"Not interested."

"Would you reconsider?"

"What's there to reconsider?"

The young man in martial attire, Xue Rong, snorted. He looked coldly at the woman dressed as a man standing across from him.

"Who'd accept an insane proposal to replace the company's entire security system?"

"With a chance this place will be the killers' next target, it's necessary if you care about the company's safety."

"If I care about safety, that's all the more reason not to."

"... What do you mean?"

"This Guardian System of yours puts everything in your company's hands in the end, doesn't it? A company headed by that mad dog, the Sword Lord."

Heavenly Flower Department Store was one of the Black Dragon Clan's more profitable subsidiaries. Xue Rong, its head of security, twisted his lips.

"Unless you were a traitor selling out the clan, why would you trust everything to an obsolete relic—our clan's sworn enemy, no less?"

"Watch your words."

"Why? Ah, that's right. Wasn't it our beloved princess who entrusted the clan's safety to him?"

He sneered. "Her Highness really is remarkable. Selling off the clan's assets wasn't enough for her. Now she's put the clan's very lives in our enemy's hands."

CLANG!

A sword lodged in the chair Xue Rong sat in.

"I told you to watch your words, Xue Rong."

The woman dressed as a man had drawn her sword in the blink of an eye and driven it into the chair a hair's breadth from his ear. At the chill in Wei Ling's eyes, he swallowed hard without realizing it. But the moment passed, and he soon sneered again.

"You're the one who ought to be careful."

"I see no reason to take advice from you."

"Maybe not when you were Her Highness's bodyguard. But what are you now?"

Chao Wei Ling, heir to the distinguished Chao family. Trusted by the princess since childhood, she had won a martial arts tournament at a young age and been recognized throughout the Seven Dragons Society as a promising rising talent. Xue Rong would never have dared speak to her like this back then. Being her contemporary had not made her someone he could address so casually.

But that was in the past.

"Now you're nothing but that mad dog's lackey. And only because Her Highness threw you away."

Since being dismissed as the princess's bodyguard and appointed Limon's secretary, Wei Ling's reputation had fallen to the ground. No, it would be fair to say it had dug straight through the bottom. The higher her standing had once been, the more glaring the disgrace of serving the clan's enemy.

"Even now, you're going to keep offering Her Highness that foolish loyalty?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"Following orders blindly isn't the only way to be loyal."

Wei Ling narrowed her eyes at his sly smile. As the princess's former bodyguard, she had seen and heard too much at Li Qingyu's side not to understand what he meant.

"You mean the sort of loyalty that breaks off her engagement to the Sword Lord and forces Her Highness to marry into another clan?"

"When your liege can't make the right decision, a loyal servant must make them do it, even by force."

"I didn't realize the elders still entertained such foolish ideas."

"Hey, don't jump to conclusions. The elders have nothing to do with this. It's my personal opinion."

"Don't give me that bullshit."

Whatever else might be said, only the elders had the standing to discuss Li Qingyu's marriage. They simply couldn't act openly because she had leverage over them, so they were scheming behind the scenes instead.

"Don't get emotional. Think carefully about what's really best for the clan—and whose good side you need to get on if you want to change allegiances."

Perhaps he trusted the elders behind him. He certainly acted as though he had the upper hand. Wei Ling regarded his arrogance with cold eyes, then spoke quietly.

"Is that the end of your confession?"

"Why? Going to drag me off and charge me with being loyal?"

"No, I won't."

Wei Ling assessed the situation coolly. If the elders were backing Xue Rong, punishing him would not be simple. Without firm evidence, doing so would give them grounds to strike back and only make trouble for Li Qingyu. But that did not mean Wei Ling had no options.

"Instead, I'll report your words to the Sword Lord exactly as you said them."

"... What?"

"So if the Sword Lord loses his temper and comes looking for you, don't blame Her Highness."

"Wei Ling, you...!"

Xue Rong's face contorted. He had never expected her to respond like that. After glaring at her as if he wanted to devour her, he spat out a sneer.

"So devoted, are you? Have you already given that old man your body and soul? What, did he promise to make you his concubine?"

"Reporting a business matter to the Sword Lord, the head of Guardian, is my duty as his secretary."

"... Fine. Sell your body and see if you can learn some swordsmanship out of it. You'd be getting a raw deal otherwise, Chao Wei Ling!"

"Xue Rong."

He flinched. Something had surfaced deep in Wei Ling's eyes, which until now had been merely cold: a chilling murderous intent. It was no mere threat. She seemed to be seriously considering killing him.

"Do not use my alias so freely."

"..."

"If you show me that disrespect again, I won't stop at a warning next time."

Under the clan's old rules, an insult that went too far could be settled by a duel. Her few words were too polite to be called a threat and far too deadly to be called a warning. With that, Wei Ling withdrew her sword, turned, and left.

