Chapter 104: The Impassable City Gate

The one who called out to Alvis was none other than Flora's niece, Carol. Her reason for stopping the student ahead of her was, of course, because she had discovered yet another individual with purple potential within the academy. She thought to herself that since she had finally encountered another person with purple potential, she had to make his acquaintance, or at the very least, pry some information out of him.

Alvis, naturally, would not give the real name that sat on the Elan Kingdom's wanted list. Instead, he used his alias, Adam. The two got to know each other, and since both harbored intentions of coaxing information out of the other, they had a very pleasant conversation.

Upon learning that Alvis was a freshman, Carol enthusiastically explained the benefits of joining a club and invited him to join hers. Alvis considered it for a moment and agreed. His mission within the Azure Phoenix Society required him to join a student club anyway, and there were no specific requirements as to which one he should join.

The task assigned to them by the organization was to find an opportunity to join a club within the academy and then spread revolutionary ideas among the students of Grimm Academy. The core theory of this revolutionary thought was to overthrow the monarchy and establish a free and democratic nation.

Naturally, these revolutionary ideas did not appear out of thin air; they had a historical precedent. Four hundred years ago, far across the sea and away from the Dolun Continent, a federal nation with a democratic parliamentary system had already been established: the Federation of Victoria.

That country was located in an archipelago of hundreds of islands known as the Victorian Archipelago. That was the true homeland of the Victorians. Back then, with the behind-the-scenes support of the local wizards and great merchant chambers, a grand revolution erupted in the Victorian Archipelago. The people there expelled the royal family and the royalists, and the various islands united to form a federal nation.

The exiled royal family and royalists, after a long and arduous voyage across the sea, finally took root in the new continent of Dolun. They were the ancestors of the Victorians currently residing on the Dolun Continent. The Victorian royal family of old had become the current Elan royal family.

The Azure Phoenix Society's dissemination of revolutionary ideas was not to emulate their predecessors in overthrowing the Empress's rule—besides, they lacked the power to do so anyway. They merely wanted to plant a seed in the heartland of the Elan Kingdom, driving a wedge between the royal family and the wizards of Grimm Academy.

For there was an inherent conflict between the kingdom's royalty and great nobles on one side, and the academy's wizards on the other. One side controlled power and resources, while the other wielded raw might. Ever since the founding of Elan, the overt and covert struggles between them had never ceased.

Although the Empress's new reforms had established a Lower House, devolving a portion of power to the wizards and wealthy merchants, the conflict was only alleviated, not resolved. For they still desired more.

Unsurprisingly, these revolutionary ideas proved highly popular among the students of Grimm Academy. Alvis's colleagues, scattered throughout the academy to spread the word, had already achieved remarkable results in some areas.

Carol quickly helped Alvis complete the procedures to join the club. During this process, Alvis seemingly casually brought up Peter Clark, who was in charge of the outer academy's club affairs.

Before long, Alvis gathered some information on Peter Clark. Naturally, Carol's words were filled with resentment and disparagement toward Peter, as she had frequently been targeted by Peter's faction due to her aunt's influence.

Carol had hoped to grow closer to Alvis, but to her disappointment, he suddenly claimed he had urgent business today and took a hasty leave. This put a damper on Carol's mood, leaving her without even the energy to go find Kane to nurture their relationship.

Alvis had intended to head over to Peter Clark's residence to scout the situation. To his surprise, he spotted Peter himself just as he arrived in the vicinity. There was no helping it; Peter was simply too eye-catching at the moment. He was currently surrounded by a crowd of over forty people, marching grandly toward the academy gates.

The chatter of the passersby allowed Alvis to easily confirm his target and learn that they were about to leave the city. Alvis felt that timing was everything. In high spirits, he slipped in behind them...

But he soon changed his mind, because just as the procession was about to pass through the city gates, they turned back!

When Peter attempted to leave the city a second time, he felt unsafe. So he went back, took the scepter his father had given him, and sought out the three-star club his father had passed down to him, the Wind Spirit Society. Armed with his father's token, he quickly mobilized a group of men from the club, including three Bronze Wizards.

Believing that with himself included, a total of six Bronze Wizards would guarantee his safety, Peter set off to leave the city once more. Yet, the moment he neared the city gates, he felt a sudden, unprecedented palpitation in his chest...

This shocked Peter, causing him to question his very existence. However, he still placed absolute faith in his innate talent. Thus, he turned back with his men once again.

