Knight

"Sister Mony!"

The middle-aged man from the School Guard Unit respectfully addressed the nun as she entered.

Qin Ran could tell that such respect was definitely not merely due to her age or status as a nun.

"Leave Lidd to me!"

The elderly nun spoke to the middle-aged man with a gentle smile.

"Yes, Sister!"

The middle-aged man named Lidd bowed and stepped aside. As he passed Qin Ran, a warning glinted in his eyes.

Nor did he go far. He remained by the school gate, like a guard.

Qin Ran was certain that if he showed the slightest disrespect toward the nun before him, the man would rush over immediately and would not hesitate to draw his gun.

The man's intense vigilance made that perfectly clear.

"Lidd bears no hostility. He is a dutiful man, though he can be somewhat... rash at times!"

The nun smiled gently at Qin Ran.

It was the same smile she had shown Lidd.

It seemed that Qin Ran and Lidd were no different in her eyes.

That attitude surprised Qin Ran.

At least, he could not manage it.

To Qin Ran, friends were friends and strangers were strangers. They could not be treated as one and the same.

Though he could not do the same, Qin Ran did not mind showing respect to someone who could, especially considering her age.

"Hello, Sister. I'm Qin Ran. I came here to..."

"Is it about Artilly Hunter?"

"Come with me. This isn't a place for talking!"

The nun sighed softly and motioned for Qin Ran to follow.

After passing around the brand-new teaching building, the playground came into Qin Ran's view. Yet what drew his attention more was the church beside it.

It was not a large church. It could even be called small.

Its limit was perhaps thirty or forty people.

Following behind the nun, Qin Ran crossed the playground and entered the small church.

At the far end stood a statue of a benevolent goddess, one Qin Ran did not recognize.

Two rows of benches extended all the way to the entrance.

After entering the church, the nun walked straight to the statue and murmured a prayer.

Following behind her, Qin Ran could clearly hear words such as "benevolent Bernadette."

"Please, sit!"

"I am Mony, principal of Saint Paul School!"

The nun turned around and introduced herself.

"Qin Ran, a detective!"

Qin Ran gave the identity the game had assigned him.

"Mm, I have heard your name. Hunter, the city's finest detective, naturally sought your help in finding Tilly. I am also willing to help you find her. That child is usually mischievous, but she has never gone this far. She knows what she may do and what she must not do!"

Sister Mony spoke frankly.

A trace of worry appeared beneath her gentle expression.

"Sister Mony, did you notice anything unusual about Artilly Hunter? Especially recently?"

Seeing Sister Mony's cooperation, Qin Ran immediately asked.

"No!"

"Tilly was like any other child. She had only a child's mischievousness, nothing unusual!"

"After Hunter came last time, I asked some children close to Tilly, but I found nothing either!"

Sister Mony considered the matter seriously for a moment before giving Qin Ran a careful answer.

Qin Ran believed that answer.

As the principal of Saint Paul School, after something like this had happened,

she could not possibly ignore it.

"Then did you know that Artilly Hunter was quite skilled?"

Qin Ran asked again.

A look of astonishment appeared on Sister Mony's face.

"What?"

Sister Mony asked again instinctively.

"I mean special skills including, but not limited to, swordsmanship and Shooting!"

Qin Ran explained in greater detail.

"Our school has classes such as horseback riding, but no classes in swordsmanship or Shooting!"

"Detective Qin Ran, I am a little tired and would like to rest!"

"If possible, I hope we can continue the rest of our conversation tomorrow!"

Sister Mony spoke as she looked at Qin Ran apologetically.

Qin Ran could clearly see Sister Mony's evasiveness. She was not someone good at concealing things.

Clearly, the nun knew something, but did not wish to say it.

"Detective, please leave!"

Just as Qin Ran was preparing to press further, the middle-aged man called Lidd entered the church. He was not alone; he had brought a group of people with him, and they appeared outside the small church.

They wore the same clerical attire and carried concealed weapons.

The moment Lidd appeared, he spoke to Qin Ran without the slightest courtesy.

"Lidd!"

Sister Mony frowned in displeasure.

"Sister Mony, I am the captain of the School Guard Unit. I have the right to protect every blade of grass in this school and drive out those with ulterior motives!"

Lidd glared at Qin Ran.

Who the person with ulterior motives referred to was obvious.

