Versatile Mage

A moat surrounded the West Guardian Towers. The moat contained various exotic species of fishes. Some of the fishes were as big as a crocodile, which were three or four meters long and swam in the pond. Some of them were very small in size and swam in groups. They were multicolored. When they swam in groups, they looked like small rainbows that swept across the water. In the sunlight, they appeared even more gorgeous.

After they passed by the moat, Ikuko Ishida made a quick introduction of the West Guardian Towers. Ikuko must have frequently received foreign visitors and leaders. She was very skilled in introducing and showing her around the towers, but Lingling noticed her impatience.

“Is it an easy feat to pass the Hunter Master examination in China?” Ikuko Ishida turned her head around and asked. She did not bother to continue memorizing the introduction lines.

“Ikuko, it’s very rude to ask that,” said the male student, Kaede Takahashi.

“She’s not rude. She is just ignorant. The registration process to become a hunter is standardized across every country. The main reference would be the hunter’s contribution point and bounty level,” answered Lingling.

“Hmph! I’m not interested in accompanying a young naïve girl wandering around. I still have many businesses to handle. Kaede, since you’re so eager to help, do accompany and show her around. After all, people like you don’t need much training. When the next batch of people replace you, you can travel around the world with the National Institute team,” Ikuko Ishida said furiously. She turned around and left.

Lingling stared at Ikuko Ishida’s fading silhouette with her head lowered. She was deep in her thoughts for a moment.

Kaede Takahashi was beside Lingling. He felt embarrassed and said apologetically, “Ikuko don’t usually behave like this. I suppose the competition in the State House has given her a lot of pressure. I hope you won’t take this to heart. I’ll do my best to show you around.”

“Are you a member of the National Institute?” asked Lingling.

“Not yet. It’s just that I perform slightly better in the State House with a bit of luck. I’ll replace another member of the National Institute in the next batch. I believe my hard work will pay off. I hope my family, friends, and teachers can watch my performance in the World College Tournament… Please accept my apology for engaging in a topic that you’re not interested in. Please come with me. This is the West Guardian Towers’ library,” said Kaede Takahashi.

The National Institute would occasionally replace one or two of their members. The students with outstanding performances in the State House would be transferred to the National Institute. The same rule applied to every country.

Kaede Takahashi was selected to be the next replacement member. Ikuko was either jealous of Kaede Takahashi, or Lingling, hence her unusual behavior.

“Actually, my performance pales in comparison to yours. Being a Seven-Star Hunter Master is truly remarkable. After all, some of the elders in my family are hunters, too. But they aren’t a Seven-Star Hunter Master,” Kaede Takahashi said politely and respectfully.

“Officer Ozawa mentioned some strange occurrences in the Twin Guardian Towers. Everything looks normal here.” Lingling had been keeping an eye on the surroundings throughout the journey.

The Twin Guardian Towers was a large building that consisted of a restaurant, library, hospital, hotel, museum, academy, and military fortress. The towers were very crowded during open days. It resembled a mini version of a kingdom.

It was not an easy feat to walk through the entire Twin Guardian Towers. Moreover, the “castle” was complete and filled with people of various professions. There would be a dark side to all of this.

“Actually, those are small issues. Look at the library. Some of the students and military officers stay until very late at night due to the examinations around the corner. They heard noises in the library at midnight, as if someone was whispering from behind the bookshelves. We invited Soul Mages to investigate the issue. Some of the students even claimed that they had seen figures under the moonlight. They were walking, arguing, and even flipping the bookshelves,” said Kaede Takahashi.

“Are there anything else aside from this incident?” asked Lingling.

“There are some basements under the West Guardian Towers. The basements serve as a place to interrogate the prisoners. Some of the military officers claimed that prisoners who had died unexpectedly haunt them and keep them awake at night.

“The next incident happened in the Mochizuki’s family. Some of the young people in the family are sleepwalking. They appeared in strange places and slept there until the next morning. They couldn’t recall what had happened the night before. In fact, some even more horrible incidents happened in the family before. However, the Mochizuki’s family didn’t spread the news. Perhaps it has something to do with the reputation of women in that family.”

Lingling walked into the library and to the bookshelf that had been flipped over.

She randomly picked several books and checked the sides. She then looked at the order in which the books were arranged on the other shelves.

“Those who claimed to have seen supernatural visions in the library said the bookshelf had been flipped over. But I don’t see any signs of that. Besides, the books are placed in an orderly way. Did anyone rearrange anything?” Lingling asked for some details regarding the matter.

“No. They didn’t rearrange anything. In fact, the person who witnessed the bookshelf being flipped over is one of my juniors. She was so frightened that she rushed over and told me about it that night. After that, I informed Officer Ozawa,” said Kaede Takahashi.

“Oh, we can rule out the incident that happened in the library, then.” Lingling crossed out the supernatural incident that happened in the library from her handwritten record.

“I don’t get it.”

Lingling did not answer him, because that was a lame question.

Hunters required strong senses. They had to eliminate the seemingly strange incidents that had nothing to do with the case. The incident that happened in the library looked scary. However, Lingling thought otherwise. The incident was no more than a made-up supernatural story from Kaede Takahashi’s junior in order to approach him, to be protected by him, and to capture his attention.

Lingling could see through the tricks at a glance.

As for the young people’s sleepwalking and women’s reputation issues in the Mochizuki’s family, those were their private issues. Thus, Lingling was not interested to learn more about that.

However, Lingling would like to gain more understanding about the haunting prisoners. The Red Demon was made up of grievances. Its appearance could basically stir up a kind of “negative magnetic field” and affect emotionally unstable people.

‘The Red Demon’s magnetic field could be the cause for these incidents. Some people have kept their own desires close to their minds and hearts. They dare not take action. However, they did it because of the Red Demon.’

The thought sprang up in Lingling’s mind!