At three o'clock in the afternoon, a moonlit white two-horse carriage swiftly departed from the northern gate of Silvermoon Castle.

Inside the carriage, Xia Bolai sat stark naked on a thick bear fur upholstered leather seat, grinning smugly: "Although my aunt is always scolding me, she cares for me deeply in her heart."

Rosen knew he was about to start bragging and played along, asking: "How can you tell?"

Xia Bolai slapped the carriage seat: "Just look at this carriage, it's no ordinary one. This is the famous Brightmoon Carriage!"

Rosen feigned curiosity: "Oh, the name sounds impressive, but what makes it so special?"

This tickled Xia Bolai's vanity and he became even more smug.

"Not just anyone can afford this carriage. It's pulled by purebred Moonlight Horses, with great endurance and speed. The carriage walls are also specially made, in two layers."

"The inner layer is made of Moonbear fur, soft and insulating. The outer layer is blessed Golden Saint Steel from the temple, providing excellent protection against spells, crossbow bolts, and especially dark magic."

"Even low and mid-level spells may not penetrate the carriage walls. It's practically a moving small fortress."

As he spoke, he slapped the carriage wall, producing a muffled, heavy echo.

"Hear that? Sturdy construction right?"

Rosen nodded in agreement. Riding in such a sturdy carriage put his mind at ease too.

For this trip to Brightmoon Town, Xia Bolai was the Earl's envoy, while he himself was the assistant envoy. Their mission was to investigate the Brightstone Mine south of Brightmoon Town and get to the bottom of the troubles there.

The key was to uncover the truth, not resolve the issues.

Based on the Earl of Omicia's actions so far, it seemed she genuinely wanted the truth and had provided the maximum support she could.

In addition to the Brightmoon Carriage, she had provided 200 crowns for operational expenses and given Rosen a medicine box containing 6 very good magic potions.

Among them were 2 mid-level Focus potions, 2 strong Antitoxin potions, and 2 specialty Healing salves.

'Thank goodness we're not being sent as cannon fodder.'

That said, while the Earl had a low opinion of Xia Bolai, it was due to his lazy and wanton attitude. Her affection ran deep, so she would never send her own nephew into harm's way.

"Uncle, let me see the previous envoys' investigation reports," Rosen said.

Xia Bolai opened a hidden compartment in the carriage and took out two booklets for Rosen.

"I skimmed them earlier. More like sightseeing logs than real investigative reports if you ask me. No substantial information at all. Those envoys were useless!"

Rosen started reading the reports seriously.

Brightmoon Town, one of the six towns in the Yellow River Highlands, was primarily known for its Brightstone crystals used in spellcasting. It was a major source of tax revenue for Winterkeep City from Silvermoon Castle.

The lord of Brightmoon Town was Baron Phelan, but his title was not divinely ordained honor, rather that of a vassal to the Earl of Omicia of Silvermoon Castle, to whom he pledged fealty.

Seeing this, Rosen's mind stirred and he asked, "Uncle, wasn't Veronica's father Baron Phelan?"

Xia Bolai's expression froze as he slowly nodded.

"You remember right, that's bad for morale. Thankfully he didn't die by our hands, only Master Freyen to blame for being too ruthless."

But Rosen was not so optimistic.

"Uncle, Master Freyen is Baron Phelan's friend and Guildmaster of the Mage's Guild, a high level archmage with great reputation and power, among the highest echelons in Silvermoon Castle. We may not fare as well."

Xia Bolai glared: "But I'm the lord's nephew! Now an envoy of the Earl herself, surely he wouldn't dare take it out on me?"

"The key is, if we stay in Silvermoon Castle, we're safe for sure."

"But now, we're investigating in the baron's own lands."

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"If he only cooperates superficially while sabotaging our investigation secretly, we'll get nowhere."

"In fact, he's been doing that all along for some unknown reason, otherwise the previous envoys wouldn't have failed."

Hearing this, Xia Bolai's bluster evaporated as his round face drooped, crestfallen.

He took out rations and water from the luggage and started gorging.

After eating for a while, he let out a loud burp and sighed deeply.

"I knew it, auntie just doesn't want me living too comfortably. I was just starting to enjoy life and she hurriedly kicks me out to handle this mess."

Seeing his dejected state, Rosen sighed inwardly: 'Shrinking at adversity and impulsive around beauties, no wonder the Earl has headaches over him.'

This wouldn't do. He was counting on Xia Bolai to spearhead the investigation, so he encouraged him:

"Don't be discouraged, Uncle. We're still the Earl's envoys, Baron Phelan has to cooperate on the surface at least."

"Plus, it's because this is difficult that the Earl sent you to investigate. It shows her confidence in your abilities and trust in you. After all, you're her nephew whom she raised herself."

Xia Bolai immediately perked up and nodded vigorously.

"You're right!"

"I, Xia Bolai, am a distinguished high-rank knight, and member of the Omicia family. My aunt worked hard raising me, so I must do my best to relieve her burdens."

He looked to Rosen, "So where do you think we should start the investigation?"

