A few hours later, Matt knocked on Li Zeyang's door and entered"We found something," he said, placing a laptop on the desk. He then showed three clips: two men and a woman leaving objects in three different rooms of the museum."Great work," the detective replied with a smile. "Send me the footage, and check if these three have any records." He doubted it, but it was worth confirming.
-
At the museum, he couldn't find the guard he had spoken with earlier. A guide greeted him, and when the detective explained he needed to inspect the premises, she left him alone to accompany a group of visiting students.Watching the footage again, Zeyang identified the rooms and retrieved a pen, a small mirror, and a keychain. Each object retained a faint magical residue—light, but still visible to his eyes.He took them with him and returned to the department.
---
As he had expected, neither the men nor the woman were on record, and their fingerprints on the objects were useless—they belonged only to the three of them.Li Zeyang toyed with the pen, spinning it absentmindedly. Then he consulted the files of mages arrested in the past, wondering if any of them could have interrupted the museum's shield.Reading their profiles, however, none seemed powerful enough to pull off such a feat. He wished magic carried a personal signature identifying its caster—it would make things so much simpler… Unfortunately, not even a Seeker could do that.Still, according to Lu Shen, two objects were still missing. With a resigned sigh, he retrieved the footage and began studying it carefully.
---
The fourth person was a young girl, dropping a candy in the snack area. The last object, and thus the final person, almost escaped his attention: a distinguished adult man left a small item inside a fenced section of the museum's central hall.Li Zeyang grabbed his jacket and helmet and ran toward the museum just as it was about to close. He snatched the candy, then reached the central hall, where, hidden among other items, was a bronze-colored button. He turned it over in his fingers. A star was engraved on it—and it contained the most magic of all.
As the museum staff escorted the last visitors out, Zeyang slipped the button into his pocket and decided to return to the mage.
---
When he arrived, he saw Lu Shen in front of the open gate of his villa, speaking with a man who handed him a package. Lu Shen inspected its contents carefully.
The mage looked up when he saw Zeyang and frowned, then gave an envelope to the man and waited for the detective to reach him.
Li Zeyang approached. "That man has a binding," he said, pointing to the small glowing band on the man's wrist, its thread disappearing toward the city.
Lu Shen looked at him. "They're forbidden."
"Yes. I need to go."
"Do you know how to break a binding?"
"No."
"I'll come with you."
Zeyang froze mid-step toward his motorcycle and turned to look at the mage. He removed his jacket and handed it to Lu Shen, along with a helmet.
"Let's go," he said, mounting, while the man's car merged into traffic.
The autumn air chilled him through his hoodie and shirt, but it felt right to give the mage the jacket, as he was wearing only a light shirt.
With focused eyes, he followed the mustard-yellow Jeep weaving through traffic.
---
The car stopped in the outskirts, at a secluded house. The man exited and approached the building—but before he could enter, Li Zeyang was at his side.
"Detective Li, Unified Police. Let me in."
"What…?"
"You have a binding. You should know those are forbidden."
The man pressed his lips together. The detective entered and handcuffed him to the radiator in the entryway. Then he followed the glowing thread to a locked room. He kicked the door down and saw a girl twisting on the bed, her hands around her neck.
"Lu Shen!" he shouted, running to her.
The mage arrived quickly.
"Free her! Now!" the detective said.
Lu Shen waved his hands, and Zeyang saw a stream of magic radiate from them to the thread choking the girl. The magic vanished, leaving her free. She gasped, drawing in air.
Li Zeyang took out his phone and called the office for a car.
"How are you?" he asked, putting his phone back in his pocket.
"I'm… I'm okay."
"What's your name?"
"Andrea Valenti."
The girl's eyes went from her wrist—still marked by the binding—to the two men.
The detective nodded. "You're free now."
She closed her eyes, exhaling.
---
Matt arrived shortly after. Andrea and the man who had held her captive were taken in the car to the Unified Police headquarters.
The man, Teodor Reims, was discovered to have a wife, whom Liam was sent to retrieve. He was a human, working as a moneylender, and since acquiring Andrea, had been tasked with finding magical ingredients for mages, healers, and anyone who could afford a Seeker's services.
