A mage. A Grand Mage above the eighth level. A girl who looked no older than eighteen, shy and nervous when she spoke, like a sheltered young lady leaving home for the first time.

Most importantly, she stuttered.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the girl whose face was flushed scarlet and whose pitiful large eyes were nearly spilling tears. Almost unconsciously, they lowered their swords.

This girl did not look threatening at all.

Even Du Wei froze. Could this stammering girl, timid as a rabbit, truly be an eighth-level mage?

But neither the robe nor the badge could be forged. Du Wei knew that badges issued by the Magic Guild carried magical protections against counterfeiting.

He coughed. His fingers loosened slightly around the Dread Phantasm as he looked at the delicate, frightened girl. “Honored Mage, are you saying this little creature belongs to you?”

“Y-yes... Ah, n-no!” The girl finally began to cry, shedding tears before everyone’s eyes. “I-it belongs to my t-teacher. C-could you give it b-back to me...?”

Give it back?

Du Wei truly did not want to.

Why should he? The creature had made fools of his entire group and left everyone in miserable disarray. Du Wei sincerely wanted to kill it with one stroke and take its horn as Sorskya had suggested.

But now the female mage had come searching for it. With the rightful owner standing before him, how could he openly refuse to return it?

And if he tried to play shameless... the other party was an eighth-level mage!

Even if the girl looked terribly weak.

“Well... Honored Mage, please... please do not be anxious.” Du Wei spoke patiently, his voice even gentler, as if soothing a little girl. “If this creature truly is yours...”

“O-of c-course!” Hearing a trace of hope, the female mage wiped her tears vigorously and looked at Du Wei expectantly. Her innocent large eyes were perfectly clear. The pure pleading in them made it difficult to harden one’s heart against such a pitiful girl.

“Do not be anxious,” Du Wei said slowly. “Even if the creature belongs to you, as its owner, you must take responsibility for the mistakes it committed. Is that not so?”

Panic appeared on the female mage’s face. She looked timidly at Du Wei. “M-may I ask, H-honored...”

“This creature is a high-level magical beast, is it not?” Du Wei said sternly. “As its owner, you failed to keep it under control and allowed it to run into the Empire’s southern heartland. Do you not know how much chaos a magical beast can cause in a populated region?”

Sorskya stood nearby, desperately wanting to laugh as his young master solemnly lectured an eighth-level mage, yet not daring to.

The other party was a Grand Mage!

Looking at the badge on the girl’s chest, Sorskya swallowed hard. For a low-level mage like him, the greatest dream of his life was to advance enough to wear such a gold badge one day.

“Ah... th-this...” Guilt appeared on the female mage’s face, and she lowered her head. “M-my teacher went on a l-long journey. I-I was r-responsible for watching Chirpy, b-but it ran away when my sister c-came to visit me... I-I have been searching for it for m-many days.”

“Your mistake is no excuse for what it did,” Du Wei declared righteously. “Do you know how much panic this high-level magical beast caused when it came near this peaceful city? These brave soldiers entered the mountain to capture it! And do you know how much harm your little pet inflicted upon them?”

“...” The female mage could not answer. She only looked at Du Wei with guilt and pleading.

Du Wei relaxed inwardly. This female mage was probably a sheltered girl who rarely ventured outside and knew nothing of the world. Flowers raised in greenhouses were very easy to deceive.

“This creature brought panic to the region! The soldiers bled and sweated to capture it and preserve the peace. Yet you arrive and immediately demand to take it away. Do you truly feel no guilt?”

As Du Wei spoke, the female mage’s head sank until it nearly touched her chest.

Only after Du Wei finished did she gather her courage and speak carefully. “I-I am willing to apologize to you for its actions... S-s-sor—”

“Keep your apology!” Du Wei pressed his advantage mercilessly. “If apologies solved everything, what would we need the police for?”

“P-police... What are those?”

Du Wei coughed to hide his embarrassment. He had misspoken. This world had no such thing as police.

“What I mean is...” Du Wei thrust out his chest and declared loudly, “Can one simple apology compensate our brave soldiers for their blood and sweat?”

In truth, he was bullying this girl rather badly.

The search parties had not really shed much blood. The fierce battle and flying gore had all been an illusion. Once it was broken, everyone had merely fainted. No one had suffered actual injuries; at most they might have a few nightmares afterward. There had been little real loss.

The only person injured was Roline.

Naturally, Du Wei would not waste this opportunity to negotiate. He stepped aside at the right moment, revealing the female knight supported by his men behind him.

Roline’s face was pale from losing too much blood in a short time, but she was generally all right. Still, seeing a woman who could barely stand, with white bandages wrapped around her hand and her hair disheveled, made the female mage feel even guiltier.

“C-can I compensate you somehow?” The female mage’s eyes reddened again.

Du Wei sighed, satisfaction flashing in his eyes, then glanced at Sorskya beside him. After discussing potioncraft with Du Wei every day, Sorskya had begun to understand his young master’s temperament. He caught the look at once, stepped forward, bowed slightly, and said slowly, “Honored Grand Mage.”

The girl saw Sorskya’s mage robes and immediately returned the bow. “M-Mister Mage.”

