Tracking

Angel took a Public Carriage back to Zoteland Street, and it was already afternoon. The slanting sunlight carried a faint yellow tint, as though it had dusted the streets with golden powder.

Her left hand was tucked into her trench coat sleeve, gripping the dagger left behind by the "Assassin" in reverse. She carefully jumped down from the carriage. One careless move in that position could cut her, but she could hardly wave a weapon around on a Public Carriage. She would be asked to get off before riding two stops, and might even draw the attention of a Patrol Officer.

She hurried from the carriage stop back to Blackthorn Security Company. Its front door was still half-closed, just as it had been when she left at noon, and faint voices drifted from inside.

Sica Theon, with her white hair and Black Eyes, sat on the reception room sofa. She held a palm-sized notebook in one hand and a Steel Pen in the other, scribbling away.

Rosanne sat opposite her with a helpless expression. She had clearly just been dragged onto the sofa, while a steaming cup of tea still sat on the reception desk.

When she saw Angel push open the door, Rosanne sprang up from the sofa as if she had seen a savior. "Angel's back! Just ask her directly!"

Without waiting for Sica Theon to react, she dashed back behind the reception desk, curled up in the large high-backed chair, and refused to move.

Angel looked at the white-haired woman in confusion. Sica helplessly set down her notebook and explained, "I just got back from Hoy University. Rosanne told me that you and Mr. Moretti took on a commission and used Divination to solve it. Hmm... I thought it would make a good idea for a novel, so I wanted to ask her about the details."

An idea for a novel?

Looking at the notebook she had placed on the table, Angel recalled Brett mentioning "research for a novel" during their lunch conversation and immediately understood.

"Detectives, Divination, deduction—put those elements together, and it would definitely make for an engaging story. If there's an exciting fight at the end, it would be perfect."

Whenever Sica talked about novels, her eyes seemed to glow.

"If it's convenient, could you tell me about the Divination process? I've never really understood how it works. Old Neil is always so mysterious about it..."

"Of course, but I need to see the captain first. There are some things I need to report to him." Angel finally understood why Rosanne had looked so helpless earlier, because the same expression had now appeared on her own face. "If there's still time afterward, I'll tell you all about it."

The excited young Author stared at her for two seconds. After confirming that Angel was not merely brushing her off, she nodded.

"All right. Business comes first."

She pointed toward the partition. "The captain is in his office. He might be resting, so remember to knock."

"Thank you." Angel nodded her thanks.

After going around the partition and reaching Dunn Smith's office door, she did not knock immediately. Instead, she stood outside and reviewed everything from accepting the commission to escaping the Docklands warehouse, organizing her words and making sure she had not missed anything.

"Come in. The door isn't locked."

Dunn's deep voice came from inside.

I haven't even knocked yet...

Angel froze for a moment before pushing the door open and walking in.

Dunn Smith sat behind his desk. His trench coat hung over the back of his chair, and his top hat had been casually placed on the desk. He looked somewhat relaxed. Seeing that it was Angel, he nodded and asked, "Did you complete the commission, or did you run into some trouble?"

"You already knew..."

Angel had already prepared what she wanted to say and intended to begin by explaining Mrs. Green's commission. She had not expected Dunn's first sentence to disrupt her plan.

"Rosanne told me."

With a smile in his gray eyes, Dunn said, "As long as it doesn't interfere with your official duties, I don't object to new members taking on simple commissions to help them integrate into the work sooner. But before acting, it would be best to discuss it with the others."

Then his tone shifted.

"Still, a commission worth 120 pounds is enough to tempt even me. It's only natural that you couldn't resist."

It doesn't sound like he's blaming me...

Angel breathed a sigh of relief, pulled the dagger from her sleeve, and placed it on Dunn's desk.

"The commission has been completed. Mrs. Green... um, the client, provided accurate information. Thanks to Mr. Klein Moretti's precise Divination, recovering the ring went smoothly as well. But..."

She skipped over the preparations the captain probably already knew about and began directly with their search after entering the warehouse.

"In the Labor Mutual Aid Society Chairman's office, I found a notebook documenting the Mutual Aid Society's various illegal activities. Aside from some of the gang's 'traditional business,' it also contained evidence that they were suspected of engaging in Population Trade. When I was about to leave with the notebook, I was attacked by an 'Assassin.' He was a Beyonder who had consumed the Assassin Potion, not an 'Assassin' in the literal sense..."

Angel described the fight between them in detail.

The moment she took out the dagger, all the laziness vanished from Dunn Smith. He sat upright, listening intently to Angel's account as his expression gradually turned serious.

"Are you certain that the hooded person was a Beyonder who had consumed the Assassin Potion, rather than an ordinary person with exceptional skills?" After hearing about Angel's attack, he asked with a frown, "This is very important. It determines whether the case is handed to the police or handled by us."

"I'm certain. Even if he never admitted it verbally, the abilities he used exposed his identity. Like this."

