After Lance left, Nima glanced around warily to make sure no one was watching. Only then did she turn and hurry home, securely locking the door behind her before slipping into a dimly lit room at the back of the courtyard.
“Your Grace, Lance just came to tell me that I have been granted entry to the new emperor’s coronation ceremony,” Nima said inside the gloomy little hut. Her voice was respectful, yet it trembled with barely concealed excitement as she addressed the black-robed man standing in the corner.
“Lance is an outstanding Black-armoured Guard, and a most devoted lover,” the man in black robes replied in a strange, unsettling tone. “He seems to love you very much.”
“No, Your Grace. My heart belongs entirely to my faith in the divine spirits. Lance has betrayed that faith, and he will surely face divine punishment. If not for Your Grace’s grand plan, I would never spend a single moment with him!” Nima’s voice rose sharply with passion. The black-robed man was, astonishingly, a bishop of the Church.
“Nima, I understand your faith perfectly. The divine spirits will bless you always. You shall bask forever in their glorious light…” The bishop smiled beneath his hood, though a flicker of mockery passed unnoticed through his hidden eyes.
Nima was a cultist.
There is a difference between a cultist and a believer. Believers can wield the power of faith and form the backbone of the Church, whereas cultists are merely those summoned by the divine spirits and devoted to them. After war broke out between the Empire and the Church, believers were hunted and arrested by the Empire, but cultists faced only relatively minor penalties, for they possessed no power and posed little threat.
In truth, they were simply a flock of fools who trusted the Church blindly. Time would eventually show them the Church’s true nature.
Yet some cultists were not so easily awakened. Take Nima, for example. From childhood she had dreamed of becoming a believer, but she lacked the gift. Still, she prayed devoutly every day, clinging to the Church and the divine spirits with an obsessive, almost pathological dependence.
Lance knew Nima had once been a cultist, but after the Church was driven out, under the bishop’s subtle guidance she had feigned awakening and renounced her past, thereby deceiving Lance completely.
Since cultists possessed no power, Lance never regarded his lover as any kind of threat. It was precisely this blind spot that the black-robed bishop intended to exploit.
The coronation of the new emperor would bring down the Church’s wrath upon the Stellar Empire!
“Your Grace…” Nima suddenly spoke again, anxiety creeping into her voice. “Lance said that to become a guest, I must still pass Ye Chui’s inspection.”
“Oh, do not worry about that,” the bishop replied with a smile. “The lie detection targets the true heart, and you will not need to lie. You do not wish to harm the Empire’s new emperor. You only wish to enter the coronation to tell him he is wrong, to correct his mistakes on behalf of the divine spirits.”
“Yes! I will not need to lie. Everything I am about to do is for the Empire. The Empire’s current policies are wrong, and I must set them right!” Nima declared fervently, the worry vanishing from her eyes.
“Then, Nima, are you truly prepared to sacrifice yourself for the glory of the Church?”
“Yes, Your Grace! The divine spirits will be with me forever!”
…
The Garden of Stars was encircled by towering walls. This vast and magnificent garden bloomed with rare plants from every corner of the continent. Graceful spirit skylarks flitted between branches, filling the air with melodies praised as “the voice of nature”. Flowers burst open in eager profusion, and an artificial stream wound gently through the grounds. Fallen leaves and petals drifted upon the water, creating a scene of tranquil and soothing to the soul.
At that moment, Ye Chui was walking through the garden with members of his guild. Several attendants, following his instructions, were installing peculiar magical devices in every corner. These odd objects could swivel freely; they were the magical eyes Ye Chui had redeemed, known formally as surveillance cameras.
Another magical eye was fixed to the branch of an ancient magical locust tree. From that height it could oversee a considerable area below.
With the aid of wind magic, Ye Chui floated gently beside the device. He used light magic to apply optical camouflage, blending the camera almost perfectly with the rough bark of the tree. Unless someone looked very closely, they would never notice anything amiss. Then he tapped lightly beneath the device, activating its magical array and fully enabling its functions.
