Gianna Proudmoore cautiously walked through the hall, smiling politely at everyone who looked at her, while maintaining a firm stance that she had chosen a target, so as to prevent them from coming forward for further conversation.

In the first half-hour of this feast, she had already had enough social conversations as Daylin Prodmoore's daughter. Smiling, humorous, and interested in greedy pleasures and trivial complaints, create a scene of pleasure and pleasure to appease the nobles, whatever thoughts come to the nobles' heads.

But as herself, Gianna didn't like any of that. A mage doesn't usually stay with so many people, except when it's an academic seminar or when someone can't handle an experiment on his own. Mages prefer to stay in their rooms and enjoy a refreshing cup of tea surrounded by ancient books and silent arcane minions. Detaching one's mind from the fascinating questions and dealing with worldly meaningless interactions is something that would be unpleasant to most mages.

Gianna is not as extreme as they are. But she's also starting to feel like it's a waste of time to attend the party. She's only here because Dalin insists on it. Her father initially thought that after a few weeks in the small villages north of Lordaeron, attending a standard aristocratic banquet would be a good act of relaxation. But when Gianna slipped away under the pretext of wanting to breathe, leaving him and Baron Rivendell and a few other local aristocrats of Stratholme who were talking, Daillin looked rather annoyed.

Gianna was sorry for him. But in the midst of the constant pick-up, she really didn't feel relaxed. It was better for her to continue talking to a group of villagers about the strange plague and the bad harvest than to hear stories about how to tell the lineage of horses or the styles of clothing that had been fashionable lately.

She walked briskly to the balcony on the side of the hall, hoping to find an undisturbed space there. But when she got closer, she was disappointed to find that someone had already taken the lead. Several couples of men and women occupied the place, and she had to stop, greet them in a friendly manner, and say that she was just to see what the weather was like.

"I think it's a good time for a walk," said one of them enthusiastically, "and you can go down the stairs next to it, and the door to the garden is open." ”

Although unsure if it would be a good idea to sneak out of her father's sight completely, Gianna took the advice. At the very least, she can find a place where there are fewer people and think about the task given to her by the teacher.

A strange disease began to appear in small villages north of Lordaeron two months ago. It is extremely lethal, and everyone who is sick cannot escape the fate of death. As the disease did not appear contagious and quickly disappeared after a brief appearance, the matter did not attract the attention of the lords and magistrates. But Archmage Antonidas somehow learned about it and gave his apprentice the task of investigating the strange disease.

Gianna had spent weeks visiting the villages, but she had not made much progress because she had no access to the patients — they were all buried long before she learned about it, and the luckiest one had only lasted four days. The way the disease picks its victims seems to be completely random, but Gianna discovers that the first victims in each village have one thing in common: they have been to Stratholme. She followed the trail, but so far, no trace of the disease has been found inside Stratholme.

She thought about these things as she absentmindedly walked down the stairs. The chaos of thoughts in her mind interfered with her senses, so that she did not hear the oncoming footsteps at all, until she walked around the corner at a steady pace, and suddenly noticed a figure in front of her. But at this point, it was too late to react, and there was only one blink of an eye left......

- and did not collide.

The person who came reacted quickly turned around and dodged, and passed by her. For a moment they were so close that Gianna felt a kind of suffocation, but they never touched each other. The other party took two steps back as soon as he stood still, and distanced himself from her. And by the time Gianna was finally able to stop her steps, she was already standing where the other party had been standing.

"I'm sorry, I think I was a little distracted."

Gianna apologized and turned to face her. Then she realized that she hadn't met the man, at least not any of the people she had just been introduced to in the hall.

He was tall and stood up straight, less like a nobleman than an officer, and his posture exuded the savage confidence of a warrior. He is handsome in appearance, but the gloomy and irascible temperament between the eyebrows completely destroys the affinity that his appearance can bring, and it becomes intimidating. At this point, he looked quite unhappy, making a gesture of holding his arms seem to be trying to suppress his emotions. Those golden eyes scrutinized her coldly, not at a woman but at a purely troublesome look, and even after seeing her clearly, the gaze was only a little more meaningful, and not changed.

