[Poor Vivian Yang]

A mage. A Grand Mage of at least the eighth rank. A girl mage who looked no older than eighteen. A mage who was shy and nervous whenever she spoke, like a sheltered young lady stepping out for the first time.

Most importantly, she was a little stutterer.

The people around them could not help widening their eyes. Looking at the girl whose face had gone red, whose pitiful big eyes were nearly brimming with tears, everyone seemed to lower the swords in their hands without thinking.

This girl did not look threatening at all.

Even Du Wei was stunned for a moment... Was this girl, who stuttered when she spoke and looked as timid as a little rabbit, really an eighth-rank mage?

But that robe, and that badge, could not possibly be faked! Du Wei knew that the badges issued by the Magic Association all came with anti-counterfeiting measures.

After clearing his throat, Du Wei loosened his grip on the Fear Illusion Demon's finger slightly and glanced at the delicate, timid girl. "Your Excellency Mage, are you saying this little thing belongs to you?"

"Y-yes... ah, n-no~~ no." The girl finally burst into tears. Right before everyone's eyes, tears streamed down her face. "Th-this is m-my t-teacher's. C-can you p-please g-g-give it back to me...?"

Give it back?

Du Wei truly did not want to return it!

Why should he? This little thing had thoroughly toyed with their entire group and left everyone in a miserable state. Du Wei genuinely wanted to slaughter it with one stroke and remove its horn as Solskja had suggested.

But it seemed this female mage had come looking for it... Its rightful owner was already here. Could he really keep it without shame?

And if he tried to play rogue... she was an eighth-rank mage!

Though this girl looked incredibly weak.

"Um... Your Excellency Mage, p-please don't be in such a hurry." Du Wei patiently softened his voice, speaking gently as though coaxing a little girl. "If this little thing truly is yours..."

"O-of c-course!" As if hearing a sliver of hope, the female mage vigorously wiped away her tears and looked at Du Wei with hopeful eyes. Her large, innocent eyes were limpid and clear, and the pure pleading in them made it impossible to harden one's heart against such a pitiable girl.

"Don't rush." Du Wei spoke slowly. "Even if this little thing is yours, as its owner, I believe you have an obligation to take responsibility for the mistakes it has committed, don't you?"

Panic appeared on the female mage's face. She gave Du Wei a timid glance. "M-m-may I a-ask, Y-your Excellency...?"

"This little thing is a high-level Magic Beast, isn't it?" Du Wei said sternly. "As the owner of this Magic Beast, you failed to keep proper watch over it and let it run all the way into the Empire's southern heartland! Do you have any idea how much chaos a Magic Beast wandering into a densely populated region can cause?!"

Watching his young master put on a stern face and lecture an eighth-rank mage in such a convincing manner, Solskja desperately wanted to laugh, yet did not dare.

The other party... was a Grand Mage!

Looking at the badge pinned to the girl's chest, Solskja swallowed hard. For a low-rank mage like him, the greatest dream of his entire life was to someday advance in rank and wear a golden badge like that!

"Ah... th-th-this..." Guilt appeared on the female mage's face, and she lowered her head. "M-my teacher w-went on a l-long journey. I-I-I was r-responsible for watching Chirp Chirp, b-but it r-r-ran away while m-my older sister was c-coming to visit me... I-I-I've been l-looking for it for m-many, many days."

"Your mistake cannot serve as an excuse for the wrongs it committed." Du Wei declared in a righteous, booming voice. "Do you know how much panic such a high-level Magic Beast caused by appearing near this peaceful little town? All these brave soldiers present came into these mountains to capture it! And do you know how much harm your little pet caused our brave soldiers just now?!"

"..." The female mage could not say anything. She merely looked at Du Wei with guilt and pleading in her eyes.

Du Wei settled inwardly. This female mage was probably the sort of young lady who rarely left home and knew nothing of the ways of the world. Flowers raised in a greenhouse were always easy to fool, weren't they?

"This thing caused panic in the region! The soldiers bled and sweated to capture it here, all to protect the peace of this place! Yet the moment you arrive, you want to take it away. Tell me, does such conduct truly leave you without even a shred of guilt?"

