Confidante

After the festival, the Military Police and the Exorcists cleaned the place up. They closed the square for the next few days for investigation.

The Temple Members stayed at the Temple, guarded with the Sacred Guards positioned in that location.

Meanwhile, Garuda Squad had a meeting in the meeting room. They were discussing and reevaluating about the event a few hours ago.

After they were done with the meeting, Arudo asked Meixia to come with him.

He brought her to the Lord Commander’s office. The three of them had a private talk.

“Please, have a seat––” said Lord Commander.

Meixia took a seat and sat down next to Arudo.

“–– Agent Canola.”

“!?”

Meixia was surprised to hear that the Lord Commander knew her code name as an Intelligence Agent.

She was immediately on her guard, grabbing her blasters and getting ready for a fight.

“Don’t be scared, officer Ngai*. I spoke to your superior.”

Meixia calmed down and sat back down.

“After the previous attack, the National Intelligence Agency decided that this threat was more serious than they previously thought. That was why they decided to involve us, to take things more seriously.”

Arudo was currently the one in charge in delivering the Lord Commander’s messages to Garuda Squad. The Lord Commander had been talking with him about the attack even before it happened.

“I received a threatening letter from an anonymous sender a few days ago, saying that there would be an attack on the day of the Lantern Festival. I informed the Intelligence Agency about this, so that they could analyse whether the message was real or just a bluff. Turned out it was real, which was why I told Chief Saaya to divide the Temple Members into teams and separate them, so that we could identify who was their target.”

“So that’s why I also received that message...” Meixia thought to herself.

“Now that we know that they’re aiming for the Advisor, we just need to find out who they are and what their objectives are.”

“Pardon me, Sir. But I don’t think they’re aiming for the Advisor,” Meixia interrupted.

“How so?”

“During the attack earlier, one of the members–– Yara–– told us that the second man was trying to attack the Premier first. However, since Yara stopped him from doing so, he then settled on attacking the Advisor instead.”

Arudo affirmed her statement, as he was also present in the meeting.

“Why did he do that?” Lord Commander asked.

“We still don’t know the reasoning behind their actions, Sir. She also stated that nobody saw what he did to the Advisor. All they knew is that the Advisor fainted after he did something to him.”

The three of them were thinking, trying to analyse the situation.

“Let’s analyse this from the beginning. First, the fireworks.”

“Our squad concluded that, the first man–– the one who shot the fireworks–– was trying giving a signal about the Premier’s location,” Meixia explained.

“After that, orcs appeared in several locations of the square. We assume that, the second man–– the one who moved in shadows–– made those orcs appear exactly where the Temple Members were,” Arudo continued her explanation.

“Yet, we believe that the orc that was targeting the citizens was originally supposed to target the Holy Monastic. However, since Haru and I escorted him to the shrine as he wished, they couldn’t locate him and put the orc in a the most crowded place instead,” Meixia added.

The Lord Commander listened to them attentively. He tried to make sense of the situation and see the bigger picture here.

“What we know so far is that, the first man’s fyx skill has something to do with fireworks and firecrackers. There is a chance that he might also be using ignaea** sorcery, but we’re not sure of that yet,” Arudo told him.

“Meanwhile, for the second man, we believe he is an umbraea*** Sorcerer. We still haven’t figured out his fyx skill yet,” Meixia added.

“That means they might not be Virtue Vaultist****, huh.....”

They had a moment of silence to comprehend the situation.

“How about the spy? Did you figure that out already?” the Lord Commander asked.

“Not yet, Sir. I do have several suspects, but none is confirmed yet,” Meixia answered.

Meixia was trying very hard in identifying the spy within the squad. She knew that the previous attack must be backed up by someone who knew about the distribution of the teams. Thankfully, now that Arudo was off the list, she could focus more on the rest of the members.

“Alright. Thank you for your service. You may now return to your room.”

Arudo and Meixia bowed to him and returned to their own rooms.

The investigation continued.

The next day, at the Premier’s Palace.

“Your Divinity! Are you alright?”

A man just entered the Premier’s Palace, frantically looking for the Premier.

“Tch. Drop the act. You know what happened,” said the Premier.

The Premier was sitting on his throne, quarantined by the guards with extra caution than ever due to yesterday’s incident.

“Haha. But seriously, are you alright?”

The man who just arrived was Yujin Horahua, the heir to the Horahua royal family which also served as the Crown Prince. He was the Premier’s childhood friend.

“I’m good. You should be worried about him, though.”

The Premier pointed at a room in which the Advisor was resting. He was still unconscious ever since yesterday’s attack on the day of the festival.

“Sorry I couldn’t come yesterday. The Royal Family conducted this lavish festival at our city’s square and my father wanted me there, so.....”

Suddenly, another man entered the room. He was wearing a Sacred Guard uniform, yet distinct from the rest of the Sacred Guards at the Temple. He gave them both a salute and spoke his intention to them.

“I apologize for the interruption, Your Divinity, Your Grace. The Lord Commander has asked for your presence in the training hall for your practice.”

“I can’t believe that man is trying to make me train after being attacked just yesterday,” the Premier said, frustrated.

“Well, the more self-defence the better, right?” Yujin replied.

The Premier then left his throne and walked with Yujin to the training hall, along with the Sacred Guard.

“By the way, you don’t have to be so formal when it’s just us, Xiaohui.”

“Sorry, Haneul. That’s just the protocol. I’m too used to it by now.”

Along with Yujin, Xiaohui Rayoza was also the Premier’s childhood friend. His mother–– the governor of Tinamou State–– was Arudo’s aunt, which made Xiaohui and Arudo cousins. Xiaohui was currently working as the Lord Commander’s personal squire. Xiaohui was also the Premier’s sparring partner ever since they were children, trained together by the Lord Commander.

The three of them spent their childhood together at the Temple. They considered each other more like brothers than just friends.

At the training hall, the three of them were gathered in front of the Lord Commander.

“Long time no see, Your Grace.”

After graduation from the academy, Yujin returned to the Royal Palace in Noctilio City and hadn’t met the Lord Commander for a long time. This was his first time back in the training hall after so long.

“Long time no see, Sensei.”

The Lord Commander then started announcing the agenda for today. The three of them listened to him attentively, like old times.

*Ngai = Meixia’s last name.

**ignaea = fire.

***umbraea = shadow.

****Virtue Vaultist = citizens of Virtue Vault Federation.