When Yiluna, Miss Green, a Ten-Ring Arcanist from the Sun Church, Mr. Hogg Lundell, the Thirteen Ring Arcanist "Sunlight Greatsword" from the Sun Church, Mr. Modero, an Eleven-Ring Arcanist from the Peace Church, and Mr. Franz Joseph, a Twelve-Ring Arcanist from the Dawn Church, arrived at Saint Delan Square, half an hour had passed since Dr. Schneider and his three companions left.
The night was already deep, and thin mist drifted through the city, making each gas lamp circling the square emit a strange halo. The starry sky and the moon were exceptionally dim, as if they too were dozing off in this long winter night.
The reason the group of five arrived so slowly was not only to wait for the main force of the Five Gods Church to arrive, to comfort the people who had fainted in the Prophet Association, and to properly deal with the three princesses who had witnessed everything. The most important reason was that no one had forgotten that Saint Delan Square had two existences whose names could not even be spoken by angel-level relics.
Other things had happened in the city tonight; after "Sunlight Greatsword" arrived, they immediately came here. On the way, everyone had already seen the corpse of the 【Dark Lurker】 lying on the street, and now the body was being prepared for transport to the church for examination.
However, after Yiluna and the High-Ring Sorcerers entered Saint Delan Square together, they found no abnormalities there.
The street was very quiet, and most of the lights in the houses around the square were extinguished, with only a few windows, such as Saint Delan Square Six, still lit. Steam pipes and gas pipes climbed the walls, and on the empty square, only the fountain in the shape of a girl holding a water bottle still stood under the moon.
The five of them remained silent, carefully releasing Miracles to probe the surrounding environment. After confirming that Miracles could not detect any abnormalities, they used the angel-level relic 【False Doll】, originally housed in the Creation Church of this parish, to investigate the surroundings.
After the small doll was placed on the ground, it automatically walked nine steps forward before falling to the ground, indicating that there was no existence nearby that could threaten it.
"Have they left?"
Mr. Hogg Lundell whispered, and after his companion retrieved the doll, he waved to his back. The Ring術士 team of the Five Gods Church, totaling more than thirty Ring術士, who had already been mobilized, officially entered the square and went house to house for inspection.
Accompanying them were the sheriffs with stars on their shoulders from Leedweich Field. The people living in Saint Delan Square were quite extraordinary, so it was not easy to persuade them to open their doors at night.
The High-Ring Sorcerers inspected the square again before preparing to enter Saint Delan Square Six to investigate the situation.
Mr. Smith, Xia De's neighbor, had already opened his door in his pajamas, looking somewhat uneasy at so many people appearing in the square. However, Yiluna, who had arrived at No. 6's door, suddenly stopped. The High-Ring Sorcerers beside her also stopped, because at Xia De's door stood a person dressed in black, with their face completely obscured by shadow.
Although they had never seen it, based on the unsettling whisper element and the past records collected by the church, everyone instantly understood that this was 【God Thief Jack】:
"You caught me, I will give you a gift."
The hoarse voice said to Yiluna. The seventeen-year-old girl was a little surprised and was about to speak when the hoarse voice said again:
"Because you defeated me not by your own strength, what I can give you is only what I once stole."
Saying that, it handed over the Secret Keeper Level (Level 3) relic 【Mandrake Snake Nest Vial】 that had been stolen from Black Stone Security Company.
The long-necked glass bottle, corked, inscribed with golden runes, and covered in small snakes, was placed into Yiluna's hand. She blinked, looking at the bottle in her hand, and the humanoid relic in front of her said again:
"I will no longer steal from you or your residence."
It slowly backed away, but did not touch Xia De's front door; instead, it seemed to merge into the darkness. The High-Ring Sorcerers dared not stop it, watching it leave, but Yiluna, who had come back to her senses, suddenly asked again:
"Have the Old Ones and incomplete ancient existences that once descended nearby already left?"
Half of the thief's body was almost merged into the darkness, and viscous darkness clung to it like mud, as if the darkness was some kind of wriggling malice:
"Yes, they left half an hour ago."
After telling the truth, it retreated again, completely disappearing into Saint Delan Square Six. Yiluna, holding the bottle, breathed a sigh of relief, but the Thirteen Ring Sorcerer, wearing a black trench coat and a holy emblem on his chest tonight, was still uneasy:
"Still, let's check. The nearby streets are not ordinary places after all."
Saint Delan Square seemed to become busy late at night, but the church had proper inspection methods, so such commotion would not last too long. Most of the people living here knew what large-scale operations at night meant, so not many complained or even refused to cooperate.
Yiluna handed the 【Mandrake Snake Nest Vial】 to the accompanying team, and then had the Ring術士 from the Mechanical Church directly open Xia De's front door.
Xia De believed in the righteous god 【Mr. Dawn】, so the group formally entered only after Mr. Franz Joseph, the Twelve-Ring Arcanist of the Dawn Church, assured them that they would not arbitrarily touch or take away items inside the house.
