The Story of Rogeret

Wei En rose and walked to the window, gazing outside. If he did not find something beautiful to divert his attention soon, he was afraid he would sink into all that misfortune.

"So it was this close..."

Dumitru District was not far from the center of the city-state. From the office he was in, he could see the Crimson Cathedral nearby with great clarity.

He could see quite a few people dressed as believers of the Church of Dawn heading toward the cathedral. Every one of them had smiles on their faces, radiant and beautiful.

And on a corner of the street not far away, even more people were gathered in twos and threes.

Gentlemen in formal attire walked side by side with ladies in gorgeous long dresses, chatting and laughing as they entered all kinds of shops.

With his enhanced five senses, Wei En could even faintly hear what they were discussing—clothing, food, the city-state's laws...

More of it was about the Holy Sacrifice the Church of Dawn had bestowed yesterday, as well as that lucky Saint-Favored.

"I'm finally starting to understand why so many people become believers of the Church of Dawn."

In such a dangerous world, transcendents had a certain ability to protect themselves, and the ability to make choices.

But these ordinary people, especially those who were destitute and desperate—if their hearts had nothing to cling to, it would probably be very hard for them to keep going.

In a certain sense, whether it was the Church of Dawn, the Storm Church, or other churches, they were the hope these people had for survival.

Even if those churches might not necessarily bring them good fortune...

Click.

"Huh, Wei En, you're already here?"

Hearing the voice, Wei En turned around and glanced at the clock—exactly eleven!

"I only just got here too."

"I did tell you the Secret Investigation Bureau starts work at eleven, right?"

Wei En nodded calmly. "Mm."

Having just gone through that miserable baptism, he really did not want to waste time arguing over whether she had mentioned work hours or not.

"Good, then."

Lacy put down the suitcase in her hand, sized him up, and said with a smile, "Wei En, I have to say, that outfit really suits you."

"Thank you."

"How was it? Did you read the files I gave you?"

Seeing her gaze fall on the files on the desk, Wei En smiled and said, "I did. Captain performed very, very admirably in all these cases."

"D-Did I? I'm not as outstanding as you say, hahaha..."

Hm?

Had he said the word outstanding?

And even if she had heard praise, there was no need to laugh that exaggeratedly... It seemed he would have to get used to it.

In truth, he was quite lucky to have a colleague with such a straightforward, unaffected personality.

As Wei En silently sighed over how easygoing his captain was, he tidied up the files and placed them on her desk.

"I saw the photos arranged in that cabinet over there. May I ask if they're all my colleagues?"

"Oh, that. Yes."

Lacy put the files away and, without looking back, replied casually, "Aside from one old fellow who's already retired, everyone's there."

"I see."

"Do you think they all look very reliable?"

"No,"

The words left Wei En's mouth before he felt they were inappropriate, and he continued, "No, I mean they do all seem very reliable. I was just surprised Rogeret looked so handsome when he smiled, but yesterday he was so..."

"Gloomy?" Lacy supplied.

"More or less..."

Lacy looked up at him and said seriously, "You don't have to feel embarrassed for being so blunt. Rogeret ended up like this because he brought it on himself."

Had something happened in the middle?

Wei En said nothing, instead waiting for her to continue.

"In fact, he's leaving today."

"Hm?"

"His mind was contaminated. Here," Lacy pointed at her own head, "his brain broke!"

Wei En looked at her in surprise. She actually knew?!

Last night he had still been agonizing over whether he should reveal this information. He had not expected it to be an open secret.

"He—how did Rogeret suffer mental contamination?"

"That's exactly why he isn't worth pitying." Lacy's expression was very complicated, carrying both helplessness and anger. "He fell in love with a Fallen One."

Wei En's mouth fell open. "A Fallen One? Fell in love?"

He had thought he would hear an inspiring story about someone selling his soul in pursuit of power. He had not expected it to be a goddamn romantic tragedy.

"I can tell you about this, but you have to promise—no, you have to swear you won't tell anyone outside the Investigation Department."

Wei En quickly nodded. "Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, I swear!"

No matter what world one was in, gossip like this was impossible to resist.

"Ah." Lacy sighed and said, "At the same time, I hope you won't become like him. To be honest, it really was a tragedy..."

"Rogeret is only twenty-three this year, and he had just completed three full years in Investigation Division One. I still remember what he looked like when he first arrived. Sunny, handsome, and very good with a gun..."

As she spoke, Wei En finally learned the whole story of how Rogeret had become like this.

It turned out that for the first two years, Rogeret had still been the captain's partner, and the two of them had worked under Old Jack, who had already retired.

But in the third year, which was last year, Rogeret wanted to surpass Lacy in results, so he began investigating cases on his own.

In one case, by chance, he met a young girl.

According to Lacy, that girl was very ordinary-looking. She even used herself as a comparison.

She said the girl had an average figure, a round face dotted with freckles, and was even two years older than Rogeret...

Wei En looked at the two hanging bells in front of her and expressed his agreement. It was indeed hard for any woman's figure to compare with Lacy's.

Yet it was precisely such an ordinary girl who caught Rogeret's attention—or more accurately, his affection.

Every day after work, he would take a long detour to create chance encounters with that girl. He would also carry little trinkets as gifts, and sometimes delicious food.

Just like that, before long, the two fell in love and began officially dating.

Of course, Lacy's exact words were: "All of that was that Fallen One's scheme. She deceived an upright, brave Investigator with a promising future!"

Although there was resentment in her tone, Wei En could still hear her grief over Rogeret's mental contamination.

At the beginning, their time together was full of joy, happiness, and sweetness.

The only fly in the ointment was that the girl's family did not approve of their romance, and even obstructed it in every possible way.

When Wei En said he did not understand, Lacy replied lightly, "That's usually what ordinary people think of Investigators. They face misfortune and bring ill omen."

Wei En did not know what she felt when she said that, but he was deeply shaken.

So from an ordinary person's perspective, Investigators had that kind of image!

Back to Rogeret... After that, neither of them gave up.

Rogeret, especially, who had fallen deep in love, worked himself to the bone completing the Secret Investigation Bureau's missions, hoping to move the girl's family by getting promoted.

But...

One night, Rogeret was so consumed by longing that he took the risk of going to the girl's residence to visit her.

He left in a hurry and carried only an ordinary lantern sold by the Church of Dawn.

It was on that day that Rogeret saw a terrifying scene.

That ordinary-looking, gentle-natured girl transformed into a demon of the night before his spying eyes.

She brutally killed everyone in the house, including her parents, as well as her little sister who was not yet two years old.

"Rogeret, look... No one will ever stop us again."