Chapter 123: Leo City

The carriage wheels rolled over the uneven flagstones of Leo City, the cabin swaying slightly with the rise and fall of the road.

The butler sat in the driver’s seat, gripping the reins tightly, his back held straight—even appearing somewhat stiff.

Inside the carriage, Lia sat by the window, clutching the simple hand-drawn map.

Klein sat opposite her, arms crossed over his chest, resting with his eyes closed.

The distance between their knees was barely a fist’s width.

The carriage space wasn’t small, but Klein’s presence was so overwhelming that the originally spacious interior felt somewhat cramped.

Lia turned her gaze out the window.

Most of the shops lining the streets were open, and pedestrians moved in a hurry; occasionally, merchant carriages crossed paths, a mix of shouting and hoofbeats filling the air.

The city still appeared prosperous and full of life.

No one knew that bombs capable of turning them into empty husks were buried beneath their feet.

“Miss, we have arrived at the City Lord’s manor.”

Klein opened his eyes and leaned forward.

The carriage slowed to a halt.

Lia withdrew her gaze and pushed open the door.

The gates of the City Lord’s manor stood before them; two fully armed guards stood at the entrance, hands resting on their sword hilts, their gazes alertly scanning the carriage.

The butler hopped down and walked quickly to the guards, whispering a few words.

The guards’ gazes passed over the butler, falling first on Lia as she stepped out, and then on the black-robed man behind her.

The expression of one guard shifted, and he immediately turned to run inside the manor.

Not long after, the manor’s butler, whom they had seen before, came running out.

When he saw Klein, his pace faltered, and he nearly tripped.

“Miss Lia, Lord Klein.”

The manor’s butler bowed low, a layer of fine sweat beads breaking out on his forehead.

“The Count is currently handling official business and did not receive an appointment from you two…”

“That was before.”

Lia interrupted him, her tone flat.

“Now there is one.”

She began walking toward the gate.

The manor’s butler opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something about etiquette and procedure.

Klein followed behind Lia, and as he passed the butler, he spared him a single glance.

That look was devoid of any emotion.

The butler swallowed the words at the tip of his tongue, stepped aside to clear the path, and lowered his head even further.

The group crossed the neatly manicured front courtyard and entered the main building.

Servants in the corridor, seeing this procession, retreated to the walls to bow, not daring to make a sound.

The door to the study was left ajar.

The manor’s butler stepped forward and knocked twice.

“Enter.”

Count Valerius’s voice drifted out from within, sounding somewhat exhausted.

The butler pushed the door open.

The Count was sitting behind a large mahogany desk, holding a document with his brows tightly furrowed.

He looked up, his movements stalling for a moment when he saw the two people entering.

Then he set the document down and stood up.

“Miss Lia.”

His gaze shifted to the black-robed man, and he leaned forward slightly.

“Lord Klein.”

“Apologies for the lack of notice.”

Lia walked to the chair opposite the desk but did not sit down.

“The situation is urgent; I didn’t want to waste time waiting for a formal announcement.”

Count Valerius waved for his butler to withdraw and closed the door.

“What has happened?”

The Count walked around the desk and gestured toward the chairs.

“Please, sit.”

Lia spread the hand-drawn map onto the desk in front of the Count.

“Look at this.”

The Count lowered his head.

It was a sketch of Leo City, with three points marked in red ink.

“What are these?”

“Resonance Towers.”

Lia uttered the term.

The Count’s expression didn’t change, but his eyes showed a hint of confusion.

“I have never heard that term.”

Lia looked at him.

“It is the name Weber’s followers gave them.”

“They have buried these towers in your city. When all the towers are activated, they will form a resonance field.”

She reached out and traced a circle on the map, encompassing the entirety of Leo City.

“This field has only one purpose: to shatter the spiritual cores of every living creature within its range.”

The Count’s breath hitched for a moment.

He stared fixedly at the red circle on the map.

“That is impossible.”