Rosen waved the investigation reports, "No rush, let me finish reading these first."

"Okay, I'm a bit sleepy, I'll take a nap first. Wake me when we arrive."

Having eaten, drowsiness overtook him. He sprawled on the seat and soon loud snores sounded.

"Kids born with family mines sure are blessed," Rosen mused.

He then pored over the previous envoy's report seriously.

Notably, the envoy before last had simply returned empty-handed, but the last one did not meet a good end.

After submitting his final report, he died that very night in his lodgings at Brightmoon Town.

The cause was excessive drinking at a ball, leading to vomiting that blocked his airway and caused suffocation during sleep.

Page by page, he read through the initial report's overview of the Brightstone Mine and surrounding woods, practically indistinguishable from a sightseeing log. But the last page contained some unusual contents.

The report stated:

"On the 16th day of investigation in Brightmoon Town, Baron Phelan remained uncooperative as usual. I thought it would be another fruitless day."

"But in the afternoon, my assistant Frotto discovered some strange traces near the Brightstone Mine in the woods."

"Analysis suggests this may be a wildman's encampment in the mountains."

"There were no fire pit marks, but remains of nut shells, vegetable roots, and carcasses of various insects, fish, and beasts were found."

The report ended abruptly there.

"Looks like there is some danger in this investigation after all, no wonder the Internal Affairs department gave me antidotes and medicine," Rosen thought.

While not greatly helpful in resolving the mine's troubles, reading this report gave Rosen a good grasp of the terrain, geography, and even vegetation distribution around Brightmoon Town.

Rosen smiled wryly, "At least I won't get lost now."

Returning the report to the luggage box, he too closed his eyes and summoned his spellcrafting virtual machine, studying ways to improve his current spells based on Therendor's teachings.

'The research of magic is endless, and what I taught you is but a fraction of all there is. It is merely the foundation for continuing upwards.'

'How far you will go depends on the machinations of fate.'

To be frank, the magic knowledge a formal mage needed to master was not much.

Analogous to his past life, it was about the level of an undergraduate.

Roughly eating through the most mature, safest, yet most ordinary magic knowledge gleaned by predecessors.

Beyond that lay two paths.

First, travelling to learn different masters' signature skills.

Second, buying the latest magic research papers from the Guild to design your own spells based on the principles, or directly purchasing ready-made standard spells for a premium.

In any case, neither path was easy.

"The road is still long," Rosen mused.

His thoughts stirred as he refocused on the spellcrafting virtual machine.

Just as he was racking his brains on how to improve the spell structures, Rosen suddenly felt the magic imprint on his back vibrate slightly, shocking him.

"A Withered envoy nearby?"

This was the transcendent magic imprint left by Aurelia, it could not be wrong.

Just then, the carriage suddenly stopped, and the coachman Alan's voice sounded from the front, "Milord, someone wants to hitch a ride."

Rosen immediately suppressed his unease and calmly asked, "Didn't you see this is an envoy carriage from Silvermoon Castle?"

Alan replied, "I did, but she said you would definitely agree. She knows you."

Along with his words, a melodious laugh entered the carriage, "Xia Bolai surely won't mind me joining. What about you, Rosen? Do you object?"

The voice was very familiar. It was Aurelia.

Things were getting stranger.

It was clearly Aurelia, yet why was there no resonance with his soul? But the imprint on his back vibrated?

It took but a moment to realize: "A Withered envoy impersonating Aurelia to get close to us!"

'Getting this close before my imprint sensed it means the envoy is rather weak. Just as well, let's see what you're up to.'

He nudged Xia Bolai awake.

Xia Bolai rolled over, unwilling to get up and mumbled irritably, "Was sleeping, you decide whatever it is."

So Rosen whispered in his ear, "Uncle, a naked beauty wants to hitch a ride."

Xia Bolai's sleepiness vanished as his eyes popped wide open. He stuck his head out the window looking left and right.

"Where, where? Why would she be naked in winter? How pretty is she? Wants to ride with us huh? No problem, there's plenty of space."

Rosen laughed, "Pretty she is, but not naked. Also suspicious, I fear you can't handle her."

Xia Bolai was unconcerned, "No worries, even if I can't, it's fine if she's a beauty. I don't mind humoring her a little."

Since that was the case, Rosen was also curious about the Withered one's intentions, so he called, "Lady Aurelia, please come aboard then."

He opened the carriage door.

After the beauty in a moonlit white dress with golden hair and blue eyes entered, Rosen saw Xia Bolai's expression rapidly shift from infatuation, to confusion, then shock.

"You...you're Aurelia!"

Aurelia smiled slightly and deliberately lowered her voice, "Xia Bolai, you don't welcome me?"

'Gulp,' Xia Bolai unconsciously thought of the sausage in his shorts and his licentious thoughts were tossed out of the Golden Land immediately.

"Aure...Aurelia, you...you...I...I'm going to get some air outside. Rosen, entertain her for me."

He bolted out the door to stand beside the coachman.