After mastering the resurrection technique, they begged me to extend their lives.

Sitting inside the iconic building of Stardust Harbor—the Scales Inspectorate.

With a terrible headache, old goblin Glenn Copper Abacus rested his elbows on the judge's table, interlaced his fingers on the back of his hands, and sized up the three people who had been brought over.

Oh, and there's one more bird.

"Chief Inspector General, the identities of those causing trouble in the port have been confirmed."

The Royal Guards of the Golden Scales report:

"Miss Hela, from the Sorcerer Kingdom of Terraria, is a AAA-level graduate of the Egret Academy... She also belongs to the Planeswalkers Guild, possesses a mentorship certificate with Archmage Grey Mist, and a travel pass to ten countries... She is a distinguished guest among distinguished guests..."

"..."

"This man is her... uh, her suitor (according to her). As for his identity, his name is An Xiao, and his nationality is unknown. He doesn't have a port residency permit, nor does he have an imperial residency permit. But it seems that Miss Xingmi acted as his guarantor."

"…Um."

"This other woman is An Xiao's 'summoned creature.' After examination, we confirmed that she has no heartbeat. She is indeed a summoned creature."

The people present: "…………"

well.

Make sense.

Old Glenn is 150 years old.

As an old goblin, he served as the permanent arbitrator of the Arbitration Court of the Bartos Commercial Kingdom, the honorary vice president of the Stardust Chamber of Commerce, and the chief inspector of the Golden Scales Guard of Stardust Harbor. His prestige and insight were almost unquestionable.

It can be said that, apart from the chairman, he is one of the most prominent figures in this port.

Even so, he had never taken on a case as complex as today's.

Grand Archmage and Master-level Potion Master, the beloved disciple of Lady Gray Mist, a top-tier mage academy in the Upper City of the Magic Kingdom...

A mysterious young man, guarantored by the daughter of the chamber of commerce's leader, and "pursued" by a witch...

It can move on its own, and even seems to be able to communicate, but it is neither a living person nor a puppet's "summoned creature"...

Of course.

And then there's the instigator of this commotion—that powerful figure who has already fled the scene.

Ok.

"Based on the two corpse puppet remains left at the crime scene, we can conclude that the person who refused to cooperate with us was most likely that little girl named Lilia who registered as the vice president of the Sorcerer's Guild some time ago."

The trusted guard whispered in the old goblin's ear.

"Know."

The old goblin nodded helplessly.

To be honest, he didn't want to mess with any of the people present.

Punishing Hela is tantamount to going against Miss Gray Mist.

Punishing the man is tantamount to going against Hela, and also against Miss Hoshimi.

Rounding down, it's like going against Xingmi's father, her own superior.

Row.

Punishing the "summoned creature" is tantamount to pressuring the man, which is indirectly tantamount to opposing Hela and Hoshimi.

After going around in circles for so long, it even felt like I was making things difficult for myself.

well.

So, should we capture and punish Lilia?

The moment this idea popped into his head, it was rejected by the old goblin.

Anyone who has been a leader knows that Lilia has connections in the upper echelons of the Empire and is associated with the Sorcerer's Guild.

This is evident from the fact that she was able to enter and leave Endedes territory unscathed.

What respectable person would spend their days going to places where the dead gather to gather inspiration?

Who could so easily ignore the border guards and get their hands on the Wind Sword Maiden's corpse?

What if the person behind her is someone even more terrifying than these people in front of me? Would I still be able to hold onto my position?

The old goblin took a deep breath.

Stroking the worn jade ring on the little finger of his left hand, he pondered deeply before slowly speaking:

"I am aware of the whole story. The incident can be classified as a personal feud, a brawl in an alley."

"..."

Upon hearing this, An Xiao and the others immediately lost their composure.

Walking around was attacked by a corpse puppet. In the Stardust Harbor Inspectorate, it was actually considered a regular brawl?

Should I also bear responsibility?

[This Scales Guard is just too much like a scale.]

He couldn't help but mutter to himself.

As a wanted criminal of the empire, with the resurrected princess by his side, he couldn't confront her directly on the spot. He just wanted to hear what the outcome would be before making a decision.

But Hela wasn't like that.

The person he was "pursuing" was almost assassinated, so why are all the old fogies in Stardust Harbor acting like they're blind and spouting nonsense?

At that moment, she couldn't bear it any longer. She stood up abruptly, slammed one of her high-heeled boots on the chair, and pointed at the old goblin menacingly, asking:

"I've long heard that Stardust Harbor is the safest place in the world, and the Golden Scales Guard is known for its fair investigations. But the way you're doing things, shouldn't I go find some senior members of the Planeswalkers' Guild to offer them some words of comfort?"

It was clear that her inner thighs were wrapped with spare cloth that An Xiao had just provided to cover the corroded areas. Anyone with eyes could see just how fierce the battle in the alley had been.

If you're not careful, you could end up dead on the spot.

"Miss Hela, please calm down, that's not what I meant."

Old goblin Glenn said calmly:

"You have been attacked, that's a fact, and we will not ignore it. But you should know that Stardust Harbor has always pursued peace and freedom, and the higher-ups do not want such incidents to escalate before the criminals are apprehended."

"So what do you mean?"

Hela frowned, somewhat confused by the old man's logic.

But soon, the other person's expression brightened, and they stretched out their withered palm—

They gave a nice answer.

"The tradition of the Patos commercial state is to resolve problems with gold coins."

"?"

Upon hearing this, An Xiao's ears perked up.

"gold?"

"That's right."

The old goblin chuckled, the fine wrinkles at the corners of his eyes resembling two curved blades when he smiled.

"In a commercial nation, the one thing that is never lacking is money."

"I need you all to rest here for three days under our protection. After we have further confirmed An Xiao's identity, we will then release him and his... well, 'summoned creature'."

"During this period, we will treat you with the courtesy due to honored guests, ensuring you have three meals a day, and providing 'compensation for working hours' and 'compensation for emotional distress caused by attacks,' amounting to 100 gold coins per day."

"Of course, Miss Hela does not need to undergo any screening and can leave this place directly to regain her freedom."

"...?!"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

The little black bird on An Xiao's shoulder couldn't hold back any longer and opened its beak to mutter:

"Master! If I heard correctly, that old man seems to be giving us rice!"

"..."

100 per day, 300 for three days.

It's still gold coins.

A bright, golden dragon.

You know, this money, plus what I already have in my pocket, if I pool it together and earn some more money, is almost enough to buy a ticket to go to sea...

Moreover, judging from the old goblin's words, he didn't really want to make things difficult for me...

Even if we assume the worst, living in the Inspectorate and being protected by so many elite Golden Scale Guards with gold badges, Lilia, no matter how powerful she is, would have no chance of breaking in to launch a second attack.

It's safe, I have money, and I can take this opportunity to go back to Mana and get some rest.

Isn't it beautiful?

An Xiao's face relaxed.

Hela didn't understand any of this and was about to refute it again, wanting to take An Xiao away directly.

But then, disregarding any "customer sentiment," he abruptly pulled her back to her seat, pressed her cool, smooth thighs under the table, and calmly comforted her:

"I think this senior inspector is quite astute in solving cases. Why don't we do as he says for now? Come pick me up in three days."

He paused, a slight smile playing on his lips, and finally extended an olive branch—

"Then, join my squad."

……

……