He looked up, his tone becoming stiff.

“Leo City’s security guards maintain strict monitoring; the construction of any large-scale magic circle would be impossible to hide. Let alone something that covers the whole city.”

“What if they didn’t construct a magic circle?”

Klein spoke up.

He stood half a step behind Lia; his voice wasn’t loud, yet it caused the Count’s gaze to snap toward him immediately.

“They hid the nodes within buildings.”

Klein looked at the Count.

“There is no need for large-scale mana circuits; they only need a few key amplification points. The city’s underground pipe network and leylines will do the rest of the work for them.”

The Count’s face turned grim.

He was a clever man and immediately understood the trick.

Using the existing city structure as a transmission medium indeed allowed them to bypass most magical detection.

“These three points are the locations we currently know.”

Lia pointed to the red dots on the map.

“Inside the Great Bell Tower and the stone bridge pier.”

Her finger moved to the third point.

“And here.”

The Count followed her finger.

The red dot sat in an area in the south of the city.

“Deep in the foundation of a newly built noble estate.”

Lia finished speaking and observed the Count’s reaction.

Count Valerius’s gaze stayed fixed on that point.

The study fell into silence.

Only the wall clock made a monotonous ticking sound.

One second.

Two seconds.

The Count’s pupils froze on that red dot.

His breathing grew erratic.

His hands, which had been resting on the desk, slowly pulled back to hang at his sides.

“Which estate?”

He asked.

His voice was somewhat raspy.

Lia recited the street name and house number.

It was the precise address Klein had extracted from the gray-robed mage’s memory fragments.

The Count’s body swayed.

The movement was so small that it would be impossible to notice without looking closely.

He turned around, his back to them, and walked toward the bookshelf behind him.

“I need to check.”

“There have indeed been many new buildings in that area recently; I need to confirm the specific ownership.”

His hands fumbled aimlessly through the scrolls, the elegance he usually took pride in vanishing without a trace.

As he pulled out a thick code of laws, he knocked over several nearby books, which hit the floor with several dull thuds near his feet.

Yet he seemed to have lost his sense of pain and hearing, even stepping on the cover of a book embossed with his family crest, focused only on flipping through the register in his hands.

Lia and Klein exchanged a glance.

The Count pulled out a thick ledger, flipped it open, and ran his fingers across it rapidly.

But he wasn’t truly looking at the words.

His vision was scattered.

He didn’t need to check that address at all.

It was a gift he had given to his wife.

A secret villa built to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary.

He had personally reviewed all the blueprints.

He had personally selected the construction crew.

Aside from him and his wife, no one knew what lay beneath that foundation.

There was a basement there.

It was built according to his wife’s request, claiming it was for storing precious flower seeds that feared the light.

Flower seeds.

The Count’s finger stopped on a page of the ledger, his fingertips trembling slightly.

He remembered six months ago, when his wife had come to him with the design for the basement.

She had smiled so gently, saying it was her little secret.

She also said that on the day of the Winter Solstice, she would give him a surprise.

The Winter Solstice.

Three days from now.

“Your Excellency?”

Lia’s voice came from behind.

Count Valerius slammed the ledger shut.

“I found it.”

He turned around, his aura of authority restored, though his face looked somewhat pale.

“It is an… idle property. The previous owner went bankrupt, and it has been under seizure.”

Lia looked into his eyes.

In those eyes, there was a layer of panic that couldn’t be hidden no matter how he tried.

“I need the detailed engineering maps of Leo City.”

Lia did not expose him.

“Particularly the underground drainage system and structural maps of major buildings. We need to find the remaining towers and the control center.”

“No problem.”

The Count agreed very quickly.

Unnaturally quickly.

He walked to the desk, opened a drawer, took out a ring of keys, and tossed them to Lia.

“The archives are at the end of the third floor on the left. All the maps are inside. Go find them yourselves.”

Having said that, he grabbed his coat from the rack and strode toward the door.

