Since the other party had ceased their attack and even stepped out from the shadows, Saul relaxed slightly on the surface.
“Who are you? Are you the true wizards of this place?” he asked.
“Ahem.” The white-haired old man let out two awkward coughs. “Of course not. I’m just a Third Rank… wandering wizard. Na’s Clawn. This is my apprentice, Swan, a freshly advanced First Rank.”
Third Rank? So, a Third Rank apprentice, not a Third-Rank True wizard.
But then the man called himself a wandering wizard. Although the term could be used broadly for all wizards and wizard apprentices, Saul had the feeling the man was intentionally hiding his identity.
Just then, the boy Swan, who had been struck by Saul’s pebble, limped over to stand beside the older wizard apprentice, glaring at Saul with indignation.
The boy looked no older than eleven or twelve—clearly younger than Saul.
His pant leg was torn at the shin, revealing a patch of scraped skin.
Saul offered Swan a faint smile. “Sorry, I’m a bit jumpy. If soone’s watching from the shadows, I tend to strike first.”
Swan’s eyes widened, and he was about to speak, but his ntor raised a hand to stop him.
“Swan’s only First Rank. No need to apologize to him. To spy on a high-level wizard like you—letting him live was already showing rcy.”
At those words, Swan’s expression turned aggrieved.
The tension finally eased sowhat. The older Third Rank apprentice, Clawn, pointed toward the nearby manor.
“You here to try your luck too?”
“Try my luck?” Saul echoed.
“The Ralph Estate.” Clawn gestured toward the frost-bitten manor behind him. “So years ago, an out-of-town rchant was duped into buying the place. But he didn’t know this had once belonged to a long-standing wizard family.”
“When the rchant left on business, his family and every servant vanished overnight. Since then, the estate has beco the most terrifying legend in the entire town of Samp.”
“Ordinary folk living in a wizard’s forr ho… that’s just asking to die. But there’s no way he didn’t look into the place before buying. Sounds like soone deliberately hid the truth,” Saul murmured after a mont’s thought.
Clawn’s eyes lit up. “Exactly what I thought. Over the past two years, that rchant’s spent a lot hiring adventurers to go in and retrieve the valuables supposedly left inside. But none of them ever made it back. Just half a month ago, he even convinced a local noble to send in a team of knights…”
Saul suddenly cut in. “He’s been sending people in for two years straight? He can’t still be unaware that this was once a wizard’s estate, right?”
Clawn shrugged. “Of course he knows. But what’s inside that manor is too important to him. So he keeps earning money and hiring people. When no adventurers were willing to go anymore, he turned to stronger ones—knights. But they didn’t co out either.”
Saul narrowed his eyes. Sothing felt off.
Even a wealthy rchant couldn’t afford to waste money like this forever.
And what could possibly be in that estate to make him hold on for two years without giving up?
He glanced at Clawn, still smiling, and the sulking boy Swan. “Were you two hired by the rchant as well?”
Swan muttered, “He’s just a normal guy with a bit of money. No way he could afford to hire Teacher.”
Clawn replied, “Call it a partnership. He gave intel on what happened and the layout of the estate, and I agreed to bring back one item for him.”
“And you're telling all this because…” Saul frowned.
“You’re from the Wizard Tower, aren’t you?” Clawn asked cheerfully, directly calling out Saul’s identity.
Swan blinked in disbelief, looking between his ntor and Saul, his earlier dissatisfaction replaced with fear.
Saul neither confird nor denied it.
Seeing Saul remain silent, Clawn didn’t press.
“I’m guessing you’ve already figured it out. I want to invite you to explore the estate together.”
“Duxi—that’s the na of that rchant—he’s hired plenty of powerful people over the past two years, even so First Rank apprentices. But none made it out. Not just that—even the villagers living near the estate are starting to be affected.”
“I’ve analyzed the strange phenona in this place. After fernting over two years, the situation has beco much more dangerous. That also ans there must be wizard-related remnants left by the fallen Bloodthorn family.”
“But the most important thing is the secret buried deep in this estate. The Bloodthorn family once produced true wizards—there will definitely be unpredictable dangers within. That’s why I suggest we cooperate. It’ll be safer.”
Listening to Clawn’s explanation, Saul turned to gaze through the crumbling wall at the interior of the estate.
The entire manor was shrouded under heavy, dark clouds, and even the wind there seed fiercer than outside.
Suddenly, Saul thought he heard sothing. He perked his ears, listening carefully, but only the howling wind t him.
Clawn was still waiting for his reply.
“I’m open to cooperating,” Saul said, “but I suggest we enter separately first. This place is too big—moving together would be inefficient.”
Clawn frowned. If they didn’t move together, how was it a cooperation?
Saul smiled. “From here, you can see the tallest building inside the estate. That should be the manor’s main residence—the castle. Normally, that’s where the most important things are kept. But just to be safe, we should check the surrounding areas. Let’s each enter from different sides, scout the area, and if things seem dangerous, we don’t go too deep. After an hour, we et in front of the castle, share intel, and decide whether to go inside or check other spots.”
His proposal wasn’t made on a whim. Through the broken wall, Saul had vaguely sensed that the layout of the estate contained traces of a magical formation. But due to age and damage, he couldn’t yet discern its properties.
Out of caution, he wanted to understand the manor’s full layout first. If he could analyze the formation’s rules and nature, perhaps he wouldn’t need to blindly search to uncover the secrets within.
Now that Saul had taken the lead in the conversation, the boy Swan looked nervously at his teacher.
This ti, Clawn didn’t hesitate long and agreed to Saul’s suggestion.
“Alright. According to the intel I got, the valuables are all inside the castle. But you make a good point—wizards mustn’t only focus on the danger ahead. Analyzing the surroundings is important too. So…”
“Shall we act now?”
“Now?” Clawn was slightly startled.
As they spoke, Saul once again heard sothing, but when he focused, the sound vanished.
He checked his condition—his magic flow was stable, ntal form was calm, and his diary was still pretending to sleep.
That sound just now, he hadn’t imagined it.
That only made him more curious and cautious about the Ralph Estate.
“If we’ve decided to go in, of course we move now. What, are you waiting for soone else?”
(End of Chapter)
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