temporary Investigator, not yet an Official Member of an Investigator Squad. Whether you join this operation is up to you. But this operation also offers plenty of Contribution Points as a reward. After completing it, you'll have enough to apply for the Official Member assessment."

The Contribution Points rewarded internally by the Court Wizard held considerable appeal for Matthew. Even if he didn't use them to apply for the Official Member assessment, he could exchange them for Wizard Tools, Magic, Meditation Methods, Potion Recipes, Alchemy Materials, and other Wizard Supplies.

Plus, Contribution Points could be used to get things that were hard to buy outside. Some resource points in the Blizzard Kingdom were monopolized by the Court Wizard, and the materials produced at these Monopolized Resource Points sold for extremely high prices on the open market.

"I'll join too." Matthew thought it over and agreed.

Link nodded. "Lady Jill still needs a few days to prepare. 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. During This Time, you can make some preparations. Let Lady Alsha's people take over the Evil Ritual case for now."

The Evil Ritual from a few days ago still hadn't yielded many clues. But with the high Death Toll from those days, the residents of Whitestone Town had been on edge, rarely leaving the town. The number of strangely posed corpses found in the Outskirts of Whitestone Town had also decreased.

Matthew planned to return to Hogwarts before heading to the Winter Forest. He needed to brew some Lethal Potions, and his Bag of Infinite Space was running low on materials. He had to restock in Hogsmeade Village.

Hogwarts Great Hall.

Matthew was dining with his roommates, but today was a bit different. The table in front of him was piled high with gift boxes.

Today was November 11th—Matthew's birthday.

Jerry teased, "After beating Harry Potter, you seem even more popular. You didn't get this many gifts last year."

Matthew poured a little milk into his coffee and stirred gently. "I don't think it's that. Harry Potter is just a first-year, after all. Mostly, people used to be afraid of me. After I got the Annual Best Hitter award, that fear turned into admiration."

Quidditch was the most popular sport in the Wizarding World. People who played Quidditch well easily earned admiration.

Jerry rolled his eyes. "You've got a pretty clear sense of yourself."

Geralt nudged Jerry with his elbow and jerked his chin toward the spot diagonally across from Matthew. "Look over there."

It was a Slytherin girl with fluffy, long hair. Her Left Hand propped up her cheek, her Right Hand stirred her teacup, and her eyes were burning as she Stared At Matthew.

The moment Matthew looked up, he met her gaze.

He barely flashed a smile before the Slytherin girl blushed and looked away, pretending nothing had happened.

Geralt chuckled. "I'd bet more than half of these gifts are from girls!"

Plenty of girls had come to confirm Matthew's birthday date today.

Matthew took a sip of his coffee. A brown owl flew into the Great Hall and dropped a package in front of him.

He caught the package and fed the owl a chicken strip.

It was from Luna.

He opened the package. Inside 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—then I checked the calendar, and it turned out to be November 11th.

The Thunderbird Baby has been eating more and more lately. The bugs I catch aren't enough for him anymore. Yesterday, my father went with me In The Forest to catch bugs so we could feed him.

The 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 had great craftsmanship.

It was a Dark Golden Brown scarf, the same color as Luna's hair. The fabric she'd chosen was high-quality cashmere, and the Thunderbird's tail feathers were naturally woven into the scarf without looking out of place.

Matthew was very pleased. The weather in this world had also turned cold, so he draped the Dark Golden Brown scarf around his neck.

Geralt felt a bit envious. He'd been in many relationships, but he'd never experienced that kind of childhood sweetheart bond.

After finishing lunch, Matthew planned to head back to the dormitory to open his gifts.

In the corridor, Matthew ran into Fred and George.

Fred and George blocked his way.

"Hey~ Fred, look who it is~?"

Fred said in a sarcastic tone, "Oh~ it's our Annual Best Hitter—Matthew Black!"

"You're wrong—he's not a Gryffindor!" George shook his head. "Did you forget all those gifts we just saw?"

Fred pretended to realize, "Oh! It's Hogwarts' heartthrob—Matthew Black!"

Matthew slapped his forehead, not wanting to deal with these two clowns. Knowing them was just too embarrassing.

He said helplessly, "What are you two up to? Don't pin those cringey titles on me!"

Fred clutched his chest with both hands, as if about to die. "So hurtful, and we came here to give you our blessings!"

George pulled out a gift box and said, "Matthew—happy birthday!"

"Thanks!" Matthew raised an eyebrow and carefully took the gift. He was actually a bit afraid this was one of Fred and George's prank items.

He asked cautiously, "This gift... is it normal?"

George and Fred exchanged a glance, then hugged each other and wailed, "Fred—he's doubting our sincere friendship!"