"Gavin Kennedy."
The "Magician" spoke without offering any resistance.
"What is the Secret Order's main objective?"
"To recover the Antigonus Family Notebook."
This answer was largely consistent with the information Julian already had. He nodded slightly and asked again:
"Tell me, are there any other members of the Secret Order in Tingen City besides you? What Sequences are they?"
This was also the question Julian cared about most.
Given the Antigonus Family Notebook's importance to the Secret Order, they should have sent more people to Tingen besides the Tuxedo Clown.
The Secret Order would certainly sense the Tuxedo Clown's death, which meant the Antigonus Family Notebook would no longer serve as effective bait. To be safe, it could not remain in Ray Bieber's hands any longer, or further complications were bound to arise.
But that was not the only reason Julian wanted information about the Secret Order's personnel.
According to the annotations in that notebook, there was an invisible Octagonal Mark somewhere on the outskirts of present-day Tingen City. If possible, Julian wanted to investigate it and see whether there was anything useful to him there.
However, he could not rule out the possibility that the Secret Order had also learned this hidden information through high-level divination. Julian therefore needed to take precautions against any unnecessary encounters with them.
"Besides me, there are Lina Powell and Mr. White."
Gavin Kennedy paused, then continued:
"Their Sequences are..."
But suddenly, his figure began to flicker slightly, and at the same time, Julian felt an inexplicable chill.
As a breeze swept past, Gavin Kennedy's figure grew increasingly pale, and an expression of utter terror appeared on his face:
"No, no, I haven't said anything..."
At that moment, as a Spirit Medium, Julian could clearly feel his spiritual connection with Gavin Kennedy beginning to weaken.
Within two short seconds, Julian's sense of him had become intermittent, almost disappearing. It felt as though the underworld was impatient to claim Gavin Kennedy's soul.
Bzz!
Just then, that neon radiance erupted again. It swiftly enveloped Gavin Kennedy's soul, dyeing the Tuxedo Clown's nearly faded body in brilliant colors.
Julian immediately felt his spiritual connection with him return, while Gavin's face no longer looked as terrified as before.
"Hey, do you really want me to wipe out all these Seers in one go?"
Julian finally lost his composure and muttered a complaint.
Although this damned Colour Out of Space wanted to resurrect itself through his body and frequently created all sorts of obstacles for him, their interests seemed to align when it came to dealing with members of the Secret Order.
He did not know why it was doing this, but as long as it made things easier for him, Julian would refrain from dwelling on it for now.
"...They are a Sequence 7 Magician and a Sequence 5 Marionettist, respectively."
At last, Gavin Kennedy finished what he had been saying. But after that ordeal, his soul had begun to flicker, as though it would dissipate at any moment.
"One last question. Tell me where they are."
Julian continued questioning him.
"I don't know."
Gavin shook his head.
"All our communications are one-way. Mr. White only relays information to me through marionettes, but I never know exactly where he is.
"It's the same with Lina Powell. We're of equal rank, but we don't interact while carrying out missions."
Julian nodded at this, then waved his hand to signal the end of the Spirit Channeling.
Bzz!
The Colour Out of Space, however, did not seem inclined to let the fellow go.
The neon halo enveloping Gavin began to boil like hot oil once again. His soul was thoroughly saturated with neon colors before withdrawing into Julian's body along with the light.
"You ate his soul??"
Julian's scalp prickled. He had not known the Colour Out of Space had such an appetite.
On second thought, though, the Colour Out of Space in the myths did seem to drain and plunder life force, and a person's soul should itself count as part of that life force.
Julian was not sure whether he was imagining it, but he felt that the faint halo surrounding him had grown a little stronger.
For Julian, who possessed extensive knowledge of mysticism, this was not a good sign. It meant that the Colour Out of Space might have gained some power from its meal just now, strengthening its presence.
Julian's will and that of the Colour Out of Space existed in an inverse relationship: as one grew, the other diminished. If the Colour Out of Space's existence became more tangible, he would risk being devoured in turn.
Just like Gavin Kennedy, who had been devoured moments ago...
At the thought, Julian could not help shivering.
He shook his head, temporarily dispelling those worries, then walked to the window that had been shattered by the Air Bullet and raised his revolver toward the black night sky.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After firing his three remaining bullets, Julian had completed his "quick alarm."
About an hour later.
Julian Albrecht sat on a stone bollard by the road with his hands in his pockets, while Dunn Smith stood before him.
Not far away, Kenley and Frye carried the headless corpse of Gavin Kennedy, the Secret Order's Clown, onto a carriage. Meanwhile, Leonard and Seeka Tron were questioning a thoroughly bewildered Ray Bieber.
"...Thanks for coming all this way in the middle of the night."
Julian looked up at Dunn.
"By the way, when you have time, look into the whereabouts of Ray Bieber's mother. The elderly lady wasn't home earlier. We can't rule out the possibility that the Secret Order kidnapped or murdered her."
"All right."
Dunn nodded slightly.
"This is all part of our job. You, on the other hand, have made a major contribution.
"The Holy Cathedral contacted me earlier and said they would send a representative to retrieve the Antigonus Family Notebook in the next few days. Until then, it will temporarily
"remain in our custody."
Julian nodded, then asked another question:
"By the way, how is that student of mine, Klein Moretti?"
"Our Spirit Medium, Ms. Daly Simone, tested him just now and found nothing unusual."
Dunn answered:
"I invited him to join the Nighthawks as a civilian staff member. He said he needed to go home and discuss it with his family, and also visit Khoy University to turn down the teaching position."
"Khoy University?"
Julian looked up in thought, then said:
"As it happens, I'm going to Khoy University tomorrow as well to take care of some work before the summer break. Perhaps I'll run into Klein."
While I'm there, I can also use looking for Klein as a pretext to pay a visit to Instructor Azik in the history department...
He tilted his head thoughtfully toward the crimson moon in the sky, and a smile crept onto his face.