“Let us all congratulate Kaili and Theodore!”

In the Eleventh Squad office, Wilson’s loud voice rang out as he led the applause.

The squad members, seated around the office, followed along with claps of their own.

In the center, Kaili and Theodore kept their smiles steady, nodding now and then to show their thanks.

A moment later, the applause faded, and Wilson began to announce the official rewards issued by the Security Office:

“Kaili, Theodore.” Wilson motioned for the two to step forward, then pulled out two wooden boxes from behind him.

“You fought bravely against a fraudulent crystal dealer, eliminated him, safeguarded the commercial environment of Vincent District, and defended the interests of the School.”

Perhaps in Lynn’s previous world, law enforcers killing a suspect would have been a serious problem.

But in the world of wizards, Kaili and Theodore’s actions were considered perfectly justified, no punishment, only praise.

“As a reward, the School is granting you each 150 contribution points and 200 primary-grade magic stones.” Wilson continued,

“In addition, since your pair is the first in the Eleventh Squad to earn merit, I will personally add to the reward that each of you will receive a mid-tier, zero-ring defensive artifact.

Lastly, both of you will be credited with one merit.

“The system for merits is still being finalized, so its uses aren’t yet clear, but I suspect these will be tied to future promotions.”

“Thank you, School! Thank you, Lord Wilson!”

Kaili and Theodore’s faces lit up with joy as they accepted the boxes, bowing deeply in gratitude.

“Work hard. The Security Office is still expanding. I’ve heard the School plans to appoint vice-captains for each squad in the future, and I have high hopes for you two.” Wilson patted their shoulders and spoke in a low, encouraging voice.

All the apprentices present looked on with envy.

Leah, who patrolled the same district, looked especially envious.

But beside her, Lynn wore a congratulatory smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes; beneath it was a glint of doubt.

Because Lynn now knew the fraudulent shopkeeper they had killed, Becker, was the same man who had once been extorted by the Sokol Syndicate.

Could it be that the Sokol Syndicate apprentices really did buy fake crystals that day?

From the conversation he had overheard, it wasn’t impossible.

But after some thought, Lynn dismissed the idea.

If Becker had truly sold them fakes, knowing the ways of street gangs, there was no way it would have ended with a simple repayment.

If Becker was innocent, then someone must have deliberately set him up.

And who stood to gain from this?

Lynn quietly went through the list in his head, one by one.

His gaze quickly settled on the two men standing before him, Kaili and Theodore.

From every angle, the pair were the ones with the most to gain.

A flicker of unease stirred in Lynn’s heart as he recalled their earlier dealings with Wilson.

The commendation gathering ended quickly, so as not to delay patrol duties.

Before dismissing them, Wilson called Lynn and Leah to stay behind.

“Kaili told me they’d already noticed that the crystal shop had been having disputes during past patrols…”

Wilson paused, then spoke with a grave tone:

“You two patrol the same district. You need to sharpen your eyes and be more attentive in the future.”

Lynn stayed silent and only gave a slight nod.

Leah parted her lips, about to protest, but Wilson cut her off:

“That’s enough. Go on with your patrol.”

…

On patrol, Lynn and Leah once again passed by the crystal shop.

The store had been left in ruins after the fight between the three apprentices.

Most of the valuable items inside had been confiscated by the Security Office, while the rest had been looted by passing wizards.

“I remember on our very first day of patrol, we saw the shopkeeper quarreling with a customer… What a pity. If only we’d been more perceptive then, maybe this merit would have been ours.”

Leah gazed at the wreckage with obvious regret.

Lynn did not comment, only nodded calmly. After a pause, he asked:

“Leah, do you know who those apprentices were, the ones who reported the shop for selling fakes to Kaili and Theodore?”

“Those who reported it? I’m not sure. Supposedly, just a few apprentices who bought crystals there.” Leah replied, then added after a moment’s thought:

“But I can check the files. I know a few senior students working in the Security Office.”

...

It didn’t take long before Leah brought back the news. Her expression carried clear regret:

“The informants were three apprentices who knew each other: two men and one woman… You won’t believe this, Lord Lynn, but one of them was the same male apprentice we saw quarreling with the shopkeeper on our very first day of patrol!”

“Is that so…” Lynn’s pale gray eyes narrowed, the final piece of the puzzle sliding into place.

Neither bribing Wilson nor orchestrating such an elaborate scheme was something two ordinary Second-Rank apprentices could have pulled off on their own.

Kaili and Theodore must have had backing.

