Wizard: I devour the stars with swarms of insects.

"well!"

Now, after a brief moment of astonishment and surprise, Morse's eyes revealed excitement.

The goat's vertical pupils blinked excitedly, and its scale-covered arms rubbed back and forth involuntarily.

"Promotion is good, promotion is good! As expected, an A-rank wizard aptitude is still necessary. The speed of advancement through meditation... it really is fast!"

Professor Morse now has a big smile on his face.

And a problem that had been causing some worry and trouble has now found a great solution.

Then, Morse coughed and spoke to Wayne.

"Come with me to the lab. I have a task for you. You need to go on a business trip for your advisor, and also... do your senior a favor."

Wayne: "???"

Now, upon hearing what Professor Morse said, he had a completely bewildered expression.

A few minutes later.

Wayne followed his mentor, Morse, into the laboratory.

Professor Morse sat in a chair made from a biological skeleton.

"The tentacle monster 'Pok' is holding a small wooden mallet and gently tapping its back," said Instructor Morse.

"That's roughly how it happened..."

"Your senior brother, Holman, has been plagued by an outbreak of plague in his family's fiefdom for nearly half a year, but it has not been resolved. So he asked us for help."

"Your mentor is currently working on a very important experiment and cannot spare the time to investigate. Now that you have been promoted to a second-level wizard apprentice, you have a certain ability to protect yourself."

"Going to those ordinary villages and towns to assist Holman in investigating a plague outbreak shouldn't be too dangerous."

"After all, Holman is such a fool, his brain is far too dull, not nearly as smart as yours. Since you're both fellow students, out of respect for your mentor... lend a hand."

"Mentor Morse said."

He had high hopes for Wayne, because this student was quick-witted.

The theories about biological evolution that I discussed with myself last time were very inspiring and helpful.

To come up with such insights at the age of a wizarding apprentice, one must have a very sharp and capable mind.

Furthermore... he had already advanced to the level of a second-class wizard apprentice, making him a suitable candidate to go and help Holman as a fellow disciple.

......

Three days later, in the plains shrouded in a light mist, a black carriage was quietly traveling along the road.

Suddenly, a slender arm clad in armor pulled back the curtain above the carriage, and lake-green eyes spotted a village they had just passed along the way.

The streets on both sides of the village were piled with corpses.

Furthermore, the necks of these corpses were all bald, their heads had been cut off, and they were piled up on the other side, forming a hill resembling a pile of skulls.

The air was filled with a faint stench of decay, along with an inexplicable sense of desolation and death.

"Sir, the situation here looks really serious..."

Now it was the Knight Captain, Isabel, who spoke softly as she looked at the village streets outside, piled high with corpses.

Inside the carriage, a man dressed in a wizard's robes was sitting quietly cross-legged, meditating.

Hearing Isabel's words, she slowly opened her eyes.

After meditation ended, the energy particles in my eyes gradually dissipated.

"If it weren't serious, Professor Morse wouldn't have specifically sent me to Holman's family territory to provide support."

The man said in a calm voice.

"I'm sorry, sir... I didn't disturb you just now, did I?"

Realizing that her voice might have disturbed the man's meditation, the female knight with long, angry red hair, Isabel, said apologetically, her cunning eyes flashing slightly.

"fine."

The man said calmly.

Now, inside the carriage is a man dressed in a wizard's robe.

It was Wayne Albert, a second-level wizard apprentice sent by his mentor Morse to assist his senior brother "Holman" in investigating the plague incident in his family territory.

Three days ago, Wayne traveled from the Black Forest City port to the port of the Tudian Empire aboard a wizard's ship.

The Holman family's territory was located in the northern region of the Tudian Empire, after arriving at the port aboard a wizard's ship.

He traveled by carriage and eventually arrived at the territory of the Holman family—the Earl of Victoria.

Unexpectedly, after arriving here, the Holman family's situation seems... even worse than I had anticipated.

A scarlet thorn extended from beneath the sleeve of Wayne's wizarding robe, pulling back the curtain beside him and glancing outside.

Corpses littered the fields, and vast stretches of farmland lay barren, overgrown with weeds.

As far as the eye could see, there were almost no people working in the fields.

At the entrance to the village not far away, there were a few scattered farmers, barefoot and dressed in tattered clothes, sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall behind them.

Their faces bore the numbness and blankness of someone who had been living in fear and exhaustion for so long. Their eyes stared blankly as their carriage slowly passed by the village gate.

"Strange, why have all the heads of these corpses been cut off?"

Inside the carriage, there were several other knights guarding the carriage.

When one of them looked out the window at the mountain of headless corpses piled up in the plague-ravaged village, he couldn't help but ask.

All of these corpses had been decapitated; they were all headless bodies, while the heads were piled up far away in another place.

"The plague that broke out here is a disease called 'dryness disease.' People who are infected will have their flesh and blood shrink, become dry and decaying."

"Furthermore, those infected become violent, insane, and highly aggressive."

"Even after death, some corpses can 'come back to life' in a terrifying way, like zombies, and attack any living creatures they see."

"So they cut off the heads of the people who died from the 'drought disease' to prevent them from 'coming back to life' and attacking others in the future."

Wayne said.

"What?"

Upon hearing Wayne's description, the knights guarding the carriage all revealed horrified expressions.

Although when I came with Lord Wayne, I knew we were here to investigate some kind of plague outbreak, so I was mentally prepared beforehand.

But unexpectedly... the dead guy was able to "come back to life" and attack humans?

This plague... isn't it terrifying?

For a moment, they all looked fearful and their expressions became abnormal.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine with Lord Wayne!"

At this moment, the knight captain, Isabel, spoke in a cold and stern voice.

"From now on, everything must be done in accordance with Lord Wayne's orders, otherwise..." Lake Isabel's green eyes swept over the other knights and guards in the carriage.

Although he showed extraordinary respect and admiration when facing Wayne.

However, it must be understood that she is, after all, a knight captain who has experienced the horrors of battle and the dangers of life.

She has blood on her hands, not the kind of sheltered, innocent girl.

Since he was able to serve as the captain of the knight guard squad of the Natural Symbiotic Wizard Tower in the Black Forest City.

Naturally, he was ruthless and decisive, possessing a certain degree of authority.

Therefore, if any of these subordinates dare to show any sign of backing down, or disobey Lord Wayne's orders, or have any intention of disobeying them, then they will be in serious trouble.

I wouldn't mind letting these guys... know the price of disobeying Lord Wayne.