"Extra name! Extra number! Inlet Sea Fleet defeated Feysac navy, and the defeated general committed suicide after being captured!"
Walking out of Saint Samuel Cathedral under the rare scorching sun, Leonard, who was about to take a carriage to inspect East Borough's church, heard the newsboy's cry, took out a coin with his Red Gloves-wearing hand, stopped the newsboy and asked for a printed copy of "Backlund Morning News".
He got into the carriage and closed the doors and windows, then opened the newspaper, turned over the front page's denunciation of the Feysac Empire, and looked at the battle report on the second page.
"... Last night Cons had a great naval battle along the coast. Inlet Sea Fleet destroyed more than half of Feysac, and also included a general named Einhorn... using new weapons All the artillery shells were intercepted, and no civilians were made to cry... Hehe, this kind of news is probably mixed with water, even the remaining Nighthawks or Mandated Punishers should be from Cons ton..."
After a while, Leonard closed the newspaper and put it aside, talking to himself in a low voice, with a sneer on his face.
He didn't believe that the Loen army, which had made no achievements in last week's air raid, suddenly invented some new weapons. It was most likely that the official Beyonder intercepted all the artillery shells fired into the city to protect civilians.
Coincidentally, yesterday a team of Red Gloves set off from Backlund and went to Cons ton to retrieve two important Sealed Artifact, including a "1" level If Sealed Artifact is used properly and cooperates with local Archbishop and other Nighthawks, or in conjunction with Mandated Punishers, it is enough to defend against the artillery fire attacking Cons ton.
But Leonard knows the discipline of "Red Gloves". Unless the Feysac navy directly attacks the church and surrounding areas, it is impossible for them to use the "1" level Sealed Artifact whose side effects are difficult to control. And it is impossible to intercept almost all the shells by relying solely on the squad with the highest Sequence 5.
At least he couldn't do it himself.
And the general who was killed was most likely Demigod. He could probably destroy half the city alone... Leonard was thinking, and suddenly heard the old voice of Pallez in his ears:
"You have to learn to see the essence of things from the public information."
"Are you saying that Loen was actually defeated, but you just made a lie in the battle report?"
Leonard lowered his voice so that only he could hear it, and asked.
"Of course not," Pallez scolded unhappily, "It's only the early days of the war. They won't go so far. They should have exaggerated the results, but they must have won... Of course, the excuse for using new weapons to intercept artillery shells is too bad, which means that the results are not the military's., and Cons ton's church couldn't easily kill an invading Demigod... Maybe it was some wild Beyonder who was in that city who did it, but he didn't want to show up, so the credit goes to the military..."
The analysis of "Parasite" made Leonard nod repeatedly, but in the end, he didn't wait for him to say who he was, and frowned and asked:
"So who could have done it?"
"How do I know... maybe it's a saint who is living in seclusion there, or even an angel... He has a strong sense of justice, and Fusac's fleet ran into the muzzle of the gun, or maybe due to the law of aggregation, a certain high-sequence Extraordinary happened to pass by Constant..."
"Justice has a strong sense of Saint... aggregation..."
Leonard muttered, a familiar figure appeared in his mind, and he couldn't help but look sideways at the side of the carriage - that was the direction of Backlund Technical University, which had been bombed by Fosac Airship last week and had just begun to rebuild.
He only learned about the "aggregation" effect between Adjacent Pathways on Tarot Club this week, and the Demoness and the Einhorn who are almost both "Hunter" Pathway happen to be Adjacent Pathways!
After a moment, he withdrew his gaze, shook his head, and changed the topic:
"Old Man, speaking of aggregation... I was left in Backlund. Is it also because of this reason, because of Zarathus hiding in the dark?"
It has been nearly a week since the war began, and most of the "Red Gloves" team has been transferred back to Holy Cathedral of Winter County, preparing to participate in the Andaman Mountains's The defensive battle stopped the Feysac army going south, and the few who remained in Backlund were also busy, just like the team heading to Cons ton.
