The entrance to White Stone Town.
A battered group riding Land Strider Birds and leading Two-legged Pack Beasts limped through the town gates.
Representatives from the Gil Merchant Guild had been waiting anxiously. They rushed forward, helping the exhausted wizards dismount from their Land Strider Birds.
After the brutal ambush, only five members of the expedition still possessed the strength to fight. Naturally, the survivors hadn't dared to linger in the Winter Forest for another second. They had strapped the four possessed wizards and their two captives to the Two-legged Pack Beasts, fleeing the forest's core as fast as possible.
Fortunately, they hadn't encountered any more dangerous magical creatures on their way out. After escaping the core zone, they had trekked for several grueling days before finally seeing the gates of White Stone Town.
The entire group looked hollow and exhausted. Lilith's usually pristine appearance was a mess of dirt and frayed hair.
Her sister, Vivian, remained in a deep, unnatural coma. Since Lilith wasn't skilled in soul magic, she planned to take her sister back to the Witch's Spoon to seek specialized help from her mentor.
Damian had attempted to use his mental-energy Expecto Patronum to purge the Spirits of Corruption from their bodies. However, the dark magic had already entangled itself too deeply with the victims' own souls. Damian couldn't forcefully extract the Spirits of Corruption without irreparably shattering their minds in the process.
Lilith approached Damian, tucking a loose strand of pale-gold hair behind her ear. She managed a weary, grateful smile.
"Lord Damian, thank you. If it weren't for you, we would have all died out there. You will always be an honored guest of the Gil Merchant Guild."
"Once I return to headquarters, I will personally ask my grandmother to grant you a Special Consultant position so you can receive a monthly stipend," Lilith promised.
She pulled a small, blue-striped parchment card from her belt pouch. It was an alchemical tool—not quite a full magical artifact, but it functioned similarly to the long-distance communication feature built into the Court Wizard badges.
These enchanted Calling Cards operated on specific, unique magical frequencies. Once two wizards exchanged frequencies, they could communicate over long distances.
The main difference was that Court Wizard badges contained built-in encryption charms, preventing outsiders from eavesdropping. Standard Calling Cards were common commercial products and lacked that security.
Technically, a skilled wizard could cast long-distance communication spells without a medium and apply their own encryption charms. But memorizing dozens of complex magical frequencies was a nightmare, so most wizards used these cards as an alchemical address book.
Of course, magical communication was finicky. It was highly susceptible to ambient magical interference, and there were plenty of jinxes designed to block it entirely.
"Let's exchange magical frequencies," Lilith offered. "I'll contact you once I'm safely back at the guild."
Damian nodded. He pulled out a white, round-edged badge stamped with a wizard's hat. It was his Court Wizard Investigator badge. The white background indicated his status was only temporary.
With the completion of this disastrous mission, Damian had finally accumulated enough contribution points to apply for the official Court Wizard assessment.
However, his final assessment would likely be overseen by Lady Alsha herself. Given what he had seen in the dying traitor's mind, applying right now would just give her an excuse to arrange another fatal "accident" for him.
He didn't know her ultimate goal yet. But planting Logistics Wizard Al into the expedition with tampered Secret Medicine made her intentions perfectly clear: she had wanted the entire team buried in the Winter Forest.
After syncing her card with Damian's badge, Lilith turned to address the ragged survivors.
"The Gil Merchant Guild will cover all casualty compensation for this expedition. Furthermore, everyone's hazard pay will be doubled. Lord Damian , the Mithril you requested will be delivered to White Stone Town within a week."
Damian was highly satisfied. He desperately needed that Mithril to forge the alchemical golems back at the Wizard Tower. The alchemy forge would eat through raw materials like a starving beast once the repairs began.
He had already renegotiated his contract with Lilith on the road back. His entire bounty had been converted into raw Mithril, and he had secured the right to purchase future alchemical ingredients at cost through the guild.
His original payout wouldn't have covered even a fraction of the Mithril needed for a single alchemical golem , but Lilith had generously covered the difference out of her own pocket to repay him for saving her life.
Seeing the survivors nod in tired agreement, Lilith's gaze shifted to the two conscious traitors tied to the Two-legged Pack Beasts. "As for these two captives..."
"They belong to the Court Wizards," a heavily bandaged wizard interrupted, glaring at the traitors with raw hatred. "Six of our people died because of them. We are taking them back, and we will pry their mouths open."
He was the captain of the second Court Wizard squad. When the Exploding Leaf-Bugs had swarmed the forest, his team hadn't made it back to the Protective Magic Array in time. His three subordinates had been blown to pieces.
He had only survived by desperately using earth magic to bury himself alive in the dirt, waiting out the fiery explosions. After Damian had dealt with Victor, they had dug the severely wounded captain out of the soil.
The two surviving traitors from the Mining Brotherhood remained entirely silent, refusing to speak a single word since their capture.
Lilith's expression darkened. She absolutely did not want to hand them over to the Court Wizards. These mercenaries had been officially hired by the Gil Merchant Guild. If they broke under Court Wizard torture, they might spew fabricated confessions or reveal sensitive guild secrets.
Handing them over was like handing her political rivals a sharpened knife. In factional politics, the truth rarely mattered; once the enemy had the knife, they could carve the flesh straight from your bones.
Just then, Damian's eyes narrowed as he looked down the main road of White Stone Town. His magical perception flared. Several powerful wizards were approaching the gates.
The leader was a woman dressed in a sweeping, court-style black gown. Intricate black lace gloves covered her arms past the elbows, and her carefully groomed, wavy chestnut hair spilled out from beneath a wide-brimmed hat tied with a silver-white silk ribbon.
It was Lady Alsha, flanked by her two personal assistants and a squad of heavily armed magical guards.
It turned out the bandaged captain, anticipating that the merchant guild would try to claim the prisoners, had secretly contacted Lady Alsha via his communication badge hours ago.
Lady Alsha smiled elegantly, waving a gloved hand. Her guards immediately stepped forward to seize the tethers of the Two-legged Pack Beasts holding the captives.
"Miss Lilith , please rest assured," Lady Alsha said, her voice smooth and unhurried. "We will pry their mouths open and uncover the root of this tragedy."
Lilith bit her lip hard. She was completely outmaneuvered. With Lady Alsha physically present and backed by a squad of guards, Lilith had no choice but to step aside and let the Court Wizards take the prisoners.
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