The members of the Mysticism Research Society had initially assumed Lelouch was at least a Sequence 6, or at the very least a Sequence 7.
A place like that fighting arena should have had a Sequence 6 guarding it, not to mention its location right on King's Avenue. Escaping after setting a fire without remarkable abilities or a mystical item would have been entirely impossible.
Yet none of them had imagined he was only a Sequence 8!
Several members who were also Sequence 8 felt completely incapable of such a feat, even beginning to doubt the accuracy of Hound's intelligence.
Seeing the expressions of those around him, Hound knew what they were thinking. To be honest, he had been just as skeptical when he first heard the news.
Only after learning the specific details did he understand that the Beyonder fighting arena had both procedural and spatial vulnerabilities.
First, the venue was far too large for one or two Sequence 6s to guard adequately. Moreover, the royal family and high nobility could hardly dispatch troops or station formal Beyonder forces at an entertainment venue like a fighting arena, so the arena's Beyonder guards were far from sufficient.
On top of that, the Sequence 6 had remained at a command post, realizing Bishop had been killed only more than half a minute after the fact.
Later, Lelouch started the fire, plunging the nobles into chaos and practically stripping the guards of their organizational capacity, which prevented the Sequence 6 from locating his position.
Order was only restored once the Mandated Punishers arrived.
It was fair to say that the Beyonder guards' response had been far from satisfactory.
As for the reason, it was simple enough... nothing of the sort had ever occurred since the arena was built. Even if the guards had contingency plans for such incidents, they had long since fallen into disuse due to a lack of proper drills.
Lelouch must have researched this extensively to exploit those loopholes and carry out the assassination.
Hound held great respect for the assassin, yet his duty was to capture him.
"The intelligence that Lelouch is a Sequence 8 is indisputably accurate." He explained, "He is adept at using a spear-shaped Beyonder weapon and can craft a special kind of incendiary grenade. This caught the arena guards off guard, allowing him to escape."
Of course, he would not go into excessive detail about how the man pulled off the assassination.
Furthermore, based on eyewitness accounts, Lelouch had likely fled using a mystical item with Traveling abilities. Hound had no intention of disclosing this to everyone just yet, as it would make catching the other nearly impossible, and hardly anyone would be willing to accept such a commission.
At this moment, the plump Elephant chuckled, "This reminds me of a proverb Emperor Roselle once said: 'Searching for the horse while riding it...' Being able to craft Beyonder weapons is a vital lead in itself, isn't it? Since when did official Beyonders become as foolish as those politicians? How about hiring me as your consultant... No, even a swine would have thought of this."
Smiles spread across the room. After all, official Beyonders were in the minority here, and wild Beyonders alongside secret organization members always relished watching such spectacles.
Hound replied coldly, "We won't trouble you. I'm afraid your appetite would eat us out of house and home."
Before Elephant could speak, Hound continued, "A Sequence 8 cannot possibly manufacture Beyonder weapons. We investigated the source of those weapons, but no Beyonder weapons of similar appearance have ever surfaced in Backlund. We have tentatively concluded that these weapons were not produced in Backlund."
At this, Odis actually felt thankful for the sharp-tongued fat Apothecary, as it let him learn one of the official Beyonders' lines of inquiry.
This was precisely why he had been so cautious when selling Beyonder weapons. After an incident like this, the official Beyonders would not immediately turn their suspicions toward him.
Otherwise, merely selling Beyonder weapons wouldn't have earned him any less than the Rosewood Pavilion.
Of course, the 'Leader' had also used some rather powerful Beyonder weapons. If questioned, he could simply claim they were obtained from the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery...
A brief silence fell over the room. After a few seconds, Byron, known as Lion, spoke up: "Gentlemen, I won't be accepting this commission. Those nobles never treated us as human beings in the first place. Besides, the vile deeds that noble committed were more than enough to earn him a death sentence."
Hound glared at him sternly said, "I have strong suspicions that you share a connection with Lelouch."
'You actually hit the nail on the head there...' Odis remarked inwardly.
"Feel free to investigate me. Follow me, even." Byron chuckled, "Wasting your manpower might just help Lelouch get away clean."
Elephant chuckled, "Chances are Lelouch has long since vanished without a trace. Why would he need your help to escape danger? Besides, even if you took the commission, you wouldn't be able to find him anyway."
Faced with Elephant's sarcasm, Byron showed no trace of anger and shrugged, "You make a fair point."
Seeing that Lion didn't argue back, Elephant found himself losing interest.
After that, no one else voiced any opinions on the commission, so the gathering moved on to other requests and transactions.
One of the commissions caught Odis's attention. It was posted by the member Wild Wolf, recruiting two people for a tailing job. The requirements were sharp observation skills and the ability to sketch portraits.
When a member asked where the job would take place, Wild Wolf replied that it was on Phelps Street.