Leonard, who was only recently promoted to captain and had a small team of new members, was arranged as Backlund Diocese's mobile force. He patrolled the churches in the city every day and solved some problems that Nighthawks couldn't handle, as if he had been forgotten by the upper class.
After hearing his question, Pallez didn't answer for a while.
It wasn't until Leonard turned his head in confusion and was about to ask the question again that he heard the old voice ringing again:
"Who told you?"
"Can't I think of it myself?"
He pulled his collar and replied, his voice rising a little.
"If you can think of it yourself, you will think of it after attending that party on Monday... Did the conversation just give you some inspiration? That's not bad..."
Pallez sighed with emotion, and then continued:
"I think so too. Little Zarathus came to Backlund, and Amon's Avatar are all missing. They may also be attracted here. With me, a stable triangle is formed..."
"Little Zarathus?"
Upon hearing this strange title, Leonard interjected.
Pallez chuckled and answered in a low and old tone:
"The Zarathus of the same era as me met the Antigonus known as 'Half Fool' in 'Four Emperors War'. He has fallen... His characteristics should have been acquired by this descendant in the end, but for a long time, Little Zarathus was just Sequence 2, until he disappeared more than a hundred years ago...
"No matter what, the one who dares to come to Backlund now must be Sequence 1's Angel. Don't take any chances."
What's the difference between Sequence 2 and Sequence 1 to me? I'm not even Demigod... Leonard's thoughts flowed, and he continued after a moment:
"One King of Angel and two Sequence 1's Angel. Once there is a conflict, Backlund may be destroyed... Shouldn't it be more important for me to leave the big city and return to Holy Cathedral as soon as possible?"
"Oh, you got on the train at Backlund, and when you got off at Winter County, you might have put on a monocle, or you might have become Marionette holding the strings," Pallez sneered unceremoniously, "Of course, I am also capable of fighting., but the best way is to do this now. When Evernight is unable to intervene, let the main body hide with a high probability. Amon, who only sends his clones, and Zarathus, who dare not take action easily, form a fragile balance with me who has not fully recovered my strength..."
Fragile balance... Leonard straightened up, suddenly his expression changed, and he asked quickly:
"Goddess can't intervene? What happened to Him?"
"There is a high probability that something will happen, but it is not necessarily a bad thing..." Pallez replied mysteriously, "In short, the church's arrangement means that the secrets about you are no longer secrets in their eyes. As long as you don't go too far, many things can be ignored."
I've realized this a long time ago... Leonard sighed lightly, and continued to ask about "aggregation". It wasn't until the carriage arrived at East Borough's Church of Night that he got off the car and entered the church Underground Area. He received a list of recent East Borough cases that were difficult to handle and extraordinary events, and prepared to solve the cases one by one that were difficult for ordinary people and Low Sequence It is extremely difficult for Beyonder, but very easy for Sequence 5's "Spirit Warlock".
Most of these accumulated incidents are "haunted" in the eyes of the public, but in fact they are ghosts caused by the victims not being buried in time. The fragile ones will naturally dissipate when they see the sun, leaving behind the more difficult ones.
"Several times more than last month...are they people who died in the bombing without having time to find their bodies, or are they people whose lives have become unsustainable due to rising prices?"
Looking at the case form that would probably be difficult to solve all day long, Leonard felt a headache and pressed his temples, regretting not bringing his team members over to handle it together.
Planning today's itinerary in his mind, he left the church and first went to White Whale Street where the East Borough Factory District domain was located. It was the area that was heavily bombed by Fosac Airship last week. One-third of the factory was damaged, and the casualties were mainly concentrated here.
Before he entered the street, Leonard noticed a four-wheeled carriage with black bear claws printed on it slowly driving out. The rich smell of caramel that had not yet dissipated hit his nostrils. He couldn't help but take a deep breath of the sweet air. Then he moved his eyes and noticed that the carriage drove out from a factory that was not damaged in the bombing.
"Black Bear Cannery... It turns out that the drink called Cola is made here..."
Leonard looked thoughtful as he saw someone pushing a small two-wheeled trolley on the street, selling bottles of carbonated drinks that were recently popular in Backlund.
