Green Shade Town, outside the East Gate of King's College, Royal Saint Crown University, in the Tivian North Suburb.
In Green Shade Town during the morning, a cool breeze was blowing. The weather in Tivian had evidently turned cooler as autumn arrived. Leaves were falling from the trees lining the roads, and the ground was shrouded under a gloomy sky, revealing a hint of pressure and desolation.
Inside a well-decorated cafe in Green Shade Town, there were scattered groups of Crown University students gathered. Those who didn't have classes were sitting at various tables, either savoring coffee, burying themselves in revision, or enthusiastically discussing something with their classmates while looking at newspapers.
On the second floor of the cafe, in a private room by the window, Dorothy and Naifnis were sitting opposite each other. On the table between them lay a pile of paper, pens, and books, along with some envelopes and newspapers.
Inside the private room, Naifnis was buried in several books, studying hard. As she read, she would close her eyes and scratch her head. Across from her, Dorothy was sipping coffee while reading a letter.
"Ugh~" Looking at the books in front of her, Naifnis yawned widely, blinking her slightly sleepy eyes. After glancing around boredly for a moment, she peeked at Dorothy, who was sitting across from her with her legs crossed, reading a letter.
'Ah... I originally planned to finish the exams and play for a few days before slowly reading Miss Dorothea's secret transmission. I didn't expect to start today... And Miss Dorothea is even personally supervising.'
While peeking at Dorothy like a student sneaking a look at their teacher, Naifnis thought to herself. After coming out of Adele's concert last night, Naifnis exclaimed that it was amazing and enjoyable, and she eagerly began discussing the various performances with Dorothy.
However, during the concert last night, Dorothy's mind was mostly focused on investigating the case. Although her physical body was sitting next to her, she barely watched the performances. On the way back, to make Naifnis a little quieter, she directly told her to come and read in front of her this morning.
Just like that, Naifnis, who had originally planned to slack off for a few days before reading the secret transmission, had her slacking plan directly interrupted by Dorothy and was forced to study diligently in front of Dorothy.
Sitting in front of Naifnis, Dorothy was reading a letter. This letter was from none other than Grego, sent via Igwinte.
Dorothy looked at the letter in her hand. Most of the content claimed that he was doing well recently and asked how Dorothy was doing. Since leaving Igwinte, Grego would write such a letter to Dorothy every month, and Dorothy would also reply to report that she was safe.
This monthly letter was, on one hand, to confirm the status of her family member who was away, and on the other hand, it had a more practical reason, which was to send living expenses.
After finishing the letter in her hand, Dorothy picked up the envelope that had already been opened beside her and poured the more than ten small-denomination banknotes inside into her hand. Without needing to count, Dorothy could tell at a glance that there were a total of three pounds in cash. This was Grego's entire monthly living expense for Dorothy.
'Ah ah... Here it comes again, the monthly pocket money...'
Looking at the cash in the envelope, Dorothy, for a normal 13-year-old female student studying away from home, this three pounds was already a very generous living expense. However, for Dorothy, this amount was not enough to cover the rent for the small villa she rented for herself each month.
Because Grego was afraid that Dorothy might be targeted if she used large-denomination bills to exchange for smaller ones, he exchanged the money into many small-denomination banknotes and sent them to Dorothy in advance. Therefore, this small amount of money from Grego each month became Dorothy's pocket money supplement. Its significance was to make it convenient for Dorothy to make change a few times, and it was always somewhat useful.
In fact, with Grego's income, it would be perfectly reasonable for him to give Dorothy a little more living expenses each month. However, his idea was that Dorothy was still young and unsupervised in Tivian. Giving her too much living expenses might lead Dorothy to develop a bad habit of spending money carelessly. He deliberately gave her less to encourage Dorothy to develop the habit of frugality.
In Grego's opinion, children shouldn't handle "large sums of money."
And in fact, in Dorothy's eyes, all of Grego's savings might be considered small change.
