"Tina, stop standing in the corner. Go back to your seat."
"The threat is neutralized."
Tina calmly returned to her seat, as if nothing had happened.
[You have successfully resisted the spiritual attack of a Resentful Spirit Aggregation (Low-Tier) and participated in its elimination. Evaluation: An assist with your eyes is still an assist. Reward: Survival Points +2.]
'An assist with my eyes?'
'Me?'
Wei'en looked at the notification, feeling the panel's mockery...
BANG!
At that moment, the office door crashed down.
A tall figure walked in. "Little Lisi, what the hell are you guys up to?"
"Minister Yegor," Lisi placed a fist on her chest and bowed slightly. "We had a small accident."
Marco's expression changed slightly, and he also bowed. "Minister."
Wei'en copied them, not at all surprised by Yegor's arrival.
With all the commotion, it was lucky they hadn't drawn the attention of the entire Logistics Department.
The newcomer was none other than the Minister of the Investigation Department, Yegor Paine. "An accident? Your division has had quite a few accidents lately."
"I'm sorry, Minister."
"Lisi, you know that's not what I want to hear."
Lisi lowered her head, as if trying to bury her face in her cleavage. "I'm sorry."
Yegor glanced at the cracks on the floor, then at the parchment in Lisi's hand, and said coldly, "The repair costs will be deducted from your division's budget."
"Yes, Minister."
Then Yegor swept his gaze around the room, his eyes finally landing on Wei'en. "Also, regarding the matter with Roger, I don't want to see a repeat."
'Huh?'
Wei'en pretended not to understand and looked at him, thinking to himself: 'The matter with Roger? Is he warning me not to get contaminated?'
"...I know what to do."
"You'd better."
Yegor blew a smoke ring, his lazy demeanor returning. He turned slowly. "Well then, I'm off."
After he left, Lisi stood up straight, let out a long breath, and said through gritted teeth, "Marco, next time, the repair costs are coming directly out of your salary!"
"No, it won't happen again, I promise."
Marco, who had been hiding behind her, looked at her with relief. "Thank goodness the Minister didn't lose his temper this time... or I would've been toast."
"As long as you know."
Lisi looked at the office floor and the door that had been kicked down, then gritted her teeth. "That bastard Yegor. He was the one who broke the door."
"Shh,"
Marco motioned for her to lower her voice, then peeked his head out before quickly pulling it back. "Leave this to me. I'll fix it."
With that, he nimbly picked up the door, propped it against the doorway, and pulled a toolbox from a cabinet in the back to get to work.
Lisi, however, ignored him and returned to her seat with the parchment.
Wei'en looked around, then went to help Marco fix the door. "Marco," he asked, "you guys seem really scared of the Minister?"
"Scared? Of course, we're scared."
Marco gestured for him to hold the door steady. "Normally, Yegor is easygoing. But once he gets angry, he becomes terrifying."
"Does he hit people?"
"Hit?" Marco said in a low voice, hammering a nail. "You've heard about what happened with Roger, right?"
"The captain just told me this morning."
"After that incident came to light, the Minister broke every single bone in Roger's body."
'His entire body? Every bone?'
Wei'en sucked in a sharp breath. "Every single one?"
"Every single one!"
Marco said, his voice full of lingering fear, "The scariest part is that the Minister even used Magic Potion No. 4 on him. The scene, the feeling... it was just so damn cruel!"
Wei'en thought of the scene and nodded in agreement. Breaking bones was indeed cruel.
But he had to ask, "What's Magic Potion No. 4?"
"Lisi hasn't taught you this yet?"
"No."
Marco glanced at Lisi and, seeing her attention was focused on the parchment, explained in a low voice, "Among the standard-issue gear from the Property Management Department, besides the flintlock, the most important items are those few bottles of Magic Potion."
"There are seven bottles in total. Our Investigation Department has sorted them by function, numbering them Magic Potions 1 through 7."
'So they're just internal codes. And here I thought someone actually came up with names for the Magic Potions.'
"Among them, Magic Potion No. 1 is called Spirit Summoning Potion. It's the one we use most often on missions."
'There's a Spirit Summoning Potion in the box?'
Wei'en's eyes instantly lit up. That was a Magic Potion worth 3 gold pounds.
"Magic Potion No. 2 is a truth serum, mainly used for interrogations."
"Magic Potion No. 3 has a more special function. It's used for reconnaissance and tracking. When used, it creates a controllable shadow clone."
"Magic Potion No. 4 is the one I just mentioned Yegor used on Roger. It's a healing potion for treating wounds."
'Holy shit, that brutal?'
'It's actually a healing potion!'
'No wonder Marco just said Yegor's methods were cruel... He was breaking Roger's bones while healing his injuries at the same time...'
'Tsk tsk, who would have thought that beneath Yegor's lazy exterior hid such a sadistic side.'
At this point, Marco paused. He shook the door, as if checking if it was installed securely.
"Just to be safe, two more nails. Where was I?"
Wei'en handed him two nails and said, "You haven't told me about Magic Potions 5, 6, and 7 yet."
"Oh, right. The last three are special-purpose Magic Potions that can be used with the flintlock."
Marco took the nails and continued, "Magic Potion No. 5 is for dealing with out-of-control Extraordinaries, No. 6 is specifically for taking care of Blood Beasts, and No. 7 is the one I just used, mainly for handling Vengeful Spirits."
'Out-of-control Extraordinaries, Blood Beasts, and Vengeful Spirits?'
Wei'en thought pensively: 'Does this mean they're relatively common, which is why the Secret Investigation Department provides specialized Magic Potions for them?'
"But I noticed you didn't let your guard down after dealing with the Vengeful Spirit?"
"That's something you have to be especially careful about—a regular Vengeful Spirit isn't scary. What's scary is one that's been 'doctored'!"
"'Doctored'?"
Lisi had mentioned that word just before the fight.
"Simply put, it means modifying a Vengeful Spirit. For example, branding it with runes, or injecting it with some kind of bizarre power, and so on."
"So that's what 'doctored' means."
Wei'en thought about the Vengeful Spirit he had just seen. Its appearance was already terrifying enough; how else could it be modified?
'Are they going to install a few more mouths on it?'
"Do people really do things like that?"
"Of course. A lot of people, in fact."
Marco patted the door. "In this city-state, there are always people with malicious intent. Some are at the end of their lives, some are enticed by strange and mysterious beings, and others are just lunatics who enjoy slaughter and disaster..."
"Once you've been with the Secret Investigation Department for a while, you'll understand just how crazy they are."
With that, before Wei'en could respond, he gestured to Lisi. "Lisi, the door's fixed."
"Marco, you've finally made yourself useful."
"The new guy's here, cut me some slack..."
Lisi ignored him, put down the parchment, and clapped her hands. "Everyone take a seat. Let's start with the disappearance case in the slums."
"Oh."
Marco shrugged helplessly.