At noon, at a luxurious Intis restaurant.
In an opulently decorated private room, Lorry looked at the lavish spread on the crystal table and asked with a quiet chuckle, "Did you get your compensation?"
"Yes." Miles nodded slightly and raised his stemmed glass of crimson wine. His tone was sincere as he said, "We have you to thank for your help, Raven."
"My help?" Lorry asked, feigning confusion.
Miles chuckled.
"Raven, have you forgotten that I used to write detective novels too?
"There had been no progress at all with Alyosha's case for so long, yet shortly after I told you about it, he confessed and was brought to justice.
"Only a fool would believe you had nothing to do with it."
Toward the end, his tone grew lower, with a hint of displeasure, as though he was rather annoyed that Lorry had underestimated his intelligence.
Lorry chuckled and clinked glasses with Miles, no longer denying it.
"How did it turn out?"
-He really did not know.
After Vera used his Beyonder abilities to induce Alyosha to confess to plagiarism, Lorry had stopped following the matter.
"Alyosha was sentenced to three years in prison. His publisher was ordered to issue statements in the papers for three consecutive days revealing the truth, and to pay us a substantial sum in compensation.
"The compensation available now isn't enough, so the rest will be paid in installments out of the future earnings from his works.
"But I very much doubt we'll ever get that money. His reputation is completely ruined, and readers may no longer buy his books."
Miles set down his glass, a wistful look coming over his face.
He sighed and murmured, "He actually has a real gift for writing. Even without plagiarizing, he would certainly have made a name for