'It's quite ironic, isn't it? Someone like me, who casually deals with hundreds or thousands of pounds, has a stable monthly income that is the three pounds of living expenses given by my brother? But it's fine... Better than nothing. With this little bit my brother sends every month, I can save myself the trouble of getting change.'
Dorothy thought to herself, then she turned her gaze back to the letter in her hand. Unlike the content of previous letters, this time Grego's letter revealed that he had started preparing to go to Tivian and was expected to set off soon. Next time, they could meet directly in Tivian instead of communicating by letter.
'Grego is coming already... It seems like his affairs over there are almost settled. I wonder if the meeting in the dream last time had any influence.'
Dorothy thought to herself. Meanwhile, Naifnis, across from her, was also curiously peeking at Dorothy who was reading the letter, guessing what the content of the letter in Dorothy's hand was.
'Is this... Miss Dorothea contacting other Rose Cross members? The letter is full of money. If such a small amount of money is specifically sent to Miss Dorothea, it doesn't seem like it's meant to be used. Does this money have some mystical significance? Or is it some kind of Extraordinary item in the form of banknotes?'
Naifnis thought to herself. And Dorothy, who seemed to have noticed Naifnis's gaze, also looked up at her and spoke.
"What are you looking at me for? Is there writing on my face?"
"Ah, no, it's just that I feel a bit tired from reading, so I'm just looking around elsewhere and resting for a bit." Hearing Dorothy's words, Naifnis quickly said evasively. Listening to her words, Dorothy took out her pocket watch and glanced at it, then nodded and replied.
"Hmm... It has been a while. Whether it's a secret transmission or not, reading for a long time is bad for your eyes. Let's rest for a bit."
"Phew... Thank you, Miss Dorothea."
Hearing Dorothy's words, Naifnis let out a long sigh of relief. After placing the secret transmission on the table, she leaned back directly onto the sofa behind her. After relaxing for a while, she started using the desserts and drinks that had been prepared on the table earlier. She also began flipping through the fashion magazines and newspapers that were already in the private room. Her whole being immediately relaxed from the tense state of studying, as if the teacher had really announced the end of class.
Seeing this scene, Dorothy couldn't help but think with a bit of embarrassment.
'This Neff... Completely has the mindset of a school student. Her initiative is a bit worrying... It makes me feel like I'm her teacher.'
Dorothy thought to herself. Facing the opportunity to become an Extraordinary, any normal person who has even a little contact with the secret world would be very active, even fanatical, and would put all their focus on this, studying without any distractions. But this Neff is very interesting. She treats this completely as a class, an optional university course where Dorothy is the teacher.
'Learning secret transmissions without Spirit Sight, and getting Spirituality after learning. How many people want to learn this kind of good thing but don't have the means? She, on the other hand, treats it as an ordinary university course.'
Looking at the scene in front of her, Dorothy complained in her heart. It was clear that Naifnis was purely learning secret knowledge and accumulating Spirituality with the mindset of a school student.
Naifnis was resting leisurely. While having dessert, she picked up today's newspaper and opened it. After flipping through it for a short while, she found the heavy news that was reported in large sections, and then her expression froze.
"Breaking! Major Accident at Adele. Brillez's Concert Last Night! Dancer Tragically Dies in Restroom! Suspect Points Directly at Scarlet Dance Star!"
"What? Someone died at the concert last night? When did this happen!?" Looking at the content of the newspaper, Naifnis said in disbelief with her mouth wide open. She didn't expect that someone had actually died during the exciting concert! And the person who died was someone involved in the performance!?
"Ah, it seems to be true. The person was killed in the restroom. Their information blockade is very strict."
Picking up a newspaper as well, Dorothy said calmly, while Naifnis continued to read the newspaper in her hand with an expression of disbelief.
"Killed in the restroom... Horrific way to die... Blood writing before death naming Miss Adele... Detective appears... Clears Miss Adele's name... A detective actually appeared at the scene? Unbelievable..."
Looking at the newspaper in her hand, Naifnis muttered in disbelief, while Dorothy on the other side looked at another newspaper in her hand. It also had various large-scale reports about the case that happened last night, with articles written from various angles and all sorts of colorful headlines.
