Chapter 123 – Clue

“Respected Mage Punk, it is an honor to meet you. Our Weimi Family patriarch, Mr. Zweig, has long held you in high esteem and has prepared a banquet awaiting your presence.”

A young woman dressed in lavish garments approached Punk, performing a subordinate’s bow with utmost deference while immediately extending the invitation.

“The Weimi Family? Isn’t that Minister Hett’s clan?”

Punk didn’t even glance at the girl’s meticulously adorned appearance. The name Hett struck him as unexpected—he clearly remembered this figure as the “Minister of Internal Affairs” who monopolized Doleiz’s political power.

Punk was quite curious about what schemes this noble was brewing. Regardless, his contingency plans still required more time to prepare. Visiting this old man who had conflicts with Kaiskaser wouldn’t hurt.

With this thought, Punk indifferently glanced at the girl still maintaining her bowed posture and softly uttered two words:

“Lead the way!”

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Meanwhile, in the Weimi Family’s luxurious brick mansion, unlike Punk’s nonchalance, Hett felt his head was about to explode.

The Tisha Xia’er Church’s actions had transcended madness—they were outright suicidal. They dared extend their claws into Doleiz City, and what poisonous claws they were (spreading plague)! Their reach was so… blatant. This wasn’t just insanity—it was a death wish.

Hett was certain that even if no one intervened now, within three months—just waiting for those burdensome refugees to perish—the Dillon Kingdom would immediately dispatch troops to suppress them.

Forget the future—even presently, the Tisha Xia’er Church had already provoked collective fury. Spreading plague in Doleiz City crossed the Nobles’ tolerance threshold, since plague didn’t discriminate between commoners and nobility.

Now the Nobles were plotting to strike the Tisha Xia’er Church, which was clearly implicated in the plague. Most troublesome—they had elected Hett-Weimi himself as their “Resist Tisha Xia’er Church” representative!

Hett now found himself at the epicenter of a double-agent storm, where any evidence linking him to the Tisha Xia’er Church could make the Weimi Family universally ostracized.

Though Hett couldn’t comprehend why the initially wise and composed Tisha Xia’er Church had recently become so absurd and unreasonable, none of this shook his resolve to abandon this seemingly magnificent but inevitably sinking “Titanic.”

Having previously helped Zweig sell numerous slaves obtained from exploiting refugees to the Tisha Xia’er Church as “believers,” Hett’s first step to clear his “suspicion” was to explain the whereabouts of those “missing” slaves.

So he sought out Punk.

He planned to collaborate with this mage who favored human experimentation to swiftly dispose of the batch of slaves “purchased” from refugees, while attributing previous slave disappearances to Punk. Though these would likely come at significant cost, the Weimi Family no longer cared.”Taking a loss isn’t even a concern now. The most important thing is to find a powerful enough backer.”

This was Hett’s current thought.

Although the head of the Weimi Family vaguely sensed that sending someone to invite Punk might not be a wise move—since maneuvering between two Formal-Level powerhouses could easily lead to a fatal misstep—he had no other choice!

With the fire practically singeing his eyebrows, Hett had always been loyal to his family. Now, he decided to shoulder the responsibility of a clan leader and fully strategize a path to survival for his family.

Despite his worries, Hett still arranged an extravagant banquet and stood in the grand hall, pretending to be hospitable as he awaited Punk’s arrival.

In truth, the Weimi Family was relatively confident about this collaboration.

They had secretly investigated the number of slaves purchased by Punk’s collaborator—the Minohorn Merchant Guild—so Hett was confident that the young Formal-Level mage, who still maintained an image of Lawful Neutral alignment, wouldn’t refuse a partnership that could provide a large quantity of “test subjects.”

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“Please, Lord Cyan!”

A beautiful young woman approached the entrance of the Weimi mansion, where a sternly dressed old butler opened the doors. The dome, adorned with a massive crystal chandelier, was genuinely coated in gold, while various exquisite jewels embellished the wall paintings. Precious porcelain artworks filled the corridor, and dozens of young girls in maid uniforms stood in orderly rows to welcome the guest.

Punk didn’t even glance at this superficially opulent display. Without a word, he walked across the luxurious carpet made of Yuhua bear fur and entered the banquet hall, with Golem One following closely behind.

“You must be Master Cyan. My apologies for not greeting you properly from afar.”

Hett hurried forward upon seeing Punk’s arrival, his aged face crammed with an ingratiating smile.

“Hello, Mr. Hett.”

Punk responded with a tepid greeting and, without waiting for Hett’s reaction, pulled out an intricately carved chair and sat down.

“Lord Cyan…”

“Enough, Mr. Hett. My time is limited. If you have something to say, speak now.”

Hearing Punk’s blunt reply, Hett’s initial reaction was rising anger. After all, he was practically the de facto ruler of Doleiz City—when had he ever been subjected to such commanding interrogation?

But remembering the young man’s status, Hett’s anger quickly subsided. What could he do? The other party was a powerful Formal-Level expert and seemed impervious to both soft and hard tactics. Now, the Weimi Family had no choice but to seek his help…

“As you wish, Lord Cyan!”

The prepared banquet and beauties were now utterly useless. Hett could only take a deep breath and dismiss all the “unnecessary personnel” around them, including the young woman. Only after the last person had left did the old man put on an expression of “deep anguish” and sorrowfully declare:

“Lord Cyan, the Weimi Family has reached a dead end. We have decided to cease all cooperation with the Tisha Xia’er Church. I now pledge my loyalty to you, my lord—eternal faithfulness without betrayal!”Hett knew his place well. He understood that maintaining a truly equal cooperative relationship was impossible, and many things couldn’t be hidden anyway—after all, a formal mage’s Divination Spell was no joke. So from the very beginning, he adopted a humble posture, deliberately crafting the image of a prodigal son returning to the right path and abandoning darkness for light.

But what Hett never expected was that Punk had absolutely no interest in so-called cooperation. Among all the information Hett had written, only one thing truly caught Punk’s attention—Tisha Xia’er.

“Just now… you mentioned you had cooperated with the Tisha Xia’er Church?”

Punk inquired of Hett with great enthusiasm. He had been wondering how to track down the Tisha Xia’er Church, and now a “spy” had delivered himself to his doorstep. Punk thought—nothing beats having a pillow delivered when you’re sleepy, saving both time and effort.

Hett, however, was somewhat stunned. In his imagination, even if Punk didn’t ask about how to cooperate, he should at least inquire about what benefits Hett could bring. After all, the other party was clearly a pure mage who only recognized profit. But this exclusive interest in the Tisha Xia’er Church—what was that about? Strictly speaking, all Nobles in Doleiz had cooperated with the Tisha Xia’er Church in their early days. This formal mage before him shouldn’t make a big deal out of it, right?

Though thoroughly confused, Hett still answered tremblingly:

“Y-yes… I was previously blinded by greed, but I’ve completely severed ties with those madmen now.”

“Oh? How fascinating. Do tell me more in detail.”

Seeing a flicker of blue light flash in Punk’s eyes, Hett involuntarily shivered. He suddenly felt he had done something incredibly foolish—so foolish it was beyond redemption!

(End of Chapter)