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In the basement of a manor at the suburb, Fernando sat in a corner with a grim face, and Lauren paced back and forth anxiously, sneaking out now and then for investigation.

As a matter of fact, even the owner of the manor did not know that the evil sorcerers had turned his basement into their bureau.

“The night watchers were deceived by our arrangements and chased after the wrong direction.” After a while, Lauren reentered the basement. Avoiding several traps, he told Fernando what he learned. “Like how we rehearsed before, the other people went to the other bureaus in different groups. As for the loss of sorcerers and apprentices, we can’t calculate until this thing is over.”

Fernando did not nod or shake his head. “What I want to know is why the black-clawed dogs can find the place.”

A horrifying storm seemed to be brewing in his red eyes. Even Lauren, as a friend who was most familiar with him, couldn’t help but step back unconsciously.

Lauren said gloomily, “That’s exactly my question too. That bureau was very inconspicuous. We had never used it before. Also, we found no sign of being followed by the black-clawed dogs. I think that some of us might’ve joined the black-clawed dogs.”

He did not sound shocked at all. Betrayal, slaughter, and escape were the themes at the end of the War of Dawn.

“Investigate in secret but do not make a fuss. A good traitor might even ‘help’ us. Also, everybody has been separated to avoid the enemy now. Nobody knows the location of the other groups except us. The traitor cannot cause any greater losses.” Fernando was surprisingly calm. Lauren had thought that he would burst into fury and torture the traitor to avenge Ingrid.

Lauren nodded. “I know what to do. Honestly speaking, Fernando, I thought that you would lose control of your temper.”

There was no smile on Fernando’s face. “My fury is waiting to burst out at an appropriate moment.”

He secretly sighed to himself. Although Lauren and he had known each other for years as old friends, the guy did not really know him. It was true that he was picky, impatient, and downright a roarer, but he could control himself and understand the situation. Although he barely admitted it, he was never stubborn in front of unquestionable facts and reasons. He knew what to do very well at such a moment. His fury would be gradually accumulated until the day it was unleashed.

“Judging from the signs during the attack, it’s ‘vulture’ who commanded the squad of night watchers tonight.” Lauren shifted the topic to their ambusher. “He has been after us for a long time.”

“Vulture” was their scornful nickname for a senior-rank night watcher. The guy was a level-eight radiant knight, ranking top thirty among the night watchers. His codename was “Predator”.

“Yes. At the end of our evacuation, he was hit by my ‘Shadow Arrow’ but also broke my defense. Had it not been for Spell Trigger, perhaps I would’ve needed to find a way to transform into a lich.” Fernando confirmed Lauren’s speculation before he said with insuppressible anger, “We need to make a plan to secretly kill him so that the night watchers, reverend, and knights who are after us will be scared and work less hard!”

“Assassinating a ranked night watcher will raise the retaliation of the Church. Chances are that legends will be deployed to chase us. Are you willing to abandon everything here?” Lauren did not quite agree with Fernando’s idea. The Union of Sorcerers was still too weak. It needed to avoid attention and grew up quietly.

“Because we are weak, we need to do something big so that the sorcerers will know that it is hopeful to follow us. After all, now that a traitor has appeared, we have to give up most of Paphos County. Also, our next target is very clear, which is to attract the nobles who are dissatisfied with the Church and hide behind them,” Fernando said, as if he knew what was on his friend’s mind. His hair was rather messy, suggesting that the previous battle with the Predator was not so easy.

Lauren hesitated. “Let me think about it. We should discuss it again after we pick Douglas up.”

“Alright,” Fernando replied briefly.

When he watched Fernando who fell quiet, Lauren seemed to see a human-shaped storm.

...

The bright sun, the clear sky, and the vague stink of the sea delivered by the wind filled the Patray Port with a charm that was different from any other places.

Fernando and Lauren, pretending to be merchants who had come to fetch their goods, paced back and forth in a fixed area in the port, glancing at where the boats were docked. According to Gallos and Douglas’ deal, it was their rendezvous, and the white gloves and the red handkerchiefs marked their identity.

A classic boat slowly approached. Both Fernando and Lauren beamed with interest. It was exactly the boat that Douglas was on, but it was one day late. However, they were not very surprised, as the weather in the Storm Strait was terrible, and it was very normal for boats to be late.

“Black-clawed dogs!” Suddenly, Fernando’s expression changed. He saw a few men, covered in capes, walk to the place where the boat was being docked with dozens of knights and squires. Their unique black gloves indicated their identities.

Lauren was rather grim. “Is it a regular examination, or is it specifically against Douglas?”

Ever since the fall of Antiffler, more and more sorcerers had come to Holm, and the Church paid more attention to the examination of boats. However, since their personnel and attention were not enough, most sorcerers could still successfully hide their identities. As long as it was not specific, an archmage wouldn’t fear such examinations at all.

