However, Harbos simply shook his head and said,
"That matter is still a long way off... I wanted to ask if you know that female apprentice who sat next to you last time?"
Elan subconsciously thought he was asking about Lai Yi, but he was a bit unsure about the scope of 'next to' that Harbos meant, so he said,
"Is it the second person sitting on my right-hand side from last time?"
At the level of Formal Mage, their memory had grown significantly, which was why Elan asked this way; he felt Harbos would surely remember as well.
"No, it's the first one on your right, the one closest to you."
"The one with black hair?"
"Exactly, her. Do you know her?"
Elan was a bit bewildered. There was basically only one reason Harbos would look for these apprentices: he had taken a liking to some apprentice's talent.
As for Furan, he could only say he was very familiar with her, but in his eyes, she was a natural fit for the Sword Chant School; in terms of Spells, she only had a bit of talent.
This configuration perfectly suited the Sword Chant School, so even though his own Edict School was very short-handed, he never had the thought of recruiting Furan into the Edict School.
He believed that joining the Sword Chant School was the best choice for Furan. Although her talent for Spells was enough for her to join other Schools, there was no need; joining another School would be a waste of Furan's swordsmanship talent.
He also recalled Furan's performance in the last class—she was constantly distracted, picking at her fingers, and chatting with Lai Yi beside her from time to time. She didn't look like an apprentice who understood the course content at all.
So why was Harbos looking for her?
"I know her. I'm very familiar with her."
"Then has something happened to her recently? Why didn't she come to class this time?"
Harbos asked, making Elan even more bewildered. From the way Harbos spoke, did Furan actually understand the content of the last lesson!?
Since it was an inquiry from a Fourth-Tier Mage, Elan had no choice but to answer truthfully:
"It seems she's been avoiding people from the Modification School recently. She seems to have had some conflict with them and has been staying at home."
"Modification School..."
Harbos pondered for a moment before continuing to ask:
"So, where is her residence?"
Again, in the face of a Fourth-Tier Mage's questioning, Elan could only tell the truth. Besides, he was the one who helped introduce Furan to the house, so he knew its location.
It was only after Elan walked out the door that he snapped out of it. From the looks of it, Furan also had talent in weapon forging—and an uncommon type at that—which was why she caught Harbos's attention.
He scratched his head, feeling that under the current circumstances, he had no choice but to believe it. It wasn't like a Fourth-Tier Mage like Harbos would play a prank on him.
---
Inside the Sword Chant School's base, the usual bustle was gone, replaced by a silence on the verge of exploding.
Dozens of apprentices gathered in one spot, whispering about the situation unfolding in the distance.
"What's wrong? What happened? Why is Instructor Burnett facing off with someone over there?"
"It's still about what happened two days ago. Someone from our side injured an apprentice from the Modification School, leaving them heavily wounded."
"I guess the other side's instructor has come to demand an explanation."
...Burnett watched Beloli, who stood opposite him, with vigilance. He could clearly see protruding spikes on her arms beneath her robes.
Beloli spoke up:
"I told you, I'm here to investigate knowledge that may have leaked from the Modification School. As soon as I find it, I'll leave immediately."
Burnett laughed and said:
"Who knows if you'll intentionally plant a book to frame our apprentices? I cannot let you search."
"Unless you have a search permit and enforcement documents from the Alliance, then I will let you in to search."
Beloli did not answer; she knew that condition was absolutely impossible to meet.
The Alliance would never agree. Her reason of searching for potentially leaked knowledge was far too weak. Among the Alliance's responsibilities, there was no clause about helping various Schools safeguard their knowledge.
Furthermore, the application conditions for the aforementioned documents were extremely harsh. If you wanted to catch a serial killer—sorry, that reason wouldn't suffice.
It had to be the kind where you had evidence confirming the existence of a mission or item that could cause large-scale civilian fatalities before the Alliance would issue those documents. Moreover, they would vet your qualifications; if your personal status wasn't high enough—sorry, we'll handle it ourselves.
The various Schools acknowledged themselves as part of the Alliance precisely because the Alliance had a system that satisfied everyone when dealing with the Schools.
And Beloli could not meet the aforementioned conditions.
A flash of ruthlessness crossed her eyes. She couldn't reach a consensus with the Burnett in front of her, and the School's rules had to be followed, so it was time for a test.
The metal at Beloli's throat flashed with white light. She took a deep breath and spat it out directly; several cracks appeared on the floor between the two of them.
Burnett knew Beloli had launched an attack. He raised his sword above his head, striking a posture to block the strike.
A crisp 'crack' sounded, and dense fractures appeared beneath Burnett's feet, yet his sword-wielding hand did not shake in the slightest.
Beloli suddenly attacked, her right arm abruptly lengthening. A long, spiked arm extended from her sleeve, tipped with elongated claws, and lunged at Burnett.
Burnett remained calm, sidestepping the lunge and swinging back with a strike against the arm, causing its movement to falter for a few moments.
"Do you want to continue?"
Burnett's face was tense, but he asked with a smile.
"No need. I'm leaving now."
Beloli retracted her arm, tucking it back into her wide sleeve, and turned to walk away without the slightest hesitation.
From the test just now, she saw that Burnett would be difficult to deal with easily. If she couldn't defeat Burnett quickly, she would be in trouble once the other Formal Mages of the Sword Chant School arrived.
She knew she probably wouldn't be able to enter the Sword Chant School to investigate this time. Later, the Sword Chant School would also realize and deploy more manpower for protection, giving her even less of a chance in the future.
However... she took out several sheets of paper hidden in her robes, which were covered in names. Beloli pulled a pen from her pocket.
Her claw accidentally got caught in the pocket, tearing a slit in it.
Beloli frowned; she'd have to change clothes again... She picked up the pen and, following her memory from just now, crossed out each corresponding name.
"This one isn't it, doesn't know a single Spell... This one won't do, his swordsmanship couldn't even beat a few skeletons, he couldn't have killed Richter..."
Hidden in her brain was a Spirit Realm Guide with [Perception], which allowed her to sense the skills mastered by everyone below the Second-Tier.
She had just sensed those dozens of gathered apprentices from a distance. After crossing out the impossible names, she looked at the remaining ones.
As long as she used the process of elimination to find the few people who could have killed Richter and tracked them down, she would naturally obtain clues to that potentially existing notebook.
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