Maka sent a letter to Lupin and the others, asking them to consider whether to go to the Ministry of Magic to get a job or something. In terms of their abilities alone, being an Auror is naturally something they can do easily.
As for Maka herself, she left the castle after sending the letter and headed towards the Forbidden Forest.
Haierbo's repeated activity forced him to continue to speed up his research on the Bewitched Monument. Since he couldn't touch the Devouring Mirror yet, he could only figure out the giant monument of the same level first.
Although, this seems to coincide with Rowena's test.
At the same time, two figures were carefully escaping somewhere more than 2,500 miles away from the UK.
Beersheba, Israel, is an earthy city. Probably because of the close location, it is somewhat similar to Iran, where Maca has been before.
Miriam grew up here.
At this moment, she had just apparated from London, England. Although Asaph was such a burden, with the support of sufficient familiarity and good spell-casting skills, her movements did not suffer too much coordinate deviation.
Miriam, who was leaning against the outer wall of an apartment building, couldn't help but pursed her lips as she looked at this city that made her feel particularly friendly.
She was originally brought to Athens, Greece, with Asaph, a branch of the organization.
After both of them had undergone training in the Athens branch, Asa stayed there and started his mission trip, while she was brought all the way back to the headquarters by Old Yoon.
For her, there are too many memories here.
However, she was under tremendous pressure when she came back this time. After all, returning to the organization without completing the mission would be her betrayal of Grandpa Raven.
As a dead soldier who is willing to abandon everything, she should not come back no matter how many sacrifices she encounters.
What's more, no one knows whether her trip was discovered by the man named Haierbo... No, Asa still needs to be rescued. She can't just watch her childhood best friend be so unclear. He died not in vain.
Miriam looked up at the blue sky, and then she no longer struggled with this decision—now that everyone was back, even if she had hesitated all night, it was time to move forward.
She waved her magic wand, making both herself and Asaph, who was still in a coma, invisible. Then she used a floating spell to lift the other person on the way north.
For an outstanding wizard, the traces left by Apparition are too obvious. She needs to walk the rest of the journey on her own legs.
Soon, after leaving the city, there was a vast expanse of wilderness. Apart from the slightly crude roads, the rest was endless open space.
And further away is the desert.
Here, even the rising sun is blazing, and the gravel that cooled down during the night also accumulates heat again with the arrival of daytime.
Of course, at this time, it is cooler than at noon.
Miriam and Asaph were walking slowly in this huge desert. The effect of the phantom spell prevented her from being exposed to direct sunlight, but she could not leave the temperature behind.
Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead, sliding down quietly as she moved and dripping silently on her chest. In this regard, she did not dare to use magic spells to drive away the heat, so as not to leave more clues for the enemy.
In fact, she didn't even want to use the Illusion Curse, because although the traces of this type of magic dissipated quickly, there was no guarantee that they would not be discovered.
But right now, she was still operating in the Muggle world. If she didn't want people to see Asa floating in the air, then she might have to carry Asa on her back!
Suddenly, Miriam, who was immersed in moving forward, turned back and glanced at Asaph.
"Don't worry, Grandpa Raven will definitely be able to cure you! Apart from death, I have never seen anything that can stop him! As for the punishment, I will bear it alone!"
There was a rustling sound underfoot, the sound of gravel rubbing against each other. Compared with the fine sand on the beach, the gravel on the edge of the desert is much rougher. It will always make people feel a little irritated after hearing it too much.
Miriam turned around again and looked further ahead, as if judging the walking distance based on past experience.
And from time to time, she would look around - she could see everything in all directions. This was by no means a favorable environment for ordinary stalkers.
About two or three hours later, when the sun hung slanting high in the sky, Miriam unknowingly came to an unremarkable sand dune.
The temperature is rising continuously, and from a distance, there is even a slight distortion on the horizon.
Fortunately, she seems to have arrived.
But Miriam once again raised the wand that had not been put away, and gently swiped it to her side a few times, as if looking for something.
Suddenly, she swung down, and then saw the piece of gravel in front of her begin to surge violently.
