Chapter 1223: Wind Message Inquiries, Keeping Silent

Rest in the early morning, wake up in the forenoon.

Xia Duo casually gnawed on two steamed buns made from Celestial Wheat flour and reapplied several augmentation spells that were on the verge of being dismantled by the Magic Net's automatic restoration trend.

Afterward, he cast an illusion spell, projecting the image of an ordinary passerby from his memory onto himself, performing a dual disguise on both visual and mental levels.

The former included disguises for both ordinary vision and Magic Vision, but it was limited to vision; if someone were to make physical contact, it would be easy to discover the "bug." The latter, however, was prepared specifically for those below the rank of High Mage.

Under normal circumstances, most High Mages possess mental Amulets capable of immunizing against, mitigating, or alerting them to a considerable degree of mental spells; Xia Duo's illusion was not yet clever enough to deceive everyone.

In fact, he did not have much research into illusions involving touch, sound, or scent; his current disguise spell was actually quite flimsy.

Moreover, he had never intended to use this to deceive everyone.

If he really did that, it would cause problems instead; if the Seven Towers thought he was trying to run away, he wouldn't be able to clear his name even with reason.

……

After leaving, Xia Duo first went to the Trade District inside the Arcane Union.

Half a month had passed since the Snow Melting Competition, and Seventon still had many foreign Mages lingering; this was reflected in the Trade District inside the Arcane Union, where the foot traffic was significantly higher than usual.

But that was only relative to normal times; looking at the absolute number of Spellcasters from Xia Duo's current perspective, this place was undoubtedly still very deserted.

Xia Duo wandered in front of various merchant stalls, unable to help but feel glad that he had disguised himself before coming out; if he had appeared here in his true form, it would have been far too conspicuous.

"Have you heard? A major event happened in Seventon last night!"

"Is it that matter?"

"You heard about it too? Your sources are quite well-informed! I only found out because a friend of mine accidentally let it slip about his younger brother in the Seven Towers!"

"I would rather not have known; then I wouldn't have to be here worrying and afraid!"

"Sigh—"

"……"

The Watchers at the merchant stalls naturally could not discuss such explosive topics in public, but their unencrypted, ordinary Communication Spells were almost defenseless in front of Xia Duo.

He had come here specifically to use the "Wind Message" technique from Elf Magic to inquire about the situation outside.

Upon arriving, he hadn't even passed a few stalls before he heard two low-rank Mages communicating via Sending, and the content of their exchange actually involved Xia Duo himself!

The death of Great Arcanist Kelifu was no longer a secret.

Even the low-rank Mages tending stalls in the Arcane Union's internal Trade District knew about it; besides ordinary people, how many others could there be who didn't know?

As for the content regarding himself, most of it was hearsay, and none of it mentioned that he had a direct connection to Kelifu's death.

But the indirect connections were not few at all.

Yesterday evening, at mealtime, many Mages from Giles Tower witnessed Kelifu and him going to the Plane Exploration Layer one after another, which led to a series of associations.

Regarding this, Xia Duo only wanted to say—do not spread rumors, do not pass on rumors, do not believe rumors!

Yet he couldn't come forward to explain this matter; after all, he was indeed at the same location as Kelifu at the time, and even witnessed the moment the other party turned into fly ash with his own eyes.

Xia Duo knew he had nothing to do with Kelifu's death, but others didn't! If he were to explain it, it would truly just make things look worse!

At this moment, he only hoped that the Seven Towers would issue an authoritative explanation for Kelifu's death as soon as possible!

Fortunately, as a Senior Arcanist and a Pioneer Lord who had recently participated in the Princess Ascension Ceremony and was in the limelight, no one had dared to come to him to demand an explanation so far.

There wasn't even anyone contacting him indirectly!

Such a situation was very unfavorable for him; if he were just a low-rank Mage, no one would suspect him of having any connection to Kelifu's death, but he was a Senior Arcanist, so the suspicion was immediately much greater.

In particular, Xia Duo hadn't heard any wind of Suo En; whether this was intentional by the Seven Towers or for some other reason, he did not know.

But this was clearly even more unfavorable for him.

Don't let the truth come out later, confirming it had nothing to do with him, only for him to have already taken the blame—that would be too tragic!

Both a good reputation and a bad reputation could increase Xia Duo's level of Bloodline Awakening, but if asked which one he preferred, it was undoubtedly the former!

Even a villain hopes that those around them are law-abiding good people, thereby increasing their own competitiveness in the game of rules (being able to cheat, break rules, or play on the edge).

Evil does not triumph over good; in a certain sense, this is indeed a very simple truth.

……

After leaving the Trade District, Xia Duo prepared to go outside for a stroll, considering it a way to relax while also collecting more news from the outside world.

Whether it was the speculation about Kelifu's death, the habits and principles of the Seven Towers' handling methods, or the various impacts caused by this incident.

But just as he walked out of the Arcane Union's clumsy stone gate, a message that was expected but long overdue finally arrived!

In the Sending, the voice of Stern, son of Pioneer Lord Leisen, appeared quietly in Xia Duo's ears with a slight tremor: "May I ask Lord Xia Duo, is my teacher really, really—"

Stern could not bring himself to say the final word "dead"; Xia Duo could feel the extreme disbelief in the other party's emotions, but this did not affect the actual reality.

Sending targeting a Magic Mark requires two-way confirmation; there were quite a few people who had exchanged Magic Marks with Xia Duo, but Stern was the only one who actually contacted him.

Of course, this was also because Stern had a direct interest in Kelifu; how could a student not be concerned about their teacher?

"I am very sorry; although I am very reluctant to say such words, I cannot help but tell you that Lord Kelifu has perhaps, possibly, truly passed on!"

After Xia Duo replied like this, he did not receive any further Sending from Stern; he did not want to guess Stern's thoughts at this moment, but this undoubtedly saved him a lot of trouble.

If the other party kept asking, he really wouldn't know how to answer!

To speak clearly and firmly would sound like sophistry; to speak vaguely and ambiguously would sound like a conspiracy.

In short, before the Seven Towers' official investigation results came out, Xia Duo was not prepared to express any opinion to the outside world.

……

Being interrupted by Stern, Xia Duo's originally somewhat depressed mood improved slightly, but he also knew that when he went out to inquire for news later, he might get angry again.

"I should set up an office in Seventon as soon as possible; otherwise, having to do everything myself every time there's an issue is just too much of a waste of time!"

With this thought, Xia Duo carried a mindset of scouting for a Tower of Time office location when he went out, which made him feel that he was doing something productive rather than wasting time.