Moving On

...

A tall and big man was walking with the help of a cane down the hall of a spacious corridor. The walls were all white with beautiful paintings hung on them and potted plants of various colors adorned the hallway. Despite the bright sunlight shining upon the corridor, the man's mood was sour; his expression looked grim and the manner in which he was walking was stiff and impatient.

The man stopped in front of a door and fixed the expensive suit that he was wearing. After that, he knocked on the door firmly.

Knock! Knock!

The man's knuckles hit the thick wooden door, creating a loud and uniform banging sound that resounded in the corridor. After knocking, the man opened the door himself as if he had done it only to announce his arrival. Upon entering the spacious room beyond the door, he quickly reached for the soft, leather chair and sat leisurely. The cane was right beside him, leaning on the desk in front of him.

Another man, who was sitting behind the desk on the opposite side, gestured at someone who looked like his assistant, who then nodded and went out of the room before closing the door behind him.

"Hank, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

The man who seemed to be the host spoke casually to the powerful-looking man who had just come. He himself didn't look that much less important-- it was only that he was dressed up much more casually than the man with the cane. He was only wearing a shirt whose sleeves were rolled up, suspenders, a pair of black cotton pants, and a pair of big, round glasses on his face. Although he looked to still be in his late twenties, he was exuding an aura of charisma and domination.

"You know why I'm here, Henrich. It's the same thing again. Have you found anything about those zakkenwassers yet?" his tone was irritated and impatient.

A smile rose on Henrich's face.

"You'd do well not to rush me, Hank Krammer,"

Although his tone was friendly and there was a smile on his face, Hank Krammer was threatened by his words. There was a hidden meaning that only he knew and it reminded him not to mess with Henrich.

"I'm sorry, Henrich. It's just that the whole thing frustrates me. First, I lost my valuable items, and now all my people are gone,"

Hank joined his hands together and pressed them tightly. There was frustration on his face that was hiding his suppressed anger. To a man like him, something like that must have been a big blow in his pride.

"Relax, Hank. I've done some preliminary investigation, and it's come to my attention that whoever is doing this is a professional. Divination doesn't work on them, and they left no trace behind,"

A cheeky smile surfaced on Henrich's youthful face.

"So you're saying that you've actually found no clue?" asked Hank cynically. He rested his back on the soft chair.

"That fact alone is already a clue, Hank. Who else can do something like this but a Shroud? And a very calculating one," Henrich combed his blonde hair to the back with his fingers. His bright blue eyes were glittering in the sunshiny room.

"That much is obvious to me. What I don't know is how and why they are doing it. How did they turn my loyal servants against me?"

Hank Krammer cracked his knuckles and popped the air bubbles.

"I have a theory for that one," Henrich said vaguely. His deep and mysterious voice made his words sounded like they contained deep secrets.

Without saying anything, Hank waited for Henrich to continue speaking. The silence in the spacious room made it seem that even the deer mount on the wall behind him was waiting for him to speak.

"I think it's a kind of ritual. A Contractbound must be trying to please their Deity. I'm not sure which one, but it must be a Deity that deals with manipulation. I can think of some already,"

Hank raised his eyebrow.

"Are you sure it's just that? I'm more inclined to think that it's the doing of an opposition group trying to take over my position," he said confidently.

The tip of Henrich's thin pink lips curled into a smile. His expression was that of approval; like the other party had finally met his expectation.

"That was also my initial thought. However, think of it this way. Why would the opposition group go through all the trouble of doing things like this? If the goal is to dethrone you, isn't it easier to just target you or the public directly? Or if they need to get rid of the people surrounding you, killing them would be much easier. The way things are, it makes me strongly believe that they need the targets alive for whatever reason," explained Henrich lengthly.

Henrich picked up the cup of tea that was on the desk in front of him. The warm liquid wet his dry throat.

"I instead believe that the opposition group is capitalizing on this other party's action. Although they are not directly working together, their goals are aligned,"

Hank nodded slowly.

"Assuming your theory is true, what can we do to stop them? I mean the opposition and the supposed Shroud," he said and then rested his chin on the back of his hands that were joined together.

"We lay a trap for them, that's what we do," Henrich smiled proudly, "I've already found the patterns in their actions. All of the four targets all have some things in common. First, they are close to you. Second, they all trusted you. Our target broke their trust for you somehow, which I guess is the whole point of their ritual. Going by this pattern, you should be able to predict who the next target will be,"

Henrich lied back and placed his feet on the desk. His brown leather shoes reflected the sunlight that penetrated into the room through the giant glass windows. His hands were placed on the back of his head, supporting it while his expression showed satisfaction. It seemed that he had had a plan in mind and was only waiting for Hank Krammer to chime in.

...

It was already Tuesday, the first of October when Graham woke up from his sleep. He entered a new month in Hoorn. He looked at the calendar on the hotel wall on his side and looked out the window. Winter was just around the corner.

"Time surely flies, Val..."

