Alaric strode toward his father’s study with long, measured steps, trying to stretch out as much time as possible. He wanted to deduce why he had summoned him. As he approached the room, he discerned the voices of many people echoing inside it.

Hmm.. it looks like there is a large crowd present inside.

As he entered the study, the floorboards groaned beneath his boots. All eyes swiveled toward him. He distinguished three groups of people in the dimly lit room illuminated by the streaks of sunlight piercing through the heavy drapes.

Off to one side were his friends. Rowan smiled subtly, Gareth grinned, and George sighed in relief when they spotted him. Alaric simply nodded at them.

Captain Farrow leaned against a table while Sir Baldwin Du Rocher stood rigid in his polished armor. The head butler Edgar Greyford loomed silently behind the count who lounged in his chair.

Off to the other side stood Therin and the snot-faced kid. The other members of his group were absent. Both of them appeared frozen with fear. Alaric smirked.

All of the elders maintained a neutral expression, but there was no mistaking the purpose of this meeting. It was an interrogation. Alaric inwardly chuckled. They are trying to scare the kids, and it seems it’s working.

He immediately understood why they had been summoned. Rowan must have informed his father about the forbidden ingredients that Therin was attempting to procure from the alchemist’s guild — The Argent Flask.

“Alaric, approach my boy,” the count commanded.

He reclined in his chair with his fingers steepled. “Your friends have leveled a serious accusation against Therin — He was trying to obtain forbidden ingredients from the Argent Flask.” He gestured at Therin. “Therin, naturally, is refuting the accusation. Would you recount what transpired that day when the altercation broke out?”Alaric smirked and glanced at Therin. He went pale. Evidently, Therin had been up to no good, and it seemed he was merely bracing for his punishment. It was obvious from his demeanor. The count was simply attempting to confirm his story.

Alaric narrated what happened that day — How Therin tried to intimidate George and deter him from revealing what he witnessed when he had visited the Argent Flask the previous day and got slapped by Elisa. How a brawl nearly erupted, and Sir Baldwin had to intervene. What they discovered from Elisa when they returned to the Argent Flask the next day.

With every sentence, Therin’s face turned ashen. “Lies, all lies. They are fabricating lies because they despise us. I visited no alchemist’s guild, spoke to no girl named Elisa, nor attempted to acquire any forbidden ingredients.” The snot-faced boy fidgeted nervously as well.

Alaric couldn’t fathom why he had been summoned too. Or why only he had been called and not Therin’s other companions.

Suddenly, Sir Baldwin interjected. “Kid, don’t waste our time. We can summon the receptionist and verify all the details. However, it won’t bode well for you if you keep on wasting our time.”

Therin was struggling. It seemed he wanted to admit his guilt but couldn’t. He locked eyes with the snot-faced kid, who shook his head.

Suddenly, an aura swept over the room, bearing down on them both. “Kid, let me simplify this for you - we have already investigated the matter and corroborated the details with Elisa,” the count declared. “Didn’t you wonder why we summoned Ruben here as well? We were merely giving you a chance to cooperate, but it seems we’ve been too lenient with you.”“Please forgive us, lord,” cried Therin, collapsing to his knees.

“Then tell us the truth, be honest. Why did you seek those ingredients?” demanded Sir Baldwin.

“We were instructed to procure them,” Therin blurted out.

“By whom and for what purpose?”

And, with that, Therin divulged all the details we needed to know.

Apparently, Therin had encountered a bottleneck in his cultivation journey — specifically in the reforging process of his bones. With his current capabilities, he could reforge his bones to a mid-grade quality.

But he wasn’t content with that, especially since he aspired to participate in the upcoming regional fighting tournament and win it. Many recruiters from prestigious guilds attended these tournaments to scout for talent.

If Therin could somehow reforge his bones to peak quality, he would have a chance to win the competition and secure recruitment into a prestigious guild. The only way to achieve that goal was to obtain a peak-grade bone-forging pill.

Unfortunately, peak-grade bone-forging pills were a rare resource that were exorbitantly expensive. They were accessible only to the most talented disciples of elite sects.

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For minor nobles like Therin, they were virtually unattainable. However, fortune smiled on him when his friend Ruben stumbled upon a mysterious dealer who offered exactly what they needed — peak-grade bone-forging pills.

When Ruben informed Therin and his friends, they were skeptical at first. All of them went to meet with the dealer to verify the claims, and indeed, they saw a genuine peak-grade bone-forging pill.

At least it matched the descriptions they had learned — a small, whitish marble-sized pill. The dealer even demonstrated the strength of his superior reforged bones, which he attributed to these pills.

Of course, the pills were still exorbitantly priced, but the dealer proposed another option. Acquire three ingredients — Widow’s Veil, Stilled Hemlock Sap, and Shade Lotus Petal — from an alchemist’s guild.

The dealer assured them he would even provide the funds for acquiring these ingredients.

