章 166: Case

At 5: 40 PM, at the Shewell Restaurant on Kent Street in North Borough.

'This restaurant seems to be very high-end… It's even more luxurious than some of the estates I know of…' Crestet Cesimir, who had arrived early, looked around and felt a little uncomfortable.

Although he was a high-ranking deacon of the Church of the Goddess, his life had always been very simple. He didn't have many pursuits of quality of life, so he didn't have such a luxurious restaurant in the future.

Sitting beside him, Madam Daly chuckled and pulled down the hood of her black robe. She said in an ethereal voice,

"This is actually the style of the Feysac Empire. It's quite different from ours. They like to decorate it with some ancient and huge materials, just like their height."

"Why did you put the invitation place here? Isn't the Halka Restaurant near the church good?" Cesimir asked, puzzled.

"Because I've always wanted to try the taste of this place, but my salary doesn't allow it," Daly replied with a smile. Then, her eyes moved slightly, and she pretended to be mysterious as she said, "And don't you know? That woman, Halka, doesn't have a good reputation… Recently, even Chelly won't go to her restaurant to buy lunch for the Nighthawks."

"Did something happen?" Cesimir's gaze sharpened.

"Don't be nervous. It's just that some of the ridiculous things she did previously were discovered," Daly explained with a smile.

Cesimir looked at her seriously for a while before sighing. "I'm not Dunn. You don't have to test my reaction. Even if you do, it won't be the same as Dunn. It won't be of any help to you… However, I'm certain that he won't mind too much."

Daly's smile faded when she heard that. She fell silent for a moment before saying, "I'm sorry. I went to Tingen this time because I want to be brave, but I was also afraid of losing it completely…"

"I really need to consider if you are a good candidate to join the 'Joint Investigation' team… Perhaps it's not too late to change?" Cesimir said deliberately.

Upon hearing this, Madam Daly recovered from her baffling emotions. She chuckled and said, "Isn't it just an expensive meal? You can't be that stingy, right? You can reimburse me."

Just as the two of them were chatting, they heard a waiter knocking on the door. Then, they saw Ebner walking in with a waiter behind him.

…

At the intersection of Empress Borough and West Borough, Townsend Street.

Xio stood in a dark and secluded alley. Even without looking up, she could see the layers of gorgeous palaces and towering gothic bell towers in the distance.

It was the highest area in Backlund, and also where the Loen royal family resided.

In the Northern and Southern Continents, its status in the entire world was equivalent or even slightly higher than Intis's White Maple Palace and the Feysac Empire's Aurmir Palace, but its name was neither romantic nor ancient.

It was called the Sodrak Palace. In ancient Feysac, the word meant "balance."

Xio retracted her gaze from the famous Bell of Order and looked to the other side of the alley.

A figure slowly walked out from the shadows where the gas lamps couldn't shine.

The figure wore a golden mask that revealed the lower half of his face. He was the person in charge of MI9 who had previously turned Xio into a spy.

"Did you gain anything from the previous commission?" The man in the golden mask asked according to his usual practice.

Xio shook her head and said, "No, at least East Borough and the dock area didn't have any incidents similar to the horror stories you mentioned."

Although she had listened to Ebner's advice and didn't rule it out, as a Sheriff, she still had to be aware of the happenings in her district.

She paused and pretended to be reluctant as she asked,

"Is this commission long-term?"

The masked man fell silent for a moment before saying,

"That's right. If you hear anything related, contact me immediately.

"However, I'm here today to give you a new mission."

"What mission?" Xio completely entered her bounty hunter state as she prepared to assess the risks.

The golden-masked man replied, "Investigate someone's whereabouts."

"Who?" Xio asked.

"I don't know… But he should have the dual powers of a Wind-blessed and a Hypnotist. If you encounter someone like him, come find me immediately," the golden-masked man said hesitantly.

The dual powers of the Wind-blessed and Hypnotist? Does MI9 want to find the Marionettist who helped Demoness of Afflictions? Xio quickly came to a conclusion.

She had previously heard from Ebner about the battle in the northwest suburbs. She had also learned some of the powers of a Marionettist, so she immediately guessed MI9's plans.

However, wasn't this something the Church of Storms should be worried about? Why was MI9 so proactive?

With this in mind, Xio feigned a blank look and asked, "Hypnotist's powers? What's that?"

As for the Wind-blessed, there was no need to ask. The reputation of the Mandated Punishers was not unknown even to wild Beyonders.