He then got up and went to the bathroom to do his morning routines. Washing his face was something he always did every morning. However, unlike Valentine, he refused to brush his teeth before eating since they would get dirty again anyway. He would brush his teeth right after breakfast.

"What ability should we store inside Purloin, Val?" he muttered while looking at his reflection in the mirror. His tone was rather heavy for some reason. Graham was also caressing the belt that he was wearing much more lovingly than usual.

Graham had found a Transmuter the previous night through divination and went to the man right away. The man was able to upgrade Purloin quickly, just in less than two hours, but Graham had to pay an exorbitant amount of money, which gave him a headache. The total for upgrading Purloin was a staggering forty guilders!

Once he had upgraded his belt, he used his Thought Implant to make the man forget about the whole thing. On top of that, he had also gone as Rood, so his activities shouldn't be able to be traced back to him.

"The obvious ones that we need are Mass Illusion and Thought Implant, just for the reduction in cost. We can store a total of four abilities now and their costs are slightly reduced, so it's possible to store those two. If we come across another ability that might be useful, we have to sacrifice the slot for that one,"

Graham had actually successfully copied Thought Implant into Purloin. He had done so while he was making the Transmuter forget about his activities there. As for Valentine's Mass Illusion, it was already stored inside, so there was no need to do it again. There was one remaining free slot that he could use.

"Now let's get going right away. Today should be yet another busy day,"

He went back into the bedroom to get dressed. The previous night, he had also divined the next and last target that he needed to turn against the mayor. It was none other than the mayor's own son, Derrick Krammer, whose most valued possession was the mayor's trust. He should be an easy target since he was still young. According to the information he had got through divination, Derrick was still in his early twenties, probably the same age as Luuk.

After putting on a white shirt and a pair of black cotton pants, Graham put on the tailor-made suit and his trench coat over it in order to hide the suit that resembled the mayor's so much. He combed his amber hair quickly with his fingers and put on everything else he needed, including the gun holster even though he no longer possessed the revolver. It was a force of habit, and he also did it just in case he got the chance to get it back.

"I'm ready to go, Val. But before that, let's do some more divination to make sure everything goes according to the plan,"

He took out the cheap lighter from his pocket and began his divination attempts. He had to divine the location of his target, as well as the safety of his mission. His eyebrow rose because of the result, so he divined some more things just to be sure. Once he was done, put the lighter back and left the hotel room.

"Good morning, Mr. Hymes," greeted Stefan from behind the reception desk in the lobby once he got downstairs.

Stefan's face looked very fresh and his smile was as bright as usual. Graham noticed that the young man's naivety that used to be reflected very clearly by his expression was slowly fading away.

"Good morning, Stefan. Had a good rest, I can see?" He smiled and nodded at the young man.

The young man's smile grew wider.

"Yes, Mr. Hymes. In fact, I've been sleeping very well since moving to this city. Perhaps it's because of the temperature? It's just perfect for curling up under a thick blanket next to the fireplace,"

Graham didn't have a fireplace in his room, so he could only imagine.

"Anyway, going somewhere so early, Mr. Hymes?" asked Stefan curiously. The clock on the wall showed six in the morning. It was indeed very early.

With a nod, Graham replied, "Yes. Have some business I need to take care of. See you later, Stefan,"

He waved goodbye at the young man and then left the hotel lobby. Stefan, who was waving back, was watching as the man's back disappeared from his sight. After that, he went to the back room and left the reception desk unattended.

Stopping a public motor carriage, Graham waved his hand on the side of the street. It was still very early in the morning, so the fog from the previous night hadn't completely disappeared. The morning dew was still covering the land and the thin, cold air hit his face sharp.

A metal vehicle pulled over not long after and after getting in, Graham told the driver his destination. He was going to the mayor's son's company that was located on Rotsstraat. Derrick was already at work this early in the morning, which earned Graham's respect. He himself wouldn't usually start working on his detective cases that early.

Once he arrived on Rotsstraat, the same street that Valentine had found himself on after escaping from the valley, Graham paid the driver and walked a short distance away to reach a tall, ten-story building with the name 'Dag News' written elegantly on it. The letters were carved beautifully from hardwood and set on a metal plate.

The street wasn't quite as busy as the last time he was there, probably because it was still very early. He could see some remains of bonfires from the previous night and the city's cleaning service cleaning the street.

Graham didn't enter the newspaper company that was owned by the mayor's son right away, but instead, find a secluded alley to switch with Valentine so that he could use his Concealments first. Once the thin yellowish mist descended and covered his whole being, Valentine switched again with Graham, who then entered the building through the main doors.

Inside the building, he went upstairs using the elevator. He knew right away where he had to go since the target's location was shown by his divination. He had also memorized the layout of the building.

Ding...

The elevator reached his desired floor, so he got out right away.

"So it's indeed like this..."

Graham muttered as he walked out of the metal box. He quickly took out his weapon and got ready for a fight.