Lynn had long wondered what kind of support stood behind them.

Now it seemed clear it was the Sokol Syndicate!

Leah, meanwhile, was still mired in regret, murmuring that if only she had been more attentive, things might have turned out differently. On the next patrol, she, already a serious girl, was noticeably more diligent than ever.

It was worth noting that while the Sokol Syndicate had begun to make a name for itself in this district, most members of the Security Office still had no idea it even existed.

Even the apprentices patrolling the streets daily, like themselves, remained in the dark.

The reasons were simple: the Syndicate was too new, and the gap between School apprentices and wild wizards ran deep. To avoid trouble, the latter avoided speaking their group’s name around Security patrols.

That left a wide gulf in information.

Only because Lynn had his black cat, Lucky, did he know as much as he did.

Sokol Syndicate… Lynn mused silently.

He had originally planned to use the lack of awareness within the Security Office to quietly collect evidence, then take down the Syndicate for a handsome haul of contribution points.

But now things had grown more complicated.

If he still wanted to earn contribution points from the Syndicate, he would inevitably be setting himself against Kaili, Theodore, and perhaps even Wilson.

I need stronger, irrefutable evidence. Lynn decided.

Knowing the truth wasn’t enough.

Without proof and the power to enforce it, truth was meaningless.

…

…

Meanwhile, what should have been a time of celebration for Kaili and Theodore soured when word reached them from the Sokol Syndicate.

“You’re saying that the shopkeeper had a younger brother, a Second-Rank apprentice?” Kaili asked the man before him, his voice low and grave.

“That’s right, Lord Kaili.”

Kaili and Theodore frowned deeply.

A Second-Rank apprentice was hardly a threat in their eyes, but it was still a loose end.

“What does Lord Sokol say?” Kaili pressed.

Sokol, of course, was merely the alias of a First-Rank wizard apprentice, the Syndicate’s leader.

“Lord Sokol has already sent men to handle it. He told me to assure you there’s nothing to worry about,” the subordinate replied.

“How many?” Theodore demanded.

“Three Second-Rank apprentices in total. I’m one of them. After passing along this message, I’ll be heading there myself.”

For secrecy’s sake, only three trusted Syndicate men knew the truth of Becker’s framing. They also served as the witnesses who had reported the shop.

Kaili and Theodore exchanged uneasy glances, but with no better options, they could only nod.

…

…

In a wooden shack in the Vincent District, three members of the Sokol Syndicate surrounded the place.

A moment later, sorcerous light flared in their hands. Without hesitation, they stormed in one through the door, one through the ceiling, and the last through the window.

Crash!

Tiles shattered, the window frame splintered, and the door slammed open.

But inside, the shack was eerily quiet.

No one was there.

The three searched quickly and thoroughly before reaching their conclusion

Becker’s younger brother, Ethan, had already fled.

…

After patrol, Lynn returned home and took out the sound-recording crystal he had hidden earlier.

Activating it, the captured conversation was plain to hear: it mentioned both the Sokol Syndicate and the compensation.

But by itself, that wasn’t enough.

Lynn sat in thought for a while, then closed his eyes, shifting his focus to the perspective of Lucky, whom he had discreetly left near Kaili and Theodore during the shift change.

At that moment, the two were on patrol. Lucky, hidden among the eaves, watched silently from above.

Through the black cat’s eyes, Lynn saw nothing unusual.

The two spoke little, going about their patrol in silence.

The whole night passed, and Lynn, sleepless, found nothing suspicious in their behavior.

Still, he wasn’t surprised.

If he had taken such a risk himself, he too would have been cautious afterward.

But Lynn was confident. So long as Lucky shadowed them, sooner or later, he would catch the proof of their collusion with the Sokol Syndicate.

...

Two days later.

Lynn ended his meditation, summoning the light screen before him.

The progress bar of a Second-Rank Apprentice had finally reached completion.

His expression remained calm as he closed the screen and shifted his attention to Lucky.

But there was no good news. Lucky had observed Kaili and Theodore behaving entirely as usual routine, disciplined, either diligently cultivating or dutifully carrying out their work.

Yet just after Lynn finished lunch, Leah arrived unexpectedly with startling news.

“You’re saying… Becker had a younger brother?”

“That’s right. His brother’s name is Ethan, and he lives right here in the Vincent District.” Leah nodded quickly, then her face lit up with excitement.

“I even know where he lives. I think we should go find him!”

“Why would we want to find him?” Lynn asked evenly.

