Don't Learn from Leonard

"This is a pregnant woman, but the pregnancy has taken a heavy toll on her; her appearance is almost completely ruined... As we were passing by, the wind happened to blow open the special envoy's door, and the man subconsciously turned around to look."

As you know, a man who thought the place was haunted suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart when he saw this somewhat frightening-looking woman, and then he collapsed to the ground.

Old Neil recounted what he had seen in the Ritual Magic, and Mountbatten looked on in astonishment.

"Can pregnancy really disfigure someone?"

Mountbatten glanced at the woman on the parchment. Upon closer inspection, the woman's face shape should have been quite nice, but now it was different. The woman was emaciated, with her cheeks almost entirely covered by skin. From the front, she looked like a skeleton covered in skin.

"The Church of the Goddess Hospital has addressed this issue, so I personally feel very sorry for them."

Old Neil packed up the materials, then turned to Mountbatten and said, "From my perspective, there's nothing extraordinary about this, so the rest is up to you."

Mountbatten nodded.

"Don't worry! I'll find this lady soon. I feel like I've seen her somewhere before."

It looks familiar, that's why.

Lynch thought of Ansali's previous area, which was the area managed by Mountbatten. They must have met before, but now that Anseline was standing in front of Mountbatten, he didn't recognize her.

"Alright, we should go now."

Old Neil urged Lynch to go back.

Lynch shrugged and was about to leave, but after glancing at Mountbatten, he pulled him aside and whispered:

"Be extra vigilant when searching for that pregnant woman. I have a feeling something's wrong, even though my teacher thinks it's nothing. My intuition tells me this is serious. If you find her, don't rush to alert her; contact me first."

Mountbatten, having spent a long time with him, knew that this matter might be terrifying. Mr. Trance was always involved in big things; last time he was with that lady, he was almost scared to death.

Perhaps the same will happen this time.

"Don't worry! I'll tell those guys to be extra careful when they're asking about the woman in the portrait. I'll write to you directly if I get any leads. I already know your work address."

Mountbatten nodded solemnly.

Only then did Lynch feel relieved and follow Old Neil back to the security company.

After returning home, Old Neil went to Mrs. Orianna to claim reimbursement for his losses, while Lynch went to Dunn's office.

"Is there anything you want to tell me about this mission?"

Dunn saw him come in and asked curiously.

Lynch hesitated.

Dunn did not urge him, but gestured for him to sit down and organize his thoughts.

Lynch didn't pause for long; his main goal was to get Dunn to take his words seriously and, incidentally, clear his name of suspicion.

He'll do something to protect the Nighthawks team later, and although Mr. Azik is covering for him, Dunn team might find something if they come back to investigate. So he'd better tell Dunn his suspicions here.

That will also explain why he did it.

"I don't know how to tell you this, but don't you think something's been strange about what's been happening between us lately?"

Lynch used this sentence as the starting point for his conversation with Dunn.

How so?

Dunn looked at him gently.

"I don't know if you guys have ever had this feeling before, but after I joined the Nighthawks squad, I found that everything here seemed to be arranged."

Whether it was the fact that I or Klein joined the Nighthawks, or most of the missions we encountered afterward, or even the speed of my Advancement, everything made me uneasy. I suspected there might be something wrong with me!

Dunn:...

He rubbed his temples. What Lynch had just said had indeed given him some ideas, but when he heard Lynch's last sentence, he shook his head with amusement.

"You don't need to worry about that. When you Advancement Sequence 8, Holy Cathedral Cecimir of the Holy Your Excellency had a special conversation with me, and we talked about you."

Your Excellency Cecimir told me that the reason you Advancement so quickly is because you were favored by the Goddess. The Goddess likes a good young man like you, so even if I doubt myself, I won't doubt you."

Lynch stared at him in astonishment.

He really didn't know that.

No wonder Dunn took such good care of him. He had previously thought that Dunn was only so close to him because of the life-saving grace in his dream, but he didn't expect there to be another reason.

I see.

He had been worried about being exposed, but the Goddess had already taken care of all his concerns.

"Praise the Goddess."

He expressed his deepest gratitude.

Dunn watched his actions, smiled for a while, and finally said with a hint of apology, "I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner. However, Your Excellency Cecimir thinks you are too young, and knowing these things too early will not allow you to go far. But I believe in you, and I believe you will not let us down."

Lynch nodded seriously.

Of course, how could he not go far?

"Well then, perhaps we can end this conversation here. I have some coffee here; you can try it..."

Dunn was about to get up to get coffee when Lynch quickly stopped him.

"Don't worry, although I'm not a suspect, what I felt earlier was true, Dunn. I think we need to be vigilant. For the next mission, try to go with as many people as possible—no, include me in all of them. I have the blessing of the Goddess; maybe I can protect you!"

Dunn sighed softly.

"I'll arrange for more people to carry out the mission, but you don't need to come along for every mission. With the Goddess's blessing, you'll definitely go further than any of us. I don't want you to waste your time on this kind of thing!"

"Don't think like that. The Goddess Your Excellency Cecimir not to tell me because she wants me to keep working hard. Didn't Your Excellency Cecimir say that the Goddess favors me because of my qualities? If I lose those qualities, the Goddess definitely won't pay attention to me anymore. You don't want me to lose the Goddess's favor, do you?"

Lynch raised an eyebrow and asked.

Dunn shook his head with amusement, "Don't provoke me. There are many cases, and you can't possibly go to them all. Besides, what the Goddess values is your character, not the number of missions you participate in."

Nighthawks aren't omnipotent; we need rest too. Lynch, you can't save everyone, which is why I didn't listen to Leonard and let you stay as captain.

I want to take you to Backlund and be your captain for a while longer, so you can relax. You always take on everything yourself, which doesn't do you any good!

Lynch pursed his lips. He wanted to say something touching, but he couldn't find the words, so he changed the subject.

"Dunn, you're going to be the captain of Backlund? I thought if you went to Backlund, I might be the captain!"

Dunn:...

"Don't follow Leonard's example, he'll get beaten up if he goes out into the world!"