When Cipher returned to the Adventurer's Guild, she immediately noticed Feidric sitting in the main hall, looking slightly troubled, with three individuals in Mage Robes across from him.
Aria and Douglas were also there, flanking Feidric, and the six of them seemed to be engaged in a serious discussion.
Cipher hurried over, ears perked up. "What are you talking about? Who are they?"
One of the three mages facing Feidric was an elderly man with a long white beard that nearly reached his chest. The other two were a young man and woman. The old mage smiled at Cipher. "Herodotus, is this another member of your party? A lovely Catfolk lady indeed."
"Herodotus? Who's that?" Cipher tilted her head, utterly bewildered.
"That's me," Feidric replied. "My full name is Feidric Herodotus Leonard. As for these three, they're from the Arcane Federation and are investigating the Hell Book incident."
"Ah, no need for such formalities," the White-Bearded Old Mage chuckled, stroking his beard. "I'm merely showing my two students around to broaden their horizons. I never expected to encounter the prodigious genius of the Transformation Tower, one of the eight great Mage Towers, in a place like this."
Feidric didn't recognize the three newcomers, but they clearly knew him. The old mage continued wistfully, "You wouldn't believe how famous this young man was back then. He could master nearly any spell instantly. Even at just fourteen, while his peers were still struggling with Second and Third-Level magic, he secretly taught himself a Sixth-Level spell—and succeeded!"
Feidric interrupted, "I almost wish I hadn't."
Cipher's curiosity flared at this revelation. This clearly hinted at a deeper story. However, observing Feidric's current expression, she suppressed her urge to pry. It was clear he didn't want to discuss it, and pressing him now would be incredibly insensitive.
Cipher changed the subject. "So, what exactly brings the three of you here?"
The White-Bearded Old Mage replied patiently, "As I mentioned earlier, I brought my students to broaden their horizons. I'm a wizard from the Prophecy Tower. Several months ago, I used divination magic to determine the most suitable destination for this journey, and my magic pointed me to this city in your kingdom."
"After arriving, I spent several days investigating and discovered that your king is artificially creating disasters in an attempt to activate the Hell Book."
As he spoke, the White-Bearded Old Mage waved his hand. The male student behind him stepped forward, cradling a spherical crystal ball. The mage gently touched the crystal with his right hand, murmuring an incantation. A vivid image materialized within the orb.
The scene depicted a nighttime field where a Black-Robed Man was directing soldiers to scatter handfuls of Red Earth across the land.
"Hurry up!" the Black-Robed Man barked. "If even a single grain of wheat survives in this field, it could delay His Majesty's progress in activating the Hell Book!"
"Faster! Faster!"
The brief vision vanished as the White-Bearded Old Mage withdrew his hand. The image in the crystal ball dissolved with it. It was almost absurd—the King's meticulously planned scheme, years in the making, had been largely uncovered by a Diviner who had arrived only days ago.
Cipher asked, "So, do you know where the Hell Book actually is? What does the King intend to do with it?"
The White-Bearded Old Mage shook his head. "That, I cannot say."
Divination Magic wasn't an all-knowing oracle that answered every question. It followed fixed patterns. For example, the Third-Level Divination Spell, Retrocognition, allowed a caster to target a person or object and perceive what they had experienced in the past day. By expending additional Magic Power, the duration of the trace could be extended.
The retrospective vision was limited to a five-meter radius around the spell's target. It was through this spell that the White-Bearded Old Mage had learned of the conversation between the Black-Robed Man and the soldiers, revealing the existence of the Hell Book.
Besides these, there's the second-level spell Locate Object. If you know the exact appearance of an object, you can pinpoint its location within a ten-kilometer radius of the caster. The fourth-level spell Locate Creature works similarly, but targets living beings instead.
So, there's no magic crystal ball that truthfully answers any question with a simple spell.
After hearing the White-Bearded Old Mage's explanation, Cipher asked, "So, if we know what the Hell Book looks like, we can locate this Divine Artifact?"
The old mage shook his head. "That probably won't work. As a Divine Artifact, its immense Magic Power would interfere with Divination Magic. A mere second-level spell wouldn't be able to pinpoint its location."
Cipher pressed further, "Then... can you foresee the King's current location? If we find the King, we can force him to reveal the Hell Book's whereabouts, right?"
Everyone except Cipher was stunned by the suggestion of interrogating the King. "Forcing the King to talk? Isn't that going a bit too far?"
The White-Bearded Old Mage spoke up. "I'm just a Diviner, not a combat wizard. I don't have much combat ability, and I certainly don't want to start a war with this kingdom."
Douglas added, "Besides, why would we need to prophesy the King's location? He's right there in the Royal Castle in the middle of the city."
Cipher quickly retorted, "That's the problem! His Majesty is no longer in the Castle. He just fled!"
The White-Bearded Old Mage and his two apprentices exchanged bewildered glances.
Douglas and Feidric froze for a moment. "Wait, what?" Feidric exclaimed. "What do you mean the King fled?"
Only Aria was unfazed, her eyes half-closed as she nodded faintly. She had grown drowsy during the old mage's explanation of Divination Magic and was on the verge of falling asleep.
Just as Cipher was wondering how to explain herself, a group of fully armed soldiers suddenly rushed past the Adventurer's Guild, shouting at the top of their lungs, "His Majesty the King has just been attacked by assassins from the Dragon Ember Empire! He is gravely wounded!"
"The assassins are still lurking in the city! This is an insult from the Dragon Ember Empire! An undeclared act of war!"
