Kars, a strategically important defense city in northeastern Turkey, near Armenia.

Inside a newly opened magical tavern, a dozen Turkish Ministry of Magic Aurors gathered around tables, their wands placed before them.

If one disregarded that it was nearing midnight, one might have thought the Aurors were having a team-building exercise after work—in these turbulent and depressed times, no one can truly remain untouched, not even the Turkish magical world, far from the eye of the storm.

With the end of the Cold War, the Turkish non-magical world did not take off as people imagined.

As a Western stronghold against the Soviet Union, the economic support it had previously received quickly vanished after the Soviet Union completely collapsed.

The Western powers, having failed to profit from the former Soviet market and instead investing heavily in it, quickly awakened to reality after a brief celebration: financial crises and economic depressions would not simply disappear. If they couldn't extract enough profit from the ruins of the former Soviet Union, they would have to drastically cut spending. Otherwise, the fate of the former Soviet Union would become the fate of countries like Britain and America.

Evidently, among the many financial expenditures, the size of the military and police forces was the first to be targeted for cuts.

After all, Ukraine had completely destroyed not only its army but even its nuclear weapons, a display of resolve that deeply shocked all NATO countries.

And in the months following the Turkish non-magical government's significant spending cuts, the magical world also underwent similar reforms—although the reasons might be different, the result was a strange, dreamlike convergence between the two worlds...

Due to the need to cut expenses, the Turkish Ministry of Magic planned to announce a list of early retirees after Easter.

According to rumors circulating in the Ministry, most of them were Aurors.

From a high-sounding perspective, this was mainly because they had suffered considerable physical and mental harm from working on the front lines for a long time, hence the special permission for early retirement. From a more realistic perspective, in peacetime, Aurors had long ceased to be relevant.

Amidst this frustration and disappointment, the Aurors had been frequenting this place for a few drinks lately.

Of course, this was just what onlookers saw.

"Is it safe here? I don't want to see our names in the morning paper—"

Atif, the head of the Turkish Ministry of Magic's Auror Office, turned to look at the goblin wiping glasses behind the bar not far away, lowering his voice as he asked his colleague, "You should know, this operation must not be leaked beforehand. Only the ministers know about it."

"Relax, this tavern may be new, but its main branch is an old tavern in Diagon Alley in London."

Barad pointed towards the entrance. The small sign that read "The Leaky Cauldron - Branch No. 17" lit up.

The Leaky Cauldron, a family business run by the Abbot family, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families in Britain.

As one of the few long-standing wizarding taverns in the current magical world still run by a pure-blood wizarding family, The Leaky Cauldron suddenly began expanding throughout Europe in the latter half of last year. Even wizards needed a place to quietly have a few drinks in this time of economic downturn.

"A British-owned place? How come there's a goblin bartender—did they invest in Gringotts?"

Atif raised an eyebrow noncommittally, swirling the ice beer in his glass, and curiously glanced at the goblin again.

At least in the Turkish magical world, it was quite rare to see goblins working in wizarding establishments.

"Oh, this phenomenon will only increase. As for the reason..."

Barad glanced at the goblin, drained his glass in one gulp, and sighed heavily.

"It's actually the same for us, it's all due to the Gringotts reforms—Gringotts no longer has the right to mint currency, and their annual investment income is subject to a proportional tax to the Ministry of Magic. Many goblins have no choice but to find work themselves. I don't understand, the Ministry obviously has money now, why is it even stingier than before? We just got a raise a few days ago, and now they're talking about cutting expenses..."

"It's precisely because the Ministry finally has money that we need to do something to prove the value of the Aurors."

Atif looked at the swirling liquid in his glass and sighed softly.

Some time ago, the goblins at Gringotts Wizarding Bank made a "heretical" decision:

They handed over the rights to currency issuance, minting, and pricing, which Gringotts Wizarding Bank had held in the magical world for thousands of years, to the wizards.

Along with this change, magical communities in various countries simultaneously received Gringotts' payment of unpaid business taxes for the entire year of the previous year—from that moment on, magical governments around the world seemed to have opened the door to a new world. They truly and deeply experienced the joys of "government finances."

In the early days of "fiscal recovery," magical ministries in various countries underwent a round of pay increases of varying proportions.

However, shortly afterward, Ministry of Magic employees received various new regulations and assessment adjustments.

Spending the goblins’ money and taking money from their own pockets were obviously two completely different experiences.

