Mr. C

The next morning, in Earl Hall's mansion on Queen's Road.

Audrey came to the dining room for breakfast as usual.

Earl Hall's eldest son, Hibbert, had already finished breakfast and was reading the newspaper. He smiled and said, "Backlund's police have finally done something worthwhile."

"Did they solve an important case?" Audrey asked curiously.

"Yes, a spy case, no less," Hibbert replied. "Last night, the police received important intelligence from an informant. A man suspected of being a military attaché from the Feysac Empire had made contact with a gang boss in the Bridge District.

"Deputy Commissioner Isaacs, who was on duty at the police station, reacted swiftly and caught the embassy's military attaché and the gang boss in the middle of a transaction.

"A fierce exchange of gunfire followed, and both the gang boss and the military attaché were shot dead at the scene.

"According to testimony from several arrested gang members, this wasn't their first transaction or secret meeting."

Hibbert smiled. "For solving a case like this at such a critical time, Isaacs deserves a medal."

Earl Hall, however, said, "Don't rush to form your own judgment, Hibbert.

"There may be more to this affair than meets the eye. That happens often. Information in newspapers isn't necessarily accurate."

"Yes, Father," Hibbert immediately replied.

Audrey was more concerned about something else. "Which gang in the Bridge District was it?"

"Let me see." Hibbert searched the article. "Oh, the Stinger Gang. Hmm, the police also wiped out the gang. Apparently, all its key members were either arrested or shot dead."

Audrey breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't the Mafia. Then she smiled and said, "That's quite a strange name."

At the Mafia's headquarters.

Raphael was speaking with two key members of the Stinger Gang. Both were Sequence 9 Beyonders, one a Hunter and the other an Assassin.

In the letter Raphael had sent them the previous night, he had made it very clear that he would join forces with the police to wipe out the Stinger Gang.

Even if they survived the battle, the Stinger Gang would be gone, and they would struggle to retain their current standing.

They might as well join the Mafia. They would still be leaders within the gang, and the territories they received would be larger than their current ones.

The condition for joining the Mafia was that they provide several witnesses who could testify that Kent had frequently contacted certain staff members at the Feysac Empire's embassy.

Thus, Isaacs obtained the witnesses he wanted. Combined with physical evidence such as Petrov's corpse, the spy case was conclusively established.

Raphael honored his earlier promise and allotted each of the two Sequence 9 Beyonders some of the territory he had just seized from the Stinger Gang. They officially became leaders in the Mafia.

However, Raphael assigned deputies to them and would give them tasks from time to time.

After dealing with the aftermath of the Stinger Gang's destruction, Raphael wrote Audrey a letter asking whether she could help him sell a Werewolf Beyonder characteristic.

Keeping the characteristic served him no purpose. He might as well sell it through Audrey's connections.

He had considered handling it himself, but that might allow the Indulgence Faction to trace the characteristic back to him. It wouldn't be worth the risk.

If he left it to Miss Audrey, it would most likely end up with the Temperance Faction. Since they cooperated with the organization behind her, they probably wouldn't investigate the characteristic's origins.

At the end of the letter, Raphael expressed his hope of obtaining a mystical item with an ability that could restrain enemies.

Over his last few battles, Raphael had realized that, with such a mystical item and his current strength, even killing a Sequence 6 Beyonder wouldn't be too difficult.

The thought had come to him as he recalled his earlier fight with Bevin, the Werewolf, and the help the young girl had provided yesterday.

During the fight with Bevin, Miss Susie had hypnotized their opponent, and the Werewolf had been killed before he could even react.

Yesterday's battle, by contrast, had been grueling. The burns Raphael had suffered still hadn't fully healed. But once the young girl began helping him, things became much easier. With his opponent restrained, Raphael had relied on his Werewolf agility to wound the target repeatedly.

A mystical item capable of restraining enemies would remain useful when he became a Sequence 6 Zombie, since that Sequence also lacked any ability to restrain a target.

The Beyonder gatherings Raphael had attended before consisted mainly of low-sequence Beyonders. They certainly wouldn't have what he wanted.

Miss Audrey's organization had a demigod and so many mid-sequence Beyonders. Her connections were clearly far more high-end, and his chances of obtaining such a mystical item through them would be much greater.

After sealing the letter, Raphael had a subordinate deliver it to 33 Queen's Road.

Toward evening, Wagner arrived at the Mafia's headquarters in a carriage. The two had arranged to meet beforehand. After a brief chat, Raphael followed Wagner into the carriage.

Wagner still had bandages wrapped around his head, and one arm hung in a sling. Clearly, he had been badly injured in the previous night's battle.

Still, he had no complaints. Although Raphael had ultimately been the one to finish Kent off, he had honored their earlier agreement and relinquished his claim to a share of Kent's Beyonder characteristic. It had therefore become Wagner's spoils.

Hunter characteristics were relatively sought-after. A Sequence 8 characteristic could easily sell for 600 pounds.

Wagner's furniture business wasn't particularly large, and this unexpected windfall of 600 pounds was enough to keep him happy for days.

The carriage traveled at a steady pace, leaving the city as night fell. It finally stopped in front of a small oil-pressing workshop on the outskirts.

Wagner got out and knocked on the door. Someone inside opened a small hatch in it and only let them in after recognizing him.

The first thing they saw upon entering was a large oil press. The machine looked quite dilapidated and was powered by a small steam engine, though it had already stopped running.

They went around the machinery and through a small door into a room at the back. A man with a gloomy expression was smoking there. He glanced at Wagner, then scrutinized Raphael.

The man's eyes suddenly grew deep and unfathomable. Raphael felt as though all his secrets lay exposed before him.

The man studied him for well over ten seconds before finally saying, "Follow me."

Raphael followed him into another room, where the man opened the wooden door to the basement.

Down in the basement, Mr. C was already waiting in a bishop's robe.

Tonight, Raphael would undergo the initiation ceremony to join the Aurora Order.