An hour later.
Hua Pei District, Lite Street.
Mulan's residence was situated right on the street that Colin always passed by on his way to the Tin Saint School.
"Why have you suddenly invited me to dinner? Aren't you going to attend the Alus Association tomorrow?"
Leva sat across the square dining table, picking up her knife and fork as she asked.
The collision between the knife, fork, and porcelain plate made a crisp sound.
Mulan paused slightly, feeling inexplicably irritable, but his face remained composed as he smiled and said,
"I should see you before I leave."
Of course, this was an excuse.
But if one were to ask which of the apprentices who had joined the Tin Saint School at the same time as him was familiar with Colin—
It would undoubtedly be Leva.
He still remembered the scene when they first joined the school, and Leva initiated a conversation with Colin... If he could persuade Leva to help mediate on his behalf, perhaps Colin would truly let him go.
Leva looked surprised upon hearing this.
Such words were not often heard from Mulan's mouth.
Then, the two exchanged a few more courtesies.
Mulan forked a piece of the cut steak, and casually asked,
"How well do you know Colin?"
"Not well." Leva shook her head, then emphasised with feigned anger, "Mulan, I have never done anything to hurt you. The few times I encountered Colin at the Teaching Castle were just coincidences!"
"That's not what I mean. I just want to know exactly what your relationship with Colin is."
Ding—
Leva put down her knife and fork, furrowing her brows and saying, "Mulan, if you keep this up, I'm going to get angry!"
The sky outside was getting darker as the sunset had already fallen, and a veil-like darkness enveloped the earth.
It seemed as if an invisible, eerie force had descended.
The Bright Crystal chandelier above the dining table timely lit up with white light, reflecting Mulan's increasingly anxious expression.
'Stupid woman!'
He couldn't help but curse silently in his mind.
The time left to him was not much, like being on a train hurtling towards a cliff, with the passage of time, the panic and unrest in Mulan's heart grew stronger.
"Leva!" his tone a bit more urgent, "I really don't mean anything else, just tell me, what is your relationship with Colin?"
Leva eyed him suspiciously, somewhat puzzled by his anxious demeanor, but after a moment's hesitation, she explained,
"My relationship with Colin really isn't what you imagine. At most, we're just strangers who have exchanged a few words—" Leva paused, then added, "Or perhaps even less."
"At first, I thought he was a person worth getting to know, so I chatted with him, but I didn't expect him to be nothing more than an ambitionless fool, so I wasn't too friendly..."
Leva did not think Colin had a good impression of her.
People always tend to remember the bad in others, not the good.
Although she had once introduced Colin to knowledge about advancing in the islands...
But that had its own motives, and after realizing that Colin was just an ambitionless fool, she did not hide her disdain for him.
Putting oneself in the other's shoes, if it were her, she wouldn't have too good an impression either.
But... it didn't matter. Colin was just a trivial little figure.
Leva thought this as she prepared to fork another piece of steak.
Clang!
"Mulan, what are you doing?!"
Leva stared in shock at Mulan suddenly standing up, then lunging at her. She instinctively dropped her knife and fork, swiftly retreating backward.
But the gap in strength between her and Mulan was there, and caught off guard, she was knocked unconscious in an instant.
Thud.
Leva's body fell to the ground, making a dull sound.
Creak—creak—
The metal chandelier on the ceiling swayed continuously, while the white light from the Bright Crystal reflected Mulan's changing face.
He clenched his teeth, his jaw muscles stood out, his eyes widened slightly with unforeseen anger, his nostrils flared, and he breathed heavily.
If one were to use Supersensitive Vision to observe closely, they could see that the Spiritual Light of humanity and knowledge on his body also began to flicker uncertainly with his changing expressions.
Swoosh!!
As if still not relieved of his anger, he lifted his right leg and kicked violently toward Leva!
At the critical moment, as if afraid that Leva, who might have been knocked unconscious by witchcraft, would wake from the kick, Mulan changed direction and kicked a nearby chair instead.
Crack.
Under the powerful kick of Mulan, who possessed the strength of an Advanced Knight, the quality wooden chair shattered upon impact, and the debris struck the nearby white wall, making a loud collision noise.
Lite Street, due to the recent unforeseen events, had not yet recovered, and there were fewer residents around than before, naturally making it much quieter.
Thus, the sound seemed to carry far without hindrance, startling a nearby maid.
Tap tap tap—
"Master, what has happened?" The maid walked in quickly, asking in a soft voice.
