Decisive Action

The morning after the banquet ended, Lux left the inn with her full ceremonial escort.

According to the plan, she was going to inspect the damage caused by the frost disaster—Mr. Codora had already "thoughtfully" informed everyone.

Although several guards who had gotten into a brawl the previous night were still locked up in the city guard's prison, the young princess of the Crownguard family still traveled in considerable style.

Even the nobles who normally did not rise until late in the morning had made the rare effort to get up early and set off with Lux, heading straight for the preselected "disaster site."

The grand procession soon arrived at its destination.

By coincidence, this was the very place where Lux had once stayed while disguised as a hunter's daughter—the village chief had even charged her a few copper coins as an introduction fee.

The village chief clearly did not recognize Lux—or rather, he did not dare look directly at her at all. Faced with such a large group of nobles, he could only tremble as he described the village's "misfortunes" over the past few years.

According to him, the village had suffered beyond measure. Its people had only survived the past three years thanks to the lord's "kind heart" and "generous assistance."

By the end, the old man grew more and more heartbroken, until he could no longer hold back and burst into loud sobs.

To be fair, if Lux had not come here before, she might actually have believed him.

Among the nobles, quite a few ladies and young misses took out handkerchiefs and dabbed at the corners of their eyes, each of them looking as though they possessed the compassion of saints and could not bear to see others suffer.

Compared to them, their acting was far worse than the old man's. They could only force out their tears. Of everyone present, only Codora's performance was barely passable. He strode forward, helped the old man to his feet, comforted him softly, then came to Lux's side in great strides without caring that his clothes were now stained with mud.

"Miss Luxanna, please look!" he said with heartfelt anguish. "So much wheat, all ruined by frost!"

Clearly, Codora was still deliberately using "impolite" behavior to influence Lux, hoping she would continue following his rhythm.

Though he looked deeply anxious on the surface, inwardly he was ecstatic.

Go on!

Go into the fields and dig up the wheat seedlings!

Honorable Luxanna, once you see those filthy roots, how much patience and noble composure will you have left?

And when those farmers see how completely ignorant you are about crops, will they still think of secretly reporting anything?

A twelve-year-old young girl trying to audit accounts?

Just be a good girl, finish this little performance, and go back to the capital to drink milk!

Under Codora's expectant gaze, Lux strode forward.

She was more than happy to finish her final act—once this act was over, she would show him something real!

Lifting the hem of her formal dress, Lux strode into the field. Then, with practiced ease, she bent down and reached for the wheat leaves.

"The veins on the leaves are almost gone."

"The veins on the underside can't even be pinched with my fingers."

"There are quite a few ice crystals in the crushed leaves."

"It seems the frost here really is severe!"

Seeing that Lux appeared to acknowledge the frost damage, the nobles who had been tense before all breathed a sigh of relief—Codora had refused to tell them exactly how he planned to fool Lux, so even though he had always been resourceful, they could not help feeling uneasy.

Codora, meanwhile, frowned almost imperceptibly before raising his voice in a timely appeal.

"Yes, Miss Luxanna, we must provide disaster relief at once!"

Lux's ability to identify frost damage surprised Codora somewhat.

But it did not matter. He had prepared two layers of insurance—this wheat field really had been frozen!

Just last midnight, he had personally supervised it!

Even if Lux later claimed that he had misled her with the wrong method, he had an excuse—whether he claimed to have remembered incorrectly or simply refused to admit it, there was nothing Lux could do to him.

Muddling things over was what nobles did best. They were all connected by kinship and marriage anyway. As long as there was no fundamental mistake, he had merely misspoken in a moment of urgency. What could she do about it?

However, to everyone's surprise, Lux did not continue along Codora's lead this time.

"Wait a moment." Letting go of her skirt, Lux rose to her feet and rested a hand on the hilt of her sword. "But frost this severe does not seem to match the climate here."

"Silvermine City's climate has been very unstable these past few years." Codora seemed to have prepared his explanation long ago. "The cold currents from the north are unpredictable. Many times, the climate does not match what people physically feel..."

"Of course, there is another possibility." This time, Lux interrupted Codora. "That is... a cunning mage is causing destruction here!"

Lux made no attempt to conceal it. The moment she spoke, nearly everyone present heard her clearly.

"A mage?"

"How is that possible?"

"No way..."

"..."