The Church of the Evernight Goddess's Saint Samuel Cathedral was located on that very street. It was not only the Church of the Evernight Goddess's largest cathedral in Backlund, but also its most important cathedral aside from the one in the Amantha Mountain Range.
For starters, ordinary Beyonder criminals hardly dared hide on that street. After all, the headquarters of the Nighthawks for the Backlund diocese was established right there, with numerous Nighthawks agents coming and going every day. At any given day, they would recognize a Beyonder criminal hiding around there.
'So who is Wild Wolf keeping tabs on? Some resident living on that street? Would an ordinary person require such professional surveillance?' Odis keenly sensed that this commission was highly unusual, so he spoke up: "Wild Wolf, I'd like to initiate a transaction with you."
Wild Wolf immediately adopted a respectful attitude, "Please, go ahead."
"Who are you planning to tail and investigate?" Odis paused, then added, "Name your price."
According to the rules, Wild Wolf, as the client posting the commission, didn't have to disclose the details publicly, but the reward for his commission had to match the effort required, or no one would ever take his jobs again.
"No need to name a price," Wild Wolf said helplessly, "I don't know who the specific target is either. This is a very lucrative job I took on. Even though the details are quite bizarre, the employer pays promptly and generously, so I didn't ask too many questions."
He paused for a moment, then added, "Yesterday, the employer told me to hire two more people to complete the task together, which is why I posted the commission at the gathering."
Odis frowned. This drew his attention to the matter even further.
"Then let's trade for the details of your commission." He said.
"Alright." Wild Wolfnodded, "10 pounds!"
Seeing Leader pay so much attention to the matter, everyone else began tuning in to their conversation as well.
However, the subsequent transaction was not made public. Clearly, Wild Wolf's employer had demanded confidentiality regarding the specific task.
Odis took out 10 pounds in cash and handed it to the attendant. As the attendant delivered the cash to Wild Wolf, he also handed him a writing board.
The other wrote swiftly on the paper attached to the board. Roughly three minutes later, what he had written was delivered by the attendant to Odis.
Odis looked at the somewhat messy handwriting. The commission consisted of three specific tasks...
First, observe pedestrians on the street carrying holsters, and draw portraits of any who appeared there frequently.
Second, observe pedestrians whose pupils looked exceptionally deep and dark, drawing portraits of any who frequently appeared on the street.
Third, observe if there were any pedestrians with particularly pale complexions, and if such individuals also carried holsters, draw their portraits.
Upon reading the details of the commission, Odis immediately reached a conclusion: 'Someone is investigating the Nighthawks agents!'
Carrying a firearm in Backlund required a gun license, so pedestrians equipped with holsters were few and far between. More crucially, the majority of people on that street were heading to church for prayer and generally did not carry guns.
Those equipped with holsters were very likely low-Sequence members of the Nighthawks.
As for the deep, dark pupils... that was a physical alteration that occurred to Beyonders who consumed potions of the Darkness Pathway.
And someone with an exceptionally pale complexion who also carried a gun was very likely a Low-Sequence Beyonder of the Corpse Collector Pathway.
Without sufficient occult knowledge or experience, one truly wouldn't understand who the specific targets of their observation actually were.
Wild Beyonders like Wild Wolf, in particular, had no idea they were actually surveilling the Nighthawks. Even if he were discovered and captured by the Nighthawks, the commissioner wouldn't expose themselves.
Nevertheless, Odis said to Wild Wolf, "I would like to trade with you for information regarding the commissioner."
The Leader's follow-up inquiry made Wild Wolf realize that the commission he had accepted was likely far from ordinary.
He smiled wryly and said, "The other party wore a veil the entire time, so I couldn't make out their face. Moreover, their voice was clearly disguised. I'm afraid I won't be able to provide you with any useful clues."
'Just as I thought,' Odis noted inwardly. Then said, "Give me a sketch of them, as well as a description of your impressions."
"No problem," Wild Wolf said, "In exchange, please tell me whether this commission carries significant risk, or what I need to watch out for."
"Deal." Odis replied.
A few minutes later, having received the sketch of the veiled face along with the accompanying descriptions, he finally said to Wild Wolf, "Based on my judgment, if a wild Beyonder undertakes this task, the risk will be immense."
Observing there for a day or two might not draw the Nighthawks' attention, but prolonged observation would inevitably arouse their suspicion.
And the typical fate of a wild Beyonder caught by official Beyonders was most likely being arrested and used to test the powers or negative effects of Sealed Artifacts.
Hearing Leader's words, Wild Wolf decided not to proceed with the commission today. The other members who had originally been interested in it also fell silent one after another.
At this moment, Giraffe spoke up: "Leader, I've acquired two more pages of Emperor Roselle's notebook. They're guaranteed to be genuine."