In the end, Qiu Meng got a little bear plush.
“So cute! Thank you, Mom~”
“Come on, Xiao Meng. Let’s go play somewhere else.”
Shalin took her hand, her tone reverting to pure affection.
“Yay!”
Qiu Meng hugged the bear plush, rubbing her cheek gently against it.
The mother and daughter continued along the gravel path.
After about ten more minutes, the market lights gradually thinned, and the entrance to the Hunting Forest appeared ahead. Several temporary wooden sheds and pavilions had been set up there for registering nobles, adventurers, and merchant representatives participating in the festival tomorrow. The count’s banner hung at the entrance, fluttering gently in the night breeze.
Qiu Meng looked up and immediately saw her father, Dante, sitting in a wooden pavilion not far away.
He was reading reports, with a water flask and several sealed wax documents beside him. Though still recovering, his posture remained upright and steady. Hearing footsteps, Dante set down the report, his gaze falling warmly on his wife and daughter.
“Dear, what brings you and Qiu Meng here?”
Shalin smiled in response:
“Naturally, I brought Xiao Meng out for a walk, to soak in the Hunting Festival atmosphere. And… this is for you.”
Dante took the cheese potato and then looked at the bear plush in Qiu Meng’s arms.
He ate the potato as he spoke:
“What a cute little bear.”
“Ehehe~”
Qiu Meng nodded, then added:
“I won it through shooting and Mom’s footwork.”
Dante choked and coughed.
“Footwork…?!”
Shalin just patted his shoulder and smiled at him.
“Some things… you should just pretend not to know~”
“Alright…”
Dante obviously gave up on further inquiry with practiced ease.
Just then, Qiu Meng noticed two guards standing by the pavilion.
One of them had silver hair.
In that instant, her breath nearly stopped.
The silver-haired young man stood straight, wearing a guard uniform with a sword at his waist.
But his gaze was fixed intently on Qiu Meng.
That look was exactly like the wolf’s from that day. This time, she wasn’t mistaken… it was definitely that wolf.
A chill ran through Qiu Meng.
She lifted her head and glared back fiercely, while discreetly tugging at Shalin’s sleeve.
Shalin immediately noticed her fear, gently stroked her hair to soothe her, and followed her gaze.
“What happened… Xiao Meng?”
She bent down and lowered her voice.
“It’s that person. The one with silver hair.”
Qiu Meng leaned close to her mother’s ear and whispered.
“His eyes are exactly the same as the wolf I encountered that day. He’s been staring at me. Something’s definitely wrong.”
Shalin carefully observed the silver-haired guard.
But his posture was straight, his expression indifferent. He really did look like an ordinary, dutiful guard.
However, the guard next to him had a similarly hard look in his eyes. If Qiu Meng hadn’t warned her, Shalin would have found it hard to judge the anomaly from their expressions alone.
“Mom thinks the other guard’s eyes seem similar too…”
“Is that so…”
Qiu Meng looked down.
She forced herself to calm down and observed again. Soon… she found another flaw.
The uniform.
The silver-haired guard’s uniform was clearly too big. The shoulder seams were sagging, the belt holes on the side didn’t line up, and the inner fabric hung loosely on him.
The Border Count’s mansion always provided well-fitted gear and had strict rules about guard attire, especially on the eve of the Hunting Festival when they had to receive visiting nobles and merchant delegations. There was no way they would let a guard stand watch in ill-fitting clothes.
Unless those clothes originally belonged to someone else.
Qiu Meng gripped Shalin’s hand tightly.
“Mom, his clothes are wrong too. They’re too big.”
Shalin’s eyes flickered.
This time, she didn’t say “perhaps.”
Dante noticed his wife and daughter’s strange behavior and looked at Shalin.
Shalin said nothing—just gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head, glanced briefly toward the silver-haired guard, then gave a slight nod.
Dante instantly understood.
He didn’t stare at the silver-haired guard for long or make any unusual moves. He just stood up and announced loudly to the guards present:
“Everyone, stay sharp and rotate shifts diligently! Tomorrow is the Hunting Festival—there must be no mistakes!”
