A Private Commission

Three pairs of eyes stared fixedly at the empty case, their expressions turning utterly bizarre.

Rick, the escort leader and a mid-tier Soul Severer of rank six authority, was particularly affected. His face flushed bright crimson, the muscles along his cheeks twitching violently. Clenching his fists tight, he whirled around to survey his surroundings.

Yet the plaza remained bustling with pedestrians coming and going, while a few silhouettes of ships set sail into the distance over the water. In such a vast world, how could anyone discern which among them had been involved in this operation?

“I... you... this...”

Every word of the confident boasting he had just uttered felt like a stinging slap across his own face. Rick’s cheeks burned with humiliation; he didn't even dare look at Lynch, unable to string together a complete sentence.

Yet despite watching Rick get smacked down by reality on the spot, Lynch couldn't find it in himself to laugh.

It was his item that had gone missing. All that was running through his mind right now was: Does this world have transit insurance?

Of course it didn't. He also knew that an institution as vast as the Church of the Black Night would never let him suffer a loss over a mishap during transport, but this item was tied directly to his path of immortality. Its importance could not be replaced by anything else.

Moreover, Trinlais had made it crystal clear before that there was only one piece. The Church of the Black Night would never be able to produce another one quickly. Although they would certainly try to hunt down a replacement for the sake of their reputation, such items were exceedingly rare to begin with. Who knew when they would ever find another?

More importantly, Trinlais had been right earlier—the item was utterly meaningless to anyone else. Why had someone targeted it?

“My apologies, Mr. Levive.” Archbishop Trinlais looked rather embarrassed as well. For the Church of the Black Night, this was an exceedingly humiliating blunder.

“Now is not the time for self-reproach, your excellencies,” Lynch sighed. “What we must do right now is figure out how to retrieve the item. While what has happened cannot be undone, we can at least make timely amends.”

With that, Lynch crouched beside the case to inspect it closely, determined to at least deduce how the item had vanished.

It was a sturdy metal case, effectively a portable safe with walls three fingers thick. Conventional methods could never breach it, not to mention there was no sign of tampering anywhere on its surface.

The lid was just as thick, requiring a combination code alongside two keys to be turned simultaneously to open. The keys had remained in the custodian's hands and were only used moments ago during the handover, and the keyholes showed no evidence of lockpicking.

There wasn't the slightest mark of damage, and the escort leader had stated he hadn't even slept the entire journey. So how had it been lost?

Lynch was completely baffled for a moment. Together with the other two, he examined the interior and exterior of the case thoroughly. Only then did the three of them realize the case wasn't entirely empty.

A small slip of paper was stuck to the inner wall, which only fell flat when the case was tilted.

What was this?

Lynch didn't dare touch it directly with bare hands. Instead, he found two thin sticks and pinched the slip up like a pair of chopsticks. Only then did he see an eccentric pattern drawn on the back of the paper.

Six legs supported a toad-like body, topped with a human face—a sight that sent a chilling shudder through anyone who looked at it.

Lynch felt a throbbing headache coming on. He was all too familiar with this figure—an old acquaintance, the Great Old One known as the Ancient Flicker. He had thought that after seizing the opportunity to dispel the mark of sacrifice, he would never have to deal with it again. Who would have guessed that merely four days later, he would encounter this thing once more?

“This is... the Ancient Flicker?” Six-Star Priest Rick’s expression was grim enough to freeze over. Gritting his teeth, he muttered, “Its cultists rarely cause trouble in public. Why would they suddenly pull a stunt like this?”

“You know about it as well?”

“Of course. It is recorded in church archives as an ancient evil god that slumbers year-round in the ancient city of Enkai, usurping the divine authorities of slumber, teleportation, and dissemination,” Knight Rick answered casually. “Generally, the cultists following it are merchants who require information dissemination; they have never clashed with the church. Why—hm? That look on your face... Have you had contact with it?”

