An Ill-Fated Dinner Party

"So... could it be that the train sank at sea and was completely destroyed by that fire giant?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible. After all, others may not know who the owner of that train is, but we know very well. Although there is no evidence, there may be a big figure among the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors behind it. Even a monster of that size could not destroy the entire train."

"So... what exactly happened?"

"I think..."

"Alright everyone, please quiet down. I have some new information."

Listening to the noisy chatter among the different birds, suddenly, the eagle that had been silent all along let out a powerful female voice, silencing the noise.

Many birds turned their heads and then spoke with great respect, "Please speak, Lord Barthomeloi."

"—Just now, the ocean familiars I dispatched have already found traces of the train on the sea last night."

"What?"

"So the train was indeed damaged and malfunctioned?"

"It's really unbelievable that I could run into something like this."

"Contact the staff quickly and get the train repaired as soon as possible. The auction must continue!"

Upon hearing this news, several different bird familiars flapped their wings and let out startled and angry screams, their words filled with anxiety.

Clearly, they were Magus longed to obtain the Mystic Eyes and were in dire need of purchasing Mystic Eyes.

"Don't worry, there won't be any more auctions or the Rail Zeppelin, because that train has already exploded on the sea."

"When my fish-like familiar found the train, it was already completely destroyed, clearly from a severe explosion. The sea around it is littered with debris. I checked the fragments in the Mystic Eyes storage warehouse, but there were no traces of Mystic Eyes in the ocean. It was obviously looted by someone. Combining this with what happened last night, we can roughly conclude that the Mystic Eye Train was invaded by some entity and successfully destroyed."

The eagle, clearly the most prestigious bird present, didn't mince words and directly stated what it had investigated.

Because she was the representative of the Barthomeloi family, her hatred for those damned Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors was no less than that for the Church. So when she learned that the entire train had been destroyed at sea, her tone was clearly filled with schadenfreude, as if she wished such a thing would happen a few more times.

After all, the Department of Law has an abundance of Mystic Eyes in its Sealing Designation, so she doesn't really need them. And it's truly rare to see the estate of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors reduced to such a state...

It's unclear who exactly did this.

"What?!!"

Unlike Barthomeloi, who already knew about this and was mentally prepared, the other bird familiars present were undoubtedly deeply shocked upon hearing the news.

Although they suspected that Barthomeloi was lying to them, upon closer examination, they realized that there was no reason for him to tell such a lie. After all, deceiving them would not have brought Barthomeloi any benefit.

Some Magus suspected that the Barthomeloi family might be crying wolf, but this absurd idea was immediately rejected by everyone.

After all, if the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors standing behind the Rail Zeppelin were so easy to deal with, Barthomeloi would have already made his move and wouldn't have given them the chance to live until now. So...

"Could it have been done by the Church?"

Someone immediately guessed a very close answer.

After all, besides the Mage's Association, only the Church possesses such drive and motivation.

Furthermore, the fact that the owner of that train was a Dead Apostle Ancestor who wanted to show off his collection could be a perfectly legitimate motive for the Church to intervene.

After all, those guys might not care about the Mystic Eyes, but they would really hunt down monsters that defy humanity to the bitter end, without any room for compromise.

"It's very likely... only the Church has the capability to do something like this. Plus, someone said last night that they saw members of the Burial Agency moving around near Iceland, so it's most likely that they did it."

"..."

Upon hearing this news, all the familiars present fell silent.

After a long silence, an old bat with a deep voice spoke again, "Regardless of whether the church did it or not, our most urgent task now is to find out where the Mystic Eyes is."

"That's right. Instead of asking such a trivial question as who destroyed the train, we should focus our attention on the Mystic Eyes."

"Hehe... Compared to that greedy vampire, I actually prefer the Mystic Eyes to fall into the hands of the Church. After all, the Church won't let us compete maliciously with each other. Even if they do buy it, it will be a fixed price. They've never had any demands for the Mystic Eyes, so they'll definitely sell it to us in the end."

"That's right."

This statement was echoed by the crowd.

Although the Church's Executor were also full of malice towards them, they were still better than the Dead Apostle, as they were all human Executor.

"But the problem is... what if it wasn't the church that did this, but the other passengers? What if the survivors took the Mystic Eyes? What then?"

"It's simple. We can start from both sides. Send someone to contact the church to inquire about the situation, and send someone to check the names on the train invitation. Whoever comes back alive, we'll go find them."

"Your suggestion is correct. Then there's another point... Lord Barthomeloi, have you found the bodies of the other Magus in the ocean?"

Because of this statement, the other Magus all turned their attention back to the eagle.

"No, they're all Dead Apostle."

The eagle shook its head. "And they were all charred by the flames, so there must be a master of fire among them."

"So the situation is now very clear: either the Church took the Eye of the Mystic Eyes, or the surviving passengers took it. Therefore, we..."

"Don't be so naive, everyone. Maybe the train owner was attacked and took the goods with him to evacuate."

Just as this group of guys were starting to think about how to divide the spoils, Kenneth's sarcastic voice came from the canary representing the Archibald Family, attracting the attention of everyone present.

He said dismissively, "After all, the owner of the Mystic Eye Train is a big shot among the Dead Apostle. She can't just die so easily, right? Maybe she took the rest of the passengers and cargo with her. After all, Dead Apostle are known for being unruly and capricious; they're not trustworthy!"

"..."

Kenneth's words silenced the Magus present.

Indeed, they were all blinded by the immediate temptation and subconsciously avoided the option that offered no benefit but was the most likely outcome.