This kind of "Black Bear Cola" is cheaper than beer, rich in sugar, and non-alcoholic. It is loved by workers, but it is regarded as an unseemly drink by the middle and wealthy classes, because after taking a sip, they often can't help but belch to destroy their image.
Rather than dignity, the refreshing feeling of the chilled drink is the most important thing... Leonard, who had already tasted this drink, stopped at the colorful advertisement hanging on the cart.
The advertisement depicting Northland soldiers with ferocious expressions promoted the barbaric act of the Feysac Empire invading Loen, and promised that for every bottle of "Black Bear Cola" sold, 1/4 penny would be donated to help orphans created during the war.
Seeing this, Leonard had a thought in his mind, took out 3 pennies and bought a bottle of ice-cold Cola. He unscrewed the metal cap with his bare hands and poured it into his throat like other buyers. His muscles tightened under the stimulation of the bubbles, as if he was being promoted after drinking Potion.
Immediately, he opened his mouth and made an undisguised voice:
"Hiccup——"
This is the happiness that those who call themselves middle class cannot enjoy... Leonard muttered in his heart, suddenly thinking of Angel and Klein who are still in this city. The two of them have transformed into "rich people" who can donate thousands of pounds and buy a manor in the suburbs. I am afraid they also sneer at such drinks...
After gathering his thoughts, Leonard noticed a half-grown boy with tattered clothes and obvious malnutrition staring closely at the half-sized bottle of Cola in his hand. He hesitated for a moment, handed the bottle in his hand to the other person, and took out three pennies from his pocket, intending to buy another bottle for the child.
But as soon as he put his hand into his pocket, the child who got Cola happily ran away from him, poured the unfinished Cola on the street, held the empty glass bottle in his arms, and disappeared into the alley in the blink of an eye.
He just wanted to sell the empty bottles for money...Leonard's movement of taking out money and the expression on his face froze, and he suddenly realized that there was also a ideological difference between himself and these real poor people.
After a while, he calmed down and was about to head to the nearby "haunted" location when he suddenly noticed another figure appearing in the alley where the child had escaped. The figure jumped out from the window on the high warehouse wall and landed lightly. Between the black cloak and hood, a trace of skin that was too fair to be East Borough loomed.
Isn't it to say that East Borough's security has improved due to various Prohibition promulgations? Why are there still people stealing in broad daylight...Leonard, who had just finished lamenting the hardships of the East Borough people's lives, did not change his mind for a moment. His eyes stayed on the back of the hooded thief for a moment, and then he noticed that the figure was somewhat familiar.
It's the Demoness who took Minor Arcana Brand "Empress of Pentacles"...
Leonard struggled to overlap the sneaky figure with the sweet-looking and outstanding-temperament Demoness in his mind. His expression changed, and he finally took another route and quickly stopped the other party.
"The church only promises to endorse your illegal behavior when investigating extraordinary events. Theft is not included."
Leonard, who struggled to run in front of the opponent, held his breath and leaned against the wall with a relaxed expression, waited for "Empress of Pentacles" to come to him, and then spoke in a deep voice.
"Heh."
Pallez in his mind sneered at the same time.
"Empress of Pentacles" Shermane was not as surprised or even panicked as he expected. Instead, he took off his hood and showed a puzzled expression:
"It turned out to be you, Mr. 'Star'. I almost did it... but you said stealing?"
"If you think jumping out of that warehouse window doesn't count as stealing, I can wait for your other explanation."
Leonard ignored Old Man's laughter and said seriously.
"Warehouse... you mean just now?"
She murmured, and after a moment she looked back suddenly, almost laughing:
"That's my warehouse, my factory... to be precise, part of the shares belong to me.
"I took the back door just because it was convenient. For an 'assassin', jumping from the third floor is much faster than taking the stairs."
Shermane said while gesticulating, while looking at Leonard with calm eyes. The look that was not expressed because of superficial respect, like looking at a fool, made the latter feel a little embarrassed.