“Well, it’s a good person—no, a good god. It didn't hesitate to clash head-on with the Weaver just to protect my soul. I'm very grateful to it, though it seemed a bit reluctant to part with me in the end.”

Lynch sighed softly and gave a brief account of what had happened over those two days. The expressions of his audience turned remarkably colorful; after all, people who could screw over two evil gods at once and still speak so self-righteously about it were few and far between.

“Fine, I admit it probably wasn't very happy. It seems its followers are coming after me. Nothing else is missing except the payment meant for me. They’ve come to take revenge on me. They were the ones who provoked me first, yet they actually have the nerve to seek vengeance. And their intelligence is far too well-informed.”

While muttering under his breath, Lynch inwardly realized that the uncanny speed and accuracy of their intelligence was likely no simple matter. In all probability, it had been leaked to them by the Shadow Alliance. From this, it was evident they didn't merely want to offer him as a sacrifice to an evil god; there had to be other motives behind their relentless pursuit.

Though he still didn't know what they were plotting, he could never let things play out according to their designs. Since they wanted to snatch his holy mystery, then even if the Church of the Black Night could locate another memory, he had to take this one back. He wouldn't let them have their way. But wouldn't that mean working for free? That would never do.

Musing to himself, Lynch suddenly assumed a solemn expression. “These cultists are far too rampant. To dare openly assault a supply vessel belonging to a Church of the Major Gods is not only a blatant contempt of law, but also a blasphemy against the Goddess of the Black Night. They must be rooted out at the utmost speed to show everyone that the church cannot be violated. But as for official channels, if they had any way of dealing with them, we wouldn't be in this situation today. Under such circumstances, as a righteous private detective, I am willing to help you locate the culprits and recover the lost property.”

Archbishop Trinlais was stunned for a long while before replying with an odd look, “Mr. Levive, don't you think those words ought to have been said before confirming their true target? Right now, shouldn't we be joining hands to recover the lost item?”

“I didn't think of it just now, so I'm making up for it. For the professional standards of a private detective, proper compensation must still be calculated,” Lynch said with absolute conviction. “Besides, even though their target is me, the item was snatched from your hands in the end. It is your reputation that has been insulted. Would you rather have this matter handled openly through official channels, or outsourced to other private detectives, letting everyone know that the Goddess of the Black Night was provoked by a handful of cultists? Naturally, hiring an insider under the table to resolve it is the best path.”

Archbishop Trinlais looked at Lynch in disbelief and marvelled, “I truly underestimated you, Mr. Levive.”

“I shall take that as a compliment.”

“However, you make a fair point. This is a provocation against the church, and resolving it quietly is indeed preferable. How about this: I will give you two days. If you cannot find any clues, we will have to issue a public bounty. If you can uncover leads in time, Knight Rick and I will personally present you with a mystery relic in our own names. Rest assured, it will certainly be useful to you.”

“Deal.”

Stopping his finger-rubbing gesture, Lynch nodded in satisfaction, while Knight Rick’s face flushed red before he managed a low, “Thank you.”

Hm? Lynch was slightly surprised. In truth, his ostentatious negotiation with Trinlais was aimed at helping Rick make up for his blunder without wounding the man's pride, which was the only way Rick could avoid punishment for dereliction of duty. He hadn't expected this seemingly conceited knight to actually see through it.

“With this man, rather than saying thank you, you'd be better off tossing him a few extra pounds,” Trinlais said, patting Knight Rick on the shoulder before pointing at the case. “Lynch, you are the professional here. Do you have any leads?”

“First, we need to clarify how the other party stole the item,” Lynch said, rapping on the case thoughtfully. “Earlier, you mentioned that this evil god’s authorities include teleportation?”

“Yes, but I was holding the case the entire time—it never left my person. For someone to use an ability on the case would be equivalent to using it on me; it would have had to overcome my resistance first, and there is no way I wouldn't have noticed.”

“I see. Yet it did happen. Did it truly never leave your side? Not even for a single moment?”

“Hm?”