994 Prelude

At 7 Pinster Street, Leonard, who had specially returned home to participate in the Tarot Gathering, was just about to head to Saint Samuel Cathedral's basement to read the dossiers so as to make preparations for his placating of souls at night when his vision suddenly went into a blur. He saw the messenger in a dark, full dress holding four blonde, redeyed heads.

As a Soul Assurer, he could already see such creatures with Spirit Bodies.

After taking Klein's letter, Leonard didn't even have the chance to say thank you when Reinette Tinekerr turned around and walked into the void. She didn't even stay for long.

"...Old Man, why does Klein have a messenger of this level? Is this a perk of being a Blessed?" Leonard couldn't help but ask Pallez Zoroast with a suppressed voice.

He originally fantasized that it was standard for every Tarot Club member, but he later realized that he had been imagining things.

Pallez Zoroast's slightly-aged voice chuckled immediately.

"It is likely to solely belong to Klein Moretti. Everyone receives some special fortuitous encounter, isn't that the case? Isn't it the same even for a fellow like you?

"Heh heh, I thought you would use 'incomplete angel* to describe 'Her,' but you ended up using 'messenger of this level.' Not bad, you still remember my warning."

Leonard curled the corners of his lips, spread open the piece of paper, and read the content on it.

"He's indeed the Blessed of Concealment and Fate..." Pallez Zoroast quickly scanned the heading through Leonard's eyes.

Leonard didn't look at the ground. Instead, he took a few steps back and threw himself into the embrace of the sofa before saying, "Klein can see through the theft and replacement of destiny... Then, we don't need to rush to seek out items at the Marauder pathway demigod level."

"Even if you were in a hurry, you have no idea where to seek them out," Pallez scoffed.

Even for the gathering of the Hermits of Fate, similar items needed years to appear even once. And the next gathering was to happen at the end of the year.

Leonard was momentarily at a loss for words and could only cast his gaze at the last two paragraphs.

After a brief silence, he chuckled.

"I've always been curious as to where Klein received the high-level charm of the Sun domain when facing Megose. I thought it was provided to him by that Death Consul, but I couldn’t understand why a Death domain angel would be gathering high-level charms of the Sun domain. Wouldn't that be suicide? Now, I finally understand.

"Old Man, I wielded 3-0782 before as well. Why didn't you notice that there was a drop of the Eternal Blazing Sun's divine blood hidden in that? If you could've stolen some of its power back then, things wouldn't have..."

Leonard originally wanted to mock Old Man, but as he went on, he fell silent.

Pallez Zoroast sighed in his mind.

"If that drop of divine blood could be so easily discovered, that Mutated Sun Sacred Emblem wouldn't have been in Tingen."

Leonard fell silent for a few seconds before asking, "Then how am I to create an opportunity to get that Sacred Emblem to create the Flaring Sun Charm?"

Although Klein made it sound simple in his letter, Leonard knew that it wasn't an easy task. This was because he wasn't a Nighthawk of Tingen City. Even if he returned to visit his former colleagues and teammates, he had no authority to enter Chanis Gate.

Upon hearing his question, Pallez Zoroast replied in a peeved manner, "Why are you asking me something as trivial as this? Can't you think for yourself?"

Leonard coughed uncomfortably as he began thinking seriously to seek out a solution.

"I'm currently working alone, but the archbishop has given me the authority to get the help of the local Nighthawks in the region of question.

"Hmm, if all the souls in Backlund have been placated, and if I haven't finished digesting my potion, wouldn't I have to do it at other dioceses?

"When that happens, if Tingen happens to have a paranormal accident, it will be very reasonable for me to return and get two Nighthawks and use 3-0782..."

After Leonard finished muttering to himself, Pallez Zoroast chuckled.

"Not bad. You came up with an idea so quickly.

"But have you thought about it? You are placating them, not purifying them. This is contradictory with obtaining 3-0782. It will easily incur suspicion."

Leonard, who had been praised, immediately laughed.

"Old Man, that's because you aren't aware. Back when I joined the Nighthawks team, there was one line in the education I received: Only under the premise of having the ability to purify can placating achieve the best results.

"Emperor Roselle had also once said that to solve problems, you need a stick in one hand and a carrot in the other." Pallez Zoroast immediately tsked.

"Then follow your plan. Of course, that's assuming that you can finish Anthony Stevenson's missions in a week or two. If you haven't obtained the Sun Flare Bullets before the actual operation of eliminating Amon begins, then it would no longer be necessary."

Leonard recalled the list of missions written on the pieces of paper as his forehead twitched.

He then forced himself to forget about his worries and mumbled, "I wonder when the mission to punish the Sanguine will begin...

"I wonder if the Sanguine has a Sealed Artifact at the Marauder pathway's demigod level.

"Temporary dreamworld... I can create it myself. I'll find a chance to make some charms, but can power at this level be able to resist the corrosion of the darkness in the Forsaken Land of the Gods?"

