150 Deciding the Next Course of Action

"Why is he smiling?" asked Luuk van der Meer, who had just inhaled a blue powder that he had taken out of his pocket. His wound began to heal more quickly once the powder was in his system.

"Who knows?" replied Valentine shortly while shrugging.

Graham had planted a thought inside Fright's mind at the beginning of the fight to make him believe that he would do a 'heroic' deed for the sake of his partner. It had manifested and interfered with his decision making, causing him to be left behind. It also happened to complement his willingness to use his trump ability in the absence of his partner, so in Fright's mind, everything made sense.

Valentine just didn't understand why in the end the man with the red hair just accepted defeat so easily like that. Maybe it was something related to being 'heroic' again just as the thought that Graham had planted stated, but he was not sure. In the end, the enemy was dead and they were victorious; that was what mattered.

"The other one escaped, and she had seen our faces. Agatha will most likely be safe since she is from a powerful family, but we cannot stay in our apartment anymore until this matter is resolved," said Valentine seriously.

"So that means we need to move?" asked Luuk.

"Yes. And also, the next time we fight them, it will be much harder since they've already known about our abilities. They also know I have a gun. So far, our advantages lie in the fact that the enemies don't know anything about us," explained Valentine.

Luuk and Agatha nodded.

Valentine then approached the dead Fright who had completely burst into flames, leaving only ashes behind. There were a total of three contract scrolls on the ashes, all of which looked ancient. They were brown in color and emitted a strong spiritual aura which as he could feel as he approached them.

Besides the scrolls, there was also a round object that had fully formed. It resembled a compressed brain that was only the size of an adult's palm. Valentine picked up the compressed brain and a cold sensation coursed through his veins, with the source being the tip of his fingers that came in contact with the object. It was like touching a block of ice that was still frozen solid.

Valentine put some strength into his right hand and pressed the 'brain' with his fingers. Just as he expected, it didn't get squished, but instead, hardened as his grip became tighter. He then put the object inside the tight pocket of his pants and picked up the three scrolls.

"Do you need any scrolls?" asked Valentine to Luuk and Agatha, who were standing near the ashes of the enemy.

Agatha shook her head and refused politely, "I do not need any right now, and money is not a problem for me. Just promise me that you will compensate me in another way."

Valentine then turned to Luuk and said, "Then you can have these two. I need this one and the remains,"

"We'll check later. For now, we need to get out of here," he replied and then gave Luuk all the scrolls. Luuk was still wearing his coat that had numerous pockets in it while his sweater had none at all.

Valentine looked at the ashes on the ground that was still in the shape of a human. The grey material was proof of a fight that had taken place in that back alley, along with the burned patches caused by the flame. The fire itself had disappeared because Graham had stopped supplying it with his stamina the moment he fell under the enemy's illusion.

"I order you to disperse!"

He issued an Order and the pattern on the belt that he was wearing under his sweater glowed. The ashes then rose in the air and spread to every direction, leaving nothing behind.

After that, Valentine walked to the spot next to the dumpster and used his dagger to make a small cut on his palm. The slight pain from the metal cutting his flesh open was by now something he had gotten used to, so he showed no reaction whatsoever. He let the blood pool on his palm and then started chanting.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Secrets, offer this blood of mine,"

The blood on his hand emitted a mysterious yellowish mist that quickly spread to the area near his hand.

"For I declare this place under the Shroud of Secrecy hereafter!"

He dropped his blood to the tiny gap between the big dumpster and the wall and once it made contact with a surface, the blood stuck to it and there was a wave of warm air spreading for a split second.

"Let's go," urged Valentine.

The three people left the back alley in a hurry and came out to the main street which was much busier. On the way, Valentine had used the Transformation ability stored inside Purloin to change into the appearance of Agatha's martial arts instructor, Hansen Müller. Luuk had also taken off his mask so they wouldn't look suspicious. Among them, only Luuk had sustained a real injury, which was shown by his torn coat.

"What should we do now?" asked Luuk. He knew he would need to move to a safer place now.

"We'll pack our stuff and find a temporary place to stay in. That woman might have reported about us already to the other members of her organization, so we need to be quick," he replied.

"Do you still need my help?" asked Agatha warmly.

"No, thank you. We can take care of things on our own from here. Maybe Luuk needs your help?" replied Valentine and then turned to the young man walking next to him.

Luuk shook his head awkwardly and said, "No, nothing I need help with either, but thanks for the offer."

"In that case, I'll get going now. Don't worry about me. Don't forget your promise to me, okay, Mr. Hymes?" said Agatha with a warm smile.

Valentine nodded and then waved goodbye to her. Agatha then walked a separate way from them and headed towards her parked motor carriage by the side of the street.

Once she was gone, Luuk turned to Valentine and said, "Our bags!"

The two men then came into the realization and quickly ran towards Agatha, who had just got into her motor carriage.

"Ms. van Nostrand! Wait!!" shouted Luuk while waving his hand wildly in the air.

They managed to get to her vehicle before she managed to drive away. Valentine then knocked on the tinted glass window of the black carriage and Agatha rolled it down. She had a cheeky smile on her face and was holding Valentine's briefcase with her left hand.

"Forgetting these?" she said teasingly.

"Yes. Thank you," replied Valentine as he received the briefcase from her.

