In the originally peaceful Herring Gull City, raging smoke and fire were now rising in the direction of the City Lord's Mansion.
The siren sounded loudly, and the whole city was quickly put under martial law. The city gates were closed urgently, and the city defense array was also activated, covering the entire city like a bucket.
At the same time, the elite guards of the city lord's palace came out to patrol the city, looking for the culprit who caused all this to happen.
"There are remnants of the rebels who have sneaked into the city lord's palace, attempted to steal the treasure house, and fled in the city. Anyone who dares to provide shelter will be treated as a rebel comrade and will be killed without mercy!"
At the same time, relevant news spread wildly in various snake and rat lanes, and various versions of rumors spread in various taverns in Xiacheng District.
Some of the more generally recognized information is that thieves infiltrated the city lord's palace and stole the treasure hidden in the secret vault. However, they accidentally triggered an alarm spell when they left, and they had to break through as a last resort.
Viscount Nisferme was furious about this and publicly executed the soldiers who were slacking in guarding at the time. At the same time, the whole city was under martial law and vowed to capture those lawless thieves.
As for what the treasure actually is, there are different opinions.
Some people say that it is the dozens of boxes of high-quality magic crystals in stock and the high-level magic items passed down from Viscount Nisferim's family. Others say that it is the core secret key of the city defense array. Others say that it is a dowry treasure from the wife of the city lord.
Fiona, who was living in seclusion in Herring Gull City, was also alarmed by this huge movement.
Standing in the courtyard of the house she bought, a little girl wearing a light cyan magic dress blinked her big bright eyes and looked curious as she looked at the city guards who were searching house to house on the street.
Her current disguise is that of a fifth-level magician from the Illusion School. She traveled all the way from the Federation, a distant kingdom, and recently stayed temporarily in Herring Gull City.
"The city lord's personal guards have been ordered to search for the remnants of the rebels! Please close the protective circle here."
Soon, a team of city guards arrived at the main entrance of the girl's residence. The leader, the fourth-level knight captain, cautiously knocked on the door with his sword and his tone was relatively polite.
He is aware of the identity of the being who lives here. A fifth-level spellcaster can be regarded as a mid-to-high-level force in the entire continent. Guests of major forces can obtain guest status by joining most forces. Therefore, these cities The guardsmen did not dare to be too presumptuous.
"Yes, but no suspicious persons broke into my residence."
Fiona did not embarrass these soldiers. She just revoked the intermediate protective array she had temporarily purchased and asked them to search inside on their own.
Generally speaking, during this kind of search mission, many guards would rummage through civilians' houses under the pretext of searching, and when they see good things, they would take them away to enrich themselves and others.
If the house owner wants to avoid this situation from happening, he must pay a "hard work fee" to the team leader in advance, otherwise he will have to swallow his anger. If he dares to resist, he will be labeled as "resisting search" and will be arrested. Arrested and jailed for several days.
However, when they searched Fiona's residence, the soldiers behaved very honestly throughout the process.
They are also looking for food, and it is easy for accidents to happen if they randomly move things in the residence of a mid-to-high-level spell caster. This is common sense for survival in this world.
The treasure belongs to Viscount Nisfiim, and his life is his own. If some inexplicable cursed item or spell trap is triggered, or the opponent is angered, his life will definitely be in danger. Even if the city lord holds them accountable afterwards and avenges them, it will not be the same for the dead. It doesn't make any sense.
The team leader took out a magic detection tool and scanned the courtyard. Finding nothing unusual, he announced the withdrawal of the team and left Fiona's residence politely and quickly with many soldiers.
The girl didn't pay much attention to this, but when she was about to return to her residence, her powerful spiritual power suddenly noticed something was wrong.
In the space in a corner of the courtyard, there was an abnormal fluctuation, similar to the traces left by some kind of space spell.
This kind of fluctuation is extremely obscure, and it is almost impossible to detect existences below the seventh level, and it is even more impossible to stop the mid-level protective magic circle she arranged to conceal her identity.
A series of guesses flashed through her mind. The girl stretched out her fair and slender hand, pressed on the abnormal mark, and activated the secret tracking method she had learned in the magic class.
Soon, an illusory glowing trail of mixed aura appeared in the girl's spiritual sense. There seemed to be more than one person on the other side, and they had boldly sneaked into her house.
Are they the thieves the city guards are searching for? How dare they come to me!
A little angry about this, Fiona puffed up her cheeks and took out a staff embedded with ice blue crystal stone, intending to teach these uninvited guests a lesson.
Following the trail, she soon discovered several sneaky-looking guys in the basement who had added magical disguises.
.
….….
"Hey, Silver Wolf, that female mage is back. We won't be discovered, right?"
"It's okay. According to the investigation, the owner of this house is only a fifth-level spell caster. If you want to see through our hiding, at least a seventh-level powerhouse must come in person.
The soldiers didn't dare to search her residence too aggressively, so it was just enough for us to hide here temporarily. After the response person arrives, we can leave. "
At this moment, a team of elite adventurers were squatting in the corner of the basement wearing arcane cloaks, muttering with the help of a shared spiritual link.
There are humans, half-elves, and even rare half-orcs in the team. Their strength is between the fifth and sixth levels.
They came from the 'Spark' rebel camp and had just taken over the secret mission of stealing the city lord's treasure trove from the top brass of the rebel army. Due to detailed planning in advance, there were no problems during the theft. It was only a careless mistake when leaving that led to a city-wide manhunt.
As for this room, they chose it from several secret hiding places provided to them by the high-level resistance leaders.
In the backup plan, if something went wrong during their mission and the city guards were alerted, they would hide here as soon as possible.
The owner of the house here is a spell caster from a foreign country. He has some strength, enough to cope with the search by ordinary soldiers, but not too strong to see through their concealment, which can provide them with a period of safety.
"We have obtained the magic device hidden in the secret vault, as well as the key in the hands of Viscount Nisfiim. After they hear the news, they will come here to pick us up tonight at the latest."
"Wait...Silver Wolf, is she looking at us?"
At this time, the half-elf thieves in the team suddenly felt that the girl's eyes seemed to have fallen on them.
"Don't worry, it might just be a coincidence. She happens to be facing our direction."
"Let's not look at her. Some spellcasters are particularly sensitive to gazes."
The human warrior also raised his head carefully, glanced in the direction of the girl, and then turned his head again as if nothing had happened, pretending not to see it.
It is impossible for a fifth-level spellcaster to see through the disposable invisibility cloak provided by a high-level spellcaster on them.
But what they don't know is that Fiona can clearly hear their conversation in the spiritual link at this moment.
But just when the girl was about to catch them directly, a loud noise and strong vibration suddenly came from the door.
The next moment, the soil and rocks above everyone's heads slowly parted to both sides under the influence of magic. A ray of skylight shined through the huge crack into the basement, illuminating the dull faces of the team members in the dust. (End of chapter)
