Chapter Ninety-Six: The Three Giants of the Dark Veil [Request for Monthly Votes]

After moving through the estate for some distance, Han Shuo learned that the thin little man was named Chester and that he was a thief. From Chester’s mouth, Han Shuo also learned something about the Shadow Veil organization.

According to the contribution a member made to the organization, Shadow Veil’s members were divided into three ranks: Shadow Star, Shadow Moon, and Shadow Sun. The stars filled the night sky, symbolizing how Shadow Star members were scattered throughout every corner of the empire. Shadow Moon stood a tier higher, yet they still could not stand in the light; they could only live in the dark recesses of the world. As for the higher-ranking Shadow Sun members, they could shine before the public like the sun, appearing in broad daylight.

These three ranks were further divided into five levels based on contribution to the empire. Han Shuo was currently a Shadow Star envoy, and the iron token in his possession bore a tiny star on the back, marking him as only a one-star envoy at the very bottom of the Shadow Star rank.

As his contributions grew, the token would slowly accumulate two stars, three stars, four stars, and five stars. Once he surpassed five stars, he would be promoted to Shadow Moon envoy, then advance in the same manner as the Shadow Star envoys, from one-moon envoy onward to five-moon envoy, and so on until even the upper echelon of Shadow Sun envoys were divided in the same fashion.

As long as one advanced to a higher rank, not only would one’s monthly stipend increase substantially, but one would also enjoy more privileges within Shadow Veil. At the highest level, one would stand where Candida stood: directly obeying the king. It was truly a position beneath one man and above ten thousand, with all the splendor and wealth of the world within easy reach.

“There we are, this is the place!” After traveling a long distance, Chester finally brought Han Shuo to a house in the center of the estate.

Along the way, Han Shuo had released three elemental spirits to scout the area, only to discover that aside from himself and Chester, there was no one else in the estate. There were not even any defensive measures arranged across the wide grounds. This left Han Shuo deeply puzzled.

The room was not especially spacious. After looking around, Han Shuo found nothing unusual and asked Chester in surprise, “What makes this place different?”

“Heh, of course it’s different. As you can see, the whole estate really has no defenses at all; it’s nothing more than a disguise. The true Shadow Veil is naturally not here,” Chester explained with a smile. Then he did something with a hidden mechanism, and the level floor suddenly split open, revealing a brightly lit passage.

“So there was a secret mechanism after all. Heh. Where does this lead?” Han Shuo asked as the passage appeared before him.

“Come on. I’ll take you to the real Shadow Veil base!” Chester said with a grin, then jumped down into the bright passage and motioned for Han Shuo to follow.

When Han Shuo descended as well, he found that the ground beneath his feet was soft. The surroundings were solid walls, and a powerful fluctuation of magic suddenly radiated from within the passage.

With a soft sound, the solid walls around them opened into a door, and a brilliantly lit corridor appeared before the two of them, like the entrance to a maze. Several passages ahead twisted together, while strong magic waves already rolled out from the surrounding walls. Many unknown crossbows seemed poised and ready, their frigid points aimed at every corner of the corridor.

“Why do I feel like this is a cave?” Han Shuo glanced around and could not help asking.

Chester walked out from within and signaled for Han Shuo to follow. “Your feeling is right. This is Ordas Mountain behind the imperial palace. This towering peak is strictly forbidden to outsiders. Inside the mountain’s belly lies our Shadow Veil base. This is where the real defenses are tight. Imperial legion troops are also stationed nearby. As the king’s dark hand, Shadow Veil gathers talents of every sort from the empire and also stores many of the empire’s secret records. For so many years, nothing has gone wrong. In terms of safety, it is in no way inferior to the imperial palace.”

Han Shuo could feel how heavily guarded this place was. The magical fluctuations all around clearly contained intense danger. In such a place, he would not dare release even the weakest elemental spirit. He could only rely on his sharpened senses to feel the hidden threats surrounding him.

Following Chester through several corridors, they encountered other Shadow Veil members along the way. In some of the stone chambers they passed, Han Shuo could hear breathing and heartbeats, and knew people were inside.

“Lord Candida, as one of the three great pillars of Shadow Veil, I’m not qualified to bring you before him personally. However, I can report this to him. If you really were brought in directly under Lord Candida, then I think he should receive you.” Chester looked at Han Shuo with a trace of envy, as though Han Shuo, being directly under Candida’s care, was incredibly fortunate.

“I’ve heard you mention the three great pillars of Shadow Veil several times. Aside from Candida, who are the other two?” Han Shuo asked as they walked.

