A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 267 Lost Items

"Go ahead," Luo Xia said, not taking on too much responsibility when faced with the receptionist's request. He decided to listen to what kind of help was needed first. At the same time, he noticed a burly man sitting in the lobby, whose teacup looked tiny and required the strong man to sip carefully.

Seeing that Rorschach didn't immediately refuse, the receptionist quickly explained, "Your previous tenant was also a mage who claimed to be from Valuva, and your registered departure point is also Valuva, so we wanted to see if you knew her. We tried contacting the Magic Guild, but there was no response. Does this name ring a bell?"

Are you trying to collect rent? But why are you asking me? Although there aren't many mages, the probability of knowing someone within a kingdom is probably not high.

After speaking, the receptionist handed over the registration book. Rorschach looked at it; although the receptionist said the tenant was from Valuva, the registered departure point was the Empire. Could it be Professor Caroline?

Luo Xia glanced at it and saw that it contained names he had never seen before.

"Sorry, I don't know him," Luo Xia said. The receptionist immediately replied, "Sorry to bother you."

At that moment, the man drinking tea moved, the teacup returning to the porcelain saucer with a crisp sound. As he fully stood up from the sofa, Rorschach saw the "human wardrobe" walking towards him. It walked step by step to Rorschach's front, almost casting a shadow over the boy.

"Who are you?"

The man's voice matched his imposing stature, and his deep voice seemed to resonate throughout the entire hall: "I am Percival, a knight of the Iron Crown Knights. I need to investigate your current room. Please cooperate."

The knight was very close to the boy, seemingly issuing commands from a superior position, his tone brooking no argument. Rorschach felt the knight was pressuring him, not genuinely requesting anything. Sensing offended, Rorschach didn't mince words: "I don't want to cooperate."

"In Istani, no one is uncooperative with the Iron Crown."

"I'm from the Empire, I don't know anything about the Iron Crown Knights," Rorschach added. "Of course, I'm willing to respect local laws. If you have a search warrant or something like that, I'm willing to check out and let you in to search."

Percival was surprised that a young man would dare to say such a thing: "Sir, I don't need any search warrant. We represent the laws of the kingdom."

"Then what was the reason for searching the room?"

"No comment."

"Then I have nothing more to say." Rorschach gripped his cane, preparing to defend against the other party resorting to force.

You rejected me.

"You are offending me, you are offending a mid-level spellcaster. The Magic Guild's headquarters in Istani is right next door; we can go there to settle the matter. Besides, I heard that the previous tenant was also a mage, so the guild should be involved even more."

The knight's eyes widened, his eye sockets sunken, and his expression became ferocious and terrifying. But Rorschach remained unmoved, letting Percival exert pressure on him.

Unexpectedly, the knight took the initiative to back down: "I'm sorry, it was my oversight." After saying that, he looked at the receptionist: "Thank you for your cooperation, ma'am."

Rorschach only lowered his guard after the knight left. He suddenly turned around and demanded, "Did they send you to ask me if I knew the previous tenant?"

The receptionist panicked: "Yes, I'm sorry, I must cooperate with the Knight."

A knight, always a knight! Rorschach hadn't expected that Istani was like Valois.

"Is he from the Church of Is?" Rorschach subconsciously drew a parallel with the Holy Kingdom, assuming he was part of the Church's armed forces.

But the receptionist denied it: "No. The Knights are all under the command of Her Majesty the Queen."

"Okay, thank you."

Rorschach returned to his room and locked the door. He looked around the room again and felt that he was no longer safe.

The previous tenant's luggage had already been packed up and disposed of by the hotel, and Rorschach's whereabouts were unknown. Since the kingdom was investigating that mysterious guest, he suspected that the luggage had also been taken by some Iron Crown Knights.

Arcane Vision activated; the room appeared normal. Oh, there was a point of light—the Balan Bead that Rorschach brought. It couldn't be stored in his storage ring. Rorschach didn't believe the investigators would behave themselves after being turned away, so he had no choice but to risk carrying the bead with him.

However, after putting the beads into a pocket close to the body, the beads began to vibrate.

Is there something wrong?

A new round of searches has begun.

Rorschach didn't have any good ideas; he just searched everywhere, using his "Mage's Hand" to rummage through carpets, table drawers, and beds.

I actually felt something in the gap between the mattress and the headboard. This means the hotel didn't change the sheets! I want to file a complaint!

It couldn't have been anything big that fell into the crevice, so Rorschach pulled out an envelope.

Was there really something to it? After a moment's hesitation, Rorschach used [Mage's Hand] to lift the envelope, finding the surface blank, before opening the letter, without touching it with his own hands the entire time. "There shouldn't be fingerprint tracking technology now; I should be wary of divination spells."

After figuring things out, Rorschach began to read the letter. There were many sheets of paper inside the envelope; the first one had a heading...

"Ms. Caroline?"

Rorschach was startled and quickly looked down. The letter was neatly folded and flattened, revealing his own handwriting arranged by date.

From last winter until this spring. Because Professor Caroline hadn't replied to any letters since the beginning of the year, and Rorschach only knew she was in Istani but not her exact address, he changed all his subsequent letters to be sent to the Imperial Academy.

I never expected that everything I sent to Istani would be here.

Her name wasn't on the register. Luo Xia quickly glanced at the letter he had written and put it away, then hurriedly looked for any other items left behind by the teacher.

However, there was nothing else to be gained.

He couldn't stay here any longer. Rorschach was worried that if the Knights went back so easily, they would come back to cause trouble, so he quickly packed his luggage.

Ta-da!

The receptionist saw Luo Xia, who had gone up not long ago, come down again in a hurry, with his suitcase floating behind him.

"check out."

"Only half of the deposit can be refunded."

Just as I tripped and dropped the money, Rorschach insisted, "Check out immediately. And what about the previous tenant's luggage?"

The receptionist, unaware of what had happened, replied, "It's already been handed over."

"To whom should we entrust it? The Magic Guild?"

The receptionist thought for a long time before finally managing to utter the only word she could think of: "Relevant departments."

Damn it, Rorschach hesitated for a moment, but still risked asking, "What did my previous guest look like?"

The only response he received was a shake of the head: "I'm sorry, sir, I don't remember that lady checking in wasn't my shift."

To eliminate any potential threat, Luo Xia conjured a point of blue light from his fingertips, feigning a threat, and used [Mage's Hand] to cover the other person's mouth: "You are not allowed to reveal the last question to anyone. If you utter a single word, you will be punished immediately! Understand?"

After she finished speaking, the blue light entered the waiter's head, and the receptionist nodded repeatedly with tears in her eyes.

It was only around two o'clock, a time when the sun should have been shining brightly, but the streets of Storm City, in the autumn and winter, were shrouded in a cold white curtain. "This hotel doesn't change the sheets in time, forcing me to play the villain," Rorschach complained, dragging his luggage, enhanced by [Levitation], into the thick fog.

By the time the receptionist had wiped away her tears and touched up her makeup, three more burly men burst in from the mist, led by Percival. Just as Rorschach had predicted, the men remembered that the young man was a mid-level mage and immediately called for reinforcements. The knights weren't enough; several detectives in black uniforms followed closely behind, filling the hall to capacity.

Percival cut to the chase: "Take me to that room; you know where I mean."

(End of this chapter)