As Du Wei spoke, the female mage's head sank so low it nearly touched her chest.

Only after Du Wei had finished did the female mage finally summon her courage and carefully speak. "I-I-I-I'm willing to a-apologize t-to you for i-its actions... S-s-sorry..."

"Keep your apology!" Du Wei pressed his advantage without mercy. "If apologies were useful, what would we need the police for?"

"P-police... wh-what are those?"

Du Wei coughed, concealing his embarrassment. He had misspoken in the heat of the moment; this world had no such thing as police.

"What I mean is..." Du Wei puffed out his chest and said loudly, "Can a simple 'sorry' compensate for the blood and sweat shed by our brave soldiers?"

In truth, he was bullying the little girl rather badly with those words.

The search parties that had entered the mountains had not actually shed much blood. That fierce battle just now, that scene of flesh and blood flying everywhere, had all been an illusion. Once the illusion was broken, everyone had merely fainted once and suffered no real injuries. At most, they would have a few nightmares when they slept in the days to come. There had not been much loss at all.

The only person who had truly been injured was the female knight, Ruolin.

Naturally, Du Wei would not waste such a fine opportunity to negotiate terms. He took two steps aside at the right moment, revealing the female knight being supported by her subordinates behind him.

Ruolin's face was somewhat pale, a sign of weakness from sudden blood loss, though she was generally fine. But seeing a woman like Ruolin unable even to stand steadily, her hand wrapped in white gauze and her hair disheveled, truly made the female mage feel even more guilty.

"C-can I c-compensate you for something?" The female mage's eyes reddened again.

Du Wei sighed. A glint of satisfaction flashed through his eyes, and then he glanced at Solskja beside him. After discussing potion-making with Du Wei every day for some time now, Solskja had come to understand a little of his young master's temperament. Seeing the look in Du Wei's eyes, he immediately understood. He stepped forward two paces, gave a slight bow, and said slowly, "Esteemed Grand Mage."

The girl looked at Solskja's mage robe and immediately returned the bow. "M-Mage S-sir."

At that instant, Solskja could not help blushing... He had probably never imagined in his entire life that an eighth-rank Grand Mage would one day respectfully call him "Mage Sir."

"Well, I believe your little pet has already caused damage to the region. If we simply let it go like this, I fear the soldiers who suffered because of it would find that difficult to accept. Furthermore, my master, Young Master Du Wei, eldest son of Count Raymond of the great Rowling Family, was also badly frightened in this incident today. Therefore, I believe some punishment for this little thing is necessary."

"N-no, no... n-no. I-if my t-teacher r-returns and s-sees it s-suffering, h-he'll p-p-punish me..." Sweat had appeared on the female mage's forehead. "I-if m-my teacher g-gets angry, y-you will also..."

"Esteemed Grand Mage, may I ask who your teacher is? I truly cannot think of another mage in the Empire capable of teaching a disciple of Grand Mage rank." Solskja began probing for information.

The female mage looked troubled. "Th-this... I-I-I can't s-say."

Solskja frowned slightly, then quickly smiled again. "Then at the very least, you should tell us your name, shouldn't you?"

"Ah..." The female mage relaxed. That was a question she could answer. "M-my name is Vivian Yang. E-e-eighth-rank mage of the Magic Association." After saying that, the girl suddenly recalled the most basic etiquette her teacher had taught her. Her face reddened, and she hurriedly gave a small bow, asking politely, "M-may I also ask y-your name, e-e-esteemed M-Mage Sir?"

This time, Solskja truly blushed. "I... am Solskja, Magic Association... o-one... um, a first-rank mage."

By the time he reached the last few words, Solskja almost wished he could find a hole in the ground and crawl into it.

To an eighth-level mage, a first-level mage was practically no different from an ant! Many famous mages who had reached the rank of Grand Mage even had disciples who were second- or third-level mages.

To Grand Mages who had already risen into the upper ranks of the mage world, a first-level mage was probably no different from a magic apprentice in their eyes.

Yet this pure-hearted girl seemed not to understand any of that. She still bowed in full accordance with proper etiquette. That immediately made Solskja think much more favorably of her.

See that! An eighth-level mage was actually bowing to me, Solskja!