Leah froze for a moment, then hesitated:

“Because his brother was a forger. Maybe he’s involved as well.”

“And then?”

“Then… maybe we’d uncover another case, and we could earn some merit…” Leah’s voice trailed off, sounding less confident by the second.

But Lynn nodded.

“Very well. Let’s go see Ethan’s place.”

Leah’s eyes shone. Having Lynn’s support was like a shot of courage straight to her heart.

Since it wasn’t yet time for their patrol, the two quickly made their way to Ethan’s residence.

The wooden house stood along a somewhat secluded street. Pedestrians bustled nearby, nothing outwardly amiss.

Leah exhaled softly, her expression turning serious. After months of experience, she was no longer the panicked girl she once was.

She layered a defensive spell upon herself, preparing to approach the house.

But Lynn raised a hand, stopping her.

“Someone’s already broken into this place. The door is ajar, and the windows show signs of repair.”

Leah turned toward him. He, too, had already warded himself with defensive magic, and faint light glimmered in his eyes; he was using Hawk Eye.

Always scout first… I’m still too careless. Leah chastised herself silently.

The two moved closer, searching the wooden house carefully, but found no useful clues.

Ethan wasn’t there.

But just as they stepped back outside, Lynn’s instincts screamed. He abruptly shifted half a step back.

Swish!

A masked wizard dropped from the eaves, conjuring a frost-edged blade in his hand and slashing toward Lynn!

Lynn had already moved; he narrowly dodged the strike.

The attacker, missing his mark, didn’t linger for a second. His body blurred and vanished!

“Lord Lynn!” Leah finally reacted, her face turning grim as she unleashed a detection spell.

Lynn did the same, reinforcing himself with Wind Listening.

“Lord Lynn, was that Becker’s brother, Ethan?”

Lynn didn’t reply. In the very next instant, he surged forward, lunging at empty air to the left!

As he moved, his body blurred into golden mist, his arm wrapped in the biting edge of White Crow Sword Qi!

Crack!

The seemingly empty air shimmered, faintly revealing the outline of a man.

With muffled grunts, the figure’s body was raked by countless fine cuts from Lynn’s sword energy, crimson seeping through his form.

Leah rushed to assist, and together the two quickly bound the figure in a dense web of vines, leaving him completely immobilized.

Leah wiped sweat from her brow, excitement flashing in her eyes.

“Lord Lynn, what should we do now? Should we hand him over to Captain Wilson?”

Lynn didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he asked the captive in a low voice:

“You’re Becker’s brother, Ethan?”

The figure kept silent, but his reaction made the truth obvious. He was indeed Ethan.

“Lord Lynn?” Leah asked uncertainly.

“Leah,” Lynn turned to her, still holding the vines tight around Ethan, “those senior apprentices you know in the Security Office, what’s the highest position among them?”

“The highest? Senior Sister Serena is the deputy captain of the Second Division of the North District.”

The North District’s Security Office had sixteen squads in total, grouped into four divisions. The Second Division comprised the Fifth through Eighth Squads.

“Serena? The same one who joined us on the transport mission before?”

“Yes. She was transferred here recently,” Leah confirmed, then frowned. “Lord Lynn, why are you asking this all of a sudden?”

“…How did you pierce through my Concealment spell?”

At that moment, Ethan, his face drawn, his eyes carrying the dull acceptance of someone resigned to fate, suddenly looked at Lynn and asked a question.

Both Leah and Ethan fixed their gazes on him.

By now, Lynn had long since grown accustomed to practicing Wind Listening using Lucky as his training partner.

Perhaps because of his natural affinity with airflow spells, Lynn’s perception of disturbances in the surrounding air was extremely sharp.

Ethan’s Concealment spell was indeed impressive, nearly seventy to eighty percent as effective as Lucky’s natural stealth. But it still couldn’t escape Lynn’s detection.

Lynn didn’t bother to explain. Instead, he pulled out a memory crystal and turned to Leah:

“Forgive me, Leah. I’ve been keeping something from you until now.

“And Ethan, do you know it was the Sokol Syndicate that killed your brother?”

The memory crystal began to play back slowly, soon reaching the part Leah had never heard before.

She was still confused, but Ethan suddenly understood. His voice rasped as he croaked:

“You mean… You knew it was the Sokol Syndicate working with those two security apprentices that killed Becker?”

“No,” Lynn corrected firmly, shaking his head.

“It wasn’t the Syndicate working with them. It was those two apprentices who colluded with the Syndicate to murder Becker.