Perhaps the poisonous-like rage had temporarily subsided, or maybe the maid's puzzled voice had called back his reason.
"...Nothing." Mulan straightened his collar and paused before replying indifferently.
He stared at Leva, who had collapsed on the ground, feeling somewhat at a loss... Why had he suddenly attacked Leva?
Mulan thought back carefully.
Perhaps it was when his hope of having Leva mediate for him had failed, just after Leva had finished speaking.
A rage like poison had suddenly eroded his brain, making him lose his reason in that instant!
He was slightly alarmed and quickly began to examine himself.
But a moment later, he found nothing unusual.
'It seems... I need to strengthen my training in mental fortitude...' Mulan shook his head and quietly warned himself.
For a wizard, the cultivation of the mind is very important.
It allows them to maintain resistance to the corruption of knowledge, preserve their humanity, and avoid degeneration and falling into depravity.
Pacing the room, Mulan carefully contemplated his next move.
'Having knocked out Leva, I've lost a bargaining chip, what to do next... Since Leva and Colin aren't on good terms, seeking Leva out was a mistake to begin with... What should I do now?!'
He pondered anxiously, looking over the defenseless Leva lying on the ground.
The loose wizard robe on Leva's recumbent form draped down, clinging to her body and outlining her shapely curves.
Mulan couldn't help but harbor wicked thoughts.
Although he had known Leva for a while, she had never let him touch her...
It must be said that the unattainable is always the most desirable... Leva's tactics were indeed clever, quite unlike the women who used to fawn over him.
Swallowing, Mulan suppressed the thoughts in his heart, when a burst of spiritual light suddenly flashed through his mind.
'Perhaps... delivering the unconscious Leva to Colin might work wonders?'
Thinking from a different perspective, the more he thought about it, the more he felt this could be a viable path!
However... A sinister smile surfaced on Mulan's face, as he walked towards Leva.
Before delivering Leva to Colin, he would have to have a taste himself, and as long as he used the Cleaning Technique afterward to erase the traces, plus with Leva in an unconscious state...
In the end, neither Leva nor Colin would realize.
Leva would only think she had given herself to Colin.
Mulan approached her and was about to undo Leva's clothes,
But such an action seemed to trigger a predefined defense, and a sudden explosion of light and smoke burst forth!
"Ah."
A burning pain spread through him, causing Mulan to let out a low cry of pain and take a small step back, watching in shock as the smoke dispersed before him.
Soon after, before the smoke had even cleared, the left window shattered with a loud noise, and a figure leaped out.
Mulan's face changed dramatically, and he quickly cast a spell to pursue!
On the other side,
The cool night wind blew.
Leva, fighting the weakness in her body, desperately fled; she didn't understand why Mulan had suddenly struck.
But at this point, escaping as fast as possible was the best option.
As she ran, she searched for members of the Law Enforcement Team... Unfortunately, Neustadt City had an aerial ban, and only Official Wizards were allowed to fly in the sky.
Right now, she could only rely on the enhanced speed of her legs, boosted by witchcraft.
The sounds of pursuit behind her were drawing closer, causing panic to rise in Leva's heart.
But for some reason tonight, as she looked around, she could not see a single member of the Law Enforcement Team anywhere!
No miracle occurred,
Swoosh!
In no time at all, Mulan, the Advanced Apprentice, effortlessly caught up with her and reached out to grab her!
Leva rolled swiftly to the ground, narrowly avoiding the attack by a hair's breadth.
But there was no trace of relief on her face, only despair.
'It's over.'
The next moment, two gleams of wizard light shot from Mulan's hands.
One shattered her barely constructed defenses, and the other... plunged her into unconsciousness once again.
Breathing heavily, Mulan quickly surveyed the surroundings.
No sign of the Law Enforcement Team, or even any people at all...
The calls of unnamed insects rose, adding to the silence around him.
He let out a slight sigh of relief but also felt puzzled... Something seemed off about tonight.
If one listened carefully, they could notice distant shouts carried on the wind now and then... It seemed many people were arguing.
Mulan shook his head, casting aside his doubts, he had more pressing matters to attend to.
Controlling Leva's body with the Puppetry Technique, he turned to survey his surroundings.
That's when he realized in astonishment, though Leva's escape had been brief, with the power of an Advanced Apprentice, they had already run quite a distance.
They had reached the next street over—Saint Lio Street.
This was exactly where Colin lived... Mulan thought of the information he had gathered and was momentarily stunned.
He looked at Leva again, his interest having waned,
After a moment of contemplation, he simply quickened his pace towards Colin's residence.