Those words sounded like a routine reminder from the guard captain.
She and Shalin didn’t linger. They quickly left the Hunting Forest camp.
Only after checking that no one was around did her mother finally speak:
“Xiao Meng, can you tell Mom why you were so sure just now?”
Qiu Meng hugged the bear plush tightly and answered seriously:
“I don’t know why Mom couldn’t sense it, but that guard’s eyes really were different. When he looked at people, it wasn’t like looking at a person—it was like looking at… prey.”
Shalin was silent for a moment.
“And his shoulders and waist didn’t fit, and his movements weren’t natural. A normal guard wouldn’t wear clothes like that.”
“Oversized uniform… dead guard’s clothes… wolf disguised as a person…”
Shalin murmured these words, her brow slowly furrowing.
Qiu Meng looked up at her.
“Mom, do you believe me?”
Shalin stopped, crouched down, and gently cupped Qiu Meng’s face.
“I believe you…”
“As long as Xiao Meng sees something, Mom will believe it.”
Qiu Meng nodded and then rubbed against her mother’s hand.
“When your father gets home, I’ll talk to him properly about this.”
Shalin took a dagger from the delicate leather pouch at her waist and handed it to Qiu Meng.
It was a very small dagger, fitting for a hand her age. Wind runes were carved into the blade, and a pale green mana stone was set into the edge of the scabbard.
“Xiao Meng, keep this on you.”
Qiu Meng took it carefully.
“What is this?”
“This is an escape dagger.”
“If you grip the handle tightly, the runes will draw mana from the mana stone and release a wind spell for a short time. It can buy you a few seconds to run.”
“But the mana stone will drain quickly, so don’t play with it casually.”
Qiu Meng’s eyes lit up.
“Thank you, Mom! Mom’s the best!”
She looked down at the patterns on the blade. A dark green light flowed slowly through the runes, pulsing like breath.
This was exactly one of the weapons she wanted most.
A weapon that didn’t rely on mana or talent.
Only on the wielder’s knowledge and adaptability.
“Mom, the patterns on this are so interesting! I want to learn too!”
“When you’re a little older, Mom will teach you how to carve magic circles, okay?”
“Okay!”
Qiu Meng agreed immediately.
Shalin smiled and ruffled her hair.
When they got home, Shalin went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Qiu Meng stood in the living room, gripping the dagger tightly, staring at the magic circuits on the blade.
“Such beautiful patterns… If only I could understand them.”
Qiu Meng murmured softly.
She gripped the dagger and turned toward the study, intending to find books on wind magic, rune circles, and mana stone circuits.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
***
It was a sunless secret chamber.
The walls were built of black stone, with tiny mana stones embedded in the gaps, emitting a dim blue glow.
An old man with mostly white hair sat on a marble chair.
His face was weathered, bearing many old scars…
A crystal ball floated before him.
In the crystal ball, the figures of four archmages were reflected.
“Are things all settled?”
The old man spoke slowly.
His voice carried a heavy, malevolent tone.
The lead wind mage lowered his head, cold sweat on his brow.
“Reporting to you, sir, most things are in order. But…”
“But?”
“Cha Er is dead…”
When those words were spoken, the other archmages said nothing.
The old man cast a cold glance at the wind mage, then rested his fingers on the long-stemmed stonewood pipe.
“How did he die?”
The wind mage swallowed.
“He… was pierced through the body by the guard captain and died on the spot.”
The old man narrowed his eyes.
“The guard captain…? That veteran of the Dark Decade named Dante?”
“Yes…”
The old man lifted the eagle-head staff with his right hand and struck the ground hard with its tip.
Thump.
The sound was soft, but the four archmages in the crystal ball all bowed their heads.
“Interesting. After exhausting his mana, he still had such powerful counter-surveillance ability, and he could fight two at once? It seems this border town has someone on par with the Royal Knight Order’s captain.”