Sorskya blushed. He had probably never imagined that an eighth-level Grand Mage would one day respectfully call him “Mister Mage.” He continued, “Your little pet has caused harm to the region. Simply releasing it may be unacceptable to the soldiers who suffered because of it. Moreover, my master, Young Master Du Wei—the eldest son of Count Raymond of the great Rowling Family—was badly frightened by today’s events. I therefore believe some punishment for the creature is necessary.”

“N-no... no! If m-my teacher returns and sees that it s-suffered, my teacher will punish me...” Sweat appeared on the female mage’s forehead. “If my teacher gets angry, y-you will also...”

“Honored Grand Mage, may I ask who your teacher is? I truly cannot imagine which mage in the Empire could train a disciple who has reached the level of Grand Mage,” Sorskya said, beginning to probe her background.

The female mage looked troubled. “Th-that... I-I cannot say.”

Sorskya frowned slightly, then smiled again. “Then you should at least tell us your name.”

“Ah...” The female mage sighed with relief. She could answer that question. “M-my name is Vivian Yang. E-eighth-level mage of the Magic Guild.” Then she remembered the basic manners her teacher had taught her. Blushing, she hurriedly bowed and asked politely, “M-may I also ask your name, h-honored Mister Mage?”

This time Sorskya truly blushed. “I... am Sorskya. Magic Guild... f-first... well, a first-level mage.”

By the last few words, Sorskya wished he could crawl into a hole.

To an eighth-level mage, a first-level mage was little more than an insect. Many famous Grand Mages even had disciples who were second- or third-level mages.

To a Grand Mage standing among the upper ranks of mage society, a first-level mage was probably no different from a magic apprentice.

But this innocent girl seemed unaware of such distinctions. She still bowed to him with full courtesy, immediately winning Sorskya’s goodwill.

An eighth-level mage was bowing respectfully to Sorskya!

“Then please demonstrate the sincerity of your compensation,” Du Wei said at precisely the right moment.

“W-well...” The female mage looked troubled. After thinking, she untied a small pouch from her robe and opened it. “I-I have an aquamarine orchid diamond. I-it is only m-medium grade, b-but...”

Her stutter worsened until she could say no more. Helplessly, she held out a fist-sized crystal in both hands and looked pleadingly at Du Wei.

An aquamarine orchid diamond?

Sorskya was moved. It was among the finest materials for water magic, excellent for making scrolls or storing magic. A skilled alchemist could mount it in a staff, allowing a water mage to spend at least one-third less magical power while casting and even cast more quickly.

This crystal was clear and flawless, certainly medium grade or better. By value alone, it was worth at least several thousand gold coins.

Any water mage would gladly pay that price—or several times more—to obtain it!

Sorskya opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Du Wei placed a hand on his shoulder. Du Wei remained cold, even frowning as he narrowed his eyes at the female mage. “Oh? Only one aquamarine orchid diamond?”

The female mage flushed. Panic crossed her eyes, and guilt rose in her heart.

Though the crystal was medium grade... it was something she did not need. She was not a water mage, so keeping it was useless. How could Vivian do something so dishonorable as compensate others with an item she did not need?

May the almighty gods forgive me!

After condemning herself inwardly, she hurriedly took another emerald object from her pouch. Green light rippled over its soft surface like water. “A-and th-this too...”

Sorskya’s eyes nearly popped out.

“G-g-green mana elixir!” In his excitement, even Sorskya seemed infected by her stutter.

Du Wei raised an eyebrow. With his broad learning, he knew what green mana elixir was.

It was a treasure every mage dreamed of possessing.

This elixir restored magical power a mage had consumed. If an intermediate mage exhausted all magical power in battle, a small bottle carried on the body could replenish it instantly.

And the large packet in the female mage’s hand looked sufficient to fill at least seven or eight bottles.

It was extraordinarily difficult to make, and its ingredients were rare. More importantly, it was consumable: every use permanently reduced the supply.

Sorskya felt his throat go dry.

Yet Du Wei still looked displeased, frowning at the female mage. “Is that all? Are the blood and sweat of our brave soldiers worth so little?”

Tears swirled in the girl’s lovely large eyes. She scratched her hair, thought for a moment, then produced a small yellow bead and timidly offered it.

“Th-this is a f-fireward bead I m-made myself.”

Du Wei replied, “And what about my lady knight’s injury?”

The female mage took out a handful of magic cores. More than a dozen brightly colored low- and intermediate-level magical beast cores were extorted by Du Wei.

“And what of the fright I personally suffered?” Du Wei seemed to have transformed into a blackmailing villain.

The female mage emptied her luggage and produced her last treasures: seven or eight magic scrolls.

One glance nearly made Sorskya faint. Every one was an intermediate magic scroll, not some low-level item. Seven or eight such scrolls were enough to provoke a duel between two mages!

Seeing that his young master still would not nod, even Sorskya’s conscience began to trouble him.

The “compensation” surrendered by this innocent, naive, even somewhat foolish female mage was worth nearly enough to buy an entire city!

When Du Wei still refused to nod, the female mage began to cry. She timidly turned her luggage inside out. “I-I-I only b-brought these.”

A demon!

At that moment, Sorskya, Knight Robert, and all the Rowling Family people could not help sighing. Seeing the pitiful female mage cry, they even began to feel guilty.

Yet their young master still looked unwilling to relent. Was his appetite not far too great?