Chapter 457: The Test

Although the crowd had dispersed, the pregnant Town Mayor still left an old man for Xia Duo, saying that whenever he had a need, he could have this old man, called Lao Qiao, go find her at any time. Xia Duo did not refuse, and just like that, he took a squad of soldiers and Lao Qiao to look around the town. The town was very small, no different from the impression he had gotten from afar when looking at it from the outside earlier.

It hardly looked like a normal town; there were no shops, let alone entertainment facilities, only rows of uniform wooden houses—it was truly just a dormitory area for a collective farm.

Xia Duo had been projecting into the Arcane Empire for some time now, but he had never been to the villages or towns below, nor did he know if the situation here could be considered normal.

As for the memories of "Aidi," there were only the Conservation Office, the Apprentice School, and the Magic Academy; there were no memories regarding villages or towns at all, or more accurately, there were no memories regarding ordinary people.

After circling this "dormitory area" twice, the men of Black Stone Town returned, one by one carrying tools, their upper bodies bare, sweat hanging from their heads and bodies; it seemed they really had been laboring outside for a long time.

At this moment, that Scrying spell still had not vanished, but Xia Duo had already roughly determined the direction of the spellcaster behind it—

It was in the direction he had come from, perhaps right in Jilan City! With this judgment, Xia Duo's mind became active. Perhaps all of this was just him overthinking it; if he were to step into the role of "Aidi," what would he do? Thinking of it this way, things became much simpler. He let these returning men go home, and then Xia Duo arrived at the Town Mayor's house.

At this time, besides the pregnant Town Mayor, there were two more men in the house—the ones who had just returned. However, by now, Xia Duo had set aside his own perceptions and was looking at things entirely from Aidi's perspective; it seemed there was nothing wrong.

—【Inquiry】! In his magical vision, Xia Duo clearly saw a faint spiritual light appear within a radius of about one meter centered on the spell source point, completely enveloping the target he intended to question, somewhat similar to the 【Domain of Honesty】 of Leyden in the Main Plane.

However, the efficacy might be inferior. This was the first time Xia Duo had used a mental spell on a human, and he himself did not have much certainty about how much effect it would have. After all, it involved fields like the mind and will, which Xia Duo had not studied deeply, but "Aidi" should not be suspicious.

"Town Mayor Taisi, I ask you, besides us, have any other strangers come to the town recently?"

"No."

"Why is there no one from the Conservation Office in town?"

"They just left before you arrived."

"Are the men in town really repairing the road?"

"It is true."

Asking up to this point, Xia Duo actually already had the answer in his heart, but he still had to ask the final key question: "Have you ever heard of the 'Creation Mother Goddess'?"

"No."

The spell's spiritual light showed no abnormalities, and even her expression showed no abnormalities. If she could truly feign it to this extent, "Aidi" would certainly not be able to tell.

Of course, Xia Duo himself could not see any abnormalities either. Aside from the sense of strangeness regarding the town based on his inherent knowledge, he did indeed accept this exchange of questions and answers with the Town Mayor.

Next, he randomly selected two other households and cast the spell 【Inquiry】 on them as well; the results were all normal.

Just as he was preparing to take further measures, a familiar voice suddenly reached his ears: "That is enough, the mission is over, come back!"

The person sending the message was none other than Aosike, the Chief Judge of Jilan City, whom Xia Duo had just met not long ago. Only then did Xia Duo fully confirm that the so-called peeping was entirely Aosike's doing.

If this was the premise, then perhaps this mission was just a test for him to join the Second Tribunal.

As for what the test was, it was actually not hard to guess; once one stepped into the "Aidi" perspective and compared it with one's own judgment, one would understand.

Perhaps there would be more tests to come.

Returning to the Second Tribunal of Jilan City, Xia Duo handed in the mission and was told that there would be another mission tomorrow, though unlike today's mission, which only had a mission document and a copy of the "Exorcism Manual."

While being informed of the mission, Xia Duo also received a Lightness Ring, an official Judge's Mage Robe (a Magic Item, unlike the previous one), and a whole box of Magic Scrolls.

"Looking at these preparations, could tomorrow be a combat mission?"

However, upon seeing that more than half of the scroll box consisted of 【Inquiry】 scrolls, Xia Duo felt he had guessed wrong again.

Returning to his residence and dismissing the ten women who had been clinging to him, Xia Duo began his own research. On the surface, books and manuscripts related to Judgment Spells were placed on the desk, but internally, it was impossible for Xia Duo to spend all his time on this.

To avoid the surveillance that could appear at any time, Xia Duo placed his true research site inside his Personal Space.

Mental spells were indeed very useful, and he was indeed quite interested in them. With his magical attainments as a High Mage, his research progress had long since exceeded the scope of a normal graduate; he had time to do other things.

Such as studying the prerequisite courses for an Advanced Arcanist.

Of course, ever since discovering that the magical knowledge here was relatively open, Xia Duo had decided to put advancement slightly behind and prioritize the acquisition of knowledge.

That was why he performed actively, hoping to obtain better Permission Level; otherwise, he could just slack off like Chali.

Although the Arcane Empire did not set any obstacles to the acquisition of knowledge—basically, one could obtain it upon application—the higher the Permission Level, the wider the range one could apply for, and the fewer the restrictions one would face.

As for going to the Library to study on his own, that was also a good choice, but the problem was that all Spellcasters in the Arcane Empire were "civil servants," and they were no longer as "free" as they were when they were students.

Moreover, there was one most critical problem, which was—Jilan City did not have a Library!

This was something Xia Duo only learned after arriving in Jilan City.

Libraries only existed in the various academies. To go there, one had to pass through the Teleportation Array of the Teleportation Division, which involved not just a matter of time, but also issues of points and Permission Level.

In short, if an Imperial Mage wanted to obtain more knowledge and more freedom, there was basically only one path to choose: climb upward.

Besides political achievements, the most important thing was magical attainments. After all, it was the Arcane Empire; once one became an Arcanist, one would have everything.

But this was something Xia Duo could not immediately display. Performing too well would only invite various investigations. If he were truly a native like "Aidi," it wouldn't matter, but as an outsider, he knew very well that he could not withstand strict scrutiny.

Therefore, he could only maintain the persona of a normal genius, avoiding becoming a monster that would attract investigation, while at the same time putting more effort into political achievements in order to get promoted as soon as possible and obtain a higher Permission Level.

At the very least, his salary points had to be enough to afford the Teleportation Array to the academy library.

Otherwise, as an ordinary Judge, what would you be doing applying for knowledge and spells outside your main duties all day long! Isn't that asking for an investigation!

Book club: 966022519

Everyone is welcome to come and chat~~

(End of chapter)