A Corner of the Curtain

In the first-class cabin of the White Agate, Ebner, who had his head lowered and his eyes closed as though he was sleeping, suddenly opened his eyes. He first deactivated his Mechanical Mind before recalling everything that had happened in Sefirah Castle. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"This 'Mechanical Mind' ability can indeed allow me to maintain absolute calmness, but it also affects my character. I originally didn't have such a utilitarian attitude towards Mr. Fool, and I even wanted to find an opportunity to remind him of some things that he needs to take note of… However, under the 'Mechanical Mind', I only considered gains and losses, and paid for some superficial knowledge to successfully accomplish my goal…"

"It seems like this ability should only be used in battles and research in the future. If I use it too often, it will inevitably cause my personality to change… If I only calculate gains and losses in everything and only use the optimal solution for my actions, then can I still be considered a 'human'?"

Shaking his head to clear his mind of the obviously overactive thoughts, Ebner looked again at the broken fountain pen beside his hand and thought teasingly:

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and noticed the shattered pieces of his pen lying nearby. With a playful smirk, he thought, If I'd used a monocle instead, would Mr. Fool have thought twice about ever dealing with that prankster god in the future?

---

It was still unknown if Klein would lose his hair, but Captain Dunn, whose hairline was already very high, had encountered a very troublesome matter.

He was patrolling Raphael Cemetery when the space around him was suddenly enveloped by a strange power. It felt like he was using his Nightmare powers to pull people into a dream, but it was completely different. After all, although this space that was enveloped by a special power was strange, it did not feel like a dream.

Captain Dunn took out his revolver and looked around warily, hoping to find any flaws.

At that moment, a figure in a red shirt and black coat appeared not far from Dunn.

It was a young man with handsome features and long silver hair. He held an exquisite wine glass filled with red liquid in his right hand. When he saw Dunn looking over, he raised his glass elegantly.

The moment Dunn saw the man, he instinctively felt a suppression from a superior creature. This suppression seemed to come from the Darkness Domain, preventing him from using his Nightmare powers.

"Who are you? What do you want to do?" Dunn did not attack immediately but asked calmly.

The man shook the wine glass in his hand and chuckled as he watched the scarlet liquid ripple. "Of course I'm here to wait for you, Captain Dunn."

"Waiting for me? What's the matter?" Dunn asked in a deep voice after a momentary daze.

However, he didn't believe that the other party was waiting for him here. He was only a Sequence 7 Nighthawks team leader, but the other party gave him a feeling that he was even stronger than His Excellency Cesimir. Perhaps, he was a demigod.

How could such an important figure specially wait for him? Perhaps his target was the Church of Evernight in Tingen?

With this thought in mind, Dunn's face turned even paler as he stared at the man sharply.

The man shook his head, put down the wine cup, and slowly walked forward. At the same time, two illusory bat wings appeared behind him, completely covering the entire cemetery. The black light rippled like water.

"Vampire?" Dunn narrowed his eyes and raised his revolver. Even if he had no chance of winning, as the leader of the Nighthawks team, he would not surrender without a fight.

"There's no need to be so nervous. I don't have any ill intentions. I just want to sell a favor to a friend I haven't met yet." The man slowly walked in front of Dunn and smiled leisurely. "And I'm really waiting for you! According to the Ancestor's decree, that friend thinks highly of this city. It's as if he wants to change his fate here. And I've been here for a long time to observe. Your fate is most disturbed, so I'm here to protect you."

"What?" Dunn could no longer move his fingers due to the suppression of the other party's aura, but that did not stop him from not understanding what the other party meant.

"Of course, other than befriending that friend, there might be other benefits!" As the young man spoke, he looked in the direction of the Deweyville Library. Then, he walked behind Dunn. His white and neat teeth protruded out four gleaming silver fangs.

It was not scary. Instead, it was strangely beautiful.

"Don't worry. This is just a precautionary measure, not The Embrace. I won't let you lose control and die because of the potion conflict!" With that said, he bit Dunn's neck.

Much later, Dunn awoke with a jolt, instinctively feeling his neck as confusion clouded his face. All he could remember was falling asleep in the cemetery. But how could a Nightmare simply fall asleep? Even his curly-haired Baboon assistant would scoff at the idea.

"Could my memory be so bad that I can forget what just happened?" Dunn muttered to himself with an ugly expression.