"Detective Qin Ran, please do not take offense. Some things have happened recently, which is why Lidd is so nervous!"

"My apologies once again!"

Sister Mony apologized again.

"It's all right, Sister Mony!"

"I'll come again tomorrow!"

Qin Ran smiled and headed outside.

Lidd led his men after Qin Ran the whole way, only returning after Qin Ran had left the school and the street.

However, the captain of the School Guard Unit did not notice anything unusual in the nearby shadows.

Master-level [Stealth] allowed Qin Ran to easily evade the School Guard Unit's vigilance.

He followed behind them.

Lidd hurried back into the small church.

Sister Mony was kneeling before the statue in prayer.

This prayer lasted nearly twenty minutes. Clearly, it was a formal prayer.

Lidd stood respectfully to one side, waiting silently.

Only after Sister Mony finished praying did he walk over, reach out to help her up, and prepare to guide her to a nearby bench.

"It's all right, Lidd!"

"Detective Qin Ran bears no ill intent!"

"He is different from those Greedy people!"

Sister Mony waved her hand, walked to the bench herself, and tried to persuade Lidd.

"They all look the same to me!"

"My duty is to protect you and this place. I will eliminate every danger!"

The captain of the School Guard Unit stubbornly shook his head and held to his view.

Sister Mony looked at Lidd before finally sighing. "Lidd, continue your patrol. I would like to rest for a while!"

"Yes, Sister!"

The captain of the School Guard Unit strode out of the church.

After the captain left, however, Sister Mony did not rest as she had said. Instead, she also left the church and followed a small path beside it toward the depths of the campus.

Sister Mony's age did not allow her to get there in one go.

Stopping and starting along the way, she arrived before a small wooden cabin.

This was already the most secluded corner of Saint Paul School. Apart from the wooden cabin before her, there was only a planted forest.

Creak!

Just as Sister Mony stopped, the door of the wooden cabin opened.

An elderly man with white hair and beard, tall and powerfully built, stepped out. He wore simple linen clothes, barefoot and bare-armed.

The sturdy muscles on his arms showed no sign of age, giving off only an explosive sense of strength.

"Mony!"

The old man smiled in greeting, welcoming the nun's arrival.

"Gonglansen, were you the one teaching Tilly—Artilly Hunter?"

Unlike the old man's smiling welcome, Sister Mony frowned and asked in an unusually stern tone.

"Yes!"

Gonglansen did not deny it.

Denying facts was not in Gonglansen's nature.

"That girl possesses extraordinarily outstanding talent. Leaving it undeveloped would be a waste!"

Gonglansen spoke bluntly.

Huff, huff, huff!

At Gonglansen's admission, Sister Mony began breathing heavily. She angrily questioned him, "Have you forgotten what you promised me? Do you know that doing this will put Tilly in danger?"

"I merely taught that girl a few more skills, and they would only protect her, wouldn't they?"

Gonglansen shrugged.

"But now Tilly is missing! My guardian Knight!"

Sister Mony was thoroughly enraged by Gonglansen's indifferent attitude and shouted emotionally.

Then came a violent fit of coughing.

Clearly, Sister Mony's body could not withstand such intense emotional turmoil.

Gonglansen instinctively walked toward Sister Mony, wanting to see how she was doing, but the next moment, his gaze turned toward a patch of shadow in the woods.

"Who?!"

"Come out!"

With a low roar, Gonglansen lunged toward the shadow, his fist swinging like a fierce gale.

Whoosh!

The heavy force of the punch made Qin Ran, hidden in the shadows, feel as though his face had been slapped painfully by the wind.

Qin Ran had no time to regret how the words "guardian Knight" had shaken him, disrupted his breathing, and caused him to be discovered.

Yet he was still astonished by the strength the old man displayed.

Although the man's build and physique told everyone how powerful he was, Qin Ran had not expected him to be this powerful!

He was definitely above E- Rank!

And even stronger than E+!

After all, Qin Ran's legs could now reach E- Rank, making it easy for him to estimate E+.

Only innate strength surpassing E+ could create such a fist wind!

Qin Ran was astonished by his own judgment.

He had not expected to encounter someone with such innate strength in his very first dungeon.

But then Qin Ran felt a surge of excitement.

No one understood better than Qin Ran what encountering an exceptionally powerful existence in a dungeon represented.

Rewards!

Enormous rewards!