When Wolf finished rewriting the memories of three soon-to–be-dropouts, he headed straight to The Den to see what the hells happened. He paid close attention to passersby, scrutinizing their faces, but didn’t notice any change in their gazes. They don’t know. Yet.

After leaving the Mage Academy grounds, Wolf cast Merge With Wind and stormed off towards The Den. Ten minutes later, he condensed under the familiar sign and entered the establishment.

Nothing changed. It was midafternoon, but you couldn’t tell from inside. Only two patrons sat in the brothel, drinking while ogling the serving girls and the barkeeper wearing the tit-revealing toga. Wolf checked, but didn’t recognize these future regulars.

More importantly, he failed to recognize the important girls. Marrie wasn’t there. Some other harlot played hostess. While the bartender did give him the familiar sideways look, her face and tit were different. The women who served me poison on Saturday aren’t here.

“Where’s Marrie and the barkeep who worked here on the opening evening?” he asked, showing an obvious lack of practice at gathering information.

In his hurry, Wolf forgot what stories taught him and directly inquired about what he wanted to know. The response was in line with his question.

“Who are you? I don’t know any Marrie. I just started yesterday. Now, either buy something, or I’m calling the bouncers.” The woman didn’t seem surprised to see a Mage Academy student.

The young man frowned. He wore the robe of an Eighth Order Mage. He was a Baron and infamous around the city. Those were enough for regular commoners to steer away from him. Only those paid to taunt him dared mock him this way. Wolf didn’t care about the jeering rabble, but this was a matter of life and death. His life and death.

“Where are they?” Wolf growled, his voice colder than ice. “Who gave you the guts to address me like that?”

He unleashed his murderous aura, but this time he shaped it, directing most of the pressure towards the woman cleaning a glass with a mocking smile on her lips.

Wolf’s technique was far from perfect, but it was good enough to freeze that snide smile. The whore gasped for air as her throat tightened. She took a step back, dropping the cup. With the sharp sound of glass breaking, she landed on her butt, quickly making a foul puddle. She went pale, shaking her head while opening and closing her mouth like a fish, unable to utter a coherent word.

“I— We— The— The owner told us— Not to be scared when the Perverted Mage pays us a visit.” Wolf retracted his aura and she rushed to tell him everything. “She said you would visit today for certain. She-she showed us your portrait.”

The woman shook like devils dragged her through the freezing mercury pools of metal hells. Her face was white, her fully dilated pupils trained on Wolf.

The youth breathed in then exhaled. He slowly nodded. She was too panicked to consider lying, let alone proceed with it.

“Where’s the owner?” The voice which seemed to come from the black pit shook the bartender’s mind yet again. However, the terrified woman was ignorant. She frantically shook her head.

“I don’t know, Lord Mage. I don’t know. Spare me.” The bartender trembled like a leaf. She wanted to offer the owner as a scapegoat and save herself, but didn’t know where the accursed bitch hid.

Wolf took another deep breath, suppressing his desire to start a murder spree. These people were mere pawns.

Why shouldn’t you kill pawns? Silver asked. If they plotted against me, I would kill them.

They plotted nothing. They aren’t aware of what’s going on. In his Mind Palace, Wolf explained, while his physical mouth moved. “Fine. I’ll ask around.”

As expected, the girls were clueless. Not even those who worked on Saturday night knew what had happened with their coworkers. Both of them missed work on Sunday. Their replacements were present and nobody cared about two pretty-faced whores.

When Wolf heard that, he guessed the masterminds moved them somewhere he couldn’t find them. The security attempted to interrupt Wolf and throw him out, but after a flare of his baleful aura, they meekly answered his questions.

Wolf analyzed the information. They hired this hostess and bartender ahead of time, and they started from Sunday. That means they planned to replace the important Saturday staff from the start. This was a giant honey trap for me.

Wolf turned into mist, returning to the Mage Academy, but there wasn’t a hint of the uproar he expected when he materialized outside the gate. He normally walked through the campus, but nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Did I foil their plans? That would be for the best. But since they acted, they must have contingencies in place. There’s no way such a grand scheme would end causing no ripples. Whatever. My consciousness is clean. If anything happens, I’ll just admit to what really happened. I’m the actual victim anyway, and the worst outcome is my reputation gets a little worse.

Wolf calmed his mind and breathing. It was evening and there was nothing he could do about his situation.

Once I get back, I’ll have to tell Anna and Mandy what happened. Wolf closed his eyes, thinking what he could do given the circumstances. I don’t want them blindsided by this. I already told them I was going to a brothel with virgins, but…

For a moment, Anna’s and Mandy’s expressions haunted Wolf. I wonder whether Anna would gloat?

She didn’t. In fact, the young woman’s lower lip trembled after hearing Wolf’s story. She wanted to cry, but forced herself to keep a straight face. Now she understood where Wolf’s mind wandered during lunch.

“Do you want me to find you a good solicitor?” Mandy focused on practical problems and how they should act. “All noble families have someone well versed in law. His Lordship, Richard Alexandria, is very kind. I’m certain he would help?”

Wolf smiled lightly and shook his head. For some reason he felt warm. He cleared his conscience after giving Anna and Mandy a rough overview of his situation. He didn’t mention that he had already removed relevant memories from the three students’ minds. But, even with keeping some little secrets from them, Wolf realized how much easier his life and breathing were after coming clean.

The rest of the evening was tense. When Wolf headed to Anna’s room, Mandy raised her hand to grasp him from behind, but stopped. Instead, she hugged herself and shuddered. She had a bad feeling about this. Nobles didn’t want commoners rising. Her parents instilled that lesson in her when she was a child. Common folk survived between the cracks, by keeping their heads down. Those who left the cracks risked their lives and their families, unless they latched onto noble houses.

Anna had similar thoughts. But her focus shifted towards herself. What would happen to her if Wolf failed to protect himself this time? Was there anything she could do to help him? If uncle Brad still viewed her favorably she could ask for favors, but given the circumstances…

Uncle Brad could be one of the instigators. That and many other thoughts swarmed Anna’s mind.

Wolf had it the easiest. He went to sleep hugging Anna, and for the first time in a long while, he entered his Mind Palace. He patted the atlas he’d made in his father’s likeness. Wolf’s Mental Aspect smiled, once again hearing those damn words and feeling the much needed familiar warmth.

“Maybe I should’ve asked Big Brother how to handle this?” Wolf’s Mental Aspect muttered, then proceeded to carve the door of the first Mind Hall. Like that, hours passed.

*Bam! Bam! Bam!*

It was the dead of night when a heavy knock echoed in the apartment.

“Student Wolf without a last name! We know you are inside! Come out obediently! This is the campus security force! Open the door or we will break in!” A deep masculine voice resounded loudly enough to wake the dead, let alone Mages. Residents of this and even the surrounding buildings jumped in their beds.

Wolf snapped out of his meditation, but didn’t wake Anna, nor Mandy. The women hadn’t slept a wink that night. He sighed and got out of bed. He put on his student robe while Mandy said, “He’s coming.”

She stood in front of her room, wearing an inviting nightdress, smiling reassuringly as she watched Wolf walk towards the door. He smiled back, pretending he didn’t see fear and unshed tears in her eyes.

“Wolf,” Anna whispered behind him. “Please stay safe.”

Wolf pivoted and hugged her, taking advantage of his height yet again. “Don’t worry. We knew this would happen.”

Then he turned around and opened the apartment door. “All right, let’s get this farce over with.”