This transport commission was filled with anomalies at every turn.
The sealed cargo that couldn't be inspected, the strange method of delivery... Lin Gui could accept all of those things.
However, the triggering of a system commission... made this slightly strange but acceptable transport commission far more complicated.
Special Commissions from the system were not triggered randomly; they didn't just pop up for sending an ordinary letter.
They were usually tied to something exceptional.
The Special Commission to deliver a letter to Rona had led to the commission for the Tomb of Catriona.
And after Catriona's survival, he realized that the Tomb of Catriona hid a massive secret.
A secret that could potentially subvert the entire landscape of Akara.
The letter from Troy he received in Avalon had led him deep into the Wall of Sighs, eventually putting him in contact with the Church of the Final Reincarnation.
As for their goal in collecting the Demigod Keys, Lin Gui was still unclear on their ultimate purpose.
Every Extra Commission involved the various undercurrents of incidents behind the scenes.
So, what was it this time?
Lin Gui closed his eyes and extended his perception toward the four wooden boxes.
The magical protection was tightly wrapped and executed with great skill.
He tried to gently touch it with his mana, hoping to see if he could bypass it.
However, the protection remained immovable.
He tried a few other methods, testing with different frequencies of mana.
It still didn't work.
Lin Gui opened his eyes and looked at the four wooden boxes, remaining silent for a while.
Then he gave up.
No matter what was inside this cargo, he would find out when he reached Withered Wood Town.
As for the trouble it might drag behind it...
As long as it could improve his strength, Lin Gui wouldn't refuse.
Looking at the system rewards for the Extra Commission, they might be able to compensate for his second weakness before stepping into the Transcendent rank.
Once everything was clear in his mind, Lin Gui turned and continued purchasing supplies.
As the sun was beginning to set, he returned to the post office.
He used Levitation to move the four tall wooden boxes to the post office's backyard, stacking them neatly.
After covering them with a tarp, he entered the post office through the back door.
Elvia was already waiting at the counter, surrounded by a pile of packaged supplies.
There were sleeping bags, pots and bowls, folding tables and chairs, changes of bedsheets and quilts, and several thick volumes that were clearly novels.
Lin Gui was somewhat surprised.
"I thought you would slack off; I didn't expect you to be quite diligent."
Elvia said flatly, "At one point, I actually fantasized... about becoming a virtuous wife and mother."
Her tone was very plain, as if she were talking about something unrelated to herself.
Then, her eyes looked surreptitiously toward the corner outside the post office window.
Lin Gui knew what she meant.
The post office was under surveillance.
In fact, ever since that fire trial began, Lin Gui had discovered he was being monitored, including when he went to the Transport Guild to buy maps and when he went elsewhere to purchase supplies.
The monitors were a diverse lot—some belonged to the City Lord, others to nobles he didn't even know.
The alchemical raven wrapped in Shroud of the Gloomy Night had seen them all long ago.
As for their purpose in monitoring him...
Naturally, it was to see that transport team that had always existed but had never appeared.
Now that Lin Gui and his companion were about to set off, it was impossible for the transport team not to show themselves.
Most of the monitors desperately wanted to know which transport team that Legendary mage belonged to.
To this, Lin Gui could only say...
He would show them that transport team and make them believe the fact of its existence.
By way of a sudden disappearance, he would solidify the existence of the Legendary mage.
Therefore, he was actually quite happy to be monitored by so many people.
Lin Gui walked over to Elvia and began collecting the supplies she had organized.
The bed, quilts, pots and pans, folding tables and chairs, and the stack of novels.
He reached out and pressed his hand against them.
In the next instant, those things vanished into thin air.
Elvia watched the empty floor, her lip twitching.
She had seen it many times, but every time she saw it, she still felt it was... ridiculous.
This was definitely not Lin Gui hiding them with Shroud of the Gloomy Night.
Rather, they had been moved somewhere unknown, just like his ridiculous magic that had transported her thousands of kilometers in an instant.
Lin Gui didn't stop.
He walked behind the counter, preparing to stuff the hundreds of letters received over the past two days into his storage space.
Then, his eyes instantly sharpened.
He stared at the wooden box containing the most recent letters.
Inside, he sensed a very tiny trace of magic energy.
It was so faint that if he hadn't deliberately tried to perceive it, he wouldn't have discovered it at all.
The letter had been tampered with.
Before Lin Gui could do anything, Elvia pulled the curtains shut.
Then she crouched down and rummaged through the wooden box, pulling out a letter and holding it up to Lin Gui.
"Is it this one?"
"The person who sent it... I felt something was off, so I kept an eye out."
Lin Gui was stunned.
Elvia's alertness was impressive; she had actually noticed this.
Lin Gui took the letter, closed his eyes, and probed carefully.
His mana seeped through the fibers of the envelope bit by bit.
Then, he found it.
Hidden within the layers of the envelope was a very concealed magic rune.
The rune was so small it was almost invisible to the naked eye, embedded between the fibers of the paper and integrated with the stationery.
The technique was exceptionally sophisticated, and the mana fluctuations were extremely tiny.
If Lin Gui hadn't developed terrifying magic control through the accumulation of dozens of max-mastery spells, he might not have discovered the trick inside.
Furthermore...
Lin Gui's black eyes turned gray.
Eyes of the Netherworld opened, and he saw an incredibly fine thread extending from the rune, connecting far into the distance.
It was soul tracking.
...
Lin Gui raised an eyebrow; this discovery allowed him to instantly lock onto the other party's identity.
It was them.
Beside him, Elvia's voice was pitched very low.
"Not long after you left... a man came to send a letter. He was pretending to be a refugee, and he looked very much like one."
She paused. "But I saw through the flaw; I smelled... a dangerous aura on him."
Lin Gui said plainly, "He is an Inspector."
Elvia was stunned, having just picked up her water cup for a sip.
"Pfft!!"
The water sprayed out.
"What did you say?! An Inspector? Are you sure?"
As a princess of the Carter Royal Capital, Elvia knew all too well how terrifying an Inspector was.
Good lord, even her father, the King of Carter, had to bow before them.
How was it that an Inspector had come to their door just after she had joined Lin Gui's team?
Recalling the terror of an Inspector, Elvia's face turned pale.
Most importantly, she hadn't looked very patient when facing that guy just now.
Lin Gui narrowed his eyes and nodded.
"There shouldn't be any mistake."
"Only they... have the authority to use precious soul mages."
Lin Gui flipped the envelope over to look at the information on the front.
The envelope was ordinary yellow paper, not the type provided by the post office. The information on the letter was written as...
Sender: Kewell.
Recipient Address: Serpent-Spine Ridge, Moonlight Valley, Forward Supply Outpost, House No. 3.
Recipient: Sivir Vera.
Looking at the recipient's name, Lin Gui's eyes grew sharp as he continued.
"Only they know Sivir's full name, even though it's wrong."
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