Sauron

Teleportation Charm? Lorry's heart skipped a beat, and he smiled in agreement.

No need to consider it.

"What I'm hoping for in return is full participation in your research."

"I would have done it even without you telling me." Edwina nodded slightly. "If we're lucky enough to succeed, you'll already have a share of the rewards."

"If you don't mind, I can pay with Pound or collectibles."

She didn't sound very confident... Well, "Teleportation" involves the Spirit World, so it's definitely much more difficult than making other Sequence 5 Charm...

With this thought in mind, Lorry didn't refuse any longer and nodded.

"Don't Teleportation away directly to avoid arousing suspicion. Go to Graggs with Danitz and the others first."

Edwina gave a word of advice and then carried her tray toward the captain's dining room.

"You're the captain, you make the decisions..." Lorry had already eaten Breakfast, shrugged and picked up two cartons of yogurt as he walked toward "Flames" Danitz.

Backlund, Cherwood Borough.

That guy was actually quite nice; at least I could wake up to a hot Breakfast and enjoy Fors's cooking... It's a pity I won't be able to eat it tonight... Hugh, sitting in the Hired Carriage, let out a burp, his thoughts wandering aimlessly as he digested his food.

After some time, the carriage stopped at the edge of the East Borough.

She paid the fare and stepped off the carriage. Standing in the cool morning mist, she cautiously surveyed her surroundings, then pulled her coat tighter and walked toward the nearest Twilight Rose Bar.

One of the Bartender here is an acquaintance of hers and took over yesterday's job.

Pushing open the heavy door, a pungent smell of alcohol and sweat hit him, causing him to furrow his brow slightly beneath his baseball cap.

She exhaled forcefully, looked around, and walked towards the acquaintance.

"What would you like to drink?" The Bartender yawned, wiping his glass with a white towel as he asked without looking up.

Xiu cleared his throat and said in a low voice:

"It's me."

The Bartender was taken aback by what he heard. He looked up abruptly, his eyes filled with terror. He instinctively took a few steps back, pressing his back firmly against the wooden counter behind him.

Noticing a guest looking at him, Hugh asked in an annoyed tone:

Why are you so startled?

"Did anyone contact you about the thing I asked you to help with yesterday?"

"Yes, no, no." The Bartender swallowed hard and explained, "There were two people last night, but they were going back this morning."

"What happened?" Hugh asked, frowning.

"You still don't know?"

The Bartender looked around to make sure no customers were paying attention, then lowered his voice and said, "Someone died last night, just three blocks away."

"Those black and white dogs say he froze to death. Nonsense! He was clearly strangled to death by Devil; the black handprint on his neck is bigger than a plate."

Black handprint? Devil?

Hugh didn't understand how this matter had anything to do with his commission.

The Bartender coughed awkwardly.

Someone noticed that his nails were very neatly trimmed.

"You know, those Vagrant don't know how to trim their nails; they just bite them off or file them down on a rock."

uuɡu. First update, no typos. You won't see the pinyin suffix in the address input. You can then access the first update site.

Xiu's expression changed slightly:

"You mean, that dead Vagrant had something to do with me?"

"Uh, I didn't say that." The Bartender looked embarrassed, not daring to offend the Bounty Hunter. "But that's what everyone's saying."

"A foolish fellow sold his fingernails to pay for a few meals, and was thus cursed and killed by the Demon..."

"They're talking nonsense!" Hugh shouted in a low voice.

When did this happen?

"It spread like wildfire this morning, everyone knows now," the Bartender glanced at the wall clock, "About an hour and a half ago."

"Anyway, when I went to work at nine o'clock, the two people from yesterday were already waiting for me at the door, pitifully begging me to return them."

After saying that, he glanced at Hugh cautiously and lowered his voice even further:

"Hey, Hugh, can you tell me why we're collecting those fingernails? Did that guy die because of a curse?"

"If, cough cough, I mean if, you know this mysterious Warlock, could you help me ask him what the price is for casting the curse?"

"You know how awful our manager is; he's always finding ways to deduct everyone's salary. I'm almost unable to pay next week's rent..."

Hugh glared at him irritably and said without any politeness:

"You can't even afford the rent, where would you get the money to hire Warlock to cast a curse?"

"Furthermore, there's no Warlock at all! The Vagrant's death is definitely suspicious and has nothing to do with the commission I posted!"

"Yes, yes, it's none of your business," the Bartender chuckled in agreement.

"Alright, I'm leaving. Don't tell anyone I came!" Hugh took a deep breath, pulled out a 1- soli note, and slammed it on the table.

"Get up a few minutes earlier from now on!"

"You're always late; if I were the bar manager, I'd dock your pay too!"

She glared at the guy who was trying to get Warlock to curse his manager at the drop of a hat, pulled up her scarf, and strode toward the door.

Three blocks away, a cheap Restaurant on the corner.

Wearing a dark gray coat that revealed a glimpse of a floral collar underneath, Gallows Sauron took a sip of his creamy coffee and casually commented:

"The taste is alright, just a bit sweet."

Upon hearing this, the short-haired youth opposite him couldn't help but twitch his forehead.

Gallows Sauron's lips curled into a pleased smile:

"See that guy in the black baseball cap and blue scarf?"

"She must be Xio Derecha."

The short-haired youth perked up and was about to look out the floor-to-ceiling window when he suddenly heard an annoyed rebuke. "Idiot, don't look directly out."

"Make smaller movements, and let your peripheral vision slowly turn over..."

"Remember, the most basic ability of a ' Hunter ' is to observe the prey without being detected."

"She had already traversed this area three times, with intervals of a few minutes or ten minutes; she had spoken with five different Vagrant, seemingly inquiring about events of the morning; her disguise was quite good, but her movements were short and forceful, clearly indicating she was trained or not an ordinary person; also, her gait was slightly uncoordinated, likely due to wearing platform shoes..."

The short-haired youth looked bewildered but subconsciously followed the instructions.

His gaze moved slowly until the figure wearing a black baseball cap appeared.

"She doesn't give me a very strong feeling; she's probably not at the Mid-Sequence yet," Gallows Sauron said, picking up a sausage, chewing slowly.

"Bring your brothers; three ' Hunter ' are enough to take her down."

"Okay." The short-haired youth nodded, turned to look at a dining table less than three meters away, and nodded slightly to the two people who were looking at him.

They split into two groups and left the cheap Restaurant, one going left and the other two going right.