[3] She's Here
Anna Cloudwell took Adrian Blackwood to the so-called "empty villa" by taxi.
The girl was a complete chatterbox, bombarding him with questions along the way:
"Master, Master! How did you learn such powerful magic?"
"Master, what's your bank account number? I'll transfer this month's tuition first!"
"Huh? You don't have a bank account? Then what about a phone?"
"None either? Master… are you undocumented?"
"Eek–what's that look for? Did I guess right?"
"Okay! I promise I won't tell anyone! For now, Master can just use my bank card!"
…
By the time they arrived, the moon was already hanging directly overhead.
Adrian had assumed Anna's "villa" would be a small detached house in the suburbs.
Who would've thought...
It was a hillside estate in the city center, where every inch of land was worth a fortune!
One single villa monopolized the entire hill.
Adrian clicked his tongue.
This wasn’t just “well-off”; this was absurdly wealthy–the kind of wealth where, if someone said it could support the next seven generations, he’d believe it without question.
He suddenly felt a twinge of regret about accepting her as a disciple.
Anyone who could casually offer up a place like this had parents who were absolutely not ordinary.
How he would have to deal with them in the future, that would be the real headache.
"Master, no one usually stays here! A housekeeper only comes on Mondays to clean, so feel free to live however you like!"
Before leaving, Anna spoke hurriedly.
"It's really late, if I don't go back now, my dad will scold me! I'll come see you tomorrow!"
She left with light, springy steps, clearly in a great mood.
A truly innocent, carefree girl.
Adrian watched her disappear, then turned and pushed the door open.
Luxury greeted him.
Perhaps because no one lived here regularly, there wasn't much furniture but every piece was expensive.
His eyes landed on a genuine leather sofa in the living room.
He decided to lie down and rest for a bit.
In theory, players in "game mode" shouldn't feel fatigue.
Yet he was genuinely exhausted.
Another point of evidence that this was a transmigration.
Come to think of it, the pain from the Slit-Mouthed Woman earlier had felt real too.
Adrian touched the bandage around his neck, the one Anna had wrapped for him.
It still hurt beneath the gauze.
The moment he sat down,
"Don't move."
A voice sounded behind him.
At the same time, the cold touch of metal pressed against the back of his head.
Adrian narrowed his eyes.
He himself had no magical aptitude.
But thanks to his extensive experience with Witch, he could tell.
Someone had sealed the doors and windows with magic, cutting off his escape.
Adrian wasn't flustered.
"Does it really take this much effort to deal with an ordinary person?"
"Cut the crap."
A gloomy-looking middle-aged man stepped around to face him.
He wore a black trench coat and held a handgun.
On his right arm was an emblem engraved with three lightning arcs.
Adrian's interest was piqued.
"An A-rank lightning mage? Not bad."
The most recent modern-era save file Adrian had played was set about a hundred years ago.
Back then, with the Industrial Revolution in full swing and communications advancing, humanity had finally established large-scale, organized anomaly-management agencies.
Those organizations used elemental symbols and counts to denote rank.
For example: if the emblem showed lightning, it means lightning element.
Three arcs meant A-rank.
Based on Adrian's knowledge, A-rank mages were core elites within such organizations.
Sending someone like this just to probe him?
He didn't think he was worth that much attention.
More likely..
This was a consequence of Loviya's observation.
The man's eyes flickered briefly in surprise when Adrian correctly identified his rank.
He stared at Adrian and spoke evenly:
"Unknown identity. No magical aptitude. Classified as an ordinary human."
Adrian nodded.
"For the record, my name is Adrian Blackwood."
The man shot him a look.
"Our organization searched global citizen registries and even the dark web. No such person exists."
It was a full-body transmigration.
Of course they wouldn't find him.
Adrian shrugged.
"Yeah."
"…."
The man frowned and stepped closer, the dark muzzle of his gun never leaving Adrian.
"Talk. What are you?"
