Blade shoved the laptop in front of Night Frost, the screen glinting like a cold pond; two men in courier uniforms skulked by the passage wall, shadows clinging.

Understanding dropped like a stone; Night Frost finally got what Moon Owl meant by fishing.

Turns out they made Night Frost the bait; she was miffed, but only a little, like salt tossed on a healing cut.

“Is it fine to expose an Order Keeper branch like this? Or do you have backup from other districts and feel untouchable?”

Now that she thought about it, Moon Owl could’ve torn space and taken her underground; walking was part of the fishing calculus.

Night Frost didn’t get why Blade would expose the branch just to hook two fry.

Those two looked like tails from the outer slums—weak, thin, two minnows that couldn’t yield useful intel.

Let them go, and their handlers would smell the trap like iron in the rain.

“This isn’t even the branch, is it?”

Blade squinted at Night Frost, crimson eyes hiding a smile; she rubbed her eyes, letting fatigue fog them.

Night Frost saw it—the smug grin of a plan landing; her heart dipped, like a pebble dropping through ice.

She seemed to get why Blade brought her here.

“Then behind that door is the branch?”

Blade sipped coffee in small mouthfuls; she liked dealing with sharp minds; Night Frost made the cut.

She even liked the little white-haired one; if only smaller, like Illusory Glass, it’d be perfect.

“So, you want me to join you?”

They wanted to fish? Fine. But she never thought she was the big fish and the biggest bait, a silver carp laid on a stall.

By now they probably knew an unknown Magic Maiden had appeared in the Twelfth District, and that she was close to the Order Keeper there.

And that this maiden had fought the unknown Cantata Three to a draw; she must be Cantata Three too.

She didn’t know who targeted the Twelfth District’s Order Keeper.

Add the district’s strength to Night Frost, who can fight an unknown Cantata Three.

“Two” Cantata Threes should make the crowd behind the curtains think twice.

Just let those two carry the message back; Blade would polish it and spread it, buying the Twelfth District time.

Of course that’s only part of the plan.

The other part is to steer Night Frost, by force or not; she really had no choice.

If she refused, Moon Owl behind the door would erupt and pin her, until her influence thinned to smoke.

If she agreed, she could move, but under Order Keeper watch; a forked path like a river split.

Anyone with eyes knew the second was smarter; her body wasn’t fit for battle.

She’d just been locked with a Mana limiter; why fight it?

Night Frost lifted her gaze to Blade’s troubled face; Blade must know Night Frost would join.

Night Frost sighed; until her strength returned, she had to keep clear of this woman.

“I accept.”

In Night Frost’s mind, this woman ranked No. 1 for danger; no wonder she was the Twelfth District’s acting ruler.

“That’s wonderful.”

Blade’s haze cleared; her crimson hair rippled like embers; she set the hills of her chest on the desk.

She crossed her left leg over her right, propped her heavy head with her right hand, and with her left pulled out thick legal sheets and a contract array.

Night Frost took the magic pen; her mouth twitched; that cheap master of hers had really sold her out, handing everything over.

Night Frost didn’t want to sign, but it looked like she couldn’t choose.

Before signing, you read the contract; skip the parties; the summary: Night Frost may move freely in the Twelfth District.

The district won’t restrain her daily life; but when needed, she must serve the branch.

That was fine. But Night Frost glanced at the last clause: the contract only applies to the Order Keeper branch.

She smelled something; the Twelfth District’s Order Keeper and the others don’t get along.

Right. She should’ve thought of it.

Where did those two Magic Maidens who attacked Moon Owl’s team come from?

What power can field two Cantata Twos?

That alone narrows things; besides top underground powers, only the Order Keeper fits; looks like the Order Keeper isn’t of one mind...

“Wait...”

A chill slid down her spine; the Twelfth District now was a city without walls or borders.

They’d face not just other Magic Maidens, but underground syndicates, outland Monsters, and whatever else crawls in.

But that’s for after the signature.

One problem loomed first; the contract needed her true name; Night Frost’s true name was Lingchen Yao.

If she signed, everything would spill; she didn’t believe Blade wouldn’t find it.

Blade watched Night Frost hover the pen, not daring to touch down; her smile no longer hid.

