Airi felt as if she had heard a heavenly melody. She grabbed the girl’s arm and shook it with lightning speed. “…Is there really another way!?”
“No.”
Weilin blurted out.
The Ranger froze, then asked in a daze, “Th-then… why did Weilin say that?”
“Airi, do you think the Illusory Snow Queen would tolerate granting the power of the Mourning Snow Divine Crystal to an Imperial citizen?”
“Of course not! So…!” Airi suddenly understood and hurriedly said, “Weilin wants me to go and expose him?!”
“He is, after all, the Winner’s Seat. If we have no evidence and he denies it to the death, rashly exposing him would be a great disrespect to Her Majesty the Queen.”
“Then what do we do? This won’t work, that won’t work either… Weilin! Can’t you just finish your thought all at once?!”
“Wait. — We just have to wait.”
Weilin said calmly.
“Without us exposing him, the Illusory Snow Queen herself is bound to notice the clues. The only thing I’m worried about right now is… the Empire shouldn’t be so stupid as to send just anyone hoping to use him to gain the Illusory Snow Queen’s trust? Hmph. The Empire’s goal is likely more than just this.”
Weilin always thought deeply about everything.
So deeply that Airi started to wonder if Weilin had persecutory delusion disorder.
?
The competition rewards were distributed the next day.
That night, the two of them checked into the same inn, each sleeping in their own bed, of course.
The next morning, Weilin was summoned to the Royal Palace and was waiting outside Cold Dove Hall.
The Ranger had nowhere else to go, and her sole purpose was to repay Huan Xuezhi. So, she accompanied Weilin into the Royal Palace.
Normally, this wouldn’t be allowed, but the Snow Maiden who came to receive them happened to be the one Weilin had met once before. She tacitly permitted Airi to accompany her.
Besides the two of them, the other eight members of the top ten were also waiting respectfully outside the hall.
Unlike the royal palace in most people’s imaginations, there were only a few Snow Maidens acting as attendants both inside and outside Cold Dove Hall. It was cold, quiet, with no ostentatious display. It felt more mysterious… and possessed a silent, vast, abyss-like ice majesty that made one unwilling to break its tranquil mystery.
It was said that inside Cold Dove Hall, the winner was undergoing a tempering by the Mana of the Divine Crystal.
As soon as she heard this news, the Ranger lost all her composure. “What the hell! That guy inside is an Imperial spy! Don’t let Her Majesty the Queen be fooled by him!!” She started to rush towards the hall.
Everyone present looked at each other. Only Weilin neither tried to dissuade her nor added fuel to the fire. Her calm, profound gaze stared straight ahead, lost in thought.
The Ranger suddenly felt her body turn cold. Snowflakes blurred her vision as a beautiful, icy figure materialized before her in a flash. “I advise you to be quiet. Cold Dove Hall is no place for you to run wild. If not for Miss Lega, you wouldn’t even have the qualification to be here.”
Every Snow Maiden was at least a Legendary Rank mage.
And as a high race born from Ice and Snow Spiritual Energy, they surpassed ordinary Legendary Mages by more than just a small margin. Blocking Airi’s path, she made the Ranger anxious but too afraid to speak out.
“Weilin, say something to help…”
“Wait.”
“What are we still waiting for? That Imperial spy must be trying to steal the Divine Crystal’s power and win the Queen’s trust! Could anything be more obvious?!”
“…No.” Weilin furrowed her brow. “The Empire isn’t stupid enough to waste time on such meaningless things. Their methods… should be simpler and more direct.”
“Then tell me, Weilin, what do you mean by ‘simple and direct’…!?” Airi asked, frustrated.
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!
The next second, the sound of a massive, earth-shattering explosion seemed to ring right beside their ears, deafening and blinding them momentarily.
Everyone stared in horror, their eyes wide, looking up. A deafening roar shook the heavens, flames soared into the sky, and raging fire sent countless ice crystals and snow waves gushing out wildly from within Cold Dove Hall.
“Protect the Queen!” The Snow Maiden’s face paled with shock. She immediately transformed into flying snow and rushed into Cold Dove Hall.
Amidst the chaotic screams and shouts around her, the Ranger turned her head, her heart trembling. She saw a storm surge over a dozen meters high that seemed to annihilate everything, filled with tens of thousands of shattered bricks and tiles, blizzard ice shards, erupting fiery embers, and specks of disturbingly crimson minced flesh… sweeping towards her.
!!!!
Airi: “……………”
How foolish…
She suddenly felt so foolish. Why had she ever doubted Weilin’s words?
This Imperial citizen had reached such insanity to act as a human bomb to assassinate Huan Xuezhi!
?
Great chaos.
Unprecedented great chaos erupted. Of the top ten who came to receive their rewards, eight were affected by the aftermath of the self-detonation and fell unconscious. One was sent for emergency treatment, and it was unknown if they would survive.
After all, protecting the Queen was the Snow Maidens’ top priority. Who had time to care about those people?
Relying on Spatial Warp, Weilin narrowly escaped without injury. Airi had also slipped away fast enough, suffering only minor, negligible wounds.
“Only the two of you remain…”
After the chaos briefly subsided, the Snow Maiden came before them, her expression complex. “The Winner’s Seat has self-detonated. Lega Weilin, as the first in line, becomes the new Winner’s Seat. Her Majesty the Queen commands me to summon you both… Please follow me.”
“Um, is Huan Xuezhi alright!?”
That was Weilin’s voice.
The Ranger was suddenly stunned. The Weilin in her mind, always so calm and composed, was now asking about the Illusory Snow Queen’s condition even more anxiously than she was… And she even called her by name directly?
Why?
Surprisingly, the Snow Maiden didn’t warn Weilin for the transgression this time. She nodded fearfully, yet spoke as if it were a matter of course: “…A mere Imperial spy? How could he possibly harm Her Majesty the Queen’s precious body?”
“Phew, that’s good.” Weilin breathed a sigh of relief, her expression relaxing slightly. “Let’s go in.”
Thus, Weilin and Airi finally achieved their goal of meeting the Illusory Snow Queen.
···