In an apartment in Cherwood Borough.

Fors took out a novel, sat on the sofa, and watched Xio walk towards the lobby as she wore her boots to head out.

Finally, Fors couldn't hold back her puzzlement as she said, "There's no rush. That gentleman said that he wouldn't assign the mission that quickly."

Xio shot her a glance and said, "I'm a bounty hunter. I have other missions."

Upon saying that, she paused and said after some deliberation, "Fors, do you think that Miss Justice resembles Miss Audrey?"

Fors was taken aback for a few seconds before she snapped back to senses. She subconsciously waved her hand and chuckled.

"How is that possible..."

Just as she said that, the similarities began flashing through her mind, her eyes widening in response.

After a while, she whispered, "It's not impossible.

"Spectator pathway, Psychology Alchemists, noble lady, blonde hair and green eyes... She's the only noble I know that meets those criteria... Of course, I don't know that many nobles. Furthermore, I have no idea if the ones I'm familiar with have anything to do with the Psychology Alchemists..."

Xio silently listened to her friend and said after some thought, "Fors, do you still remember the missions assigned to us by Miss Audrey? I originally thought that it was issued by Earl Hall, but on second thought, perhaps it came from the Tarot Gathering...

"Also, how did we know of Mr. Fool's honorific name? Do you remember? It was from books we borrowed from Viscount Glaint! In the book cover was a strange ancient slip!"

Fors nodded in enlightenment.

"If we could discover it, as a good friend of Viscount Glaint, Miss Audrey, has a chance of discovering it as well! This can explain why she joined the gathering..."

"Yeah," Xio agreed with Fors's guess.

Fors opened her mouth and was just about to say something when she recalled that the matter with the Sanguine wasn't completely over. She immediately looked around warily and said, "Xio, we should lessen our discussions of gatherings in the future."

"As for Miss Audrey, we can visit her once every week or two. We can continue observing when the time comes."

Xio snapped to her senses and nodded heavily.

"Alright!"

She then opened her door and went to a particular bar in East Borough and sat by the bar counter.

Rapping on the table, she said to the bartender who looked up, "Any new missions today?"

The bartender gave a rough list without mentioning any investigations of a particular Mr. Ernes Boyar.

Indeed, I'll have to wait till tomorrow or the day after tomorrow... Xio looked around, retracted her gaze, and asked in puzzlement and concern, "I haven't seen Sherman in a while. Do you know where he's been?"

Sherman was a young man who thought himself as a woman-one of Xio's informants.

The bartender chuckled.

"Perhaps he ran off with some man. You do know that he's happy to do so if a man fancies him."

"This isn't something worth ostracizing him about," Xio rebutted seriously, feeling a baffling sense of concern.

She then exerted strength in her palm and jumped off the high-stool, prepared to seek out Sherman in the places he was usually seen.

Backlund Bridge area, Iron Gate Street, Bravehearts Bar.

Holding down his hat, Emlyn pinched his nose as he passed through the crowd that exuded all kinds of smells before finding the red-eyed Ian in the card room.

"Mr. White, what is it this time?" Ian smiled as he led Emlyn into an empty billiard room.

Emlyn took off his hat and quipped, "Something trivial. Help me put up a mission to the bounty hunters. The details of the mission is to track a man named Ernes Boyar. Figure out his daily activities. The bounty reward will be 100 pounds."

"100 pounds?" Ian subconsciously asked.

For investigations like tracking, 100 pounds was quite a ridiculous reward. One had to know that if a bounty hunter was able to complete this mission on their own, they could rest for an entire year, even if they were supporting a family!

Emlyn nodded.

"The target is rather dangerous."

After the discussion back with the Tarot Club, he had already thought it through. He believed that tracking Ernes Boyar was an easy mission. The Sanguine Viscount would definitely pretend as though he didn't notice anything and deliberately follow a fixed trajectory.

Therefore, this 100 pounds was in fact payment for Miss Judgment to take the risk of participating in this operation. Of course, to aid in the misdirection and concealment, it was almost certain that more than one bounty hunter would complete this mission, allowing them to earn different portions of the reward. All Emlyn could guarantee was that Miss Judgment would earn the most.

"I see." Coming to an understanding, Ian extended his hand. "Down payment, exact address, level of danger, looks and characteristics. It's best if you have a portrait."

Ernes Boyar then gave 30 pounds in cash and Ernes Boyar's portrait.

"Red eyes?" Ian flipped through the pieces of paper in his hand and couldn't help but blurt out.

"Yes." Emlyn nodded gently and looked around him. He suppressed his voice and said, "There's also something else. Help me seek out clues regarding the Rose School of Thought members in Backlund."

"...Rose School of Thought?" Ian was taken aback as he asked in puzzlement, as though he had never heard of the name.