At the request of Dean Alexander, Leo and Alice moved into the upper floors of the Wizard Tower.
Unable to know the specific purpose of the Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard and unable to contact him, Leo could only browse through the Purple Flame Academy's library every day, waiting for the Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard to appear.
Compared to Leo's daily trips to the library, Alice's worry grew heavier. Leo could only try his best to comfort her, and then every few days he would take her out for a walk or stroll, trying to cheer her up.
But these methods still couldn't pull Alice out of her depression; she remained gloomy every day.
Yaoyao, the clever little devil, had a sudden inspiration and asked Alice to tell her how she protected Leo back then.
This caused not only Alice's face to blush slightly, but even Leo perked up his ears.
Given his current strength, he had no idea when Alice started protecting him.
All we know is that their first meeting was when he was thrown into the wild by Gru and was being slaughtered by a pack of wild beasts.
That can't be considered their first meeting, because Leo didn't even see Alice; it was Alice who unilaterally froze him.
"If you weren't so weak and always running near wild beasts, I wouldn't have frozen you in place." Alice rolled her eyes at Leo and then chuckled.
Seeing Alice finally smile, Leo immediately bowed and thanked her profusely, "My dear wife is right. You froze me so that we could deal with the beasts behind us first, allowing me to reach Tiyama City safely."
"I never expected you to be so good to me back then, my wife. It seems you've been eyeing me for a long time."
"Smooth-talking..."
Alice's expression was puffed up, but seeing Leo and Yaoyao trying so hard to make her laugh, her eyes sparkled with happiness.
She never imagined that the young apprentice she once looked down upon would become her lover.
"Master Leo, I knew I would see you again this time."
Just as Leo and Alice were flirting, an urgent voice came from afar.
Leo frowned and turned around to see who was so oblivious as to interrupt him while he was comforting his wife.
As a result, a Level One Elemental Wizard flew over from a distance, stood in front of him, and bowed respectfully.
The standard of the bowing posture can be described as half-kneeling!
Nigel? You've become Level One Formal Wizard?
Leo looked at the newcomer in surprise and asked, "Who is this?" The newcomer was actually Nigel, the city lord of Tiyama City. His father had once promised to guide Leo in learning about elemental knowledge when Leo knew nothing, in exchange for Nigel's protection later on.
Later, his father died at the apprentice level his entire life, while Nigel, three hundred years ago, used his contractual rights during the Black Skull Academy invasion to gain Leo's protection.
Leo single-handedly stopped the Black Skull Academy's invasion, and during his time in Tiyama City, he taught Nigel some of his knowledge.
But Leo never expected that Nigel would become First-Level Wizard and also come to the Purple Flame Academy!
"It's all thanks to your teachings back then, Master. You taught me how to think and the basic requirements to become Official Wizard. I will never forget your kindness."
Nigel looked at Leo as if he were looking at an idol, as if he were looking at the goal he had pursued his entire life.
Leo chuckled awkwardly. He hadn't taught Nigel much; he'd only had Nigel work as his lab assistant for a while. He didn't deserve such praise from Nigel.
However, with Alice by his side, Nigel's flattery clearly made Leo feel very proud.
"Why are you here? Did you also receive orders from the Purple Flame Academy?" Leo asked, puzzled.
Although there are some resident wizards within the academy, there are differences among them. For example, Nigel is primarily a family wizard, which naturally creates a certain distance between him and the Purple Flame Academy. Furthermore, he is a resident wizard in a city adjacent to the academy's territory, making his position extremely important.
They are generally not allowed to leave the city unless absolutely necessary.
"Yes, a year ago, the Purple Flame Academy issued an order to transfer some of the garrison wizards. Since Tiyama City is on the edge of the academy, it wasn't mandatory at the time. But half a month ago, they suddenly ordered all the remaining city-garrison wizards to come to the academy. I arranged the affairs in the city and rushed over," Nigel said.
Leo looked at Alice with a serious expression. Now that even the border guards have been recalled to the academy, this situation is quite unusual!
"Besides this order, have you received any other special orders?" Alice asked Nigel.
Nigel didn't know Alice. Sensing her presence, he realized she was a newly promoted Level-Two Elemental Wizard. When Alice asked him a question, Nigel looked at Leo with a questioning gaze, unsure how to answer.
"This is my wife, just tell the truth."
"I've met the master. Aside from ordering the garrisoned wizards to return to the Purple Flame Academy, there were no other orders, but..." Nigel hesitated at the end.
"What are you hesitating for? Just say what comes to mind," Leo said.
"I don't know if this command is special or not, it's just a bit strange."