---

In the outskirts of Tingen, there was a house with a green lawn.

It had a spacious garden with fresh flowers and a dark red chimney.

There was a desk behind the bedroom window of this house. On it was an ordinary notebook.

A quill was writing strangely on the notebook:

"Dunn Smith suddenly fell into a deep sleep when he was patrolling the cemetery, but when he woke up, he forgot how he fell asleep. He wanted to report this strange incident to the Church's headquarters, but as there was no obvious evidence and no subsequent impact, it made him hesitate. He even suspected that he was showing signs of losing control."

"However, he later realized that his condition was unexpectedly good. Even the frequent adrift that appeared after coming into contact with the Antigonus family's notebook vanished."

"In the end, he decided to refrain from reporting the incident and increased the frequency of cemetery patrols to uncover any new leads. This decision, of course, was perfectly reasonable."

---

Ebner had just packed up the shattered fragments of the fountain pen and poured them into the trash can when he felt the wall of spirituality he had set up being touched. He sensed it and realized that it was Aetris standing outside the room.

After removing the spirituality seal, there was indeed a knock on the door. Ebner walked out unhurriedly and opened the door, allowing Beatrice into the room.

"Ebner, is that thing you offered still available? I've got the 400 pounds ready to purchase it!" Aetris asked eagerly as soon as he entered.

"You raised the money so quickly? We haven't even arrived at the port yet," Ebner replied in surprise, though he quickly pieced things together and asked directly, "Anderson lent it to you, didn't he?"

"Nothing gets by a detective," Aetris nodded, slightly impressed. "Though it's a loan, not a gift. I'll still need to pay him back once we reach Emmat Harbor."

Ebner, who had already begun to regard Aetris as a genuine friend, asked with a touch of concern, "Even if it's just a temporary loan, I'm sure there's a catch involved… What exactly did you agree to?" After all, it would have been easier and less costly to borrow from Ebner himself

"He wants me to join his team of hunters… which actually works out well for me. He'll teach me about the Hunter path and provide access to further potion formulas. That's precisely what I need!" Aetris answered firmly.

Noting Ebner's worry, he added, "I understand your concern, and I've thought about the risks. But to become a notable figure in the world of adventurers, I have to face them."

Anderson's reason for assembling a team of hunters is likely for his promotion ritual… They won't be in danger, but they'll definitely have a hard time. Ebner smiled to himself, thinking of the troubles that would arise when Anderson pulled stunts to create "team unity."

As Ebner lampooned Anderson's actions in the future, he also took out the tin box with the Hunter Beyonder characteristic sealed in it.

After releasing the spirituality seal, he opened the box and showed the jelly-like dark red item to Aetris.

Lifting the spiritual seal, he opened the box to reveal the deep-red, gelatinous item within.

"It really is the Hunter characteristic!" Aetris exclaimed, her excitement overflowing.

"Oh? Do you recognize it? Anderson must have taught you a lot in just one day." Ebner glanced at him meaningfully.

"It's not much. Anderson previously showed me one that looked identical to this," he explained while pulling out a pouch and counting out forty 10-pound notes, which she handed to Ebner.

After receiving the money, Ebner activated the Pure White Eye to verify each bill. Counterfeit notes would have no chance of slipping past.

"If Anderson already has a Hunter characteristic, why buy it from me?" Ebner asked casually after confirming the notes were authentic.

"He plans to form a team of at least thirty Hunters, so he's been buying up every characteristic he can find." Aetris replied after closing the tin box and securing it in his bag.

When Ebner heard this, he suddenly felt that something was amiss. He felt that it was possible that Anderson had discovered traces of the ritual from the Sequence 4 Iron-blooded Knight's deeds and had deliberately imitated the formation of a team.

However, such an obvious requirement of at least 30 people couldn't be explained through analysis. This meant that Anderson had obtained the Sequence 4 potion formula… At least a portion of it!

But he definitely didn't have it at this time… What's the problem? The biggest difference between him and the original plot should be that he sent me something and a message… Could this be a reward from the Church of Knowledge?

At this point, Ebner was even more puzzled.

"If the Church of Knowledge is involved, then their investment in Anderson might mean something far more intricate. After all, merely delivering a message doesn't merit compensation as valuable as a Sequence 4 formula."