"You came here in the dead of night to steal this manuscript, and you even brought your young lady along. What is this, playing house?"
Seeing that Dominic had stopped lunging at her, Angel lowered her gun slightly, her tone laced with confusion.
Back in Enmat Port, this self-proclaimed "righteous" Sonia had been purchasing extraordinary materials for the "Diviner" potion. Two months had passed, and she had likely become a Diviner by now. Angel knew well that this sequence possessed diverse divination methods and could perform various ritual magic, but had absolutely no direct combat capability.
Even when she herself had first become an Assassin, she knew better than to bring such a teammate along on dangerous missions. If not for the burden of this fledgling Diviner, Dominic, with his skills, might not be able to defeat her, but escape would certainly be no problem.
"You probably don't live in the East Borough, do you? Around here, leaving her alone at home would be far more dangerous."
Dominic's expression had already returned to normal the moment Angel lowered her gun. Hearing her question, he glanced at Sonia pressed against the wall before answering.
"I was the one who insisted he bring me..."
A head of brown hair emerged from beneath the cloak, softly protesting.
"But you can't possibly guard her twenty-four hours a day," Angel returned the gun to its holster but remained standing beside Sonia, preventing Dominic from escaping or attacking again. "What now? They all must have seen your face."
She had originally followed the thief called Goli to see whether this "boss" was merely after the documents or had other designs on her rented house. She hadn't expected to enter invisibly only to find Dominic fighting violently, having knocked down both the boss and his subordinates. Now the situation was even more troublesome.
If Goli or the "boss" had good memories, they might wake up and sketch Dominic's portrait based on their impressions, track them down, and seek revenge.
"It's fine. In the East Borough, finding a person is harder than finding money."
Surprisingly, this impulsive "Provoker" merely glanced at the three people lying on the ground and shook his head, not mentioning silencing them permanently.
Was it because Sonia was present?
Angel wondered silently.
Of course, as the lowest stratum of all Backlund, the East Borough had a massive population with high mobility. Finding someone based solely on a sketch would be nearly impossible. However, some necessary anti-divination measures were still needed. If official Beyonders truly got involved and performed divination, not only Dominic but even Sonia, who hadn't been seen, would have nowhere to hide.
She channeled her spirituality, summoning several black flames that drifted throughout the room, using the power of fire and curses to sever the mystical connections between several people, preventing them from being tracked through divination and similar methods.
Seeing the black flames swirling about, Dominic's eyes narrowed as if he might attack at any moment, while Sonia kept her eyes wide, watching Angel's movements until the black flames slowly dissipated. Only then did she seem to relax, her whole body loosening.
"Let's go to your hiding place. We need to discuss how to handle this 'manuscript.'"
Angel took one last look at the three unconscious people on the ground and said to Dominic.
Since he claimed someone was offering a high price for the "Third Generation Difference Engine" manuscript, Angel wasn't about to pass up this extra income. She needed money for her advancement, and living in Backlund required even more money. Any additional income was welcome.
"Ha, why would I possibly take you—"
Dominic's practiced provocation came readily, but he swallowed it back when Angel waved the document bag in her hand and glanced at Sonia beside him. He obediently led the way.
See, this is what happens when you bring someone with no combat ability into battle...
Angel grumbled internally as she and Sonia followed the "Provoker" out of the three-story building.
Sonia clearly understood her position, walking closely beside Angel without making a sound, wrapping herself tightly in her cloak.
The three traversed several streets and alleys, arriving before a building with an arch-like structure. Four-story buildings lined both sides of the street, connected by a passage overhead that spanned the street, joining the structures on both sides into one.
Dominic led Angel up to the third floor of one building, pulled out a key to open the door, and stood by the entrance, making a "please" gesture.
Looking at the dark room, Angel felt a slight chill from the magic mirror pressed against her body. Recalling the "Hunter" pathway's specialty skills, she chuckled softly and pressed her hand on Sonia's shoulder beside her.
His intentions exposed, Dominic's expression darkened. He entered the doorway first, pressed something behind the door frame several times, then turned back.
"Come in. The trap's disarmed."
The three entered the house. Dominic turned on the gas lamp in the room, letting warm light fill the living room, then removed his cloak and tossed it onto a nearby armchair.
"Sonia, go into the room and rest. Recover your spirituality properly, all right?"
The last sentence was directed at Angel.
Looking around and noting that this two-bedroom suite had only one main entrance with no other exits, Angel nodded and removed her hand from Sonia's shoulder.
The young lady looked worriedly at Dominic before slowly walking into the inner bedroom and closing the door.
