Chapter 151: Rebirth

"If that truly is the case, everything in the living room makes sense after all," Peka thought to himself, though he still did not entirely trust Hugh. He always felt that things were not that simple.

"It's no trouble at all. At least I am a resident of Holy Round City, so cooperation is only right!" After exchanging a few pleasantries, Hugh's attitude softened considerably.

"Lord Hugh, our unannounced visit today is because there are some matters we need to verify with you. Please cooperate fully!" Having finished the polite remarks, Peka prepared to get down to business, his tone growing serious. Harry, standing to the side, stood ready to take notes at any moment.

"Of course, please speak!" Hugh replied with a calm expression, knowing that whatever Peka wanted to ask about must certainly concern Gurt and the others.

"Here is the thing: as you know, some issues have recently arisen in Holy Round City, which prompted a thorough investigation across the entire city. We discovered that a few days ago, you traveled out together with Gurt, Ryan, and Minnie along with her daughter—all of you being wizards. Furthermore, someone witnessed you riding venomous wyverns toward the beach north of Holy Round City. Is that correct?" Seeing that Hugh was willing to cooperate actively, Peka relaxed his tone slightly.

"That is correct. The five of us did indeed go to the beach north of Holy Round City. That area features shallow waters, and we gathered there at the invitation of Wizard Minnie!" Hugh did not hide the truth; such a matter was impossible to conceal anyway.

"The purpose?" Peka stared fixedly into Hugh's face, trying to discern whether Hugh was lying.

"To hold a ritual!"

"What kind of ritual?" Peka pressed further.

"This..." Hearing Peka's question, Hugh feigned a hesitant and reluctant expression.

"You can rest assured, we do not have the habit of sharing secrets with others!" Seeing Hugh's demeanor, Peka knew there must be unspeakable reasons behind it.

"Very well then. The ritual concerned bloodlines. Before you came, you should already have known that both Minnie and her daughter possess siren bloodline, though it has become quite thin. They somehow managed to acquire a pure siren bloodline essence, so you understand!" Hugh said with a forced, embarrassed look.

"Hmm!" Peka did not say much more. He had reviewed the files of all five individuals before coming. Minnie and her daughter indeed possessed siren bloodlines, which matched what Hugh had stated.

"Then why go to the seaside? There are plenty of mimicry laboratories inside Holy Round City itself!" Peka caught a major loophole.

"As for that, I am not entirely clear. It seemed to be due to certain specific requirements of the ritual. It was said to be an ancient bloodline transformation ritual, and I was merely there to assist, so I don't know the details very well." Hugh kept his reasoning simple—when unable to answer, he would simply bluff his way through. After all, the other party held no concrete evidence against him.

"An ancient ritual..." Peka could not tell whether what Hugh said was true or false, and could only rely on the few clues available to make inferences.

"Then why is it that out of the five of you, only you returned?" Peka's investigation revealed that Gurt and the others had never returned to Holy Round City; only Hugh had come back.

"Oh, that? After the ritual concluded, Gurt and the others went elsewhere. Because I had to complete a task for the Silver Roses, I returned first, and these past few days I have been continuously refining potions inside my villa. What? Have Gurt and the others not returned yet?" Hugh wore a look of astonishment, as if he knew nothing at all.

Peka gave Hugh a deep, searching look. He could tell that everything Hugh said was full of loopholes, but lacking solid evidence, there was nothing he could do to the man.

"Indeed! According to our information, out of the five of you, you are the only one who has returned!" Though suspicious at heart, Peka had to handle official business according to procedure.

"That can't be right. Earlier, while I was refining potions, Maifan contacted me once and said she had already returned to Holy Round City!" Hugh looked at Peka in disbelief, as if wanting to know whether what the other man said was true.

"Hmm?" Hearing Hugh's words, Peka felt a sense of disbelief. Their investigation clearly showed that Maifan and the other three had not returned to Holy Round City at all, yet now Hugh claimed Maifan had contacted him?

