A Task from the Transmutation School

Maeve had actually ended Duke Theodore's employment of her long ago, but orders from the School forced her to stay.

"You stay there and work until you come back in three years..."

Maeve was confused when she heard the order, but despite her reluctance, the Transmutation School gave her a condition she couldn't refuse.

That would allow her to join the best Ocean Society within the Transmutation School.

The Transmutation School, as a newly established School within the Alliance, has developed rapidly, but this is all based on various unbalanced specializations.

The Transmutation School claims to use the organs of Magic Creature to modify the human body, allowing people to advance in Order without the need for traditional Profession Promotion Method; they only need to complete the modification.

Unfortunately, the data on Modified Organ Transmutation School decreases from the second level upwards, even at the third level.

Aside from the Ocean Society, which specializes in Ocean Magic Creature, any other society that has two or three Third Order Mage in its research area is considered to have a wealth of talent, let alone the possibility of having any Fourth Order Mage at all...

Maeve could only join one small society, and even so, she was considered to be doing well among many of her peers.

After all, this is a cult with a clear path to advancement, which is an opportunity that even a normal First Order Mage doesn't have, and it's very difficult for them to even get close to such a cult.

For Formal Mage like Maeve, who has no connections and no Talent for research, joining such an academy is extremely difficult.

Maeve participated in the Investigator' and Battle Mage Corps's assessments several times, but unfortunately, she neither understood nor applied the Alliance's regulations, nor did she have any Talent in combat.

Therefore, she had no choice but to come to territories outside the Alliance and make a living by working for those lords.

But just two months ago, Duke Theodore, having failed to break through her defenses, seemed to be considering firing her to save money, and she thought she was going to return to the Alliance.

However, things didn't go as Maeve expected. The scene she imagined, where Count Ian came to dismiss her, didn't happen. Instead, the Transmutation School asked her to stay.

In any case, now that she has seen the Ocean Society's letter of recommendation, Maeve has no choice but to continue working here for the time being.

Maeve stood behind Count Ian, looking at the lord of White Flower Territory. In a way, she had watched Finley become lord.

Maeve still can't forget that modified Black Horse.

Finley blinked, then asked:

"Could I know why you're staying here? Perhaps I can help you?"

Count Ian coughed and then said:

"I can't reveal that. I just hope you'll focus on your own work, Finley."

Finley pursed his lips and remained silent, knowing that the other person probably wouldn't tell him.

"Then, Your Excellency, would you like me to host a banquet for you or something...?"

"No need, just pretend I was never here. There's no need to notify the nobles in the city."

Finley frowned. What he had just suggested was something every nobleman would be enthusiastic about— Banquet.

Basically, whenever a major event occurred among the nobles, or when an announcement was made, or even before Knight's Duel, Count Ian would hold a banquet.

This was a way for nobles to display their status; when other nobles of high status attended the banquet, the person hosting the banquet would also be praised for it.

Finley could still recall the days when he fought alongside Count Ian, when they would even Banquet if a battle was about to break out the next day. Now, Count Ian wouldn't even attend those banquets anymore.

This was a very dangerous sign for Finley, especially given that things weren't going quite right.

He racked his brains for a moment, but still couldn't figure out why the other person would come here.

He was supposed to be monitoring Duke Theodore, but surely his small town didn't need someone of Count Ian's stature to monitor him?

If Duke Theodore truly doubted him, he could have simply sent three or four knights; there was no need for his right-hand men to come!

Finley could only guess that something big was happening in White Flower Territory, for which Duke Theodore had to send someone like Count Ian.

Finley glanced at Maeve behind Count Ian, recognizing her as a mage from the Alliance.

The other party was originally the liaison between Duke Theodore and the Alliance's Transmutation School. Generally, corpses and the like left behind on the Battlefield were sent to the Alliance through Maeve.

But that was all. Several months earlier, when Finley was corresponding with Count Ian, the latter had complained in his letters.

"That woman in the black robe is practically a bleeding wound. Besides handling the corpses—tasks we can easily replace—she charges 1 Gold Coin even for a simple examination."

"I have never seen such a greedy person. One Gold Coin is enough for me to host half a banquet."

"However, our days of bloodshed will soon be over. I have already asked the Alliance, and we no longer need a mage to come here for the handover. I believe our farmer can handle this matter well."

