Four figures arrived at the front of the mansion, one parked the car and kept watch, while the other three, armed with guns, stealthily infiltrated the premise with clear and practiced roles.
The mansion was empty, with only the study’s light on. The three of them searched around briefly, failing to find their target, and convened at the basement entrance.
"What’s going on? There’s not a single person in the house. Such a big place should have at least a couple of servants."
"It’s quite normal, the master would have taken the servants away on a long trip. If I’m not mistaken, this kid must have done his homework and took the opportunity to stay here while the owner is away."
"That’s good, saves us a lot of trouble."
The intruders were fearless, not taking Wayne into consideration at all as they pushed open the door and entered the basement.
A mere Mage apprentice, not even half-baked, could he possibly turn the world upside down?
The trio found a tunnel, a recliner, a pillow, a bedsheet, and several literary masterpieces taken from the study, all in the basement.
"A thief is still a thief; when the owner’s not home, he only dares to hide in the basement."
The three became even more convinced that Wayne was an unwelcome lodger; all evidence pointed to him being chased into a corner by them, hiding in the basement, too scared to show his face.
"He underestimated the Mages, thinking that if he hides here without worry for food or shelter, he wouldn’t be discovered."
"The pillow still retains warmth; he hasn’t been gone long."
They followed the air-raid shelter to its end and saw an open sluice gate. Crawling through it, they encountered the sprawling city sewer system.
They looked at each other in confusion.
"What do we do, should we keep chasing? He might have already run far away."
"Chase him, if we don’t catch him this time, it will be even harder when he hides in the sewer next time. If the teacher blames us, we’re all in for a punishment."
The three gritted their teeth; the little mouse didn’t have much of a knack, but he was clever enough to have dodged their capture time and again.
But it was still the same old thing, the Mage apprentice simply didn’t understand magic.
Thinking he could hide in the sewage system to escape capture was foolish; in the eyes of a real Mage, his attempts to conceal himself were laughable and clumsy, leaving traces everywhere.
One of them cast a spell to spread spores, thought-connecting pollen spreading throughout the far-reaching sewers, as their vision suddenly broadened.
"What’s going on, how come it’s taking so long to find him?" his two companions urged.
"No, it’s the Wind Element in the vicinity that’s too scarce, limiting the spread of the pollen..."
Upon hearing his friends’ complaints, the man immediately retorted, pointing out they had it easy just standing around—they should open their eyes and look harder. If not for some traces of the Four Elements nearby, this place might as well be called an Elemental Forbidden Zone.
A few more minutes passed, and as the companions grew impatient, the man wiped the sweat from his brow and with a sense of achievement reported that he had found the little mouse.
"Chase him, the little mouse thinks we’re gone and has stopped."
Meanwhile, Wayne scratched his head in puzzlement.
"Why haven’t they come yet? Lucky you’re the bad guys. If it were the good guys coming after me, I’d have saved the Magician Girl hostage three times over by now."
At this point, Wayne had already contacted the Evil Spirit Dog Ah Bin, who had brought him the handgun buried in the Detective Agency’s backyard. Combined with the brass knuckles he carried with him, he felt pretty secure about his chances.
The mansion belonged to his teacher, the Naturalism Church High Priest, who claimed to be Lundan’s highest authority and strongest combat force.
Real or fake, Wayne withheld comment—her chest was large, her reasoning valid, so let’s just assume it’s true.
The Evil Spirit Dog was already bound to the Death Knight, known widely as the Death Knight’s pet. Fearing that the teacher would notice, Wayne didn’t allow Ah Bin to approach the mansion too closely.
Similarly, the Undead Warhorse Yuliya was kept away from the mansion. Without his summon, it wasn’t allowed to come close.
After receiving the handgun, Wayne had Ah Bin scout above ground. According to his counter-surveillance experience, the enemy wouldn’t be limited to three people; there must be at least one or two left to stand guard.
Wayne instructed Ah Bin not to alert the enemy. Naturally, the lookouts would return to their base to report if their teammates didn’t come back, which would allow Ah Bin to follow them back to their lair.
If there was no one standing guard, then Wayne took back what he said; such professional incompetence meant these people were either useless or had taken on outsourced work.
Considering all possibilities, Wayne decided to leave one alive. As for the other two...
The riverbed had splendid scenery—a warm invitation for a bath.
Themes River had plenty of seats available, with a couple more chairs for them to join Ah Bo in chit-chatting.
From afar, footsteps approached.
A fragrance drifted by stealthily. Wayne squinted his eyes, using his Super Vision to catch the subtle airflow. In the wind, he saw yellow pollen that would be invisible to the ordinary eye.
The pollen settled to the ground and also onto his clothes and face.
Wayne kept his composure, leaning against the wall as he slowly sunk down, his gun hidden in his sleeve, waiting for the enemy to get nearer.
"Found him, the little mouse ran quite a distance."
One of them took out a portrait, compared it against Wayne’s face, and remarked, "He’s been anesthetized by the pollen, currently in a deep sleep. Let’s take him; we’ve already delayed too long."
"Damn it, this path is so long, I don’t want to carry him all the way back."
"Then drag him, the teacher just wants a live one, didn’t say he can’t be hurt."
The three holstered their guns and discussed who should do the heavy lifting, none wanting to carry extra weight on the return journey after such a long chase.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Just then, the previously silent Wayne suddenly opened his eyes wide, bringing up the barrel of the gun. With it gripped firmly in hand, he shot three rounds at close range.
Three blossoms of blood spurted out, two hitting the chest and one the shoulder.
One screamed as he fell, while the other two didn’t utter a word. Their eyes, which grew big and gradually whitened, felt a warmth spread through their chests, then a coldness enveloping their whole body, growing more and more sleepy.