Viktor lightly stomped his foot, and the teleportation array lit up beneath him once again.

It was already late at night, and the servants in the house had all gone to bed. Viktor didn't want to make a fuss and wake them up.

So he simply decided to use teleportation magic to search room by room.

In the depths of the night, a burly white-haired old man, hearing the noise, slowly walked up to the second floor, heading towards the room where the sound was coming from.

Accompanied by the gradual dissipation of a cyan light in the room, Viktor appeared in a dimly lit chamber.

He looked around; this wasn't his room.

It should be a guest room.

Viktor was about to teleport again, to continue to the next room.

But the door of the room creaked open.

The old man pushed open Viktor's door, appearing behind him.

His burly figure was like a giant bear, his presence seeming to cast a shadow over the room.

Even the night light couldn't penetrate through his body.

When the old man saw clearly who was in the room, he adjusted his monocle and bowed with his hand on his chest.

"Master, you've returned."

Viktor's magic was quite conspicuous. To be able to enter the house undetected, bypassing the family knights' inspection outside, one would need to be at least a third-tier mage.

Viktor turned his head to look at the old man.

This towering old man, standing at three meters tall, seemed familiar to him.

Helnason, an aged bear-man.

He was the butler of the Kravina family, having lived for over a hundred years.

He had diligently served the Kravina family, seeing off three generations of the Kravina family.

Viktor was the third generation.

As the guardian of the Kravina family for generations, even against a fourth-tier mage, he could hold his own.

"I didn't expect to wake you, Helnason. I'm sorry."

"Not at all. I'm glad to see the master return. How long do you plan to stay this time? I'll send someone to prepare your room."

"No need, Helnason. Go back to rest. I'll be leaving before tomorrow."

Hearing Viktor's words, the butler nodded and bowed to him.

"Master, remember to call me if you need anything."

With that, the burly old man turned and left, not making a single footstep sound.

After seeing him leave, Viktor once again cast his teleportation magic.

When Viktor opened his eyes again, he was in another room.

The room was large, with a faint floral scent in the air. The luxurious decorations around made one feel the extraordinary status of the room's owner.

It looked like a woman's room.

And the only woman living in the old family mansion was...

"This is Lia's room."

Viktor confirmed.

He hadn't expected to teleport into Lia's bedroom.

But Viktor didn't mind.

Lia had sneaked into his room plenty of times, and when Viktor was in his bedroom, she would enter without even knocking.

The room was kept very clean and tidy, with no signs of anyone having slept in the bed.

After all, Lia had been staying at their house in the capital these days.

Suddenly, Viktor felt an urge rise in his heart.

It was an irresistible impulse originating from a player's instinct.

In games, players would search every possible place in accessible rooms, to avoid missing any items.

Moreover, Viktor had a strong collecting habit, the type who wouldn't leave a place until he had thoroughly scavenged it.

He closed his eyes, suppressing the restless desire in his heart.

This wasn't right, after all, it was a girl's room.

He casually glanced around, preparing to leave.

Suddenly, Vega's single eye fixed on a cabinet.

The cabinet was covered with a faintly yellow glowing magic array, which would be invisible unless one specifically looked for it.

"Viktor, over there."

Viktor turned back to look, and he also saw the cabinet under the desk.

He quickly realized what it was.

"A magic lock?"

A magic array that seals with magical power. Without deciphering the complex runes, it's impossible to open anything under the magic lock.

This magically locked bookcase? Could there be something hidden inside?

"Want to open it and take a look?"

Vega was also curious, stretching out its bird neck, staring at it.

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Although Viktor had a thought that he might miss an important item if he didn't open it, he carefully considered that there might be Lia's privacy inside...

"Alright, it's open."

Viktor: "..."

The magic array quickly dissipated, the magic lock easily undone by Vega.

Viktor couldn't help but ask an additional question.

"Don't you have any concept of respecting others' privacy?"

"Huh? Are you joking with me?"

Vega gave Viktor a disdainful glance, saying indifferently:

"Anyone could see your desire to open the cabinet."

