"Very well, sir," the carriage driver hastily responded, swiveled the carriage around.
Ten minutes later, the carriage slowly stopped outside a detached white villa on Lex Street.
This was the residence of Lillian.
Colin stepped out of the carriage and pressed the Magic Power doorbell.
He wasn't sure if Lillian was at home.
Shortly after, the villa door gradually opened, and Lillian herself walked out.
'Lillian likely does not have a maid… Why have I never seen one?' Colin thought to himself.
"Colin, what brings you here?" Lillian asked, with the surrounding flowers emitting a misty glow.
Although it wasn't their first meeting, the scene still filled Colin with wonder.
"Lillian," he gathered his thoughts, with a serious expression on his face, he broached the matter, "I came to inquire about something... something regarding Tate Street."
"Do you know why the Law Enforcement Team sealed off Tate Street today?"
Tate Street was uncomfortably close to where he lived.
Regardless of the danger... not knowing anything was a danger in itself.
So, out of caution, he turned the carriage around immediately to find Lillian and inquire about Tate Street from her, being an Official Wizard.
"Tate Street?" Lillian paused, her expression slightly darkening.
"Come inside."
But she didn't answer him, instead inviting Colin to follow her inside.
Stepping into the small courtyard, following behind Lillian, Colin got a closer look at the peculiar flowers beside him.
If one ignored the glow emanating from the flowers, they appeared no different from ordinary flowers elsewhere.
The petals were similarly soft, the branches tenderly green.
And there was a variety of species, predominantly hybrid roses, red, pink, blue, and purple mixed together, coupled with the faint glow, making Colin feel as if he were in a dreamy haze.
As they walked further, the glow on the flowers behind them gradually extinguished.
Entering the villa, what met his eyes was decor as minimalist as outside, predominantly ivory with hints of green from plants as accents.
But perhaps because the first floor was spacious and lacked any presence, Colin felt it somewhat desolate.
He glanced around and couldn't help but ask:
"Lillian, do you live here alone? Don't you have a maid or something?"
"I live alone—" Lillian nodded, then shook her head, "But I do have a maid."
She did not elaborate further but led Colin to a seating area near the window on the first floor.
"Bobi."
After Colin sat down, Lillian turned and called out toward the distance.
The next second.
A little figure, glowing, peeked carefully around the corner not far away.
Following Lillian's gaze, Colin only caught a fleeting shadow.
Bobi had shrunk back.
"It's very shy," Lillian explained to him, then called out again, "Come out, Bobi, this is my junior, there's no need to be afraid."
"Bobi."
A crisp, tiny voice came from around the corner.
"Don't be afraid, little Bobi," Lillian reassured again.
After a moment, Colin finally saw a miniature and delicate figure appear in his line of sight.
The body the size of a fist, golden hair, an emerald green plant long dress—this was a little elf with the face of a young girl.
At this moment, it was slightly bowing its head, shyly flapping its translucent wings with golden patterns on its back as it flew towards them.
'Could this little elf be the maid Sister Lillian mentioned?'
But the next second, Colin's pupils slightly contracted as he discovered something special about Bobi.
The tiny figure lifted its head and glanced at him, saw him looking, then quickly turned its head away, avoiding eye contact.
As it turned its head, its golden hair floated up, revealing a pointed ear...
It was actually an elf with High Level Elf ancestry!
As is well known, High Level Elves use pointed ears as a symbol of noble blood.
Ordinary elves' ears look no different from those of humans, but ordinary elves, out of admiration for High Level Elves, would use special means to make their ears pointed after reaching adulthood.
However, to avoid overstepping boundaries, the pointed ears of ordinary elves still differ significantly from the naturally pointed ears of true High Level Elves.
Colin had come across this knowledge while looking through materials at the Tin Saint Library.
If he wasn't mistaken, the pointed ears of the little elf in front of him were clearly natural...
Meanwhile, Bobi, due to nervousness, was flying wobbily and finally reached the side of Lillian.
"Bobi!"
It let out a crisp cry and then swiftly hid behind Lillian's hair.
"Go brew two cups of black tea," Lillian said with a smile, softly speaking to Bobi, then turned her head to ask him, "Apprentice Colin, would you like milk or brown sugar?"
"No need for either, thank you, Senior Sister," collecting his thoughts, Colin replied.
Watching the little elf's figure leaving, Colin couldn't help but ask:
"Sister Lillian, does Bobi have High Level Elf ancestry?"
"I remember it was recorded in the books that mixed-bloods with pointed ears, guided by the residual bloodline information, would head to the almost vanished ancestral land of the High Level Elves, wouldn't they?"
Lillian smiled and shook her head, "Bobi probably doesn't have High Level Elf blood. Its pointed ears might just be some kind of mutation."
"I initially thought Bobi had High Level Elf blood, but in fact, it can't even speak, and its magic power is only equivalent to that of a Basic Level Wizard Apprentice... It really doesn't resemble someone with High Level Elf ancestry."
Saying this, Lillian paused, then concluded, "Bobi is just an ordinary little elf who is close to me but rather shy around others."
"That makes sense." Colin nodded, showing no doubt about Lillian's judgment.
He hadn't forgotten that Lillian herself was a genuine hybrid of a High Level Elf and a human... Lillian's judgment was clearly more accurate than his.
Thinking this, Colin involuntarily glanced at Lillian's ears... They were not pointed, just the normal human ear shape.
It seemed—the High Level Elf part in Lillian's bloodline wasn't prominent, not displaying the pointed ear characteristic.
The episode over, Colin felt a bit amused by his own initial shock.
But soon, he gathered his thoughts and continued asking Lillian:
"So Sister Lillian, what exactly is the reason that Litt Street has been sealed off?"
Back inside the villa, under the protection of the Witch Array, Lillian didn't beat around the bush but directly said:
"Because of the Divine."
"Last night, a follower of the Divine sneaked into Neustadt City, coming to Litt Street... I don't know the specifics of his purpose."
"But last night—" Lillian's expression was serious as she continued in a grave voice, "Litt Street, almost half of the people died."