CH 14

”How often do you contact Lina? Does she know that you are cursing Hugh?” I asked, feeling like I was grasping at straws.

”She don’t really know what I’m doing,” Turner replied blankly.

Hearing this, both Abner and Hugh let out sighs of relief. Hugh thought it was almost impossible for someone from the Gnosis Society to find her in these circumstances, not to mention that a secret organization might not investigate the disappearance of a Sequence 8. Abner, on the other hand, thought that even if they were found out, it would take a few months and by then he might not be afraid of them.

”I have good relationships with MI9, the Nighthawks, and the Heart of the Machine/Machinery Hivemind.[1] I will hand this ‘instigator’ over to them later. A Sequence 8 evildoer can fetch a decent bounty. You won’t blame me for taking the money for myself, will you?” Detective Isengard joked in an exaggerated tone.

Abner knew that the detective was just trying to protect himself and Hugh to a greater extent. After all, if the person fell into the hands of the authorities, the Gnosis Society or the Demoness Sect would probably not fight with the Church.

Hugh obviously thought of this too and quickly thanked him again.

Afterwards, the three of them asked some more questions, but Turner, as just a young member of the Gnosis Society, didn’t know much more so they didn’t gain much new information.

After stunlocking the ‘instigator’ again, Detective Isengard clapped his hands and said: “Okay, let’s divide up the things on him and then this matter will be over. The rest can be handed over to the authorities.”

He then listed the things he had found on Turner, including two badges, a handful of triangular thorns, a star crystal, and about 120 gold pounds in cash.

Detective Isengard looked at Abner and Hugh, then took the star crystal and the badge of the Hermit of Destiny into his hands, saying with a smile: “The most valuable thing here is actually the Sequence 8 Extraordinary himself, so since he belongs to me, I’ll just take these two… Do you have any objections?”

Hugh quickly shook her head and said, “You were the one who caught this person. These things belong to you. How could I have any objections?”

Abner naturally thought the same, but he was curious as to why the detective would give him anything.

At this point, the detective picked up the half-damaged curse badge and handed it to Abner, saying: “This badge should not be repaired and it’s worthless to me. But it can still be used, so consider it a trump card. As for the 120 pounds, take that too. The mystic experiments in the next few days won’t cost much. I’ll reimburse you in advance for these, Abner.”

”Thank you, teacher!” Abner wasn’t being polite, although he still had 350 gold pounds on him. This amount of money might be a large sum for ordinary people, but for Extraordinary, it was just a drop in the bucket.

On the other side, seeing Detective Isengard looking at him again, Hugh quickly waved her hand and said: “Don’t think about me, you’re helping me with this matter and I didn’t help… How dare I share the spoils…?” She is not as thick-skinned as Abner, not to mention that Abner is the other party’s student, so it is only natural for things to be divided unevenly.

Detective Isengard laughed and pushed the triangular thorn in front of Hugh, saying without a doubt: “Miss Hugh, don’t be so cynical! Did you forget? You speculated that this ‘instigator’ would commit murder in the bar. How do you say that’s not helpful? Take it, I’ve just identified it. This triangular thorn is actually quite ordinary, it only has a kind of toxin that is hard to detect. It’s just an ordinary weapon that has been poisoned, it’s not worth anything.”

Hugh originally wanted to decline, but felt that it would not be right to not accept it just for the sake of it, so she had to accept the triangular thorn and silently decided to find a chance to return the favor.

After the three finished dividing the “loot,” Detective Isengard didn’t know what ability he used to hold the ‘instigator’ Turner in his hand as if he weighed nothing and said to Abner and Hugh: “I’ll send him to the authorities now and you two should go back and rest early.”

Abner was about to respond, but suddenly thought of something and hesitated before reminding the detective: “Teacher, you can hand him over to the Nighthawks or the Heart of the Machine, but it’s best not to go to MI9.”

Detective Isengard turned around and asked in confusion: “Why, is there a problem with MI9?”

