At the eastern entrance to Saint Derain Square, several hundred meters away, Priest Augustus and Doctor Schneider entered the square together. They walked along the parts of the street left unlit by the lamps, both looking perfectly composed:
"Doctor, I'm here to deliver an Alchemy Item to Shade. I owe him this. What are you here for? The Church has this whole area under close surveillance tonight. I went to quite a bit of trouble to get here without being noticed. Oh, I'm definitely going to surprise Shade this time."
Priest Augustus asked quietly. The old priest seemed to be in quite a good mood tonight.
"The Academy sent word at seven, asking me to monitor this area tonight and report what happens afterward. Naturally, the best place to observe from is Shade's home. He should be willing to lend me a window. The Academy also told me that the Church was closely watching this area tonight, so I had to put in some effort to get here too."
Doctor Schneider nodded, then turned to look behind them.
"On the way here from that street, I saw people fighting in the sky. What happened tonight?"
Although Priest Augustus did not know about the Wise Man's Gleaming Stone, he knew it was related to the Chosen Ones. He did not want the doctor getting involved in such matters either, so he merely shook his head.
Both of them were headed for Shade's home. But having only just crossed the square and approached the fountain at its center, they frowned simultaneously and looked toward No. 6 Saint Derain Square.
A strange man and woman were peering through the ground-floor window of No. 6. They had clearly been standing there all along, yet only now did the doctor and priest notice them.
Bill