Preparation

"All invited, of course." Ebner didn't think much of it. After giving Mrs. Skade another word of advice, he headed straight for the study in the mansion.

This study wasn't very big. There was only a row of bookshelves in front of the west wall. The rest of the layout was more like a living room.

When they arrived in front of the bookshelf, they were greeted with books like "Aristocrat heraldry", "History of the Intis Kingdom", "History of the Loen Kingdom's Aristocrats", and other books that Ebner had specially gotten Scard and his wife to purchase. These were the types that Xio preferred.

These books weren't cheap, and the bookshelf was filled with astonishing prices… Thankfully, the Church of Earth Mother had reimbursed them.

While he was thinking, Ebner tidied up the order of the books and placed the "Feast of Blood" that he had brought and tampered within a position that he could easily obtain.

After doing all this, he thought for a moment and decided to use the Solomon Gold Coin again at the banquet tomorrow night. Firstly, it would allow him to be a little luckier with his arrangements, and secondly, it could ensure that nothing unexpected happened during the banquet.

…

In the garden of 16 Williams Street, the bloody scene that Ebner had seen yesterday had been cleaned up. Even the lion-like beast that had been hollowed out was stored in a large box.

A handsome man in a neat suit was standing in the bedroom on the second floor of the villa. He was in his forties, mature and elegant.

He swept his golden eyes across the room and locked onto an empty cabinet.

At this moment, a man wearing a golden mask knocked on the door. After obtaining permission, he walked into the bedroom and reported to the English soldier in a standard posture,

"Your Excellency, this villa has been cleaned up. We have pieced together the complete remains of two women and a monster corpse that was transformed by a werewolf.

"This matches the information reported by one of our secret agents. From the looks of it, this might be a stronghold of the Rose School of Thought."

The handsome man in a well-ironed suit did not comment on this. After some thought, he asked, "Have you investigated the owner of this property?"

"Yes, Your Excellency. The owner of the house is called Quinn Seid. He's a tobacco merchant who returned from the Southern Continent and owns many tobacco plantations overseas.

"No one knows his exact experiences overseas. I only heard that his means aren't very clean… In addition, in order to compete for a business deal, he had previously deliberately instigated Tingen's desperado, Barkus, to kidnap the youngest son of a local tobacco merchant, Vickroy… This matter was ultimately resolved by Tingen's local Nighthawks team.

"And because Quinn's people only deliberately revealed some information about the tobacco merchant to Bacchus and didn't actually participate, and with a big name lawyer defending him, the matter was left unsettled. The police department didn't pursue it further."

When the handsome man heard this, he sneered and said, "How many merchants who earn big money overseas are clean? Especially when they do tobacco business… Do you have any other information about this person?"

The golden-masked MI9 member hesitated for a moment when he heard that, but he still answered, "According to the information gathered by our intelligence department, there are rumors that Mr. Quinn Said is actually working for the Sauron family, or he might even be a branch of the Sauron family… It's just that there's no concrete evidence."

"Intis' Sauron family?" the handsome man asked in surprise.

"Yes, Your Excellency. It's said that someone witnessed Quinn's appearance when he first went overseas. Back then, he didn't have black hair, but red hair," the masked MI9 man replied.

"Why would the Sauron family disguise themselves to settle down in Backlund… They even seem to have a connection with the Rose School of Thought…" The handsome man pondered for a moment before asking again, "Do you have anything else to add?"

"Yes, Your Excellency. This property was originally owned by Lieutenant Berner, who was transformed into a monster by Demoness of Afflictions Ray… We suspect that Quinn had another motive for buying this place," the man wearing a golden mask reported.

"A merchant from the Southern Continent… Could he be a believer of the Primordial Moon?" The handsome man muttered to himself before instructing, "Find out Quinn's whereabouts immediately. If necessary, inform the Nighthawks of this matter and borrow their manpower."

The MI9 member first responded before asking with uncertainty, "Don't we need to inform the Mandated Punishers? They have been searching for news of the Rose School of Thought recently."

