"Translation?" Wei’en asked, closing the Wizard’s Manual and looking at Lisi.

"Yeah, it’s from Department Two. I’ve already had someone notify Ariana. They’ll bring it over to you in a bit." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Wei’en nodded. "Oh, okay."

’I can’t believe a translation job only showed up after all this time,’ he thought.

’Good thing I’ve already found another way to make money. Otherwise, I’d probably starve to death trying to live off translation work.’

"Next up, Marco. The murderer from Yidrisu District... The Combat Department has already dealt with him. You go and wrap things up." Lisi flicked a piece of parchment, which landed precisely in Marco’s hand.

Marco picked up the parchment and glanced at it. "Those guys from the Combat Department aren’t half bad. It only took them five days to take care of that pervert."

"He was just an ordinary believer from the Desire Sect,"

Lisi curled her lip. "Hurry up and check it out. If those bastards try to pull any tricks again, I definitely won’t let them off the hook this time."

"Got it."

With that, Marco stuffed the parchment into his case, changed into a flashy outfit, and prepared to leave.

"What do you think you’re doing?"

"Officer Lisi, you saw what happened this morning. If I go out in my Investigator uniform again, those people will curse me to death. And since you won’t let me make a move, my only choice is to keep a low profile."

"...Just go. Hurry up."

"You got it."

Marco tossed his hair, then sauntered out with his case, walking with a flamboyant gait.

Hearing their conversation, Kali’s expression darkened. "..."

’Shouldn’t devout Dawn Believers be kind, magnanimous, and benevolent to others?’

’She didn’t understand why those people were so angry... If it was just because they hadn’t managed to embark on the path of faith, shouldn’t they look for the reason within themselves?’

Lisi didn’t notice her expression and continued with the assignments, "Next is Wei’en. This one’s for you—a new commission request from the Ceres Clan."

’The Ceres Clan?’

’That wealthy noble family involved with the Vazquez Race, the one that pays so generously?’

Wei’en took the parchment and asked in confusion, "I thought the developing agent from last time pointed to that Rutger fellow?"

"That’s right, but he was killed by that group from before. That’s why Old Ceres had no choice but to come to us again..."

Here, Lisi paused, then added pointedly, "And, uh, their commission fee this time is 100 gold pounds."

Wei’en’s eyes lit up. "100 gold pounds? Alright, I’ll go check it out."

’If everything goes smoothly, does that mean I’ll get a cut of—25 gold pounds?’

’As expected of a family in the maritime trade. They’re seriously rich.’

"But I have to remind you," Lisi said with a serious expression, "this is your and Tina’s first time teaming up for a mission. Remember to take good care of her."

"Alright." Wei’en glanced at Tina. Seeing her still trying to stuff a cookie into the clown doll’s mouth, the corner of his own mouth twitched.

’Hey, hey, that’s a doll, not a pet!’

"Finally, Kali... I’ll take you to Basil District. There’s a new case to investigate over there."

"Okay," Kali nodded obediently. "I’ll be sure to learn everything I can from you."

"Don’t worry, I’ve got everything handled." Lisi patted her impressive chest and said magnanimously, "Pack your things. We’re leaving now."

Setting aside her status as a Candidacy Saintess of the Dawn Church, one could tell from Kali’s personality alone that she was a kind lady.

For that reason, Lisi didn’t hold any particular animosity toward her.

"Okay."

Kali was like a new student; aside from learning, she had no independent thoughts and obediently packed her case.

"Let’s go."

Lisi had just led her out of the office when she poked her head back in to look at Wei’en. "I almost forgot to tell you, remember to give last night’s report to Yegor."

"Okay, I’ll go find the department head in a bit."

"Don’t forget, or that old geezer Balats will send someone to nag us again. He’s extremely meticulous with all the work arrangements. Also..."

Lisi glanced at Tina. "If you run into a problem on the commission that you can’t solve, you might as well have Tina try using her ’Spirit Vision.’"

"I’ll keep that in mind." Wei’en nodded.

Once the office was completely empty, he looked at Tina beside him. "It’s noon. Want to get some lunch?"

"Tina not hungry. Clown, hungry."

"..."

Wei’en watched her stubbornly trying to stuff the cookie into the clown doll’s mouth and asked tentatively, "How about I find some scissors for you and cut its mouth open?"

The white-haired girl turned her head to look straight at him. "Tina allows it."

Her voice had returned to its previous coldness, and she was no longer skipping as she walked.

Wei’en pretended to open his case to look for scissors. "Then I’ll give it a try."

’He’d played games like ’playing house’ many times as a child, and he always managed to make the little girl next door laugh happily.’

"Look, let’s try with these scissors... Huh? It can open its mouth?" Wei’en, holding up empty air, stared in a daze at the cookie now in the clown doll’s mouth.

Tina noticed it too. She looked at the clown doll and nodded. "Clown, hungry."

"Right. As long as it can eat the cookie, it’s all good."

Wei’en awkwardly lowered his hand and looked at the clown, especially its mouth. ’I seem to remember it being stitched shut before, right?’

The clown doll seemed to be looking back at him. Its red button eyes stared at the "scissors" in his hand, and its fuzzy, red-painted mouth seemed to twitch.

In a daze, Wei’en thought he heard a bizarrely toned voice: "Heh heh, fun, fun, I like it... Next time, I’ll be sure to treat you to a cookie... dry!"

Just as he was wondering if he was hallucinating, a prompt appeared in his mind.

[You have come into indirect contact with Forbidden Item 1-83, the Demon Clown. Your trajectory of fate has been altered. Current encounter progress: 60/100.]