Upon seeing this, Miriam immediately waved her wand and took Asaph onto the unstable ground. And in the next moment, both of them sank into the ground and disappeared without a trace.
After a while, the gravel calmed down again, as quiet as if nothing had happened.
…
When Miriam opened her eyes again, she was already in an exquisite hall.
Here, you can see giant pillars cut from sandstone on both sides. The flat ground is covered with a thick brocade carpet, and there are patches of brightly colored murals on the walls on both sides.
But at the innermost side of the hall, what is painted on the wall is not a mural, but a huge pattern.
It was a silhouette of a raven with a six-pointed star array as the background.
Miriam had also speculated that the raven might be the image of Grandpa Raven; the six-pointed star array behind it might symbolize this country①.
As for the meaning of the combination of the two, probably no one except Grandpa Raven knows.
In front of that wall, there is an English long table that is somewhat similar to the academy long table in Hogwarts. Although it comes from a distant country, it is perfectly integrated with this hall.
Grandpa Raven once said that the long table he brought back from England a long time ago was of great significance to him.
But now, there is no one at that table.
"It's not lunch time yet, everyone should be still behind, right? And Grandpa Raven... must be studying the knowledge of magical biology in the study again."
Miriam couldn't help but curl her lips when she thought about this, but her eyes that gradually brightened quickly dimmed again.
He shook his head and swept the anxiety in his heart to a corner of his heart again. She raised her legs to walk past the long table. After a quick glance at her seat, she walked straight through the doorway in the inner wall and walked deeper.
Since this place is underground, the magic torches on the wall are always flickering, illuminating the place as bright as day. Occasionally, there will be one or two gusts of wind blowing leisurely through the corridor, bringing a bit of coolness to the people walking inside. I don't know where those winds come from.
Miriam walked non-stop, but the further she walked, the stranger she became, and in the end she even frowned.
No one, no one anywhere!
This is the headquarters of the organization. Although many companions usually live in the city, there are always people staying here. It was the first time for Miriam to encounter a situation like today where no one could see anyone.
In the end what happened
While feeling a sense of surprise and uncertainty in her heart, her steps became faster and faster. She was seen turning left and right in the long corridors, passing through several large and small halls and rooms, but she was always greeted by a deserted silence.
Her expression became irritable.
Finally, when she silently opened the door of the study that she was very familiar with, the still empty sight made her feet weaken, and she sat down on the ground in the corridor in a daze.
how come? Even Grandpa Raven is not here? Where did everyone go
During a trip to the British magical world, Miriam saw many people and things, and also touched her own memories that had been buried deep in her heart.
But she never expected that everything seemed to completely change her life so far.
Even when she finally returned, no one came to greet her and say hello with a smile.
"Are we... abandoned?"
Suddenly, Miriam turned her head and looked at Asa beside her. It's a pity that the only partner who is by her side now can no longer open his eyes and respond to her questions.
Immediately, some indescribable emotion surged into her heart, dyeing her eyes red.
However, at this moment, a leisurely sneer suddenly cut through the surrounding silence, passing like thunder in Miriam's ears.
"Hmph...Are you abandoned?" The voice sneered, "Aren't you the abandoned children who are destined to be abandoned?"
It seems that a person who is willing to be trained as a dead soldier should not ask such a question. But when someone ridiculed her, Miriam still felt a sincere unwillingness.
"Despicable Haierbo," she said in a deep voice without looking back, "He is right, you did follow..."
Behind Miriam, Haierbo, who had just revealed his figure, immediately raised his eyebrows.
"'Him'? Well, you mean that McClain?" He nodded slightly and chuckled, "Why, you have been warned, but you still dare to come here? Why don't you beg him more? If that young man is soft-hearted, wouldn't you be able to get his protection?"
While Haierbo was laughing, his eyes kept glancing around in private, and his magic induction was stretched to its maximum range. Obviously, he was actually worried that this might be a trap designed for him.
After all, no matter how you put it, the situation that there is no such person is really too suspicious.