“Glenn? Is that you?” Doggery kept his distance from the strange apparition, calling out from afar.

  “It’s me. Sorry—may have startled you. I’ve put together a magical device that lets you speak with someone within a certain range. Convenient, right? Oh, and I don’t think I’ve mentioned—I’m now a magic apprentice. If you have questions, we can talk when we meet. This thing doesn’t seem very stable yet; I need to make a few adjustments.”

  With that, the object vanished into thin air.

  For a moment, Doggery had no idea how he was supposed to react.

  Elsewhere.

  Glenn set down the receiver, now beginning to smoke, and bent to pick up a sheet of blueprints from the floor. Squinting thoughtfully, he muttered under his breath:

  “How do I keep the runic matrix from overheating…?”

  He held the pose for a long while, then, struck by inspiration, his eyes brightened. He immediately began scribbling furiously across the blueprint.

  His prototype made extensive use of the recorded contents stored in the White Wolf’s containers. At its core lay a technique known as Anchor-Point Positioning— a design that allowed the mind’s conceptual image of a target to latch onto its position through a detached magical space, transmitting sound or visual information.

  At present, Glenn could manage only sound, and even that came with range limitations—the exact scope still required testing.

  Battersea City.

  Inside a hidden, lavish residence belonging to the Punk family, a golden-haired figure was beating furiously at the door with a chair.

  But with her slight strength, it was impossible to shake such a reinforced door. Despite the aching exhaustion consuming her limbs, she continued to strike it relentlessly.

  “You vermin of the Punk family! Bastards! You’ll pay for this—damn you!”

  Pelnas roared until her voice turned ragged.

  She and her mother had been preparing to move back to Dud Town in the previous days—everything had been arranged.

  But once Homitt learned of it, he panicked. He ordered his personal guardian—a dark mage—to secretly abduct the golden-haired young lady.

  It was an utterly reckless decision, especially with Count Punk still in the capital, locked in legal disputes with the elven delegation.

  But precisely because the person in charge was away, this man—already past forty—dared to act with such impulsive childishness.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  The moment the deed was done, Homitt regretted it bitterly. The potential consequences made him tremble uncontrollably.

  His guardian, the dark mage, had warned him beforehand, but Homitt had already lost his head.

  Now that she had been taken, regret was useless. The only way forward, he thought, was to cover it up— and the simplest method was to “dispose” of Pelnas entirely.

  But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The sight of her exquisite, noble features filled him with covetous desire.

  Yet she despised him to her core— if he so much as stepped near her, Pelnas would drive him off like a crazed beast.

  So she remained imprisoned in his private estate.

  Eventually, the pounding quieted. Pelnas collapsed onto the floor, trembling from overexertion.

  Sweat beaded across her face, making her pale skin glow with a dewy sheen. Strands of hair clung to her cheeks, giving her a fragile, heartrending beauty.

  She was alone in the room—no one there to witness her despair.

  Bayek.

  After several adjustments, Glenn finally completed a version of the device he found satisfactory— the arcane telephone.

  The name wasn’t quite accurate, but that hardly mattered. What mattered was that Glenn no longer had to worry about communication.

  “With this, I can sit comfortably at home while directing my workers. Wonderful.”

  Stretching lazily, he left the basement for a walk.

  He made a round of the farm first, checking on the workers, sparring briefly with the elf girl, and then departed.

  Boarding his deer-drawn carriage, Glenn headed for Dud Town— both to report to Chief Doggery and to sit a while in his shop.

  But upon entering the town—before even reaching the station—he spotted Leila walking with a troubled expression.

  He steered the carriage toward her. “Leila, long time no see.”

  Lost in thought, she responded instinctively at the sudden call. When she saw it was Glenn, her face lit with joy.

  “Mr. Glenn! You’re back!”

  “Returned a few days ago. How have things been? The demon incident must’ve affected the school quite a bit. Are classes running normally now?”

  He asked with gentle concern.

  Leila shook her head with a smile. “Not too badly. The principal and teachers stayed, so once order returned, classes resumed quickly. But the students who fled town and couldn’t come back in time… they’re in trouble. No one knows how they’ll catch up.”

  Glenn nodded, about to reply, when Leila suddenly remembered something and hurriedly added:

  “Oh—Mr. Glenn! Your stories have spread everywhere! Several wealthy or distinguished-looking people came to find me recently, asking about the author of those fairy tales. I told them it was you, but unfortunately you weren’t around then. Otherwise, you might have found a real opportunity!”

  An opportunity? Pay me my manuscript fees first… Glenn chuckled dryly and shifted the topic. “We’ll talk about that later. You looked worried earlier—mind telling me what’s wrong?”

  Leila froze for a moment, then recalled her earlier anxiety and spoke without hiding anything.

  “Mr. Glenn, I’m worried about Pelnas. She wrote days ago saying she would return soon, but Polk and the others have been back for several days, and she hasn’t appeared. We’ve written her multiple letters—no answer. I feel like something’s happened to her.”

  So it was that noble young lady… Glenn glanced at the crowds around them and lowered his voice:

  “I have a way to contact her.”

  Leila’s eyes widened. “Really?!”

  “It should work,” Glenn replied with measured confidence.

  His device had limitations—but unless the target was too far, behind magical barriers, or subject to severe interference, it should connect.

  “But there are too many people here. Get on—I’ll show you at my shop.”

  Glenn’s mysterious tone piqued Leila’s curiosity completely. She climbed onto the deer carriage at once, and they sped off.

  At the shop, Glenn greeted the staff tending customers, then brought Leila upstairs.

  They entered the room where Danny and her son once lived. Glenn produced the improved arcane telephone and handed it to her.

  “With this, all you need to do is…”

  He explained the method of operation.

  The device was designed so that even ordinary people could use it—no magic required.