Returning to Gras College, Sylutia reported Carmilla's situation to the instructor. After listening, he also fell into deep thought.

“It seems she must have encountered some kind of accident.” He reached the same conclusion.

“Thank you for your attention and discovery, Miss Hedra. We’ll handle the rest immediately.” He stood up and tapped a special bell on his desk.

Soon, a man in a black uniform appeared at the office door. He took off his wide-brimmed hat and asked the elder, “Instructor Kuland, what summons me?” His face bore several furrowed scars, shallow after treatment, yet they still showed that this man had experienced many battles, his demeanor cold and sharp.

“A student has met with an accident and gone missing in a rented house outside. We need to find her whereabouts and traces, and investigate the cause.” The elder took out a special investigation application form, filled it out, signed and stamped it, then handed it to the man.

After taking it and reviewing it once, he nodded slightly. “I understand. Leave it to me.” With that, he prepared to leave.

“Wait a moment. May I follow along? The missing Carmilla is my good friend and a former classmate. I know her well and might be able to provide some help,” Sylutia spoke up to request.

The man didn’t turn around and continued walking out of the room. Luckily, the elder spoke up for Sylutia: “Take her along. Miss Hedra shouldn’t cause you any trouble.”

Only then did the other stop, turn back to glance coldly at Sylutia, and nod slightly. “I see.” Hearing his agreement, Sylutia let out a small sigh of relief and expressed her thanks to both of them.

She also understood that, for professionals, an outsider’s rash involvement could be a burden and a nuisance, but she truly couldn’t let Carmilla go and simply wait around for news.

Afterward, the black-hatted man led Sylutia down the stairs to a corner of the academy. Along the way, he briefly introduced himself.

“My name is Jegas, a member of the ‘Review Hall.’ The place you’re about to go is also there.” As if knowing the girl would ask what the Review Hall was, he continued explaining.

“The Review Hall is an institution under the ‘Origin Hourglass,’ specifically tasked with destroying those forbidden books, knowledge, and secret tomes, as well as the Black Mages, cultists, heretics, etc., derived from them. If faction members are assassinated or attacked, we’re also responsible for tracking and handling it.”

If the *Mithril Clock* established the many rules, standards, and laws of the current Mage Alliance, then the *Origin Hourglass* was responsible for organizing and researching history and knowledge past and present, and pruning and destroying any parts deemed harmful.

The ‘Review Hall’ was something most ordinary people could never come into contact with, yet it was a name that struck fear in the Black Mage circles of the underground world. They had executed many personnel who researched forbidden knowledge and theories. After the ‘Star-Gazing School’ declined and some forbidden secret arts spread, it was also the Review Hall that destroyed and eradicated them.

They arrived at a place not far from the academy, which resembled a black prison fortress. Iron fences and walls were everywhere, and several large buildings stood like mutually protective bastions, their forms sharp and hard.

Some people in similar black uniforms moved among them, silent and few in number. Some had chains and weapons at their waists.

Seeing Jegas bring an outsider here, the members passing by couldn’t help but glance over, but no one asked why. They just nodded slightly and passed by.

Entering the interior of a black building, which seemed to be the front hall for handling paperwork, Jegas asked Sylutia to wait on a sofa at one side of the hall while he himself took the investigation application form to the back.

Sitting there, Sylutia looked around. The front hall had three counters, where personnel occasionally came to hand over tasks or submit reports, though their voices were all very low. The floor was pure white marble, while the ceiling was a hard walnut wood color. Even though it was morning, it was still a bit chilly in here.

About half an hour later, Jegas came out, followed by two members—a mature woman around 30 years old and a relatively younger man, perhaps around 25.

The mature woman had wavy burgundy hair and wore a loose-sleeved white blouse with dark blue flared trousers, a slightly androgynous style. The younger man beside her was comparatively more ordinary, dressed in a simple shirt and white pants with a sword at his waist.

“You must be Miss Hedra. I hear it was you who discovered your good friend Carmilla’s disappearance,” the woman said with crisp heel clicks as she walked over to Sylutia, bending down with some interest to look her over.

“It was me,” the girl replied, standing up and sizing up the three people with a complex gaze.

Carmilla was at Third Tier, this mature woman was at Fifth Tier, and the young man beside her was at Fourth Tier—a very standard squad, with the experienced leading the new, a common organizational arrangement.

After leaving the academy, the four took a carriage to Carmilla’s residence. Sylutia also recounted the details of her discovery.

