欧美亚洲日产综合新一区

The young mages occasionally glanced at Daniel with curiosity. Having already undergone their families\' awakening rituals, they possessed a similar level of foundational knowledge about magic and the Curtained World.

As for how Daniel ended up in this situation, it all started a month ago...

— A Month Ago —

Inside a vast, soccer field-sized workshop filled with strange contraptions, magical machinery, and artifacts, Daniel was working on a prototype transmutation machine. His goal was to achieve at least 95% integrity and attribute retention in the transmuted materials, starting with the simplest: Orichalcum.

His work progressed smoothly, with only minor setbacks in the small-scale prototypes. But as he toiled away on this marvel of magical engineering, he received an intercom call from Koyuki.

"Danny, your package has arrived. Did you buy something online?" Koyuki asked.

"Ah, yes. Thank you, I\'ll be there shortly," Daniel replied, setting down his tools.

He exited his workshop and entered his house, greeting Koyuki and Envy, who were busy in the kitchen. Little Sylvana was at school, the magical academy owned by Sean Montgomery. This meant she was in good hands, receiving the utmost care and attention.

As a naturally awakened mage with a special physique and a rare Origin Element, Sylvana was receiving one-on-one instruction from Patrick Dupont, the half-elf.

Lost in thought about his daughter, Daniel reached the front gate. After signing for the package, he returned to the house he had built atop a newly constructed residential block for refugees, after losing his previous home to the emergence of the giant bonsai during Sylvana\'s awakening.

Of course, this entire building was occupied by members of Astral PMC, as Daniel prioritized his family\'s safety. He even waived the electricity, gas and water fees for the entire building to incentivize Astral PMC personnel to stay and protect his family.

Daniel opened the package, revealing a small potted plant resembling a carrot. He smiled, recognizing something he had wanted to see for a long time.

"What\'s that? A potted carrot? You\'re strange, Daniel. I thought you\'d buy another bonsai or cactus," Koyuki chimed in, observing from the side.

"No, this is a mandrake. I bought it online. I wanted to see what it was like," Daniel explained. In truth, he wanted to compare it to the "Mandrake" card he possessed and see if there were any differences.

"Huh? A mandrake? Are you sure?" Koyuki asked, skeptical of the plant before her.

"Huh? Why?" Daniel inquired, unsure of her thoughts.

"Envy! Daniel bought a mandrake home!" Koyuki shouted towards the kitchen, where Envy was busy preparing food.

A few seconds later, Envy emerged, wiping her hands clean after setting down her knife. She walked towards Daniel, her expression a mixture of confusion and skepticism.

"Mandrake?" Envy uttered, stopping beside Daniel. She cast a silencing spell on the potted plant and immediately pulled it out.

"Hey! What are you doing? It\'s just a seedling! It\'ll die if you do that!" Daniel protested, but Envy ignored him, scrutinizing the mandrake in her hand.

The mandrake had a magical signature, but Envy didn\'t detect any other signs of a genuine specimen. A real mandrake\'s scream would carry a potent death curse, instantly killing any non-magical or weak-willed individuals nearby.

"Where did you buy this? An online store?" she asked, looking at Daniel as if he were a clueless child.

"Err... yeah. I don\'t have time to go out, do I?" Daniel admitted, still confused by the question and the stares from both Envy and Koyuki.

"Can I see the store page?" Envy inquired, gesturing for his phone.

Daniel obediently handed over his phone, having already opened the store page for her.

Envy tapped and swiped, searching for something on the page. Then she pulled out her own phone and dialed a number. After a brief wait...

"Yeah, it\'s Envy. Do me a favor and check the owner of this \'Genuine Magical Hut Shop\' store page for me, will you?" she asked the person on the other end.

"Five minutes? Okay, I\'ll hold." Envy put the phone on speaker and waited.

The five minutes were filled with tension, as an uncomfortable aura emanated from Envy. Daniel felt a sense of foreboding, but couldn\'t pinpoint what was wrong.

Finally, the wait was over, and Envy spoke into the phone.

