It's so hard being a hero!

"The person who can teach such a magical genius must also be a powerful mage. This little girl seems to be good at multi-elemental magic, which basically eliminates those powerful people who specialize in one type of magic."

"If that's the case, then the scope is quite narrow. It would start at the Grandmaster level. Think about it yourself, which mages in the Empire are Grandmaster level or above and skilled in multi-elemental magic?"

Upon hearing this, Drummond fell silent.

Seeing that he didn't dare to speak, Samira added a sentence.

"Forget it, let's not jump to conclusions yet."

"Let's wait until we see the person; it might just be a coincidence."

Chapter 49 The Investigation Team's Probing

Meanwhile, Vlad's men had already reached Sofia's doorstep.

It wasn't a knight who arrived, but a middle-aged steward who looked quite kind.

He stood at the gate of the courtyard, his respectful attitude making it seem as if he were visiting some important figure.

"Excuse me, is Miss Sophia home?"

Bixis, who was working in the yard, immediately looked towards the door upon hearing the sound, and her expression immediately turned worried.

"Um, you, who are you?"

"Oh, I am the steward of the Earl's manor. I have been ordered by our Earl to invite Miss Sophia to the manor."

The person in charge spoke very politely.

Just as Bessis was about to say something, Sophia came out of the house.

She had even changed her clothes, giving off an air of "I knew you guys would come".

She walked into the courtyard, looked at the steward, and her face was expressionless.

"Let's go."

This attitude completely baffled the manager; he hadn't expected the young girl to agree so readily.

"Okay, then, please."

He quickly stepped aside to make way.

Sophia glanced back at Bisis.

"Mom, don't worry, I'll be right back."

Bixis opened her mouth, but then swallowed the words back. Her daughter's eyes were too calm, leaving her unsure of what to say.

"Then be careful."

Sophia nodded and followed the steward out of the courtyard.

She didn't ask a single question along the way, just followed behind the steward.

Before long, they arrived at the Earl's mansion.

The steward led her through the front yard and into the living room.

As soon as Sophia stepped inside, she felt several gazes, like searchlights, suddenly fall on her.

The middle-aged man with glasses sitting next to the head of the table scrutinized her with eyes like knives, then frowned slightly, probably pondering Sophia.

Samira, standing by the window, had her arms crossed over her chest, her deep red eyes staring sharply at Sofia, a sight that made Sofia uncomfortable.

Count Vlad sat in the main seat, his expression much more complex than the previous two days, a mixture of pride and unease.

"You're Sophia?"

Drummond spoke, his voice not loud, but every word he uttered carried the pressure characteristic of a bureaucrat.

"Yes."

Sophia calmly responded.

Drummond's gaze lingered on her face for a few seconds before he opened the notebook on the table.

"Sophia, twelve years old, from Kel City, her father is a retired soldier named Sulot, and her mother is a housewife named Bisis."

He rattled off Sophia's identity information, word by word.

"I passed the Adventurers' Guild's assessment last year and became a Bronze-level adventurer."

But as he read this, he changed the subject and looked up at Sophia.

Who is your teacher?

Sophia met his shrewd eyes and remained silent for two seconds.

"Is this issue related to the mine?"

Drummond was also taken aback, clearly not expecting this little girl to dare to ask a question.

The atmosphere in the living room suddenly became strange.

Samira's lips twitched slightly, not like a smile, but more like an expression of finding something "interesting".

She had rarely seen a twelve-year-old kid so composed under Drummond's gaze, let alone dare to talk back.

"Of course it does."

Drummond closed the notebook and leaned back in his chair.

"We suspect that you have powerful figures from the Empire helping you relocate the spider monsters, resulting in the loss of core resources in the Kyle City mining area and causing enormous economic losses to the Empire."

His tone was slow and deliberate, as if he were reading a report.

"If we could confirm your teacher's identity, we might avoid some unnecessary misunderstandings."

Looking at his expressionless face, Sophia cursed inwardly: "Old fox."

This guy has a lot of eloquence. On the surface, he's asking the teacher, but actually he's testing how powerful her connections are.

If she had just mentioned Frey's name, this whole thing would have been over.

If she can't say anything, or if she mentions someone who doesn't carry much weight, then things will get interesting.

"What if I just don't want to say it?"

Sophia smiled.

No sooner had she spoken than the silver-ranked female mage from the Blood Rose Knights stepped forward, giving Sophia a rather unfriendly look.

"Then, we'll have to force you to tell us."

This female mage is named Melanie, a silver-level ice mage.

The atmosphere in the living room immediately became tense.

Melanie stood in front of Sofia, pale blue magic swirling around her, and the air temperature dropped instantly, making everyone shiver.

"Melanie, don't be impulsive."

Drummond offered a word of advice, but his tone was clearly feigned.

He pushed up his glasses, his gaze falling on Sophia, wanting to see how this little girl would respond.

Sofia glanced at Melanie, then at Drummond, and sighed helplessly.

"Fight here?"

"I'm not saying this out loud, but this living room is way too small. We can't really move around properly, and if we break something, who's going to be responsible?"

Melanie snorted.

"Then let's go to the courtyard."

After saying that, she was the first to turn around and walk out of the living room.

Sofia followed behind, and when she reached the door, she glanced back at Samira by the window.

The female knight with long, straight black hair was still the same as before, arms crossed, watching the show with her clothes on.

A space has been cleared out in the yard.

The servants of the Earl's mansion all hid behind the pillars, craning their necks to watch the spectacle.

The Earl and Harris stood a little further away, their expressions incredibly conflicted.

He had seen Sophia fight and knew that this little girl was no pushover, but Melanie was, after all, a Silver-level, not on the same level as Morey.

Melanie stood in the middle of the yard, her arms hanging down, completely motionless like an ice sculpture.

"Little girl, don't say I'm bullying you."

Her voice was cold and had an air of superiority.

"You go first."

Sophia, standing opposite her, burst out laughing upon hearing this.

"Sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

Sophia nodded, raised her right hand, and clenched it in the air.

A flash of silver light appeared from the storage ring on her finger, and instantly, a silver one-handed sword appeared in her hand.

The sword is entirely silver-white, and dense magical patterns can be faintly seen on the blade.

A pale blue magic crystal was inlaid on the hilt of the sword, shimmering softly in the sunlight.

This was the magic sword Frey had given her.

Melanie frowned slightly when she saw Sophia draw her sword.

"Besides magic, you also know swordsmanship?"

"Ah."

Sofia gripped the hilt of her sword, and with a slight twist of her wrist, the blade traced a silver arc in the air.

"Using magic alone is so boring. I've finally met a worthy opponent, it would be a waste not to show off my swordsmanship."

These words were spoken lightly, but to Melanie, they sounded like blatant sarcasm.