The fairy maid cheers for her deceased master today.

"Thank you both for the information."

Ax stood up and nodded slightly to the bartender wiping glasses behind the bar and to the contestant next to him, Kilan.

"Angel, we should go and meet Miss Aspasia."

Angel immediately put down the crystal glass that still had half a glass of gin left, and jogged to catch up with X's pace.

Although she drank half a glass of wine, Angel had a high alcohol tolerance and showed no signs of getting drunk.

The sounds of shouting and cheering from the fighting arena still echoed from inside the club, and no one noticed that the rather richly dressed master and servant were hurrying towards the second-floor corridor.

Yes, the bartender also provided the location of the assistant's office.

Aspasia's office is located on the innermost side of the second floor of the club. It is a small room with dark brown wooden wainscoting and a brass plaque on the door that reads "Assistant's Office" in cursive script.

Pushing open the door, the warm light from the gas lamp and candles spilled onto the landscape oil painting hanging on the wall, the edges of the frame still covered with a little dust that hadn't been wiped clean.

The room was small, but exquisitely furnished: a carved oak desk stood by the window, with the club's account books and invitations neatly stacked on it; a white porcelain pen holder held several quill pens, and there was an inkwell next to it.

The bookshelf was filled with club-related documents, but on the most conspicuous middle shelf, there was a yellowed copy of "Principles of Pharmaceutics" that stood out from the surrounding books.

Because many things I've been dealing with lately have been related to pharmaceuticals, X noticed this word immediately.

When the assistant saw X and Angel walk in, she immediately put on a professional smile, the curve of her lips as precise as if drawn with a compass.

"Sir Moore, is there anything I can do for you?"

Aspasia stood up and asked. Her voice was as gentle as a feather, yet it carried a hint of deliberate aloofness.

Ex's gaze fell on her.

"I'd like to know something about Caroline."

Without beating around the bush, X went straight to the desk, tapped the cover of the book "Principles of Pharmacology" lightly with his fingertips, and at the same time caught Aspasia's expression out of the corner of his eye.

Let's get straight to the point and launch a surprise attack.

An attack launched when the opponent is completely unprepared is the most effective. It allows you to directly observe the opponent's true reaction.

Sure enough, upon hearing the name "Caroline," Aspasia's pupils contracted sharply, as if pierced by a bright light. She instinctively took a half-step back, then forced herself to stand firm, her smile stiffening slightly.

"Caroline? That fairy lady? I'm not sure how I can help... I don't know her well, she's just an ordinary customer of the club."

"Really?"

Ax smiled, his gaze sweeping over the oil painting on the wall before settling on the armchair, taking the opportunity to observe the various details in the room.

"I heard that you and Miss Caroline had several long conversations on that small platform on the east side of the club that overlooks the lobby. Last Wednesday afternoon at three o'clock, you talked there for almost an hour. Many people saw it."

Aspasia's face turned pale instantly, and she could no longer maintain her smile.

Her voice began to tremble slightly: "You investigated very thoroughly, Sir... but it was just ordinary conversation."

"Is that so?" Ex gently brushed the dust off the spine of the book with his fingers. "But I noticed in other people's testimonies that every time you talked, you stood in the southwest corner of the platform—the stone pillars there blocked the view of the others in the hall, but allowed you to see clearly what was happening at the entrance."

"So I guess what you're talking about isn't something that can be made public, is it?"

"It's just a coincidence, Sir... I'm just used to standing there."

"coincide?"

X chuckled softly, turned to face Aspasia, and his gaze fell on her right index finger.

"There's a fresh, dark ink stain on your right index finger, it must have been applied recently, but your quill pen is in the pen holder on the left side of your desk. When I came in, I noticed you were picking up the pen, and your right hand was moving very stiffly, the nib even trembled on the paper."

"Obviously, you are left-handed, but you deliberately wrote something with your right hand. Usually, people only deliberately write with their non-dominant hand when they want to hide their handwriting."

"Given your tense expression just now, and the way you casually closed the notebook... did you write something inappropriate just now?"

Aspasia instinctively hid her right hand behind her back.

Then she realized that this action further proved the jazz's words, and her face turned even paler, but she still couldn't speak.

