"Tonight, you should get some rest early. It'll take us several days to reach the Wizard's City by ferry, and we'll have plenty of time to study new magic," Jonny advised Lynn. Seeing that Lynn was not vinced, she offered this reminder before turning to leave.

  "Wait... Jonny!" Lynn tucked "Basic Magic Primer" into his arms and suddenly thought of his earlier suspi, so he spoke up.

  "What's the matter? Is there something else?" The silver-haired witch stopped iracks.

  "Are you sure no one else knows the location of our hideout besides us?" Lynn asked again.

  "Are you suspeg that someone among us might have defected to the Church?" Jonny's expression grew serious, and she uood Lynn's . She had the same suspis, but after hesitating for a moment, she shook her head and said, "That's impossible!"

  "Before you arrived in Ur Town, we spent a whole week in this vilge... The dangerous tasks of gathering information and pr supplies were assigned by drawing lots," she expined. She had taken this opportunity to test ead every one of them, and so far, they hadn't entered any pursuit from the Church. That was the best proof.

  Lynn wasn't surprised by this; he was more dire his response.

  Have you ever thought that maybe the Church's first target isn't us?

  Lynhat for an insider, silent pliance meant only ohing – w towards a bigger gain...

  Jonny was momentarily stunned, wearing a puzzled expression on her face.

  "Lame Loude... The route to Greenrealm, that's the true target of the Church!" Lynn said, enunciating each word.

  He didn't know what kind of retionship the "Drunkard" Hawke and Kora had that made them willing to help apprentice wizards like them, but ohing was certain. A hidden passage directly leading outside the city was not specifically built for them!

  In other words, "Drunkard" Hawke was very likely a spy pced by the Wizards in the Nordnd Province, and helping them sail to Lorde was undoubtedly more important.

  Lynn could imagine how many wizards had ehe Secas Empire through this route over the years, and how many cargo-den ships had set sail from Nordnd's ports to reach the Wizard's City.

  In parison, capturing a ferentice wizards like them was insequential. It robably just a way to appease the Duke of Nordnd's emotions, handled as a side issue. This might expin why they were relentlessly pursued by the Church outside, yet they had been safe upoering Ur Town.

  With Lynn's prompt, Jonny immediately uood the situation, and her expression ged.

  In this light, the Church probably already kheir movements but was biding its time, waiting for them to act, and then capturing everyone in one fell swoop.

  Thinking about this, Jon a chill down her spi this moment, they were like birds walking into a trap, just waiting for the huo raise his sughter knife.

  Jonny remained silent for a while but couldn't e up with a solution.

  "So, what should we do?" She asked, but after posing the question, the young girl didn't expect Lynn to have any answers. In this hopeless situation, where even trust among themselves was nearly impossible, how could these apprentice wizards escape the intricately wove of the Church?

  However, Lynn spoke up.

  "It's simple... We wait."

  "Wait?" Jonny was surprised by Lynn's response.

  "You just revealed the pn about the ferry and Lorde to them. We're leaving tomorrow, and by then, everyone will be watg each other. So... tonight is the best time to send a message!" Lynn stated firmly.

  "Squeak, squeak."

  When the moon's radiance passed the thirteenth star, Will awoke to the sounds of rats scurrying. The dry straw on his hard wooden bed felt like needles and bdes against his back.

  Struggling to sit up, Will noticed three or four rats gathered around a half-eaten piece of dark bread near his discarded robe. Their long tongues hung from their mouths, and their dark, cwed feet left imprints on the blue fabric.

  "Damn you filthy creatures," Will fumed. He kicked the bread aside, cursing fiercely. It took several minutes for him to calm down, during which he relutly picked up his robe, carefully pushed open the door.

  The corridor leading to the hall itch-bck, with no sign of anyone around. At this hour, except for Dove, who was on night watch duty, everyone should be resting.

  Will didn't dare linger and swiftly crossed the hallway, entering a secluded ste room. He turned around and closed the door behind him.

  The old wooden door creaked and groaned, a testament to the meraries who had violently broken in. All the locks in the manor had been damaged, and the ste room was a chaotic mess, with dusty wooden boards c the floor, and a few chairs and ets strehazardly.

  Will k down, anxious, and started to clear away the clutter piled up in the er, revealing a dusty floor with an enigmatibus-shaped patterched on it.

  Back when they were apprentices seleg their specialized fields, Jonny had choseal magic, Dove had opted for psyancy, and Will had mastered alchemy.

  "By boat, the harbor, Lorde..."

  Will etched each character into the ter of the magical circle, thehe magic stones on the four circur patterns within. Faint, radiant light gradually emanated, extending along the lines of the magic circle.

  Just as the radiance was about to enshroud the entire magic circle, a pierg sound of something cutting through the air echoed in the silent room. A "Frostbde" inned firmly to the edge of the magic circle, and the brilliant magical light instantly dimmed.

  "Who's there?" Will was startled, a down on the floor, his eyes filled with fear as he looked towards the dire the sound had e from.

  The partially open room had already been forcefully entered. In Jonny's eyes, there was a mix of disappoi and fusion.

  "Why are you betraying us, Will?" The hot-tempered Buck strode forward and grabbed Will by his colr, nding a pun his face. "Answer me!"

  "Why?" Will shen suddenly pushed Buck away, wiping the blood from his mouth. He spoke with an agitated expression. "You're asking me why?"

  "I am Will Isk, the sed son of an Imperial t! If it weren't for that fool Kora, I would have been living in the Isk estate, attending vish high-society gatherings, enjoying delieals, and being served by servants. Iure, I would have ied a portion of my father's nds and bee a Baron in the Secas Empire!"

  "But now? Every day, we're stuck eating the same wretched bread as the peasants, sleeping in filthy ruins ied with rats." Will screamed hysterically. "I've had enough!"

  "Kora is a madman, a devil! He taught us demoniowledge and turned us from high-born nobles into a bunch of is c in the shadows..."