Evening, Sekas Empire, outside the slums of Nordory, two ued guests arrived.

  The man leading the way was around thirty, dressed in tight leather armor with a long knife hanging from his waist. His dark golden hair trailed behind him, making him stand out against the deg and filthy slum. Naturally, he immediately attracted tless malicious gazes.

  Starving rioters and thieves lurked in the shadows, their sharp, knife-like stares sweeping over the two men.

  But as soon as they saw the Holy Light Seal owo men's clothes, those prying eyes instantly withdrew.

  In the Sekas Empire, there might be some who didn't reize the empire's fg, but no one would fail to know the Holy Light Seal...

  It was the emblem of the Divine Messenger!

  Except for the clergy wearing temple robes, the only ones with the Holy Light Seal on their clothes were the witch hunters!

  Rumor had it that each witch hunter was blessed by the gods and possessed skills far beyond those of ordinary people. No one would dare provoke such targets.

  Notig the figures in the shadows disappearing, Andre shough the faint stench from the dipidated streets soon made him wrinkle his nose.

  "As expected, Bishop Anluoke was right. These wizards are like rats, liking to hide in such dark and smelly ers." Andre looked at the stains and excrement lingering in the dark ers of the street, c his nose distastefully as he pined.

  "We should be more cautious, Ahis time we are dealing with no ordinary characters," the man leading the way was somewhat dissatisfied with Andre's fmboyant behavior and couldn't help but remind him.

  A few days ago, a major event occurred in the Duke of Nordnd's territory. A wizard named Kro tried to seduce the duke's sed daughter. Fortunately, the guards discovered it in time, preventing the young daughter of the Duke of Nordnd from being beguiled by the devil.

  The brutal ses of that encirclement battle were still vivid.

  To capture this audacious wizard, the Duke of Nordnd dispatched as many as two squadrons of guards to pursue him. Even so, the losses were signifit. If it hadn't been for the timely arrival of the bishop from the church, the Duke of Nordnd would have lost fapletely!

  And their target this time was the wizard's apprentice, who was also a wizard!

  "Don't worry, Bine," Andre sneered. "This time we're dealing with just an apprentice who has only been exposed to magic for a few months. These people usually know only a trick or two. Trust me, a farmer with a hoe is harder to deal with."

  He had participated in several witch-hunting missions during the past six months since joining the witch-hunting team.

  Initially, Andre might have been afraid of the wizards, who were said to be inspired by the devil, but after direters, he realized they were not as terrifying as he imagined. Most posed no signifit threat; their magic was limited in power and sometimes less reliable than bows and swords.

  As for those apprentices with little skill, they were nothing but worthless. Once distracted, they couldn't cast magi battle and were only waiting to be sughtered.

  The most satisfying part for Andre was the high bounty for capturing these wizards. The Duke of Nordnd was especially generous, six whole Sekas gold s for live-capturing an apprentice, enough for a vish period of spending!

  Of course, if killed, it was worth only half the price.

  Bine g Ahout rebutting, but he didn't lower his guard.

  In his experiehose witch hunters who overly trusted intelligeen didn't live long...

  The slums outside Nordory were ne, with few people flowing through. Using their witch hunter identity, Andre was able to firm the hiding pce of their target with a bit of intimidation from a vagrant.

  It was a structure hard to describe as a house, with a red brick wall full of green vines and a door that looked ready to colpse at a gentle push.

  The target they sought was right in front of them, but her of them moved immediately.

  Andre g his partner, cursing silently. He then stepped forward and pressed his palm against the door. His calloused fingers straio pull the bolt, but the door remained immobile, clearly blocked by something from behind.

  Angrily, Andre kicked the door with force.

  The loud crash resonated, and the door broke open, revealing the interior of the hut.

  The narrow room was a mess, with trash piled in the ers.

  On a side table, a dle was lit. It swayed briefly from the force of the door burst and the out.

  The inally well-lit room became very dim, with only some faint light ing in through the open window, barely illuminating the tattered b dragged from the bed to the window.

  Bine, who followed inside, quickly had his eyes drawn to the piece of paper on the floor.

  Andre also noticed it, bent doicked up the crumpled paper. His face turned grim after reading its tents.

  "Damn it, looks like we came too te. The kid has goo joiher apprentices!" Andre cursed angrily, pieg together events from the room's dition.

  Their target, the wizard apprentice, had received a warning before their arrival and fled prematurely, leaving everything behind.

  But from the still-warm dle and the warmth remaining on the bed, the target shouldn't have gone far.

  With that in mind, Andre grew impatient, ready to move. After all, this was about six Sekas gold s. There was no way he would let the target escape.

  If the target joiher apprentices, capturing him would bee even harder. More importantly, Andre worried some other bounty hunters might get him first.

  "Wait..."

  Just as Andre hastily tried to climb out the window, Biopped him, pointing to the side table with a look of annoyan Andre's face.

  Aurned his head to look. Besides the extinguished dle, there were several copper s and papers with strange symbols and patterns scattered oable.

  After a brief thought, Andre quickly uood his partner's meaning. If the wizard apprentice had received a warning a, he wouldn't have left behind easy-to-carry s, let alohese "valuable" magiuscripts.

  With his hunting experience, Andre knew most wizards would die to protect their so-called researotes.

  This meant the target was likely still hidden in the house...

  Andre sneered as the scattered b, open window, and fallen paper suggested the target had fled. It seemed the wizard apprentice had pyed a clever trick, trying to mislead them elsewhere, possibly into a trap. He almost got fooled.

  At this moment, Lynn, hiding in the darkness, was sweating profusely. In this potentially fatal crisis, his senses became highly alert. Uhe influence of his magic power, his senses radiated outward.

  He could even influence air flow to extinguish the dle and breathe soundlessly. Thanks to this, he was able to hide right uhe witch hunters' noses.

  Bine ignored Andre's awakening, sing the room until his eyes nded on a dark red et against the wall by the open window.

  The et, shoulder-high and covered in dust, was unremarkable in the drafty, rundown room, yet it was rge enough to hide a curled-up adult man...