Fair enough, Viktor had to admit.

Thoroughly searching every room without missing anything was a common affliction among players.

He couldn't avoid it either.

Viktor mentally apologized, but still instinctively opened the drawer.

There were no special items inside, just a few old, mended toy dolls.

At the back of the drawer, there was a very old notebook, its pages already yellowed.

Viktor curiously took it out and casually flipped to a page.

As if ancient memories were being unveiled before him without any concealment.

'November 6th, Father said that brother has awakened a very powerful magical talent. Our family is going to have a very powerful mage! That's great, brother will protect me for life, right?'

'November 7th, Brother seems to be studying very hard. That must be so tiring! I want to help brother become the most powerful mage! But brother only scolds me for being a nuisance. How can I help brother?'

'November 8th, I told Father about my worries. Father told me that being a mage is a profession that requires a lot of money. So, will brother be very short of money? If I could earn a lot, a lot of money, would I be able to help brother?'

Viktor looked at the words on the page, his mood becoming somewhat... complex.

There was only this much on this page, so he flipped a few more pages.

'December 21st, It snowed heavily again today. I love snow. Mr. Helnason helped me build a very, very big snowman! I showed the snowman to brother, but he used magic to shatter it... Does he not like snowmen?'

'December 22nd, I made a mistake today. I accidentally dirtied brother's magic book. It's very expensive, and brother scolded me angrily, punishing me by making me stand in the snow. I feel very cold. I'm sorry, brother. It was my fault first.'

'December 23rd, I saw brother again today. I wanted to apologize, but he scolded me harshly again... He said he hates tears. Should I not cry? Why can't I ever satisfy brother?

I'm so useless.'

The pages after that were filled with trivial matters.

Until January 1st, there were no more diary entries.

Viktor put down the diary, his mood somewhat heavy.

The reason behind the strained sibling relationship between Viktor and Lia was never mentioned in the game.

In the game, Lia's room was locked, and no player could enter it.

So players had never seen the contents of this diary.

"Seems like you were quite a handful before," Vega said beside him, having also read the contents of the diary.

Viktor nodded, not refuting the other's words.

He didn't close the notebook. Light glowed from his palm, and a black pen appeared in his hand.

On a blank page of the diary, he drew a simple smiley face.

He folded the corner of this page, closed the notebook, and put it back in the cabinet.

Vega silently watched Viktor do all this, then heard Viktor say:

"Lock the cabinet again, Vega."

Vega did as told, magically locking the cabinet again. From the outside, there was no trace that it had been opened.

Viktor turned and walked towards the door, with Vega flapping its wings to follow him.

"Where are you planning to go?"

"I said earlier... I'm quite interested in that grain merchant."

Viktor only said this much, as a teleportation array appeared under his feet, faintly glowing.

Vega quickly flew onto his shoulder. The moment it touched Viktor's shoulder, man and bird disappeared.

......

"Finally caught you!"

A group of hooded people caught Chur outside the wilderness.

Chur was burly, the type that people would instinctively avoid on the street due to his strong build.

However, at this moment, he was surrounded by a group of people.

Chur was so anxious that his forehead was covered in sweat. He shouted:

"Where is Miss Lia? I want to see Miss Lia! Why are you arresting me?"

The hooded people around felt something was off.

Why was Chur shouting so loudly?

But no one thought too much about it. A sharp female voice sounded harshly:

"You'll see Miss Lia after we take you back!"

Chur still had an unrelenting look as he said:

"I must see Miss Lia! I have something to explain!"

"Oh? What do you want to explain?"

Lia's cold voice suddenly rang out. She had appeared out of nowhere.

Beside her was Leanne, only her green eyes visible.

Lia crossed her arms, coldly looking at Chur.

"You've embezzled quite a bit of money from our family, huh? What, Chur, are you planning to escape back to the kingdom now?"

Chur looked at Lia, about to say something, but saw Lia wave her hand.

