Amosta weighed the bag in his hand, which had been magically expanded by the Undetectable Extension Charm. Despite the weight being diminished by a constant Floating Charm, it still felt heavy, bringing him immense joy. Seven hundred Galleons—that was the reward he had earned after enduring hardship and hunger for half a month in the ancient forests of the Jura Mountains in France, enough to equal the annual salary of a formal staff member at Hogwarts or a senior official at the Ministry of Magic.

After checking that the heart of the Chimera he brought was in perfect condition, Karkus, sitting opposite him, closed the rough wooden box with a satisfied smile. "Your reputation is the brightest light in the underground world, Mr. Gold Viper; every transaction with you is a perfect pleasure!"

Amosta silently put away the money pouch, ignoring Karkus Flee's praise; everyone here was just in it for the glittering Galleons, and there was no need to drag in any notions of friendship unless necessary. "Are there any decent commissions recently?"

"You are as diligent as ever, Mr. Gold Viper." Karkus's smile remained unchanged; in fact, most people operating here were cautious and reserved, while someone as polite and enthusiastic as him was the exception.

Karkus continued to smile, subtly flattering Amosta while flipping through a notebook he pulled from his pocket. "What are your requirements regarding the types of tasks and payment?"

"My habits haven't changed, Karkus. Let's not waste each other's time," Amosta replied coldly.

"Of course, of course, how could I forget your requirements—no commissions targeting wizards or Muggles, a fee of over five hundred Galleons, and the task needs to be completed as quickly as possible... I won't forget any client's habits, Mr. Gold Viper... However," Karkus continued flipping through his notebook, mumbling to himself, but his brow gradually furrowed. By the time he reached the latest page, he couldn't find any tasks that met Amosta's requirements.

"Uh... I'm afraid I must apologize, Mr. Gold Viper. Tasks that meet your habits are generally hot commodities. There was a task to provide materials for crafting a magical activity suppression potion, worth five hundred and fifty Galleons, but unfortunately, it was taken by someone else three days ago..."

Upon hearing this, Amosta stood up and turned to leave, adopting a swift and decisive demeanor.

"Please wait, Mr. Gold Viper!" Karkus, who had laid the groundwork, immediately interjected. Faced with Amosta's unfriendly gaze, Karkus's forehead veins throbbed, fearing that this dangerous wizard might draw his wand and pin him to the ground with a spear, just as he had dealt with those unruly werewolves before.

"I mean no offense," Karkus quickly explained, "There are indeed no commissions that meet your requirements here, but there are some tasks with very generous fees, though they carry higher risks. I wonder if you might be interested in hearing about them?"

"Higher risks?"

A task labeled high risk by someone like Karkus Flee, who had been around here for years, certainly wouldn't be a petty smuggling job. Amosta hesitated internally but after a moment of thought, he sat back down, nodding at Karkus. "Go ahead and tell me."

Karkus instinctively let out a sigh of relief. Trying to earn a commission from a dangerous wizard like Gold Viper was no easy task; you never knew where you might inadvertently provoke them and lose your life. Thus, one had to be ready to escape at any moment.

"The first commission's reward is twenty thousand Galleons..."

Just hearing the amount, Amosta's brow twitched, and he held his breath.

"—The client sent me a magical contract from Albania. He hopes someone can help rescue the Lestranges and the Carrows from Azkaban—what do you think of this commission?"

"Hmph, I'm not that foolish, Karkus. I refuse this commission."

Amosta rejected it without hesitation. If it were simply a matter of rescuing someone, he might have hesitated for a moment given the weight of those Galleons, as the Dementors of Azkaban, while dangerous, were not insurmountable for him. The real danger of this task lay in the identity of those being rescued.

No one in the magical world would be unaware that the Lestranges and the Carrows were among the most radical Death Eaters. If someone were to rescue them, it was predictable that Dumbledore, who had spent the latter half of his life battling Voldemort, would definitely intervene in the investigation. Amosta did not want to waste the rest of his life on the run. Moreover, Azkaban's location was classified, making it very time-consuming to find.

Karkus was not surprised by Amosta's straightforward refusal. In his opinion, the person posting the task was likely not in their right mind after drinking too much Firewhisky. After all, who would be willing to face such disgusting and terrifying creatures as Dementors?

"Your choice is very wise, Mr. Gold Viper. Let me think—there's another commission. Someone claims to have found the location of a magical ruin built by a powerful ancient wizard and is looking to recruit some skilled wizards as guards. The client indicated they cannot offer a high direct commission, but they are willing to share the discoveries within the ruins with the explorers. What do you think of this commission—"

Searching for ruins could indeed yield high rewards, not just in terms of gold and jewels, but there could also be many ancient spells, known for their power, that are now lost to time. If one could draw on those, it would be beneficial for improving one's own abilities.

