Familiar Faces

In White Flower City, two guards stood slumped and crookedly by the city gate. The sun had just peeked over the horizon, and the sky was still dim in the distance.

"I'm not ready anymore, when will I hand over the shift?"

The guard on the left was about to collapse; dark lines appeared around his eyes, and his eyes were blinking rapidly, as if he were about to fall.

"Dude, what's going on? Went to the bar for drinks before your night shift?!"

"Drinking my ass! I was stopped by those guys in gray robes before I even got to my night shift."

The guard perked up slightly, but then closed his eyes completely and spat.

"Those people keep trying to sell me their great Lord, damn it, I don't even know what their great Lord is, how am I supposed to believe in him..."

"No matter how I asked them, they only said 'Great Lord,' and nothing else."

"The lord specifically instructed that as long as the other party doesn't take any extreme actions, they should be left alone..."

The guard paused for a moment, then said:

"After I finished my morning shift, I was just about to go back and rest when those people got entangled with me. I didn't manage to get away until evening, and then I came here without stopping..."

"At first I felt fine, I was quite energetic, but in the latter half of the night, I almost started sleeping standing up..."

"Brother, you've really had a tough time." The guard beside him smiled wryly, deeply sympathizing with the man's plight. If he had been in the same situation, he probably would have cursed him out long ago.

Moreover, as guards of White Flower City, they are only responsible to Lord Finley, and they don't need to be particularly respectful to the nobles in the city.

But when faced with someone endorsed by the lord harassing you, these guards really don't know what to do.

Is anyone here proselytizing?

Just then, it seemed someone had overheard their conversation, as a clear, cold female voice came from behind them.

This startled the two guards, even the one who was about to fall asleep instantly put his hand to his weapon and turned to look in the direction from which the sound came.

They turned around and saw a figure draped in a black robe. The person was tall, and they couldn't see their face at first.

As they continued looking up from the black robe, they saw a head of soft, golden hair cascading over the shoulders. When they saw the person's face, they froze on the spot.

It was a beautiful face, more beautiful than any face they had ever seen, with purple eyes that adorned the white silk like Gem.

A faint smile appeared on Lucy's face, causing the two guards to lose their composure, their thoughts and actions rendered meaningless.

If Fran were here, she might recognize him as the head of the Grey Soil Province she had seen in the City of Apprentices —or more precisely, the head of the Transmutation School in the Grey Soil Province.

The Grey Soil Province is closest to the Antir Region, so it seems reasonable for Lucy to be in charge of transporting corpses from the Antir Region and the Transmutation School.

Lucy spoke softly:

"Tell me what's been happening in White Flower City lately, most importantly that mage who claims to be from the Transmutation School..."

Her voice softened under the influence of her organs, and the two guards felt as if they had entered a comfortable world. Then, they spilled everything they knew.

After listening, Lucy frowned. If she heard that her colleague here was a resident of the White Flower Territory conducting experiments, such as limb splicing or brain extraction, she would consider it an effort by the other party to disguise it.

But could anyone tell her that the imposter was going to pretend to be a member of the Transmutation School and do this kind of missionary work?

There isn't a specific School within the entire the Alliance that corresponds to this kind of work; if one had to pinpoint one, the Law School would be somewhat related.

However, it was clear that the other party did not choose the more reasonable option of the Law School, but instead chose the Transmutation School, and she had no idea what the other party was doing.

After learning from Maeve that a mage had arrived, she was very nervous because she lacked a suitable reason to drive the mage away, and what she was about to do was not something that could be easily known to others.

As for Maeve, Lucy believed that she would keep quiet because of the Ocean Society's recommendation letter, since it would be bad for Maeve if this matter got out.

Upon learning that the other party was a mage from the Transmutation School, and that they had already contacted the local lord beforehand, obtained his support, and were even trying to secure a piece of land for their experiments, she was completely dumbfounded.

Because, in any case, based on her understanding of the Transmutation School over the years, a Transmutation School mage should have no connection whatsoever with fighting for a piece of land to conduct experiments.

At that moment, Lucy had already defined the other person as someone who was definitely not a wizard of the Transmutation School.

She could barely believe the other person was Transmutation School mage without any information, but she couldn't believe that the other person, Transmutation School mage, needed to acquire a piece of land for experiments.