“The other two are Lord Emias and Lady Cecilia. Lady Cecilia is in charge of Shadow Veil’s affairs outside the empire. They say she is also a captivating woman. Heh, a small figure like me would never get to see her. Lord Emias and Lord Candida are both within the empire, but Lord Emias mainly oversees and investigates the empire’s great nobles and high officials. He is the man in our Shadow Veil who lives entirely in the public eye.

“Once he discovers that a high official has done something detrimental to the empire, he can detain them directly and then report to the king. For some nobles and officers of lower standing, he can even have them executed without disturbing His Majesty. So for some of the empire’s nobles, Lord Emias is a nightmare. Lord Candida handles certain other affairs within the empire, including rooting out and executing spies from enemy nations, arranging matters that benefit the empire, and eliminating all hidden dangers that might harm it.”

As Chester spoke, he gave Han Shuo a detailed introduction to the three great pillars of the Shadow Veil organization.

While Chester continued describing things, the two of them stopped before an iron door. Chester signaled Han Shuo to halt, then spoke through a small aperture in the door: “There is a Shadow Star named Brian seeking an audience with Lord Candida. He says he is directly under Lord Candida’s command.”

“Wait here. I’ll ask Lord Candida for instructions.” From the small opening came a cold, emotionless voice. About two minutes later, the iron door rumbled open, revealing a round platform within that shimmered with magical fluctuations. The voice spoke again: “Brian, come in. Stand on the platform. Chester, wait outside the door. When Brian comes out later, escort him back the way he came.”

“Understood.” Chester answered, then said in a low voice, “When we first came here, we used a short-distance magical teleportation array. There are more of the same kind inside this mountain. It will take you to where you’re supposed to go.”

Han Shuo nodded to show he understood, then rose and walked toward the round platform etched with mysterious magical patterns. Short-distance teleportation arrays were not difficult to set up. Any spatial mage above the level of advanced mage, given sufficient magical materials, could arrange one.

But long-distance magical teleportation arrays, especially something like the thousand-mile transfer array Han Shuo had used to reach the Forest of Death and the Graveyard of Shadows, were not something ordinary mages could create. Such a thing required not only the cultivation of a grand mage or above, but also a vast quantity of magical materials. Without the support of a major power, a teleportation array spanning thousands of miles simply could not be realized.

Once again marveling inwardly at the strangeness of the Graveyard of Death, Han Shuo stood directly on the magical platform. Under the array’s effect, he appeared in a spacious stone chamber. The chamber was decorated with remarkable brightness and comfort, even more luxurious than the Bustle Commerce House. Beautiful magical murals were carved into the surrounding walls, several pastoral paintings hung upon them, and a chandelier above cast a soft, radiant glow that illuminated the entire room.

Candida was seated at a desk directly ahead, holding a scroll and frowning as he read. Only after Han Shuo had taken in the room and turned his gaze upon him did Candida set down the scroll in his hands. His hawk-like face turned toward Han Shuo as he asked in a low, eerie voice, “Well? What did you find?”

Han Shuo nodded and briefly recounted the information he had discovered in recent days. This included Duke’s meeting with Camila, their conversation regarding the Eye of Darkness, and finally Clark, the son of the Griffon Legion’s commander, meeting with Duke as well. He told Candida everything in full.

As Han Shuo spoke, Candida’s already sinister-looking face grew even more ferocious. After Han Shuo finished, Candida remained silent for a long time, his brows tightly furrowed as though pondering some problem.

After a while, when Han Shuo had begun to grow impatient, Candida broke into a smile and said, “Brian, you did very well. So well, in fact, that it surprises me. It seems you were born for our line of work. With your strength, to have uncovered such valuable information in such a short time truly exceeds all my expectations. Duke is a wind-element grand mage, Camila is an advanced dark-element mage, and Clark is a earth knight. To have gathered so much information without any of them noticing, I can only describe it as miraculous.”

“You flatter me,” Han Shuo replied modestly.

“There’s no need to be humble. You’ve done this matter perfectly. I am very curious as to how you managed it, but since you are now one of my people, I won’t interfere or ask. Heh heh, you needn’t worry about anything else. I’ll send people to handle this matter.” Candida looked at Han Shuo as though he were some strange creature, praising him with obvious satisfaction.

Han Shuo let out a quiet breath of relief. What he had feared most in advance was that Candida might doubt his account. After all, with his strength, it should have been impossible to obtain so much information while evading the notice of those few people. To Han Shuo’s relief, Candida did not doubt the truth of the matter in the slightest, and he did not even ask how Han Shuo had acquired the information. This also left Han Shuo somewhat astonished.

