Dago and Serena walked out of the Academy, both remaining silent.
The crisis with the patrol team seemed to have been temporarily averted.
The events of last night had a significant impact on the Town; on the streets, carriages were constantly loaded with residents' belongings as families moved out.
Once the forest outside the Town was completely occupied by the Dark Blood Council, they would then begin to invade Aynak Town.
Many Town residents, taking advantage of the forest not being fully lost yet, spent all their family wealth to jointly hire Wandering Wizards to escort them out of the Town and relocate to a safer place.
The two walked on the cobblestone street; the sound of wooden wheels rolling over the cracks in the stones was particularly grating, and the windows on both sides of the street were mostly open, devoid of the usual hustle and bustle.
The closer they got to the noble district, the more desolate it became, and soon they arrived at the Wizard Inn.
Passing through the noble district, it was already mostly empty, with most families having evacuated the Town early.
Inside the dim room, the windows were covered by thick curtains, allowing only a faint light to penetrate.
Dago sat at the table, examining the storage ring in his hand by the light of a kerosene lamp.
It contained all of Viser's possessions, and it also brought Dago a curse from his family's bloodline, the Tear of Hailam.
Thinking of this, he touched the Tear of Hailam on his chest; it seemed to have a will of its own, as it would move to other parts of his body whenever Dago tried to remove it.
Dago could only put this matter aside, as according to Raymond, only a Formal Wizard could resolve this tricky curse.
This was also the biggest reason Raymond didn't dare to touch Viser; he feared the pursuit of the Hailam Wizard Family.
Dago had experience dealing with storage equipment; he just needed to use a large amount of mental power to erase the mental imprint left by the previous owner.
Thus, he began his diligent work, meditating to restore his mental power while erasing the mental imprint on the storage ring's spatial runes, repeating the cycle.
Time quickly reached eleven or twelve at night; since the Town patrol team incident, no one from the Academy had intervened with his mission.
So Dago was happy to stay hidden in the Wizard Inn, away from the conflict.
Gloomy and dark clouds dominated the night sky, making the already cold weather even more oppressive.
"Boom~~"
The roar of a Wizardry explosion came from a distance on the outskirts of the Town; Dago rushed to the window and pulled back the curtain.
He saw a wooden house on the outskirts of the Town on fire, sending flames soaring into the sky.
"It seems last night's sneak attack by the Black Robe Wizard was not accidental, but rather a manifestation of the Academy's loss of control over the situation."
Dago stared blankly at the distant flames, thinking to himself.
As the Wizard Inn was located on the mountainside, at a higher elevation and far from the outskirts, Dago couldn't clearly see what was happening at the source of the fire.
He only saw lights constantly turning on in the houses throughout the Town, symbolizing the spread of chaos.
Many people also ran out of their houses in the noble district, their faces filled with fear and panic, and among them, a woman walked aimlessly on the street, holding a wailing baby.
A flicker of pity crossed his heart, but he was powerless.
If a Black Robe Wizard had broken into the Town, it would mean the beginning of slaughter and looting; these Black Robe Wizards, with their extremely strong individual combat abilities, would be like fish in water during street battles in the Town.
Mobile Town patrol teams and Wizards from the Academy direction continuously rushed towards the source of the fire.
Not long after, more explosions caused by Wizardry rang out.
Dago estimated that with the support of the Academy Wizards, the Town patrol team should quickly be able to suppress the invading Black Robe Wizard.
Sure enough, the outskirts of the Town gradually quieted down, and the large fire was extinguished by Wizards using water-based Wizardry.
Seeing that everything was fine, the people on the street returned to their residences with lingering fear, destined to sleep with dread tonight.
Dago pulled the curtains shut and returned to the table, tightening the Level 2 Apprentice robe he had kept on.
Once he had magic stones, he would also need to buy a robe enchanted with runes; he had already experienced the convenience of runes and found them very useful indeed.
As for the Level 3 Apprentice robe awarded by the Wizard Union, it was completely ruined, and even the Shadow Leopard skin sewn into its inner layer was damaged beyond any value.
Five days… in at most five days, he would be able to claim the storage ring!
