The Prophecy Again

"Investigator Frey, you've seen this document, can you give it back to me? I need it."

Frey heard the words in a daze; he felt the voice was somewhat familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

He struggled to open his eyes, and only after craning his neck did he see his current situation.

He was now sitting in a chair in front of a Dark Red table, on which lay a document bearing the seal of the Alliance.

Opposite him was a woman in a white robe, and another man in a standard the Alliance mage robe... I think his name was Elan.

Frey felt as if he knew the two people in front of him, but the question was, what was he doing?

He noticed the impatience on Fran's face, then remembered what she had just said; it seemed she wanted the document back.

He quickly looked down and scanned the contents of the document. After roughly digesting the information, he was completely stunned.

This is a petition to occupy Antir and request support from the Alliance. The applicant is Lai.

On its own, the document seemed insignificant, but the problem was that he remembered he was currently in Antir, and his mission was to investigate whether the struggle for the throne here was legitimate.

He wanted to think further, but the room had been silent for a while, so he could only bite the bullet and say:

"Mage Lai, your documents are indeed correct, but..."

His words were vague; he wanted to buy some time and see if he could elicit more information from the other party.

Fran raised an eyebrow and continued, following Frey's lead.

"The documents are fine, so what fault can you find with me here in Antir, Investigator? Logically speaking, I'm in charge here now."

"Even Theodore, the one who sent you, has been taken care of by me."

"The only thing you can do now is return to the Alliance, Investigator."

Fran's tone wasn't very pleasant; she seemed quite dissatisfied with Frey's efficiency.

However, Frey's face lit up with joy, because thanks to Fran's words, he finally pieced together the whole story.

After checking the document again and finding no problems, he memorized the document number, intending to check it in detail when he got back.

He raised his head, thought for a moment, and slowly said:

"Master Lai, please don't misunderstand. It's just that the Investigator's procedures aren't finished yet. You know, I just got here, and going back like this would be against the process..."

He then changed the subject and continued:

"Please let me stay here for a few days. I will naturally return in three days."

It was a lie, but Frey was used to weaving such lies; as Investigator, he had honed his language skills considerably.

After all, they are the symbols of the Alliance and usually have the Alliance's endorsement, but when facing various mages, their status isn't much higher. At this moment, in order not to offend them, they can only put some effort into their words.

Fran's tone softened, and she continued:

"In that case, give me back this document. As for how long the Investigator wants to stay here, just tell my friend Elan."

Fran used her Telekinetic Hand to pry open Frey's hand, which was still holding the document, and pulled it towards her.

Before Frey could react, Fran turned around with the document in her hand.

Frey wasn't angered by the rough treatment; he was simply glad he hadn't continued to offend the mage ' Lai '.

Looking back now, the fact that a mage could issue an application for support in occupying territory through the Alliance is hardly that of an ordinary mage.

"Frey, how are you? Why were you spacing out for so long?"

Elan immediately stood up, went to Frey's side, and asked with a somewhat concerned expression.

Frey looked at Elan's face. He felt that he knew him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on how. Nevertheless, he accepted him as a friend.

"I just saw that document... I've never seen a document of this caliber stamped by the Alliance in my entire life, so naturally I was a bit flustered."

Frey made up a random excuse, and the probing look in Elan's eyes vanished the moment he saw this.

"I really don't remember," Elan thought to himself.

Frey glanced around and, finding nothing amiss, was about to stand up from his chair when his hand unconsciously reached for the Investigator's badge on his chest.

The badge was intact, but its position seemed to have changed; it wasn't in Frey's usual spot. He instinctively took the badge off and pinned it back in its usual place.

When Frey looked up again, he saw Elan staring intently at his chest.

"What's wrong."

"No, it's nothing. Let me take you to your place. Aren't you going to stay here for a few more days?"

"Yes."

Frey rubbed his slightly throbbing head, though he now seemed to have all the information and was ready to return to the Alliance.

However, he hadn't yet grasped all the details, so to be on the safe side, he decided to stay for two more days.

He touched his Investigator badge again, though he didn't know why he kept unconsciously touching it lately.

But he still sensed something was amiss. Didn't he remember there being a scorch mark on the back of the badge, left by an Elemental School mage? Why was it gone?

In Lorinvik, the room prepared for Sean was now filled with various books and materials.

The mountains of books were so high that there was barely enough room to walk, but even so, Sean continued to have books brought in.

The nobleman who served the mage Sean brought in three books through the main gate.

He carefully watched the stack of books piled up to the ceiling, constantly being careful not to bump into them.

Otherwise, if these books were to fall, he would face Sean's wrath.

Sean sat on a chair that wasn't yet piled with books, holding the two books in both hands and quickly flipping through them.

Although he finished reading the book very quickly, the worried look on his face showed that he wasn't actually in a very good mood.

He didn't ask these people to put all the books he had finished reading back. Instead, he selected some books that he thought might be valuable, which made up about half of the books that were delivered.

These are the books he thought might hold some clues; perhaps he'll have to come back and search again for the clues he finds later.

However, it was quite clear that he had not found any useful clues, which inevitably made him feel frustrated again.

What exactly is it that I'm looking for?

As the thought flashed through his mind, his body subconsciously began to activate his magic, wanting to cast the prophecy once more here.

However, as soon as the spell model appeared in his mind, he canceled it himself, because it went against his original decision.

"Now is not the time."

The nobleman carefully found an empty space on the table, placed the three thick books on it, and prepared to leave.

Has anything major happened recently?

Sean asked the man who frequently delivered books, even though he had explicitly told Duke Derrick that he should be notified of any important matters.

However, he was still a little worried, so he asked here.

The nobleman froze, unsure of what to say.

If there's anything major happening in Antir these days, it's definitely that Duke Derrick has recently taken control of the entire Lorinvik.

Meanwhile, the next heir of Lorinvik is still in Antir and has no intention of returning.

While this was partly due to Derrick's deliberate attempt to conceal the news, Darian's continued lack of any intention to return the information has led the nobles to question his abilities.

Aside from these, there wasn't much else going on in Lorinvik. Information about which places celebrated which holidays was all written in these books.

"My lord mage, nothing major has happened in Lorinvik lately... at least not for me. The only major event was that my nephew Seras finally returned from Antir."

When he answered, there was no trace of fear in his tone, because he knew that such an answer would not offend the monk before him.

"Okay... you can go now."

Sean slightly raised his eyes and waved his hand, without reminding the person in front of him to be careful not to bump into books or anything like that.

The nobleman walked out cautiously, leaving Sean behind, his hands unconsciously reaching for a spell.

"Should I start repeating the prophecies, or should I firmly believe in the experience left behind by the mages of the past?"

Sean silently calculated the potential consequences of both methods once again.

If it is a prophecy, then the prophecies he receives next might mislead him, but that's only a possibility.

He glanced around again; the room was filled with books.

Sean could easily write a history book about Lorinvik now, and it would be the best one in the world.

However, this also means that Sean has not found any relevant clues at all. Even though he knows a lot of things, they have nothing to do with what he is looking for.

"Do we still need to make a prophecy?"

Sean's hand twitched, revealing his inner turmoil. He was deeply hesitant about whether to actually make a prophecy.

Finally, Sean sighed.

"I still prefer to make multiple predictions; the experiences of other mages are ultimately just that—the experiences of other mages."

He used the most basic Prophecy Spell, and this time he received some exciting information.

"This matter is related to Prince Darian of Lorinvik; perhaps you can find relevant clues through him."