"And this is 'Principles of Pharmacology'." AX pulled the book from the shelf, opened the title page, and said, "I asked the club's long-time employees, and they said your job has nothing to do with pharmacists. But this book shows signs of recent use, and it has those trendy bookmarks tucked inside... So your reason for suddenly looking at this book is quite interesting."

Aspasia's body began to tremble slightly. She finally realized that the knight's observational skills were simply terrifying.

"I...I don't know what you're talking about..." Aspasia's voice was barely audible.

"Do you want me to see what you wrote in your notebook?"

"This is a company secret!"

"A company?" Ax laughed. "Not a club? If this gets to Manager Smith's ears... what will he think? How will he view you? How will he investigate you?"

Ax sat down on a chair nearby, acting very gentlemanly, yet with an air of arrogance about him.

Angel stood proudly beside her master.

In Aspasia's view, even the fairy maid standing next to her had a threatening smile.

Ex's words had already broken through Aspasia's psychological defenses.

Aspasia could hold on any longer. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed into the chair behind her, covering her face with her hands. Her shoulders trembled violently, and tears streamed through her fingers.

"Please, Sir, don't tell anyone... If Manager Smith finds out I've been collaborating with the pharmaceutical company behind his back, I'll lose my job! My mother is in the hospital waiting for money for surgery; I can't live without this job..."

Great, a simple trick and they got it.

X gave Angel a wink.

Angel understood immediately, walked over to Aspasia, and handed her one of her own handkerchiefs.

Ax softened his tone, his voice gentle but firm: "Don't worry, as long as you tell me the truth, I won't tell anyone. I just want to know about Caroline. What her identity is, and what she said to you."

Aspasia hesitated for a long time. She raised her head, her eyes red and swollen like peaches, with tears still clinging to her eyelashes.

"Caroline... she actually works for a pharmaceutical company."

A certain one?

Caroline is quite cautious.

"Three months ago, she approached me, saying she wanted to collaborate with the club to test an unreleased enhancement drug from their company using our players. She gave me a fifty-pound deposit and said she would give me another one hundred pounds if the test was successful—that amount would be enough for my mother to have all her surgeries..."

"An enhancement potion?" X frowned. "What kind of potion is it exactly?"

"It's said to be a potion comparable to 'Little Gospel.' It can also temporarily unleash the power of fairies."

Aspasia said in a low voice, got up, and took out a black velvet box from the bottom drawer of her desk. Inside the box was a small blue glass bottle.

"Caroline said this potion can greatly enhance a fairy's strength and speed for about ten minutes, but the side effects are severe—it can cause headaches, nausea, and even temporary amnesia. She wants the club's athletes to use it secretly during training to record their physical data."

Ax took the glass bottle and examined it carefully.

The bottle is made of frosted glass and has no labels on it, except for a number "M-07" engraved on the bottom.

He shook it gently, and the liquid inside shimmered like fireflies.

"Manager Smith doesn't know about this?" Ax asked.

"No! He absolutely cannot find out!"

Aspasia hurriedly said.

"The manager kept emphasizing that the club should stay away from these kinds of dangerous transactions. He said that fairies are inherently easy to lose control and that we shouldn't use unknown drugs indiscriminately. But Caroline said that as long as I kept it a secret, no one would find out... I was confused for a moment and agreed to her."

"What else did Caroline say? For example, why did she choose players from the club?" Ax pressed.

"She said the club's players are all professionally trained fairies, whose physical condition is better than that of ordinary fairies, and whose test data better meets her needs."

Aspasia continued her recollection.

"She also said that this drug is their company's latest product, backed by a powerful figure, and that if the test is successful, it will bring huge profits. She spoke very respectfully when mentioning this powerful figure."

"A big shot? Who exactly is it?" Ax keenly caught this key word.

"She didn't say his name, only that the important man was a powerful nobleman from London," Aspasia replied.

The potion is comparable to "Little Gospel"... So Caroline's pursuit of the source of Little Gospel's potion is actually for the purpose of commercial warfare?

Has Caroline mentioned her company name?

"No, she never said that. She said it was a classified test."

Ax nodded, put the glass bottle back in the velvet box, and handed it to Angel: "Thank you, Miss Aspasia. Your secret is safe with me, and I will keep it for you. I'll return it to you in a couple of days."

"But, but..."

"I'll return it to you in a couple of days," X repeated.

"Ah, yes!"