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Dylan stared at the photo.
For a long time, he didn't reach out to take it.
He saw what was in the picture, and in that moment, he understood that everything Bradley had said... might be true.
The photo showed Bradley standing beside his father, Lionel. Both were smiling. The background was his home.
Their clothes were casual.
This clearly wasn't the hostile relationship the public believed in.
From this alone, Dylan could tell that Bradley's words weren't fabricated.
Bradley and his father were both members of the Eye of Providence.
They were partners.
On the surface, one performed magic while the other debunked it. In reality, it was a cooperative arrangement-earning money from two directions at once.
That meant Dylan's target for revenge all these years was wrong.
Completely wrong.
And worse-he had nearly wronged his father's friend and personally sent him to prison.
That had been his original goal.
What made Dylan even more flustered was something else.
He had planned this entire operation by impersonating a member of the Eye of Providence.
And now, standing right in front of him...
Were two real members.
What was this?
Impersonating them to their faces?
Dylan had always believed the Eye of Providence existed only in books.
He'd read about it in the materials his father left behind, but he'd never found concrete proof of its existence.
That was why he'd gradually decided to use Daniel and the others to carry out his revenge.
But now-
Not only had he chosen the wrong target...
His impersonation had been exposed, face-to-face.
What was he supposed to do?
Dylan's mind was in total chaos.
"Sit down first," Morin said calmly. "Let's talk this through."
He wasn't in a hurry.
After all, he was doing a good deed.
"First, Mr. Dylan, you need to understand something," Morin continued.
"Bradley is not your enemy. On the contrary, he and your father were very close."
"Our idea back then," Bradley scratched his head, "was to use magic to make as much money as possible and exchange it for contribution points to gain more magic. But..."
He paused.
"Things never go the way you expect. Fate always hits hardest when you're least prepared."
"This..." Dylan tried to speak several times.
Not a single word came out.
"And then there's the matter of you impersonating a member of the Eye of Providence," Morin said, gently swirling the wine in his glass.
"You didn't expect to meet the real thing, did you?"
"Heh... heh..." Dylan laughed awkwardly.
"But we're not going to hold that against you," Morin said.
"After all, as Lionel's son-and with your talent-you should've received an invitation anyway."
Morin glanced at Bradley.
"...Yes," Bradley said after a long pause.
There wasn't actually such a rule.
But given the atmosphere, refusing now would've been difficult.
"Besides," Morin added, "even though Bradley wasn't the right target... probably."
"The others you chose were all correct. Arthur Tressler, for example. He's my target in this operation."
"So, if you're willing-"
Morin leaned back slightly.
"Bradley will report this situation to the Eye of Providence and bring you in as initiates. You'll take an evaluation mission, and then you can officially carry this out. How does that sound?"
Bradley turned to look at Morin.
Morin met his gaze.
Bradley: Kid, who gave you the authority to make promises for me?
Morin: Just say yes or no.
"..." Bradley turned to Dylan.
"That's how it'll be."
Morin chuckled.
It would've been stranger if Bradley didn't agree.
Though, thinking about it...
Bradley's partner had died, yet he'd never checked on his son and didn't even recognize him?
Morin shot Bradley a look.
What a jerk.
"...Why do you know so much?" Dylan finally asked, his thoughts clearing.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Morin sighed.
"I saw it. If you insist on saying I investigated, then sure. That's also true."
"I see," Dylan said, suddenly enlightened.
Morin was speechless.
Nobody believed the truth anymore.
Wait.
He wasn't exactly telling the full truth either.
"Alright," Morin waved a hand, clearly done.
"Let's get to business."
He wanted to wrap this up quickly.
Settle everything with Dylan and Daniel's group.
Then move on to the next stage.
"In short," Morin said, "you follow your original plan. I'll handle Arthur's financial side. No conflict."
"Follow the original plan?" Dylan looked at Bradley.
Under the original plan, Bradley was supposed to go to prison.
Bradley: "..."
"If you want, you can follow it exactly," Morin smiled.
"It's not me going to prison. And there's no guarantee you'd even succeed."
"No... I don't think so," Dylan said with a bitter smile.
"Then it's settled."
Morin reached toward Alma's ear and snapped his fingers.
She jolted awake.
"What happened?" Alma asked, startled.
"Nothing," Dylan said stiffly. "Nothing at all."
His thoughts were still tangled.
He'd believed himself the puppeteer.
Flawless acting. Perfect control.
Steal Arthur's money. Return it to the victims. Send Bradley to prison. Deliver that final line with satisfaction.
But now-
Reality had smashed him with a hammer.
Yet strangely, Dylan wasn't angry.
He was grateful.
Because if this hadn't happened, he might've made an irreversible mistake.
"Was I asleep just now?" Alma asked after thinking for a moment. She looked at Morin.
"Long flight fatigue," Morin nodded.
"Mental and physical exhaustion. How do you feel now?"
"I feel... great," Alma said, surprised by her own clarity.
"Of course," Morin raised an eyebrow.
"And while you were out, Bradley explained in detail how to debunk the Four Horsemen's tricks."
"So... you can go."
After Dylan and Alma left, Catrina walked over, staring at Morin curiously.
"What?" Morin asked.
"You didn't make a move?" Catrina looked him up and down.
"Did someone swap you out?"
"Of course not," Morin replied, packing his things.
"She's just... special. Better admired from a distance."
"Afraid she'll cling?" Catrina asked.
"No," Morin said.
"I'm worried that if I flirt with her, Agent Dylan's head will turn green."
If he remembered correctly, those two got together later.
"...Since when do you care about things like that?" Catrina stared, as if seeing him anew.
"Heh," Morin said, a deck of cards appearing in his hand as he shuffled them. He walked toward the door.
"I don't care if his head turns green."
"I'm worried it'll spread."
"...Spread?" Catrina tried to imagine it, then immediately stopped.
"It's a terrible thing," Morin said seriously.
...
Three days later.
After returning, Dylan followed Morin's advice.
He continued with the original plan.
Which meant doing nothing.
Daniel's group would carry out the operation. Dylan only needed to wait.
Any minor adjustments could be made later.
The Four Horsemen knew nothing.
They followed Dylan's instructions exactly.
On the plane, they used a simple game to extract Arthur's security questions-things like an uncle's name or a pet's name.
With Merritt's hypnotic skills, it was easy to lower Arthur's guard.
Everything progressed smoothly.
Just like the original plot.
During another performance, Daniel and the others revealed the truth to Arthur and staged an even more "unbelievable" show.
One hundred and forty million dollars.
Transferred to the audience.
Every recipient was a victim whose insurance money Arthur had swallowed.
In fact, the amount exceeded that.
As for how they managed to gather hundreds of bank accounts and complete massive transfers in minutes without triggering alerts-
All that could be said was this.
Their "friend" was extremely powerful.
As everyone knows, "I have a friend" usually leads to three possibilities.
Bragging.
Covering for yourself.
Or-
That friend really is terrifyingly capable.
Daniel's friend fell into the third category.
Powerful enough to bypass banking systems entirely.
And that was why the Four Horsemen were so popular.
You didn't just watch a magic show.
You got free money.
Was that appealing?
Of course it was.
Who wouldn't want a seat in that audience?