Anders merchant caravan went to queue towards the gate that was assigned for caravans while the villager refugees were asked by the guards to go to an assigned location near the gate. Anton observed what the guards would do with the refugees but it seemed like they were waiting for someone.

A couple of people arrived who looked like they were wizards. The wizard then announced to the refugees that they would cast a mass detect spell towards everyone to make sure that they were not carrying any curses from the undead and after that one of the wizards chanted a spell. Magic gathered on the wizard’s hands and when it appeared like it reached some sort of climax he then released it towards the villagers.

Anton saw that the two wizards and the guards were a bit surprised that the villagers didn’t show too much reaction when they witnessed the spell. The villagers were a bit used to seeing magic due to Anton healing them frequently, seeing Anna practicing her spells and riding the summoned Spirit Wolf, and the caravan guards practicing and hunting animals in the forest using their Ice Bolt wands.

Suddenly, everyone’s attention was gathered by two powerful-looking wizards who were flying from inside the city towards their caravan and Anton wondered if they were archmages. They landed near the caravan and walked the rest of the way towards them.

“I am the High Wizard Lurien and this is the High Wizard Bolat. May I talk to the caravan’s mage,” The good-looking blond wizard said.

In contrast, his counterpart Lurien named Bolat was dark-haired but he was so ugly that Anton wondered if he had some sort of deformity that magic couldn’t cure, and if it’s not a deformity, couldn’t he find a spell that could improve how he look? The wizard named Bolat looked like Quasimodo from the animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, without the hunchback.

Anton followed Anders's plan and walked forward with his father, Frederick, and the three vampires. At first, Anton wanted to dispute the term archmage when he was referring to himself but Frederick and the vampires kept insisting that he as was as powerful as one but with Anton’s insistence, they settled for the term High Wizard which was a broad rank that was supposed to be the one before becoming an archmage. That was also the title that Lurien and Bolat presented themselves with.

“I am the High Wizard Anton from the fallen country of Mendi. This is my father Anders, my father’s wizard, Frederick, and the elder vampires Zenoxus and his two progenies, Luminetta and Ecturne. The vampires are my slaves. An undead army attacked the village our caravan was staying with. We were able to escape but I captured the elder vampire who chose to become my slave together with his two remaining prodigies instead of getting destroyed by my hands.”

The two high wizards from Zalnothel accepted what Anton said but they said something that surprised all of them.

“As you know, the Undead Coalition is currently at war with everyone so we need to make sure that they didn’t send any spies to our city. Would you submit yourself under a truth orb conducted by an archmage? A truth orb being used on a wizard needs to be operated by a mage with a higher rank and since you named yourself a high wizard, an archmage needs to conduct the investigation,” Lurien said.

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“Am I the only one you will interview?” Anton asked.

“No. we would prefer for your father, his mage, and the three vampires to undergo the truth investigation. Are there any more wizards in your caravan?”

“My sister, who is thirteen years old is a novice mage,” Anton told the high wizard.

The two high wizards looked at each other when they learned that Anton had a young sister who was also a mage.

“May I know how old are you?” Bolat suddenly asked.

“I’m seventeen,” Anton immediately answered since he was a bit startled.

The two high wizards gasped when they learned his age and Frederick and the vampires smiled. The two high wizards from Zalnothel asked them to follow them to a room just inside the gate. Anders asked if they could return to the caravan briefly so they could inform their companions what was happening and the two wizards relented. Ecturne then flew toward Lucas and Nemina to inform them what was happening and then returned immediately to the group. They then followed the two high wizards and entered the pedestrian gate.

The wizards led them to a fairly large office and told them that they would need to call the archmage first. The wizards were kind enough to inform them that it would probably take more than ten minutes before they returned.

Once the two high wizards were gone, Frederick retrieved a wooden tablet of air conditioner from somewhere and activated it. Anton was about to do the same since the room was hot and humid due to the season but Frederick beat him to it.

“Is it okay that we were too obedient to them?” Anton asked his father.

“Of course. This is their country and we are seeking to be under their protection. You are a powerful wizard with undead slaves so they would need to do some investigation first and based on what you told us and what we have experienced so far, you have the power to nullify curses. I think that we’re fairly safe and we have no secrets that we need to hide. Even your uniqueness was negligible to the most powerful,” Anders answered.

Frederick nodded at what Anders had said and the vampires just remained silent. After ten minutes, the wizards from Zalnothel hadn’t arrived yet so Anton opened his browser and watched some video clip after he told everyone that he would meditate for a bit.

When the door to the room opened, Anton immediately minimized his browser. The two high wizards, Lurien and Bolat entered followed by a very old woman who was wearing a very luxurious wizard’s robe. Anton saw Frederick and the vampire tense as if they were bothered by the old woman’s presence but Anton got curious since he didn’t feel anything. He wondered if it was because his magic was from a different system.

The old woman was surprised when she saw that Anton didn’t have any reaction towards her. Then Anton noticed Frederick and the three vampires relax and he wondered if the old woman did something like turn off an aura or a magical presence or something.

“You are a very powerful young wizard to not be affected by my aura. Good afternoon to all of you gentlemen and lady. I’m the archmage Voduria. I will be interviewing all of you under the truth orb. Normally we don’t do something like this but because of the situation with the Undead Coalition, we have no choice but to make sure that there were no spies from them that would enter our city. Of course, we don’t assume that no spies had ever entered the city but we still think that we need to do this. Is this alright with you all?” The old archmage asked nicely.

Everyone just nodded since they really didn’t have any choice if they wanted to enter the city.