After all, humans always fantasize about situations that are more beneficial to them. If those Mystic Eyes were really taken away by the train owner, where else could they get any benefits?

"You're right, Lord Kenneth."

Upon hearing this, the eagle representing Barthomeloi nodded slightly, acknowledging his conjecture.

Then, the spread of wings brought this strange and brief meeting to a close. "In short, continuing the discussion will not yield any concrete answers, so let's all go back and investigate first... Regardless of the actual outcome, how much benefit one can ultimately gain will depend on the means employed."

Then, the majestic eagle spread its wings and soared into the blue sky, becoming the first to withdraw from this meaningless discussion.

Seeing that Barthomeloi had already said so, the other birds lost interest in continuing the discussion and flew off in different directions. Only Kenneth merely snorted, inwardly mocking the delusional ideas of those poor fellows.

'With so many Mystic Eyes, is it really possible for them to find such a bargain?'

Hehe, in the end it will probably all be for nothing.

So, after briefly assigning the search task to the butler beside him, he stood up and looked out the window.

Compared to these trivial matters, he is more concerned about his disciple's advancement exam.

By the way, that guy Rovey hasn't contacted him for two or three days.

Logically, he should have come over to discuss important points at a time like this, right? Why is there no sign of him? Is he really focused on preparing for his advancement?

Thinking of this Kenneth couldn't help but look somewhat doubtful.

Although he didn't think Rovey would be so absurd as to continue messing around less than a week before the advancement ceremony, as his teacher, he knew him well enough to understand...

That kid is really capable of doing something like that!

Suddenly, Kenneth had a bad feeling.

So he decided to go to his house in person to check on the situation and also to give him some instructions along the way.

As for the Mystic Eyes Eye...

If we can find it, great; if we can't, it doesn't matter.

El-Melloi doesn't need a few more pairs of Mystic Eyes to revive his fortunes.

He just hoped that Rovey wouldn't cause him any more trouble in the last few days.

Honestly advance to the Grand Rank.

In that case, their revival plan can truly get on the right track.

Chapter 147 An Ominous Dinner

Suburbs of London.

The Crowley Family residence.

Compared to other magical families, this place doesn't look very big.

Because a large part of it was undeveloped forest, and only a flat area in front had been built into the Crowley Family's estate, Kenneth considered it somewhat shabby and had always wanted to give Rovey Gay a larger estate as his future family residence.

However, although the manor doesn't look big, it is small but complete in every way.

This place has all the buildings that a typical Mage Families would have, including a private hospital specifically for the family. However, the doctors inside were dismissed long ago when Rovey's parents passed away. After all, no matter how good a family's private doctor is, it can't compare to going to a major hospital in London. The building's existence is purely for show, and hardly anyone ever comes here.

However, it has been reactivated recently.

Since the night he returned home from Iceland, Rovey had been claiming to be seriously ill and that he needed to recuperate at home for a while. During this time, he refused to see anyone and thus remained hidden in the hospital.

However, that was just what he told the outside world. In reality, wearing a hospital gown, he was more relaxed than anyone else at that moment.

This was at least the first time he had slept in his own bed at home recently, and although it was a hospital bed, it was quite comfortable.

Those rumors about serious injury or illness were just rumors he spread to avoid unnecessary trouble, and also to legitimately refuse malicious harassment from some people.

Inside the ward.

At this moment, Rovey was leisurely lying on his hospital bed, enjoying the warm air by the bedside while watching Lev report on the progress of the angel research.

"Um..."

As he flipped through the pages, he nodded slightly at what was written on them, and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

Because many of the records above coincided with what he was thinking.

Firstly, the incredibly important project of "Guardian Angel" has finally made some progress.

In this regard, Rovey really has to admire Lev's talent.

At least in the fields of demon summoning and Angel Summoning, Lev, as the past personality of the Demon God Pillars, has indeed shown astonishing talent.

So much so that Rovey couldn't help but wonder if Goetia had pulled something behind the scenes.

Logically speaking, even if demons and angels are interconnected, the transformation shouldn't be this rapid...

However, Lev was like someone with a cheat code. He started working with them without any pressure or barriers, and his transformation was incredibly smooth. He had completely embraced the angels.

Furthermore, he learned the method of segmented thinking from his new colleague, Aozaki Touko, to conduct multi-faceted research. With the help of some introduced puppet familiars, the research speed of the huge workshop at their feet increased by more than double compared to before. Even Rovey had to be amazed by this guy's skills and awareness.

With double the thinking, double the research speed, and double the fatigue feedback, this guy really isn't afraid of being worked to death one day.

He works even harder than Weber!

Even if he were to conduct the research himself, he might not be able to match Lev's current speed.

This colleague is truly a rare and outstanding worker...

Three days have passed since the night he returned.

He also spent almost three days researching in his own hospital.

Based on Lev's report on the progress, Rovey briefly discussed with him the next strategy and the new route for the Alchemy Guardian Angel.

During this time, Rovey would either eat the three meals that the housekeeper brought on time every day, or sit on the bed and tell the three little ones who came to visit him about magic, and then find time to discuss it with Lev through his familiar.

Life was quite pleasant.

Looking back on this period of time, his busy years of running around, for a moment, Rovey was reluctant to leave the hospital, at least that way he could have some peace and quiet.

However--

Thump thump...

On the third day of feigning illness and recuperating.

There was a sudden knock on the door of the private hospital.

Upon hearing the commotion, Rovey didn't even need to think; he could almost guess who had arrived.

"I'll go open the door, elder brother."

Before Rovey could respond, Reines, who had been carefully peeling an apple for him and taking good care of him, put down the apple and got up to help open the door.

"...uncle."