Dr. Hall double-checked the evidence on the table before pulling the commission document from her leather bag.
She gripped her pen and wrote in the confirmation field for Phase Two:
“The abnormal Dream-soothing Paper, the old-style Moon-Returning Ritual, and the boat that picked up Robert have been linked. Phase Two is confirmed complete.”
The nib of her pen scratched across the paper.
To Elias's ears, it didn't sound like scratching, but rather the crisp, metallic clink of three hundred gold crowns clashing together.
Three hundred for Phase One.
Three hundred for Phase Two.
Six hundred gold crowns.
Now, that was the most beautiful requiem in the world.
His slightly drowsy spirits instantly rallied, and even the dark-silver lumps of Dream-Mourning Sealing Wax on the table began to look quite pleasing to his eyes.
“So, where's the money?”
Dr. Hall blew on the ink to dry it and looked up at him.
“Waiting for the audit by the Society of Freemen.”
“...”
Elias froze, his hand stopping halfway across the table.
“There's still an audit?”
“Of course.”
Dr. Hall tucked the document back into her leather bag, her movements so swift and clean it felt as if she were pocketing the six hundred gold crowns right along with it.
“The commission records, evidence, and my confirmation must all be submitted to the Society. Once the audit is approved, the payment will be released from the security deposit.”
“Then what do I have right now?”
“A signed confirmation document.”
“Sounds very valuable.”
“It is indeed worth six hundred gold crowns.”
Elias stared at her bag.
Not only could this thing hold potions, medical records, and evidence, but it could also carry away the newly budded joy of a freelance investigator.
But he quickly reconciled himself to it.
At least the six hundred gold crowns were on the books now, even if they were temporarily blocked by a wall called an “audit.”
Besides, Robert hadn't been found yet.
As long as he brought the man back, dead or alive, the remaining six hundred would be his.
For the sake of his Scale One potion materials, he could respect the process for now.
Respect it right up until the money hit his pocket.
“Fine.”
Elias nudged the brim of his hat down.
“Please trouble yourself to explain to the Society for me, Dr. Hall, that I didn't conduct any dangerous experiments on the wounded, nor did I tear down the relief shelter.”
Dr. Hall fell silent for a moment.
“There was never any need to explain such things.”
“An excellent investigator builds their reputation by not causing accidents in the first place.”
For a moment, Dr. Hall didn't even know if she should argue with that.
Elias didn't wait for her to come up with an answer. He pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at it.
Forty-three minutes.
The hands on the dial instantly dragged his mood from six hundred gold crowns back to harsh reality.
In a little over an hour, dawn would break.
But if the 【Moon Gate】 closed first, he would probably have to hire a boat to get home.
Twenty nautical miles.
With a tailwind, it was a voyage; with a headwind, it was exile.
As for relying on Jack to quickly recharge the Waning Moon Key with potions...
Elias had indeed left him a whole crate of spirit restoration potions.
But entrusting his return trip to someone who might drink too much and go see the Moon Lord on the spot felt rather irresponsible.
Mainly irresponsible to himself.
“I have to go.”
He snapped his pocket watch shut and said to Dr. Hall,
“Don't use any new Dream-soothing Paper on the wounded for now, and don't let them sleep alone.”
“As for Robert and that boat, we'll talk once we find the old archives.”
“Understood.”
Dr. Hall nodded.
“Will you still come tomorrow night?”
“As long as the reward for Phase Three still stands.”
“It stands.”
“Then I'll definitely be here.”
Elias had only taken two steps when Theolan's voice drifted over from behind him.
“Mr. Constantine.”
“Something else?”
Theolan hadn't left the long table.
One of his hands remained pressed against the abnormal 【Dream-soothing Paper】, with silver threads stretching from the page and disappearing into various parts of the hall.
He still needed to suppress the dream circuits of one hundred and thirty-six people.
He could only tilt his head toward the other end of the table, gesturing for Elias to come over.
“You aren't an ascetic, are you?”
Elias paused mid-step.
Here it came.
He hadn't recognized the 【Dream-Mourning Sealing Wax】 and had even asked about the Ascetic Society's old ritual right then and there.
With this level of knowledge, insisting he was an ascetic would be somewhat insulting to the other man's professional judgment.
“I guess I couldn't fool you after all.”
Elias took a few steps closer and gave a candid smile.
“I am a free transcendent.”
Theolan's eyes visibly brightened.
That was probably his most expressive look of the night.
“To be honest with you, the Landon Archdiocese handed down a mission.”
“We are required to search for a free transcendent who believes in the Moon Lord.”
Elias's heart skipped a beat, but the smile on his face didn't waver.
“Looking for someone?”
“Yes.”
“Isn't that your specialty?”
“The mission rules dictate that we cannot use divination, soul-searching, or forced interrogation.”
Elias stared at him seriously for two seconds.
“What, did you offend the Archbishop?”
“No.”
“Then how are you supposed to find them?”
“By searching house by house.”
Theolan spoke with absolute sincerity, as if he were merely going to verify a few files tomorrow.
The corner of Elias's mouth twitched.
