The vast, emerald-green grassland stretched endlessly, and a gentle breeze swept across it, creating wave-like ripples.
Duncan stood in the open space at the bottom of the gentle slope, his open brown case lying quietly beside him.
The Two Venomous Horned Beasts had already emerged from the case and were engrossed in devouring the nutritious meal Newt had carefully prepared for them.
The iron chains wrapped around their legs had been removed, and their ankles were now bandaged thickly, emitting a strong herbal scent.
"Finally finished," Newt said with a relieved smile, raising his hand to wipe the fine beads of sweat from his forehead.
He had just been running around helping the Erumpent unchain themselves and then preparing their food; he had already reached his maximum daily exercise.
Fortunately, Duncan had helped him calm the Erumpent, saving him a lot of effort.
In the past, let alone preparing food, just getting these two furious beasts to calm down would have had him rolling on the ground for half a day, utterly exhausted.
Newt's gaze shifted to his side, looking at Duncan, who was intently watching the Erumpent eat, his eyes gradually filling with satisfaction.
"Let's go, Duncan, we'll go back and rest for a bit. They're fine now. After they finish eating, we'll let them stay here and rest," Newt called out to Duncan, wanting him to leave with him.
But Duncan didn't move, still staring intently at the Erumpent, his brow slightly furrowed, as if contemplating a profound life problem.
"What? Is something wrong?" Newt, puzzled, moved to Duncan's side, his gaze curiously following Duncan's.
However, he only saw the wrinkled skin on the Erumpent's neck, squeezed together and undulating like a canyon, and found nothing amiss.
If he had to pick something out... it was just that the Erumpent was too dirty, with large patches of grime accumulated on its neck.
But that would have to wait until the Erumpent's wounds healed before they could be cleaned.
"Wait a moment, please," Duncan snapped out of his contemplation, and without waiting for Newt to speak again, he stepped closer to the eating Erumpent.
Newt instinctively wanted to follow, but as he took two steps, the Erumpent suddenly lifted its head, its eyes wide as it warily stared at Newt, its broad nostrils exhaling heavy breaths, adopting a threatening combat stance.
"What are you looking at? Eat your food," Duncan said, unceremoniously slapping the Erumpent, urging it to lower its head quickly.
The powerful aura the Erumpent had just brewed up suddenly dissipated. It glanced at Duncan, its massive eyes showing a wronged expression, seemingly having some objections. But when Duncan raised his eyebrows, it hastily buried its head, venting its temper on the food spread on the grass.
After the rescue and the recent wound treatment, Duncan's friendship with the Two Venomous Horned Beasts had already surpassed sixty, and they had become close friends. Duncan had even named them Airey and Charlie.
Newt, standing nearby, watched Duncan interact intimately with the Erumpent, and sighed silently in his heart.
All the knowledge he had gained from living with magical creatures in the wild had been repeatedly shattered since Duncan's birth into his family. At first, he was a bit surprised, but now he was almost numb to it, though he couldn't help but feel a little envious.
Because he had once fantasized about having such abilities when he was a child, and he never expected it to be realized in his grandson.
"Grandpa, come and look," Duncan said, pointing to a slightly recessed small area on the side of the Erumpent's ear.
"What?" Newt chased away the distracting thoughts in his mind and walked to Duncan's side. "What did you find?"
"Look here," Duncan said, pointing to a slightly blurry dark pattern near the Erumpent's ear. It looked like a figure wearing a tortoise shell, hunched over, with both hands clasped around a sharp weapon, much like a wizard chess piece—a pawn.
"I think I've seen a similar pattern somewhere, but I can't recall it right now..." Duncan said, frowning.
"Oh?" Newt also noticed the anomaly and quickly stepped forward to examine it.
Such a regular pattern would certainly not grow naturally on an Erumpent. Ordinary poachers wouldn't go to the trouble of marking their prey with such a potentially revealing symbol. Only certain animal protection organizations or those with specific research objectives would do such a thing.
However, Newt quickly reviewed his memories but couldn't recall any organization that had used a similar symbol before.
At this moment, Duncan's expression suddenly brightened. He turned his head and said rapidly, "I remember where I saw it! Do you remember? The Nundu we rescued in East Africa the year before last, it had a similar pattern on it, only it wasn't a pawn, but a bishop!"
"Oh, I remember now," Newt said, suddenly enlightened, nodding heavily. "That was your first time going out with me, and you almost got lost. I was worried for so long, afraid I wouldn't find you and wouldn't know what to tell Tina."
"Grandpa, that's not the point, okay?" Duncan said helplessly. "We should be more concerned about those two patterns now, shouldn't we?"
As his voice fell, lines of small black text appeared.
[You, by virtue of your observation skills, have discovered an extremely important clue. There seems to be some connection between the two similar patterns.]
[They may both belong to a mysterious organization hidden in the shadows. You can't help but wonder if there's a conspiracy behind this.]
[Optional Quest: Find more clues about the hidden organization, capture its members, or destroy its strongholds.]
[Quest Reward: Virtual Currency x1000, Random Item x1, Marvelous Transformation (This quest's reward can be claimed repeatedly)]
[Note: Marvelous Transformation—You can choose a magical creature with whom your favorability has reached 100 to establish a magic link, transform into its appearance, and use its magical abilities for a duration of half an hour.]
[Accept Quest? Yes/No]
Duncan's eyes lit up as he read the description of Marvelous Transformation. He quickly chose to accept and patted the Erumpent's thick neck beside him: "Airey, do you remember the appearance of the people who captured you?"
Airey, the Erumpent, heard this, lifted its head, chewed and swallowed the food in its mouth, then rolled its eyes in thought, emitting a low roar: "No impression. They were fully clothed, and I couldn't see their faces. And we were drugged as soon as we met them. When we woke up again, we were already in cages and sent to the place where you found us."
Duncan frowned, somewhat regretting not being able to gather any clues. He had thought he could get some free rewards!
"Did it tell you anything useful?" Newt asked eagerly when he saw Airey lower his head to resume eating, knowing their conversation was over.
"No," Duncan shook his head and said, "But there must be a connection between them. Perhaps there's an organization behind this that specializes in capturing magical creatures, Grandpa. We should expose them and not let them continue to harm those poor animals!"
Newt nodded in agreement, then pondered for a moment and said, "You're right. I'll write a letter soon to inform my friends about this situation and ask them to pay more attention to see if they can find any useful clues."
"Then when are we leaving?" Duncan asked, looking up at Newt's face.
"Leaving?" Newt blinked in confusion. "Where to?"
"To look for clues about that mysterious organization, of course!" Duncan replied as if it were the most obvious thing.
"Not now!" Newt rejected Duncan's suggestion almost without thinking. He patted Duncan's shoulder and said in a deep voice, "You're starting school soon. You should spend more time with Tina at home. If I take you out, she'll probably show us what she was capable of when she was an Auror!"
Duncan recalled it briefly in his mind and immediately shivered: "You're right..."