An undeserved calamity

"Aurora, winner of the Silver Alchemy Award, a Second Order Mage Alchemy School, I know your mentor..."

"It seems someone reported you before, but I'm skeptical of the allegations."

Alva personally took charge this time; in fact, it was he who spread the news about ' Lai ' in that academic exchange program.

Otherwise, the higher-ups of the Alchemy School wouldn't have known that ' Lai ' had actually participated in this academic exchange program. Who would have the time to investigate who else was on the program?

Aurora also used this channel to interfere with the progress of Gareth's project, forcing Gareth to stay at the Thirteenth for a long time, and also getting Aurora's mentor involved a little.

Aurora could only tremble, not knowing how she had been reported, but from her words, it was clear that it was nothing serious.

She nodded slowly, then asked somewhat fearfully.

"Am I going to be subjected to Magic Interrogation?"

She had heard that so-called Magic Interrogation was not a good thing; it was probably just using Suggestion and mind control spells controlled by the Alliance to interrogate the subject.

The person being interrogated will certainly not have an easy time during this process, and Magic Interrogation can even leave serious aftereffects.

Furthermore, Magic Interrogation can cause the person being interrogated to unconsciously reveal their secrets, and may even say things they shouldn't, even if that wasn't the original purpose of the interrogation.

However, once Investigator learn of your other crimes, they won't ignore them but will faithfully record them, adding another charge to your record.

Aurora had heard countless stories like this in the mage community: stories about suddenly revealing they had a shipment of goods sold to forces outside the Alliance, or claiming they killed a mage and escaped capture, and so on...

She was also very scared. Although she hadn't done so many heinous things, just the fact that she had instructed her supervisor to interfere with the academic project was already considered disruptive.

Furthermore, she had done things for her mentor before without carefully checking whether they violated the rules, since she never imagined she would one day be caught and interrogated.

"Don't worry, out of consideration for our old friendship, and with that Silver Alchemy Award in your possession, that's enough to give these Investigator no reason to use magic for interrogation."

Alwen reassured Aurora, but it was the latter that truly had the desired effect.

The Alliance's preferential treatment of award recipients is written into various rules and regulations, even if the award recipient has been listed as a major suspect.

Its purpose, of course, is to protect the recipients of these awards. And since even Aurora, who possesses a Silver Alchemy Award, can escape magical interrogation, it is naturally impossible for ' Lai ' to use magic to interrogate her.

If it is truly necessary, then using magic to interrogate ' Lai ' would even require the Alliance Council to treat it as a normal proposal and vote on it, to see if the Council is willing to make an exception.

"However, you're now involved in a major case within the Alliance. I know you may be innocent, but you need to reveal as much as you know."

Alwen's expression turned serious. The matter was so important that he couldn't even reveal the information to his friend's disciple here, and he could only laugh off his friend's questions outside the interrogation room.

Aurora hadn't done anything wrong in the project, and immediately explained why she had participated and what had happened within it.

After leaving the interrogation room, Alwen's first thought wasn't whether Aurora was deeply involved in the matter, but rather why Bohan's side of things was so interesting.

"From this, I can tell that the mage Gareth has definitely been smuggling goods. He hasn't come back to report on so many important matters; it seems he still intends to take the project team over to continue smuggling..."

Alwen chuckled twice, then fell into confusion again.

"First came the three-tiered battle, which triggered a flood that swept through the entire city. Wasn't Bohan located on high ground? There are so many wells in the city, where did the flood come from?"

"Then, for several days, the battle between the third-tier warriors raged fiercely. The entire city was filled with the whooshing sounds of Third Order Professional flying through the air, and explosions echoed everywhere..."

Actually, this makes sense. After all, those third-tier warriors in Bohan weren't normal third-tier warriors. On this continent that values individual strength, it's hard to guess what kind of things these Third Order Professional did to be expelled.

Third Order Professional without any major illnesses is unlikely to be expelled from their original faction to Bohan; a Tier 3 professional is considered a backbone force in the Alliance.

It's understandable that these Third Order Professional would fight over trivial matters, but what surprised Alwen the most was the following incident.

"What does it mean that a follower of the Elephant of Mountains' died in meditation in Bohan, and at the time of his death, there was a phantom image of the Elephant of Mountains in the sky?!"

Fran certainly knew what was going on, but how could Second Order Mage like Aurora, who spent all her time in the Tranquil Hotel, possibly know the details?

Therefore, Aurora could only take the words of the city lord that had been spread outside as true. Aurora didn't understand Priest and didn't know if there were really phantoms of Deity appearing after Priest's death.

She even found it rather grand, wishing she could have such a huge reaction after she died.

Out of fear and worry, Aurora also voiced the last part of her thoughts.

"It seems something bad has happened over in Bohan. The Elephant of Mountains is also one of the Deity besieging Number Three Floating City."

"I need you to go and see what's going on."

Alwen was also slowly pondering the information Aurora had given him about Philly.

