Rachel

"Most Sequence 6 Beyonders are transferred to larger dioceses after their advancement. Daly was no exception." Dunn pressed a hand to his eye sockets. "And Crestet will confirm through observation how long Daly can remain in Tingen City to teach you after advancing... After all, our team already has you, a 'Seer.' Most likely, no other new teammate skilled in ritual magic will be transferred here to teach you."

So that was it... Klein nodded thoughtfully. "In other words, this deacon only came to inspect Old Neil's condition as a secondary matter?"

"No, determining whether Old Neil poses a danger is his primary task in coming to Tingen." Dunn shook his head. At the mention of Old Neil, a shadow crossed his eyes. "Daly submitted her advancement application last week. Under normal circumstances, it would take about a week for a deacon from the cathedral to come inspect her... Besides, Daly advanced too quickly. Her superiors believed she needed more time to settle before considering advancement."

"Crestet's arrival this time is also a good thing for Daly. It means she won't need to write all those cumbersome documents. As long as Crestet believes she can advance, she can drink the potion directly."

Though if she had a choice, Daly would rather wait another year than gain this opportunity for rapid advancement because Old Neil had lost control.

"It's like that? I understand." Klein nodded slightly to indicate that he fully understood. He quickly left the office, only to be successfully called back by Dunn at the door once again.

"Is there anything else, Captain?" Klein asked helplessly.

"Almost forgot. There's also Joyce Myers, whom you met at the Divination Club yesterday. Tris, the perpetrator behind the Alfalfa Tragedy he experienced, has entered Tingen. Take a look at this wanted poster for him." Dunn Smith picked up a wanted poster from the desk and waved it at him.

After a round of reminders, Klein finally managed to step outside.

This time, Dunn finally did not call him back.

As he passed the detention room, Klein glanced at the sign hanging on its door. His heart sank, and he hurried away.

Dunn had granted him permission to read the files on secret organizations stored beyond Chanis Gate, but Klein did not intend to look through them now. He had stayed up all night in the duty room with Leonard yesterday and desperately needed rest.

Then I'll use the morning to catch up on sleep and recover my strength, then go find Ms. Daly with Crestet Cesimir in the afternoon... No, it would be best to get there earlier... Klein quickened his pace.

He was worried that Crestet might inspect Old Neil ahead of time while he was absent, so Klein decided to return to Blackthorn Security Company early.

Perhaps he could not change the senior deacon's intentions, but Klein did not want to do nothing.

"Ah, what fresh air..." Angelo took a deep breath and smiled at the petite girl beside him. "Miss, believe me, Kuman City's air is infinitely better than Backlund's awful smog!"

Kuman City lay in the northwestern part of Sivellas County. The Hornacis Mountain Range separated it from the sea, while the Intis Republic lay to the west. It rained here year-round, but because the Hornacis Mountain Range blocked the cold air, the temperatures were nowhere near as frigid as in the Feysac Empire.

And because Kuman City bordered Intis, Angelo, who had grown up here, possessed less of the reserve of Loen men and more of the charm and libertine nature of Intisians.

"Indeed, there are no towering factories or thick fog here. The air after the rain makes me feel as though I've arrived in the countryside in spring." The petite girl had black curly hair that reached her hips. Her soft, alluring golden eyes made it difficult for Angelo to look away. She patted her well-tailored black court dress and tilted her head at him. "You really are quite talkative, sir."

"A man's body is his shield, and his tongue is his spear." After making the dirty joke, Angelo saw, as expected, a blush bloom across the girl's cheeks. Seeing that she only shot him a mild glare instead of rebuking him, he became even more enthusiastic and broached a more intimate subject.

"Miss, on the train just now, I heard you mention that you came looking for a relative? Is there anything I can help with?"

"Yes. My parents just passed away, and their property in Backlund was mortgaged. I had no choice but to come here to look for my uncle." The girl sighed mournfully. Her soft eyelashes trembled slightly, stirring Angelo's protective instincts.

"Listen to me, miss. This place is close to the Intis Republic, and quite a few debauched Intisians operate here..." Angelo tried hard to make his expression solemn. "You may not know this, but they call themselves Hunters of the city and view everyone else as prey. Women as beautiful as you, with no ability to resist, are very likely to be harmed by them."

