After cleaning herself up in the bathroom, Anmora didn't immediately return to her room.
She leaned over the sink, her emerald-green eyes staring at the mirror as she murmured softly, "All malice shall ultimately turn upon itself, and all impurity shall dissolve under my radiance."
The mirror began to glow with a golden light as black mist seeped out from the corners of the room. However, the light from the mirror held the darkness firmly in check. The bathroom became divided into two distinct realms: one of light and the other of darkness. Celestial hymns clashed with infernal wails, turning the space into a battlefield between heaven and hell.
Anmora turned to observe the sinister black mist, confirming her suspicions. Every corner of this house was steeped in malevolent energy. She could use her divine kingdom's protective spells to shield herself temporarily, but extending this too long would alert Slowe. She needed to act quickly and gather as much information as possible within the limited time.
Opening the bathroom door just a crack, she leaned out and called to Xiu, who was loitering in the hallway. "Can you come in and help? I can't turn this switch."
The dazzling light spilling from the door didn't arouse much suspicion in Xiu. Assuming it was just the bathroom's overly bright lights, he reluctantly stood and approached, his sense of duty as a supposed victim kicking in.
But the moment his hand touched the door, Anmora yanked him inside, slamming the door shut behind him.
"What the hell are you doing—" Xiu began, only to freeze in astonishment at the sight of the clash between light and darkness before him.
"Is this some kind of dimensional rift?" he asked, awestruck. "This is... cool!"
"Do you know Laien?" Anmora conjured a golden spear in her hand and pointed its gleaming tip at Xiu's forehead. Her voice turned icy. "No nonsense."
Xiu could feel the heat from the spear, nearly singeing the bandages on his head. He staggered back but slipped on the slick bathroom floor, landing hard on his rear. Before he could recover, Anmora pressed the spear to his throat, pinning him against the door. The slippery soap residue beneath him made standing impossible.
"Dammit, what are you doing?" Xiu shouted, his face a mix of flushed embarrassment and fear. "You're not even old enough to have casting certification! Get this thing away from me!"
"Answer my question!" Anmora's voice grew louder, her cold gaze bearing down on him. "Or I'll pierce your throat."
The sight of her holding the weapon was undeniably intimidating. Fearing for his life, Xiu stammered, "I don't know her! Now move that thing away!"
"You'd better cooperate. I don't have time to waste," Anmora pressed, pushing the spear closer. The searing heat made it hard for Xiu to breathe.
He wriggled desperately, trying to escape, but Anmora blocked every path. "I really don't know who you're talking about! Let me go!"
Anmora pulled the spear back slightly, only to thrust its shaft against him, lifting and slamming him against a barrier where light and darkness met. His back pressed into the abyssal void of despair and death, while the blinding light ahead made him tear up.
"Fine, we'll revisit that topic later," Anmora said, her tone softening. But Xiu only grew more terrified. "For now, tell me about Slowe Lampez—something not publicly known. Preferably dirt."
She's targeting Slowe!
Xiu cursed the pedophile-loving snake in his mind but outwardly began groveling. "All I know is that he graduated from the military academy and immediately joined the armed forces. With my father's help, he climbed to his current position! That's it, I swear!"
"Does he have family? Any school friends still in touch?" Anmora pressed further.
"I don't know! I swear I don't!" Xiu cried out.
Anmora nudged his chest with the spear. "Think harder before you answer."
"I really don't know!"
Xiu wasn't lying. Unlike his father, he had no interest in politics or power and had paid little attention to the lives of military or political figures. But with the spear threatening to skewer him, he hastily changed his tune. "Wait! I do know some gossip! Dirt! Yes, there's dirt on him!"
Desperate to save his own skin, Xiu began recounting every rumor he'd heard during his school days. Anmora pulled the spear back a little, her tone easing. "Go on."
"They say the Nightmare Corps is the most notorious of the six magical corps, thanks to Slowe Lampez. Everyone believes the corps doesn't serve the empire but my father's private agenda. Lampez controls it entirely, using imperial resources for his own ends."
"Be specific."
"The Nightmare Corps supposedly conducts illegal human experiments—okay, maybe all magical corps do, but Lampez takes it too far. His test subjects aren't limited to prisoners of war or convicts; rumors say he bribes customs officers and traffics people annually."
Xiu couldn't gauge Anmora's reaction; she stood silhouetted against the radiant light, her features obscured by the brilliance behind her.
"Keep talking," she said.
"They say he smuggles drugs under the corps' name. Years ago, a drug bust in the northern forests found traffickers carrying Nightmare Corps spell-casting credentials. The matter nearly went to military court before my father buried it. Oh, and he's allegedly linked to mercenaries..."
"Mercenaries?" Anmora's tone sharpened.
Mercenaries were a gray area—often hired by nations for tasks their official forces couldn't openly undertake.
The mention of mercenaries immediately reminded Anmora of the assassin she had encountered while fleeing Grand County. Dressed in a mix of military attire and wielding a Heimer blade, he had clearly been a mercenary.
Emboldened, Xiu continued ranting about Slowe's alleged connections to assassins, thieves' guilds, and rogue mage towers. "He hires them to kill political rivals and stages the scenes as terrorist attacks. Then the Nightmare Corps gets more funding for counter-terrorism efforts. The emperor has no choice but to fund him because the whole empire is scared witless of these so-called terrorists!"
Still pondering the assassin's motives in Grand County, Anmora wondered if his presence there had been mere coincidence or part of a larger scheme.
Xiu, however, was on a roll. "And this whole Grand Canal project? It's not just for trade. They're planning to enslave the beastmen, seize their lands, and grow drugs there for export to the three empires. The beastmen don't even have anti-narcotics laws!"
"Trade?" Anmora asked, finally catching on to the massive web of interests tied to the controversial canal project.
"Yes! The trade agreement with the northern beastmen takes effect next year. It's already autumn..." Xiu shot her a knowing look before continuing, "That scumbag father of mine even wants me to oversee the canal's upper construction. As if I'd ever serve such inhuman invaders!"
Anmora noted Xiu's strong sense of justice but pressed further. "You're overseeing the canal? Who was responsible before?"
"My father bombarded me with letters about it. The previous overseer died in the airstrike. Otherwise, I wouldn't have to take over."
Anmora finally connected the dots: if Slowe had sent the mercenary, then the overseer's death wasn't an accident.
She sympathetically said, "You're going to die soon."
Xiu panicked, thrashing against her magical restraints. "Wait! I've told you everything I know!"
"Thank you for your cooperation," Anmora said sincerely before releasing him. "You're free to leave. Forget everything that just happened."
Xiu, aching all over, struggled to his feet. But before he could leave, Anmora's devilish voice stopped him. "Do you really not know Laien?"
This time, Xiu calmly replied, "I do. I even pursued her."
"!" Anmora's eyes widened.
Xiu sheepishly scratched his head. "Well... I pursued 95% of the women at school."
"..."
Gripping the door handle, Xiu wracked his brain. "She's a strong blonde woman with, uh... generous proportions."
Anmora stiffly nodded. "Thank you. Did you get her contact info?"
"Don't remind me. She had no contact info. She follows the Olan Divine Empire's ascetic path."
Xiu grumbled as he recalled. "Ascetics! No food, no modern magic! Celibate! Treating men and women like communion wafers! Charity work! She once stayed in a filthy slum for two months straight!"
"God, I even stayed in that slum for half a day to mimic her lifestyle. Worst dating nightmare of my life."
Anmora was speechless. "...That does sound tough."
Being a campus idol was no small feat, and pursuing one seemed just as daunting.