After the woman named Aria had left his room, a couple of minutes passed before people started arriving. Then they came one after another, nonstop—a steady stream of adventurers eager for the massive rewards he'd posted.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Leon went through the same interview process with each one. Not only that, but through his spatial awareness, he could detect a line growing outside his room, stretching down the corridor and around corners.

This is going to take forever at this rate.

Leon was slightly disappointed that no one as strong as the first woman had shown up after her. After conducting continuous interviews and listening to people boast about their capabilities, he'd realized that Aria—despite being arrogant—probably had substantial truth backing up her claims.

She was different from these others.

He failed many applicants and hired a few whose credentials satisfied his requirements. Time kept passing.

It hadn't even been half an hour, and he'd already conducted more than a hundred interviews. The sheer volume was overwhelming.

Slowly, Leon realized he couldn't continue doing them one at a time. He started bringing in multiple people simultaneously—three, then five, then up to ten at once—to speed up the process.

Only twenty or so people had passed the interview so far out of the hundreds who'd applied. Still, as promised, he rewarded every single person who participated with five hundred gold coins, even those who failed.

I'm not worried about money. I have too much of it anyway.

CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!

The sound of coins being distributed became a constant background noise.

But then, a couple of minutes after the current group finished their interviews and exited, Leon detected some disturbance outside through his spatial awareness.

What's happening out there?

And the cause of the commotion—he recognized her body shape and mana signature without even looking at her directly, having analyzed her thoroughly during their meeting.

It's definitely Aria. The boastful woman is back.

And she had cut the entire line, moving straight to the front with authority that no one dared question.

Leon didn't care about the line-cutting itself. What was far more important to him was why she was back so soon.

Has she found something already?

About half an hour had passed since she'd left, which matched exactly what she'd claimed—that she'd return within thirty minutes with information.

Leon wasn't completely sure if she'd actually discovered something concrete or not. But the feeling of uncertainty mixed with hope—the possibility of actually getting valuable intelligence that would narrow down his search area tremendously—made his pulse quicken.

If she can narrow it down to even a city-sized area instead of this entire country-sized region, that would be enormous progress.

He didn't want to waste time searching in the dark. A focused search would take far less time to find Seraphine and Loriel, which was why he'd opted for this information-gathering strategy in the first place.

He called out, his voice carrying through the door with perfect clarity.

"Come on in, Aria."

He used her name deliberately, signaling he knew exactly who was outside.

Leon felt hopeful—even if only slightly. It had been nearly five hours since they'd been kidnapped by those thugs, according to what Bunbun had told him.

I need to find them quickly. I miss Seraphine. Even more so because I spent a year inside the dimensional realm—to me, it's been so much longer since I've seen her.

CREAK...

She entered the room.

However, the first thing Leon noticed was how the air around her had completely changed. She seemed genuinely serious now, and there was something else—hostility, perhaps? He was feeling it that way, though he couldn't pinpoint the exact source.

I don't know why, but I trust my intuition. Something's off.

But he didn't point it out directly, choosing instead to wait and see what she had to say.

Aria took a seat directly in front of him without waiting for an invitation or pleasantries.

Leon asked immediately, unable to contain his urgency. "Did you actually find something?"

Aria—the tall woman with long red and purple hair flowing over her shoulders—replied, her voice and tone deadly serious.

"Yes."

She nodded slowly, her crimson eyes never leaving his face.

Leon's reaction was immediate. He almost jumped from his seat in response, his composure cracking for the first time.

Is she saying she actually found them? Already?

His breath came short due to the excitement flooding through him. "Where are they? Tell me!"

However, instead of replying right away, Aria sat quietly, observing him with an analytical gaze that made him increasingly uncomfortable.

Not only that, but Leon's spatial awareness picked up something alarming—chaos erupting outside the room. People were surrounding his location, and these weren't ordinary adventurers. Many of them had strength even surpassing Sylphia, the four-star wolf girl he'd met before.

What's going on?

Leon understood immediately that something was very wrong.

For a brief moment, he considered just making Aria reveal what she knew about Seraphine and Loriel's whereabouts through force. All their combined strength—everyone surrounding the building—was too meager to do any real harm to him.

I could end this in seconds.

However, the only reason he didn't act on that impulse and kept his calm was that Seraphine and Loriel were potentially in these people's hands.

If I attack now, they might hurt them. I can't risk that.

Just then, Aria reached into her armor and pulled out thick black handcuffs. She threw them toward him across the table.

CLANG!

