"Okay, thank you for your trouble," Colin said.
"Mm, take care and rest well, then. I will leave you be."
Colin watched Welber's figure gradually walk away, and he let out a slight sigh of relief.
Welber was almost excessively enthusiastic, and Colin wondered if that was simply his personality, or if there was some other reason behind it.
But anyway, as Tutor Atbolde had said, the most powerful wizard in Roon Kingdom, at least outwardly, was just a Second Rank Wizard.
In such a place, even if there was danger, how bad could it be?
What he needed to worry about more at the moment was the matter of the deaths of Gerna and Bale.
Gerna and Bale both came from Pureblood Families and were Second Rank Wizards, so their deaths were not a trivial matter.
...
As Colin had expected, the disappearances of Gerna and Bale quickly caught the attention of their Families.
Unlike Joyce, who had deliberately concealed his whereabouts and even told those around him that he would be in seclusion for a while before he left,
It took half a month for the Hidosh Family to announce Joyce's disappearance preliminarily, and since there wasn't enough evidence, up to now, Joyce had not yet been declared dead.
But it was different for Gerna and Bale. Although they had also slightly disguised their movements, the next day when their acquaintances realized that they couldn't find the two they used to see every day, they immediately sensed something was wrong.
Especially under the current complex situation in Neustadt City, both Hidosh and Bunier Families reacted extremely swiftly and each sent a team of wizards to investigate.
Since it involved two Second Rank Intermediate Wizards, even the slightly weaker Bunier Family dispatched three Second Rank Advanced Wizards to conduct the investigation.
The team the Hidosh Family sent out was a trio as well, but to be on the safe side, they were led by a Third Rank Wizard!
However, even so, by the time they found the place where Gerna and Bale were killed, it was already two days later.
On the border of the Neustadt Kingdom.
The investigation teams from the Hidosh and Bunier Families gathered here.
"Gerna and Bale are probably already dead," said Buzi, a Third Rank Wizard from the Hidosh Family, after a careful examination, his expression dark, "This should be the place where they were killed."
The two Families' investigation teams did not know in advance that they had encountered the same situation, but they ended up in contact during their investigations and decided to join forces after a brief discussion, led by the Third Rank Wizard from the Hidosh Family.
"They're already dead?!" Yifu, the team leader from the Bunier Family and a Second Rank Wizard, also darkened his expression.
The wizards of the Family were a community of shared interests, and although feelings varied among them, under these circumstances, they would unite against a common enemy.
"It seems that Colin truly is a prime suspect!" Yifu frowned and said after some thought, "According to the previous investigation in the city, for some reason, Gerna and Bale had secretly instructed wizards to monitor Colin's movements. And on the 19th of May in the Yanan Calendar, Golden Feather Colin was forced to leave Neustadt City for a mission, heading to Roon Kingdom. Coincidentally, Gerna and Roon also began to disappear during that time."
In fact, the reason they could find this place was based on the conjecture that Gerna and Bale might have followed Colin out of Neustadt City.
Thus, they tentatively searched along the route Colin had taken to Roon Kingdom, and unexpectedly they indeed found traces of the two left by Gerna here!
"If I remember correctly, that Golden Feather has only just advanced to a First Rank Advanced Wizard," said Buzi as he turned his head and spoke in a calm voice, "A First Rank Advanced Wizard would absolutely not have the power to kill two Second Rank Wizards."
"But it cannot be denied that Gerna and the others were indeed attacked and killed on the trail of Colin," Yifu said, "Regardless, that Golden Feather must have suspicion... perhaps he has hidden his true strength."
Buzi did not answer; he slowly closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to sense any remaining traces in the space before him.
The qualitative change in the spiritual power of a Third Rank Wizard allowed him to capture more new scents quickly.
"There is a chill... the power of Frost," Buzi opened his eyes and asked Yifu, "Does the witchcraft that Golden Feather specializes in involve anything related to Frost?"
"I'm not very clear..." Yifu shook his head.
"Lord Buzi, I know," suddenly, a member of the Hidosh Family behind Buzi spoke up.
"That Golden Feather, if I am not mistaken, is most adept at a Second Rank Lower Summon Fire Element witchcraft."
"As for Frost witchcraft, I have never heard of him using it."
Buzi nodded, indicating that he understood.
In his heart, he had already ruled out a good deal of Colin's suspicion.
He didn't know much about the Golden Feather that the family had recruited, but he knew Colin had only advanced to a First Rank Advanced Wizard not long ago... His strength should not have deviated too much from that.
Moreover... the power of Frost led him to vaguely connect to another possibility.
"Lord Buzi, the Roon Kingdom is not far away, I think we can go directly to question that Golden Feather," suggested Yifu of the Bunier family, still harboring suspicions. An intuition told him that Colin was highly suspect.
Buzi did not argue, although the likelihood was small, they could not forego investigating for that reason.
"That's acceptable," he nodded, pausing before adding, "But you'll have to wait a moment, I need to return to the city first. I'll be back in about half an hour, you all wait here."
Whoosh!
No sooner had the words fallen than a White Light flared, and Buzi's figure vanished abruptly.
Yifu was filled with doubts, but it wasn't his place to question, given that Buzi was a Third Rank Wizard and he only a Second Rank.
If it weren't for the fact that the Bunier family had sent him to lead this investigation, he would have no standing to discuss the next steps with Buzi.
"Yifu, do you really think Bale was killed by that Golden Feather? Isn't he just a First Rank Advanced?" asked a Wizard from the Bunier family in a hushed voice.
"Gena and Bale came to no harm earlier or later, but just when following Colin... Even if Colin didn't do it, he cannot be completely unconnected," Yifu emphasized.
"Speaking of which, that Golden Feather is quite peculiar, adamantly refusing to join any Faction, and previously he personally killed Yasi, a Second Rank Wizard from our family."
Another wizard from the Hidosh family mentioned, "At that time, it was said he had just advanced to First Rank Advanced and was not yet registered with the School."
"Half a year has passed since then, who knows what his strength is like now...."
"I don't think it's possible that he has advanced to Second Rank, it's not like we all don't know the difficulty of advancing to Second Rank," retorted someone else.
That argument was reasonable, and Yifu remained silent, not participating further in the discussion.
Less than half an hour, merely ten minutes later, another White Light shone, and Buzi's figure reappeared.
Before Yifu and the others could even speak, they saw a new gold glow light up, and the figure of another wizard appeared before them.
This wizard wore the black robe of the Law Enforcement Team, which highlighted his status.
"Lord Faber, see for yourself, I've detected some unique traces of Frost magic here," Buzi said.
"Hmm," nodded Faber, "The Law Enforcement Team will remember the Hidosh family's goodwill."
Buzi smiled.
Faber turned around with a calm expression and began to inspect the space before them intricately.
Before long, his expression changed, and he said with a slight frown:
"Too much time has passed, the residual traces of Frost are somewhat weak, but there is indeed some resemblance... However, we'll need further investigation to be certain."
Buzi nodded solemnly, immediately understanding Faber's implication, and turned to Yifu and the others:
"Let's go, we're heading to the Roon Kingdom."
Yifu, filled with questions, didn't dare to ask; he simply followed Buzi.
And so, six investigating wizards from the pureblood families, together with a Third Rank wizard from the Law Enforcement Team, set off toward the Roon Kingdom.