Wolf’s night differed from Anna’s expectations.

The young man stayed late, chatting with South. Then, he went from one establishment to another, booking them for an entire day or evening. However, as he went down the list provided by Wayde, the quality of both the ambience and the women dropped until reaching the point when Wolf asked himself whether he really wanted to keep doing this to himself.

Yes, I do. Anything to get stronger, he thought, seeing the mental image of his real enemy.

Emperor Darius’s overwhelming power made people lose hope of ever nearing his level. But wasn’t that also the case with Lonely Eagle? And yet outstanding individuals from all Ten Empires of Man tried to contest his supremacy.

If Darius could do it, why can’t I? Wolf thought, then continued following his list.

By the time the sun rose, Wolf found himself near Cornucopia’s headquarters.

I might as well pay Roger a visit, he thought, wanting to avoid seeing Anna.

Wolf hustled the entire night, but now he walked towards the merchant group’s headquarters leisurely, stalling for time.

In a dingy alley, the young Mage assumed his alter ego and arrived at Cornucopia’s main gate roughly two hours after dawn.

As soon as the guards glimpsed him, their eyes went wide, and one of them ran into the compound. The other one kept nervously glancing left and right. He fidgeted while wondering when was the proper time to bow to Wolf.

“Lord Mage, Master is expecting you inside,” the man said respectfully as he pushed the gate open while maintaining his awkward stance.

Wolf gave him a slight nod, wondering what had changed.

The guards usually gave him a half-bow before one of them escorted him to meet Roger. Before Wolf concluded anything, Roger appeared.

The man smiled from ear to ear. His eyes sparkled, showcasing undisguised admiration.

Wolf went through his memories, and he was fairly certain this was the first time he’d seen the old merchant so happy to see him.

“Good morning, Lord Mage.” Roger bowed just as deeply as the guard. “I’m honored you came to pay us a visit…”

Wolf forced himself not to frown as the merchant inquired about his health. This change in attitude was unexpected.

“Do you have any instructions for us?” Roger finished his lengthy greeting, beaming eagerness to serve this lord of his.

“Good morning? You seem to be in a great mood?” Wolf said, not bothering to hide his confusion. Regardless of how much of a social blockhead he was, after mingling with people for so long, he started getting a hang of it, and he knew he was the root cause of Roger’s great mood.

The only problem was, Wolf used this face solely for visiting Cornucopia. Fortunately, Roger was very keen to explain.

“Lord, we got news from Oakwood Freeland,” the man started hurriedly. “Apparently, a huge mob of bandits attacked them. Sir Rand claimed his men had buried over three hundred bandits. My people saw the huge mass grave.”

As the man spoke, he escorted Wolf into the merchant group’s fancy parlor. Meanwhile, the youth listened, still not understanding what a large-scale bandit extermination had to do with him.

Why are you so happy? Those guys killed some bandits. What does that have to do with me? Wolf wondered as he sat down.

Seeing Wolf still act dumb, Roger passed him a sealed letter. “Lord Mage, Sir Rand sent a written report. It should contain a detailed explanation.”

Wolf opened the letter, read it at a glance, then replaced it into the envelope.

“Huh. So it came in handy,” the youth said with a ‘who would’ve thought’ expression. Then, after a moment, Wolf smiled a bit and shook his head.

The letter was written in ill-practiced handwriting, with seven blotches, several crossed out words, and lacking punctuation.

My Lord thank you I thout we were goners but your screem saved us the bandits atackd at night and kild the night watch but those guays were real man they screemd intruders before they kikd the buket and the closd gate bot us some time so everyone managed to run to the storehouse and then when I made shur everyone was in I did what you told me and then it screemd and then they all kikd the buket and then we won and old pa was so hapy he had a heart atak and kikd the buket we had a big funeral for him and the boys on the gate they were real man I tel you I kept the bandit heads and when the merchants came and when they chekd heads they sayd they have the boaunties on them more than twenty gold maybe how great is that they gave me paper to writ the leter and sayd they would deliver it to you soon

The report was a bit of a headache for a normal person to read, as well as to understand what the hell Rand wanted to say, but not Wolf. Having read the letter, Wolf didn’t seem especially sad that Old Pa had died. He was an old man and from what Wolf could gather, at least he kikd the buket happy. In Wolf’s mind, dying from happiness was one of the best ways to go.

“So you were excited because of that little Spell Formation I set up in Oakwood Freeland? To be honest, it slipped my mind,” Wolf said, finally understanding why Roger was so happy.

