[You are targeted by Jilman Elliott’s killing intent. Evaluation: You’d have to be blind not to see it. Reward: +2 Survival Points]

"..."

’How could I not see it, with a cannon that thick pointed at my head?’

Wei’en gave a wry smile. "Ms. Jilman, I just wanted to buy some materials to make a Mechanical Puppet..."

"I already said, you’re not welcome here," Jilman interrupted. "Please leave."

Marco looked at her and began to speak slowly. "Jilman, I think you’ve forgotten who saved you back then, and who helped you get settled in Caster..."

BANG.

A gunshot rang out. The flintlock under the skull chandelier spat a serpent of fire, striking the ground in front of the two of them.

Jilman crossed her arms. "This is a matter between Wizards. It has nothing to do with anything else."

"Wizard?"

Marco sneered, "Just a High-Level Apprentice who failed to advance. You don’t really think you can keep me here with this junk, do you?"

’Advanced Wizard Apprentice?’ 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Wei’en glanced at the surrounding mechanical weapons. ’The firepower in this shop alone is almost enough to match a reinforced platoon.’

Jilman was unmoved. "You can try," she said coolly.

Marco’s eyes darkened. "You really are..."

Wei’en pulled him back, shaking his head. "Forget it, Marco. Since Ms. Jilman won’t agree, let’s just go look somewhere else."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Seeing him nod, Marco turned and walked out without another word. The red ponytail at the back of his head swung back and forth rhythmically.

Wei’en gave Jilman one last look and followed him out of the shop.

But what he didn’t know was—

Not long after they left, all the mechanical weapons inside the shop fell, one after another.

As if sliced by a sharp blade, they all broke clean in two, their inner gears, components, and various crystal tubes scattering across the floor.

Jilman watched all this, biting her pretty lips. ’Still such a hot temper... What a loss.’

Meanwhile,

Marco walked a long way in silence before finally speaking up. "Sorry, we didn’t get what you wanted."

"It’s my fault," Wei’en said with a smile. "If I hadn’t admitted I was a Wizard Apprentice from the Ghost Soul School just now, we probably could have bought it without a problem."

’He’d really paid the price for being too honest this time. But how could he have known that Wizards from other schools held such a deep grudge against the Ghost Soul School?’

’Oh well. Next time he ran into a Wizard from another school, he’d know how to handle the conversation.’

’He’d just say he was a Wizard from the Spiritual Mystery School. Surely no one would give him trouble for that, right?’

"By the way, Marco, from your conversation with Jilman, it sounds like our logistics department helped her when she first came to Caster?"

Marco nodded. "That was two years ago. At the time, she’d been captured..."

It turned out Jilman had been abducted and then sold to someone in Caster.

She was a servant in the Basil District, forced into all sorts of hard labor, like making conveyor belts or using mechanical vehicles to help load and unload merchant ships.

Later, the person who bought her was corrupted by the Red Moon and turned into an Aberration, and almost ate her.

It was Yegor and Marco who saved her.

After that, Jilman settled down here and opened a shop specializing in selling mechanical equipment.

"I see..."

"Enough about that. I know another place that has what you need."

Marco looked around, a grin spreading across his face. "It’s not far from here."

"Really?"

"Just follow me."

"Alright."

Wei’en had been ready to give up for the time being. He never expected there was another option.

He had originally wanted to buy some semi-finished machinery and tools from Jilman, which would have greatly sped up the process of making his Mechanical Puppet.

But alas...

...

...

"New Calendar, August 12th, 1578. Following a joint investigation by the Caster City-State Council, the Judicial Court, the Secret Investigation Department, and the City Guard, and signed by Lord Governor Samir, the following announcement is now made:

At 11:00 AM today, in the area of 1-30 Dumitru District, an attack occurred, confirmed to have been carried out by the Eternal Life Association. The incident resulted in the deaths of 25 citizens of the city-state and left 78 injured..."

The "Omen Birds" from the Secret Investigation Department, responsible for public announcements, read the investigation report with expressions of grief and helplessness.

Facing reporters from various news agencies, large and small, they had to choose their words carefully to avoid any exploitable loopholes.

"...Finally, the Council has issued a directive to pursue the Eternal Life Association’s Thousand-faced Kreya, and will certainly give the city-state an answer. This concludes the announcement."

The moment his voice fell, the surrounding reporters surged forward, swarming them.

"Excuse me, did the Dawn Church accidentally injure any citizens?"

"We need more details about the truth..."

"..."

If Wei’en had seen this, he probably would have been instantly reminded of the press conferences from his past life. The resemblance was uncanny.

And in a place hidden from the reporters’ view, two figures, one in red and one in white, stood high above, watching them in silence.

"My apologies, Ales. It seems I’ve caused you trouble again."

"Andrews, I should be thanking you for the rescue," Ales said, shaking his head. "I don’t suppose you could tell me who that Guardian Knight who took action was?"

"He came over from Klande," Andrews said with a gentle smile. "He still needs to get used to the rules here in Caster."

Ales said noncommittally, "The light of the Dawn always seems to favor Klande."

"No, no, no, this time is different..."

"Because of that Saintess Candidate?"

"You know?"

Ales’s gaze was fixed on the Omen Birds downstairs, who were being driven to distraction by the reporters. "The Council sent over the meeting’s minutes first thing this morning."

"I’m sorry. You know I’m only doing this for the good of Caster..."

"Coming from a Lord Bishop such as yourself, those words are always so convincing."

Andrews heard the sarcasm in his words but showed no emotion, still smiling cheerfully as he said, "Or rather, this is the choice of the majority."

Ales turned his head to look at him. "I assume you didn’t come looking for me just to give me platitudes?"

"I need your help."

"Oh?"

"The Candidacy Saintess is my student. It will take too long for her to mature, so..."

"So," Ales finished his sentence, speaking faintly, "you want me to intervene and accelerate her growth?"

"Not just you. Some people in the Secret Investigation Department as well."

"The terms?"

"I knew you would agree," Andrews said with sincere gratitude. "The Dawn will surely bless you, Ales."

"You must be getting senile. Otherwise, how could you not know that the people I hate most are you church believers... especially the Dawn!"

"But at least you still remember us growing up together in Bravo, coming to Shetland together, and all the hardships we went through, don’t you?"

Ales said no more. He lowered his head slightly, gazing calmly at the scene below. A flash of light glinted off his glasses, obscuring his eyes.

"Perhaps..."

...

...

"This is the place you were talking about?"

Wei’en stared, dumbfounded, at the scene before him. He simply couldn’t believe Marco had brought him here.

Marco, however, just lifted his chin and grinned smugly. "Welcome to Nocturnal City, Wei’en."

PS: If I said there’s only one Chapter today, would I get beaten up?

PPS: I’m just kidding. There’s another Chapter coming out after 1 AM... I’m writing a bit slowly, sorry about that.