This left Andy and Catherine, who were tailing him in the shadows, completely speechless. They wondered if Peter was mentally unstable. However, this only hardened Andy's resolve to kill him. Andy figured that madmen had unpredictable minds; if he let Peter live, there was no telling what kind of bizarre, underhanded schemes he might cook up against Andy in the future.

Andy wanted to keep following him, but Catherine, who had already tailed him back and forth three times, was reluctant to continue. She told Andy that she had a way to keep an eye on Peter. For now, they might as well rest their feet at the teahouse near the city gates.

Andy agreed. Since Peter had to pass through this city gate if he wanted to return to the Clark family, it was better to wait there like a predator waiting for its prey. Otherwise, following a lunatic like Peter might not be physically exhausting, but it was incredibly draining on the mind!

Andy also had great faith in Catherine's surveillance, for though she was playful, she had never been unreliable. So they began to enjoy tea and pastries in the teahouse, while Catherine naturally dispatched her spectral pet to keep following Peter.

Peter went back, and Peter came back! This time, he posted a mission in the academy's mission hall, hiring quite a few students who accepted the request, including two Bronze-level outer academy instructors. Yet, halfway out of the city, he still felt unsafe, so he turned back yet again.

He sent people to the royal capital's supernatural market to buy up scrolls and potions in bulk, arming his massive entourage to the teeth. Then he attempted to leave the city once more, but he still couldn't bring himself to do it and turned back again. The people in his entourage had long lost their patience. Had Peter not promised that all those potions and scrolls would belong to them personally afterward, the air would have been filled with complaints by now.

Peter then went to a general in the royal capital's city guard who was on good terms with the Clark family and borrowed a two-hundred-man knight order. This force was barely weaker than the Divine Wind Knights. Yet, when they reached the city gates, Peter's sense of palpitation remained.

Without hesitation, Peter turned back once more. He returned to Grimm Academy, gritted his teeth, spent over half of his savings, and hired a professor from the inner academy to escort him. This professor was a Silver Wizard!

When they reached the city gate this time, Peter ordered the massive convoy to halt and wait. He personally stepped down from his carriage and walked to the edge of the city gate.

Ignoring the looks from his entourage, who stared at him as if he were a madman, he cautiously extended one foot out of the city, then tilted his body to stick half a shoulder out...

Peter shuddered violently. As if struck by lightning, he leapt back inside the city gates, staring out into the open space in a daze, speechless. That damn palpitation was back again!

After all this tossing and turning, night had fallen. Peter looked out at the pitch-black darkness beyond the royal capital; the city gates looked like a gaping maw ready to swallow everything.

Peter slowly shuffled back to the group and said awkwardly to the hired professor, "Hehe, it's getting so late today. How about we set off tomorrow instead?"

Professor Bell frowned, but for the sake of Professor Healy and the generous commission, he nodded in silence.

Peter breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the mixed expressions of the crowd, he raised his voice. "Tonight, I'm booking the entire Sea-View Pavilion in the capital! My treat! Everyone eat and drink your fill, rest up, and we set off tomorrow. What do you say?"

Finally, the grand convoy turned back into the royal capital once again...

Andy and Catherine had visited the restroom several times from drinking so much tea. Seeing this outcome from the teahouse window, they exchanged looks of sheer amusement and exasperation.

Meanwhile, Alvis, who had been dozing under a tree not far from the city gates, also began to head back to his academy dormitory. After following Peter back and forth twice, he had switched to remotely controlling one of his refined corpse puppets—which looked no different from a normal human—to keep watch on them.

As he walked back, he swore to himself that if he ever got the chance to kill Peter, he would definitely refine him into a corpse puppet and make him do all the dirtiest, most exhausting chores!

The most tragic ones were One-Eyed Sherlock and his assistant Vivi, who had been hired by Flora through the Hive. They had disguised themselves as a peasant father and daughter entering the city to sell vegetables, then as a noble lady and her butler out for a stroll, and then as adventurers leaving the city for a quest. They had followed Peter back and forth a total of six times, yet the guy ultimately didn't even leave the city!

Furious, Sherlock returned and made a huge scene at the Hive's liaison office, demanding to cancel the mission. Just look at the target they were asked to assassinate: a total coward and a complete lunatic!

Most of the staff at the Hive's liaison office were non-combatants, so they were powerless against the intimidating presence of a Silver Knight like Sherlock. They immediately escalated the matter. In the end, Flora, acting as the Queen Bee, had to disguise herself and handle it personally.

The moment she stepped through the door of the liaison office, she heard Sherlock roaring, "Damn it, I quit!"