Chapter 606: Monk Merlin
At the Cathedral, Wayne had just walked over from the “parking lot” and was turning the corner to head to the “front” of the Cathedral when he ran into Father Tyrrell and a team of his accompanying honor guard.
Wayne didn’t even have time to pull his head back before Father Tyrrell spotted him.
The four-horse white carriage, which sufficiently displayed the Father’s authority, was now stopped on the main road outside the Cathedral’s main entrance. The group seemed to be preparing to go out “with status,” and there was also a monk following half a step behind Father Tyrrell, head slightly bowed, seemingly taking the opportunity to report on work.
Then Father Tyrrell waved his hand towards Wayne, “Come over. What problem do you have that needs to be dealt with?”
Hmm…
Wayne had recently been consciously avoiding meeting the new Father “in public,” especially in front of the people of the Cathedral.
It wasn’t that he had an issue with Father Tyrrell, but Wayne’s relationship with him was clearly not as close as his relationship with Tom Hagen and the others.
For example, when Tom Hagen was still around, Wayne could often be taken deep into the Cathedral. The other guards and monks, not knowing the full story, were quite friendly to Wayne, so it was very convenient for Wayne to glean some non-confidential internal information through casual conversation.
If Father Tyrrell showed a different attitude towards Wayne in public, then with “a new emperor, a new court,” some conveniences might expire and become invalid.
But now that Wayne had been called over, he couldn’t refuse.
So, after he walked into the crowd, he improvised a reason based on today’s situation: “I actually don’t have any ‘problems’ here. However, I just went to an accident scene in the Dock Area and suspect that the incident was subtly influenced by extraordinary power. The danger level might not be low, and I believe it’s necessary to report it to the Cathedral.”
Since the Wise Sage had specifically warned Lina about it, saying “the danger level is not low” shouldn’t be an exaggeration, right?
“You also think there’s a problem in the Dock Area now?” Father Tyrrell’s face was expressionless, making it impossible to guess his attitude.
Then Wayne, following Father Tyrrell’s gaze, turned his head and discovered that the monk who had just been reporting to Father Tyrrell was actually the same one Wayne had encountered late at night in the Dock Area before.
Father Tyrrell’s gaze went back and forth between their faces, “Since you both think there’s a problem in the Dock Area, then I’ll leave it to the two of you to handle. Report back to me when you have results.”
After speaking, he slightly bent down and began to get into the spacious carriage.
“Yes!” The monk beside him immediately straightened up, and Wayne also echoed.
Only after Father Tyrrell was seated inside the carriage did he look back at Wayne again, “The things I assigned you to do before seem to have made no progress recently?”
This was probably referring to the “list” matter from before…
It must be said, after transforming from a “priest” to a “Father,” Father Tyrrell’s demeanor seemed to have changed. He no longer appeared as “kind” and “easygoing” as before, but much more authoritative.
Wayne quickly adopted a respectful attitude, “I plan to adopt a relatively gentle approach, handling them in batches by area. The preliminary preparations will take some time, but once the net begins to close, progress will be very fast.”
Father Tyrrell was noncommittal about this, and then, at his signal, the carriage door was slowly closed by an accompanying guard.
Wayne also secretly let out a sigh of relief: Not bad, at least he didn’t “lose face” in front of others this time.
…
After watching the Father’s carriage depart, Wayne, who inexplicably gained a “teammate,” walked into the Cathedral with the other person.
The man was wearing a loose monk’s robe over his clothes, but if you paid a little attention, you could actually see a relatively tight, cinched uniform underneath through the gaps, giving off the vibe of “a combatant once the outer robe is lifted.”
The other party led the way while speaking, “My name is Merlin. I am the deputy captain of the Cathedral Guard. You can call me Monk Merlin. Since His Eminence the Father has entrusted the Dock Area incident to the two of us, it is necessary for us to exchange information. How far have you investigated?”
The name “Merlin” is actually the same word as the great magician “Merlin” in the Windsor story, but Wayne quickly thought about it and deliberately used a slightly different, teasing translation.
The reason was simple: this guy spoke with an accent…
Because his thoughts had strayed slightly, Wayne only regained his focus after the other party’s inquiry and began to continue the improvised excuse from before:
“I’ll get straight to the conclusion. According to the current investigation results, I believe this extraordinary incident in the Dock Area might involve relatively high-tier extraordinary power. According to the Hunter Association’s standards, it might reach a Tier 6 level.”
This number was, of course, estimated by Wayne off the cuff, but it wasn’t “completely made up.”
The reason was simple: from the time he met Lina until now, he had rarely heard her mention situations where the Wise Sage would give a warning.
The first time seemed to be when they first arrived in Kankakee, but that was because Lina was carrying special counterfeit money, which was directly related to her.
However, last night’s warning was unclear, and the warning level seemed to be quite high. It was reasonable to suspect that it was a “danger” that could harm Lina, so estimating a “6” based on her tier shouldn’t be too excessive… right?
But Monk Merlin obviously didn’t think so. He immediately widened his eyes, “Tier 6?! That’s at least a Tier IV threat.”
Wayne saw the other party’s reaction and immediately tried to compensate, “There might be deviations. However, it’s not a bad thing to assume the worst and be cautious.”
Monk Merlin’s expression was slightly helpless: “I think I understand what you mean.” Then he thought of a new question, “Wait, Hunter Association?!”
And before Wayne could respond, he continued to answer himself, “That’s right, Miss Inessa of the Exorcist Association is currently at your Detective Agency…”
This guy didn’t seem to be too deep. Wayne took the opportunity to subtly probe, bringing up Tom Hagen’s departure and recent personnel changes in the Church.
He didn't get too much inside information, and regarding some personnel changes, this guy's information wasn't as comprehensive as the Detective Agency's intelligence team, but Wayne roughly understood what kind of person this Monk Merlin was.
The deputy captain of the Cathedral Guard, one step further and he could even be considered the Father’s “confidant,” the kind directly responsible for the Father’s personal safety.
However, he wasn't very familiar with Tom Hagen, and his relationship with Father Tyrrell also seemed ordinary. He had recently been stripped of his direct guard duties, and his work content had been adjusted to the more peripheral “city guardianship.”
He wouldn't be suspected of disloyalty, yet neither the former nor the current Father treated him as “one of their own.” Isn’t this just a more senior “David Mills”?