It's important to understand that their overall approach to Transmutation School is either to seize organs from powerful Magic Creature or to use these organs as a base to cultivate even more powerful organs.

None of this had anything to do with acquiring a piece of land, which is why Lucy immediately concluded that the other party was definitely not a wizard from the Transmutation School.

Upon arriving in White Flower City, the news she heard left her even more bewildered.

She had expected to hear about a perfunctory experiment being conducted on that land, in reality, the dismemberment of the people using an extremely cruel method...

In that case, if she represents the Alliance and gathers Duke Theodore's power, it will be easy to drive them out.

But now she has not heard any news about the sorcerer collecting land and people. Instead, she has heard that the sorcerer is proselytizing, using the same cult-like methods that obscure the name of the deity.

This made Lucy realize how tricky things were, because the other party claimed to have connections with the Alliance and that a messenger from the Alliance had previously vouched for him.

Without a suitable reason, Lucy may not be able to get rid of the other person for the time being.

But if she were to use force... Lucy shook her head; she wasn't confident she could do that.

Judging from subsequent contact with Maeve, the other party was most likely a Second Order Mage, as Maeve could not sense any mental fluctuations from him at all.

Without a suitable reason to persuade Duke Theodore to send forces to help her drive away the sorcerer, Lucy was not confident that she could defeat him.

She had a clear understanding of herself; she possessed an extraordinary appearance, unmatched in beauty.

However, the trade-off is that this modification will reduce her combat effectiveness.

These organs that enhance her appearance give her the ability to manipulate the weak and control others, but not powerful offensive capabilities.

Even if the other party is a mage who was promoted from the Spirit Realm, has the Spirit Realm Talent, and has obtained several Elemental School spells by luck in the Spirit Realm.

She felt that if a conflict really broke out, even if both of them attacked together, they would probably be killed by the other side.

This was her choice; the price for gaining this beauty was a lack of combat power. Currently, in terms of combat strength, she is probably at the bottom among Second Order Mage.

That's why she needed Duke Theodore's assistance, but she also knew that Count Ian was unaware that the other party might be a Second Order Mage.

If the other party knew, they probably wouldn't immediately express their full support when talking to her.

Of course, Count Ian was only saying this verbally. If she didn't clarify that the other party was a Second Order Mage, the other party would probably only send a few First Order knights to help out.

She needed to find a reason for Count Ian to dare offend a Second Order Mage and get his assistance.

"However, why would she want to preach? Although the Alliance hasn't officially confirmed it's forbidden, almost all related projects would be rejected, unless she's a mage who has ascended from the Spirit Realm..."

Lucy frowned, then sighed.

"Forget it, we'll just investigate her carefully when we see her. There's no point in guessing here..."

However, one thing made Lucy very optimistic: since Fran had sent her subordinates to preach, it meant that Fran, this mage, definitely had a problem.

But where exactly the problem lies, or how she should expose it, is something she'll have to find out for herself.

"Lord Lucy, I'm here."

Maeve's voice came from afar; she felt a great sense of panic when she saw the black robe.

After jogging to the city gate, Maeve quickly apologized:

"I'm sorry I'm a little late."

"No, Maeve, I've arrived a bit too early..."

Lucy smiled and looked at Maeve, saying slowly:

"But that's not important. As long as you're not too late, I won't mind... Now, could you take me to see that mage who claims to be from the Transmutation School?"

Lucy blinked, while Maeve paused, then hesitated before saying:

"I'm sorry, Lady Lucy, it seems we can't go directly to that Mage Lai right now."

"Because that mage Lai went out and hasn't returned for several days, neither the lord nor I know where she went."

Lucy frowned even more, remembering what she had just asked the two guards, and asked again.

"After she left, did her followers continue preaching in the city?"

"Yes, these people have been preaching." Maeve glanced to the left at the street, where a Gray Robes was preaching to the residents about the greatness of God.

Lucy opened her mouth, about to speak, when she heard a muffled thud like thunder from behind her.

She turned to look outside the city gate, where a figure dressed in white robes rode a strong black horse with Dark Red mane, galloping swiftly from afar.

"That's Mage Lai."

Maeve's voice rang out beside Lucy, and Maeve had to raise her voice a little because of the sound of the Black Horse's hooves.