Chapter 84: News from Two Years Ago

The princes and princesses exchanged glances, then turned their eyes to King Hudson. Hudson nodded slightly, signaling them in secret, and then turned to Lin Wei and Ban Saini, saying, "My lords, I shall take my leave now."

Lin Wei ignored Hudson completely, but Ban Saini nodded and said, "You may go."

Hudson slowly withdrew from the room, followed closely by the princes and princesses.

"Lin Wei, did you send them away because you discovered something?" Ban Saini asked with a puzzled look.

Lin Wei shook his head. "I just felt they were in the way. Senior, I think we should search the room more thoroughly. I have a feeling we can find some clues here."

Ban Saini's expression grew grave as he replied, "You're right. If we really can find some leads, we might be able to follow the thread and find the mastermind behind all this."

Lin Wei looked at Ban Saini, pondering for a moment before continuing, "Senior, I told you before—we were ambushed on the road. Do you remember?"

"Of course. Legion Commander Orien died on the way," Ban Saini nodded, showing his understanding.

"I haven't told you all the details." Lin Wei sat down in a chair, tapping the table with his finger. "Do you know how Orien died?"

Seeing Lin Wei's serious demeanor, Ban Saini's eyes sharpened. "Wasn't it because he was caught off guard and assassinated?"

When Ban Saini saw Kaivelin return unharmed, he instinctively assumed the enemy wasn't formidable. After all, even a knight's squire made it back alive—surely Orien must have fallen to a surprise attack, and so Ban Saini hadn't given it much thought. But now, seeing Lin Wei's gravity, unease crept into his heart.

"No. If that were the case, things would be much simpler for us," Lin Wei said in a steady voice. "Orien was killed by a second-level apprentice sorcerer."

"What?!"

Ban Saini was stunned, his mouth agape for a good two or three seconds before he managed, in disbelief, "You... you mean you were ambushed by a second-level apprentice sorcerer?!"

Lin Wei nodded, shattering Ban Saini's last illusions.

"How is that possible..." Ban Saini felt a chill run down his spine—this was completely beyond his understanding. This was supposed to be a matter for a mortal kingdom; how had a second-level apprentice sorcerer become involved? After years of peaceful life, hearing such news made him instinctively worry for his own safety.

"There's no need to be too alarmed, senior." Lin Wei noted Ban Saini's reaction with inward derision, though he kept his face unchanged. "That apprentice, though she had the rank, was poor in combat and clearly untrained in the ways of true sorcerers. I killed her during the fight."

Hearing this, Ban Saini breathed a sigh of relief, but soon his expression shifted as another thought struck him. His voice rose suddenly: "Lin Wei, do you think... that apprentice could have been the mastermind behind this?"

Seeing Ban Saini's face, already drawn and panicked with tension, Lin Wei was filled with contempt. As a sorcerer, Ban Saini had let himself go, forsaking the pursuit of eternity and truth; his spirit and sharpness were gone, and even his intelligence seemed dulled.

"Senior," Lin Wei's tone now carried a trace of mockery, "if she truly was the mastermind, would Perrenlan have disappeared today?"

At these words, Ban Saini's face turned red, and he looked at Lin Wei with embarrassment.

Lin Wei didn't press further, instead easing the atmosphere. "Senior, think carefully—during all your years in Layton's royal capital, have you ever encountered anything particularly unusual?"

"Something unusual?" Ban Saini rubbed his nose. "Let me think..."

Lin Wei didn't disturb him. Instead, he stood up and looked around the room, thinking to himself, "If the Shadow of the Holy Light could capture fragments of the past, I could find the culprit at once..."

"Unfortunately, the Shadow of the Holy Light can only glimpse fragments of the future... Even after optimizing it into the Shadow of the Holy Light Model, I can't use it to solve this thorny problem." Lin Wei was well aware of the model's strengths and weaknesses. "After optimization, if I want to predict future events, I have to define space and time. But this royal disappearance covers too wide an area; even if I use the whole palace as my data source, my sorcerous power can't sustain the model. And if foreign data is mixed in, the model's accuracy is catastrophically compromised..."

For now, Lin Wei didn't put much hope in the Shadow of the Holy Light. By his own reckoning, its true value would only emerge when his sorcerous and spiritual power reached a terrifying level.

"Well, senior?" Lin Wei looked at Ban Saini, who was still lost in thought.

Ban Saini gave an awkward smile. "I can't recall anything out of the ordinary over the years... except..."

He suddenly stopped, hesitant.

"Is there something you're reluctant to share, senior?"

Lin Wei immediately realized Ban Saini was hiding something, and his gaze grew cold.

Meeting Lin Wei's piercing eyes, Ban Saini bit his lip. "Two years ago, something rather unusual did happen."

"Oh?" Lin Wei narrowed his eyes and stepped closer. "Why don't you tell me in detail, senior?"

Ban Saini felt completely overpowered by Lin Wei's presence. Though both were second-level apprentice sorcerers, Ban Saini had grown complacent for too long. In Lin Wei's presence, he couldn't summon the aura he once held over mortals.

"Two years ago, through my network in the capital, I received a piece of news."

Ban Saini had lived in Layton's capital for decades; establishing his own network was not difficult.

"What news?" Lin Wei pressed.

Ban Saini avoided Lin Wei's gaze, trying to lessen the pressure. "King Hudson of Layton, in the wilds near the capital, found the hidden trove of a full-fledged sorcerer..."

"The hidden trove of a formal sorcerer?" Lin Wei's eyebrows rose, his eyes sharp as blades. "And then?"