“Mm-hmm, looks like you two have a great relationship, coming to visit her even during the holidays.” The woman smiled, easing the overly serious atmosphere in the carriage.

“My name is Kaelan. The young man beside me is Burne, and as for the wolf-like man across from you, his name is Jegas.” By now, Sylutia already knew the black-hatted man’s name, but she still nodded.

The group quickly arrived at Carmilla’s previous residence. Entering the rented house, Sylutia described the state and layout it had been in before her arrival.

“It’s a shame I couldn’t see the original state, but it’s not that important,” Kaelan said, walking around inside the house before having someone bring out several items of Carmilla’s frequently worn clothes and the notes she had left behind.

“With these, we should have enough for the tracking and locating ritual.”

Having obtained the items, the four returned to the Review Hall, leaving Burne and Sylutia waiting outside while Kaelan and Jegas took the things to the Review Hall’s interior to conduct the trace-back ritual.

In the front hall, the two waiting struck up a conversation.

“Miss Hedra, are you a student at Tetis College?” Burne asked curiously, noticing the badge on the girl’s collar.

“Yes, I just entered last year,” she replied modestly.

“Already at Third Tier after just one year? That’s impressive,” he said with slight surprise. “As expected of the alliance’s top academy—nothing simple about it.”

“And you? Are you a student at Gras College?” the girl asked curiously.

“No, no, I’m not a student at Gras College, but I’m a member of the ‘Origin Hourglass’ outer organization,” he introduced himself with a hint of shyness.

“Students of Gras College are the elite of the faction; they rarely join the Review Hall. It’s a bit dangerous and tough here.”

“I was studying in the Ximilye District before, trying to get into the academies under the ‘Decay School,’ but I didn’t make it. Later, someone recommended me to work in the ‘Origin Hourglass’ outer organization, saying that while I wouldn’t be an official school member, the treatment was still very good.”

“By then, I didn’t have much money left from my studies, so I came here to work.”

“At first, I helped with archaeological teams, analyzing soil, looking for places with decaying corpses and tombs, because I had studied quite a few related secret arts when I was trying to get into the ‘Decay School.’”

“I did well in those three years, using the resources I earned to advance. Later, when the archaeological team was out of work temporarily, they recommended me to the ‘Review Hall.’ Right now, I’m mainly responsible for finding bodies, analyzing causes of death, and testing blood composition and traces.”

In just a few minutes, Burne had poured out his entire life story to this girl, as if afraid of an awkward silence if there was nothing to say. He then started talking about his work experience in the Review Hall.

Realizing that this guy might be saying too much and breaking the rules, Sylutia had no choice but to remind him gently, “Are you sure you can tell me all this? I heard organizations like this are managed pretty strictly.”

“Eep, I guess I shouldn’t be blabbing,” he said, touching his head and looking at the quiet, gentle girl. After just a few seconds, he awkwardly looked away.

This guy’s intentions were pretty easy to guess. The girl used her finger to tuck some hair behind her ear, then looked down at the floor and waited quietly.

Time passed quietly. About an hour later, Jegas and Kaelan came out.

“We’ve got some intel. Let’s go,” Jegas said, beckoning the two.

The four left the hall, and along the way, Kaelan introduced what they had discovered in the ritual.

“Right now, Carmilla probably isn’t in the normal world but has fallen into the Shadow World. I don’t know how a first-year freshman managed to get in, but now that we have a direction, we just follow the traces to find her.”

“However, the Shadow World is still a bit dangerous for you all. If you’re going, you’d better prepare yourself mentally.”

“No problem. I can take care of myself,” the girl replied, nodding.

Seeing the black-haired girl choose to go, Burne immediately raised his hand too. “I want to go too. I should be able to help.” At his words and thoughts, Kaelan just smiled without a word. On the other side, Jegas only glanced coldly at Burne, neither refusing nor praising, and simply led the three out of the Review Hall.

“Next, we’re going to the western Melse District. According to the ritual results, Carmilla should be somewhere there, having fallen into the Shadow World.”

“Time is short. We’ll depart tonight by airship.”

“Yes,” the three replied.

In the night, a small airship slowly rose with the sound of propellers. Sylutia watched the brightly lit city below grow smaller and smaller, the scattered lights like golden grains of sand on the pitch-black earth.

This airship carried the group, flying toward the western Melse District of the Mage Alliance.