"Then, please state the sincerity of your compensation," Du Wei spoke at exactly the right moment.

"Th-this..." The female mage looked troubled. After thinking for a moment, she untied a small pouch from inside her robe and opened it. "I-I-I have... h-here... a piece of w-water orchid diamond. A-although it's only m-mid-grade, b-but..."

The more she spoke, the worse her stutter became. In the end, helplessly, she could only hold up a fist-sized piece of water orchid diamond in both hands and look pleadingly at Du Wei.

Water orchid diamond??

Solskja was moved! Water orchid diamond was one of the finest magical materials for water-element magic! This crystal was excellent for making scrolls or storing magic! If a skilled alchemist could set this water orchid diamond into a magic wand, it could allow a water-element mage to save at least a third of their magic power when casting spells! It could even speed up spellcasting!

The water orchid diamond was crystal-clear, and it was absolutely of mid-grade quality or higher. Judging by its value alone, it was probably worth at least several thousand gold coins!

Any water-element mage would be willing to pay that price—or even several times more—to obtain such a thing!

Solskja opened his mouth, just about to speak, when Du Wei behind him pressed a hand onto his shoulder. Du Wei wore a cold expression, even frowning as he narrowed his eyes at the female mage. "Oh, just one piece of water orchid diamond?"

The female mage blushed. Her gaze turned somewhat flustered, and she could not help feeling guilty inside.

Sigh, this water orchid diamond may be mid-grade, but... it's something I don't need. I'm not a water-element mage, so keeping it is useless... How could I, Vivian, do something so despicable as compensating someone with something useless to me?

May the almighty gods forgive me!

The female mage reproached herself inwardly, then hurriedly took out another small emerald-green object from her pouch. Green light flowed across it like rippling water, yet it seemed soft to the touch. The female mage said anxiously, "A-a-and this... t-this too..."

Solskja felt as if his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets!

"G-g-green magic potion!" In his excitement, even Solskja seemed to have caught her stuttering.

Du Wei raised an eyebrow. With his extensive knowledge, he knew what this green magic potion was.

This was a treasure every mage dreamed of possessing!

This magic potion replenished a mage's depleted magic power! When a mid-level mage exhausted all their magic power in battle, carrying such a small bottle with them would allow them to instantly restore it to full!

And judging by the large pouch in the female mage's hand... it could probably hold at least seven or eight bottles!

This stuff was extraordinarily difficult to make, and its raw materials were also extremely hard to obtain. More importantly, it was consumable—use a little, and there was a little less!

Solskja felt his throat go dry.

Yet Du Wei still looked displeased, continuing to frown at the female mage. "Is that all? Are the blood and sweat of our brave soldiers worth only this much?"

Tears swirled in the girl's beautiful large eyes. She grabbed at her hair, thought for a moment, then rummaged out a small yellow bead and timidly offered it over.

"Th-this... I-I-I made this fire-avoiding bead myself."

Du Wei replied, "And what about my female knight's injuries?"

The female mage took out another handful of magical beast magic cores! More than a dozen low- and mid-level magical beast cores, glittering in all sorts of colors, were extorted away by Du Wei.

"And what about the fright I suffered personally?" Du Wei seemed to have transformed into an extortionist thug.

The female mage emptied out her pack and brought out her final treasures... seven or eight magic scrolls!

And Solskja nearly fainted after one glance... these were all mid-level magic scrolls! Not some low-level rubbish! Every single one was a mid-level magic scroll!! Seven or eight of these would have been enough to provoke a duel between two mages!!

Seeing that his young master still showed no sign of nodding, even Solskja felt that his conscience could not bear it!

The simple, innocent, even somewhat foolish female mage had handed over "compensation" worth enough to nearly buy an entire city!

Yet Du Wei still would not nod. The female mage began to cry, timidly turning out her empty pack. "I-I-I-I only b-b-brought th-this much."

Demon!!

At that moment, Solskja beside him, Knight Robert, and everyone from the Roland Family could not help sighing. Seeing the pitiful female mage crying, they even began to feel guilty.

Yet their young master still looked utterly unwilling to let the matter rest... Wasn't his appetite a little too enormous?

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