"... That arrogant bitch!"

Only after she was gone did Xue Rong break free of his paralysis and roar. "Then and now, you still know exactly how to piss me off! Goddamn bitch!"

She had fallen as far as anyone could fall, yet her gaze was unchanged from when she had been called the Black Dragon Clan's most promising rising talent. That, and his own failure to do anything under the weight of that gaze, fueled his anger.

The past was still vivid: the sight of her defeating him easily at the martial arts tournament, then turning her back without giving him another thought.

"Hmph. The Sword Lord? Clinging to a rotten lifeline like him and acting all high and mighty."

After fuming for a while, Xue Rong finally calmed down. He forced himself to remember that things were different now.

'The Sword Lord will be driven out soon enough.'

The elders were strangely cautious about confronting Limon, but to Xue Rong that was needless worry. Limon was as good as finished. He had deceived their princess into giving him a company like Guardian, only to go around acting like a thug.

If the engagement went ahead, the Seven Dragons Society's formidable masters would rise up to kill him.

'Sword Masters may have been absolute beings in the past, but now they're just relics of a bygone age.'

Xue Rong snorted. The days when strength alone decided everything were over. In this era, money and power could secure any number of miracle-working items and near-invincible players. Rumor even had it that the elders were already contacting Monarchs through other clans and the ten great guilds.

The Seven Dragons Society's might and wealth. The players of the ten great guilds. Even Monarchs, absolute beings in their own right. If all that power were brought together, even the Sword Emperor himself would have no choice but to go back to his coffin.

'That old man must be pulling this stunt because he's afraid of exactly that.'

THUNK!

Xue Rong tossed the Guardian System documents and business card Wei Ling had brought into the trash and snorted.

'As if we couldn't handle a few lousy killers. What a joke!'

He knew about the tragedy at Black Dragon Construction. He also knew that subsidiaries had suffered losses in the attacks that followed. But he could not imagine failing to stop a handful of criminals himself.

'And that shameless old man is using predictions he's gotten wrong several times to force a contract on us.'

Guardian was credited with predicting and stopping some attacks, but Xue Rong considered that nothing more than luck. The fact that its predictions had been wrong repeatedly proved they could not be trusted. Even if it wasn't luck, Guardian was probably just getting information from a player with a prophecy skill or some other prophet.

He did not need that kind of information. He was confident he could catch the killers, whoever they were. And even if he couldn't, there was no reason to borrow the power of an outdated old man like the Sword Lord. If it came to that, he could turn to the ten great guilds the elders were contacting, or to another clan.

'Just you wait, Wei Ling. When the time comes, I'll make you kneel at my feet!'

Dreaming of earning credit for driving Limon out and finally looking down on Wei Ling, Xue Rong smiled grimly. But the smile soon vanished. Before that bright future could arrive, a very special guest came to visit him.

RIIING!

"Hm?"

The emergency alarm suddenly sounded. Screams erupted in the distance, and just as the commotion swelled around him, a guard flung open the door, rushed in, and shouted urgently.

"Chief! We're under attack!"

"... What?!"

Xue Rong stared blankly for a moment, then snapped to his senses and sprang up.

"Where? Who is it?!"

"The luxury goods section on the tenth floor of Building A! A masked attacker is running wild and killing customers indiscriminately!"

"This is insane...!"

Perhaps this was the expression of a man struck by lightning from a clear sky while climbing onto a roof to install a lightning rod. Xue Rong felt dizzy. Wei Ling had warned him, but he had thought the warning itself was a bluff meant to scare him into signing a contract. A real attack was the last thing he had expected.

"Request support from the Wang family of Shanghai and get every guard to Building A! Have the regular staff evacuate the customers, then get out themselves!"

"Yes, sir!"

Xue Rong issued the orders quickly. Though he was less highly regarded than Wei Ling, he too was one of the Black Dragon Clan's elite. He was no fool who would forget what needed doing just because he was caught off guard.

"Once all the staff are out, keep outsiders from interfering! No one gets in except our reinforcements!"

"Sir? Even the police?"

"Do you want word getting out that our department store was attacked?!"

"U-understood."

Having accounted for both politics and business, Xue Rong took the spear hanging on the wall. Before rushing out of the room, he glared at the trash can, gritted his teeth, and turned away.

'I don't need help from some relic or traitor!'

As he raced toward Building A with his men, Xue Rong told himself this was an opportunity. If he dealt with the killers, it would be a major achievement. Then, at last, he could erase the disgrace of losing to Wei Ling at the martial arts tournament.

He was certain of it.

"Aaaaaagh!"

"Oh, comrade, you're making an awful fuss. Why scream so loud over just one eye?"

... Until, less than ten minutes later, a knife was about to bury itself in his eye.