Cat's Favor

Leaving Box 204, Lynch was still pondering the information provided by the black cat lady.

It seemed those hillmen were the cave-dwelling ghouls she mentioned who were rarely seen, while he had yet to encounter the sewer ghouls—perhaps they were unrelated to this matter?

One of the Valente family's properties was the Bester Mountain mines, and hillmen had always used caves as their nests. It was very likely a partnership where the hillmen ghouls acted as miners, developing minerals for the Valente family across generations in exchange for living supplies.

So even after turning into mysterious heteromorphs, they couldn't escape the fate of being wage-earning laborers?

Still, their relationship seemed far more harmonious than typical manual laborers, showing no signs of hostility at least.

Moreover, with their distinctive attire, moving around the city without attracting attention would be difficult to pull off even with help from their kind in the sewers. Lynch strongly suspected it was precisely the conveniences provided by the Valente family that allowed the hillmen to come and go freely within the city.

Based on the current information, during her cave interview, Maya had caught the attention of the hillmen and became Mordiggian's target, yet she ultimately managed to escape. Now, not only were the hillmen looking for her, but the Rangers and Frame Hand were searching for her as well, wanting to trade her to the ghouls for profit. Thus, thwarting the plans of Mordiggian and the ghouls meant making enemies of several factions at once.

A tough nut to crack. One of the current breakthroughs lay with the hillmen's ally, the Valente family.

The problem was that it was a count family that had produced two queens, maintaining close ties with the royal family. The eldest young lady representing the family could meet with any noble or dignitary in Rhine; even Governor Vane had to receive her with formal protocol.

Never mind mere speculation—even with concrete evidence, it would be useless. For nobles of such standing, even if guilty of high treason, only Emperor Rudolph II had the authority to pass judgment; other charges were utterly beneath notice. What's more, this Diana was a legitimate Soul Severer of the Churches of the Major Gods, perhaps even backed by the Church of Suffering. Forget mere ties to mysterious heteromorphs; even if she led a troupe of ghouls hand in hand in a tap dance outside the Scarecrow Club, as long as they didn't reveal their ghoul forms, Mr. V would probably just clap along from the sidelines, praising their performance as splendid and rich in ethnic charm.

Going head-to-head was definitely the stupidest choice. He had to think of a roundabout approach. He would deliberate on it further.

Letting out a quiet sigh, Lynch set his thoughts aside for now and looked around.

Having just left Box 204, he found himself inside this luxurious yet understated grand theater.

Magnificent and decorated primarily in yellow tones, the building brimmed with artistic flair. In the distance, an opera was still being performed on stage, though Lynch couldn't appreciate its shrill, wailing cadence at all.

Directly above the stage hung a gigantic, bizarre symbol—one he had also seen at the theater's entrance earlier. Lynch couldn't discern its meaning, but he instinctively felt a slight prickle of mental tension.

This theater was not the property of the black cat countess. When Lynch had asked about the operator of the theater, she had merely given a rather subtle smile, mysteriously countering: “Do you wish to know?”

Lynch immediately curbed his curiosity. He realized that whoever was behind this theater was likely far from normal, perhaps even more dangerous than the cat-headed woman backing her.

Muttering inwardly, he quickened his pace to leave the theater. Just before stepping out the door, he saw a person clad in a yellow hooded robe standing in the theater lobby, bowing slightly toward him as if seeing him off.

In the corner of his eye, he seemed to catch a glimpse of several tentacles. Forget it. Having gained experience just now, he decided to pretend he hadn't seen anything. With a countess who couldn't be distinguished from a cat, another tentacled creature running a theater wasn't surprising. In this bizarre world, delving deeply into everything took a toll on one's lifespan; for the sake of his heart health, it was best to visit less often in the future.

Hurrying out of the theater, Lynch realized there were unexpectedly no hired carriages waiting for fares outside.

Feeling a proud tear well up inside, he walked through the tall carriages in the parking square. Lynch’s mind stirred; leaning against a carriage, he concealed his figure, then attempted to leap up, lightly landing on the carriage roof.

Cat's Favor was indeed useful.

His physical capacity after alienation was already sufficient, but Lynch hadn't been able to apply it because he didn't know how to use his enhanced body. The appearance of Cat's Favor was well-timed, enabling him to instinctively learn to control the muscles in his body. Although he was still relying on the guiding effect granted by the ability, once he grew accustomed to wielding the strength, he could turn it into pure instinct.

In other words, this unexpected ability not only made him as agile as a cat, but also saved him a tremendous amount of training time needed to familiarize himself with bodily control.

This gift was simply too fitting.

Lynch leaped forward, his silhouette gliding through the air and landing silently on another carriage several meters away. Bending his knees slightly to absorb the impact, he took a few swift steps across the carriage roof, reached the edge, and surged into midair. Unfurling his body beneath the crimson moonlight, his shadow cut across the night sky like a great bird before lightly alighting upon the crossbar of a streetlamp at the edge of the square.

Crouching like a cat on the crossbar, Lynch surveyed his surroundings. He leaped once more, landing on the outer wall of a street-side building. The half-centimeter-wide metal fence atop the wall felt like flat ground under his feet. Lynch dashed along the fence at high speed, leaped into the air at the end, hooked his fingers onto the eaves, flipped over, and landed upon the sloping roof of the building.

Standing atop the roof, Lynch looked up, took off his top hat, and bowed to the red moon in the night sky. “Good evening.”

The moon did not reply, but a voice in his mind did.

【Mm, good evening.】

A warm joy blossomed in his heart. Lynch gave a thumbs-up to the moon, then sprinted straight across the cascading rooftops, relishing the refreshing night wind against his face until he finally had to stop at the Lande River.

Clack. Holding his top hat, he landed steadily, letting his figure re-emerge from the shadows. Straightening his bowtie, Lynch swung his cane and merged into the crowd like the other gentlemen along the road, showing no sign that he had just traversed half of the Crown District like a cat.

Utterly oblivious to what kind of terrifying death trap he was designing for himself, Lynch arrived at Charles Square before ten-thirty.

The deserted square held only a few gas streetlamps flickering with dim yellow light. The surrounding buildings had long gone dark, with only the ground floor of 221 apartment still showing light.

Lynch opened the door softly and immediately saw Mrs. Maggie still sitting in the dining room, holding his Ranger uniform while mending several tears from today's explosion.

Seeing Lynch return, the landlady showed a relieved expression, smiled, pointed at the gas lamp switch, and yawned as she carried the clothes toward the bedroom. Before stepping inside, however, she turned back and asked softly, “Mr. Levive, do you have time tomorrow morning?”

“I do. What is it?”

“Martha has been fussing all evening about wanting to go to the train station tomorrow. Anywhere else would be fine, but the train station is too crowded and chaotic; I’m not comfortable with it. A worker is coming tomorrow to repair the roof against leaks, so I can’t leave. Could you please take her there for me?”

“Hm?”

Lynch immediately recalled that when he returned this evening, Martha had mentioned wanting to find a way to contact Maya over these next few days. To protect the little girl, Lynch hadn't pressed for details. Could going to the train station be her method of contacting Maya?

“If this counts as a commission, of course I can,” Lynch said, nodding thoughtfully and smiling softly. “Then your payment will be washing my clothes a little cleaner, Mrs. Maggie. You wouldn’t want to see little Martha get spanked by me again, would you?”

“Pfft, thank you then. Good night.” Covering her mouth with a gentle smile, the landlady waved and closed her bedroom door, leaving Lynch standing in place with a silly grin.