Everywhere, violence is always one of the most expensive items.

The nature of the Aurors' work meant that they had significantly higher salary than other departments of the Ministry of Magic. However, when their daily work was discussed in meetings to assess cost-effectiveness, the number of Auror deployments in peacetime was not even as frequent as that of Magical Creature Specialists.

A month ago, the Turkish Minister of Magic’s council issued an ultimatum to Atif’s Auror Office.

If they could not submit a persuasive work plan and produce tangible results before Easter, the Auror Office would be reduced to a quarter of its original size through methods like "early retirement," "voluntary pay cuts," and "transferring positions." There were many ways to accomplish it.

In fact, this "disguised layoff" pressure was facing almost every magical government's Auror forces.

Except for... the British Ministry of Magic.

In such a terrible environment, the British Auror Headquarters not only did not lay off staff but instead launched an expansion plan.

And unlike the socialites who were just watching the show, the Aurors of various countries who were in trouble immediately saw the solution—take the initiative and crack down on dark creatures on a large scale! And among the many dark creatures, werewolves were undoubtedly the most talked about and exposed.

"Are the wizards in Armenia reliable? Have you dealt with them before?"

Atif drained his glass and turned to look at his deputy.

"The people, hard to say. But they are definitely more anxious than us—"

Barad grinned and poured himself a glass of clear white wine.

"The former Soviet Union's 'Magical Internal Affairs Department' collapsed too quickly. They are a mess internally now. Compared to us who have a foundation, whether it's the Armenian Ministry of Magic or the Azerbaijani Ministry of Magic... their historical achievements even have to be traced back more than a hundred years. And if they want to divide up the merits of the 'Magical Internal Affairs Department' era, then the new achievements during this period are undoubtedly a very important asset."

"We'll set off at dawn and search the forests one by one—almost half of Europe's werewolves are there, they can't eat them all."

"No—"

Atif suddenly raised his hand, looked at the sky outside, and corrected him.

"Remember, we set off at midnight. We had a fierce battle with the werewolves."

"Of course, of course—oh, a very tragic, no-holds-barred battle."

Barad paused for half a second, then immediately reacted, a rather cruel smile appearing on his face.

Unlike those rigid British, they didn't need to consider detaining and judging werewolves this time—in this joint operation of Aurors from various countries to encircle and suppress dark creatures, all they needed was the number of werewolves defeated, not those troublesome beings that moved and shouted.

…………

"Calibrate the time. All of the Armenian forest north of us is our hunting range—"

"Rest assured, not a single werewolf will escape—"

"Stay alert, there might be wizards. Many werewolves have dealings with dark wizards—"

Georgia, outside Rustavi on the banks of the Kura River.

Dozens of wizards gathered together, nervously watching the dark forest across the river, quietly waiting for the full moon night to pass.

…………

Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

The halls of the Ministry of Magic were brightly lit, and Aurors were resting and chatting at their desks.

In a few hours, they would depart from here to encircle and suppress werewolves in the nearby Armenian forest.

For the Aurors of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Magic, the Armenian forest was all too familiar.

They had previously spent a third of their time in it, pursuing and searching for dark wizards and dark creatures. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan and Armenia were the two regions with the most frequent personnel exchanges. Many of the members of the two ministries of magic were even relatives.

And for tonight's, or rather tomorrow's sunrise's, hunt, they had been preparing for months.

On the sofa in the Azerbaijani Auror Headquarters, Olez Aded, the Azerbaijani Minister of Magic and Head of the Auror Department, flicked his fingers and said nonchalantly, "We'll leave half an hour early—don't let those Armenians get too much of an advantage..."

…………

Belarus, Russia, Ukraine...

Similar scenes were quietly playing out. This was a grand plan they had been brewing and driving for a long time.

Of course, even more wizards gathered in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, waiting for the planned time to arrive.

In the hearts of many, after tonight, the magical world would usher in a new era.

The magical ministries of various countries used their credibility over the years to weave a terrifying "werewolf graveyard."

The Turkish Ministry of Magic, the Iranian Ministry of Magic, the Russian Ministry of Magic... In order to carry out a sacred encirclement and suppression of those lingering werewolves, almost half of the magical forces of Europe had united. This encirclement and suppression was undoubtedly the first beautiful note in the new era.

And the dawn of the new era—

Only the last six hours remained.

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Alright!