They landed with a heavy metallic sound that seemed to echo in the suddenly tense silence.

Her voice came out cold and filled with authority.

"You are under arrest by the order of the Supreme Union Court on allegations of being the prime suspect in an attempt to awaken a world-class monster to destroy the entire middle domain."

Her words oozed with hatred and disgust. Her face showed similar revulsion, like she was looking at something fundamentally repulsive.

"Handcuff yourself peacefully. There is no escape."

Aria hadn't expected this man to be such an evil being with intentions to end all life in the middle domain.

This is the purest form of evil. I despise it to my very core.

The only reason she hadn't attacked him immediately was that the court had not judged him yet. However, the person who had made the testimony against him couldn't possibly be lying—that was a fact she understood implicitly based on that individual's power, which only a few are aware of, and she is one of them.

His involvement in this heinous act is only a matter of being officially judged and punished in court. And his unique description matches what my mother gave me, making his identity certain.

These silver-white hair and devilish eyes are too unique

She felt relieved he hadn't succeeded in his alleged plan, or else their whole domain would have descended into chaos. Countless lives would have been lost. Even with the failed attempt, she'd heard about casualties in Conan City from the tremors and destruction.

Leon looked at the handcuffs for a long moment. He could immediately feel that they weren't normal restraints. The symbols etched into the black metal told him they were designed to suppress mana flow.

Enchanted. Probably very expensive.

But he didn't want this to turn into a hostage situation. That would be the worst-case scenario—if they decided to harm Seraphine and Loriel in retaliation for his resistance.

However, before deciding whether to wear the cuffs, he asked only one question, his voice carefully neutral.

"What about my two companions?"

Aria made a disgusted sound in her throat—something between a scoff and a growl.

Such an evil man, yet he still cares about his companions. He was about to end their world, but failed. It's repulsive.

But as Leon held the handcuffs in his hands, clearly waiting for an answer before complying, she realized this could turn physical if she didn't respond.

So she did, with the same disgust coloring every word.

"Your two companions are in the custody of the Supreme Court, awaiting their trial to be judged for their crimes. Since you—the main suspect—were not found initially, they've been held as material witnesses. They're currently somewhere within the very court complex where all three of you will be judged soon."

Hearing her answer, Leon felt more than pleased despite the circumstances.

They're safe. They're in custody, which means they're not with random thugs who might harm them. They're in an official facility.

He doesn't trust them, but it seems they work with rules and regulations, leaving the absurd allegation against them.

He wore the handcuffs willingly without further protest.

CLICK!

The moment they locked around his wrists, Leon felt something happening to his body—more specifically, to his mana core. Some force was trying to block the flow of mana from circulating through his system.

And it succeeded, to a degree. He couldn't actively use his mana for techniques or abilities.

However, the force attempting to suppress his core felt absurdly weak to Leon's perception. He knew instinctively that if he willed it, the suppression would break like tissue paper. And he believed the handcuffs themselves would shatter along with that force.

But I won't. Not yet.

Obviously, he didn't do that. Not when cooperation would get him exactly where he needed to be—to wherever Seraphine and Loriel were being held.

After he was properly handcuffed, Aria—the hostile woman—stood from her seat and stated coldly:

"Follow me."

Leon complied without resistance.

The moment he exited the room, two large men immediately grabbed him tightly by either arm like he was a dangerous criminal. They wore some kind of official uniform—probably Union enforcement officers.

But they weren't alone. Multiple other individuals surrounded him, ready to pounce at any second if he tried anything. Their hands hovered near weapons, their stances combat-ready.

As Leon was escorted through the corridor of the guild building, quite a commotion erupted around him.

Whispers filled the air:

"Who is that?"

"Obviously a criminal, since he is cuffed by the union authority, he must be dangerous, since even the guild master is personally there."

"He looks so young..."

"Evil takes many forms..."

Guildmaster, huh, Leon thought as he looked at the back of the red-haired woman named Aria.

Once outside the building, Leon was roughly shoved into a carriage bearing the Union symbol prominently that represented their authority.

This was a self-propelled carriage without any horses, powered by magic like he'd seen elsewhere in the middle domain. Enchantments glowed faintly along its frame.

THUD!

He landed on the cushioned seat with the two officers flanking him immediately, sitting so close their shoulders pressed against his on either side.

In front of him sat Aria, who continued looking at him with undisguised disgust, her crimson eyes cold as winter.

WHUMMM!

The carriage started moving, pulling away from the guild building and heading deeper into the central region toward wherever the Supreme Court was located.

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