Laira slightly bowed: "Sir, you flatter me. I am only fulfilling my duties. Please take care of your health; the Magic Congress still needs you."
"Duties... indeed... we all bear our respective responsibilities."
Hosone looked at Laira, the vigilance in his eyes disappearing as complex emotions surfaced on his face.
He remained silent for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the colorful sticky notes, his fingers unconsciously stroking the quill in his hand.
"But how many can truly fulfill their basic duties? Many not only forget their responsibilities but also forget who they truly are."
Laira seemed confused yet slightly anxious, mumbling, "Chairman... sir?"
Hosone shook his head and said, "It's nothing, just a couple of complaints... Go on, remember what you said today. Hopefully, one day, when you're in my position, you won't forget this original intention."
Laira nodded and exited the room.
At the moment she turned and closed the door, a fleeting, imperceptible glint of coldness flashed in her eyes.
The most dangerous moment had passed.
Now... it's time to wrap up the "stains" of her past.
...
The cold moonlight shone on the low apple trees, casting eerie shadows on the secluded path. The leaves rustled in the wind with a sobbing sound.
Kobit quickened his pace along the path, his footsteps especially clear.
He instinctively reached inside his robe pocket, his fingertip touching the stiff edge of a check, a greedy heat spreading in his heart.
So much money... just to get a report from the Auror Office?
Though the number of deaths during the hurricane night was a bit high, and the case was somewhat sensitive, as the Senior Deputy Minister of the Magic Congress Security Department, requesting and reviewing the Auror Office's investigation materials was just his duty!
This money was practically free.
Kobit licked his lips. Perhaps the task they required of him this time was too easy, so after the excitement, he felt uneasy instead.
But speaking of which... why had Hughes recently been paying so much attention to those Muggle accidental deaths?
At that moment, a sharp burning pain suddenly surged in Kobit's chest—a button on his chest was sending him a top-level warning signal.
Kobit's complexion abruptly changed, and he immediately pressed the button into his palm. Moments later, extremely tiny words appeared on it:
[Congress is aware, flee quickly!]
A chill exploded from the base of his spine, shooting like lightning to the top of his head, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.
He stiffly lifted his head, only to see two unfamiliar Aurors silently appearing in the shadows at the end of the path ahead.
Kobit's heartbeat paused for a moment, and he turned sharply—
Behind him, Ezra Hughes personally led two people quickly towards him.
The leading Hughes had a solemn expression, his eyes cold, and as he maintained an oppressive quick pace, he drew his magic wand from his pocket.
—He couldn't fall into a passive position!
In that critical moment, only this one thought filled Kobit's mind.
His pupils shrank to pinpoints, survival instincts overpowering everything. He didn't even have time to turn fully before his entire body spun—
At the same time, a sharp voice shouted, "Strike!"
"Pop!"
Crackling blasts exploded, tearing through the silence of the night as several beams of spell light crisscrossed where Kobit stood, ultimately only leaving traces in the air.
"He's gone, Mr. Hughes!" a nervous Auror shouted.
Another Auror immediately said, "If he doesn't even dare to face interrogation and flees, this guy must have issues! Mr. Hughes, what do we do now?"
"Don't worry; he won't get far," Ezra Hughes calmly said. "My spell hit him."
...
With a harsh explosion, Kobit's figure was spat out by the void, stumbling and falling at the damp lake's edge, retching twice.
The three elements of Apparition—destination, determination, deliberation.
The moment of frantic escape was anything but "deliberate." He was lucky not to splinch, but it felt as if all his organs were dislocated. After a while, he struggled to rise.
An unusual sharp pain suddenly shot through his left side abdomen.
Kobit lifted the hem of his clothes, seeing an emblem like a trident faintly emitting a red glow on his abdomen.
—An Auror's Tracking Spell!
Kobit's heart instantly sank, a chill creeping over his scalp.
He immediately tried Apparition again, this time arriving in an alley behind an open-all-night bar, trembling hands retrieving a Communication Pea as he quickly entered the bar where the loud music was deafening.
He dared not release his magic wand, only making small, controlled movements to cast a spell masking external sounds around him.
"Beep—beep—"
With each dial tone he waited for, his heart felt like it was being heavily struck. Glancing back nervously at the bar's entrance, he pushed away the drunks clinging to him.
Finally, the call was connected.
"Dear Kobit, did you get the information so soon?"
The voice on the other end bore a tone of amusement and surprise.
"Help me!" Kobit saw two Aurors entering from the doorway. Without time for pleasantries, he hurriedly yelled, "I'm exposed! Congress is after me! I've been marked by them!"
At this moment, a tall Auror had already spotted Kobit, striding towards him. Kobit quickly waved his wand twice, causing the Muggles around to surge towards the two Aurors as if frenzied.
The Aurors immediately displayed extreme anger, Kobit knowing, even without hearing them clearly—
Confidentiality Law Confidentiality Law! Every fold in their brains was filled with the Confidentiality Law!
On the other end of the call, the voice of Sir turned cold: "You were marked?"
"Yes!" Kobit hurriedly replied, his fear distorting his voice: "Don't you have a place with a Masking Spell? Let me go there, or I'm done for!"
"Beep—beep—beep—"
The busy tone from the Communication Pea left Kobit in disbelief.
He removed the Communication Pea to have a look, then put it back in, finally understanding his situation:
He had been abandoned!
—Why?!
He had even prepared himself... should the other side deem him worthless and want to turn him into an experimental subject, how he would maneuver and counter... never expecting that group wouldn't even give him that chance!
Kobit stood frozen in place, the small Communication Pea slipping from his palm, and before he could pick it up, a stumbling, dancing drunkard stomped it into powder!