The conversation outside the carriage continued:
"Go up there and deal with the Detective, then we'll take this woman away together. Since The Church has already traced us to where we took Lawrence, things will probably get very troublesome next. That bastard who was neither man nor woman deserved to die. Before dying, he still failed to trick away what those cultists wanted. Lawrence is a rare container suitable for the descent of the Lord of the Blood Feast. Hurry up and do it. Don't use Ring Arcanist methods to kill him, or The Church will easily trace it back to us."
Shade shifted the hem of his coat, exposing part of the revolver at his waist.
"Of course I know."
The man with the local accent said, then cursed in language so filthy that even Shade could not translate it into Chinese:
"You always make me do this kind of dirty killing."
"Quit talking nonsense and go. Do you want to wait for the Ring Arcanist Squad from the Orthodox Church to arrive?"
Then came the sounds of shoving.
The man with the local accent was rather short. After his companion shoved him, he climbed into the carriage while cursing under his breath. The tall man wrapped in a black headscarf had a scar across his face. In this early summer weather, he wore a short-sleeved sailor shirt, and several silver rings adorned his black trousers.
He reached out to grab Miss Bayes, whom they had thrown onto the ground, but the Sorceress lying on her back suddenly opened her eyes.
"Balance!"
"What?"
Faint golden light spread outward from Miss Bayes's eyes like ripples. The ripples passed through the headscarf-wearing man's body. He shuddered instinctively, only to realize that he had not suffered any harm.
Fear and humiliation surged