Just before entering the city, she remembered something. She fumbled in her small bag, pulled out her mother’s notebook, and quickly flipped through the pages related to Vilindros.
It was written there.
The residents of Vilindros had long been accustomed to the rhythm of the tides. The city drew in a main canal from the eastern sea, then followed the plans left over from the Holy Kingdom Era, diverting water into the city. Eventually, it gathered in the center of the city to form a wide inner lake.
The people here preferred small boats and waterways over carriages. Trade, transport, daily life, and even certain social visits could be done directly on the canals, because this city had been built half-leaning on the sea from the very beginning.
Qiu Meng closed the notebook. When she looked up again, she was just passing through the city gate with the flow of people.
And the next second, she understood why her mother’s book described this city with such reverence.
Water was everywhere.
Canals of varying widths flowed gently along the streets. The foundations of most buildings were built directly into the water. Stone steps in front of the doors extended down, disappearing below the surface. The edges of the stones were covered with pale green moss. Mooring posts stood one after another along the water channels. Occasionally, you could see people rowing small boats under the bridges.
Those rooftops, arched bridges, bell towers, and the distant, semi-transparent sea formed a magnificent painting.
“Wow…”
Qiu Meng stared blankly ahead, her breathing slowing.
A name from her past life suddenly surfaced in her mind.
Venice.
It was a place she had only seen in books and images from her past life, but had never actually set foot in. But now, in this unfamiliar other world, she could actually see a similar “city on water.”
‘So… one day I really could see it…’
She thought softly to herself.
But before she could immerse herself too deeply, Dante patted her on the shoulder.
“Stop staring. Time to get off the horse.”
“Oh…”
Qiu Meng snapped out of it and quickly dismounted.
Not long after, familiar footsteps came from another street corner. Qiu Meng turned her head and saw that Shalin and Leize had also arrived.
More precisely, they had “returned in triumph.”
Because Shalin was carrying a heavy burlap sack over her shoulder. It was clanking and jingling, clearly packed full of loot from the bandit camp.
Qiu Meng was silent for two seconds, then very sincerely posed a question in her mind.
‘Who is the real bandit here?’
And even more absurdly, these two people looked almost uninjured, their clothes at most slightly dusty.
“Xiao Meng~”
Shalin shook the sack happily.
“A huge haul!”
“…I can see that.”
“We grabbed so many good things.” She said with a grin. “It’ll be more than enough to live here for a while.”
Leize, on the other hand, adjusted his gloves.
“Young lady, I’ll take my leave here then,” he said. “I need to go back and report on this latest progress. After all… the Ice Shadow group did a lot of not-so-good things.”
Shalin looked at him for a moment, then nodded.
“Yeah, alright. Then see you next time, if there’s a chance…”
Upon hearing this, Leize gave her a slight bow.
But when he looked up, his expression was noticeably more serious.
“Young lady, I’d like to remind you of one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“The nuns of the Holy Council,” Leize said in a low voice. “Please be careful of them. Those people… they are all a bit off.”
Shalin’s eyes flickered slightly, but she didn’t ask any further questions. She just nodded lightly.
“I’ll remember that.”
With that, Leize didn’t linger any longer. He quickly turned and left, walking towards a nearby street.
Meanwhile.
In a different part of Vilindros, inside a tall building that backed onto a canal and faced the academy’s square, a conversation was taking place. It had nothing to do with them for now.
***
The student council room was very quiet.
Ailuwei was sitting by the window, her head bowed as she flipped through a ledger. She was concentrating, writing down every expense with a pen. Her ice-blue hair fell from her shoulders, the ends of which were white. Her dragon tail behind her would occasionally give an unconscious, gentle sway.
On the other side, Sailafei was using a cloth and oil to slowly polish her military saber.
She had never been fond of paperwork. Rather than sitting indoors doing bookkeeping, she was better suited for the training ground or patrol routes. But the student council was still not a military camp.
Just as she was polishing her sword, the door was pushed open.
“Who is it?”
Sailafei looked up instinctively.
The person standing at the door was the student council president, Wei’erna.
As he walked in, he adjusted the mage-student council uniform he was wearing.
“The president is back,” Sailafei said, putting away her saber and standing up to greet him.
“The president is back,” Ailuwei also said, looking up. Her tone was still flat and calm.
Wei’erna nodded, but didn’t sit down immediately. Instead, he first glanced at the two of them.
“Have you two read the latest United Kingdom dispatch?”
“…No,” Ailuwei replied.
Sailafei also shook her head.
“Did something big happen?”
Wei’erna didn’t beat around the bush. He walked straight to the table and placed his hand on a crystal ball that was set up there. As he channeled his mana, the misty light inside the crystal ball quickly began to flow, and soon it projected a remarkably clear, three-dimensional image.
It was—the border town.
What appeared in the crystal ball was a scene of a town being consumed by flames. The entire town was burning. Images of mages moved through the fire and smoke. Magic formations rained down without ceasing. The original streets were being turned to rubble by these attacks.
Sailafei’s expression changed instantly.
“…?”
She took a step forward.
“When did this happen?”
“Early this morning,” Wei’erna said in a grave voice. “I heard the Inquisition has already been dispatched.”
“The Inquisition…”
Ailuwei repeated the word softly, her blue dragon tail swaying unconsciously.
It wasn’t a pleasant title.
She remembered clearly that the so-called Inquisition could be traced back to the Holy Kingdom Era. It was an ancient unit under Joseph’s command, specifically tasked with purging heretics and cults. Later, as times changed and royal power shifted, that unit didn’t truly disappear. Now, the entity nominally responsible for overseeing them is the Holy Council.
