Ivan slowly scanned the room, unhappy with the efficiency. He had used a communication-magic tool to alert everyone at once!
The arriving wizards looked nonplussed under Ivan's gaze, not quite sure where they had offended him.
"Ten minutes!" Ivan looked at the clock in the room again, then turned to the crowd and said, "It took me ten minutes from the moment I gave the signal… until you used Apparition to get here! I have to say, your incompetence is far beyond my expectations!"
"Even a group of Muggles arriving from either side of Knockturn Alley upon receiving the order might not have taken that long!"
Ivan's words were sharp, and the wizards he stared at looked down in fear, unable to meet his gaze.
The memory of Ivan killing someone with a flick of his finger was still fresh in their minds, so no matter how much Ivan scolded them, they did not dare to retort.
"Who's the last to arrive?" Ivan demanded, his face expressionless.
"It's… it's me. I was… I was in the bathroom, sir!" A thirty-year-old wizard stammered as he stepped out of the bathroom.
"To the bathroom? That's a good reason…" Ivan sneered, but he didn't pursue the matter. Instead, he turned his attention to the witch who was the second last to arrive.
'And you? Grace!'
"I'm…I'm in the bath, sir…" the witch said, embarrassed.
"I hate it when people lie… Grace! Or are you going to tell me you rolled in the sand after your bath?" Yvonne glanced at her, acutely aware of the amount of dirt on her wizarding robes, which didn't look like new clothes.
"I'm… I'm sorry… Sir Hals! Please… please forgive me!"
When Ivan caught her in the act of lying and glared at her coldly, Grace's face turned white and she fell to her knees, prostrating herself and begging Ivan to spare her life.
After witnessing Ivan distort the truth and force Reece Nott to "confess" and kill her in a bizarre fashion, the seed of fear had taken root in Grace's heart.
Yvonne was taken aback by Grace's reaction. She had only wanted to give her a bit of a knock on the head so that she could show the wizards the importance of discipline.
Am I that scary? Ivan was frustrated, but then he decided it must be because of her poor mental fortitude. He thought all the wizards in Knockturn Alley were ruthless, but it seemed he was wrong.
Ivan shook his head to himself and gave up on the idea of punishing them on the spot. However, he kept a straight face and looked around at the crowd with a sharp gaze.
"And you, what other reason is there? I thought you were supposed to meet us here this afternoon!"
None of the wizards dared to reply, so they simply accepted Ivan's reprimand. Some of them even complained that Ivan was making a mountain out of a molehill.
Ivan had been keeping an eye on their faces, so he could easily guess what they were thinking.
"I hope you have not forgotten that we are in a life-and-death struggle and are in constant danger!
If this notice comes because one of you has been attacked in Knockturn Alley, you'd better pray that you're lucky enough to wait for your mates to dilly-dally and come to your rescue!"
Ivan's words were like a warning bell to Grace and the others.
The coffin containing Elf's body was placed in front of them, telling them with the blood-soaked truth that this was not alarmism, and that if they had reacted a little faster yesterday, Elf might have survived.
"Grace, Joseph…" Ivan looked at the last two people to arrive and asked, "If you were attacked by a team of wizards sent by the Norts, when do you think backup should arrive?"
Naturally, the sooner the better! Not a second to lose!
Grace thought about this but didn't say it out loud, as she understood that Yvonne wasn't asking about this, but rather asking her to give a time limit for the meeting.
"One minute!" Grace said, gritting her teeth as she calculated.
She felt that even if she was in the bathroom or taking a shower, a minute would be more than enough for her to deal with the situation.
"Thirty seconds!" Yosef was more vicious than Grace, cutting the time in half to get away with it.
"Very good! Then we'll do as you say, one minute is usually the limit, and thirty seconds is all it takes to get an emergency notice! Next time I'll start the clock and there will be severe punishments for latecomers, no exceptions, and no reason!" Ivan said forcefully.