Fifth Floor, end of the east corridor.
The lighting here was much dimmer than downstairs.
On the walls, small magic lamps were spaced every five meters, emitting a faint blue light.
The carpet on the floor had changed from deep red to dark gray.
It still made no sound when stepped on, but gave an indescribable sense of oppression.
At the end of the corridor was a black wooden door with no decoration, only a palm-sized copper plaque engraved with a name: Xiefei.
Bei’er stopped and turned to look at Dongfang Jiang.
“This is it. I won’t go in. You two talk.”
“Thank you.”
Dongfang Jiang nodded, raised his hand, and knocked three times on the door.
“Come in.”
The voice from inside was as cold as the one he’d heard over the communicator.
Dongfang Jiang pushed the door open and walked in with Xi.
This office was much smaller than Bei’er’s.
A black metal desk sat by the window, piled high with documents and scrolls.
A magic lamp gave off a faint glow among the stack.
On the wall behind the desk hung a map of the Royal Capital, covered in dense red ink markings.
In front of the desk were two chairs, plain wooden ones with no decoration.
And behind that desk sat a woman who surprised Dongfang Jiang a little.
Xiefei looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old.
Her short, dark brown hair was cut extremely short, revealing the sharp lines of her profile.
Her eyes were gold.
She wore a form-fitting black uniform that outlined her slender figure.
A wide leather belt was fastened around her waist, with two uniquely shaped dual guns hanging from it.
‘So there are guns in this world after all.’
Dongfang Jiang examined Xiefei’s weapons.
The gun bodies were streamlined, completely silver-white, and densely engraved with magical patterns through which faint blue light flowed.
The barrels were longer than an ordinary pistol’s, and at the muzzle was embedded a fingernail-sized magic crystal.
Its color was like the sky before a rainstorm—gray-blue tinged with a hint of electric light.
‘This is a magic device, Host.’
The System answered Dongfang Jiang.
[A precision weapon that condenses, compresses, and then directionally releases magical energy. In the entire Kingdom of Aiselin, the number of people who can skillfully use a magic device can be counted on one hand.]
“Sit.”
Xiefei didn’t look up; her gaze remained on the documents on the desk.
Dongfang Jiang and Xi sat down on the chairs opposite.
“You’re Dongfang Jiang.”
Xiefei put down the document, raised her head, and stared at Dongfang Jiang for a long moment, as if appraising a piece of merchandise.
“I am.”
“Last night, you were ambushed in the corridor next to the banquet hall, poisoned, and saved by this little reporter at your side.”
Her gaze shifted to Xi, pausing for a moment on the transparent ring on Xi’s right ring finger.
She picked up a notebook and wrote something down.
“And then she became your fourth Guardian.”
“That’s right.”
“You’re pretty lucky.”
It was impossible to tell from Xiefei’s tone whether it was mockery or envy.
Dongfang Jiang didn’t respond; he just looked at her calmly.
Xiefei leaned back in her chair and tapped her fingers lightly on the desk twice.
“Go on. What do you want from me?”
“Two things.”
“Say them.”
“First, I’d like to know what you’ve found out about last night’s attack in that corridor.”
Xiefei looked at him, pulled a sheet of paper from the pile of documents on the desk, and pushed it in front of Dongfang Jiang.
“You came from the Head Maid’s place, so you should know the situation on my end. I don’t want to repeat myself.”
Dongfang Jiang nodded and looked at the paper.
It was completely blank.
“This is my investigation report. Blank means no clues, no evidence, nothing to follow up on.”
“The enemy ambushed you in the palace. They chose a passage known only to a few, timed the shift change perfectly, timed the lamp outage perfectly, and even timed your exit from His Majesty’s Study perfectly. All of this points to one problem.”
“There’s a mole in the palace.”
Xiefei nodded, her gaze sharpening.
She liked smart people.
“And this mole is high-ranking. The number of people who can know His Majesty’s schedule is no more than twenty. The number who know about that passage is no more than ten. The number who can access both sets of information is no more than five.”
“Who are the five?”
“His Majesty himself, Bei’er, Ambrose, Odrich, and me.”
Dongfang Jiang was silent for a moment, then spoke.
“Second, I’d like to ask you for a favor.”
“What favor?”
“I’d like you to help me put on an act.”
Xiefei raised an eyebrow.
“Go on.”
Dongfang Jiang briefly explained his plan.
Xiefei listened, then was silent for a long time, tapping her fingers rhythmically on the desk.
“Your plan has a few holes.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“First, how can you be sure Ambrose will believe that the person you’re showing in public is a fake?”
“Because I won’t appear in public. From today onward, I’ll never show myself openly again. The ‘Dongfang Jiang’ that everyone sees will be my Guardian, Xue, in disguise.”
“Second, how can you be sure I’ll go along with your act?”
Dongfang Jiang looked at her, a slight smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
“Because you want to get to the bottom of this too, don’t you? Someone tampered with the palace security system under your watch and pulled off an assassination right under your nose. To you, that’s a provocation.”
“…”
Xiefei fell silent, her mind racing as she studied Dongfang Jiang.
“Then I need to test your abilities.”
Xiefei’s ring glowed with a faint blue light.
Based on the energy, she was using a Rainstorm Ring of no low quality.
“Alright, I agree.”
“Can this be reported?”
“No!”
Xiefei and Dongfang Jiang spoke in unison.
Xi stuck out her tongue and silently recorded the matter in her notebook.
“Where do we spar?”
“The training ground. My room has direct access to it.”
“Okay.”
Dongfang Jiang and Xi followed Xiefei to the underground training ground.
Both sides took a deep breath.
Xiefei drew the two magic devices from her waist, and her ring emitted a faint blue Rainstorm energy.
Dongfang Jiang snapped his fingers, and four elemental swords of different energies hovered around him.
In addition to the Swamp Sword, Glacier Sword, and Desert Sword, there was also a transparent Stream Sword.
Xiefei looked at Dongfang Jiang, her tone flat.
“Then the terms of this sparring match are simple: either you go down, or I go down.”
“That suits me perfectly.”
Xiefei finished speaking, spun her magic devices in her hands, and aimed at Dongfang Jiang.
Dongfang Jiang controlled the four elemental swords, and they attacked simultaneously.