They first came to the second floor and saw the young Detective lying on the carpet, the 【wise man's stone】 and antique knight's sword in his hand, and the cat and broken jewelry box beside his head.
"It seems Mr. Hamilton also received a gift from that thief."
Miss Green whispered, bending down to check Xia De's injuries. The others did not casually enter other rooms in the house, but instead checked the foyer, stairs, corridor, and the kitchen and living room of Room No. 2. This incident, after all, involved both an Angel-level (Level 1) relic and a Sage-level (Level 2) relic, so extreme caution was necessary.
"Mr. Hamilton is just suffering from excessive mental exhaustion and has fallen into a deep sleep. It's Wednesday night now, and he should wake up between Thursday night and Friday morning. Of course, the church will conduct a simple examination on him to ensure that Mr. Hamilton has no hidden dangers left on him."
Miss Green, wearing a long blue dress and appearing to be twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, said, reaching out to make Xia De float, and then letting him lie on the sofa. Mia, who had been lying beside him, immediately followed, this time directly lying on Xia De's chest, and even let out a pitiful meow.
"Is this the cat with the 【Beautiful Cat】 trait? It is indeed very pretty. Oh, its combat power is 2."
Miss Green said with a smile to Yiluna, confirming that the incident was basically over, and she was also very happy.
Yiluna nodded, pursing her lips as she looked at Xia De, while Miss Green made the tear-shaped blue crystal that had slipped from Xia De's hand fly over. She did not catch the wise man's stone, but let it fall into Yiluna's hand. The 【wise man's stone】 only works for its owner and the first person it is given to. The wise man's stone that fell into Yiluna's hand turned into a gray, petrified state.
"As expected, it seems the church still needs to find a way to convince Mr. Hamilton to transfer this wise man's stone."
Miss Green shook her head, somewhat troubled:
"Although he is an ordinary person, he is related to the royal family after all, so we can't force him. The fainting can be explained by a gas leak, but how do we explain the origin of this stone? And what price should we exchange it for?"
"Xia De likes rhode cards very much."
Yiluna mentioned, looking at the shattered jewelry box on the ground, and then thought of the 【Mandrake Snake Nest Vial】 from earlier.
Although 【God Thief Jack】's sudden appearance just now could be explained, Yiluna's intuition told her that it was absolutely not normal. She probably guessed that Xia De had given up on acquiring the relic himself, allowing the thief to return their stolen relic, which would mean that the punishment of "suspension of year-end bonuses, everyone receiving disciplinary action and submitting self-criticism letters" caused by the team's theft would no longer exist due to Yiluna's recovery.
She could imagine the smile on Captain Robinson's face, the relief of Mrs. Moody, who was in charge of reception downstairs, and Miss Kadia, who took good care of her in the team, thanking the gods for saving the year-end bonus. Everyone in the team would thank her.
"I also helped out tonight."
She thought to herself, biting her lip, and looked at the young Detective who was sleeping with his eyes closed:
"You're still thinking about me after all."
The corners of her mouth unconsciously curved up slightly.
Miss Green had Yiluna temporarily look after Xia De, while she went to help check if there were any remaining influences of relics in the house. Because Xia De had gone to Black Stone Security Company to find Yiluna, the people of the Sun Church knew that Xia De Hamilton and the Chosen One were friends. But tonight's events proved that Xia De was just an ordinary person, so they didn't have to worry that Xia De was someone with ulterior motives.
"We cooperated well tonight."
Yiluna said to herself, feeling proud. She glanced left and right, and seeing that no one was paying attention, she reached out and touched Xia De's face on the sofa.
A smile appeared on her face, and she turned around, hands behind her back, looking left and right again, a little embarrassed. Only then did she turn back towards Xia De, the seventeen-year-old girl was in a good mood now, she picked at the brown hair by her ear with her left index finger, and looked around Xia De's home.
Unlike Luvia, she didn't come here often and found everything here fresh.
She scanned the interior with her hands behind her back, and seeing that everyone was still busy, Yiluna pursed her lips and looked at Xia De's face again. Somewhat embarrassed, she sat on the sofa at the head of Xia De, tidied her skirt, and then her agile eyes moved slightly downwards, shifting a few times. She supported herself on the sofa with one hand, pursed her lips, and leaned her face towards Xia De, as if wanting to check his breathing, but suddenly felt someone watching her, and looked up slightly, finding Mia staring at her with wide amber eyes.
The cat's four small paws were pressed against Xia De's shirt on his chest. Yiluna felt a little awkward, but then realized it was just a cat, so she gave up the idea of secretly kissing Xia De's cheek, and reached out to grab and pick up the reluctant cat:
"While Xia De is unconscious, I'll take care of you for now."
Looking down at Xia De again, the seventeen-year-old girl thought of the moonlit dance at Lakeview Manor, the long dress Xia De wove with illusions, and the field ridge under the silver moon:
"Everything will get better and better."
Some ineffable emotion in her heart was rising. Yiluna turned to look at the hazy starry sky and moon outside the window, feeling that everything tonight was so beautiful.
