Under a sea of envious gazes, Allen stayed alone in his tent, avoiding anyone all day. No way around it—if I don't want to make enemies, the best choice today is to see no one.
It didn't really matter—after all, for a wizard, spending the day studying isn't unusual.
With a fresh stack of new materials and snacks in his bag, it could have been a perfect day—unfortunately, Allen seemed unable to enjoy this kind of perk.
As he flipped through a handwritten manuscript, straining to make out the blurry text, there was a knock at the tent's entrance. Allen mumbled around a mouthful of snacks:
"Come in."
Curious about who it might be, he was nearly choked when the tent door opened—
Because the girl entering immediately decided to take off her clothes!
Bold, unabashed, with not a hint of hesitation—it completely shocked Allen.
What the heck! Are girls this fearless now? As Allen reached for his wand to knock her out and stop her, she obviously saw through his plan.
"Don't use magic—it's me!"
That made Allen pause, trying to recall if he had ever met her before—but after a long moment, he realized he didn't know her at all.
Meanwhile, she had stripped down almost completely and began drinking from a potion bottle.
Even though Allen was confident in his own strength, he couldn't help but worry about his personal safety.
But very soon, he understood what "eye-piercing" really meant.
After consuming the potion, her body began to shift rapidly: she grew taller, her chest slimmed, her hair changed style—yes, the formerly beautiful girl had transformed into a man.
He was right—they did know each other—none other than the Auror who had scurried away a while back.
"Pervert," Allen muttered, rolling his eyes, but it had no effect. The Auror, clad only in underwear, began quickly changing clothes and tossed a pouch of coins at Allen.
Allen weighed it, opened it, and his mood improved considerably—who said buying stuff only makes girls happy? Clearly, money cheers up boys too.
"More than the agreed price last time, huh? Tip, I guess? Thanks."
The Auror puffed his mustache in response:
"Dream on. The extra is the deposit for the next mission!"
No wonder he was upset—last time Allen had extorted him to fix a loophole, paying out of his own pocket. Without the good pay for this task, there was no way he'd come to Allen willingly.
"Another mission? What's going on? No one in the Ministry to send you? Not a single hand?"
"Of course not—it's a private mission. Remember the ones who escaped last time? Their families arranged it. And this time, it doesn't involve Mahoutokoro at all. We just need someone."
"Find someone? Didn't you rescue them last time? You didn't bring everyone back?"
"Of course not—the youngest and weakest of the four betrayed the group, escaping too fast for the others to stop. He's now hiding back in Japan. I've been tasked with bringing him back." The Auror said this while finishing dressing.
"From what I know, he has a classmate helping him. We need to capture that person to get his location."
Thud! A small pouch of exactly one hundred gold Galleons landed at the Auror's feet.
"Sorry—not interested. Last time I helped you escape, but I'm not interested in bullying kids."
"One thousand Galleons—this is the joint offer from those families. The main contributor is the family of that guy declared a traitor."
"So? You want me to capture him as a scapegoat? When did you stoop this low?" Allen gave a disdainful look—he wouldn't touch dirty work like this.
His gaze was met with the Auror's amused smile.
"Impossible—I overestimated you. I didn't expect you'd fail to see through this. I hoped you'd be different." He gave Allen a disappointed expression—then turned into a stone statue on the ground.
What the heck—just give me the information and let me guess? Everything depends on your mouth later anyway!
Allen cast a laughably simple spell—but the Auror, frozen as a statue, couldn't laugh. From his reddened face, it was clear he was suffering, and Allen, satisfied, removed the spell.
"Really? Let me finish—do you know I'm with the Ministry?"
Duh—who doesn't know?
Wait—the Ministry, the Council, the school—they're separate. No one expected the other to climb on your head.
Since this wasn't a simple scapegoating task, rescuing him must have a deeper purpose—like, pushing the blame further?
Not impossible. Allen asked:
"Do the three families have Council members?"
The Auror's expression showed appreciation:
"Of course. Hardcore supporters of the chairman—otherwise, last time the Council wouldn't have pressed so quickly. Also, the guy impregnated the chairman's only daughter—we just learned this. The chairman doesn't know yet."
Ah—so capture him, shift all blame to the scapegoat, then let the Council implode?
Like using Percy as a pawn after Voldemort returned in Britain? You really know how to play…
Allen, however, had zero interest. Despite the Auror's repeated persuasion, he refused to act.
Finally, the Auror had no choice but to leave again, looking troubled.
Threatening Allen? He didn't even consider it.
What a joke—this is just business, no need for heroics.
Besides, could he even win? Who would get wiped out if a fight broke out?
Watching the Auror leave, Allen felt a twinge of regret—a thousand Galleons!
Little did he know, what he lost wasn't just the money—it was the beginning of a whole heap of trouble.