“Yes, Lord. I will be perfectly honest with you. If you have a couple of days’ worth of time, I might get us some profitable commissions. Now, please let me finish. I’m not talking about some petty jobs. Scribing Tenth Order Spell Formations pays several hundred gold coins per day,” Roger blurted out in one breath, afraid Wolf would immediately reject the offer.

Few Spell Formation Masters could turn Tenth Order spells into Spell Formations. Normally, such a person rarely lacked money, but then again, such a person wouldn’t invest in such a small scale merchant group.

Unfortunately, the offer failed to move Wolf. Not just because he had more than enough money right now, but because people who commissioned Tenth Order Spell Formations wouldn’t be random schmucks. Changing his appearance with a low Order illusion can fool small time merchants. However, it wouldn’t hold up against a real Mage’s scrutiny.

“I’m not interested at the moment. Currently, I’m lacking time, while I have excess gold. When it’s the other way around, I promise I’ll come and have a chat with you.” Wolf didn’t want to commit himself.

From his current standpoint, Wolf couldn’t imagine lacking coin to the point of scribing Spell Formations for others.

“Actually, the reason I dropped by today was that I wanted to ask you about those Ninth Order Monster Cores I had you keep an eye out for,” Wolf said, bluntly changing the topic.

Roger sighed inwardly at the lost business opportunity.

“Yes Sir, I was quite lucky. I acquired eighteen of them. Apparently, an expedition into the Beast-lands had a very good harvest. Even the prices for those cores were reasonable, since a large quantity flooded the market.” Roger proudly reported his success while producing several ornate boxes from his Ring of Holding.

That was lucky… Back then Big Brother told me I’d need twenty to thirty Ninth Order Monster Cores to advance to Ninth Order. I have the bare minimum now. After taking a moment to reach a decision, Wolf nodded at Roger.

“Thank you. If you come across more, please buy five more,” Wolf said, thinking that even if he advanced his Sword-Sage Order, those Monster Cores were suitable for Spell Formations.

“Yes, Lord Mage. Can I do anything else for you?” Roger asked while personally serving tea.

“Not at the moment. Oakwood Freeland is doing fine for now…” Wolf mulled it over as he took a sip of tea, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t come up with anything else he needed.

‘I need a legendary sword’ was not something you told the owner of a struggling merchant company.

Wolf chatted with Roger while drinking tea. However, the topics drifted towards his amazing feat of setting up a Tenth Order Spell Formation time and time again.

The youth originally planned to procrastinate and drink tea for several hours, but Roger’s talk drove him away after a single cup.

Wolf left the merchant group, thinking about how things might become troublesome now. He was unaware that Cornucopia’s competitors and larger merchant groups knew all along that a powerful Mage had made a move, investing in this seemingly benign force. The only thing they didn’t understand was - why, but then again, Mages’s moves were often queer and outside normal people’s way of thinking.

The only change was that these interested parties now knew this Mage was also a Grandmaster tier Spell Formation Scribe.

As for Roger, he smiled happily, admiring his foresight when he tied his fortune with Wolf’s. Otherwise, Cornucopia would’ve gone bankrupt a long time ago.

***

Despite trying his best to waste time, Wolf returned to the Mage Academy just before five in the afternoon. Wanting to avoid Anna, he went straight to his and Wayde’s suite.

Wolf opened the door. The sight that greeted him wasn’t Wayde leisurely lounging on the couch. Rather, the young Duke paced nervously around the room.

“Thank gods you’re back! I think Anna caused trouble,” Wayde said as soon as the door opened.

Wolf frowned. What kind of trouble could she cause? I thought she’d cool off while I was away…

“What happened?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” Wayde shrugged his shoulders with a long face. “Anna came over this morning and told me to pass you a message. She said: ‘I resolved the Mandy issue’. She said you’d definitely know what she was talking about.”

When he heard ‘Mandy’ Wolf froze.

She found out? Who told her? Was Mandy spreading rumors? But she doesn’t look like that type. Is she fine? Without saying a word, or closing the door, Wolf sprinted out of the dorm, heading straight towards the servants’ residential block.

He stormed into Mandy’s apartment building. He passed the terrified doorwoman and practically flew up the stairs until he reached the door of Mandy’s apartment.

Someone broke the door in. Wolf clenched his teeth, sprinting inside.

“Mandy! Mandy,” he shouted in panic, but nobody responded.

The kitchen was a mess, with shattered dishes and overturned chairs and table. These were clear signs of struggle, but there was no sign of Mandy.

The bathroom door was open, and after taking a glance, Wolf confirmed it was empty.

The only place left was the bedroom, its door closed.

Wolf shuddered. He felt like the closed door in front of him was a seal. If he opened it, he would unleash the darkness in his heart. An instinct told him that behind it was a dread nobody wanted to see.