Chapter 37: Your Whole Family is Under Six!

For a moment, Lorin felt like a complete fool—Felice had been waiting for her to take the bait from the very beginning.

“No way, not going!”

Lorin shook her head firmly and turned to walk away.

They already gave her half the bonus, and now they wanted her to go do hard labor?

“Alright, alright.”

To her surprise, Felice was unexpectedly agreeable this time.

“If you come with me, the whole 100,000 bonus is yours.”

“Let’s go.”

Without hesitation, Lorin spun around and headed toward the small grove where the “fun” was happening.

Felice shook her head helplessly, grabbed Lorin by the collar, and vanished from the spot.

“Hey, hey, hey! I can walk, you know!”

…

“Damn it, why aren’t the three of them back yet?”

A blond man paced anxiously on the spot, clearly waiting for something.

“Forget them, Charles.”

At that moment, another rugged man entered the room.

If Lorin were there, she’d immediately recognize him as the guy who sold her that “special” drink.

“No, we can’t. You know this, Dumbledore. The little girl we detected this time is the most promising candidate…”

Charles rejected the suggestion outright. “How much longer can we stall?”

“Not even a second!”

The factory doors burst open with a bang.

Candice appeared at the entrance.

Trailing behind her were creeping vines spreading across the ground.

“Entangle!”

The aura of a fifth-tier mage flared to life as magic surged toward Charles.

The rugged man beside him instantly drew his sword.

Where the blade swept, a sea of flowers bloomed, petals fluttering in the breeze.

The incoming vines were all cut to pieces in an instant.

“Hmph!”

Charles let out a cold snort, unleashing his own fifth-tier aura to go head-to-head with Candice.

“Old Dumble, go check on the three of them. I’ll catch up with this beautiful lady.”

“Be careful.”

Dumbledore nodded and instantly vanished.

“Where are they? Hand them over!”

Candice’s eyes blazed with fury as she demanded an answer.

She locked eyes with Charles, not missing a single twitch of his muscles.

If he made even the slightest suspicious movement, she would strike without hesitation.

As for Dumbledore, who had slipped away amid the chaos, she wasn’t concerned.

Higher-ups had already sent someone capable to deal with him.

He’d be handled.

Right now, Candice had only one mission—to find the missing children.

Charles bowed slightly and extended a hand with a graceful motion, gesturing toward a direction.

“The ones you’ve been so desperately searching for are right through here, beautiful lady.”

Candice’s tense brows lifted slightly in surprise. She watched as Charles gently placed a hand on the door handle.

With a crisp click, the heavy doors slowly creaked open.

Unable to wait, Candice took two quick steps forward and peered inside with wide eyes.

Inside, the missing children were either sitting or lying around the room.

Some chatted in whispers, others were quietly sleeping.

Seeing that they were all safe and sound, Candice felt a massive weight lift from her chest.

She exhaled in relief, and her entire body relaxed.

“Candice, sis!”

A delicate-looking girl waved from the room, drawing Candice’s attention.

“Ina!”

Candice called out with delight, then turned her gaze back to Charles.

“Well then, beautiful lady, may I leave now?”

Charles smiled as he asked, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.

Without waiting for a response, he casually began walking toward the exit, making no move to use the children as leverage.

“You may…”

Candice nodded—but the very next second, her magic surged wildly.

“…after you come with me to the Defense Bureau.”

“Oh? So it’s going to be like that, huh?”

Charles fell silent for a moment.

Then he looked at Candice and slowly extended his hand.

“Ladies first.”

“Hmph!”

Candice scoffed.

Magic condensed in her palm, bursting forth in a cascade of dazzling spells that shot straight toward Charles.

“Looks like this beautiful lady is more than just a pretty face…”

…

“Damn it!”

Dumbledore held a blood-stained longsword in one hand and picked up a damaged magical artifact with the other, muttering in frustration.

The plan had clearly failed. But who was responsible?

Everyone knew it—on the Endless Continent, there were no third-tier mages under the age of six.

That was a universal truth.

Considering the cautious personalities of Agent Lu and the others, as well as the magical tools he had given them, there was no way they would’ve acted recklessly unless someone else was on the scene.

“Charles, abandon the Blood Domain and evacuate immediately.”

After restoring the flow of natural mana in the area, Dumbledore edited a message with a grim expression and sent it out.

Once he confirmed Charles had received it, he teleported away again in a blink.

The sword at his waist shimmered faintly—he was a fifth-tier swordsman.

Clink, clank…

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

Under the bright moonlight, a strange ripple distorted the air.

A silver-haired girl in a maid outfit appeared behind Dumbledore, wielding an enormous blood-red scythe.

With a tearing sound, the scythe came crashing down.

Shing!

The sound of the blade cutting the wind rang out sharp and clear in the tense silence.

Moments later—clang!—a metallic clash echoed.

Dumbledore had reacted just in time, drawing his blade to block the scythe’s blow head-on.

Sparks flew in all directions like fireworks bursting in the night sky, flickering through the darkness.

The immense recoil slammed into Dumbledore, sending him hurtling through the air.

He crashed hard into the ground, kicking up a thick cloud of dust that obscured his figure.

Only a hazy outline remained visible.

“It’s you!”

The moment Dumbledore got a clear look at the silver-haired maid’s face, his pupils contracted sharply.

“I didn’t expect this either, old man.”

Lorin shook her head, half-amused, half-exasperated.

“Your drinks were so delicious, I figured you’d be making a fortune.”

“And yet here you are, up to shady business like this!”

A sharp glint flashed in Lorin’s eyes, and with another spatial ripple, she vanished again.

“My drinks only work on kids under six… Who the hell are you?”

Dumbledore growled the question through gritted teeth.

In his words, Lorin—hidden in the surrounding space—let her glint of anger sharpen into a killing intent.

“Your whole family is under six.”