By then, many, many magic stones would be waiting for him; with this beautiful fantasy, Dago happily dedicated himself to the work of erasing Viser's mental imprint.
The next day, news of the Black Robe Wizard's sneak attack, burning and looting the outskirts of the Town, had spread throughout the Town, and there were even rumors that three Black Robe Wizards had killed a patrol team consisting of ten hired Wizards and one Academy Wizard.
Many Town residents no longer bothered to sell their property or hire Wandering Wizards; they simply took their cash and fled the Town with their families.
During the day, with high-level Academy Wizards leading teams in the forest, the Black Robe Wizard did not dare to act openly.
However, many civilians were still abducted by the Black Robe Wizard while crossing the southern forest, taken to an unknown location.
Nevertheless, most people still chose to risk crossing the southern forest; currently, seven or eight out of ten houses in the Town were already empty.
The Aynak Wizarding Academy was too lazy to care about the lives of these common people; as long as their main base on the mountain peak remained, their confidence as Academy Wizards would remain.
As evening approached, Dago called Serena to go eat in the Town; recently, Serena had been immersed in the grief of Old Marico's death and rarely left her room.
Old Marico, who had no children, truly treated Serena like his own daughter.
As the sun set, the two walked on the desolate street; he said to the haggard-looking Serena, "Everyone dies, Serena, but whether their death is meaningful is very important to us."
"Whether one dies on the path of pursuing a dream, or dies in the responsibility of protecting loved ones, these are all meaningful."
"Later, when we chat, we will say, 'Ah, there once lived a Wizard Old Marico in the Aynak forest; he was our family, and the best old man in the Wizarding World.'"
"Though his physical body has died, his soul will always accompany us, so we must live better, carrying his share."
Serena cheered up considerably after hearing this; Dago wasn't without sadness, but he felt that Old Marico had never truly passed away.
The two chatted and laughed, had a satisfying meal at a restaurant, and then passed by the Wizard Hall.
"Go, go, go! Where did these hired Wizards come from, still thinking of canceling their employment contracts? Do you think the Academy is a place you can come and go as you please?"
At the entrance of the Hall, a curly-haired youth wearing a Wizard's robe embroidered with the Academy's emblem impatiently shooed away several injured Wandering Wizards like flies.
"You Academy dogs deceived us, sending us to the most dangerous places to risk our lives!"
One of the Wizards, leaning on a cane, shouted directly, disregarding everything else.
Suddenly, the curly-haired youth radiated a dangerous aura and said, "You're taking advantage, aren't you? If you keep shouting, I'll call the Academy's Battle Overseer Wizards to arrest you, and then things will be very difficult to resolve."
Upon hearing "Battle Overseer Wizards," the hired Wizards' faces turned pale, and they stopped shouting, leaving the Wizard Hall entrance with resentment.
Dago saw this scene and thought to himself, "The Academy uses hired Wizards like this; aren't they afraid of them stabbing them in the back later?"
The curly-haired youth saw Serena, who was wearing an Academy robe, and his eyes lit up; he walked over to strike up a conversation with them.
"The Academy is really something; do they really expect these Wandering Wizards, who haven't even had a proper Wizardry class, to help turn the tide?"
However, he then said with a worried expression, "But we can't blame the Academy either; those demons from the Dark Blood Council have created many Black Robe Wizards called Blood Servants, and they're all like madmen, killing anyone they see. They're really difficult to deal with."
"But luckily, we have hired Wizards to take the bullets for us; they're a bunch of fools."
Dago and Serena silently watched him complain, which made the curly-haired youth feel offended, and his expression turned ugly.
He looked at Dago and said with a mocking tone, "No way, you haven't even seen a Black Robe Wizard? That's truly too weak."
Dago nodded, too lazy to argue with him.
Seeing Dago concede, the curly-haired youth then said to Serena with a triumphant tone, "I've already single-handedly killed a Black Robe Wizard, which is why I was transferred to the Wizard Hall for an easy job. Don't you think I'm amazing?"
Serena completely ignored him, which angered the curly-haired youth, who retorted, "You don't know what's good for you!" before turning and returning inside the Wizard Hall.
