"He said he learned it from a contact within the Awwa County Police Department, but I have no way to verify whether it is true. Could he be hiding something?"
Night shrouded 6 Daffodil Street. After bathing, Angel, dressed in a light nightgown, sat upright at the desk in her study, holding a fountain pen and murmuring to herself. Quite a few lines had already been written in the notebook before her.
"A Sequence 9 Seer, yet highly skilled in Divination. Old Neil, who is also proficient in Divination, thought very highly of him."
"He hides certain secrets. The Sealed Artifact '2-049,' which can restrict movement, seems ineffective against him, or perhaps he can dispel its effects himself?"
"He is familiar with the Acting Method and digested the Sequence 9 Potion in a short time. He plans to advance to Sequence 8 soon."
"He knows that I have already advanced to Sequence 8. The source of that information is unknown; perhaps it was through Divination?"
"He has some channel for information that allows him to learn high-level kingdom intelligence that has not yet been made public."
That last line had just been added by her.
Looking at these "suspicions" about her neighbor, teammate, and friend, Angel's expression held a trace of hesitation, but it soon settled into calmness.
She clasped her hands, pressed them against her forehead, rested her elbows on the desk, closed her eyes, and softly recited:
"O Fool who does not belong to this era, You are the Mysterious Ruler Above the Gray Fog, You are the King of Yellow and Black who wields Good Luck."
"I pray for Your gaze, I pray for Your hearing..."
This was a simplified version of Ritual Magic. It required neither the advance preparation of four local staple foods nor an