“Where are you going?”

Lia asked.

“I have urgent business.”

The Count did not look back, his hand already on the doorknob.

“There is a situation with the guard; I must handle it personally. Look at the maps as you wish; just lock the door when you are finished.”

“Regarding the Resonance Towers…”

“I will send people to investigate.”

The Count interrupted her.

“Once confirmed, I will immediately lock down the city.”

With that, he pulled the door open and practically rushed out.

His hurried footsteps echoed in the corridor, along with his loud shouting for the Captain of the Guard.

The study door remained wide open.

Cold wind poured in from the corridor.

Lia stood at the desk, clutching the heavy ring of keys in her hand.

“It seems he knows who that belongs to.”

Klein walked to her side, looking at the empty corridor.

“Mm.”

Lia closed her hand over the keys.

“And that person is very important to him.”

Important enough that he couldn’t even manage to maintain basic decorum in front of an Eighth-Circle Great Mage.

Important enough that his first reaction upon hearing the news wasn’t anger, but fear and evasion.

“A newly built estate.”

Lia repeated the clue.

“In the gray-robed mage’s memory, that tower was buried in the foundation. In other words, it was placed there during the early stages of construction.”

To be able to bury something in the foundation of a new estate right under the City Lord’s nose.

This required more than just power.

It required trust.

Absolute trust.

“It seems our Lord City Lord’s household isn’t very clean either.”

Klein offered a comment.

Lia turned to look at him.

“What do you think he will do?”

“I don’t know.”

Klein withdrew his gaze.

“That is his choice.”

He looked down at Lia.

“Let’s go.”

Lia nodded.

“Let’s go, to the third floor.”

The two walked out of the study.

The City Lord’s manor was in a state of panic; the sound of guards’ footsteps and servants’ gasping cries intertwined.

The butler was hysterically shouting lockdown orders to several guard captains; seeing the two emerge, he only offered a hurried, almost misshapen bow before turning back to the chaotic coordination, completely unable to manage his usual thoroughness.

“Lords, I am truly sorry, the Count…”

“We are going to the archives.”

Lia held up the keys.

“The Count has already authorized us.”

The butler froze, looking at the ring of keys belonging personally to the City Lord, and quickly bowed.

“Yes, I will lead the way immediately.”

The archives on the third floor were massive.

On rows of tall wooden bookshelves, countless scrolls and maps were neatly stacked.

The air was thick with the scent of dried herbs and old paper.

The butler lit the magical lamps on the walls and then withdrew, gently closing the door.

Lia walked to the shelf marked ‘City Infrastructure’.

“This is no small amount of work.”

She looked at the mountain of maps before her.

Though Leo City was a border city, it had several hundred years of history.

The maps left behind by generations of expansion, repairs, and renovations were enough to bury a person.

“Let’s divide the work.”

Klein walked to the shelves on the other side.

“You look for the sewers and leyline paths; I’ll look for the major architectural structures.”

Lia had no objections.

She pulled out a roll of yellowed parchment and spread it out on the long table.

It was the general map of the underground drainage system from fifty years ago.

She picked up a nearby quill and began taking notes on a blank sheet of paper.

Time passed minute by minute.

The only sounds in the archives were the flipping of paper and the scratching of the quill.

The sky outside the window gradually darkened.

Lia rubbed her aching neck.

A thick stack of maps had already piled up in front of her.

“Did you find them?”

She asked.

Klein stood before a giant wall map.

It was a panoramic bird’s-eye view of Leo City.

His finger moved slowly across the map, a faint blue light glowing at his fingertip.

Following his movements, the outlines of several buildings were traced in blue light.

“Here.”

Klein’s finger stopped at a location in the north of the city.

“The Grand Theater.”

He pointed toward the east.

“The Veterans’ Sanatorium.”

His finger continued to move.

“And here, the fountain in the Central Plaza.”

Lia walked over and stood beside him.