"This is West Borough. Beyonder matters are under the jurisdiction of the Nighthawks, right? Besides, the Mandated Punishers don't have enough manpower to help us," the handsome man said with a chuckle.

After the golden-masked MI9 retreated, he cast his gaze at the cabinet he had previously noticed and muttered silently,

"Could it be 1-025?"

…

After leaving the villa in Cherwood Borough, Ebner took a public carriage to Saint Samuel Cathedral in the North Borough.

After all, dinner yesterday hadn't been reimbursed… In addition, he had to personally hand over the invitation to Madam Daly since there wasn't a specific address.

Sitting in the public carriage heading to North Borough's Phelps Street, Ebner leisurely looked at the Daily Observer he had bought before boarding the carriage. On the front page, he read:

"A kind lady was brutally murdered! After investigation, it turned out to be a serial case. It's known to be the sixth case!"

Here is a detailed description of the life of the murdered Lady Harja, from her miserable childhood to her struggle to finally own a small restaurant of her own, to the elevation of her class. This comparison reflects the wickedness of the murderer who cruelly robbed her of her new life.

Ebner didn't think much of it. From the police dossiers he had previously read, he knew that countless people mysteriously disappeared or even died in Backlund every day… In comparison, the number of casualties caused by the Devil dog was limited.

The reason why it was so highly regarded was because its methods were too cruel, and it did not avoid ordinary people, so the impact it caused was rather bad.

East Borough, the factory district, and the dock area were filled with legitimate "Devils" that ate humans. They were not lacking a Devil dog…

However, Ebner wasn't the original protagonist. He didn't have much feelings for the plight of ordinary people in this era. He might feel pity and lament over Klein's plight, but he didn't have Klein's "great love" or his determination as a Guardian. After all, he was only concerned about himself and his friends and elders…

As for the others? Unless they were the original characters that he liked, he would only take care of them if he had the ability to. He would not take the initiative to do anything.

After reading the newspaper several times, the public carriage finally stopped at Phelps Street.

There was a pure black cathedral with bell towers on both sides. It had a symmetrical beauty. It was none other than the Church of Evernight's Backlund diocese headquarters, Saint Samuel Cathedral.

Ebner stepped close to the church. Even without entering the prayer hall of the church, he still felt a sense of peace.

He wanted to ask Madam Daly about her location through the priest, but he was lucky. Before he entered, he saw Madam Daly's assistant—Miss Chelly walking out of a nearby building with a lunchbox.

Ebner hurriedly chased after him. After exchanging greetings, he stated his intentions.

After hearing his request, Chelly thought for a moment and nodded. "Follow me. I happen to be delivering lunch to Madam Daly."

Then, Ebner followed Chelly around the Saint Samuel Cathedral and came to a narrow street. Finally, they stopped at the entrance of a security company named Black River.

The girl at the front desk was obviously surprised by Chelly's action of bringing someone back. After whispering to Chelly, she looked at Ebner in surprise.

Ebner pretended not to hear the gossip between the two ladies and sat for a moment in the reception room of the company. Then he saw Ms. Daly, her face smeared with blue eye shadow and blush.

Before Ebner could take the initiative to greet her, Madam Daly teased with a faint smile,

"I'm sorry that I didn't see the headlines of today's newspaper headlines such as 'Eating a luxurious meal without paying the bill, the Hero Detective maliciously flees'."

Ma'am, so you're also aware that you tricked me yesterday.

Ebner grumbled under his breath, then handed her the attached page of last night's bill. He had no embarrassing thoughts.

Daly took it and glanced at it. She said with a smile, "You really don't pretend to be forthright… You should know that handing the bill to a lady is not a gentleman's action."

Ebner ignored her joke. The fact that she hadn't returned the bill was in itself a tacit agreement that it would be reimbursed.

"Also, this is the information His Excellency, the Sword of the Goddess, needed yesterday. I've organized it into a written document." Ebner then handed Daly the information regarding the Devil pathway that he had prepared this morning.

This time, Daly stopped smiling and accepted it with a solemn expression. However, after flipping through a few pages, she smiled again and said playfully,

"Why are 'Devils' invitations for girls? Eh? And for me…"