It was a risky gamble to attempt to procure forbidden ingredients, but according to Therin, a cultivator’s journey was fraught with risks. All of his friends agreed to obtain the materials.

After extensive searching, they uncovered that these three ingredients were exclusively available at The Argent Flask. He was so close, but Elisa refused to sell them these ingredients without written authorization from the guild master.

When George stumbled upon Therin and his group pestering Elisa for the ingredients, everything spiraled into chaos. The amusing part was, that Therin wasn’t enraged or fearful about being exposed over the ingredients.

No, apparently, Therin was simply embarrassed. He didn’t want Rowan and Alaric to discover that he was chasing an extraordinary shortcut to enhance his cultivation, instead of depending on his own abilities.

Therin’s goal was to rub it in Rowan’s face when he reforged his bones to peak quality and ascended to Tier 2. Rowan was Therin’s toughest rival, after all.

When everything came to light, Alaric couldn’t help but chuckle. George and Gareth bore skeptical expressions. They didn’t buy this story for a second. Rowan scratched his cheek, uncertain what to make of it.

Captain Farrow clicked his tongue, clearly displeased by their foolishness.

The Count and head butler maintained their impassive expressions, but Sir Baldwin, for some reason, seethed with anger.

“Kid, you have no idea how close to danger you were,” he said and gestured toward Alaric and his group. “You should count yourselves fortunate George spotted you that day.” He folded his arms across his chest, “Otherwise, I would have had to explain to your father why you went missing while under my care.”

That declaration caused Therin and Ruben’s faces to twist in confusion. It was the same for the other children and Alaric.

“I don’t understand,” blurted Therin.

Sir Baldwin retrieved a stack of papers from the count’s desk and extended them toward the group. “Come here and examine these.”

All the kids marched over and scrutinized the papers, which turned out to be posters of missing children. They included additional details such as their names and physical descriptions.

Hmm…are those missing kids? It seemed Rowan and Therin also deduced the meaning of those posters.

“These are all missing posters of children who disappeared over the past year here in this city,” Sir Baldwin said grimly, “All Tier 1s on the brink of advancement who were lured with promises of extravagant resources by some unknown men.”

Therin and Ruben both turned pale. Alaric furrowed his brows. So, the count hadn’t been exaggerating when he said they had already conducted an investigation.Sir Baldwin summarized their findings briefly. Apparently, Therin and his friends had narrowly avoided falling into the clutches of a notorious criminal organization that had been targeting children like them — young, ambitious Tier 1s.

The group enticed them with promises of rare resources. In return, the network exploited these children to procure illegal materials, only to abduct and silence them during the final exchange.

Their true motive remained elusive. Perhaps they kidnapped children to erase evidence or for more sinister purposes.

Over the past year, countless children had vanished under similar circumstances, leaving authorities scrambling for answers.

With each word the knight commander uttered, Therin and Ruben’s faces grew paler and paler. They were practically drenched in sweat.

‘Now, the reason we summoned you here, Ruben,’ he directed his gaze toward the snot-faced kid, “is that you were the one who made first contact with these criminals.”

Ruben felt like a mouse cornered in a trap. “I…well…no,” he stammered.

Sir Baldwin raised a hand to halt him. “Relax. We won’t harm you,” he smirked. “If you cooperate by sharing everything you know. Where did you encounter them? At what time? What was the dealer wearing, his name, height? I need all the details.”

As Ruben began divulging everything, Alaric approached his friends, a grin tugging at his lips. Rowan furrowed his brows and said, “You seem to be enjoying yourself.”

Alaric shrugged. “What? It all just sounds so intriguing.” He chuckled. “We’re part of an investigation to uncover a massive criminal network.”

“What do you mean?” Gareth inquired, raising his eyebrows.

“I have a feeling our role in this isn’t over yet,” Alaric replied. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t be discussing these details with all of us present.”

“Well, I want to know more about this criminal organization,” commented George. “It is indeed thrilling to be involved, although equally terrifying.”

Alaric patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, I’ve got your back.” He smirked.

“Who’s got whose back now?” Rowan nudged Alaric. “You’re the youngest of us all.” All of them burst into laughter.

“But I think there’s nothing more for us to do here,” Rowan said. “The authorities will handle the rest, right?”

Alaric shook his head. “I don’t think so.” He scratched his cheek. “The authorities have struggled to apprehend these criminals for a long time. But this time, they have a solid lead they can pursue to trap them.”

He gestured for his friends to glance over their shoulders. As they did, all of them noticed the count and his faithful butler scrutinizing their group.

“Why is the lord observing us?” commented Gareth, his voice tinged with fear.

“Well, if my instincts are correct, we’ll find out in a few more minutes.”

All the elders gathered and discussed something in hushed tones. After a while of discussion, Captain Farrow shook his head while attempting to suppress his frustration. However, when the count spoke, he seemed to regain his composure.

Then, suddenly, all four sets of eyes fixed on their group.