When Kalv woke up, the first thing he smelled was the stench of a rotting corpse, causing him to frown and subconsciously try to cover his nose with his hand.
But when he tried to move his hand, he found himself completely weak; lifting even one hand was extremely difficult. He wanted to turn his head to reduce the distance his hand had to move.
However, as soon as he moved his head, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck and let out an unbearable groan, forcing him to give up on the idea and keep his head in place.
"Awake?"
A soft female voice drifted over. The pain from just now had one benefit: it stimulated his body to muster a bit more strength.
He snapped his eyes open and saw a woman leaning over slightly, looking at him.
Although he had just woken up, his Perception returned quickly. He felt the other party's majestic mana and saw the Modification School badge on her chest.
"Who... who are you?" he asked in a weak voice, and Lucy replied.
"The head of the Modification School in Ashsoil Province, Lucy Rolls... I imagine you probably didn't want to see me."
Kalv endured the pain and forced himself up, sitting on the ground. He took several deep breaths, but was choked by the stench in the air and coughed a few times.
"The one who attacked me was... someone from the Modification School. How are you going to explain why someone from your School attacked an Investigator on a mission?"
"Oh?" Lucy only knew he had been attacked by a Formal Mage, and in their panic, those apprentices had no idea what Spell the opponent had used; they only heard Kalv mention a Formal Mage before he collapsed.
Since Kalv himself was a Formal Mage, naturally, anyone who could take him down must also be a Formal Mage. Thus, Lucy knew the attacker was a Formal Mage but didn't know which School they belonged to.
"Tell me in detail, why do you think the attacker was from the Modification School?"
Kalv endured the pain, forced a smile, and said:
"Because he used the Modification School Spell [Disorderly Touch], knocking me down with powerful Spiritual Power... Of course, the reason he could take me down so easily was also because he has a Modification School Spell Specialty..."
"And... I think he even installed something related to Spiritual Power enhancement in his own brain, which is why his Spiritual Power intensity is so high that he could even spare a portion to use Hand of Telekinesis to restrain an Evil Spirit I've raised for three years."
Lucy crossed one arm over her chest and rested the other elbow on it, raising a forefinger as she spoke:
"In that case, it really does sound like a mage very proficient in Modification School Spells..."
Kalv felt he had rested enough. Holding his neck with one hand, he slowly stood up.
After standing, he sneered:
"So, Miss Lucy, the head of the School, can you explain why someone from your School would attack me, an Investigator?"
"If I report this matter, it could be seen as the Modification School intentionally obstructing an Investigator in the line of duty."
But Lucy gave a cold laugh, her originally soft voice turning icy.
"Who said that person was from our Modification School?"
"That's meaningless. He could use Modification School Spells and even had the Specialty..."
"First of all, I don't recall any First-Order Mage in Apprentice City with such powerful Spiritual Power. Furthermore, we all tend to use the Spell abilities provided by magical creature organs; who would use pure Spells to attack you?"
"But what if that person did it to hide their Transcendent Organs? They specifically used only Spells to attack me... You know the easiest way to identify someone from your Modification School is to see what Transcendent Organs they have on their body."
Lucy didn't even frown at these questions, speaking directly and quickly:
"I said, I do not acknowledge that person as a member of our Modification School."
"You..."
Lucy interrupted him quickly this time, pointing at an Enforcer nearby and saying:
"I think you should stop fussing over this for now and take a look at the records made by the Enforcer you brought."
Kalv was full of confusion, not understanding why Lucy would bring up the records made by the Enforcer.
He hesitated for a moment, took the record book from the Enforcer's hand, and looked at the specially marked section.
At this time, Lucy said:
"Name: Rhodes. Wearing a black robe to conceal his identity. Upon questioning, his face was seen to be covered in scars, which he claimed were due to an experimental error. He claimed to be a member of the Modification School, but stated he did not bring his badge to prove it."
"Keep him in the crowd and wait for the inspection to finish before letting him leave."
"The records above say exactly that, and this person is the one who attacked you."
"Now I ask you, if someone who couldn't even produce a badge claimed to be from your Necromancy School, would you believe he was truly from the Necromancy School?"
"You..."
Kalv knew he couldn't find trouble with the Modification School over this matter now that the other party had seen the contents of the record book.
The Alliance was an administrative body very good at smoothing things over; they would never jump to conclusions without absolute evidence.
He knew that based on this record book, unless there was new progress, his being attacked would definitely have no impact on the Modification School.
After all, if the Alliance didn't even recognize its own record book, then what evidence could be accepted?
He could already imagine the Alliance's special commissioner going silent the moment they saw this record book in court, no matter what he said.
He didn't even have the chance to destroy the record book; this woman had likely applied to transfer the records to the Investigator headquarters while he was unconscious.
However, since there was no way forward on this matter, he would switch to another.
Kalv rolled his eyes and said to an Enforcer:
"Before I fainted, who was dragging a Body Bag and saying it was what I was looking for?"
"I..."
An Enforcer spoke up weakly.
"Bring that thing here; let's see what's going on."
Then Kalv turned his head and said to Lucy:
"I think what you said just now was very correct. I shouldn't rashly conclude which School the opponent belongs to just based on the Spells they cast. We need to identify them carefully."
"And now, there's one thing I can't quite figure out, and that is why that person attacked me."
"And why did it have to be right when I was about to step forward to inspect this corpse? Not earlier, not later, but precisely at this moment."
He wanted to see Lucy's expression, but she remained expressionless, not even responding to his long speech, instead looking at the Enforcer dragging the Body Bag over.
The Enforcer hastily opened the Body Bag, revealing a corpse inside.
It was a male human corpse, intact with no visible injuries, and its chest was emitting a faint white glow.
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