"Eleanor, go fetch the latest report."
"All right, um... Inspector Luke, where should I get it?"
A somewhat timid voice came from in front of the desk.
Luke raised his eyes, his brow furrowing instinctively, before remembering that his assistant was no longer his old partner.
"You... are new to the Night Watch Bureau?"
"Yes! I'm an intern assigned here this year! I graduated from the History Department at Miskatonic University!"
Luke removed his monocle, worn smooth and shiny, and leaned heavily back into his spacious leather armchair, his face full of exhaustion.
His hair was graying, and the wrinkles on his face bore the marks of time. Only his eyes remained as sharp as an eagle's.
"Forget what you learned in your textbooks. In the Night Watch Bureau, history takes a different form... How did you get dumped here?"
"Um..."
Eleanor looked somewhat embarrassed. "While investigating the records in a file, I happened to find a clue about a relic. Then I contacted a few classmates to investigate the site together, and then..."
"And then you awakened a real [Relic], didn't you?" Luke sighed.
"Yes..."
"What about those classmates of yours? What happened to them afterward?"
"Most died by... suicide, and one..."
"Went mad?"
"...I was the one who went mad." Eleanor's voice grew quieter.
This time, Luke finally showed some interest. He put on his monocle and leaned forward slightly, his piercing gaze seeming to bore through Eleanor's soul. A moment later, a look of understanding appeared on his face.
"You swallowed that madness and worked it into your bones? Turned it into an intermittent, controllable frenzy? You're only pretending to be a normal person?" There was a trace of barely perceptible excitement in his voice.
Eleanor's eyes widened in astonishment.
Luke removed his monocle and carefully wiped