"Case Solved Quickly! Mysterious Detective Ed Appears Again, Previously Solved the Train Attack Case!"
"Case Solved in One and a Half Hours! Chief Douglas Recalls Case-Solving Details."
"Dance Unhindered by Slander, Real Record of Miss Adele's Interview."
"Maria Dokana, A Rising Dance Star Who Fell Just as She Rose, Her Impressive Last Dance with Adele."
...
Dorothy looked at the stack of reports in front of her in the newspaper, thinking that these reporters had finally found a hot topic. Articles from various angles were already being written. These articles each had different focuses. Some were concerned with the process of the case, some were concerned with the impact of the case on Adele. Others focused on the deceased, Maria, emphasizing her superb dance with Adele before her death and lamenting the fall of a rising star.
Among all these articles, the mysterious Detective Ed was the character most heavily described. The story of a famous detective suddenly appearing and quickly solving the case was the most likely to pique the interest of readers and audiences. The interviews with other characters in the newspaper all mentioned Detective Ed and gave him high praise.
"Detective Ed, with his outstanding observational and reasoning abilities, assisted the police in solving this sudden case in a short period of time. According to Chief Douglas's recollection, Mr. Ed's performance during the case-solving process was satisfactory. Although there were some areas where he showed a slight lack of experience, this is not enough to overshadow his astonishing talent for solving cases. Chief Douglas claimed that Detective Ed showed significant growth in the case under his guidance...
"Miss Adele repeatedly expressed her gratitude to Detective Ed for clearing her name. She stated that this young detective's performance was impressive and gave her a lot of inspiration. Perhaps next time she will choreograph a new dance with a detective as the theme..."
Once again exposed to the media, this was the second time for Ed. Compared to the previous train incident where there was only a small section in the newspaper, this time the incident involved the big star Adele, so the newspapers and media were scrambling to write articles and report on it. For a time, the name Detective Ed was everywhere in the newspapers. Riding on Adele's fame, Detective Ed's popularity has also exploded by several levels.
'Heh... Now Ed has truly become a genuine famous detective, hasn't he? Famous Detective Ed... Interesting. The Wolf Blood Society will also put their main investigation focus on this, right...'
Looking at the report in the newspaper in her hand, Dorothy thought to herself. It was clear that the people from the Wolf Blood Society could directly see the truth of the incident, so they could immediately see the problem with this Detective Ed and know that this famous detective was most likely also an Extraordinary.
If there were no surprises, the Wolf Blood Society would then search for Detective Ed throughout the city. However, Ed had already been retrieved by Dorothy early on, so those guys would probably have a hard time finding anything.
'Unless those guys use divination, but in that case, those guys would also have to consider how thick their wallets are. The price of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) is not cheap now...'
Dorothy thought to herself. At this moment, Naifnis, who had finished reading several reports, spoke with some amazement.
"Famous Detective... Ed? He's really amazing. He was actually able to solve a murder case in such a short time and clear Miss Adele's name. Is this genius?" Looking at the report in the newspaper, Naifnis continued with a slight excitement.
"It's a shame there's no photo. I have no idea what this Detective Ed looks like. But since he appeared at the crime scene so quickly, he must have been one of the audience members watching the performance at the time, right? Miss Dorothea, do you think we saw this great detective last night?"
Turning her head, Naifnis asked Dorothy curiously, while Dorothy put down the newspaper in her hand and replied with a shrug.
"Who knows... Maybe we did, maybe we didn't." Dorothy replied casually, and Naifnis continued to ask curiously.
"Miss Dorothea, you don't seem to be very interested in this case. It happened right beside us, and this Detective Ed is so intelligent and capable, don't you think he's very charming?"
"What if it happened beside us? It didn't affect us anyway. Similarly, that detective is that detective, I am me. What does his achievements have to do with me?"
Dorothy said, then put down the newspaper in her hand and began to enjoy the desserts quite leisurely.