Chapter 561 — The Man of Many Secrets
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 4
After investigating from many angles, he had finally decided on a direct contact and a probing test. Since Miss Meiheng was already a "senior agent," Gao Yang had reason to believe she at least held some higher-level secrets. If the probe succeeded, he would gain valuable intelligence; if it failed, he lost nothing.
The voice on the other side of the ring paused noticeably, and only after a moment came the reply: "In person... a very important question?"
"Very important," Gao Yang said unhurriedly. "Is there some difficulty?"
"...No, no difficulty. The Mithril Vault has always faithfully honored its contracts," came the voice of Meiheng Pernia. "Then I shall pay a visit shortly—it happens that I am near Xuanyao City."
The faint warmth of the Mithril Ring gradually faded, but Gao Yang's brow furrowed slightly.
The senior agent happened to be near Xuanyao City? Was that coincidence, or deliberate? And what deeper meaning lay in her volunteering that information to him?
In theory, there could not be many "clients" able to speak directly with a senior agent of the Mithril Vault; on Cecil's lands, there was likely no one but himself. Meiheng Pernia could not possibly have been lingering nearby for any other client... So did that mean she had in fact been waiting all along for him to make contact?
Gao Yang shook his head. Perhaps he was being oversensitive, but...
Considering the existence of dragons, it was better to be a little sensitive about this matter.
There was nothing else on his schedule for the day, so Gao Yang waited patiently in the lord's residence for the senior agent's visit—and he did not have long to wait.
Just as the great sun began to tilt westward, Betty came running into the study, and the little maid bowed low: "Master!! Someone's here to see you! She says her name is..."
"Show her in," Gao Yang said, cutting Betty off. "And prepare some tea and refreshments and bring them to the study."
"Oh! Right away!"
Gao Yang tidied the papers on his desk, and a few minutes later he heard footsteps coming from the corridor.
The study door opened, and a young lady in a purple gauze gown, her face veiled in pale violet, graceful of figure and full of mystery, entered the room led by the maid Betty—none other than the senior agent of the Mithril Vault.
Betty withdrew for the moment after bringing the guest to the study. Gao Yang glanced at Meiheng; he betrayed no unusual expression, merely nodding plainly: "It has been a long time, Agent."
"It has been a long time, Duke Cecil," Meiheng nodded slightly in return, and then... with somewhat unsteady steps, came to the front of Gao Yang's desk. "Xuanyao City truly changes by the day. Astonishing."
Gao Yang: "..."
Though Miss Mylittlepony had done her best to maintain a poised and dignified bearing, Gao Yang could tell at a glance that her leg seemed to be injured!
"What happened to your leg?!"
"...Life is full of accidents," the agent said calmly and mildly, but—perhaps it was only his imagination—Gao Yang glimpsed a faint flicker of irritation deep in her eyes. "Just a little injury... it does not affect my work in the slightest."
Gao Yang was of course quite curious as to how a senior agent of the Mithril Vault had come to be injured—and this agent was in all likelihood a high-tier transcendent besides—but he was not in the habit of prying into others' private affairs, so he merely gestured to the chair beside him: "Then sit down and tell me—had I known you were injured, I would not have summoned you here today."
"The Mithril Vault puts reputation first; we have never shaved the slightest margin off client service—so it has been for a thousand years," the agent said as she took her seat, and then, before Gao Yang could open the topic, she continued as if casually, "Besides... our conversation today is going to be very necessary, is it not?"
Gao Yang's brow contracted almost imperceptibly: "Oh?"