The soldiers quickly passed by, their shouts echoing in the air. The adventurers inside the guild froze in stunned silence.
After a few seconds of stunned quiet, the Adventurer's Guild erupted in a tidal wave of panicked voices:
"What?! Assassins from the Empire?!"
"No way! Is the Empire about to invade?"
"What are we going to do?!"
Hearing that their King had been assassinated, most people reacted not with anger, but with fear. Who was His Majesty the King, anyway? They barely knew him. But the Empire's invincible military power was legendary throughout the continent, known to all. Their greater concern was how they would survive if the Empire truly launched an invasion.
Cipher, seeing the White-Bearded Old Mage, his two students, and Feidric all staring at her, scratched her cheek with her index finger. "Ah, assassins from the Empire actually tried to assassinate a king. How terrifying!"
The others continued to gaze calmly at her. Aria, half-asleep, hadn't fully grasped the situation, and Douglas was a bit slow on the uptake. But the remaining four were highly intelligent wizards—how could they fail to deduce the truth?
One moment Cipher had claimed the king had escaped, and the next, news of his assassination attempt spread. The connection was unavoidable.
"Don't go framing me!" Cipher protested. "They themselves said it was the Empire's assassins!"
But seeing their skeptical expressions, she shrugged. "Fine, I did it."
Feidric stared at her, speechless. Even though he had already suspected the truth, hearing Cipher confess aloud still stunned him. "So you infiltrated the Royal Castle alone to assassinate His Majesty the King?!"
"What do you mean, 'assassinate the King'?" Cipher protested, shrugging helplessly. "I just wanted to ask him where the Hell Book was! He started rambling about nonsense and then used magic to escape. So, if we knew where he was now, I could go back and grab him again and force him to tell us where the Hell Book is. I don't know exactly what the King's plans are, but if we steal that Divine Artifact and capture him, his whole scheme falls apart, right?"
"You..." Feidric sighed, glancing at Aria, who was dozing off. He remembered how recently, in Stone Pine City, Aria had warned them not to venture out alone. He had genuinely regretted his past recklessness, but this Catgirl clearly hadn't learned a thing. How long had it been since that incident, and she was already causing such a huge commotion again?
Still, considering her outrageous skills—breaking into Viscount Braun's mansion in Stone Pine City to steal money had been child's play for her—was it any wonder she could wander around the Royal Castle so freely?
After another sigh, Feidric asked, "Again, did no one notice you this time either?"
Cipher stated firmly, "No, not even His Majesty the King. I simply appeared behind him, and he ran off."
Of course, the Black-Robed Man had seen Cipher's face, but since he was dead, there was no need to mention it.
Feidric knew Cipher's capabilities, but the others didn't. As they listened to the conversation, the White-Bearded Old Mage, his two students, and even Douglas were dumbfounded.
One of the male students exclaimed in disbelief, "You infiltrated the Royal Castle to assassinate the King, and you not only escaped unharmed but also managed to avoid being seen by anyone?!"
Those who saw my face are already dead... Cipher muttered silently to herself before nodding. "Yeah, so what?"
The female student chimed in, equally astonished. "But I thought the castle was surrounded by ten-meter-high walls! How did you get in? And what about the patrolling soldiers inside? How did you evade them?"
"Uh..." Cipher hesitated, stumped by the question. Her first instinct was to say, "Isn't that just basic?" but she reconsidered, thinking it might sound too arrogant. Instead, she glanced back at her tail and replied, "A tail does the trick!"
The female student stared at Cipher, utterly dumbfounded. After a moment of stunned silence, she glanced at Cipher's tail, a thoughtful expression dawning on her face. Could this be some special ability of the Catfolk?
Douglas, equally astonished, exclaimed, "So, when you said you were just going for a casual stroll around town, you ended up behind the King?!"
Cipher nodded matter-of-factly. "Yeah, I was originally planning to scout things out, get a feel for the place, and act later tonight. But plans change."
As Douglas struggled to process this revelation, he noticed the White-Bearded Old Mage's two apprentices staring at him with wide-eyed curiosity. Though they remained silent, their expressions spoke volumes: We're outsiders, so our amazement at Cipher's exploits is understandable. But you're her teammate! How could you not know this?
"I had no idea Little Cipher was so capable!" Douglas blurted out defensively.
As if those words had triggered a switch, Aria rubbed her eyes, slowly waking up. "Sister Cipher is amazing!" she declared immediately. "What's wrong?!"
Hearing this, Douglas fell silent. So, Feidric and Aria both knew, and I was the only one left in the dark?
Damn, I'm doomed to become a shut-in.
Seeing his reaction, Cipher felt a pang of awkwardness. There was no time to explain now; she'd have to do it later.
Returning to the matter at hand, the White-Bearded Old Mage said, "In that case, I can cast Retrocognition on you to observe your experiences from a short time ago. Once I've seen the king's face, I'll use Locate Creature to pinpoint his location. Then you can seek him out again. Is that correct?"
Cipher nodded. The old mage quietly began chanting, his gaze fixed on her as he gently touched the crystal ball held by the young male student. When the spell finished, no images appeared on the ball.
The White-Bearded Old Mage frowned. "Did the spell fail? Why?"
Unwilling to accept defeat, he repeated the process, but the result remained unchanged: the crystal ball remained blank.
Though unsure of the reason, the old mage said apologetically, "Something went wrong. I'm sorry, but it seems this method won't work."