"Is it really appropriate for us to take on side jobs like this?"
Silas asked.
"Of course it's appropriate."
Leonard replied without looking up, his fingers clattering away at the typewriter as he drafted the contract terms.
"Our team's rule is that as long as there's no official work, we can take private jobs.
Half the money goes to the team's slush fund, and the other half is split evenly among those who worked.
Like that welcome dinner you had the other day, that was paid for from the team's fund."
He finished typing and looked up at Silas with a smile.
"See? Now you've got money to buy your sister a dress, right?"
I see, so we can make extra money this way.
Silas nodded thoughtfully. And it made sense, too.
A security company that didn't take jobs would actually be more conspicuous.
The contract was quickly drafted in duplicate.
Leonard removed the documents from the typewriter and leisurely returned to the front hall.
"Madam, here is our contract. We will investigate and track your husband, find the person he's having an affair with, and you'll need to pay us a fee of 10 pounds for this service."
"Dig up all the information on that tramp! I want to bring people and catch them in bed together!"
Mrs. Pond waved her arms with great momentum.
"I've written all your requirements into the contract." Leonard smiled and handed over the contract.
"Of course, regardless of success or failure, you'll need to pay a deposit of 3 pounds first."
"I know that."
Mrs. Pond paid the money, signed her name with a pen, and after Rosanne stamped it with the Blackthorn Security Company seal, the contract was complete.
"Then I'll await your good news!"
After seeing Mrs. Pond off, Leonard turned back to look at Silas. "Frye has to patrol the public cemetery this afternoon, so it'll just be the two of us working?"
"Sure, I can do that."
Silas replied. "But I haven't learned how to tail someone. Don't blame me if I get exposed."
At the same time, he calculated in his mind: 10 pounds in fees, minus the 5 pounds to be handed over, split between two people would be 2 and a half pounds each, which should be enough to buy a decent dress.
"How could we actually tail someone? It's exhausting, and it would interfere with our regular work." Leonard smiled.
"I was thinking, do you have a way to find out where her husband is having his affair? Using your ritual magic."
So that's why he came to me.
Silas thought for a moment and nodded. "Yes, but I might need something that belongs to her husband, something he keeps close to him."
"Then let's make a trip to her husband's company," Leonard said. "Tonight would be good.
There'll be fewer people, and I can use my abilities. We might discover something at his company."
The two agreed on a meeting time and place. With this little interlude concluded, they cleaned up their meal trays and began their afternoon work.
---
Meanwhile, in a certain space that did not exist in the real world.
Boundless gray fog flowed like water, filling everything in sight. Massive stone pillars rose high, supporting a magnificent dome.
The grand and imposing structure stood silent in the gray fog, as if eternally erected at the end of time.
Directly beneath the dome, where the gray fog was densest, sat a long bronze table.
High-backed chairs were arranged on both sides and at each end of the long table. On the backs of the chairs, brilliant and shimmering, deep crimson and subdued, various strange and mysterious patterns were outlined.
At this moment, figures occupied the seat at the head of the bronze table and the two chairs on either side.
Grayish-white mist likewise shrouded their bodies, allowing only vague glimpses of each other's builds and clothing colors.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."
Audrey Hall called out in a cheerful tone, bowing her head in greeting to that lofty and mysterious existence at the head of the table.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Hanged Man."
She then addressed the blue-haired man across from her.
"Good afternoon, Miss Justice."
The other two returned her greeting in kind.
Once the greetings concluded, The Fool (which is to say, Klein) maintained his inscrutable demeanor and lightly tapped his fingers on the edge of the long table.
The other two turned their gazes toward him simultaneously.
"I want to know information about the Aurora Order," Klein said flatly. "As payment, it can offset two pages of Roselle's diary."
Because of his colleague Silas, he had developed more interest in this sequence and the corresponding secret organization.
"Mr. Fool, may I ask what aspect of the Aurora Order you wish to inquire about?"
The Hanged Man, Alger, asked cautiously.
In his mind, he had already begun speculating about Mr. Fool's purpose for asking.
Was Mr. Fool, this suspected ancient deity from the past, gradually awakening and beginning to understand the current situation through him, Alger?
But why start with the Aurora Order? Could it be that Mr. Fool wanted to deduce the True Creator's current status through the Aurora Order?
Klein had no idea about the convoluted thoughts piling up in Alger's mind in that instant.
He also wasn't clear about what he wanted to know, so he simply answered calmly, "Whatever you know, just say it."
"Yes, Mr. Fool."
Alger suppressed the complicated thoughts in his mind and said respectfully, "The Aurora Order is a secret organization that appeared in the last one or two hundred years. They worship the True... the Fallen Creator, believing that everyone possesses divinity and can elevate themselves through trials to become angels."
Klein nodded slightly. This was consistent with what he'd learned from the Nighthawks' internal materials.
Seeing this, Alger continued his introduction.
"The Aurora Order has five Saints and twenty-two Divine Envoys.
These Divine Envoys use letters as code names, calling themselves Mr. A, Mr. X... They are at minimum Sequence 7 Beyonders, with the strongest at Sequence 5. All are quite skilled at concealing themselves... Whenever a Divine Envoy dies, a new Divine Envoy replaces them."
Klein hadn't heard about any of this before.
"But aside from that, most Aurora Order members are lower-sequence Beyonders, basically concentrated at the Secrets Suppliant and Listener stages."
Miss Justice, Audrey, listening with fascination on the side, couldn't help but interject. "Mr. Hanged Man, what kind of extraordinary abilities do they have?"
"Secrets Suppliants are basically harmless. They only understand some sacrificial knowledge and a small amount of ritual magic."
A "small amount" of ritual magic?
Klein recalled Silas's situation. He had once told Klein that he'd learned a large number of rituals from the potion.
Could it be that Silas's case was rather special?
Klein thought this to himself. Due to his surprise, his body unconsciously moved, the motion somewhat pronounced.
Sensing Mr. Fool's unusual reaction, the two who were conversing immediately stopped and looked at Klein together, as if waiting for him to say something.
Don't mind me, you can continue... Klein felt a bit awkward, not knowing what to say to deflect. In a moment of inspiration, he simply chuckled softly.
"I once encountered a Secrets Suppliant who, just after drinking the potion, immediately mastered a large amount of ritual magic."
He had intended to casually brush it off with that remark, but unexpectedly, Alger's body trembled, as if he'd thought of something.
"Mr. Fool, please forgive my imprecise description."
He bowed his head in apology, recalling a record from an ancient text in the Church of Storms.
He had originally thought it was just fabrication by the ancient book's author, but hadn't expected it to be true.
"As you said, there are indeed a very small number of Secrets Suppliants who, after consuming the potion, immediately master a large amount of fallen and evil ritual magic."
"In ancient records, they were called God's Favored!"
---
Power stones plz