Missing Cat Commission

After leaving the doctor's psychological clinic, Shade found the sun already setting outside. The sunset shining through the city's mist gave him, walking along the road, the surreal feeling of having lived through another lifetime.

Just half a day ago, he had been an ordinary person. Now, he could light a sheet of paper with a thought.

"Actually, not that much has changed."

Thinking carefully, he had gained everything he now possessed while giving almost nothing in return. That seemed a little too lucky.

"But from what the doctor said, besides the required credits earned through study, I'll need to complete the Academy's practical assignments each school year to earn Practical Credit. Otherwise, even if I advance to the second ring, I'll still have to repeat the year."

His life truly seemed to be getting on track. This left the Outlander, who had been considering collecting relief food just yesterday, with a faint sense of unreality. His plans could be further revised—now that he had power, he could continue the Detective Agency's work.

Shade had already decided to complete the previous detective's three-month assignment. Of course, the prerequisite was completing at least one official commission and finding out whether he was truly suited for this work.

To save money, he still walked home, though he celebrated by having dinner at a restaurant.

It was already seven in the evening when he got home. After briefly studying the doctor's notes, he learned that the Academy offered formal courses in both Thaumaturgy and spells. But when it came to Spirit Runes, everyone explored differently, allowing them to create Thaumaturgy unique to themselves. It could be exchanged with others or learned only by oneself.

In that case, rather than researching Thaumaturgy himself, it would be better to wait until he had textbooks and first learn some ordinary Thaumaturgy. But Shade could not resist his curiosity and spent the entire night exploring Spirit Runes.

Thought influenced matter; the mind interfered with reality. Yet by bedtime, he had been unable to invoke the power of Spacetime at all. He could only make his fingertips emit a faint Silver Light, the Thaumaturgy of the Silver Moon Rune.

The light was exceptionally tranquil, and simply gazing at it put Shade at ease.

"It's not very useful, but at least it can save on gas. Come to think of it, will I have to pay this house's water, gas, and steam bills myself too?"

With such dreadful thoughts in mind, he drifted into sleep in exhaustion.

Outside the window, March hung high in the night sky. The Silver Moon's brightest phase had passed, but it still shone upon him.

Although both the doctor and Miss Writer believed that the effects brought by becoming a Ring Arcanist would not be easy to ignore, and that the Detective would probably need three days of bed rest,

Shade woke precisely at six-thirty the next morning and did not feel any different from the day before.

He lay in bed for a while, contemplating the relationship between the world and life, before his embarrassing financial circumstances dragged his thoughts down to a lower, more practical level.

Only then did he raise his fingers before his face and see the faint Silver Light at his fingertips. He stared at it for quite a while before letting out a small breath. His foul mood from thinking about his flat wallet immediately improved, and he even stopped thinking about the gas bill he had considered before going to sleep.

He got up, washed, and waited at the door for the newspapers and milk shortly after seven. He had not seen the newspapers yesterday because he had risen too early. In fact, when he returned home last night, he had seen the "Tobesk City Morning News" and "Kingdom Early News" lying on the doormat.

Of course, beginning next month, he would have to pay for the newspapers himself.

After drinking two bottles of milk, he placed the empty bottles in the milk box by the door as he went out for breakfast. Although Doctor Schneider had told Shade to rest properly for three days, Shade did not feel anything abnormal and believed this was a characteristic of the Outlander's powerful soul.

So, he still planned to try one of the commissions left by the previous detective today.

Only if the commission did not go well would he consider pawning the detective's inheritance to repay his debts.

For the time being, he had no intention of meddling further in Mr. Lawrence's mistress investigation. After three days, he would ask the doctor and the others about the Pebble Ring before deciding what to do.

Of the remaining three commissions, finding Miss White's missing Younger Sister and seeking information about a Doctor who could treat eye diseases were both rather difficult. Therefore, today's task was to find the lost orange Cat of Miss Mia San Gaode.

In fact, the previous Hamilton Detective had already found that Cat, but had not handed it over in order to leave Shade an easy task. Thus, Shade only needed to pick it up and return it to the client.

After having breakfast at a restaurant near Saint Derain Square, he rolled up the newspaper and tucked it under his arm, then headed east along Charlid Avenue. He waited briefly at the next intersection, watching the crowds preparing for work through the Monday morning mist.

Only then did he turn left into the somewhat narrow Purple Iris Lane. He glanced at the wild grass flourishing unusually well in the corner because summer had arrived, carefully avoiding the barefoot children running wildly through the alley. According to the detective's notes, he stopped beneath the building bearing the sign, "Good Man Peter's Pet Shop."

His nose had already caught the scent of fermenting animal droppings, but just as he raised his hand to knock, the pet shop's door unexpectedly opened by itself. A young-looking girl with long brown hair emerged, clutching a red ladies' handbag in one hand.

She was also taken aback when she saw Shade, then politely nodded, walked around him, and headed east along Purple Iris Lane.

Shade's gaze followed her as the brown-haired girl merged into the crowd at the alley entrance.

"She..."

This was certainly not love at first sight. The moment he saw her, Shade suddenly experienced a strange feeling.

"It was as though, in that instant, the light around us suddenly dimmed, and only a spotlight shone upon her. She was the protagonist of the stage."

"She's with the Sun Church, young man. You'd best not entertain any unnecessary ideas."

Only then did Shade notice that a Middle-aged Man with a large red, bulbous nose was standing behind him at the pet shop entrance, watching as he turned around.

The smell of fermenting animal droppings mixed with food was even stronger on the Middle-aged Man. He wore blue work overalls, an outer coat so filthy its original color was impossible to make out, and black boots caked with mud.

"What can I do for you?" the Middle-aged Man asked.

"Hello, I'm from the Hamilton Detective Agency. I'm here to pick up... Please wait a moment."

Shade suppressed that fleeting, wonderful sensation and looked at the note in the previous detective's notebook:

"An orange Cat, around half a year old. Its tail is pure white, its left front leg has orange markings, and its other legs are all pure white. Its name is Mia."

He described the orange Cat's features, only to see the man inside the door suddenly turn pale.

"Don't tell me that Cat is missing?"

Shade's expression changed as well. He pressed a hand against the doorframe and asked in a low voice. The previous detective had paid to board that Cat here, and the client—the Lady described as "generous with her money"—had offered two pounds and three shillings to find it, even allowing reasonable expenses incurred during the search to be reimbursed.

Such an offer was extraordinarily unreasonable, but it also showed how anxious the Cat's owner was. For such a high reward, if Good Man Peter's Pet Shop had not been closed over the weekend, the first commission Shade chose would absolutely not have been Mr. Lawrence's mistress.