Countless hooded people emerged from the surroundings, drawing their bows and arrows, waiting for Lia's command to turn Chur into a pincushion.

"I suggest you don't move."

"Otherwise, I'm not sure if your breakfast tomorrow might include an arrow."

Chur's face darkened, as if he had fallen into a desperate situation.

But suddenly, the corners of his mouth turned upward, wearing an expression of a successful conspiracy.

Leanne beside them quickly noticed his change and hurriedly shouted:

"Shoot!"

Instantly, countless arrows flew towards Chur.

Suddenly, the arrows seemed to be blocked by some kind of barrier, stopping in mid-air.

An astonishing barrier rose sharply from the ground, and a shocking sense of weakness immediately surged through everyone except Lia.

"Magic disruption!?"

Leanne sensed something was wrong, looking at her own hands. Within the range of this barrier, she couldn't use even a bit of magic power.

Then they heard Chur suddenly say:

"How does the taste of the magic-suppressing stone feel?"

"Originally, these things were prepared for Viktor, but now using them to test the effect on his sister is not bad either."

Lia, on the other hand, seemed somewhat speechless.

Even in this seemingly disadvantageous situation, she didn't show any panic.

"So what? I'm not a mage."

Hearing this, Chur became anxious first and cursed:

"Bullshit! Do you think I don't know you're a second-tier mage?"

Hearing these words, Lia suddenly narrowed her eyes.

She secretly tried to activate her Mage's Hand, but it had no effect either.

"I have to admit your methods are not bad. You're more suitable to be the lord of the Kravina territory than Viktor."

"However, you'll have to stay here today."

As he spoke, the barrier rippled a few times, and several warriors carrying weapons walked out of thin air.

"Within a barrier where magic power cannot be used, warriors who fight with blood and qi are undoubtedly the opponents you find most difficult to resist."

Chur laughed maniacally, also taking out his weapon, preparing to kill everyone inside the barrier.

Lia yawned somewhat boredly.

"Is that all?"

There were hundreds, if not thousands, of knights ambushed in this area. She only needed to send a slight signal.

The iron cavalry of the knights would instantly tear apart these warriors in front of them.

But... no one knew this except her.

Leanne looked somewhat worried and whispered to Lia:

"Miss Lia... please be prepared to escape."

"We will risk our lives to open a path for you to leave."

With that, she drew two daggers from her waist, ready for battle.

Lia frowned. She was about to say something, but then, the Mage's Hand on her hand slightly heated up.

Once the Mage's Hand is close to its magic source, it will also produce a response.

So...

"Leanne, stand still."

Lia revealed a confident smile.

Under the somewhat disbelieving gazes of everyone, she calmly said:

"Someone has come to pick us up."

Hum——!

A cyan magic array suddenly lit up outside the barrier, its enormous range fully enveloping the entire barrier.

An astonishing magical aura leaked out. In just an instant, the array ignored the obstacle of the magic-suppressing stone, teleporting everyone inside the barrier except Chur and his subordinates away.

A white light flashed, and when Lia opened her eyes again, they had been teleported to a hillside outside the barrier.

Except for her, everyone was looking around, slightly dazed.

They seemed to not yet understand what had just happened.

Lia walked a few steps forward. She looked down at the inside of the barrier not far away.

Inside, there was a familiar figure.

The man wore a black windbreaker, his back to her. The glow in his hand dissipated, indicating the teleportation magic he had just cast.

Viktor's voice sounded from inside the barrier:

"The magic-suppressing stone, a specialty of the kingdom, is very effective against mages, but it also has an obvious flaw."

"If the mage is not within the restricted range, they can use magic from afar, affecting the inside of the magic-suppressing stone's limitation."

"In other words, if I wanted to, just now, the magic-suppressing stone barrier you set up would have been instantly shattered by my magic."

Chur looked at the uninvited guest, gripping his blade tightly, carefully watching the newcomer.

He questioned loudly:

"Who are you?"

Then, Viktor elegantly bowed to him:

"I am Viktor."

"I heard you were looking for me?"