Under the guidance of the withered old man, Link and the others walked toward that tall tower.
And the deeper they went into the village, the more Link felt something strange. Because this village, in a certain sense, truly could be called a land of miracles.
Unlike the rugged, jagged rocks within the canyon outside, here there was not only soil, but soil that was rich and black, extremely fertile.
The grains and vegetables planted on it, and even the cattle and sheep livestock walking around, were all specially synthesized and modified breeds, huge in size and strange in appearance.
Looking again at those neatly arranged wooden villas, as if carved from a single mold, and the villagers all with rosy complexions and strong builds,
Link could easily draw the conclusion that these villagers were living extremely happy lives.
But unlike the prosperity and harmony within the village, the area where the tall tower was located had once again turned into hard permafrost, with biting cold wind blowing around it.
The withered old man left behind the strong men who were accompanying, and brought only Link and the others alone to a tightly shut door at the base of the tall tower.
The withered old man wasn't wearing much, and under the torment of the cold wind, his entire body was shivering uncontrollably.
But Link had a constant feeling that the reason why the old man was shivering didn't seem to be because of the cold, but because he was too excited.
Beep!
The old man, trembling, reached out and pressed the doorbell.
And not long after that, the door opened.
Link opened his mouth slightly in surprise. Because not only did the door have a doorbell, but the way it opened was also the sliding-horizontal type often seen in sci-fi movies with airtight doors.
This... this was way too un-fantasy-like.
But what surprised Link even more came after.
After the door opened, no one was inside, and the withered old man skillfully led Link and the others into the brightly lit, concrete-and-steel-built ground floor of the tall tower, and then led them into an elevator.
Watching as the old man pressed the top floor button on a dense floor-selection panel, Link was now almost too exhausted to complain.
When he first saw this tower, images flashing through his mind were all of the wizard towers in those old fantasy stories.
In Link's imagination, this tower should've been filled with strange runes carved everywhere, and all kinds of mysterious magical traps, and they should've been guided by alchemy golems.
Now what was this sense of walking into a corporate office building all about!?
"What's wrong, Link?"
Sensing something was off with Link, Emily asked with concern.
Hearing that, Link shook his head. "It's nothing. It's just that the structure of this place feels a bit strange to me, that's all."
The elevator ascended quickly, and before long, they reached the top floor.
As the elevator doors opened, what appeared in front of Link was a huge office.
Aside from the floor and ceiling being made of wood and concrete, all the walls around were made entirely of transparent glass.
Standing here, you could overlook the entire Land of Miracles, or gaze into the distant snowy mountains.
And in the center of the office, there was a solid wood long desk, where a young man in pajamas was sloppily sitting, and beside him was even a little girl in a maid outfit fanning him.
"Oh! You guys came up so fast?"
Seeing Link and the group, the young man hurriedly tried to come forward to greet them, but due to moving too suddenly, he nearly fell right off the chair.
"Phew! That was dangerous!"
The young man stumbled his way in front of Link and the others, then suddenly widened his eyes and said, "Professor Kettleburn? Why are you here? At this time of year, shouldn't you usually be at Hogwarts maintaining the Forbidden Forest?"
"???"
As soon as those words came out, everyone else turned to look at Kettleburn, who then smiled awkwardly and said, "I thought that name looked familiar. So it really is you, Richard. As for why I'm here, heh, I'm retired now! I'm free, do you understand?"
After saying that, Professor Kettleburn turned to introduce to Link and the others, "Everyone, let's get acquainted. This person was actually my student in the past. Back then, he was a little Gryffindor who loved following behind the eldest Weasley all day, quite the mischievous one."
"Ah! Let's not bring that up anymore!"
Richard scratched his head with a bitter smile, "Anyway, let's not talk about that now. Everyone, come have a seat. Sam, help make some coffee!"
Richard enthusiastically led Link and the others to a large bar counter in the adjacent room.
At this moment, the withered old man was politely dismissed by Richard at the elevator door.
With his Supersensory Charm, Link could sense that the old man seemed to be asking Richard for something, and only left after getting what he wanted.
And after everyone sat down, the little girl who looked to be only about twelve or thirteen years old came over carrying a coffee pot, pouring coffee for everyone.
"Ha! Too bitter, Sam. Could you please bring me some sugar cubes too?"
"Yes, Master!"
Watching the maid Sam being ordered to run around, Emily and Link both gave Richard unpleasant looks.
Clearly, he had hands and feet of his own, yet he insisted on ordering around such a young little girl, this was just inhuman.
Of course, the main reason was that the **girl named Sam was just way too adorable.
Sitting across from them, Richard didn't notice Emily and Link's expressions at all. He clicked his tongue twice, seemingly wanting to get rid of the bitterness in his mouth, and finally turned to Professor Kettleburn and asked,
"Professor, then what's the reason you've come all this way to find me this time?"
Hearing this, Professor Kettleburn, Newt, and Link exchanged glances, and in the end, Newt cleared his throat and said, "Mr. Seler, in fact, this time we came as representatives of the Ministry of Magic to investigate whether you have been illegally breeding magical creatures.
And based on what we've seen and heard here in the tower, this 'Land of Miracles', it seems that not only have you engaged in illegal magical creature breeding, but you've also violated the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, haven't you?"
"The Breeding Law… and the Secrecy Law!!"
Richard clenched his fists, muttering and repeating the two offenses that Newt had just named, his face turning gloomy.
As a Hogwarts Gryffindor graduate, of course he knew that creating the Land of Miracles was against the law.
The Breeding Law wasn't such a big deal. But the Statute of Secrecy was different.
This was a law that every young wizard was constantly reminded of after entering the magical world, do not expose magic to Muggles.
Do not let Muggles know about the existence of the magical world. Violation means lifetime imprisonment in Azkaban.
Richard couldn't help but shiver. And seeing him in such a dazed and lost state, Link, Emily, and Professor Kettleburn all quietly held onto their wands.
Don't be fooled by the fact that Richard was once Professor Kettleburn's student, if things really reached the point of no return, even Kettleburn wouldn't spare him.
As for Link and Emily, even less so.
Clatter!
Just then, the sound of porcelain shattering suddenly rang out.
Richard turned instinctively toward the sound, and saw that the maid girl Sam who had been sent to get sugar cubes was now standing in a daze, staring at them.
At her feet, the jar of sugar cubes had already shattered into pieces.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y