She overlaid the underground pipe network map she had organized onto that panoramic map.

Those complex pipeline lines and the building locations Klein had marked overlapped perfectly.

Every marked point corresponded to an exit point of the underground pipes.

Every marked point was an intersection of the main underground pipes.

They were also nodes where leyline energy flowed.

If one connected these points, it formed a massive hexagram covering the entire city.

And the center of this hexagram…

The gazes of both converged simultaneously on the center of the map.

It was a building that looked quite unremarkable.

“Leo City Public Library.”

Lia read the name.

“That place is the convergence point for the entire city’s leylines, as well as the main hub for the underground pipe network.”

Klein’s finger tapped that spot.

“The control center is right there.”

Lia took a deep breath.

The target had been found.

Just then, a noisy clamor of voices suddenly erupted outside the window.

Following that were the sounds of hoofbeats and rhythmic footsteps.

Lia walked to the window and looked down.

The gates of the City Lord’s manor were wide open.

A squad of fully armed guards was holding torches, running out the gate in formation.

Count Valerius was mounted on a horse, his face terrifyingly grim.

He hadn’t even had time to change out of his noble casual wear, yet he held a longsword in his hand.

“Lock down the entire city!”

The Count’s roar echoed in the night.

“Entrance allowed, but no exit! Anyone who tries to force their way through the checkpoints—kill them on sight!”

Lia watched the scene.

“It seems he has found the truth.”

Klein stood behind her, his gaze passing over the top of her head to watch the chaotic scene below.

“Faster than I imagined.”

Lia turned around.

“We should go too.”

She rolled up the maps on the table.

“To the library.”

Klein didn’t move.

He looked at Lia, his brow slightly furrowed.

“What is it?”

Lia asked.

“Your face looks a bit unwell,” Klein said.

Lia blinked, reflexively touching her face, but she didn’t feel anything wrong.

“Maybe I’m just tired.”

She lowered her hand.

“The things you’ve experienced today have indeed been quite draining on your mental energy.”

Klein didn’t speak.

He reached out his hand, palm down, hovering it before Lia’s forehead.

A soft white light poured down.

Lia felt a warm current surge into her brain, and her original exhaustion vanished significantly in an instant.

“Thank you.”

“This is included in the fee.”

Klein withdrew his hand somewhat stiffly.

“Let’s go.”

The two left the archives and headed down the stairs.

The City Lord’s manor had already turned into a mess.

No one had the spare attention for them.

Walking out the main gate, the butler was waiting anxiously by the carriage.

“Eldest Miss, something has happened.”

Seeing Lia, the butler hurried to meet her.

“The whole city is under martial law. I heard the Count gave orders to arrest someone; now the streets are full of guards.”

“I know.”

Lia boarded the carriage.

“To the library.”

The butler froze.

“Now? But…”

“Drive.”

Klein’s voice drifted out from the carriage.

The butler jerked, not daring to ask further, and hurriedly climbed onto the driver’s seat.

Inside the carriage, Lia leaned against the backrest, looking at the maps in her hand.

“If the Count goes now to handle the people related to that estate, Weber’s followers will surely notice.”

She spoke.

“They might activate it early.”

“Then let them activate it.”

Klein’s voice rang out coldly.

“As long as the control center is destroyed, the remaining towers are just scrap metal.”

Lia looked out the window.

The night was deep.

The lights of Leo City were still brilliant.

But beneath this brilliance, a massive net was tightening.

And the person weaving that net might currently be sitting in some corner of the library, waiting for the final Harvest.

“Klein.”

Lia suddenly spoke.

“Mm.”

“If…”

Lia paused for a moment.

“If there is also an Eighth-Circle Mage in the control center?”

Klein turned his head and looked at her.

The dim light in the carriage hit the side of his face, making his profile appear even deeper.

“Then he would be very unlucky.”

Klein reached out and helped Lia tidy the hair at her temples, which had become a bit messy from exhaustion.

“Because he encountered me.”