“Ms. Cecil, you certainly are kind-hearted.”
Elias walked down the dim first-floor corridor of the hotel, shaking his head slightly.
Just before he stepped out, the female captain from the Seventh Agency had added another comment.
“If Mr. Rockland is truly spread too thin, I can escort Charlotte back myself.”
You escort her?
That absolutely cannot happen!
What if Lottie gets dragged into a supernatural incident?
Thus, Elias immediately made up his mind.
He would just have to work a little harder.
He would drop this suitcase off at the fastest possible speed and then double back to personally take Charlotte home.
By now, the hotel waiters had returned to their posts.
Using the forged receipt from earlier, Elias smoothly retrieved the suitcase.
But holding the suitcase, he didn't immediately walk out the main doors.
Instead, he turned and slipped into the washroom at the end of the corridor.
He bent down, quickly unfastening the straps of his leather boots.
Then, he pulled out that precious pair of supernatural items—the 【Wind-Chaser Boots】—and put them on.
He was currently carrying fifty-four soul coins.
Plus potions and some supernatural materials.
The longer it took, the more things could go wrong. If he ran into danger later, he could at least make a quick getaway.
After adjusting his attire, Elias carried the heavy suitcase and walked out.
...
Meanwhile.
In the guest room upstairs.
Taking advantage of the moment Charlotte went to the washroom to splash some water on her face, the gentle smile on Cecil's face instantly vanished.
She walked quickly to the round table in the center of the room.
With a sharp swipe of her gloved right hand across the tabletop, a trail of pure blue arcane energy followed. The energy rapidly constructed a simple summoning ritual over the rough wood grain.
Accompanied by a surge of spirituality, a half-foot-long spirit world rift was torn open out of thin air at the center of the array!
It was a passage leading to the spirit world.
Next, a small paw with fur as deep as the night reached out from the rift.
Then, a lithe black cat gracefully squeezed out and landed on the table.
【Spirit World Familiar】.
This was a very practical Scale Two arcane summoning spell.
Cecil looked at the black cat with a deep gaze.
She intended to use this familiar to tail Elias from a distance.
Indeed.
Although she had temporarily cleared the second son of the Rockland family of suspicion during their verbal sparring, this was godforsaken Hope County!
To be safe, her instincts as a veteran investigator told her to obtain an extra layer of corroboration.
Of course, besides suspicion, Cecil had another layer of concern.
The situation this afternoon was far too chaotic.
First, there was that raving lunatic Mester, and then the infernal creatures. Now, this mess was even connected to the “Mist Veil Society”!
If Elias really was just an ordinary person with no way to protect himself, sending a familiar to keep a discreet eye on his safety was, at the very least, an official duty she should fulfill.
Furthermore...
Cecil's gaze softened slightly.
Elias was, after all, Charlotte's older brother.
That child was so close to her and trusted her so much; Cecil didn't want to see that innocent girl grief-stricken by the loss of a relative.
Having made up her mind, Cecil reached out, intending to command the cat to head to the window and go out on its tracking mission.
However, she never expected what happened next.
“Click.”
The lock on the washroom door let out a soft sound at that exact moment.
Charlotte's speed in washing her face exceeded her expectations!
Just as Cecil froze in place, Charlotte pushed the door open and walked out.
The moment the girl looked up, her gaze collided with the pitch-black cat with blue eyes.
“Wow!”
A scream of absolute delight suddenly erupted.
Charlotte's large eyes instantly turned into stars.
“Kitty!!!”
“Where did it come from?”
Of course, where it came from didn't matter at that moment.
She instantly lunged forward in excitement and began petting the cat aggressively.
Cecil stood there, her entire being going numb.
Looking at Charlotte, she couldn't help but feel an extremely helpless headache coming on.
“If I had known...”
“I wouldn't have summoned a cat!”
...
If Elias knew that his sister—the one he always considered his “mischievous little sister”—had accidentally saved him from Cecil's surveillance by putting the familiar in a “death grip,” he would surely have been moved to tears, feeling his love for her hadn't been wasted.
However, Elias knew nothing of this at the moment.
He had already boarded a public carriage, crossed half the city, and finally stopped at Knight Street.
Elias stepped off the carriage with his suitcase.
He looked up at the elegantly decorated building before him—the Golden Rose Hotel.
Why come straight here?
This was also a result of careful consideration.
First, it was on the way. His original plan for tonight was to visit Brian first and then come to this hotel to retrieve some items.
However, Brian's house was also in the West District. Returning from the East District, he happened to pass Knight Street. There was no need to go out of his way to go home first.
He could, of course, go see Mr. Miller first—provided that Mr. Miller wasn't one of the characters in the murder case Arthur mentioned.
Secondly, and most importantly.
This suitcase full of heavy soul coins absolutely could not be kept at home!
After all, things like soul coins, which were filled with resentment, could be considered cursed items for ordinary people.
Even just one, if kept nearby for a long time, could very likely seriously affect a person's physical and mental health.
Not to mention he was currently carrying fifty-four of them!
Keeping such a massive sum of money with such a strong negative aura at home was practically gambling with the lives of the siblings. It was simply not safe enough.
Finally.
Elias let out a deep sigh.
As his contact with this mysterious supernatural world grew deeper and more frequent, he had to find a private place to store his supernatural items.
Otherwise, if Charlotte found some eerie object while cleaning one day, she would definitely become suspicious.
And since this was only his second day back, today was the perfect opportunity to secretly rent a fixed hotel room!
“Since I have to come to the Golden Rose to get my things anyway...”
Elias finalized the plan in his mind.
“I might as well just rent a room here and use it as my temporary safe house!”
No sooner said than done.
Elias tightened his trench coat, holding his cane in one hand and the heavy suitcase in the other. He pushed open the grand doors of the Golden Rose Hotel.
The lobby was filled with the faint scent of cigars.
However, as soon as he entered, before he even reached the front desk, he heard a burst of extremely dissatisfied complaining from the luxurious lounge area nearby.
It was a typical bourgeois gentleman, wearing a tall top hat and an exaggerated, upward-curving mustache, portly and dressed in finery.
This gentleman was holding a glass of wine, ranting to the friend across from him with spit flying.
“The competence of those police from the Old Palace Yard is simply abysmal!”
The fat gentleman slapped the sofa hard, his face full of grief and indignation.
“How long has it been?”
“Room 517 upstairs is still empty!”
“As soon as a tenant asks around, they all hear about the bad luck that happened up there!”
“Dammit!”
“My business is ruined!”
The fat gentleman took a large gulp of wine and cursed angrily, “Ever since that guy named Martin died up there, my income this month has dropped by more than a third!”
The moment he heard those words, Elias, who was about to walk to the front desk to check in, stopped in his tracks.
His back instantly went rigid.
His ears perked up immediately.
Martin?!
Is it the one I'm looking for?
Was my guess right?
He's dead?!
Rate on N.U.
