Gratitude

Lynch realized that he was beginning to influence this era.

For just moments ago, under his guidance, the world's first press conference was being held.

The stage was not at the docks, but at city hall.

With the holy memory now in his possession, Lynch, fueled by the grand spirit of wanting to stir up trouble for the sake of entertainment, decided to blow the entire matter wide open.

Archbishop Trinlais stepped forward to invite his old friend, Duke Vane, and Mayor Howard Hoffman of city hall. Lynch himself went to invite Mr. V of the Watchers, as well as Director Holf of the Hall of Order and his two capable assistants, Inspector Bruno and Inspector Walter.

This was a windfall from the heavens. Solving a major treason case, where the killer who had hidden in Rhine for years and colluded with wanted criminals was gunned down on the spot, was a great merit for everyone involved in the case. Even Knight Rick of the Black Night Church felt the same; recovering the stolen goods and punishing the culprit that very day was enough to compensate for the oversight of having the cargo stolen in the first place.

Of course, this was on the condition that the charge of treason was confirmed. With ironclad human and material evidence, and the killer having blown himself up, there was no room for debate. For everyone involved, there were only benefits and no risks.

Could there really be such a good thing? At first, the three from the Hall of Order did not dare to believe it, fearing it was a trap, until they confirmed that people from the Black Night Church were also participating, only then did they join with peace of mind.

The only one who did not care about this benefit was Duke Vane. Given his status, it did not matter much to him, but it was hard to refuse the face of his old friend and the Black Night Church. Plus, hoping that Lynch would complete the commission as soon as possible, he ultimately participated.

Thus, a press conference involving most of Rhine City's official organizations was convened.

The leaders of these institutions were not fools. Once they heard the format of a press conference, they understood the benefits. Under Lynch's guidance, they quickly learned how to control the scene and handle reporters. As for Lynch himself, he did not want to have too deep of an involvement with the media, and since he had already been quite conspicuous during the operation, he remained hidden behind the scenes during the conference and did not appear.

The effect was excellent. At the press conference, an operation where all official organizations in Rhine City worked together to fight against a treasonous conspiracy was displayed before all the media. The bewildering case, the vicious and malicious enemy, the tense and exciting pursuit, the last minute interception, and the killer's thrilling final self-detonation—for a time, the fifteen newspapers of various sizes and over fifty reporters listened in a trance.

It seemed Jefferson's treason charge was set in stone. There were no immediate worries about this matter; it just remained to be seen whether other evil cultists of the Flicker would continue to cause trouble.

Only then did Lynch let out a sigh of relief. With peace of mind, he took the red moon memory that finally belonged to him, quietly withdrew from city hall, stepped through the afterglow of the sunset, and returned to the second-floor apartment at 221 Villa Avenue.

The living room was a little messy because while Lynch was not home in the afternoon, the workers, under Mrs. Maggie's supervision, had come to install the safe. The thick cast iron cabinet was quite heavy, barely movable by two strong men, and it looked quite secure.

From now on, dangerous mystery relics and pistols would be locked inside.

It was not that he was worried about little Martha messing with things. Given the little one's performance over the past two days, she truly had the heart to repent and should not mess with dangerous items.

But the public security in the Crown District was truly regrettable, so it was safer to lock these valuables away. These were fine for now, but if he were to obtain more dangerous destruction grade and disaster grade mystery relics in the future, having them stolen by thieves would trigger a catastrophe. This was to protect both the thieves and his neighbors.

Lynch changed into loose loungewear, wearing slippers, and slumped comfortably on the soft sofa, holding the small figurine-sized red moon memory in his hand, lost in thought while staring at the statue for a long time.

Having seen Lady Luna's memory in the afternoon, Lynch had some faint guesses.

That must have been the apocalypse at the end of the First Age, and watching the fall of billions of lives, Lynch felt endless sadness and an unwillingness to let it all happen.

Unfortunately, everything had already happened and could not be changed. She had been sleeping in the memories of living beings ever since. But this time she suddenly acted; could it mean...

He felt a chill run through his body, and a foreboding premonition arose in his heart. Could it be that something major was about to happen again?

Lynch never liked owing favors, even if the other party was a fallen god.

Lady Luna had stayed by his side when he needed it most, helped him through his hardest days, and helped him enter his current body at the end, starting a new journey.

She must have a purpose and needed him to do some things for her. But no matter what her purpose was, from the result, he indeed owed her too much. One must be clear about gratitude and resentment. Having received such great kindness, he must repay it.

The problem was that this awkward creature simply refused to say what she wanted Lynch to do for her. Lynch could actually understand; she did not want to add shackles to him, nor did she want him to be forced to change his own will to repay the favor, so she had not made any substantive suggestions since he transmigrated. But I want to repay the favor! Aren't you making it difficult for me by acting like this?

【You are a good person, Lynch.】

'Why are you suddenly insulting me...'

【Heh, it is true. You did very well, and I am very satisfied. As for my purpose, it is actually more complex than you guessed. You do not need to worry too much for now; just do what you want to do. When you are able to reach that point, you will naturally understand.】

'I see. It seems those are not things I should consider "now". Heh, I understand. I will speed up my pace.'

【Mm.】

Lynch smiled and tucked the red moon memory close to his body. These memories were of no use to him now; only after absorbing the lost red moon authority could they become props to help him activate his next authority.

"Mr. Levive, you have a visitor."

Just after putting away the statue, he heard Mrs. Maggie's pleasant voice from the doorway.

Hm? Another visitor?

Lynch looked up in surprise and found that Mrs. Maggie's expression was even more surprised than his. The look in her eyes was full of disbelief and even a bit of worship.

However, no matter how he asked, Mrs. Maggie would not say who it was, nor would she invite the person to the second floor, instead urging Lynch to go down and meet them.

It left Lynch confused, but he followed Mrs. Maggie downstairs anyway.

Standing in the porch downstairs were two people, Trinlais and Rick. The two should have just finished the press conference and rushed over, still wearing their formal priestly robes—one a six-star, the other an eight-star.

What was there to be excited about? Lynch was stunned, but then he thought that for the natives of this world, it probably seemed a bit frightening.

Just like if a believer in his previous life opened the door one day to find the Pope standing there grinning at him; Mrs. Maggie's reaction at this moment could already be considered quite steady.

The problem was what they were doing here. Had something gone wrong at the press conference?

Lynch was slightly nervous, but before he could ask, he heard the Archbishop ask with a smile:

"Mr. Levive, you left in such a hurry. Did you forget something?"

"Huh?"

"We agreed this morning that if you could successfully complete the commission, we would provide an item as a gift of gratitude." Trinlais kindly patted Lynch on the shoulder. "Because of the things that just happened, Rick has to set off for Norin tonight to report the situation. Before he leaves, he insisted on handing the gift of gratitude to you personally, so we had to make an uninvited visit. I hope this lady does not mind the intrusion."

Clink, crash.

In her excitement, the cup in Mrs. Maggie's hand shattered into pieces.