1-20

After signing the contract with the assassin, Dennisen's only option was to wait. The contract stipulated that the assassin must meet with the informant regularly, a task entirely handled by Panthonia.

Two weeks passed. According to the informant's reports, the assassin had safely returned to the Queen's District but had yet to commence specific actions.

For this matter, Dennisen once again postponed his wedding by a month, showing his impatience far more than Panthonia, who devised the plan.

"Everything is proceeding according to plan," Panthonia reassured Dennisen's inquiries. "There's no need to rush."

"Can't help it, buddy. Keeping calm isn't my strong suit."

Another matter troubling Dennisen was that his partner seemed to have changed recently. Panthonia no longer arrived at the Security Bureau as early as before. He became more concerned about his own safety and seemed to dislike getting blood or other stains on his clothes. He no longer appeared as ruthless when interrogating female suspects. Dennisen, who never liked some of his partner's overly aggressive methods, found himself struggling to adapt to the change. As usual, he shared this with his fiancée. Having already gotten upset about the wedding delay several times, he dared not refuse her request to share his work troubles.

"He's become gentler and cleaner than before?" she said.

"That's not exactly what I said," Dennisen replied.

"That's the gist of it. So... he's probably got some special woman."

"How could that be?"

"Why not?"

"I'm with him every day, I should know him well," Dennisen's voice trailed off with less confidence in the latter half of his sentence. "Anyway, it's not..."

"It's definitely the case." She stretched lazily. "I'd love to meet her, whoever could make him..."

Dennisen didn't want to continue the topic, so he pretended to fall asleep again. He had his own speculations about Panthonia's changes, though he didn't intend to bring them up in an argument with his fiancée. Talking to Panthonia about these speculations would be a sensitive matter. But Dennisen eventually decided to do it. The next day, during a break at work, he asked Panthonia:

"Hey, I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"About... let's start with the poisoned banquet incident. That day, you were in charge of security inside the mansion, while I handled the outside. I never got a chance to go in..."

"It was arranged by higher-ups."

"I know, I know. But that day, Duke Koen was there too, right?"

"He was safe. Nothing happened to him."

"I know that too. But later, when you were injured and lying in the hospital, he came to see you..."

"Don't beat around the bush. Get to the point."

"Basically..." Dennisen took some time to choose his words. "Do you and Koen have any plans?"

"I helped him with his son's matter. But apart from that, we did discuss other things. You're still not being direct, Dennisen."

"Okay. I've heard that Koen might propose the establishment of a separate intelligence organization from the Security Bureau in Parliament. Is your business related to this?"

"Yes," Panthonia looked at Dennisen and said, "He did ask for my opinion on this matter."

"You mean... it was Koen's idea, and he just wanted your input?"

"I don't know who initially proposed it, and I doubt he would tell me. He believes I have more experience in this area, so he sought my conversation."

Dennisen found it hard to judge the truth of this statement. It was difficult to imagine Koen, as a public figure, would conceive the idea of establishing an intelligence organization first. And his partner, regardless, was only an investigator, who shouldn't have the courage or opportunity to propose such a suggestion to the Duke.

...No, let me think again. Courage, he probably has.

"What are your thoughts?" Panthonia said.

"It's hard to say... because I don't know what aspects you discussed."

"I could tell you, but it wouldn't matter. You've always detested and been unwilling to understand various intelligence-gathering methods."

"That's a bit harsh. Detested is definitely not the word. I just don't particularly like... certain... well, you know my stance all along. I feel if the intelligence source is dangerous or illegitimate, it's mostly unreliable."

"Then define legitimate sources for me. Do you think all my informants belong to the illegitimate category?"

"Drunkards, beggars, black marketeers... Panthonia, you know as well as I do, we never trust such people during interrogations. How can we rely on them for crucial information?"

"Everything has its price. As suspects, they are naturally untrustworthy for self-preservation. But with the right price, they can show a trustworthy side—or we make them do so."

"So, your and Duke Koen's proposal is to reutilize these people? What will this so-called independent intelligence organization become?"

"Don't be self-righteous. You don't know what we've discussed."

That statement made Dennisen a little heated. "You're the one being self-righteous. The Security Bureau's rule is to ensure the safety of all Stormwind residents with dignity and efficiency. Don't you realize your methods have made us subject to so much suspicion?"

"You still haven't answered my earlier question... Define legitimate sources. For you, probably only the words of wealthy merchants and nobles count as legitimate sources. You always emphasize safeguarding the safety of all Stormwind residents, but it's obvious you look down on those from lower classes compared to you."

"That's not true. My fiancée is born in the Queen's District."

"That's only because you've brought her out of her past life. If she were one of the drunkards, beggars, or black marketeers you mentioned..."

"Stop it. I don't want to discuss her with you."

"Fine. I'm not interested anyway."