Abner thought for a while and then said in a careful tone: “It seems that some people in the military are also involved in human trafficking. It’s not good for you.”

”Are you saying that the military is involved in this?” Detective Isengard frowned and asked in confusion. “Why would they do this? And Abner, how do you know?”

”My mother was also trafficked before… I did some research…” Abner lied half-truthfully.

”I see…” Detective Isengard nodded, understanding.

Hugh looked at Abner with some pity. She didn’t expect the other party to have such an unfortunate experience, but she didn’t think that her father was actually a victim of this incident, strictly speaking.

”I understand… don’t worry, your teacher knows how to deal with the authorities!”

Detective Isengard said and waved at the two of them, then carried Turner and disappeared into the mouth of the well.

Abner and Hugh waited for a while before returning to the ground through another exit of the sewer. Since it was very late, the carriage and the subway were no longer in operation, so the two of them had to walk home.

Hugh’s current rented house is in the Bridge District and she said goodbye to Abner on the way.

Watching Abner leave, Hugh turned around and almost jumped in fright upon seeing a woman with slightly curly brown hair in a beige dress watching her from less than a meter away.

“Fors, where did you ‘open the door’ here again? You scared me to death!” Hugh let out a sigh of relief upon realizing it was her friend.

“Do you know how worried I am if I don’t go home all day and night and don’t leave a message? I never thought that you went out on a date with a man! Tell me, who was that man just now?” Despite her playful tone, Forsi was genuinely concerned.

Hugh knew she shouldn’t argue with her friends about this, so she changed the subject.

“Forsi, Abner is just my friend, and without his help today, I might not have been able to come back…”

She went on to explain the events of the past two days, leaving out Detective Isengard’s identity and Abner’s relationship with him as a teacher and student.

She simply said that Abner had invited a strong man to catch the assailant.

“Hugh, we are best friends! You must tell me about this kind of thing in the future. If I’m by your side, even if I can’t beat the instigator, I can at least take you away!” Forsi said, raising her bracelet.

“The influence of that curse badge should not be large, as long as you escape far enough, you will be safe.” She then asked, “But the man named Abner obviously handled it better. He’s willing to pay so much for you, is he interested in you?”

Hugh shook her head and said, “He doesn’t have that kind of interest. I’m sure of it.” Hugh then said, “I don’t know either…but I always feel that he seems to have known me for a long time…”

…

After returning home in the East District, Abner fell asleep on his head. He was exhausted from the excitement of the day and from constantly studying in the afternoon using his pure white eyes.

However, the next morning, he arrived on time at the subway station in the East District where he saw Hugh already waiting.

They had agreed to meet there that morning.

“I kept you waiting!” Abner apologized, as he lived closer to the station.

Hugh said, not concerned with the delay.

The two rode the subway in silence for about 40 minutes before arriving at a dilapidated manor in the northern suburbs.

Abner surveyed the manor, which resembled a horror film set, and asked with some hesitation, “This is the place where we can shoot targets for free?”

Hugh nodded and replied, “There’s a shooting range in the backyard of the manor… I have the key to the back door.”

“Even though this place is dilapidated, it’s still a manor near Backlund. Won’t anyone notice us being here?” Abner asked, concerned that they might be kicked out if they were discovered.

Hugh explained, “This was actually my family’s former holiday estate. After my father’s accident, it was sold to a wealthy businessman. But for some reason, accidents kept happening to the people who lived here and there were reports of it being a haunted house. It became dilapidated because of neglect. Now there is only one old servant guarding the property. He was originally a servant in my family and my father took good care of him. As long as you don’t try to enter the house, there’s no problem.”

In other words, the servant, who is deaf and mute, won’t be able to hear the sound of gun practice and even if he does, he won’t care because of the favor Hugh’s father did for him.

Abner quickly understood the situation.

Hugh could tell from Abner’s unsurprised expression that he already knew who Hugh’s father was!, had known Hugh for a long time!, and seemed to know many secrets!.

Hugh wondered if Abner also knew why his father had been wronged.