“That’s not it. It wasn’t Dante who discovered him…”
He raised his hand and cast a spell, and the crystal ball displayed the residual images of the ice magister Cha Er’s death.
“Cha Er initially pursued the little girl from that family. The child had no mana and no power to fight him head-on, but she used the forest terrain, lime powder, and crossbow to keep stalling.”
“But Cha Er always liked to toy with his prey. In the end, he got careless. The child held him off until Dante arrived, and he was killed.”
The old man fell silent.
After a moment, he suddenly slammed the armrest.
Fine cracks spread across the wooden armrest.
“Ridiculous!”
His voice boomed through the chamber.
“I paid a fortune to hire you, not to hear that a brat who hasn’t even dried behind the ears has caused you trouble?!”
The wind mage kept his head down, not daring to defend himself.
The old man’s expression turned icy.
“Cha Er’s death was not unfair. On the battlefield, if you toy with your prey without using your head, sooner or later the prey will bite your throat off!”
“But you shouldn’t have let his stupidity affect the plan. Five of you, and not one of you could send a second person to reinforce?!”
“What, hoping one of you would die early so you could collect more of the bounty?”
He paused, took a slow drag from his pipe.
Smoke rose, blurring his face.
“The wolves?”
“They have successfully infiltrated the target area and are lying low.”
“And the disguises?”
“At least two have replaced guard identities. The rest are scattered around the edge of the Hunting Forest, waiting for the Hunting Festival to officially begin.”
“How much does the Cape Earl’s mansion know?”
“Nothing. The earl’s mansion is still preparing the Hunting Festival as planned. Kapei Liuna appeared in the market today, but she did not discover the core of the plan.”
“And that little girl? How much does she know?”
The wind mage hesitated.
“She seems to have noticed the silver wolf disguised as a guard.”
The old man slowly raised his eyes.
The chamber fell silent.
After a moment, he let out a low laugh.
“Interesting… very interesting. Look at the lot of you—even a weakling like that child goes looking for clues, trying to fight back. And you four, with all your talent, use it all against each other?”
The wind mage didn’t dare respond.
The old man put his pipe back on the table.
“From now on, don’t let that little girl hold you up again. When you encounter a situation, all of you strike together. Attacking one by one is the most foolish waste of combat strength.”
“Yes.”
“You’re good at wind magic?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Go buy a batch of sleeping powder. Coordinate with the fire mage: wind handles dispersal, fire handles sealing the routes. The wolves will lie in ambush, cutting off escape routes.”
The old man revealed a sinister smile.
“If the situation becomes critical, set the entire Hunting Forest ablaze.”
The wind mage stiffened.
“Sir, that forest is one of the most important sources of revenue for the Cape Earl’s domain. It also contains natural resources valued by the Summoner Academy and the Royal Pharmacy…”
“That’s exactly why we burn it—otherwise, how would they mobilize troops?!”
The old man said coldly.
“If we can’t kill Dante’s family, we’ll cripple the Cape Earl. Make them busy dealing with the royal court’s reprimands and lose merchants willing to work with them. If that fails, we’ll besiege the town and cut off their supplies!”
He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice further.
“I don’t want a few corpses. I want that thing.”
At the words “that thing,” the expressions of all four archmages turned stiff.
The old man put on a cloak made of eagle feathers and picked up a special crossbow wrapped in black cloth from beside the chair. The crossbow had a wheel at the top, with many small crossbow bolts arranged inside it, fixed with chains on the side. It looked more like a custom assassination crossbow.
He slowly unwrapped the black cloth.
The surface of the crossbow glowed with a cold, icy blue light. He ran his left index finger slowly over the bow.
“Since Dante’s family is so capable…”
The old man muttered.
“I suppose I’ll have to go meet them in person.”
From his collar, a special emblem was exposed.
Two crossed swords and a downward-pointing arrow, the arrow covered by a mask. The overall color scheme was mainly cyan and ice blue. The emblem clearly bore two stars.
It was the identification of the Ice Shadow Group’s Deputy Captain.
“Everyone, prepare to move out. Target… the Earl’s Domain!”