Commissioner of the Wizard Alliance Investigation Bureau

The police always arrive last.

With a few soft popping sounds, three figures shrouded in black robes abruptly appeared in the center of the scene. Several spellbooks, emitting light of various colors, floated before them. The spellbooks were slightly open, their pages slowly turning in the faint glow, with tiny, intricate runes tumbling and flowing between them.

Zheng Qing could clearly feel the heavy pressure emanating from between the pages.

It was exactly the same as when Thomas had cast his spell earlier.

"Who cast 'Yin Qi Lei' on the street!" a furious voice came from under a squat black robe's hood. "Don't you know there are two alchemy shops three hundred meters away? Are you trying to blow up Daming Market!"

Beside him, a tall wizard in a black robe silently pressed his spellbook, and four or five thick vines burst from the ground, tightly binding the snoring Pig Demon.

The remaining two wizards in black robes focused their gaze on Zheng Qing.

The sparse pedestrians on the street were watching from a distance; only Zheng Qing was sitting not far from the Pig Demon.

"Wizard Alliance Investigation Bureau, Special Incident Rapid Response Team, registered wizard, Commissioner Andrew." The squat wizard in the black robe nodded to Zheng Qing. "You were at the scene, do you know who cast the lightning spell?"

The squat wizard in the black robe was an Easterner with a baby face and no beard. Long, soft fuzz was clearly visible on his upper lip. A trident symbol hung on his robe.

Zheng Qing obediently pointed towards the street corner.

"Thomas!" The squat wizard in the black robe turned his head, exclaimed in surprise, and said, "Weren't you staying at the academy as a teaching assistant? How do you have time to wander around Four Seasons Market now!"

"You bastard!" Thomas's face fell. His mouth twitched, and he retorted fiercely, "I'm just staying at the academy, not in prison. Why can't I come to the market?"

He put away his brown spellbook, dusted off his robe, and walked quickly towards them.

"It seems you haven't been at the academy these past two days," the squat wizard said, shaking his head meaningfully.

Thomas frowned.

"It's just a Wild Demon, why would you need to cast a lightning spell!" the tall wizard in the black robe interjected. "And why is there a talisman stuck to the Pig Demon's forehead?"

Zheng Qing looked at the talisman stuck between the pig's nose and forehead, pondering that pigs also had foreheads.

"We were in 'Oster's Guardian' earlier," Thomas said as he walked up and crouched down to examine the bound Pig Demon. "This Pig Demon saw us and charged straight at us."

Zheng Qing finally learned the proper name for the light shield that had lit up the street earlier.

Oster's Guardian? It sounded like a protective spell invented by someone named Oster.

"You mean this Wild Demon could see through 'Oster's Guardian'?" The tall wizard shook his head, denying it with certainty. "This spell has been discussed multiple times by the Grand Wizard Council of the Wizard Alliance, and it can even block the vision of Great Demons. A mere Wild Demon wouldn't have this ability."

"So I'm also very curious," Thomas said, pulling out a pile of bottles and jars, a pair of earthy-yellow leather gloves, and some tools like tweezers, bone saws, hammers, knives, and scissors from somewhere.

"I plan to collect some samples and take them back to the academy's lab."

The investigators glanced at each other and nodded silently.

"Those are the gloves you received in your sophomore year, aren't they?" Andrew took off his hood, revealing his baby face, and clicked his tongue. "Such a devoted soul. I heard earlier that she's already married. Didn't you know?"

"I just can't afford new gloves," Thomas replied in a flat tone.

He squatted on the ground, put on the gloves, and skillfully began disassembling the Pig Demon with the scattered tools at hand.

Saliva, blood, brain matter, flesh, hair, alveoli, cartilage, bone, and other connective tissues that he couldn't name were deftly separated and placed into different containers.

Zheng Qing felt a bit uncomfortable watching his focused and relaxed demeanor.

"He might be that fat guy from earlier!" Zheng Qing whispered. "Don't you need to notify his family? Isn't he dead yet?"

The three wizards from the Wizard Alliance Investigation Bureau all looked at him with surprise.

"Any wizard contaminated by demons will degenerate into a true demon. There are no exceptions," Thomas said very clearly and cruelly. "The wizarding world has only one way of dealing with all demons."

Zheng Qing didn't foolishly continue to ask what the method was.

He took a few steps back, moving further away from the dead pig. Then he frantically checked his exposed skin to see if anything unclean had gotten on it.

"Newcomer?" the tall wizard asked Thomas.

"A freshman from this year. Can't get any newer," Thomas said, putting away the bottles and jars, standing up with a smile. "I just set off a small firecracker earlier, and it scared him half to death."

Zheng Qing suppressed the urge to snort from his nose.

"Don't speak so lightly! You just cast a lightning spell! You almost blew everyone on this street away!" Andrew sighed with a very weak tone. "What kind of lunatics are at Starry Sky Academy."

Hearing this familiar sentence, Zheng Qing couldn't help but chuckle.

Andrew turned his head and glanced at him.

Zheng Qing smiled friendly.

"Thomas, there's a joint investigation task at the bureau. Do you want to lend a hand?" Andrew looked back at Thomas.

"No," Thomas refused very bluntly.

"If you agree to this, the bureau can discuss with Daming Market and not pursue your dangerous spellcasting," Andrew lowered his voice and tempted him.

"No time!" Thomas said with a straight face and a snort. "I have official duties, and I need to write an eight-thousand-word interviewer's report tonight. If you need my spellcasting report, I can just finish it."

"Official duties?" Andrew glanced at Zheng Qing, then stepped forward and put his arm around his shoulder. "It's this freshman! He looks so tender! You can take him along to gain some experience. Young man, do you want to see what a Great Demon looks like?"

Zheng Qing glanced at the sleeping wild boar on the ground and shook his head vigorously.

Just a Wild Demon had almost swallowed him. Judging by their words, Great Demons were even more terrifying existences!

He was just a scholar; when encountering monsters, he should run!

There's no reason to go looking for demons.

"Which academy is he from?" Andrew lowered his hand, looking at Thomas with annoyance. "He doesn't have any of the vitality a young person should have."

"Jiuyou Academy. He's the second-ranked scholarship student in the overall freshman rankings this year." Thomas flashed a mocking smile. "I remember you're from Jiuyou Academy too. What was your ranking when you entered the school? Second to last or third to last?"

"A scholar!" Andrew shouted, putting his arm back on Zheng Qing's shoulder. "Quick, take a picture with us! It'll be worth a lot of money later!"

Zheng Qing tried to stand up straight, his face flushed with embarrassment.

"The young man is too shy." Andrew turned to look at him and smiled. "Say whatever you want, don't be so hesitant."

"Can you reimburse me?" Zheng Qing made up his mind and asked loudly. "I used a Calming Talisman to suppress that pig demon just now. Can your investigation bureau reimburse me for it?"

Andrew stared, dumbfounded.