New Developments

Two more days passed in peace.

Ai patrolled as usual and spent time cuddling with Thousand Blades. But for some reason, Thousand Blades kept getting the feeling that Ai was sulking. Whenever she asked, Ai refused to say anything, leaving Thousand Blades baffled.

One night, she even cornered Ai for a thorough "interrogation," but still got no answer.

In the past, Ai would have given in long before that.

Something was wrong... very wrong.

Fortunately, it did not last much longer.

Their peaceful days were soon interrupted by unexpected news.

Dispatch Center.

"Snow City?"

Ai frowned as she read the intelligence summary the Supervisor handed her.

The report was simple.

A few days earlier, several residents of Snow City had spotted two outsiders who looked distinctly out of place.

One was a girl in a black Gothic dress; the other was a young man wrapped in a black cloak.

One witness, an old hunter, swore he had seen them near a tavern in the south of the city before they headed deeper into the snowfields. Their clothes had struck him as odd for such a frozen place.

"Snow City..." Ai set down the report and tapped a finger lightly against the desk. "What did she go all the way out there for?"

No wonder nothing had happened in the Northern Capital these past few days. Scholar had slipped away ages ago—and gone a long way, too.

But... Snow City?

Snow City, the city of the far north, stood deep within the snowfields. Its permanent population was less than one-twentieth that of the Northern Capital.

It had no major corporations or important magical facilities. Even Fallen Beasts attacked it less often than other places. The bitter cold was hardly conducive to Negative Energy, and the locals loved to drink; their