Chapter 1532: Councilor Interrogation, Elf Commotion

However, just as Gawani finished voicing this speculation, Buluode immediately glared at him, "Luowei wouldn't do that. Something must have gone wrong. You all go out first; I will go find him."

As he spoke, he looked at Xia Duo again, "You take them out first. If possible, don't mention Luowei's matter when you see the teacher."

"Understood."

Xia Duo nodded. He could see that Buluode was also suspicious of Luowei's whereabouts, but was only using this excuse for the sake of the teacher-student reputation.

Of course, it could not be ruled out that Luowei had indeed encountered an accident. The Magic Net in this area was chaotic, and Scrying spells were difficult to use effectively. If one wanted to investigate, they could only search bit by bit.

Moreover, it had to be fast. Iolum seemed to have the situation under control, but the Magic Net here showed no signs of recovery and was even sliding toward a more chaotic state.

Perhaps, in the next moment, a giant "firework" would appear here.

"If there is a situation, I will find a way to notify you," Xia Duo said pointedly.

"Good!"

Buluode immediately understood Xia Duo's meaning and said nothing more. He merely swept his gaze over Gawani and the other two, then turned and walked away in a different direction, bypassing the crowd.

For the rest of the way, apart from increasingly frequent, powerful, spontaneously triggered, or even randomly appearing magic, Xia Duo and the others did not encounter any accidents.

Before long, they successfully walked out of the Dead Zone. As soon as Xia Duo and the others appeared, more than a dozen Councilors of the Union surrounded them, questioning them in a clamor:

"Respected Lord Xia Duo, what exactly has the President done inside? It has reached this point, why hasn't he appeared yet?"

"That's right! The Arcane Union is not his private property. Now that it has become like this, he must give us a reasonable explanation!"

"..."

"..."

Gawani and the other two were suddenly irritated upon hearing these questions from the Councilors. They wanted to defend their teacher but were also worried about causing trouble for him. This manifested as them hesitating to speak, which only fueled the arrogance of these Councilors.

Xia Duo scanned the area and spotted Iolum's assistant, Archmage Haichenisi, who was also a Councilor of the Arcane Union, behind the crowd, as well as Bulundesi and others who were watching the commotion from the corner of the corridor further back.

Although Bulundesi and the others were also Councilors of the Arcane Union, they were also people of the Seven Towers. They did not value the assets of the Arcane Union, but rather valued the attitude of Iolum, a neutral party.

Xia Duo realized what these guys were thinking after a moment of thought; it was nothing more than hoping that Iolum, or those related to Iolum, would clash with the Councilors outside the Seven Towers, thereby making Iolum more inclined toward the Seven Towers in the future.

"This is truly insatiable!" Xia Duo couldn't help but sigh.

As the most powerful force in Netheril, the Seven Towers could largely be equated with Netheril; the interests of Netheril were equivalent to the interests of the Seven Towers.

In this way, Iolum, who upheld neutrality and prioritized the interests of Netheril, seemed more like a mouthpiece or mascot pushed out by the Seven Towers.

The Seven Towers should support Iolum. Even if there were occasional conflicts of interest, shouldn't they be more magnanimous as rulers?

For a moment, Xia Duo didn't know whether to complain that Netheril's social science was so poor that people in high positions and with heavy responsibilities like Bulundesi couldn't recognize their own role.

Or whether he should suspect that Bulundesi and the others were harboring ulterior motives and deliberately sabotaging the overall situation of the Seven Towers.

At a time like this, even if they didn't want to help, they should at least not cause trouble!

It was hard for Xia Duo not to suspect that there were people from the Seven Towers fanning the flames behind these troublemaking Councilors!

"Quiet, everyone!"

Following Xia Duo's words, the Councilors who had just been questioning them in a clamor all fell silent, their gazes focused on Xia Duo.

"The teacher will have an explanation for this matter, and the Union charter will decide how to proceed. What is the meaning of you gathering here now? Do you want to rebel?"

As a Great Arcanist and also ostensibly Iolum's student, Xia Duo's words carried significant weight.

The Councilors, who had been a bit bold just a moment ago, immediately hung their heads like frost-bitten eggplants and said in unison, "No, no, we wouldn't dare."

"Please understand our panic, Lord Xia Duo. If there is an accident, it is best to deal with it as soon as possible. The longer it drags on, the more dangerous it becomes. You must know that this is Seventon!"

Finally, there was one with a clear train of thought. Xia Duo nodded in approval and then said, "I can understand your anxiety, but please also trust your President, my teacher!"

"We trust him."

"Then disperse for now. If you don't trust him, you can also temporarily leave the Headquarters and leave Seventon!"

After speaking, Xia Duo parted the crowd and led Gawani and the other two toward the outside. As they passed Haichenisi, the other party followed along very sensibly.

Not until they reached the outside of Iolum's Study did Xia Duo stop and ask Haichenisi, "You sent a message earlier saying you had something to tell me. You can say it now!"

"The Northland Alliance sent an investigator over, who was blocked by the Seven Towers, but the Cormanthor Embassy has started making a fuss again, saying they are worried about their safety in Seventon and are forcing the Seven Towers to deal with the anomaly here. The Seven Towers cannot refuse such a reason, and even if they drag it out, they won't be able to for long. What is the situation with the President? Can he finish in time?"

Uh—

Xia Duo was stunned. He didn't expect that the Northland Alliance already knew about the matter here and had even sent an investigator because of it. However, he also believed that the so-called investigator probably didn't come through normal procedures.

At the very least, with Netheril clearly opposing it, it was absurd for an investigation to occur, let alone for an investigator to be sent unilaterally.

Aside from Cormanthor, Xia Duo could think of no one else.

As for the fuss from the Cormanthor Embassy, this could be considered standard procedure, but precisely because it was standard, the Seven Towers could not ignore it.

After all, their demands were within the rules of the game. If Netheril ignored them, it would be breaking the rules of the game. Even if they didn't deal with it immediately, they at least had to provide an explanation first.

Xia Duo believed that the Seven Towers must have already provided an explanation, but this matter not only concerned Cormanthor but also Yierlan, and even Netheril's closest ally, Illefarn.

This was not something that could be settled with just an explanation. Now, there were indeed signs of a magical accident at the Arcane Union, and a serious one at that. At the very least, they had to give their allies an account.

Xia Duo did not expect that what was originally just a shortcut to finish the Independent Arcane Fire Device project would end up on the verge of a diplomatic incident.

Things are unpredictable!

But if one were to talk about regret, let alone Xia Duo feeling nothing at all, even Iolum, the person primarily responsible, probably wouldn't have any regrets. At most, he would just wish he had been more thorough beforehand.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Duo told Haichenisi, "This matter involves many things. If the teacher didn't tell you before, then I can't say much now either.

"But there is one thing I can tell you clearly: before long, we won't have to look at the faces of the Elves to act anymore!

"Contact the Seven Towers now, ask them to mediate, and stall for more time. Everything will wait until the teacher comes out!"