The Sorcerer's Handbook

Chapter 161: Moonshadow

The living room pulsed with a lively pop song.

Amy adored this kind of noisy music. Her taste left much to be desired. Worse, she insisted on singing along despite her terrible voice, turning the experience into double punishment for anyone listening.

Snap.

The door to the storage room opened.

Just moments earlier, Amy had been singing cheerfully. The instant the door swung open, her expression hardened. Without saying a word, she placed two plates in front of Iger.

The left plate held dog food, while the right held clean water.

Iger looked up at her and weakly raised his right hand. Amy nodded, and he hurried to the bathroom.

When he returned, he lay flat on the floor and ate obediently, like a pet. The humiliation did not trouble him. It threatened neither his interests nor his profits. Therefore, for a fraudster like him, it caused no real damage.

Amy, on the other hand, looked pleased. She squatted beside him and said, "I've gathered intelligence. Observation Point Fifty-Three has been confirmed as a complete Virtual Channel."

Iger's head snapped up. "So..."

Smack.

Amy slammed his head down without warning. The smack echoed sharply through the room. Her delicate, cute face contorted into a fierce, almost violent expression.

Iger immediately raised his hands.

Her face softened into a smile. "You can speak now."

"When will the first exploration of Observation Point Fifty-Three begin?" he asked.

"On the midnight of May 2. In other words, tonight, when the Blood Moon fades. I've already sent a batch of adventurers to the Lakefront Battlezone. I prepared standard adventurer gear for you, along with a bicycle. You have five hours until midnight. That's plenty of time to reach the location. Whether you manage to sneak into the adventurer team is up to you."

Iger froze. He had expected Amy to help him, but not to this extent. The preparation was far more thorough than he had imagined.

In truth, he could have resisted. He could have refused to stay in the storage room, ignored the dog food, or rejected the collar entirely. Instead, he chose obedience. Appeasing Amy was his safest option. She was his only key to escaping the Blood Moon Kingdom. Offending her would only accelerate his ruin.

Leaving other matters aside, Amy was obligated by her contract to hand over the intelligence on Observation Point Fifty-Three. Yet the exact timing of her disclosure remained entirely under her control. If she had waited until eleven to tell him, he would have missed the best escape window. That window coincided with the first wave of adventurers entering the channel, when defenses were weakest and slipping in unnoticed was easiest.

Yet Amy had informed him early. More than that, she had prepared everything he needed to blend in seamlessly.

Iger couldn't help but feel a twinge of gratitude. "Thank you. Thank you for helping me so much."

Amy paused, then smiled while proudly wagging her gray wolf tail. "You're welcome!"

She suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him upright. "Come on. Let's eat."

Iger glanced at the plate of dog food. "Huh? Wasn't I supposed to eat that?"

Amy pushed him into a seat. "Good boys don't need snacks. I'll make something proper."

Her cooking skills, however, barely extended beyond knowing how to operate appliances. She pulled a half-cooked meal from the freezer, heated it, and set it on the table.

After days of eating dog food, sitting at a table with a spoon in hand felt like dining at a gourmet restaurant to Iger.

Just as Iger was about to eat, Amy clasped her hands together. "Thank you, Blood Moon, for the sun and rain that bring us such abundant food."

Iger noticed her sneaking glances at him. After a brief hesitation, he joined in the prayer. Amy looked thoroughly satisfied.

As she ate, she asked casually, "We haven't gambled in a while. Want to play something?"

"But we're eating," Iger said.

Amy said brightly, "You can gamble while eating! Iger, you're so smart. Think of something fun!"

Unwilling to oppose her, Iger thought for a moment. "Alright. Here's the rule. Each turn, we take one to three bites. Whoever eats the last bite wins."

Amy's eyes lit up. "That sounds interesting! What's the wager?"

Iger responded, "One question. The winner gets to ask one question, and the loser must answer honestly."

Amy laughed. "No problem! Iger, you're definitely losing this time. My strongest record is one bite per little Lala fat!"

As always, Amy never cared about the size of the wager. However, appetite was not the deciding factor in this game. What mattered far more was order and calculation.

Under Iger's quiet control of the rhythm, Amy ended up eating most of the food. Still, the final bite landed with him.

Patting her small belly, Amy sighed. "Ah, I lost again. That makes it 158 losses to 12 wins."

Iger put on the standard adventurer gear, lowered his mask, and pulled up his hood. He looked at her with faint surprise. "You even remember the exact count?"

Amy wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and pulled a key from her pocket, handing it to him. "Of course. How could I forget something so important? The bike's in parking space sixteen downstairs."

Iger accepted the key. "Sorry for the trouble. If I get caught, the memory specialist will find proof in my memories that you helped me. I don't have time to erase it now."

Amy waved dismissively. "It's fine. Friends help each other. That's normal."

Friends?

Iger sneered faintly. "I'm a criminal. You're a Bloodrage Hunter."

Amy sat cross-legged on the chair and tilted her head. "So what?"

Her tail curled inward, and genuine confusion filled her eyes. "Yes, you're a criminal, and I'm a hunter, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends. When we play together, it's gambling. Not hunter versus criminal."

"I don't recall friends locking each other in storage rooms and feeding them dog food," Iger said coldly.

Amy said matter-of-factly, "That's because you're a rude, naughty boy! It's only normal that you get punished! And you still haven't admitted your mistake!"

Iger thought. Admit what mistake? You're the one who locked me in this storage room since the very first day! How ridiculous...