“You need not be surprised. For our Shadow Veil organization, all we care about is the final result of a mission. We do not ask about the process in between. Every member has his own methods. Once we issue a task, it does not matter what means the member uses, so long as the result is achieved. Therefore, you needn’t worry. When there is no mission, we will not interfere with your life. You may enjoy everything you have.” Candida seemed to see through Han Shuo’s thoughts and explained patiently.

“All right, then I suppose there’s nothing else for me to do now?” Han Shuo agreed with Shadow Veil’s principles and answered with a smile.

“Give me your iron token, the symbol of your identity. This is very important information. I will record it in both your token and the organization’s files. I am obligated to add two stars to your rank. Some members report ten pieces of information and still cannot earn even one star. But the merits of your report are sufficient to grant you two more stars.” Candida looked at Han Shuo and smiled.

Candida then took Han Shuo’s iron token, did something to it, and when the token returned to Han Shuo’s hand, two tiny stars had mysteriously appeared on its back. This symbolized that Han Shuo had leaped two ranks at once and entered the category of a three-star Shadow Star envoy.

“If there’s nothing else, then I’ll take my leave.” Seeing that a single assignment had already made him, like Chester, into a three-star envoy, Han Shuo was also somewhat pleased and said with a smile.

Candida nodded. “Very well. You may leave now. However, once every month, you must report back to the organization. During this period, if you have any information beneficial or harmful to the empire, you may come directly to report it. Your merit will be calculated according to the accuracy of the information and recorded in your organizational file.

“Heh, many Shadow Star envoys are scattered throughout the empire and advance by this very method. Even if you have no information at all, you must still report to the organization once a month. On the one hand, this allows the organization to know your situation; on the other, it lets us see whether there are suitable tasks for you. Of course, for some tasks, you still have the right to choose, and for some others, the right to refuse.”

Han Shuo said nothing more, nodded to show his understanding, and prepared to leave. However, just as he reached the door, Candida seemed to struggle with something and suddenly called out, “Wait a moment, Brian.”

Han Shuo stopped and turned back to look at Candida, asking in confusion, “Is there something else, Mister Candida?”

“You should handle your relationship with Lawrence properly. It may have a great influence on you in the future. Lawrence’s identity is far more complicated than you imagine. I can only tell you this much. Be careful yourself.” Candida seemed greatly troubled, and after saying this much, he fell silent.

“I heard he is the finance minister’s son. Is that what you mean?” Han Shuo had heard some things about Lawrence from Lisa, so he asked Candida.

Candida first nodded, then shook his head. Under Han Shuo’s puzzled gaze, he spoke again: “Lawrence is the son of the empire’s finance minister, and many people know that. But besides that, Lawrence has another identity. This identity is tied to too much. With your current rank, you are not qualified to know it. I also find it inconvenient to say too much. I’m only reminding you to pay attention, so you do not fall into some whirlpool you should never be drawn into.”

After saying this, Candida waved for Han Shuo to leave. Though Han Shuo remained full of questions, he had already learned some of Shadow Veil’s rules and did not ask further. He nodded to indicate that he would be careful, then left Candida’s room.

“How did it go? Did you gain anything?” On the way back along the same route with Chester, Chester looked at Han Shuo with great interest and asked.

“Nothing much. Candida just added two stars to my rank. Now I’m the same as you, a three-star envoy, heh!” Seeing Chester so curious, Han Shuo felt there was no need to hide it and told him with a smile.

At those words, Chester was instantly stunned with envy. After his surprise, he shook his head and sighed, saying, “With Lord Candida backing you, that rate of advancement is terrifying indeed. I joined Shadow Veil three years ago and reported more than twenty pieces of information before becoming a three-star envoy. You’ve only been in the organization for less than a week, and you’re already a three-star envoy too. Ah, comparing people really does drive one mad. Having someone above you truly makes all the difference.”

At Chester’s lament, Han Shuo merely shrugged and said nothing. Although he had obtained the information through his own strength, such a thing was impossible to explain, so he simply remained silent.

“If next time there’s a mission that needs two people, could you take me along? Consider it helping me out?” Chester sighed for a while, then scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and said this to Han Shuo.

“Sure.” Han Shuo agreed readily.

“Thank you. I’ll remember this, and I’ll do my best to cooperate with you.” Chester was overjoyed and became even more warm toward Han Shuo, spending the rest of the way explaining all sorts of things about Shadow Veil before finally escorting Han Shuo back to the silent estate in the northern district.