"I thought you forwarded 'Marauder' to Pathway..." He defended with his eyes wandering, and suddenly caught the key point in the other party's words, "Wait a minute, you said that 'Black Bear Cannery' belongs to you?"
"A small, majority share belongs to 'Empress' Miss."
Shermane nodded first and then corrected.
"Empress" is Angelica, which is Angel. Is she the actual owner of that factory? I just suspected that she would never drink such a cheap drink...
Leonard's expression kept changing, and after a moment he asked as if confirming:
"How many bottles of 'Cola' can that factory produce in a week?"
He estimated that about 10,000 or 20,000 bottles would be enough.
"One week... our production capacity is calculated on a daily basis. Now that the war has begun, the supply of syrup from Bayam may be reduced, and the production capacity will be reduced... about 30,000 bottles a day."
Shermane replied after considering it.
Thirty thousand bottles a day... If you earn a penny a bottle, that's... over forty thousand pounds a year?
On Tarot Club, Demigod and Beyonder Characteristic cannot be sold at this price!
Even if he only owns a quarter of the shares, "Empress of Pentacles" can earn 10,000 pounds a year from the factory.
The brain was shocked by this number, Leonard fell into a sluggish state for a moment, and the body leaning against the wall could not help but straighten up.
After spending almost all his savings to buy "Word of the Sea", he could not imagine that the "Empress of Pentacles" that sneaked out of the warehouse just now was actually a "rich man" with much more money than himself.
"That's right... it doesn't sound like much."
After a long time, Leonard squeezed out a sentence from his mouth.
"That's true," Shermane replied seriously. "After the war, 'Empress' Miss asked the factory's production capacity to gradually shift to canned food in order to receive orders from the army. In addition, it also prepared for possible price increases in the future. Cola's output is already only one-third of the previous..."
There are also cans...Leonard subconsciously said "ah", and then remembered that the name of the factory just now was "Black Bear Cannery".
He suddenly felt that the slightly sour sweet taste of Cola that was lingering in his mouth just now became a bit bitter.
In the evening, Leonard, who was physically tired all day and even more mentally exhausted, got off the carriage and stepped into Saint Samuel Cathedral, where the number of believers was increasing day by day, and Prayer Hall was overwhelmed.
Before he could enter Underground Area, he met three people from the "Red Gloves" team who returned to Backlund from Cons.
Their captain Demel held a heavy wooden box in front of his chest with both hands. His expression was Affliction, as if he was under extremely exaggerated pressure. Before walking far, he handed the wooden box in his hand to another team member, who took it with a solemn expression and immediately became the same as his captain.
This should be the "1" level Sealed Artifact... If Leonard realized something, he took advantage of Demel to free his hands and when Demel's red face quickly returned to normal, he stepped forward and asked in a low voice:
"Cons Dun's mission is going well?"
Because they were worried about not getting timely support if an accident occurred, different "Red Gloves" teams would inform each other about their missions. Therefore, Demel was not surprised and also lowered his voice and said:
"It went very smoothly. We arrived there yesterday evening, rested for the night, and set off with Sealed Artifact this morning. There were no other accidents during this time... except for the fleet of Feysac last night."
This is what I want to hear...Leonard felt happy in his heart and commented casually:
"I saw in the newspaper that Loen's navy won a great victory and even captured a Einhorn."
"Catch? Is that what it says in the newspaper? "Demel sneered, subconsciously turned around and looked around him, and found that all the believers in the Prayer Hall were praying devoutly. Then he continued, "The local Nighthawks team walked out of the church. At that moment, the general's body was thrown at the door. Like the North Borough people who were killed by them, there was no intact skin on his body... Until then, there was not a single Loen ship on the sea!"
Sure enough, it was pretty much what Old Man guessed... Leonard appropriately showed a trace of doubt and asked in a low voice:
"Who did it?"
"No one knows that some people witnessed a golden flash in the sky, and most of the shells were intercepted. The rest were strangely missed and landed in the suburbs or uninhabited areas. When the commander of Feysac was dumped, some people also saw a figure in the sky. It seemed to be a woman with black hair... This feature can easily identify a lot of targets, and it is impossible to confirm. The divination also showed the results of interference..."