"Miss Proudmoore." He ignored Gianna's apology, as if he hadn't heard it at all. A gesture that could barely be called a bow followed the greeting, and at the same time the lips twisted slightly, turning into a mocking smile with canine teeth exposed.

Gianna hesitated for a moment as to respond, then realized through that smile that the other party was probably waiting for this. So she put aristocratic etiquette behind her, and said straight to the point: "I don't know you, Your Excellency. ”

"For me, that's the best part." The other responded, the smile fading because of her decisiveness, "Let's omit the irrelevant parts, there is only one thing you have to know - you and I are not enemies." ”

Enemy. There are many levels of distinction between this word. Or it was a clash of words, or maybe it was a battle of interests, and what Gianna thought of from the other party's sharp momentum was the bloodiest one. She tensed up and quickly looked at the other again, trying to find any signs of a weapon.

Sensing her gaze, the man sneered, took the initiative to let go of his wrapped arms, and showed her his hands. The calluses and tiny pale scars on the hands obviously had the strength of iron pincers, but they were empty.

It doesn't really make much sense, and at such close distance, the incredible speed of reaction is enough to pose a threat. But this is the first time that the other person has made a friendly gesture. Gianna relaxed a little and decided to continue the conversation for a moment.

"I don't know why I have enemies." She said cautiously.

The man tilted his head, studying the expression on her face. His gaze, even if it had eased slightly, still had a sharp feeling that bordered on substance, like a knife blade against his cheek. Only someone who is accustomed to giving orders would look and scrutinize so unabashedly, without regard to etiquette and other people's feelings: "You don't know what's in this city." It's not surprising, they hide well, and there's always someone to deal with the horse's feet. But since you're not here for a family gathering......"

He paused, then asked, with some suspicion, "You're not, aren't you?" ”

Gianna wasn't sure if a smile would annoy the other person. She nodded as little as she could.

"I'm just here to investigate a strange disease." She said frankly.

There's nothing to hide, and the mage's curiosity outside of Dalaran has been exaggerated to a curiosity beyond the comprehension of ordinary people, so much so that their actions are not surprising in the eyes of the vast majority of people - if there are mages who want to know why apple trees don't produce oranges, or how to make horses lay eggs, is there anything in this world that they wouldn't be interested in?

This argument is ridiculous, but it is very marketable, and it makes many people stop investigating the root cause of the mage's behavior. Instead of risking being turned into a frog to ask for an inexplicable answer, walk away silently and let them go. Therefore, when Gianna surveyed the villages, no one asked her why she wanted to know these things. The aristocrats of Stratholme were only amazed at how she had to speak face-to-face with a group of mud-legged peasants, but never mentioned the reason behind it. Part of it is out of respect, but more because they don't care.

But that's not the case with her current audience. Gianna could almost clearly see the frost condensing in those golden pupils. She wasn't entirely sure, but the air seemed to be cold and sticky for a moment, and the dancing flames of the candlesticks on the walls had suddenly wilted a little.

"That's the plague." The man said coldly.

"What? No, that disease did not show contagiousness. ”

The man curled his lips and bared his teeth. It was clear that he hated being refuted.

"That's because they have the source of the infection under control." "It's not the time for a big outbreak yet," he growled. No, they just need to put out a little bit of information and attract the people they want. ”

His expression suddenly distorted, as if he was reminded by what he had said.

"Who else is working with you to investigate this?" The man asked, a little uncertain nervousness for the first time. He looked away from Gianna and stared at the stairs, as if the next moment someone he couldn't figure it out would appear from there, "Is anyone coming with you?" ”

"No, there isn't." Infected by his emotions, Gianna also became a little nervous, and she couldn't help but listen intently to see if someone was coming down this remote staircase, "The mentor only gave me this task. ”

The golden eyes turned back to look at her with some strange emotion: "Mentor? ”

"Archmage Antonidas—"

"I know who that is." The man rudely interrupted her, which made Gianna feel irrepressible annoyance, "I mean, your mentor gave you this task?" Not a king? Not Terenus II? ”

"I have heard no rumors of His Majesty Terenus being interested in this matter." She replied with a straight face.