He shook his head and walked toward the entrance to put on his boots. Amy followed. "Are you leaving now? Be careful on the way."

Iger reminded her, "Oh, right. I won the last game, so I get to exercise my winner's privilege. You have to answer my question honestly."

"Go ahead."

"When the Heresy Court captured me... was it because you reported me?"

Amy blinked, confusion crossing her face. "You got captured by the Heresy Court? No wonder you disappeared for over a year... Wait... so you're an escaped convict? And when you said you were a criminal earlier, you really meant it?"

Iger froze. "Didn't you see my wanted notice?"

Amy shook her head. "The capture of the Shattered Lake escapee is entirely the captain's responsibility. I've been busy guarding the deputy mayor... As for your capture, I didn't even know who you were. How could I have reported you? Wait a second..."

Her memory sparked. "About a year ago, everyone suddenly congratulated me for volunteering as bait to lure a cunning fraudster into a trap. Even the captain praised me and treated me to a big meal. I had no idea what was happening at the time. I just ate the meal and got promoted..."

The story sounded ridiculous, but Iger could feel that she wasn't lying.

Amy had always seemed cute and slightly naïve. That was why Iger had spent nine thousand minutes exploiting her under their contract. It wasn't because she was foolish, but because she was simple and trustworthy.

He didn't want to believe she had reported him. Her admitting it would mean he had seriously misjudged someone. If he couldn't distinguish whether a client was a dog or a wolf, he'd have lost all qualifications as a fraudster.

Fortunately, Amy didn't disappoint. She was genuinely naïve. He hadn't walked into a trap, and the Heresy Court had caught him purely by chance. In this world, the only person capable of outwitting him remained the scheming, mentally immature cult leader.

Relieved, Iger smiled. "Thank you, Amy."

Amy frowned. "Is that all? Nothing else, like an apology?"

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you..."

"I already said that's fine. Not that!"

Iger shrugged. He couldn't guess what she meant, even as a Mind Class sorcerer. Opening the door to leave, he added, "Thanks for taking care of me. I hope we meet again someday."

"I'll definitely beat you next time!" Amy declared loudly.

Stepping out, Iger exhaled, shaking off the gloom of days in confinement. His steps felt lighter. Despite her temper and twisted habit of treating people like pets, Amy wasn't a bad client. Given time, he could even turn her into his own undercover agent within the Heresy Court. She unexpectedly valued friendship, wore her emotions openly, had a pure, simple mind, and didn't care about breaking rules, almost like a child.

Iger found the bicycle Amy had prepared and mounted it. Just as he was about to leave, her voice called down from the balcony. "Next time you ask for help, you should say 'please' first! Don't be so rude!"

He froze, realizing she was right. When he first approached her, he hadn't said "please."

He remembered her words earlier, about him being a rude, naughty boy and how it was only normal that he got punished, and felt a mix of frustration and amusement. Could all this time, her grudge have really been over a missing please?

Snap!

Iger slammed on the brakes and glanced back at her apartment building.

He thought of the Moonshadow Clan. Passing the Church's priest exams wasn't the only way to become a Moonshadow. The Church of Devotion also selected infants whose aptitude most closely matched the lineage and raised them directly in its orphanages.

Unlike normal orphanages, these Church orphanages were fully sealed and inaccessible to society. Cameras weren't mandatory, and the children were free to misbehave without fear of physical punishment or deprivation. Staff could guide them through verbal warnings, resource incentives, or even temporary social isolation, but they could never harm the children or strip them of their freedom. The children even had the right to refuse instructions.

Because these orphanages were sealed, rumors suggested that the children underwent military-style training.

Yet Moonshadow priests often disproved these suspicions. Compared to most of the Blood Moon Kingdom, Moonshadow priests were pure, cute, earnest, innocent, diligent, and polite. They were the closest thing to little angels.

The Heresy Court only handled serious crimes. For minor domestic troubles, like quarrels, lost pets, stuck tongues, broken bulbs, or even bodies trapped in washing machines, the proper recourse was to contact the Church. The nearest Church would send a Moonshadow priest.

Cheerful, patient, and never fearing trouble, their presence shaped a societal habit of calling the Church whenever difficulties arose. Almost everyone had received aid from a Moonshadow priest, and no one disliked them. Around 60% of the Blood Moon population attended regular services, and most were deeply influenced by the priests' example, firmly believing in the benevolent Blood Moon Lord.

That explained why Fernandez's speech had little effect. Without the Moonshadow priests' presence, any extraction of wealth for the Blood Saint Clan would have sparked fury. But with the Moonshadow Clan involved, the people hesitated. Supporting the Moonshadow Clan didn't seem entirely unreasonable.

In Caimon City, there was a saying that went, "False top-tier schools, Emerald Garden; real top-tier, Church orphanage."

Figures like Ronna, by contrast, were true stains on the Moonshadow name.

Iger recalled his conversation with Ronna before escaping.

"It's strange that the Church managed to raise a Moonshadow like you."

"I'm more curious why the Church hasn't nurtured another werewolf like me."

Ah... now it all makes sense.

Adults weren't afraid of being locked in a storage room. Iger hadn't even worried about lacking a chip in his neck. Having one would have only added the bonus of letting him run anonymous scams through the Curtain. Only naïve children feared confinement.

Amy didn't even have a dog, so why the dog food? She had pointed at it herself, calling it a snack. Coupled with her unusual emphasis on manners and her childlike personality, the truth suddenly clicked.

Iger looked up at the rising Blood Moon, shook his head lightly, and pedaled his bicycle away with purpose.