To be honest, he had a preconceived notion that ' Lai ' had indeed kidnapped Philly to create an opportunity for his accomplices.

However, on the surface, it seems that Philly herself was unaware of this, and ' Lai ' even felt comfortable allowing her to contact Aurora.

However, this does not rule out the possibility that ' Lai ' is a suspect. It is also possible that ' Lai ' really did deceive everyone, or that Aurora is an accomplice.

"We haven't obtained any crucial evidence." Alwen frowned. In fact, Aurora had said a lot during the interrogation, but there was no supporting evidence to corroborate ' Lai's ' actions.

On the contrary, judging from Aurora's description, it seems that ' Lai ' is indeed diligent and conscientious in his role as a mentor mage, without any problems.

Finally, Alwen wrote the following comment on a form.

"The target (Aurora) is suspected of being an accomplice in this impersonation operation. Her close interaction with the suspect and her motives are somewhat plausible, but she remains a suspect."

"Given that he possesses the Silver Alchemy Award, no Magic Interrogation will be conducted."

After Alwen finished writing the interrogation record, a door next to him slowly opened, and the choked voice of a female mage could be heard from inside.

"Uh... ah... uh... um..."

An Investigator stepped out, and immediately lowered his head upon seeing Alwen.

"Lord Alwen, we just conducted Magic Interrogation of Philly, but due to a misjudgment of the dosage, this result occurred..."

"This is our interrogation record."

There are no awards in Philly's Profile. As for the title of Champion Mage in the Champion Mage Challenge, let's not even mention that this title is inferior to those academic awards.

With such a major incident occurring in Number Three Floating City, who would still have the mind to write the title of Champion Mage into Philly's Profile?

So, unsurprisingly, Philly received the treatment due to a major suspect, and was subjected to a set of Magic Interrogation using the highest level of torture for Second Order Mage.

"A major mistake! This mage is only a First Order Mage. Why did you administer such a high dose? This could affect the interrogation results!"

The dosage is not necessarily better the higher it is. Excessive dosage will cause the target to start talking nonsense very quickly and become unable to stay conscious. The negative effects will also take a long time to subside.

"We studied Philly's Profile and assumed that someone impersonating the champion of the Champion Mage Challenge would at least be a Second Order Mage."

"Moreover, they won the championship in the Second Order Mage Champion Mage Challenge, which we consider to be among the strongest Second Order Mage."

"Therefore, we concluded that the person being impersonated was at least a relatively powerful Second Order Mage."

Alwen sighed. "Go back and revise the Profile, then submit them to me for review. Only after I've reviewed them can you proceed to the next step."

"Yes."

Alwen lowered his head and looked at the interrogation record in his hand. Just opening the first page made him almost lose his composure.

[Regarding the specific details of the reported case, the target is most likely the mage who defected immediately after winning the Champion Mage Champion Mage Challenge title.]

[The following measures have been taken: Light-Effect Stasis Field to restrain Third Order Mage, a ten-ton fixed stone statue restraint device, and all joints of the target's body have been magically sealed.]

The specific interrogation process is as follows:

The target was very nervous before the interrogation began; his forehead was covered in sweat, and he kept trying to struggle.

The question was, "Why did you leave the Number Three Floating City immediately after obtaining the title of Champion Mage?"

The target paused for a moment, and even though his body was restrained, it still trembled three times.

The target replied, "What?"

Question: "Why did you leave the Number Three Floating City after the Champion Mage Challenge?"

The target hesitated for a moment, then his expression became impatient.

The target replied, "I haven't even been to the Number Three Floating City, how can I leave...? I still want to watch the Champion Mage Challenge!!"

The questioner asked, "I'll repeat myself, why did you leave Number Three Floating City immediately? Please think carefully before answering."

The target replied, "I want to go to Number Three Floating City. I'm in Bohan. Can I fly? How do I get there?!"

The interrogator believed the target was uncooperative, so he suggested using Magic Interrogation, which was unanimously approved by the Investigator present.

The target fell unconscious after using the third spell; the interrogation was temporarily suspended.

This was the complete transcript of the interrogation. Alwen looked up, causing the Investigator to look away somewhat guiltily.

Using magic to interrogate such targets is actually quite normal. With magic available, who would want to outwit a suspect? Just use magic, right?

Therefore, in interrogations, the probability of using Magic Interrogation is probably over 80%, and most of the cases where Magic Interrogation is not used are because it is not applicable.

How is he doing now?

The Investigator, forcing a smile, replied, "Based on the examination, he will likely be unconscious for two or three days. For the best results from the magical interrogation, we recommend waiting ten days after the target recovers before proceeding with the next round."

This operational error was clearly the fault of the Investigator at the time. Alwen merely glared at them twice before saying:

Is the "light effect freeze field still active"?

"Still there."

"Turn this thing off. The target doesn't need to move; it's just a First Order Mage. Giving her this Third Order Mage stuff is a waste of the Alchemy School's assets."