The Silent River ran clear and bright, like a mirror.
The patrol officer leaned over the railing, staring at that mirror as he kept trying out new smiles and pouts. He felt that he ought to have some aspirations and could not keep using the same expression for every member of the press.
Assuming there were still any reporters planning to interview him.
"Tut." Mr. Robert looked at his reflection in the water, shook his head, and complained, "The water's a little too low. I can't see very clearly... It would be better if it were higher."
The river seemed to hear his complaint. It swayed gently and rose a little.
The patrol officer gazed happily at his much clearer reflection.
"Higher, a little higher." He pulled a newspaper from his cloak pocket and compared the smiling face reflected in the water with what he had in mind, completely unaware that the water level was slowly rising.
Not until blue ripples soaked the tips of his shoes and shattered the smile he had just adjusted.
The patrol officer angrily looked up toward the distant river surface—he had assumed some wizard who had just received a curse mark from Genie's Hut was playing a prank on him. Those tricksters who had only just gained their powers loved doing such pointless things.
Then the smile at the corner of his mouth froze.
Pairs of orange-yellow, sickly green, and pale eyes emerged from the water, staring fixedly toward the shore through the thin morning mist. Beneath the clear river water, dark silhouettes and savage hides could vaguely be seen behind those eyes.
A savage, violent aura rushed at him.
Robert Li bit his tongue.
It hurt!!
He drew a deep breath, flung out a magical alarm, then grabbed the Copper Whistle in his