Finley glanced at Maeve behind Count Ian, his face showing no sign of aloofness, and he knew that Maeve was probably unaware of the contents of the letter.

However, he has no intention of ruining their relationship, since it wouldn't benefit him anyway.

Just then, a voice rang out from outside the door.

"My lord, the people you instructed us to receive have arrived."

Finley was startled; this was incredibly inopportune. He was still entertaining his superior.

Count Ian looked at Finley with a questioning gaze, noticing that Finley looked somewhat flustered.

Even Maeve looked at him with curiosity at this moment.

Maeve's current tasks, in addition to continuing to be employed by Duke Theodore, also include reporting on everything she has seen.

When Maeve received this mission, she had her own suspicions: was there something wrong with the lord in front of her, and was the person she was supposed to receive just now the problem?

Maeve was fully aware that obtaining the letter of recommendation from the Ocean Society was not a free lunch; there were definitely unexpected costs involved.

"Finley, who are you receiving?"

At this moment, Finley glanced at Maeve. He was certain that Maeve's presence indicated the Alliance's intentions, but he himself was now in contact with the Alliance!

He knew, of course, that there were several factions within the Alliance, and that Maeve and the mage who had contacted him might actually belong to different factions.

It's even possible that there's a mage's personal will behind this.

Finley took a deep breath and regulated his breathing. In any case, at this point, he had no choice but to tell the truth.

"Count Ian was someone I met during Knight's Duel. He later went to the Northern Territory and became a mage's subordinate."

Count Ian raised an eyebrow and said somewhat uncertainly:

"You mean that guy who can use Sunflame Arts? Didn't you keep him as a knight?"

"No, Your Excellency, it seems the other party already knows some mages in the Alliance, so they don't want to work for me."

"Really? That's a shame... But what does this have to do with the guests you're hosting?"

Finley swallowed hard, then slowly said:

"My lord, the mage behind that man wants to conduct an experiment here, and I've agreed."

"Oh!" Ian glanced at Finley and immediately guessed what he was thinking, but he didn't say it outright. Instead, he said this.

"Finley, do you really think those mages are honest? Or is the White Flower Territory very important to a certain mage?"

Finley was puzzled, but Count Ian didn't let him continue asking, instead speaking instead.

"We have to go. We've wasted too much time, haven't we?"

"If we're late, that monk will probably be very angry."

At the city gate with its White Flower Territory, a strangely styled procession passed by.

The sheer number of vehicles and the distinctive Dire Wolf -drawn carriages drew the attention of the entire city.

Finley and his two companions rushed here, and the guards opened the door for them before they arrived.

The reason was that the guards had previously received orders from Finley not to neglect those he had instructed.

Finley made it sound very serious, emphasizing it several times, so the guards naturally dared not close the city gates. After a moment's thought, they opened them.

"Who is that mage?" Finley grabbed a guard beside him and asked anxiously.

Upon arriving here, Finley discovered a problem: he didn't know which one was the wizard mentioned in the letter.

He had initially thought that the monk would at most bring some servants, and since he was dressed so conspicuously, he would be easily recognized.

But when he arrived at the scene, he was dumbfounded. There were several people there wearing the same clothes, and the only one that looked relatively conspicuous was a white robe worn by two other people, which made it really difficult for him to distinguish them.

"I don't know either," the guard replied, giving him a satisfactory answer.

Just then, Fran, with Aila in tow, slowly walked towards them.

Just by looking at their positions, Finley could tell which mage was which.

"Your Excellency, I'm so sorry, something came up and I couldn't greet you right away."

Fran looked curiously at the two people behind him. She recognized both of them, but she didn't know what their presence here meant.

"Your Excellency, please forgive me for being late and unable to greet you earlier because of my presence. I, Finley, was the one who made me late."

Count Ian raised his hand to his chest in a gesture of respect, and then continued:

"I welcome a mage using Antir Territory for experiments; after all, I'd be happy to contribute to the development of magic."

"However, I have a question that I hope Your Excellency can answer for me: which school of School do you belong to, and why do you need to use White Flower Territory as an experimental site?"

Ian wore an inquisitive expression, hoping Fran could give him an answer.

Fran had already decided which School she belonged to. She glanced at Maeve behind her; she remembered that the other woman was...

"I am a mage of the Transmutation School. As for the details of my experiment, please allow me to keep it a secret."