“Doesn't Bishop Sage find this humorous?”
“The Archdiocese said the oracle mentioned that this person is very unique.”
“As long as we get close, we should be able to identify them quickly.”
An oracle.
The Moon Lord.
A free transcendent.
When these words came together, Elias recalled the Full Moon Door he had seen when promoting to Scale Two.
And the hand behind the door that had almost grabbed him.
The chill of that moment seemed to creep back onto his spine, causing his shoulders to tense instinctively.
Could the person the Ascetic Society was looking for really be him?
No.
There were plenty of free transcendents in the world who believed in the Moon Lord.
It wasn't as if he had been personally named from the divine kingdom just because he had used moonlight to restore his spirituality a few extra times.
Elias suppressed the chill and let his smile become even more natural.
“Is that so?”
“Should I keep an eye out for you?”
“That would be for the best.”
Theolan paused, then added earnestly,
“However, it might also be you.”
Elias's smile nearly froze on his face.
How did this master of awkward silences suddenly learn to throw such straight pitches at a time like this?
“Me?”
He let out a low chuckle, as if he had just heard a funny joke.
“What is so unique about me?”
“Your spirituality is much vaster than other transcendents of the same Scale.”
Theolan looked at him and said,
“That in itself is very unique.”
The last trace of sleepiness in Elias's mind vanished completely.
Should he expect anything less from an ascetic?
He could actually see right through to the essence of Elias's Scale level.
The Spy's Derby Hat could change his face, but it couldn't make his spirituality shrink.
“Let's stick to business.”
He cut off the dangerous topic in a timely manner.
“I don't have much interest in the person you're looking for, but I'll keep an eye out.”
“Before moonrise tomorrow night, I hope you can find that old-style ritual boat.”
“The Dream-soothing Paper, Dream-Mourning Sealing Wax, and Moon-Returning Ritual all belong to the Ascetic Society.”
“As an outsider, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to stick my hands into your archives.”
“No problem.”
Theolan didn't press further.
He had only doubted for a fleeting moment.
In his perception, this Mr. Constantine had the spiritual texture of a Scale Two, yet his total volume was already close to Scale Three.
Such a situation was rare, but not to the extent of being “instantly recognizable.”
Moreover, the scruffy, thirty-something-year-old man standing before him didn't have any more distinct characteristics.
If the Archdiocese were truly looking for him, the oracle should have provided more specific clues.
Theolan simply put his doubts aside for the moment and looked back down at the 【Dream-soothing Paper】.
Elias, meanwhile, had already walked quickly out of the relief shelter.
He hailed a public carriage by the roadside and gave the street near the West Bank Third Supply Depot.
“In a hurry?”
“Very much so.”
“Are you paying extra?”
“Do you carriage drivers in Hastings Port all go through the same training program?”
Elias still fished out a coin.
“Make it fast, but don't send me to meet the gods prematurely.”
The driver took the money and snapped the reins.
“Then sit tight.”
The carriage surged into the streets that had not yet fully awakened.
Elias held onto the carriage frame the entire way, finally arriving at the warehouse before the minute hand completed its final rotation.
The warehouse was completely empty.
The heavy cargo crate was still sitting in its original spot, a sliver of pale silver moonlight leaking through the gap at the bottom.
He pushed the crate aside.
The shrunken 【Moon Gate】 was still there, though the light at its edges had grown very dim.
On the other end, Jack was sitting in the eye of the array on the reef, his hands pressed against the compass, his back as stiff as a wooden board.
“Sir,”
Jack visibly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing him.
“There's less than—”
“Stop giving me the fucking time.”
Elias held his hat in place and bent down to crawl through the ring.
After a brief sensation of weightlessness, the sea breeze slapped his face once more.
His boots stepped onto the reef, and the 【Moon Gate】 behind him shrank, eventually turning into a thin line of moonlight that vanished into the notch of the Waning Moon Key.
Only then did Jack let go of the compass, flexing his fingers, which had nearly lost all sensation.
The two packed up their materials and returned to the keeper's cottage, one after the other.
Elias closed the door and took off the Spy's Derby Hat.
The blonde hair and scruff quickly receded, revealing the pale face that belonged to Elias once more.
He didn't even bother to take off his trench coat, throwing himself straight onto the bed.
The wooden bed let out an overburdened groan.
Sinking into the old blanket that smelled of sea salt, Elias felt, for the first time, that the leaky wooden boards overhead, the blackened gaps in the corners of the wall, and this back-straining bed were all incredibly welcoming.
At least there weren't one hundred and thirty-six wounded patients here who didn't dare to sleep.
There was no missing dream anchor.
And there was no ascetic who suddenly suspected him of being the target of an oracle.
“For the first time,” he muttered with closed eyes, exhaling a long breath.
“I feel like this room isn't so bad after all.”
Jack put away the Waning Moon Key by the door and offered a serious reminder:
“Sir, before we set out next time, we'll need to replenish the Waning Moon Key's spirituality.”
The man on the bed opened his eyes.
“It's not any better at all!”
“This is exploitation!”
Rate on N.U.