Dennisen hadn't thought about arguing with Panthonia over this matter—strictly speaking, it was only him feeling embarrassed and angry unilaterally. Before this conversation, he wasn't so sensitive to the rumors of establishing an intelligence organization; but after this, he began to inquire about related information. He eventually learned from a banquet attendee that the matter was true, and Koen intended to recommend Panthonia as the first leader of the organization.

Upon confirming this, Dennisen felt a sense of relief, even hoping for it to happen soon, because it meant he would no longer have to work with Panthonia, and the Security Bureau could be freed from those dirty methods. But not long after, he found himself unable to accept this idea at all. He knew his partner's capabilities; an organization completely obedient to Panthonia could magnify those capabilities a hundredfold. In Dennisen's worst imagination, the entire Stormwind would soon be filled with spies; deception and plotting would quickly spread from the Queen's District to the Inner City. He even woke up from nightmares because of this.

He resisted the urge to tell his fiancée about this potentially unpredictable situation. However, his bed partner seemed increasingly obsessed with her own hypothesis.

"Can you do me a favor?" she said to him.

"What?"

"Tomorrow morning, wake up earlier and wait near his house to see if any woman sees him off."

"Why would I do something like that?"

"Because you certainly wouldn't want to ask him directly..."

"Whether or not he has a new woman has nothing to do with me. And this is too embarrassing."

"But I'm really interested. Just promise me this once, and I won't bother him again, okay?"

Ultimately, this promise had an effect on Dennisen, even though he didn't believe his fiancée would actually fulfill it. The guilt of postponing the wedding several times allowed him to endure such a request—besides, the more he thought about it, the less significant it seemed. After all, it was for her.

So one morning, he woke up an hour earlier than usual—his half-asleep fiancée encouraging him with a smile—he arrived near Panthonia's residence. At this point, he realized how unreasonable and dangerous the request he had agreed to was: monitoring his own partner.

Ten minutes later, Panthonia's door opened. Dennisen saw his partner come out first, followed by a woman. The woman reached out to straighten his collar, and he tilted his chin up slightly.

This momentary discovery almost completely dispelled Dennisen's inner discomfort because it confirmed his fiancée's guess was correct. He had intended to take a quick look and leave, but he changed his mind—his fiancée's interest became his own. He followed the two, trying to keep his distance.

After about ten minutes of walking together, Panthonia and Hilsbeth parted ways. Dennisen followed Hilsbeth for a sufficient distance before catching up with her.

"Hello," he said, "My name is Dennisen, and I'm Panthonia's colleague at the Security Bureau."

Hilsbeth hesitated for a moment before responding. "Um... hello."

"Actually... I just saw you two. I rarely take this route. I almost wanted to come up and say hello, but I thought better of it. I guess Panthonia wouldn't be pleased."

"Probably."

"Are you two lovers? If you find my question too direct, I apologize. I'm really curious."

"Yes." She nodded and repeated, "Yes."

"I see. Maybe I'm too curious. I didn't embarrass you, did I?"

"It's okay. You work with him, haven't you heard about me from him?"

"Panthonia is a man of few words. I guess you know more about him than I do."

"Hmm."

"May I know your name?"

"Hilsbeth."

"Hilsbeth... So you're the singer known as Red Egret?"

"...Yes."

Seeing the other person becoming alert, Dennisen could only resort to a strategy of further honesty.

"I heard about you from Panthonia. He mentioned some trouble you had with the Duke of Koen's son... but I hadn't thought..."

"Sorry, I have to go."

"Please wait. I have something else to ask you."

Initially, Dennisen's purpose in asking these questions was simply to gain a little understanding of the woman in front of him, so he could report back to his fiancée when he got home. But he remembered something else—another possibility his fiancée had once warned him about.

"You have a friend named Aretta, right? Please wait, I'll finish soon. I know about her case too. I'm sorry for what happened to her."

"That's all in the past."

"So... did Panthonia... was he emotionally affected by her death? Because I heard they used to be on good terms..."

"No. I really have nothing else to say. Please let me go."

"Sorry, could you promise me one more thing? Don't tell Panthonia about meeting me. Actually, many people in the bureau are concerned about him, so I just asked without thinking... but I don't want him to get angry. Can you promise me?"

"Okay."

With a response that was almost too brief to convey the meaning of the word, Hilsbeth left.

To Dennisen's ears, she hadn't denied that Panthonia knew Aretta. He remembered how he had argued with his fiancée, insisting that Panthonia had nothing to do with Aretta and couldn't possibly be connected to her suicide, as his fiancée had only speculated without any evidence.

Perhaps she was right again.

He recalled how he had initially investigated the singer named Red Egret, yielding no results. Panthonia had quickly resolved the matter. He couldn't help but wonder how much his partner might still be hiding from him.

After pondering in place for a while, Dennisen headed towards the Security Bureau.