“What are you hesitating over, Mr. Lingchen Yao... oh no, Miss Night Frost.”

The words hit like a thunderclap under clear skies; Blade named her and even knew she’d been a man.

If Blade knew her name, she likely knew everything about Lingchen Yao; that sentence snapped Night Frost’s last straw.

“How do you know?”

Night Frost swallowed hard; she’d thought she hid well, under frost and shadow.

“Simple. Trace Qianchun’s route and who she met, and you see Lingchen Yao tied to Night Frost. I read Qianchun’s letter.”

Blade paused, eyes on the laptop, and recited, word by word.

“It goes like this: There are a few outfits here.

If you don’t know how to wear them, you can ask me (sneaky laugh).”

Add you’re looking for Chen Xiaoyin, and Chen Xiaoyin’s looking for you.

It’s all spelled out.

If I still didn’t get it, I’d need an IQ test.”

Blade drained the canned coffee; after that, Night Frost had no room to refuse.

If they knew her real identity, they could easily control her and anyone tied to her.

“Relax. I won’t lay hands on others. Believe it or not.”

Night Frost signed, then let a drop of her Blood fall onto the array; a bell chimed from the air—contract complete.

“So, now that I’ve joined, can you take off the bracelet? With the contract, I can’t do much anyway.”

Night Frost tugged her wrist; the bracelet felt heavy and mean, likely made of Obsidian Stone.

“Sorry, can’t~ The contract doesn’t bind that much. When needed, it’ll unlock itself.”

Blade packed up the laptop and papers, then pulled the third book on the shelf, The Mystery of Continental Migration.

A hidden door slid open, revealing a narrow passage, like a throat into stone; looked like another long walk.

Just as Night Frost thought that, the space ahead rippled; Blade and Night Frost stepped in with easy hearts.

Space wrapped them; a pull rose from the deep; they dropped fast.

Then the walls of space cracked with a whoosh; they arrived at Blade’s real office, the Order Keeper branch, only a wall away.

There Night Frost saw an old acquaintance—the cheap master thick with the smell of vinegar.

He fussed over a device, vexed by a new array, like a spider stuck in its own web.

“Oh~ my dear master—”

Night Frost slapped the cheap master’s back with her right hand; a flash of anger crossed his red-gold eyes, then melted into a long sigh.

The old man almost jumped; his pride showed first.

It was a bracelet forged from Obsidian Stone offcuts, carved with the best sigils he could craft on short notice.

It could suppress Mana and Abyssal Aura.

He’d even given it a ringing name—Elinu, the Bracelet of Sealing.

His gaze slid up the pale arm and the orange sleeve; he saw the owner, and he froze.

It dragged him back to a weekend months ago.

In the black market, she purged a spatial mark from a boy’s neck and saw the vast Mana inside him.

She took him as her disciple, to carry on the art of arrays.

That boy shared the Magic Maiden’s talent; he twisted the bracelet on his wrist and became a striking young woman.

And that young woman’s face matched the one now wearing Elinu, perfectly.

No doubt. The girl before him was his disciple.

The first wearer of the bracelet he forged was also his disciple.

“You lot!”

The cheap master sprang up, eyes burning.

Night Frost braced for him to speak for her.

Blade cut him a look.

He sat back down, obedient as a tamed hound.

“Give me back my feelings, will you!”

The cheap master leaned close; he whispered in Night Frost’s ear.

“It couldn’t be helped. She offered too much!”

Night Frost pinched her nose; the thin vinegar scent clung like damp air.

Blade waved a hand; Night Frost shot her a wary look and followed her into the next room.

Blade took a file from a girl at a desk and slid it to Night Frost; it was a fresh ID.

Night Frost’s code name went into the branch system; Blade had prepared a new identity—

A former resident of the Eleventh District who fled to the Twelfth to avoid a Monster tide.

A Magic Maiden of First Symphony, once enrolled in an agent training class; true name Ling Shuang.

“To match your old life, I set this up. Thoughts? The only downside is you’ll study two majors at once. Not easy. Any other questions?”

Blade watched as Night Frost finished reading.

“Everything’s fine. But the name... can we change it?”

“This name and the author’s naming skill are equally bad. Oh right, the author did pick it.”

“Dame da yo~”