"Yes? Oh... as I expected. Thank you. So it\'s not from your side, right? Thanks." She hung up.

"What\'s wrong?" Daniel asked, feeling nervous.

"Danny... sigh," Envy said, looking at him with a tired expression. "You\'ve been completely duped."

"What?" Daniel was shocked. This was the first time he had ever been told he\'d been tricked. "How?" he managed to ask, overwhelmed by the news.

"Danny... Mandrake is a controlled magical ingredient, strictly managed by the Hightower. Yes, after they withdrew their influence and focused on Europe, there\'s a chance it could appear on the black market. But do you really think it would be sold openly in an online shop like this?" Envy paused, then smirked.

"I\'m surprised, Danny. From my perspective, you\'re one hell of a paranoid guy. I didn\'t think you could be duped. Didn\'t you check?"

"Hey, I did check. Didn\'t you see the votes, the reviews, and…" Daniel trailed off. Yes, he had checked a lot about this shop. Well... he had personally checked the reviews and such, but it was still 100% from the internet since he didn\'t have time to do the legwork himself. And he thought this was his personal matter, so he didn\'t use Whispering Hall resources to verify the authenticity.

"I wouldn\'t call that a check, Danny. Seriously, how gullible are you in the affairs of modern mage society? This trick could only dupe a newly minted mage, and even that\'s rare." Envy said, letting out a disappointed sigh. Koyuki was holding back her laughter, but the crazy shaking of her body didn\'t help, and Daniel clearly noticed that his wives were nearly dying from holding in their laughs.

"If you find it uncomfortable, Koyuki, let it out before it bursts," Daniel said sarcastically.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" A loud burst of laughter erupted as Koyuki laughed at Daniel. She fell to the ground, laughing and pointing at Daniel, who felt a bit irritated at his wife laughing at him.

"Uhuhuhu, Lord Emberweave, the one feared by all the mages under the Hightower, got duped by a small-time scammer." Envy also let out her laughter, but she maintained her decorum, laughing like a noblewoman, unlike Koyuki, who had lost all of hers.

Daniel endured his wives\' laughter for a moment before sighing. It was his fault for not thoroughly checking the shop\'s authenticity.

"Ugh... Seriously, if you\'ve had enough fun, how about helping me get my money back from this scammer?" he asked the two women, still chuckling. Especially Envy. He knew she wasn\'t laughing as hard as Koyuki, but with her personality, this would become a long-running joke at his expense.

"Okay, Danny, we\'ll help you. But can you promise me one thing?" Envy asked with a calm smile. Koyuki was slowly regaining her composure, but still letting out an occasional giggle.

— Evening —

Inside a luxurious mansion in Sector Alpha City, a bald man of African descent named Viper was enjoying a party with several beautiful women. His partner in crime, Silencer, a Caucasian man with a large scar on his throat, was also present.

"Ahhhhhh, hahaha! We\'re rich, baby! We\'re rich! I never thought there would be so many gullible mages in North America and Southeast Asia. The Hightower did a great job verifying shop authenticity, didn\'t they? Now that they\'ve withdrawn, we\'re in for a long haul!" Viper laughed, speaking to Silencer, who nodded repeatedly in agreement.

"Okay, now that we have all this money, should we relocate? I think the Caribbean would be nice! I could use a change of scenery..." As Viper daydreamed, his instincts suddenly kicked in, making him feel as if he had plunged into an icy lake.

"You seem to be having a blast... Why aren\'t you continuing?" a cold, murderous voice echoed from behind him. Silencer\'s eyes widened as he saw who stood behind his partner.

It was a beautiful female vampire, her eyes and smile filled with bloodlust. She stood directly behind Viper, who was frozen in fear. All the women hired for the party had fallen asleep. The vampire was none other than Maria, who was utterly pissed after hearing what happened from Envy.

Boom!

A woman in a green suit walked through the door – or rather, through the locked door. She held a spear in her hand, and a large double axe hung on her back. This was Penthesilea, who was also pissed off by the scammer\'s actions against her lord.