Finding the Ruins

"I told you, there wasn’t that much…"

Bernard watched Adam drag out and open the boxes beneath his bed one by one, looking rather helpless.

There really was not much—just a Maxim Gun and spare parts, eight crates of ammunition, half a crate of White Phosphorus Grenades, and half a crate of Stun Grenades.

"I didn’t expect you to bring non-lethal weapons too."

Adam took out a Stun Grenade and tossed it lightly in his hand.

"After all, we’re at school. If possible, it’s better not to kill anyone for now."

Bernard pulled a book out from beneath his pillow.

"I’ve been studying wizarding laws lately, and I think there are a lot of looph—cough! A lot of places where things can be handled flexibly. Then we won’t have to worry."

At least explain what we won’t have to worry about!

Adam’s expression turned slightly strange, but Bernard studying wizarding law was not a bad thing. If Bernard could avoid Azkaban on his own in the future, that would save him… cough, save Voldemort the trouble of bailing him out.

From what Adam knew of Bernard, the guy might be criminal enough to deserve handcuffs, but he was still a good person. At most, he would use these methods for self-defense. Adam was not worried about him doing anything bad, so he let him be.

Honestly, Adam could understand it quite well. After living as a Muggle for so many years, suddenly entering the Wizarding World could leave someone feeling terribly insecure.

In any case, after checking Bernard’s arsenal and confirming there was nothing else dangerous enough to blow the whole dormitory into the sky, Adam made himself a few spare copies and said nothing more.

"I’m off~"

As soon as he spoke, Adam vanished from the spot. Everyone looked at the Adam still standing in the dormitory and hesitated, unsure what to say.

"For the next few days, just treat me as Adam."

The Mirror-disguised Adam gave a gentle smile, instantly making the four of them shudder.

"No, you… you’d better not make such a terrifying expression."

Whenever Adam came up with some underhanded little scheme, he wore that exact smile!

Mirror: ???

Had the world changed too quickly? Had smiling become an expression of terror?

Meanwhile, Adam went straight to Egypt, intending to check on Uther’s family while he was at it and see how things were going there.

The moment he landed, the ruins before him gave Adam quite a fright.

His teleportation destination had been Uther’s home!

Fortunately, Adam soon spotted Tuya. She was standing beside the ruins, angrily saying something to the people around her.

After waiting a moment, Adam found an opening.

"Mrs. Tuya?"

Tuya’s eyes instantly sharpened, and a silent spell blasted toward the source of the voice.

The raging Fiendfyre devoured the sand and gravel, making Adam’s eyelid twitch.

Although they had agreed beforehand on a way to verify identities, Adam still could not help praising her. Aunt Tuya truly was a formidable woman—she acted decisively indeed.

"Whew~ It really is you, Adam."

Seeing the barrier remain unmoved beneath the scorching Fiendfyre, Tuya waved her wand to retract the flames and frowned in confusion.

"Shouldn’t Hogwarts still be in session right now? Why are you here?"

"I wanted to ask whether you have any information about the Hanging Gardens, Auntie. And besides that—"

Adam glanced at the ruins not far away.

"What… happened here?"

"As you can see, we were attacked."

Tuya glanced at the ruins and frowned.

"They’re just lashing out in desperation. Don’t worry, it’ll be resolved soon… Don’t tell Uther."

"Alright."

Adam readily agreed. As for not telling Uther… Adam had agreed, but Kero, Suppi, and Mirror had not.

"The Hanging Gardens… the archives do have records regarding that legendary wonder, but I doubt that is what you want. You’re looking for recent information… I think I remember something. Come with me."

Tuya walked a few steps, then turned around and realized Adam had disappeared.

"Just go on ahead, Auntie. I’ll follow."

Tuya was somewhat surprised by Adam’s skill with the Disillusionment Charm, but she naturally led him all the way to the office of the Minister of Magic.

After closing the door, Tuya gave Adam, who had revealed himself, a complicated look.

On the way over, she had been preparing excuses in case an alarm was triggered. Yet after Adam turned invisible, he had actually followed her here without hindrance… Did Adam also have authorization to move freely through the Ministry of Magic?

Adam did not notice Tuya’s look. After waiting a while, he received the answer.

Tuya really did have intelligence about the Hanging Gardens Ruins appearing!

Judging by its location, the ruins of the Hanging Gardens lay within present-day Iraq. They had already been surrounded by official and private forces from various countries. Even though the Egyptian Ministry of Magic could not spare much manpower, it had still dispatched a team to observe the situation.

Interestingly, according to news received three days ago, none of the treasures within the Hanging Gardens Ruins had yet fallen into anyone’s hands—more precisely, not a single person who entered the Hanging Gardens Ruins had come back out.

Now that was interesting… If no one had come out yet, why had someone already targeted Eugene’s family?

No matter what, he had at least obtained the ruins’ location. Adam thanked her and vanished from the spot.

Tuya looked at where Adam had disappeared, regret in her eyes. She had wanted to ask Adam about how Uther had been doing lately… It seemed Adam was quite busy.

Hopefully that brat Uther had not gotten himself into some kind of trouble.

The Hanging Gardens Ruins were nowhere near any place Adam had visited before. Fortunately, he had The Fly and The Drive. Combining the two, Adam called it the youth version of the Speed Force. Without the protection of the Shield Card, the surrounding air would have torn him apart.

On the fourth day of his journey, Adam sat sideways atop the Wand of Darkness with its wings spread, holding up the Shield Card as he flew while controlling the Quick-Quotes Quill to write the homework due on Monday.

Then, a cluster of tents appeared at the edge of Adam’s vision. His gaze settled on the flag above one of them.

"The Magical Congress of the United States of America…"

A wand stood in the center of a large M. It was the flag of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, and Adam could not help complaining that even the Wizarding World’s American military was everywhere.

By the time he finished complaining, Adam had already approached the tents. A sweep of his eyes showed that quite a few factions were gathered here. There were also many small tents without flags, possibly belonging to private forces or something else. But Adam had no time to worry about that now. Finding Eugene’s parents was the top priority.

"To the left of the mountain, to the right of the water…"

There was water within sight, but no mountain. There was not even a small hill.

According to the information from the Egyptian Ministry of Magic, no one who had entered the ruins had come out so far. Clearly…

"So they really are inside the ruins?"

In the center of the tent cluster, he spotted a pitch-black hole. Dozens of ropes hung down from its mouth, stretching into an apparently bottomless abyss.

"Wizards use ropes to descend?"

Adam landed at the edge of the hole, took out a piece of candy, and tossed it forward. The candy’s arc abruptly stopped once it reached the space above the opening, replaced by a straight plunge downward.

Gravity magic?

The magic in the surrounding area was not flowing chaotically as it did elsewhere. Adam immediately thought of the Hanging Gardens, the wonder said in Wizarding World legends to float in the air and never touch the ground.

Levitation and gravity, combined with this location—it was no wonder everyone had concluded that these ruins were once the Hanging Gardens.

It was just difficult to imagine that the Hanging Gardens’ magic was still operating even today. Was someone still controlling it, or was the Hanging Gardens actually some kind of alchemical creation, like Gubraithian Fire?

With that thought, wings sprouted from Adam’s back. With a gentle flap, he soared into the hole.