"You don't have to worry about that. Later, I'll give you detailed information on Hypnotist and Wind-blessed." With that said, the masked man continued in a bewitching tone, "If you really find clues about that person, I can give you a reward from the main material of the Interrogator."

Although a Marionettist is a Sequence 5 powerhouse, from what I heard from Ebner, he seems to have some guesses. Perhaps he will "know" soon… Besides, I only need to receive information and report it. I don't need to fight a Sequence 5 Beyonder.

After some consideration, Xio nodded and said, "I accept this request."

"Very good." The masked man's tone became relaxed. After looking around, he took out a stack of papers from his pocket and said, "It's best to burn them immediately after reading them."

With that said, he slowly retreated and returned to the shadows, disappearing around the corner of the alley.

Xio opened the information and flipped through it. Not only was there a description of the Hypnotist and Wind-blessed powers, but there were also photos of two people.

Xio was somewhat familiar with one of them. Thanks to the Sheriff's powers, she recalled a Mandated Punisher she had investigated when she was on duty at the Daily Observer's headquarters.

From the looks of it, MI9 was really looking for that Marionettist…

Xio rubbed her chubby cheeks and walked out of the street, preparing to take a public carriage back to North Borough.

Right at this moment, she suddenly sensed an abnormal aura passing by not far from her, but she did not see anything.

Assassin? Xio, who had seen the Psionic Knowledge Society's instigator, quickly determined the source of the "abnormalities," even if it wasn't under her jurisdiction.

After some thought, Xio secretly followed the "abnormality" she sensed.

…

In the private room of Shewell Restaurant, Ebner tasted a mouthful of Feysac's raw white whale slices and fried whale steak. After secretly complaining that it wasn't fresh enough, he smiled and asked Cesimir, "Your Excellency, you aren't really just treating me to a meal of Feysac's delicacies, are you?"

To be honest, Ebner thought that he had made a mistake when he saw the decor of the restaurant. He only walked in after confirming it repeatedly.

"Detective Bryan, I invited you here mainly to ask you about something," Cesimir slowly exhaled.

"What is it?" Ebner swirled the Sonia blood wine in his glass and asked curiously.

"He wants to know the origins of the badge you used to kill the Demoness of Afflictions… as well as the information regarding Beyonders of the Devil pathway," Ma'am Daly interjected.

So it's because of this matter… But why didn't you come to me directly to ask, and instead go through so much trouble to treat me to a meal?

Yes, there have been too many reporters around my teacher's house recently. It's indeed inconvenient for them to visit. Besides, I'm quite famous. It's not appropriate for the Nighthawks to summon me to the police station or Saint Samuel Cathedral…

With this in mind, Ebner organized his words and said without hiding anything, "That badge was successfully made after I killed a demonic creature in Damir… The Church of Storms should have records on this."

"It's the same as what we found out." Cesimir nodded slightly. Clearly, he wasn't surprised by Ebner's words. Then, he said sincerely, "From the looks of it, you aren't unfamiliar with the Beyonder powers of the Devil pathway. Can you tell me about it? I know it's a little presumptuous to ask this, and it might involve the secrets of the Church of Earth Mother, but there's a demon killing in Backlund at the moment. I need to know about him."

If he was not very familiar with it, how could he have used the materials on the monsters to create such a powerful badge, even though it might be a gift from Earth Mother?

Madam Daly spoke again and smiled. "Don't worry. I won't let you help for nothing."

Ebner thought for a moment and could guess what they were looking into. "What do you want to know?" he asked tentatively. He was inclined to help anyway.

"I want to know what Sequence Beyonders need to continuously cut open a person's abdomen and extract all their organs," Cesimir asked.

There wasn't much information regarding the Devil pathway in Saint Samuel Cathedral. After all, it had been a long time since the other party had acted so brazenly in Backlund.

If he wanted more detailed information, he could only go to the headquarters of the Holy Cathedral to read it, but that would be a waste of time, and the demon was still killing people.

Such "dangerous" information couldn't be sent via telegram or other means. It could only be read by someone with sufficient authority.

Ebner deliberated for a moment and answered as simply as possible, "This sounds like a ritual used by demons to aid in one's advancement. It often appears from Sequence 6 to Sequence 5."

"So, what's the pattern and interval of this ritual?" Cesimir pressed.

Ebner shook his head. Before he could answer, Madam Daly, who was sitting diagonally opposite him, suddenly took out a letter from the void. She opened it and took a look. Suddenly, she frowned and reported to Cesimir, "The sixth case has happened… It's the Halka we talked about previously… It's near Samuel Cathedral!"