Luuk opened the passenger door and picked up his own bag that was full of course books. He put on the bag and thanked Agatha. After that, she drove away quickly.

"Let's quickly get home and pack our stuff. We should stay together for the time being because you might be in danger," said Valentine to Luuk, "I'm sorry for getting you involved in this mess," he added.

"Something like this is bound to happen sooner or later, right?" he said nonchalantly.

Luuk then became quiet and his expression became serious.

"Now I'm even more convinced that I have to get stronger soon so I can protect myself," he said with conviction. "But, are we really doing the right thing? Is the Pale Society really going to bring ruin to this city?" he asked with a sliver of doubt in his heart.

Valentine didn't reply right away. He kept on walking towards his home at a quick pace. They arrived soon after and entered the old apartment building through the main door.

"You saw the divination, didn't you? That's what I believe will happen, so it's better to stop them then do nothing. Besides, you've also seen what they are capable of and how dangerous the creatures they summon are," said Valentine finally. His tone was grim and cold.

Luuk remembered the first time he encountered a ghoul. It was a bloody massacre involving innocent people, and he was lucky he had been warned beforehand by the man next to him. Not everyone had the ability to protect themselves against dangerous creatures like that, and he was one of the lucky few.

Luuk didn't say anything after that. The two men walked up the apartment building to the third floor where their rooms were located. Valentine felt nostalgic despite only being away for a day.

"I'll wait for you outside once you're ready. Just pack the essentials," he said as he handed the apartment keys back to the original owner.

Luuk nodded and then opened his apartment with the keys that he got back from Valentine. He entered the place and closed the door behind him, disappearing from Valentine's sight. Valentine walked up to the door with the number 23 and the words 'Hymes Detective Agency' on it. He fished out a set of keys from his briefcase and tried to unlock the door. However, as he had expected, his door was unlocked so he opened it and entered his apartment.

Once inside, he looked around at the messy place that looked like he had been robbed. The enemies must have come in and searched the place for any clues of him. He felt pained to see the messy office, but there was nothing he could do at that time. He didn't really have the luxury to do some cleaning up.

"G, how long has it been since we came home?" muttered Valentine with nostalgia, "I know it's been just a day, but since we know we won't be back here soon, it feels like a long time already."

"And look at how they've massacred our place. The least they could do was place everything back in their original spot, but no, it's too much work," he said in annoyance. With his current appearance of the muscular and tall martial arts instructor, his expression could scare even an adult male into running away.

Valentine only needed to pack his clothes since his valuables were all inside his briefcase. He walked right past his office to his bedroom and found that it was in the same state as the office. A lot of his clothes had been taken out of the wardrobe like someone was looking for something underneath them.

He walked to the side of the giant wardrobe and took a large suitcase that he always used for traveling.

"G, since we are always technically packing clothes for two, our suitcase is always this big one. Sometimes I wish we could just have a magical pocket of some sort to carry all our clothes," he muttered.

Valentine opened the large suitcase and started packing the clothes they would need, carefully folding them so he could fit in more. He also made sure there was nothing attached to each piece of clothes and there was no bloodstain anywhere to avoid being traced by the enemy somehow. After packing his clothes, he also packed all the necessary ritual materials that he still had.

Once he was done, Valentine placed anti-divination on the suitcase itself and left his apartment with a heavy feeling. Although he was colder and more detached to people, he was someone who held dear the concept of home, so leaving the place that he had lived in for so long was rather difficult for him.

"We'll be sure to come back here, G. And besides, we've paid the rent for the full year, so it would piss you off if we didn't wouldn't it?" he said as he looked inside one more time.

Valentine closed the door and locked it before going to Luuk's apartment next door.

Ding... dong...

He rang the bell and waited patiently for the young man to come and answer the door. Not long after, the young man came out and let Valentine in. Luuk had already got changed and was now wearing a maroon sweater and a pair of elastic cotton pants. Valentine entered Luuk's apartment that was in a similar condition to his; the only difference was that the owner brought it upon himself.

Valentine noticed that the table was now empty and there was a giant suitcase placed next to it. It was a little bigger than his and it was bulking, which meant it was filled to the brim.

"Is this everything you need?" asked Valentine while observing the rest of the room. There didn't seem to be any other valuable things; even the thick books were gone. There were only random objects like candles and plates littering the floor.

"Yes. Your trench coat is already inside, and also the scrolls that we just got," replied Luuk.

"I'll carry your suitcase with me and we should go separately for now. Although I doubt the enemy could act that quickly and put us under watch, we still need to be careful," said Valentine quietly.

"Okay. In that case, I'll be going to a friend's house and wait for your instruction there," said Luuk.

"Good. Write the address here because I won't be able to find you later through divination," said Valentine. He took out the notebook that he hadn't used in a while from the briefcase and gave it to Luuk.

While Luuk was busy writing something on the notebook, Valentine had slit his palm and let some blood pool on it. He then placed an anti-divination on Luuk's suitcase and also splashed some of the blood on the clothes that the man was wearing. Now, Luuk should be untraceable through divination.

Once he had finished writing the address, Valentine, who was still using Hansen Müller's appearance, told Luuk to wait several minutes until he was gone so that they wouldn't be seen leaving together. Valentine then left the apartment building with two large suitcases and a briefcase and stopped a public motor carriage that was driving by.