“In fact, it’s very possible those two apprentices came straight out of the Sokol Syndicate themselves.”

Ethan’s eyes reddened, while Leah, listening to their exchange, felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Her mind went blank, leaving her momentarily stunned.

But she was not a foolish girl.

Her lips parted as she pieced together Lynn’s words against the recording from the crystal. In moments, she grasped the truth.

“Becker was innocent. He never sold forgeries. It was Kaili and Theodore, working with the Sokol Syndicate, who framed him…”

“That’s right.” Lynn nodded gravely. “On the very first day of our assignment, Lucky caught sight of Wilson meeting privately with Kaili and Theodore.

“They must have bribed Wilson to get into the Security Office in the first place.”

Leah’s mouth fell open, her expression vacant.

The fragments of information were scattered, with nothing resembling hard proof, but she had always felt a blind, unshakable trust in Lynn. Despite being only a few years older than her, he carried himself with maturity and reliability far beyond his age.

Now, she nearly believed him completely. Shock and confusion were all that remained.

Mixed in with it was a sting of sadness. She was frustrated that Lynn had hidden the truth from her before, that she hadn’t been able to piece it together herself.

I really am unreliable… if not for Lord Lynn, I’d still be in the dark.

No wonder he kept the rest of the memory crystal from me back then…

“But why, Lord Lynn?” Leah finally asked, her voice trembling.

“Why would Kaili and Theodore do something like this?”

“To see what they could gain.” Lynn’s answer was short, his tone calm. He turned back to Ethan:

“If you want revenge, then tell me everything you know.

“I need evidence that Becker never sold fake goods, and proof that those two apprentices colluded with the Sokol Syndicate.”

To see what they could gain…

Leah stood quietly beside him, her expression dark.

What did Kaili and Theodore gain?

Nothing more than contribution points and a handful of magic stones…

And for that, they could murder an innocent man without hesitation? With such vile, cowardly means?

Are all rogue wizards really like this?

Her eyes glinted with a rare spark of fury and frost.

But when she looked at Lynn, her expression softened again.

No, not all rogues are like this. Just as not all academy wizards are good men… like Wilson, for example.

Leah’s gaze hardened, her heart settling into resolve.

Master Horsens was right. Some wizards are not worth trusting, not worth saving. The only thing they deserve is despair and annihilation.

Her thoughts churned, but in reality, Ethan was only just processing what Lynn had said.

“You… you’re willing to help me?” he whispered in disbelief.

“This serves me as well,” Lynn said evenly. “I need contribution points from the academy.”

Leah looked puzzled, but Ethan’s face lit with wild relief.

“I have them, I have proof that my brother never sold counterfeits!”

“And proof of the collusion?”

“…” Ethan hesitated, then said suddenly, “I remember… my brother once told me the Syndicate’s protection fees were unbearably high. He secretly recorded their extortion with a shadow crystal.

“But later… one night, he suddenly grew despondent. He told me the Security Office was useless, that they’d never lift a finger against the Syndicate’s extortion.”

Lynn’s eyes sharpened.

“When exactly did Becker say this? Did he mention when he was extorted?”

“A… about a week ago. I think it was near dusk,” Ethan said after a pause.

“A week ago was still before the shift rotation. That was Kaili and Theodore’s patrol time.”

Ethan’s expression twisted as realization dawned.

“Then Becker must have recorded that extortion along with those two apprentices turning a blind eye!”

A smile tugged at Lynn’s lips.

“Do you know where Becker kept the shadow crystal?”

Ethan’s eyes gleamed with sudden hope. He nodded vigorously.

…

“Lynn, why do you need contribution points?”

The three had freed Ethan from his bindings and stepped out of the wooden house.

“To become a Gold-Thorn apprentice,” Lynn replied calmly. Then he explained, “I’ve already reached the threshold for First-Rank Apprentice. I intend to save enough points to exchange for a promotion course.”

“…Lord Lynn never seems to feel lost or uncertain,” Leah murmured.

To her, his cultivation speed was no surprise. What stirred her most was his clarity, his decisive, unwavering determination.

From the very first day she met him until now, not once had she seen confusion cloud his face.

He always seemed to know exactly what he was pursuing…

The three of them walked on. None of them noticed the seemingly ordinary passerby trailing nearby.

But in truth, he was a lookout sent by the Sokol Syndicate.

The moment he saw them leave the wooden house together, his pace quickened, hurrying off to deliver the news.

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/AetherTL