"About six months ago, the Purple Flame Academy suddenly issued an order for all town residents to reduce their outings. Such an order wouldn't normally be anything special; I initially thought it was just another conflict between the academies, something we in Tiyama City were already used to."
"But nothing happened for more than half a year; the border remained very quiet."
"This time, all the wizards stationed in the border cities have been recalled, which clearly indicates that there will be no conflict between the academies. This contradicts previous orders, and I don't understand what the academy is trying to achieve with these strange orders."
Nigel looked at Leo and Alice and whispered, lowering his voice as if afraid that other wizards would hear him slandering the Purple Flame Academy.
Despite being First-Level Wizard and the lord of a city, he is nothing compared to the Purple Flame Academy.
If Leo hadn't asked him, he would never have dared to say these things that questioned the academy.
Leo and Alice spent fifty years in the ordinary world, and even developed a small village of a thousand people into a metropolis of four hundred thousand. They were not high and mighty wizards who knew nothing.
Ordinary towns do not restrict the movement of ordinary people. They only restrict their travel when a major crisis is detected. After all, ordinary people have very low resistance to risks and can only survive danger with the help of cities and wizards.
But now, on the one hand, ordinary people are not allowed to leave the town, and on the other hand, all the resident wizards have been transferred back to the Purple Flame Academy. This seems like a very strange thing.
If a crisis were to actually occur, the ordinary people crammed into the city would have no ability to withstand the risks; to call them lambs to the slaughter would be to overestimate their capabilities.
In the Wizard World, without the protection of resident wizards, they are no better than lambs.
"The academy has its own considerations. Now that you're back, try to interact with other wizards. First-Level Wizard is just the lowest level; there's a long road ahead, so never forget to keep learning."
Leo couldn't understand the Purple Flame Academy's orders, and neither could Alice. They could only try to appease Nigel, who was equally confused.
Leo still wanted to maintain a proper teacher's demeanor even towards his former students.
Leo was still quite kind-hearted. He had only taught two apprentices in total. Nigel, who had studied with him for a few days, had already become Level One Elemental Wizard.
The second one is Tao Mia from the Undying Body Academy. She studied with him for several years and became Elemental Body Refinement Wizard.
It's clear he has the talent to be an excellent teacher!
"Thank you for your guidance, Master. I will definitely work hard."
Nigel left reluctantly. He wanted to stay and learn more from Leo, but looking at Leo and his wife, even the most clueless person would know where to go.
Only after becoming First-Level Wizard did he truly realize how illustrious Leo's status was, and what each medal on his chest represented.
It's a pity that I didn't have enough time to learn from Leo back then!!!
What do you think?
Privately, Leo asked Alice.
Ordinary people may not have much ability, but the large number of ordinary people is the cornerstone of an academy. The academy will not allow all ordinary people to lose the protection of wizards. This kind of foolish behavior is shaking the foundation of the academy.
If an unexpected situation occurs, even if half of the academy collapses, it will take at least several hundred years to recover.
These orders were clearly not issued by the Purple Flame Academy. The academy wouldn't be so foolish as to shake its own foundation. Such orders could only have been issued by the Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard in that plane.
"I don't know. The last time I saw you was after you rescued me from Tiger World. I didn't have a good feeling about you then, and I haven't seen you since," Alice said.
Leo carefully recalled what had happened. First, the Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard went missing. Alexander's original words were that the Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard had gone to attend a private gathering of several Stigmata Level, and then he lost contact.
Immediately following the outbreak of riots in the Tiger World, Alice and her companions entered the Tiger World to quell the rebellion, only to find that the situation was far more serious than they had imagined, and they were all caught up in it.
Then came the Black Skull Academy's unprecedented invasion, which plundered the population on a massive scale.
Unable to contact the Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard, and with some high-level wizards trapped in the Tiger World, the Purple Flame Academy is now in its most dangerous moment.
Unable to resist, Nigel used the pact between himself and his father to make himself help him fend off the Black Skull's invasion.
Then, as a reward for completing the mission involving 1,000 kilograms of Planetary Core in Alexander, you enter the Tiger World.
An invasion from a powerful being from another world was discovered in the Tiger World, who forcibly altered the souls of the Tiger Beastmen.
Ultimately, the immense power of the hydrogen bomb repelled the invading forces from another world, reopened the spatial portal that had been closed in one direction, and rescued Alice and the others.
Leo found the events at the time rather strange; everything seemed to have happened in a very coincidental way.
However, because of Gru's death at the time, he didn't investigate the background of these events much. Now it seems that the matter back then was not over, and the current situation is likely a continuation of the events from back then.