The man breathed a sigh of relief. The feeling of crampedness that the student was about to meet his mentor disappeared, and he became fierce and gloomy again. Only then did he have time to notice Gianna's undisguised annoyance, but his only reaction was a chuckle.

"Ah, I've annoyed you." His tone sounded almost pleasant, "Finally." ”

Gianna crossed her hands on her chest and glared at him in annoyance, "Is this your ultimate goal?" ”

"It's just an inevitable process." The man said without any guilt, "Basically, everyone I talk to has had this experience at one time. ”

"It's easy to see why there won't be a second time." Gianna replied.

She couldn't believe that the other party would be amused by this sentence. But it was a heartfelt smile, albeit not for long. After only a few seconds, the smile faded, the muscles returned to their original positions, and the translucent golden eyes were once again enveloped in gloom.

"It's really hard to have a second time." The man agreed, glaring at her coldly, "So I want your little head to remember the main points well." Listen, you're not investigating a new disease, but a man-made plague through which the perpetrators plan to transform the living into undead servants on a large scale. If you're going to pursue this matter, be prepared to put yourself at risk. ”

"Wait, this sounds crazy, how do I know what you're saying is true?" Gianna glared at him in disbelief, "I didn't even know who you were!" ”

"That's not the point!" The man growled in annoyance.

Gianna stared at him without giving an inch. It was difficult, like facing a hungry wolf defenselessly, fear spontaneously arose to warn of danger, but anger and shock strongly encouraged her, and the other party's eyes were more impatient after the patience had been exhausted. They froze for a moment, and then the man looked away and sighed between his teeth.

"Go find the Silver Hand." He said, somewhat frustrated, "They'll tell you more." And it's safer for you to follow them. ”

"Tell the mage to ask the paladin for help? That's a good proposition. ”

"What's worse is that you're still going to have to fight together." The man snorted, "Listen, they need your help too." The masterminds of this plague are a group of necromancers, led by Kel'thugad, tell me you've heard the name. ”

"I did. He's ......"

"He doesn't care what he is." The man interrupted her again, "The focus is on what he's going to do." And whether you intend to get involved. ”

Gianna took a deep breath. She never thought that a seemingly simple investigation would involve such an incredible thing. But if this is true......

"I will never let them carry out this crazy plan." She said firmly.

The man stared deeply at her for a moment, then tilted his head away and said in a nonchalant tone, "Good luck." ”

He ended the conversation as abruptly as he had started, then turned and walked towards the small door at the end of the hallway that led to the garden, looking like he didn't care about anything anymore. By the time Gianna reacted, the distance between them had been widened.

"Wait, why are you telling me this?"

The man who had already crossed the threshold leaned over and glanced at her. Gianna vaguely heard him muttering "stupid girl", but instead of answering her question, she walked straight out.

"Hey!"

Gianna trotted in pursuit, she still had a lot of questions to ask, and it was never a fitting choice to let such a strange person wander around the Viscount's mansion. But by the time she passed through the small door, the man had disappeared without a trace. The shadows cast by the trees completely obscured the cobblestone path, and the foliage rustling in the night wind drowned out the sound of possible footsteps. Gianna looked around and couldn't find any clues, so she had to pick a random path and pin all her hopes on luck.

But her luck was clearly not good. Gianna walked along the road for a while, but she never found anyone else. Eventually, she had to admit that it was impossible for her to find each other anymore and decided to go back to the hall.

She turned back in the direction she had come, but was about to pass a fork in the road when a sudden sound made her stop suddenly.

"I need an explanation." A cold voice said.