Angel gripped the dagger with both hands, drawing it back to her chest. She planted her feet one before the other and bent her knees slightly, activating the Assassin's Charged Strike right in front of Dunn.

Her legs exerted force first, sending it up to her waist. That force combined with the energy of her torso muscles twisting, passed through her shoulders into the arms holding the dagger, and finally became the thrusting force of her arm muscles. Every joint in her body worked together, concentrating explosive power on the short dagger as it stabbed out like lightning.

That was also why an Assassin had to lunge forward with their entire body when using Charged Strike.

Of course, Angel had no intention of stabbing her captain to death and then being Wanted by the entire Night Church.

After demonstrating the Assassin's ability, she stepped forward with her right foot and stomped on the floor with a bang, stopping her forward momentum in time.

Only then did Dunn belatedly jerk his head back, as if he had intended to evade the attack.

"I understand..." He settled back into his seat and raised an eyebrow. "Then is it possible that this 'Assassin' had also accepted Mrs. Green's commission and simply happened to run into you?"

"No, he was after that notebook."

Angel shook her head, rejecting Dunn's suggestion.

"He would rather be injured—even risk death—to snatch the notebook away while I had a gun pointed at him. He did not care in the slightest about the other valuables in the room. He didn't even ask about them."

"Then the most likely possibility is that he was also involved in the Labor Mutual Aid Society's Population Trade?" Dunn analyzed. "Their Chairman has been gone for a week. Perhaps something happened to him, or perhaps he fled. This man came to take away the evidence."

"That was my thought as well. And there may be a larger organization behind him. He himself was merely an executor for that organization, not someone participating in or directing the Population Trade."

Angel added.

"If I were only trying to destroy evidence of my own crimes, then when facing mortal danger, I should run away rather than continue risking my life to retrieve the evidence. At worst, being Wanted by the police would mean leaving Tingen, or even going to another country. But if there was an organization above me, that would be different."

She tried to see things from the other party's perspective.

Dunn Smith nodded approvingly. "A very reasonable analysis."

"A Beyonder's superior is very likely a Beyonder as well. If we can find that Assassin, we might be able to wipe out the illegal organization behind him that is running the Population Trade."

Encouraged, Angel continued.

"I still remember what he looked like and can draw a portrait. Perhaps this dagger can also be used for Divination to find some clues. If—"

Dunn smiled and made a calming gesture with both hands, gradually lowering her tone.

"Sorry, I got a little excited."

"It's fine. That isn't a bad thing. I was the same when I was young, but now I have to consider more matters."

Dunn narrowed his eyes, seemingly recalling something. Only after a long while did he continue, "The Docklands are the Punishers' jurisdiction. By convention, this case should be transferred to them. But we discovered the clues, so I'll try to secure it for us. At the very least, we should conduct a Joint Operation."

"You said the people being traded in the notebook mostly came from Inlet Sea County? The police over there will need to assist with the investigation as well. We need to determine how many Missing Persons there are, and the Wanted Notice must be issued by them. Draw the Assassin's face first and submit it to the police so they can print Wanted Notices. Old Neil can handle the Divination. I'll take the dagger to him later and hope he can find more clues."

"Since this case will very likely require assistance from other jurisdictions, I also need to report it to the Holy Cathedral. They will decide whether to proceed and when to begin the operation."

Dunn's deep, steady words gradually calmed Angel down. Only then did she realize that a case involving Beyonders could implicate so many different parties.

After all, Tingen City, with a population of fewer than 200,000, had Beyonder forces from three churches. Though they nominally belonged to the same system as the police, they always handled matters separately. Small cases were manageable, but once cooperation was needed, coordination between them would become a headache.

Fortunately, there were taller people to shoulder those headaches...

Thinking of that, Angel relaxed.

She took the pencil and blank paper Dunn handed her and, relying on the image in her mind, spent several minutes sketching the "Assassin." Although Angel had never studied drawing in either of her lives, the memory and body enhanced by the Potion still allowed her to produce a decent result.

After handing the sketch, which bore a ninety-percent resemblance to the young Assassin, along with the recovered dagger to Dunn Smith, Angel's task was considered complete. As she was about to leave, she suddenly asked, almost on impulse:

"By the way, Captain, do I need to turn over half of the other items obtained during the commission too?"

She took Mrs. Green's lost ring from her pocket, along with the other jewelry she had found, and placed them on Dunn's desk together with the stack of old banknotes worth roughly twenty pounds.

Dunn Smith looked at these "spoils" before him and fell silent for a moment. Then, with a smile, he said:

"You could have kept these items. As long as they do not involve supernatural powers, other property acquired during a commission generally does not need to be turned over."

"But since you have such a strong sense of teamwork, I'll transfer them to Mrs. Orianna. She will assess their value and take half as the team's operating funds."

Rosanne had never mentioned that...

Angel opened her mouth, rather wanting to take the items back from the desk, but she ultimately held herself back.

The remaining half was still sixty pounds. That was already more than enough!

She consoled herself inwardly.