Over a year earlier, Andrea had asked Teodor for money to treat her sick mother. In exchange, she signed a contract offering her services as a Seeker until the debt was repaid.
After Andrea's mother died, the Reims bound her to them with a binding—an ancient, forbidden magic. It tied a person to their master through a magical thread, an invisible leash controlling their movements and freedom. The master could tighten it, punish, or even kill the person bound to them.
---
Ecco la traduzione in inglese del capitolo che mi hai inviato, fluida e pronta per Webnovel, con tono naturale e ritmo coerente con i capitoli precedenti:
---
Li Zeyang went to find the mage and found him sitting in the waiting room. When Lu Shen saw him, he stood.
"Come to my office," the detective said, leading the way. "Have you already given your statement?"
"Yes."
Li Zeyang sat in his own chair, leaning back tiredly against the backrest. He picked up a pen and began to play with it.
"Thank you for coming with me. I don't know if the girl would have survived if you hadn't broken the binding."
Lu Shen shrugged, as if he had done nothing extraordinary. But Zeyang had seen how much magic it had taken to break the bond and guessed that the mage must be very tired, even if he didn't show it—his face was slightly pale, and dark circles had appeared under his clear, attentive eyes.
"I'll make sure she gets home safely."
"That's not necessary. I'll call a taxi. I just stayed to ask why you came looking for me again."
Zeyang almost forgot that he had visited Lu Shen's villa regarding the museum theft.
"You're right. I came because I found the five objects the mage used to break the museum's shield."
"May I know what objects were used?"
"Of course. A pen, a small mirror, a keychain, a candy, and a button."
"Did you find the mage who cast the spell?"
The detective shook his head.
"Can you tell me how the spell was activated?"
"It was already active when the placement was completed. The spell worked at the time the mage had programmed it, for the duration set. It couldn't be modified or interacted with while inside the shield. That was the only way it could function."
"So it was all planned?"
"Yes."
"How many mages are capable of casting such a powerful spell?"
"As you just said, only a very powerful mage could do it—or more than one working together. The amount of magic required to pull it off is considerable."
"More than one?"
"It's possible."
Li Zeyang sighed, then looked up as someone knocked on the door. His boss, Antonio Lombardi, entered and, after glancing at the mage, addressed his subordinate:
"When you're done, go home. I had the girl taken to her apartment—she was tired, and it's late. You should rest too."
The detective nodded and stood.
"Good, then I'll escort you," he said to the mage. He picked up his jacket from the chair and handed it to Lu Shen, then grabbed his uniform coat from a nearby cabinet and put it on.
---
"Thank you," Lu Shen said, returning the helmet.
Li Zeyang nodded and disappeared from sight.
Once sure he was alone, the mage leaned against the gate. Then he opened it and went inside, letting himself sit on the white L-shaped sofa in the living room. He noticed he was still wearing the detective's jacket and carefully removed it, folding it neatly to set aside. He would return it the next day.
He thought about Li Zeyang. There weren't many Seekers, and this one seemed to have total mastery over his abilities.
He had seemed competent and had an interesting, brilliant mind. But he wasn't interested in getting involved in the Unified Police's affairs. Collaborating with them for security was one thing; being a consultant was another.
He closed his eyes.
Creating the shield for the new Unified Police headquarters had drained his energy, which he hadn't fully recovered, and breaking the binding had exhausted him completely.
He could have stayed out of it, but the idea that someone could be imprisoned by magic disgusted him, and he couldn't remain indifferent—especially since he had just purchased a product from that person. He thought about the package he had left outside and completely forgotten. The mushrooms inside were now useless. He would discard them anyway, knowing how they had been found.
He took off his shoes and went to the bedroom, collapsing into bed and falling asleep immediately.
---
Andrea entered the empty apartment. There was no light: she hadn't paid the bills for months, and the power had been cut off. Groping around, she reached the entrance drawer and took out a flashlight.
Once the room was illuminated, she looked around at the familiar space she had been away from for almost a year.
She walked slowly through the silent rooms. In the kitchen, she took the candles from the pantry and lit one. She continued her tour, passing her mother's bedroom and finally entering her own. She took clean sheets from the drawer and made her bed.
She placed the candle on the nightstand and lay down.
She was home.
She hadn't thought it would ever happen again.