"It's true. Just the day before yesterday, perhaps! Maifan did tell me she was already back in Holy Round City. Perhaps you simply missed it." Feeling Peka's gaze, Hugh offered an explanation.

"Perhaps it truly was an oversight in our work. Since that is the case, we will not disturb your lordship any further. If anyone contacts you, please notify us!" Peka had learned about all he needed to know, and sensing that Hugh was not telling the entire truth, he decided to bring the conversation to a close.

"Rest assured. If you happen to locate Gurt, please let me know as well. After all, I do not have many friends in Holy Round City!" Hugh looked at Peka with an expression of genuine concern.

Peka did not speak further, merely nodding. The two then exchanged runes, and Hugh personally escorted Peka and his companion to the villa gates, watching as the party departed the grounds of his property.

"I won't be able to stay here much longer!" Hugh knew that Peka certainly did not believe his words. Upon returning, the man would undoubtedly intensify the search for his records and send people to track down Maifan's whereabouts.

With these thoughts in mind, Hugh glanced back in the direction of the laboratory, wondering how Mavis was doing.

"Captain, that Hugh..."

"He's lying, right?" As soon as Peka's party left Hugh's villa, Harry could no longer hold back.

"Everything you're thinking, I've already considered. But without concrete evidence in our hands, we cannot act rashly. Right now, the entire Holy Round City is on high alert, and the news of the sea monster invasion probably won't stay hidden for much longer. For now, we can only continue our investigation slowly!" Peka looked at Harry and patted his shoulder with a gaze full of approval—after all, Harry was his own protégé, and he could not let him harbor unrealistic notions.

"Understood, Captain! But can't we use that high-level enchanted item?" Harry could not comprehend. Holy Round City possessed a high-level enchanted item known as the "Medallion of Destiny," which was a divination-type enchanted artifact. If they utilized this item, perhaps they wouldn't need to go through all this trouble.

"I wish we could, but that enchanted item has already been taken out of Holy Round City. Even if it were still inside the city, those people probably wouldn't help us anyway; they'd likely just accuse us of incompetence." Peka certainly knew what Harry was thinking. How he wished to take the easy way out, but circumstances simply made it impossible.

"Alright, stop dwelling on it. Once we return, lead a team to begin searching Holy Round City to see if you can find any trace of Maifan. That is crucial for this case!" Peka instructed Harry.

"Yes!"

What Hugh did not know was that he had narrowly escaped a disaster. Had he known that Holy Round City possessed a high-level divination enchanted artifact, he likely would have fled the place long ago.

There was still no movement from the laboratory, and Hugh did not dare to enter rashly. He could only hope that Mavis would complete the reincarnation ritual as quickly as possible, as that was the only way to disrupt the Holy Round City guards' investigation into him.

After the commotion caused by Peka, Hugh completely lost the mood to absorb energy crystals. He sat quietly in the living room, waiting patiently for Mavis's final outcome.

"It seems you ran into some unpleasant matters while I was conducting the ritual!" Early the next morning, Mavis emerged from the laboratory, in high spirits after successfully completing the reincarnation ritual, only to find Hugh sitting expressionless in the living room.

"Did it succeed?" Hugh looked at Mavis, who now occupied Maifan's body, feeling a deep sense of unfamiliarity.

"Of course it succeeded, otherwise how could I be standing right before you? Look at me—isn't this a great fit?" Having finally obtained a physical body, Mavis was overjoyed, dancing lightly around the living room.

Even though Mavis had taken over Maifan's body, the exterior was no different from before; the only distinction lay in the personality.

Maifan's personality had been somewhat introverted, unlike Mavis, who was uninhibited and carefree.

"I think the first thing you should do is change your clothes!" Hugh said, watching the moving figure in the living room. Mavis danced very gracefully, but the clothes she wore had already been torn during the previous attack, and combined with the blood she had lost earlier, it made for a rather jarring contrast with the graceful dance.

"You're quite right!" Hearing Hugh's words, Mavis stopped, looked down at her attire, and realized that now that she had successfully reincarnated, such tattered garments were hardly worthy of her.