What kind of person would the water-based wizard Parish be, and what sort of abilities would he possess? In Arthur's limited imagination, an image of a tall, handsome man wielding a longsword appeared in his mind.
George closed his eyes, massaging his temples with a heavy sigh—a stark contrast to Arthur, who was punching the air in excitement. As mentioned earlier, George was an anti-wizard human; they worshipped the blessing of the gods and believed that wizards were the source of the world's chaos and darkness. Now, with the information about the wizard that he had gotten from Hobick, George was faced with a dilemma: should he report it to the official organizations in Brighton City?
In addition to the Enforcers, who handled various resident issues and conducted nighttime patrols, Brighton City also had two other official organizations: the Tribunal and the City Senate. If the Enforcers represented public safety, then the Tribunal represented the rights of the nobility, while the City Senate was an organization where various social classes fought for their interests. The three official organizations kept each other in check, maintaining a surface harmony among the city's various classes. Particularly when it came to wizards, the three organizations held a surprisingly unified stance, detaining any unregistered wizards. As for those who had registered… no residents knew of their whereabouts.
Arthur had only learned about the existence of wizards from Livlan, who had mentioned that they had long since faded from the public eye. Occasionally, word of wizards would emerge from very distant lands.
Of course, Arthur still didn't know that free wizards were like a thorn in the side of Brighton City's official organizations.
On the sofa, Hobick twisted his body with a shudder, muttering all sorts of nonsense in fear. George jabbed Hobick's waist to try to calm him down, but Hobick turned away and angrily brushed off George's hand. At that moment, a small round button on Hobick's collar reflected a golden light, catching the attention of both an excited Arthur and a conflicted George.
"What's this?" Arthur pointed to the shiny metal button on Hobick's collar. Generally, buttons were made of wood or shell, with gold or silver reserved for the nobility. Yet Arthur had never seen this kind of metal on Hobick's collar. No matter from which angle Arthur looked, the front of the collar button always faced him.
Following Arthur's lead, George tried a few experiments as well, finding that the button's side remained invisible, even though it didn't look round at all. "This is too amazing!" George momentarily forgot his concerns about wizards and official organizations, staring at the button and reaching out to touch it.
"Hey, keep your hands off! This thing is precious!" Hobick once again swatted George's hand away and, scowling, muttered curses at George's lack of manners. "This is forged and crafted by dwarves—it's a testament to our dwarf wisdom!"
You can't even remember your own name, yet you're boasting about dwarven wisdom? Arthur, who had wanted to touch the button too, abandoned the thought when he saw George rubbing his stinging hand. Noticing George giving him a signal, Arthur got an idea.
"So, you're saying this is a product of dwarven wisdom, and that a little collar button is worthy of dwarven pride? Even the blind man on Balmer Street could see it's just an ordinary button."
Hearing George's insult, Hobick leapt off the sofa, standing on it, and pointed at George's nose as he retorted, "Ignorant human brat! How could you understand the wisdom of the great dwarves!"
"Well, why don't you prove it, then? If it's just talk, I could claim that cup you just used is a human achievement too." Arthur joined in.
Hobick's beard bristled as he pointed between Arthur and George, his hand going back and forth several times, too frustrated to get a word out.
After several seconds, Hobick's flushed face finally squeezed out a few words: "Fine… very well, human brats! I'll show you the greatness of dwarves!"
He removed the collar button and placed it on the sofa, pressing his fingers into both sides. Unlike ordinary metal, the button was surprisingly soft, molding around Hobick's fingers. Lying on the sofa, Hobick explained to the two:
"You little rascals with no knowledge—this metal is called 'memory metal.' It can change shape based on the user's needs. Only a very few dwarves have a collar button made of this metal. Strange, why do I have one? Oh, well! This button is more than a mere ornament. Because we dwarves possess relics left by the gods, this memory metal can create a connection after mutual contact…"
"A relic of the gods?" George glanced at Arthur, noticing he didn't react to the term, still focused on Hobick and the button. Could Arthur already know what it was?
"In other words, dwarves with this button can relay simple messages to one another and sense each other's locations, even from different cities."
"That's impossible!" Arthur exclaimed in disbelief, struggling to comprehend how two people in separate cities could communicate with a button. Hobick smirked. "I'll show you right n—"
Before he could finish, Mrs. Lily emerged from the kitchen with a freshly brewed pot of tea, smiling as she asked, "Show what, Mr. Hobick?"
Arthur and George instantly stood upright, blocking Hobick from view and frantically signaling him to put the button away. Mrs. Lily, as a former Enforcer's clerk, had always cautioned the kids not to be overly curious about other races or to do anything too risky. Lizzy was the best at following her advice.
Hobick, peeking out from behind the two, fell silent, obediently accepting the tea Mrs. Lily handed him and sipping it carefully.
Late into the night, the four of them chatted a bit about Layburg Village and the relationship between Hobick and Dodge, though Hobick didn't provide any more useful information. Eventually, Arthur let it go. Mrs. Lily arranged for Hobick to sleep in a vacant room next to hers on the first floor, originally used by the children to do homework. The room contained only five small wooden desks. With no other rooms available, she simply placed a blanket there for Hobick to sleep on.
...
Late at night, not a glimmer of light remained in the night sky. Apart from a few kerosene street lamps, Brighton City was deserted. On the roof of a department store at the end of Etzikri Street, a figure in a black cloak clutched his collar, silently observing the nearby houses. He had tracked the dwarf's blood trail from Layburg Village to Brighton City but had lost the trail here on Etzikri Street.
"This is troublesome; the Houston Clan is as difficult as the Hebrew Clan. If I stay here any longer, the Tribunal and Enforcers will come. I'd better leave for now, and I wonder if that idiot Garthas managed to catch that bothersome wizard."
The cloaked figure took one last look at the empty street. Across the way, a few Enforcers in uniform, carrying kerosene lanterns, were approaching. The lead Enforcer raised his lantern towards the roof, but there was no one there anymore.