Chapter 461: Preparation and Infiltration

After leaving the First Tribunal, Xia Duo did not immediately set out to execute his mission. He had a month, and although he would not truly wait until the month was up to start acting, there was no need to go right now.

Returning to his residence, Xia Duo first checked the Scroll Box, a standard-issue box from the Judgment Court, though the scrolls inside were different; the most critical one among them was 【Dimensional Anchor】.

Since it was already known that the other party had entered the Empire's territory due to a teleportation error at the front lines, it was impossible not to guard against them teleporting again, even though such a possibility was slim; after all, front-line soldiers rarely included High Mages, and most were Intermediate or low-rank Mages using Joint Casting.

But there was also the matter of Magic Scrolls; humans had them, and "demons" had them too!

Besides 【Dimensional Anchor】, there were some scrolls for Protective Spells and Restriction Spells, but the most numerous were Judgment Spells. Xia Duo roughly guessed the purpose of these scrolls.

It looked like the residents of Little Goat Town would also need to undergo a screening.

After putting away the Scroll Box, Xia Duo took off the 【Spell Reversal Ring】 he had just put on at Aosike's place and observed it carefully.

Because there was significant surveillance within the Arcane Empire, he had not taken out any of his own Magic Items to use. This year, he had only managed to acquire a Judgment Officer Robe and a Lightness Ring; this ring was among the most notable of all the Magic Items he had ever seen.

It was entirely gray with subtle silver patterns on the surface, looking very ordinary, but under Magic Vision, dense Magic Net Strings were linked to the ring, looking like a miniature version at first glance.

Following Aosike's guidance, Xia Duo carefully linked a portion of the Magic Net Strings to himself in a specific order, until the Magic Aura stabilized and faded away.

Xia Duo did not attempt to analyze the 【Spell Reversal】 on this ring; this was a spell his true self had not even mastered, and as for "Aidi," that was even further off.

After linking the ring to himself and fiddling with it for a while, he put it back on his finger. Next was the detailed plan.

It was foreseeable that since Aosike had even brought out the 【Spell Reversal Ring】, there would certainly be Scrying Spells following him, so the actions he took had to conform to his current persona.

"Aidi" had only just become an Intermediate Mage, and the only 3rd Circle Spell he knew was 【Flight】; apart from flying, no other 3rd Circle Spells could be displayed.

Even if he were to use Ascending Ring on original low-circle spells, it would be difficult to justify the timing.

Therefore, if a problem could be solved with a scroll, it was best to solve it with a scroll; not having to act personally was the most ideal state.

Of course, for "Aidi," scrolls also required time to become familiar with, especially spells like 【Dimensional Anchor】. If it were Xia Duo himself, real-time Spellcasting would be no problem, but "Aidi" needed extra practice.

……

Over the next few days, Xia Duo went to the Fourth Court to retrieve past case files regarding "Little Goat Town," while also practicing unfamiliar spell scrolls at the Judgment Court's spell practice field.

By the time everything was "prepared," three days had passed.

On this day, Xia Duo led 100 ordinary soldiers and set out from Jilan City. Not long after leaving the city, he sensed that he was being targeted by a Scrying Spell; he didn't need to think to know where it came from.

Little Goat Town was not far from Jilan City, less than ten miles away. Unlike the Savile Town to Linshui Village route in the Main Plane, every town here was connected to Jilan City by roads, making transportation very convenient.

In the past, Little Goat Town's main industry was goat farming, supplying the production of Parchment. Later, with the invention of the Paper-making Technique, Parchment was only used for making Magic Scrolls, and daily consumption decreased significantly, so Little Goat Town began to reduce production and now focused on planting wheat, oats, carrots, and the like.

On the way to Little Goat Town, Xia Duo recalled the records he had seen in the Fourth Court's files; according to the most recent census, Little Goat Town had a total of over two thousand residents.

Excluding those who had died of natural causes over the years, as well as those eliminated from the Apprentice School and Magic Academy, the total number would not have changed much.

Trying to find two hidden "demons" among two thousand people was not a simple task; after all, reality was not a game where the boss stayed in one place waiting for players to fight and farm it repeatedly.

If the commotion was too great, they might just run away, and then where would he complete his mission?

When he was still some distance from Little Goat Town, Xia Duo ordered the troop to stop. "You stay here; when you see my signal, come over immediately!"

Taking a pre-prepared Hand Crossbow and Short Sword from a soldier and agreeing on a signal with the Captain, Xia Duo set off alone.

If he could reveal his identity as a High Mage, he could have brought people with him; teleportation was not impossible to track, and if the other party could not teleport, ordinary people would even be enough to surround and kill them.

But for now, he could only follow the plan.

Activating the Lightness Ring and then casting 【Invisibility】, Xia Duo found that in this "Aidi" body, he had regained the agility of his true self, and he felt no strain at all while running toward Little Goat Town.

As he approached the town area, Xia Duo slowed his pace. Unfortunately, no matter how much he slowed down, the footprints left on the ground could not be erased. Luckily, people walked here often and the footprints were messy; as long as no one was looking specifically, who would think of an invisible person suddenly appearing in broad daylight?

While 【Invisibility】 could still last for a while, Xia Duo found a random house and slipped inside. A young woman was cooking something inside. Xia Duo did not want to waste time, so he immediately cast the Judgment Spell—【Command】, then revealed his form and ordered:

"Stay quiet, do not panic. I am a Level 4 Adjudicator from the Judgment Court, currently executing a secret mission. I have a few questions I want to ask you."

The 【Command】 spell was somewhat similar to an 【Enchantment Effect】 but carried a certain compulsory effect, though it was not effective a hundred percent of the time. Mind spells target the mind, and some people were naturally more resistant; there was no helping that.

Compared to the spell, perhaps the official identity was more effective. In any case, Xia Duo could not judge whether the person before him was obeying because of the spell or the robe he was wearing; regardless, the other party obeyed obediently.

He continued by casting 【Inquiry】. This spell could cover an area, so it was a bit of a waste to use it to question one person alone, but for the sake of caution, Xia Duo used it anyway.

"Has any stranger come to your town recently?"

"No."

No lies? Xia Duo was not surprised. He figured that so-called demons would not openly reveal their identity or appearance; otherwise, townspeople educated by the Empire might report them directly, or even trap them to death.

"Has anyone in town suddenly stopped showing their face recently?"

The woman thought for a moment, but ultimately shook her head. However, she offered a conjecture, "My lord, the men in town have to be accounted for every day when they go to work; only pregnant women might suddenly stop showing their faces."

"Then has anyone in town died recently?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"The Town Mayor's man. I heard he was carried off by a wild wolf while going to work a few days ago."

"..." Xia Duo was speechless. Were there still wild wolves nearby?

There had long been no large forests near Jilan City, as they had all turned into farmland. There was only a small hill near Little Goat Town, but according to the Fourth Court's records, there had never been an incident of wild wolves attacking people in the past few decades.

Suspicious!