He planned to deal with this annoying assassin first, but before he could gather magic, a wave of dizziness hit him.
“Oh, ever think that assassins might coat their weapons in poison?”
Ximo stuck out her tongue. “…Probably. I don’t quite remember myself.”
Damn, daring to mock me like that… The Beastman Priest tried to hold on, but his body collapsed, unresponsive. His last sight before blacking out was Xiliya charging a light cannon at his head.
…
“We… we won?”
After a moment of silence, a City Guard soldier hiding nearby spoke up in a trembling voice. The battle had been too intense; they’d all been sweating bullets.
Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief—except Masha, some distance away, whose face had gone deathly pale. She hadn’t expected Samuer’s trusted subordinate to lose, and to this trash Xiliya of all people!
As the icy-eyed Xiliya approached slowly, Masha couldn’t help backing away. “Impossible… You’re clearly just a waste, you clearly…”
“So, how does it feel to lose to a ‘waste,’ Aunt Masha?”
Masha’s eyes burned with resentment and fury, almost tangible, but the more she glared, the better Xiliya felt.
Soon, the City Guard soldiers shackled Masha, and the group headed back. At the city gates, they ran into Sifuke arriving with reinforcements.
“Sorry, Lady Xiliya,” Sifuke bowed. “Their resistance was fierce, so we were delayed in providing support.”
Behind Sifuke, a dejected Hans was under heavy guard by several City Guard soldiers. When he spotted Masha, a glint flashed in Sifuke’s eyes.
She knew Camberlan City was about to change for good.
The next morning, Masha and Hans were locked in the City Guard’s jail. After a night of intense interrogation, the City Guard had unraveled the entire smuggling operation.
“Apart from Masha and Samuer’s periodic meetings to discuss core secrets, all communication between the Beastmen Clan and Masha went through Hans.”
Sliding it across the table, Sifuke pushed a ledger toward Selina and Xiliya.
“The smuggling ledger was also in Hans’s keeping.”
Xiliya picked it up and flipped through a couple pages—sure enough. Masha, that sly fox, would never keep something so risky close; an unremarkable Black Currant Chamber coachman like Hans was far less conspicuous.
Now Xiliya understood why Masha had targeted the Black Currant Chamber so relentlessly. In her past life, she’d thought it was just because of her friendship with Luo Keke, but clearly not. Plenty of guilds in the city didn’t collaborate on smuggling with Masha, yet she hadn’t hounded them like this.
The truth was, Masha deliberately gave the Black Currant Chamber a hard time, making it public knowledge she was against them. Their frequent “gifts” of fine wine to curry favor wouldn’t raise eyebrows.
Luo Keke and her father trusted Hans completely, giving the half-beastman chances to tamper with those gifts time and again. Hans had made contact with the Beastmen Clan during delivery runs out of the city.
It was a clever ploy. On the surface, Camberlan Family’s lady Masha and a mere guild coachman like Hans had no connection. The risky tasks fell to Hans, making it hard to suspect her under normal circumstances. Without her rebirth, Xiliya might never have uncovered Masha’s scheme.
“Hans… he’s really a spy for the Beastmen Clan?” Luo Keke, seated nearby, looked wilted. The news hit the bubbly, trusting girl hard. “But Hans has worked for our family for so many years…”
Xiliya sighed beside her. Luo Keke had once told her Hans was the child of a human woman abducted by beastmen and a beastman father—that much was true. But Hans hadn’t mentioned his father was Samuer.
Yes, Hans was actually Samuer’s illegitimate son. But a man like Samuer cared nothing for blood ties; from birth, Hans had been nothing but a tool to him.
In that light, Samuer was like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, tongue flicking—who knew how many years he’d eyed the Empire, preparing for war.
“For this matter, I offer the royal family’s sincerest thanks on their behalf, Miss Xiliya. I’ve already sent an express letter to the Imperial Capital; the court will respond soon.”
“You’re too kind, Lady Selina.”
Xiliya smiled faintly. She knew this wasn’t fully resolved—far from it. Masha’s capture was just the beginning. The tangled web in Camberlan City… she’d have to untangle it bit by bit.
Soon, news of Masha’s treason—colluding with foreign beastmen and smuggling goods—exploded across the city. While ordinary folk buzzed with shock and gossip, some couldn’t sit still.
Like Textile Merchant Guild President Chariled. The greasy fat man visited Camberlan Mansion immediately upon hearing.
“Miss Xiliya, my foolish son caused you much trouble before. Please forgive us.”
In the drawing room, the corpulent Chariled was all deference. His treatment matched Charles’s last visit—Ximo poured tea only for Xiliya; Chariled’s cup sat empty.
But Chariled couldn’t care less about that now. He was practically on his knees before her.
After Masha was imprisoned, it was a done deal that Xiliya would seize power and succeed as City Lord. Chariled grew so furious at the thought of his fool of a son Charles—who had recently teamed up with Masha in a failed scheme to frame Xiliya, only to end up worse off than before—that he itched to slap the boy twice.
Xiliya merely watched the president of the Textile Merchant Guild coldly as he bowed and scraped before her. She couldn’t help recalling her previous life. At the various gatherings Masha had organized, this “senior partner” of hers had never held back on the sneers and sarcasm directed her way. He and his son were cut from the same cloth.
“There were probably quite a few misunderstandings between us in the past. Please, Miss Xiliya, give me a chance to explain.”
Xiliya had never imagined that Chariled would one day wear such a repulsive, fawning expression in her presence.
“I, on the other hand, don’t think President Chariled needs to explain anything to me—you should save your explanations for the City Guard.”
As soon as Xiliya finished speaking, the reception room door was roughly shoved open. Sifuke led an entire team of guards in, surrounding Chariled.