However, after contemplating for a moment, Amosta still declined the commission. It wasn't that he feared the risk; exploring ruins also required a lot of time for preparation, and the likely outcome would be coming up empty-handed. Amosta didn't like to rely on luck that made no sense for his gains.

Karkus was very patient and introduced several long-stored commissions to Amosta, but each commission was either disproportionate in risk to reward or would bring him significant trouble upon completion, and all were inevitably rejected.

In the end, even Karkus felt troubled by Amosta's picky nature. He sat there, furrowed his brows, and remained silent for a long time.

"There's one more, the last one, Mr. Gold Viper. If this doesn't satisfy you—"

After a while, Karkus leaned forward with a cautious expression. Although he couldn't see Amosta's expression behind the swirling magical aura on his face, he was doing his best to observe the dangerous man across from him. "Have you heard of... the Chamber of Slytherin?"

"The Chamber of Slytherin?"

Amosta's body trembled. Although he had mostly lost his memories of the plot from his previous life, anyone who had attended Hogwarts would not have been unaware of it. Amosta had fought with people in the underground world, and the spells he cast and his habits clearly indicated he had been trained under modern, orthodox magical education—there was nothing to hide.

"It's just a campus legend from Hogwarts; why bring that up?"

Seeing that Amosta had taken the bait, Karkus secretly rejoiced but kept a straight face. "You don't often stay in the country, so you might not know. Although the Daily Prophet hasn't reported anything, word has spread privately. It is said that the Chamber has indeed been opened, and someone is causing widespread panic at Hogwarts by wielding the power of the Chamber. Dumbledore is powerless to stop it..."

"Wait!"

Amosta interrupted Karkus rudely. "What does this have to do with the commission? Is someone paying me to go to the school to protect those kids?"

"Of course not!"

Karkus revealed a cunning smile. "But the name of Salazar Slytherin is indeed enough to attract interest, isn't it? The client believes Slytherin left behind treasures in the Chamber that have been obtained by the so-called heir. Otherwise, how could one explain that even someone as formidable as Dumbledore can't find any clues?"

Amosta fell silent. He indeed couldn't remember much of the original plot, but at the very least, he remembered that the Chamber didn't seem to contain any wealth, magic, or powerful alchemical artifacts. However, given the greedy nature of wizards here, it wasn't surprising that such speculation existed. After all, the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were powerful wizards with historical records, possessing magical powers far beyond ordinary people. Once their legacies appeared, people would certainly flock to them.

"Even if that's the case," Amosta remained unmoved, "Does anyone dare to rush into Hogwarts and snatch something from Dumbledore? It would be safer to go rescue those madmen from Azkaban."

"Not necessarily to snatch, but to do it in a more reasonable way."

Karkus said eagerly, determined to persuade Amosta. "I can provide some assistance, such as allowing you to enter the school under the title of an external investigator for the board of governors—our esteemed wizards on the board need to respond to the terrifying activities happening in the school to address the growing dissatisfaction among the people. However, they are also worried that the attacks keep happening and that the wizards they send are ineffective, becoming a laughingstock. But if there were a reliable wizard, they would be willing to negotiate with Dumbledore—after all, Dumbledore's performance in these events has been disappointing, and they might think he’s getting old and a bit sluggish..."

"It seems you've had your eye on me for a while."

If Amosta hadn't realized this by now, that would be truly foolish. Karkus was not without suitable commissions; the high-risk tasks he had previously mentioned were merely bait. His real intention was to hope that Amosta would take on this last commission.

Sure enough, he had been seen through.

Karkus's heart tightened, and he revealed a humble smile. "After all, the choice of investigator needs to be approved by Albus Dumbledore, so wizards from Hogwarts are the first choice, and strength and reputation are also crucial. Here, you are the only one who meets the requirements."

Amosta could not deny it. "How will you resolve the issue of identity confidentiality? You should know this will expose my true self."

Cunning as Karkus Flee was, he had naturally considered this problem long ago and eagerly assured, "The client will not know that it is Mr. Gold Viper who has taken the commission. The board will know your name in the outside world, but they won't be able to glean your identity in the underground world from me."

"What about you," Amosta pressed forward aggressively, "In your plan, you are the only one who will know both my identity in the outside world and in the underground world. How can you ensure that you are trustworthy?"

"An unbreakable vow, guaranteeing with the lives of all the Flee family members, to keep your identity secret forever."

Amosta stared intently at Karkus's not-so-young face, not in a hurry to respond. "It seems you can gain a very large reward from this commission, right?"

"That's a personal secret of mine, Mr. Gold Viper."

Karkus seemed to feel victory in his grasp, smiling as he said, "Eight thousand Galleons, plus the thanks of the board of governors, and perhaps you could even receive an award from the Ministry of Magic for retrieving the treasures from the Chamber of Slytherin—Mr. Gold Viper, this deal is quite worthwhile..."