“How would I know?” Fernando roared in a low voice. “We have to see how strong the night watchers are.”

At this moment, a merchant in clean clothes walked in from outside of the port. The two of them immediately stopped talking, pretending that they were waiting for their goods.

“Good day, sirs, have your goods arrived?” The merchant was tall and strong, probably in his thirties. His nose was high, his black hair was thick, and his face was square but not exactly handsome. However, his deep blue eyes gave him a unique vibe that Fernando was quite familiar with.

Lauren chuckled. “Not yet. Our cargo must’ve been blocked by the storm. What about yours?”

He talked as enthusiastically as a real merchant.

“My goods have arrived. It’s right here,” the merchant said with a smile. His voice was as comforting as a spring breeze.

“What?” Lauren was dazed.

Fernando, however, immediately realized it. He asked in a low voice, “Douglas?”

Lauren looked at the guy, stunned. He finally noticed that the young merchant was also wearing white gloves with a red handkerchief in his pocket.

“Yes. Are you Gallos’ friends?” The young merchant admitted his identity frankly and asked warmly, not fearing that they were night watchers at all.

“Yes. Why... Why did you come from the outside?” Lauren was rather confused.

Douglas chuckled. “I got off the boat in advance and came from the bottom of the ocean. I’ve waited for you at the port for a day.”

His smile was as clean as an innocent kid.

No wonder he’s not afraid of night watchers or ambushes. He must’ve examined the environment carefully. Lauren was immediately enlightened.

“Our goods have been delayed. We should come again tomorrow. Let’s have some drinks and talk to each other,” Fernando said like a businessman, slightly disgusted by Douglas, because the guy was also one foot taller than him, and he was not nearly as skinny as Lauren was!

When the night watchers examined the boat, the three sorcerers did not attract any attention and left the place like any other merchants on the port. They took a wagon and returned to the capital of Paphos County.

After changing a few wagons, they finally had a member of the Union of Sorcerers as the coachman. It was not until this moment that Fernando and Lauren finally formally introduced themselves.

“I am Fernando Brastar, the leader of the Union’s branch in Paphos County. You can call me Fernando. I do not like my last name.” Fernando secretly sniffed.

“Fernando Brastar?” Douglas repeated, raising his voice before he smiled. “The ‘Dark Storm’, ranking the 296th on the Cleansing List?”

Lauren nodded on behalf of Fernando, implying that it was exactly him.

“You made it to the Cleansing List just after you arrived at the senior rank, and you reached the top 300 after you advanced into the seventh circle. Fernando, you must be significantly stronger than the regular senior-rank sorcerers,” Douglas complimented with a smile.

In this period, most of the archmages and senior-rank sorcerers of the Magic Empire still lived. There were almost eight hundred people on the Cleansing List.

Fernando chuckled. “I’ve only grasped and modified some spells and killed a red robe. I am certainly not as good as you, a ninth-circle archmage.”

Not bothered by Fernando’s subconscious tone of comparison, Douglas said with a peaceful smile, “Me? I am not even on the Cleansing List.”

“I’ve been quite curious about that too. You are an archmage. How come you are not on the Cleansing List?” Lauren had learned the Cleansing List from the night watchers they killed, but the name of Derrick Douglas was not on it.

Douglas chuckled in a low voice. “I was always considered a weirdo who did not have any prospect in magic when I was in Antiffler. I became an archmage because of the long-time accumulation, my teacher’s heritage, the training in the War of Dawn, the fortuitous incidents, and some of my own little ideas. It’s perfectly normal that the Church does not pay much attention to me. After all, the sorcerers who joined the Church will tell them that Douglas will never become a legend or achieve any ambitions. He will only ask his questions while he waits to die. It is unnecessary to waste time and energy on him.”

He made fun of himself, not angry at all that other people thought little of him.

“A weirdo?” Lauren and Fernando asked at the same time. In their conversation so far, Douglas had shown no weirdness at all. Instead, he was fun, warm, and attractive. He seemed to have natural-born leadership.

In the meantime, Fernando’s impression of Douglas was much better after he admitted that he had become an archmage because of the long-time accumulation.

Douglas smiled. “Yes, I am good at asking questions.”

“What’s weird about that?” Fernando said in confusion before he went on with his self-introduction.

Douglas suddenly interrupted him, “You must be good at the spells of storms and lightning in the school of elements, right?”

“Of course, night watchers rarely give wrong nicknames.” Fernando nodded.

Caught in silence, Douglas mumbled to himself, “Why can lightning kill people... How is lightning generated...”

Fernando and Lauren looked at him in shock and confusion. Wasn’t it natural that lightning could kill people? Was it necessary to ask why? He was really a weirdo...