"..."

Clearly, Lux's words had caught everyone by surprise.

Aside from Codora, whose expression had turned somewhat unpleasant, everyone else—even the nobles—began whispering among themselves.

The villagers looked at one another in dismay, their hearts filled with unease.

They had originally only heard that the lord was going to put on a show, and that if they acted well, next year's field tax would be cut in half. Who could have imagined that, in the middle of the act, mages would suddenly become involved?

We were just extras playing the role of bystanders!

We couldn't take on a mage's job!

In Demacia, saying that a mage was causing trouble completely changed the nature of the matter!

"This must be a misunderstanding." Codora naturally could not agree with Lux's claim. "What mage could create a frost disaster over such a vast area—"

"You never know." Lux interrupted him again. "But it doesn't matter. To rule out any problems, I've already invited the Magic Seekers. They're professionals; they can determine whether anyone has used magic here."

The next moment, several figures in gray robes emerged from the crowd under Codora's despairing gaze.

They paid no attention whatsoever to the looks of others as they strode forward openly.

With their arrival, nobles and commoners alike all fell silent—the entire field was left with only the howling wind and the clinking of the Nullstone shackles at the Magic Seekers' waists.

These people known as the "gray-robed hyenas" stood apart from every system in Demacia, forming a faction of their own.

They involved themselves in neither war nor domestic affairs.

But anything involving mages or magic fell under their jurisdiction!

In Demacia, the kingdom that forbade magic, the name of the Magic Seekers could stop children from crying at night!

The lead Magic Seeker held a torch. Upon hearing Lux's order, he placed a hand over his chest in salute, then lit it.

At Lux's request, he lowered the torch toward the ground—this was a tool unique to the Magic Seekers, capable of determining whether traces of magic remained by the color of its flame.

As the torch descended and touched the soil, its originally orange-red flame suddenly flared up before instantly turning icy blue.

And that dim blue flame represented traces of magic left in this place!

The crowd erupted in uproar.

The village chief collapsed to the ground in a daze. He struggled several times, but could not get back up no matter what he did.

Even the nobles stirred uneasily. Some had guessed the reason behind this, while others had not—but whether they had guessed it or not, they all realized that something was terribly wrong.

Then, to everyone's surprise, the first person to speak was actually Codora.

"You cunning mage!" As if he had been deceived, he flew into a rage. "Guards! Surround this place! And you—"

As he spoke, Codora grabbed a girl from among the nobles' attendants.

She was about the same age as Lux, but exceedingly thin and frail. Dressed as a maid, she looked small and inconspicuous.

"You said your family had suffered the worst disaster. I kindly took you and your brother in, but I never expected you to deceive me!" Codora's brows rose in fury. "A mage's tricks... Could it be that you're a mage?!"

With that, he looked toward the Magic Seekers.

"Come quickly, take a look! See whether she's a mage!"

The Magic Seekers instinctively turned around with their torches raised.

Then, as the torch approached her, the flame—which had turned orange-red after being lifted away from the ground—became a pure blue once more.

"So you really are a cunning mage!" Codora immediately drew his sword. "Cunning villain—"

As if rage had clouded his mind, he swung his sword at the girl before the Magic Seekers could even bring out their Nullstone shackles.

Facing that blade, the girl seemed to have resigned herself to her fate. She clamped her mouth shut and closed her eyes in utter despair.

Then, just as she was about to spill her blood upon the ground, a flash of sword light struck like lightning!

"Ah—"

The next moment, Lux had appeared at her side, while Codora, who had just been brimming with momentum, staggered and fell face-first to the ground.

Only when his face struck the cold mud did the pain seem to catch up with him.

And only then did Codora finally realize that his sword—and his right hand along with it—had landed in the mud three steps away.

Blood gushed forth, dyeing Lux's formal gown in broad patches of crimson and soaking her golden hair.

The white moonlight of the Demacian Imperial Capital had finally been dyed into a red rose!

The nobles' ranks fell into chaos. The sheer shock of the scene had even caused several noblewomen and young ladies to faint on the spot.

But Lux did not care in the slightest. She merely wiped the blood from her blade on the long hem of her gown, then sheathed her sword and stood still. Amid the crowd's horrified gazes, she reached out and stroked the pale-golden-haired young girl's head, asking softly:

"Silly child, just now... why didn't you dodge?"

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