But no matter how nicely you put it, the core of those people were all insane killers who wouldn’t bat an eye.
Once they were deployed, they would claim it was a Great Trial and effortlessly destroy an entire organization or a small town.
Sailafei frowned.
“President, what should we do? This… doesn’t seem like something at a level that requires our investigative assistance.”
“Indeed, it isn’t,” Wei’erna said. “But the incident happened at the border, and it involves a mage group, a merchant guild, and the Inquisition. There’s no way it won’t have some ripple effects. Vilindros is one of the few high-level academy cities in the United Kingdom, and an important trade hub. If something happens at the border, refugees, merchant caravans, suspicious individuals, and even hostile forces could all flow here.”
“Could it be an organized crime syndicate?” Sailafei pressed. “Are there similar precedents?”
Wei’erna shook his head.
“Doesn’t look like an ordinary organization. The methods are too systematic. It looks more like the hiring and infiltration of a major power.”
Ailuwei finally closed her ledger and said in a low voice:
“…The Four Alliance Merchants’ Union?”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Wei’erna said, glancing at her. “At the very least, judging by the scale of the attack and the way it was coordinated, it looks like their handiwork.”
Sailafei frowned thoughtfully at this.
She vaguely remembered reading in her studies that the so-called Four Alliance Merchants’ Union wasn’t a simple merchant alliance, but a massive trade and intelligence network controlled by four powers. The princes of the polar Northern Domain, the governors of the Western Fleet, the prophets of the Eastern Domain tribes, and the Emperor of the Southern Empire—these four forces cooperated under the banner of the Union. On the surface, it was business, but behind it all, power and blades were everywhere.
“If it’s the Four Alliance Merchants’ Union…” Sailafei took a breath. “Then this operation feels more like the Ice Shadow Group from the Northern Domain.”
“You think so too?” Wei’erna asked.
“Yeah.” Sailafei nodded. “They specialize in infiltrating through trade routes and mercenary systems, turning it into a semi-military operation when necessary. Burning cities, cutting off escape routes, seizing strong points… it’s very much in the Ice Shadow Group’s style.”
Ailuwei listened to their exchange, then spoke after a moment of silence.
“Do they… have a conflict of interest with Vilindros?”
Wei’erna shook his head lightly.
“I’m not sure. At least on the surface, there’s no direct conflict,” he said. “But this place has royal protection and is the site of a high-level academy. On the surface, it’s still safe. Even if they wanted to do something, it’s unlikely they’d do it openly within the city.”
“I hope so…” Sailafei murmured.
The student council room fell silent for a moment, the only sound being the flickering of the firelight in the crystal ball.
After a moment, Wei’erna looked at the papers on the table.
“Let’s get down to business first. It’s almost time for the new student recruitment period.”
Sailafei expertly pushed a stack of papers across the desk to Ailuwei.
“Ailu~ could you handle this for me? I’m really not good at this…”
Ailuwei looked down at the pile of paper, was silent for two seconds, and finally resignedly nodded.
“…Okay.”
Wei’erna continued assigning tasks.
“Lafi, when the time comes, could you take a group of students on patrol around the city? Security pressure in the city might increase in the coming days.”
“Roger that,” Sailafei replied quickly. “I’ll go arrange it.”
“Ailuwei.”
“Here.”
“Can you go to the top of the academy and observe the movements inside and outside the city? I’m worried some people who shouldn’t be entering the city might have blended in. The guard force isn’t that good at judging high-level magic-related issues. If you see any suspicious targets, come back and report to me immediately. We’ll inform the Duke’s mansion together.”
“Understood.”
Ailuwei’s reply was still concise.
Wei’erna nodded, finally sat down in his own seat, and started re-reading the documents he hadn’t finished yet. Sailafei didn’t delay either. She turned and left the student council room to gather her people.
Ailuwei, on the other hand, walked to the window and gently unfurled the pair of ice-blue dragon wings on her back.
The wing membrane reflected a blue light in the sunlight.
The next second, she had silently glided out the window, flying towards the top of the academy’s main tower.
The wind blew from the heights, lifting her hair and skirt. When she landed on the highest point of the roof, all of Vilindros spread out before her without any obstruction.
Her eyes swept across the massive canal network, the intricate bridges, and the clear sea water. Further in the distance were the densely packed masts of the harbor and the sparkling sea surface under the sun. Bell towers, school buildings, trade streets, docks, warehouses, and the white city walls all combined to form this ancient and prosperous water city.
‘No matter how many times I see it… it’s beautiful…’
Ailuwei stood high above, quietly overlooking the city. She could see the newly arrived merchant caravans at the city gate, the people moving to and fro on the bridges, the ships sailing into the inner harbor from afar, and even, on some secluded street corner, the sign of a small shop swaying gently in the morning breeze.
And right beneath this seemingly calm morning scene, a new crisis was also quietly approaching.
The group of Qiu Meng and the others had arrived in this prosperous city full of trade and opportunity with their luggage.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Liuna and Luo Sha were riding their warhorses at a gallop.
At another location, Mili of the Holy Council closed her book and looked at the over twenty heretical inquisitors. Some were holding heavy crusader swords, some were carrying crosses meant for judging heretics, and others were holding nails and hammers, ready to nail heretics to the wall for judgment.
The sea breeze blew through the bell towers of Vilindros, and also across Ailuwei’s ice-blue dragon wings.
She squinted slightly, her gaze passing over the rows of rooftops, towards the distant sea, illuminated by the setting sun and glowing with an orange light.
‘I really hope those people from the Four Alliance Merchants’ Union don’t bring the fire here.’