Inside the church.
Under the incandescent glow of the gas lamps, Resno clenched a piece of gauze between his teeth, took off his coat, and used the tip of a dagger to dig into his own flesh, prying out a deformed pitch-black bullet.
Clang!
The bloodstained bullet head fell onto the metal tray with a dull sound.
Even duller than that sound was Resno's pallid complexion.
Great beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. He barely managed to bandage the wound, and his entire body looked as though he had been fished out of water, drenched from head to toe as he continued gasping for breath.
Though the church had professional doctors, Resno no longer dared trust them.
"Who would have thought... Nicholas Inam had long been in contact with the mysterious world... He hid it so well... No, I have to inform the Grand Cathedral as soon as possible..."
Resno irritably raked his fingers through his hair.
Merely coming into contact with the mysterious might be a grave crime worthy of being thrown into an Investigation Bureau prison for ordinary people, but for those nobles and people in high places, it truly amounted to nothing.
And Nicholas was the latest exemplar promoted by the Church of the Holy Spirit. He could not be immediately brought down and slandered.
"I need more evidence... I suspect he's an Extraordinary himself."
The agitation in Resno's heart intensified. He opened a drawer, pulled out a sheet of letter paper, and prepared to write.
"Wait... It seems I've overlooked something... These bullets are very strange... My spirituality seems to have been harmed..."
"No, it's contamination!"
A voice suddenly sounded directly beside Resno's ear.
"Contamination?"
Resno nodded, then abruptly realized what was happening. The muscles in his cheeks twisted into a savage grimace. "Who are