"Sir, I think you're exaggerating..." The childish-looking girl, who appeared to be no older than sixteen or seventeen, wrinkled her nose slightly. "No matter what those Intisians are like, I believe they would not dare break the law on Loen soil."

"No, no, miss. There are quite a few scum in this world who dare trample upon the law." Waving his arms, Angelo tried to make his words more convincing. "Whenever those people cause trouble in Loen, they flee back to Intis, and Intis still offers them protection... Many young, innocent girls have been taken to Intis as prey and trophies, never to return."

"Ah..." The girl seemed to believe Angelo's words and was finally swayed by his alarmist claims. She patted her chest anxiously. "Then how should I avoid them... I still need to find my uncle..."

"Uh, I think, if you don't mind, I have a vacant property. My sister used to live there, but after she married, no one lived there again..." Angelo forced his gaze away from the girl's exaggerated chest. "Many innkeepers work with Intisian scum to victimize outsiders. Perhaps you could stay there first, and I'll help you find your uncle..."

Perhaps his acting had been convincing enough, for Angelo had finally managed to deceive this young, beautiful girl. His spirits rose, and he silently began planning how he would develop their relationship after taking her home.

He absolutely could not let her leave again. As for that uncle? To hell with him!

When they reached the entrance of the train station, Angelo turned and smiled at the girl. "Miss Jones, please wait here for a moment. I'll get you a hired carriage."

"Alright." Rachel Jones gave him a grateful smile. "Mr. Angelo, you truly are a kind-hearted gentleman!"

Inside a house with a red chimney, a fountain pen was rapidly writing on a notebook by itself:

"Melvin encountered Townsend Neil at the Evil Dragon Bar. He seemed to have noticed something, but just as he wanted to activate Spirit Vision and observe the other party, Robert, one of Swain's men, happened to call out to him. In the few seconds it took him to turn around, Townsend Neil happened to be called outside by Guskot, causing him to lose that opportunity."

"The mysterious Melvin seems to know many things, though his purpose is unclear. He actually commissioned a Detective to investigate Townsend Neil and Lanevus, but this will not have any effect."

"Detective Jack, being overly exhausted, happened to be discovered by Leonard Mitchell, who harbored secrets of his own, while following Old Neil. This is very reasonable."

"Dunn Smith saw Melvin in Jack's dream. Following precedent, (heavily altered) Klein, who happened to be acting alongside him, seemed to have seen the man before. Dunn thus adopted a more conservative course of action, but this did not affect the story's development. Although Swain, the owner of the Evil Dragon Bar, vouched for Melvin, he could no longer act in Tingen City as freely as before."

"After Lanevus planted the True Creator's seed within Megose, he finally recovered the last shred of reason in his mind. Gripped by fear of God, Lanevus used monitoring mineral veins in Sivellas as an excuse and fled Tingen City without hesitation—earlier than he had originally planned to leave Tingen City, but this was perfectly normal: people always become more sensitive when afraid."

"Because Lanevus left in too much of a hurry, he failed to successfully mislead the investigators sent by Christina. Moreover, he did not have time to conceal his trail. Fortunately, the kind-hearted Ince Zangwill promptly provided him with Anti-Divination."

"Melvin submitted the intelligence Neil had regarding hearing the ravings of the Hidden Sage to Dunn Smith through Swain. Old Neil was thus removed from the Nighthawks, weakening their strength once again."

"At the same time, Klein coincidentally heard Lanevus's name at the Divination Club. He had intended to immediately hand the intelligence he had obtained to Dunn Smith, but Melvin, who arrived at just the right moment, stopped him and passed some intelligence to him, making the story's development somewhat more bewildering..."

But at that moment, a large hand reached over, grasped the fountain pen, and continued writing on the notebook:

"Melvin confirmed the location of the room where Lanevus had once lived by forcibly channeling Gracis, then rushed there at once. His style of action was as swift as the Tyrant's followers, but the results were equally laughable: he arrived one step too late."

"The rash Melvin used a highly dangerous self-channeling within the room without sufficiently ensuring its safety, and the outcome was equally laughable: Lanevus had once prayed to the True Creator for divinity here! The Spirit World here is beginning to fall!"

"Melvin exposed his true name, Aster Crowley, and was secretly contaminated to some extent by his own spiritual mirror image!"

"Precisely because of this, he will become more emotional and more susceptible to emotional abilities related to corruption. This will become foreshadowing for the story."