A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 268 The Iron Crown Knights

Percival didn't wait for the receptionist to take out the key to open the door; he kicked open the thin door panel directly, trying to give the person inside no time to react.

The three knights rushed forward, quickly entering the room and assuming fighting stances in the small space.

However, it was very quiet, and the annoying mage could not be seen at all.

The detective brought the receptionist and manager over.

"Where is she?" Percival asked the lady, trying his best to be polite and courteous, demonstrating the manners of a knight.

The receptionist stammered, "He checked out."

"Why didn't you say so!" Percival felt like he'd been tricked after he realized he was outsmarting thin air.

"You didn't ask," the receptionist said, her tears welling up for the second time today.

"Detective, please lead the search of the rooms while we check the register." Percival said with a grim face as he and his two brothers went downstairs.

Watching the detectives bustling around, rummaging through drawers and cabinets, the manager sighed, "Another client has run away. This room is a bit eerie; let's turn it into a storage room from now on."

"Break down the door directly." Rorschach put away the Pearl of Balan, confirming the knight's hostility.

Rorschach chose to go to the nearest magic guild. In a sense, the guild headquarters and the embassy are similar, and for mages, they are even better places of refuge.

Of course, Rorschach has been a law-abiding tourist so far and hasn't caused any trouble in Istani. He's more concerned about the whereabouts of his teacher, Caroline, so he came to the guild to try and find her.

"Hello, I need to find a mage: her name is Caroline, a rather young lady with brown hair. She's from the Empire, but she's a Valuvan." Rorschach added, "I'm her student, and since I haven't received a reply, I wanted to inquire with the guild about her whereabouts."

"Please don't worry. When did she enter the country?"

"Around December last year, she came to the sea near Istani to observe meteors."

After listening to Rorschach's description, the staff led him to the meeting room and brought out several boxes of files. However, Rorschach and the staff searched together but found no information about Caroline remaining in the guild; her name was nowhere to be found.

"Your teacher has no entry record, or did not visit the council to conduct business after entering the country."

"Impossible. I sent letters through the guild's teleportation system before, and she received the earliest letter."

The staff member was very patient: "Perhaps your teacher has already returned to the Empire? We suggest you try contacting the Empire now."

That was one way. After calming down, Rorschach not only sent letters to the Imperial Royal Magic Academy but also to the Tower of Stars to inquire. He sent urgent letters, and after sitting in the guild's reception room for about an hour, the first letter arrived.

"Master Luo Xia, you have replied." The staff member waved the paper tube and opened it for Luo Xia.

When Rorschach received the letter, he saw it was a reply from the Imperial Royal Academy, but the words on it were unexpected: "No such person found."

How could that be? Rorschach looked at it again and again, but the text remained unchanged, stating unequivocally that there was no teacher named Caroline in the academy.

"Did you misspell the name when you sent the letter?" The staff member's eyes had changed. He had seen his fair share of crazy mages, and in his opinion, Luo Xia was the type who appeared normal on the surface but actually had mental problems.

"Absolutely not."

When the reply from the Tower of Stars arrived, Rorschach opened it himself and unfolded the paper:

To Rorschach:

"Mage Caroline has not returned to the Tower of Stars. Since her initial purpose in coming to Istani was for stargazing, you can contact the Tower of Storms and the Tower of Time to look for her. If that doesn't work, you can ask me for help again."

"Kano".

Although there was no answer, Master Cano reassured Rorschach somewhat. However, when he placed the writing on the table, it had abruptly changed!

"The handwriting on the letter has changed!" Rorschach grabbed it again; the text now read, "No other mages have visited or exchanged ideas with the Tower of Stars recently."

In short, the name "Caroline" was erased.

"What are you talking about?" The staff member became increasingly certain of his judgment. In fact, he also knew that there was another possibility—that magic had caused the mage's target to disappear, but this possibility meant trouble, and he could avoid getting too involved as long as he continued to play dumb.

Rorschach realized something was wrong, and he carefully put away the two replies: "May I take them with me?"

"Of course, you've already paid." The staff member escorted Rorschach out of the Magic Guild.

Will the Iron Crown Knights still cause me trouble? Rorschach looked at the fog-shrouded city and had an idea. He hailed a horse-drawn carriage.

"Young master, where are you going?"

Where to go? Since the guild was useless, and the magic towers like the Storm Tower and the Time Tower weren't in Storm City, where should he go to get help? Should he go to the Adventurers' Guild to find Singlev and the other adventurers? Rorschach looked at the mysteriously altered reply and had an idea.

"Go to the address on the business card." Rorschach handed the driver the small piece of paper Benedict had left him.

"Okay, sit tight."

Benedict’s “office” was his residence, a middle-income apartment building that could support long-term rentals; it was a bit old, but well-maintained.

The landlady opened the door for Rorschach; she was wearing an apron and had huge heat protectants on.

"Benny, you've got business!" The landlady was happy to see her tenant earning income and was happy to open the door for Benedict so she could keep track of his business and raise the rent when the time was right.

"You're a lucky lad, Benny's available right now."

"Thank you." Luo Xia was a little anxious and hurriedly changed his shoes to come in.

A faint smell of burning wafted from the hallway. The landlady exclaimed, "My pie!" and disappeared down the hallway. Rorschach closed the door behind her.

"Master Rorschach? I didn't expect our goodbye to come so soon." When Rorschach entered the living room, Benedict was memorizing his lines, so the handsome elf Rorschach saw was still in performance mode.

He draped a tablecloth over himself, added a cane as a sword, and strutted confidently on the carpet, head held high. He looked every bit the prince.

"I need to find someone, someone the Iron Crown Knights are tracking." Rorschach wasn't sure if he could trust the elf, but he could first test the waters with the Iron Crown Knights. From their conversation that morning, Rorschach knew the elf harbored resentment towards the kingdom, at least on behalf of the Grey Elves, and his final words were somewhat cynical. Testing his attitude towards Istani, a knightly order belonging to Her Majesty the Queen, would determine whether Rorschach could enlist the help of a "detective."

The elf's performance stopped: "Being investigated by the Knights? Mr. Rorschach, you're new here; I suppose you're unfamiliar with the power structure of Istani?"

"What does this have to do with my request?"

Benedict poured himself some amber-colored liquor, just enough to cover the bottom of his glass: "The Iron Crown Knights are one of the kingdom's twelve knightly orders. Their grandmasters form the Round Table Council, also known as the Upper House, while the other nobles and electors form the Lower House. In other words, in this game of finding people, you're racing against the rulers of Istani. Knights aren't like the useless spies from Strand Field."

He poured Rorschach the same amount of wine: "Interesting. I'll accept your request!"

(End of this chapter)