Demel was talking nonchalantly, and then he took the box containing the "1" level Sealed Artifact amidst the shouts of the team members, and walked forward slowly, his voice becoming intermittent:
"Anyway, I wrote a report and prepared to hand it over to Archbishop. He might report it to Holy Cathedral... But I think she should be a certain Demigod who is friendly to Loen. According to the current situation, there is a high probability that she will not and the investigation will continue."
If it is true, as Old Man said, that Goddess cannot respond positively to believers for some reason, I am afraid that the church does not have the ability to pursue such a harmless target, not to mention, she is very likely to be...
Thinking of the nickname that was passed down by the pirates before becoming "Golden Queen", Leonard stopped and looked at the door that Prayer Hall had not yet closed.
On the glass next to the door that turned bright red due to the Crimson Moon shining outside the window, a black shadow flashed past.
Saturday night, Angel came to Serenzo Restaurant where West Borough is known for the purest Intis dishes.
Of course, there was no reservation, and it arrived as "Mirror World".
Staying behind the glass window in front of the "Golden Theater" box, Angel is quietly waiting for the arrival of 7 o'clock in the evening.
Tonight, she will meet with several "Resistors" to confirm each other's attitude and level of preparation, and discuss how to stop George III's plot.
This was equivalent to a mobilization meeting before the war. After this, including him, I am afraid that they would not have a chance to meet again until the day of action... Thoughts flashed through Angel's mind, and he suddenly felt that there were some changes inside Mirror World.
She looked in the direction of Spirituality's induction. In another nearby "passage", a vague figure quickly approached, staying behind the glass window like her, observing what was going on outside.
The newcomer Demoness obviously didn't notice Angel. After observing it for a while, he left the mirror and his figure was outlined in the luxuriously decorated corridor with Intis's exaggerated artistic atmosphere.
She wore a ubiquitous women's hood that covered her silky black hair and most of her face, only revealing her slightly rounded chin and the hollows on both sides of her cheeks. Her alluring figure was hidden under her wide skirt.
This is Trissy Cheek who is wanted by all Loen, but no one has been able to find his whereabouts.
Seeing that there was no one in the corridor, she came to the door of the "Golden Theater" box and hesitantly stretched out her hand, but did not knock on the door. Instead, she kept looking around like a vigilant rabbit, with a strange light flashing in her eyes, obviously doing a quick divination.
Angel chuckled lightly and returned to Physical World from behind the mirror. Trissy, who was looking around, suddenly turned around and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that it was her.
"Why meet here, isn't it safer East Borough?"
She said half confused and half complaining.
"The request of the one inside has special meaning to her."
Angel explained, passing over Trissy who was standing by the door, and knocked on the door.
"Please come in."
A response came from the door.
Angel Pushed open the door and entered the room decorated with a large number of golden wallpapers, tassels and table and chair edges. Unsurprisingly, he found two guests already sitting at the dining table.
The man above was wearing a white shirt and slim-fitting beige trousers, with long chestnut hair hanging down his head. He was sitting in a high-back chair with a relaxed posture. His blue eyes looked towards the door and nodded towards Angel.
Sitting far away from her was a young man wearing a black trench coat, with his top hat taken off and placed next to him, revealing short black hair and a thin face. His eyes hidden behind gold-rimmed glasses paused slightly on Trissy by the door, and then also looked at Angel.
"'Queen Mystic', good evening. Gehrman, long time no see."
Angel said hello in turn and found a chair to sit down. Behind her, Trissy followed him with some restraint and sat on the chair next to her, like a follower.
She probably didn't divine the situation inside outside the door... Angel was just laughing inwardly at Trissy's completely different expression from when he was complaining outside the door, when he noticed Klein dressed opposite Mad Adventurer smiled exaggeratedly and reached for his pocket.
Then, under the gaze of the other three people, he sighed at the Crystal Monocle he took out and put it on his left eye socket.
(Two in one, it's not available today, just in time to restore even-numbered chapters.)
Two-in-one, not available tonight.