Adrian leaned back into the sofa.
"No idea."
"No idea?"
The man sneered.
"Save that third-rate script. You already know who I work for. Then you should understand–under our surveillance, you have no privacy whatsoever."
Click.
He flicked off the safety.
The gun was aimed squarely at Adrian's head.
"A person who appears out of nowhere, with no history, there's only one explanation. You're a Human Puppet belonging to some myth-level evil entity. You creatures have infiltrated, subverted, and destroyed human cities before. This wouldn't be the first time."
Adrian didn't argue.
Honestly, he didn't know how to.
From a surface-level perspective, physical transmigration and being a human puppet weren't that different.
He obviously couldn't say:
Actually, I'm a higher-dimensional observer who accidentally dropped into your game world.
Seeing his silence, the man assumed he'd guessed right.
His tone grew colder.
"Tch. Then pass a message to your master. Abandon this operation. Lunaris City is under the protection of a Witch. You won't succeed."
Protected by a Witch?
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"…You're bluffing me."
In Witch, Witches were the absolute pinnacle of power.
Below them were mythical-level evil entities, then top-tier magical girls and archmages.
Humans didn't have the power to confront mythical entities.
When faced with such threats, humanity usually abandoned cities–or offered sacrifices to buy peace.
Now this trench-coat guy was bringing up a Witch?
Most likely, the Bureau couldn't afford to abandon Lunaris City and was using the name of a stronger existence to scare off threats.
Still...
Adrian asked skeptically:
"Care to tell me which Witch?"
Discomfort flashed across the man's face.
"You're not qualified to know her name! Forgot what happened earlier? Just a few hours ago, the moon turned into gears! That was a Witch's observation! She's watching you! You'll never succeed–know when to retreat!"
Hearing this, Adrian burst out laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" the man snapped.
Adrian waved a hand.
"Just remembered something funny."
The man glared at him.
Adrian continued:
"You can lie to others, but don't try to fool me. Alright, I'll say this clearly, I'm not a human puppet, and I don't mean any harm. But you? If you don't leave right now, you might be in danger."
The man sneered.
"Is that a threat?"
Adrian shook his head.
"Just honesty. If I could outrun her, I'd already be gone myself."
As he spoke, Adrian glanced toward the window.
The once-clear moonlight began to distort, turning yellow and warped, like light from an old film projector.
He knew this sight all too well.
It was the prelude to the Clockwork Puppet Theater.
One of the spells he'd been best at back when he was a puppeteer.
And he had only ever taught it to one person.
Loviya.
Click.
A crisp mechanical sound echoed abruptly through the villa hall.
The man froze.
"What was that?"
No one answered.
Click. Click…
The sound of turning gears grew denser, closer, spreading as if from the void itself.
The man's face changed drastically.
The magical barrier he had set up...
Was shattered instantly.
Not even 0.1 seconds.
He was an A-rank mage!
Even top-tier experts in the Bureau needed at least half a minute to analyze and break his barrier.
But this... this was a near-instant breach.
He snapped his gaze toward Adrian.
"Your accomplice?"
Adrian remained silent.
– In a sense, an ex-girlfriend.
He could only shake his head.
"Run. You can still make it if you leave now."
Panic surged through the man.
His thoughts raced and suddenly, an idea struck him.
A hostage.
Yes, a hostage.
He was only A-rank. Whoever was coming wasn't here for him.
They were here for Adrian.
Which meant... Adrian mattered to them.
If he couldn't escape, then he'd gamble everything.
Adrian was his lifeline.
He lunged forward, grabbing Adrian, the gun pressed hard against his temple.
At that exact instant.
A silver thread descended from the void, stopping just before his forehead.
His entire body locked up.
He couldn't move.
Wh… at… is… hap… pen… ing…?
His thoughts sank into a standstill.
Even moving his eyes became difficult.
Then he heard the young man sigh softly.
"I told you to leave."
"She really hates it when people interrupt our private time."