A small rectangular object appeared in Ye Chui’s hand; it was clearly a walkie-talkie, though here it was called a magiphone.
Ye Chui spoke into it. “Two, Two, this is One. Magical Eye Seven is installed. Please run diagnostics. Over.”
“…Ye Chui, do you really have to talk in such a stilted way?” Debbie’s slightly distorted voice came through the magiphone.
“I do! This is the most efficient. When we switch to network mode instead of one-to-one, we’ll need to start with call signs and end with ‘over’!” Ye Chui explained earnestly.
Debbie clearly did not understand at all. After a pause she said, “Magical Eye Seven is functioning normally. Yes, now basically the entire garden is under surveillance.”
“Ahem ahem…”
“…What? Do you need something else?”
“Ahem ahem!”
“…Over.”
“Excellent.” Ye Chui nodded, satisfied, and ended the call.
Each magical eye cost 500 points to redeem. By comparison, even a magically modified car was worth only around that price, so the cameras were actually more expensive than vehicles. Yet it made sense. Although this world had short-range communication spells such as spatial voice transmission, wind messaging, or light-and-shadow projection, they were rare and unreliable. Ye Chui’s devices, capable of precise communication and surveillance, were therefore extremely valuable.
The Garden of Stars was enormous. To cover the whole area, Ye Chui had spent 3,500 points on seven magical eyes.
The central monitoring room for the magical eyes was located in a stone building beside the garden. Several light-screen displays had already been set up; this would be Ye Chui’s security control centre, allowing constant oversight of the site. Debbie and the others were currently inside, examining the feeds from all the cameras.
The magiphone system allowed voice communication within roughly a one-kilometre radius, making coordination very convenient. Prices ranged from 10 to 1,000 points. The cheapest portable earpiece version cost only 10 points each, so Ye Chui planned to equip every security team member with one. That alone cost him over 2,000 points.
“Master Ye Chui, these ladies have all served in the palace for more than three years. They are quick-witted and completely trustworthy, with plenty of experience attending to important guests,” a palace steward announced, leading a group of more than twenty pretty young maids in uniform towards Ye Chui. They regarded him with awe and slight nervousness.
Ye Chui glanced over them, nodded, and said, “Good. From today until the end of the coronation, you will follow my commands and obey all my arrangements.”
“Yes, Lord Ye Chui,” the maids replied in unison.
“Excellent. Now put these in your ears. Each device has a number; for the duration of this mission, that number will be your name.” Ye Chui handed out the portable communicators. These maids would temporarily join his security team, serving guests while also reporting on their behaviour.
The communicators looked utterly alien to this world, bearing a strange texture and a peculiar emblem, the comical mascot of the Random Magic Guild, accompanied by each device’s unique number.
“From now on, you belong to the Joker Team,” Ye Chui continued. He called Scylla over and said, “This is your team leader. She will explain what to do next and how to use the communicators.”
Ye Chui had divided his security forces into three teams: Joker, Erha, and Alpaca.
Joker Team consisted of the maids present at the ceremony. Under Scylla’s command, they would serve the guests while constantly reporting observations.
Erha Team, led by Reza, would maintain order. Disguised as servants or guests, they would mingle among the crowd and prevent any incidents.
Alpaca Team was the largest and comprised elite combatants drawn from the Black-armoured Guard, led by Green. Their role was direct response and combat. They were equipped with Ye Chui’s magically modified weapons. Ye Chui had also redeemed two thermal-imaging devices and given them to Alpaca members so they could keep watch for the shadow snake phantom beast Jeremy, believing the heat signatures would reveal him.
Every member, regardless of team, had a number. During communication they would identify as Joker Three, Erha Five, Alpaca Seven, etc. Ye Chui, Debbie, and the others in the control room used the call signs One, Two, and so on.
Finally, Ye Chui selected several Black-armoured Guards with strong magical power to pilot flying magical constructs, providing air support and overhead surveillance at all times.
With security measures this thorough, Ye Chui was confident he could counter any form of intrusion.