"Have a seat. Let's talk properly. As you can see, there's no tea or coffee here to offer you."
After watching Sonia return to her room, Dominic plopped down onto his cloak, placing both hands on the table to show he wouldn't make any covert moves.
"First, tell me how you two came to Backlund and ended up living in a place like this," Angel said without ceremony, sitting in the chair opposite him and placing the document bag on the table while keeping her hand pressed on it. "Did official Beyonders discover that she became a Diviner?"
"You know about that?" Dominic's face showed a trace of surprise, followed by understanding. "Looks like you're aware of what extraordinary materials are needed for the Diviner potion... But we didn't flee Enmat Port because of that. It was because..."
"Sonia's father, Hansen Claude, was an import-export merchant whose business operated mainly between Loen and the colonies, so he had settled in Enmat Port for over a decade."
"Shortly after I sold you the 'Instigator' extraordinary characteristic, Mr. Hansen's business strategy became aggressive and risky. This made many of his business partners unhappy and put strain on his cash flow. Sonia was curious and worried that something had happened to her father, so she commissioned me to investigate."
"I secretly examined Mr. Hansen's account books and found many discrepancies totaling several thousand pounds. After investigating some of his business partners and even those close to him, I discovered he was under the influence of a young man he'd recently met. He treated this person as his advisor, took his words as gospel, and had completely lost his own judgment."
"An Instigator?"
Angel interjected, and Dominic's description felt somewhat familiar to her.
"Yes, an Instigator," the "Provoker" sighed softly. "Of course, my first thought was to report it and seek official Beyonders, but I'm a Beyonder myself, and so is Sonia. It would be hard to hide that, so I wanted to solve the problem myself, even trace it back to the source and recover Mr. Hansen's losses..."
Angel had already guessed the subsequent developments but didn't interrupt out of politeness.
"...I really should have listened to you back then and not provoked the Witch Sect. They killed Mr. Hansen, killed Mrs. Steven. I fought with everything I had just to get her out, took a ship south that very night to Pritz Port, then took a steam train to Backlund."
"How are you certain it was the Witch Sect? As far as I know, they're not the only ones who control the 'Assassin' pathway's low-sequence potions."
Hearing his certainty, Angel asked with confusion.
"It was definitely them. That woman used both ice and black flames, plus some method that could trap people. Mr. Hansen's bodyguard, a 'Brawler,' died at her hands in a single encounter. Ha, if I didn't know you had no connection with them, I would have wanted to attack you just now when I saw you using black flames."
I actually did have some connection with them before, and might again in the future... But the abilities he described should belong to a "Pleasure Witch," which would definitely make her from the "Witch Sect," and likely the "Mentor" in charge of Enmat Port. Easily killing a Sequence 8 "Brawler" wouldn't be surprising at all.
So the "Witch Sect" had committed more evil deeds in Enmat Port. She wondered if they'd been hunted by official Beyonders, if they'd been caught or eliminated.
Angel thought privately, not noticing she'd slipped back into a Nighthawk's way of thinking. She quickly interrupted her wandering thoughts and returned her focus to Dominic.
"I intended to take Sonia to find her uncle who does business in Backlund, but that unlucky fellow got involved in some criminal case. He's still locked up in prison now, and his two sons are drowning in debt while trying to rescue their father. They can't help us at all."
"So you've been hiding in the East Borough to avoid the 'Witch Sect' tracking you?"
"As you said, exactly," Dominic showed a self-mocking smile. "We've been in the East Borough for a month now. With her along, I don't dare take on anything too dangerous, so I can only do simple commissions. Her divination skills help somewhat. If not for needing to save money to go overseas to Bayam in the Rorsted Archipelago, I wouldn't have thought of stealing this manuscript."
There are still many suspicious points... How did a Sequence 8 with someone in tow escape from a "Pleasure Witch"? Why haven't they been found by the Witch Sect, who are skilled in divination, after so long in the East Borough? And why do they want to go to Bayam?
More questions surfaced in Angel's mind. If this were an interrogation, she would certainly lay out each question one by one and have him answer them all. But this was merely an exchange, a negotiation. Pressing too deeply, he might not answer.
So she decided to return to the most important matter—the "Difference Engine" design manuscript.
"How did you know this manuscript would appear in that building just now? And how do you plan to sell it?"
Hearing the question, Dominic's gaze shifted toward Sonia's room.
"Have you forgotten? I have a Diviner here. After collecting relevant reports and information, she divined that this manuscript would appear there in the latter half of tonight, so we went to wait. We didn't expect..."
"Didn't expect that besides the manuscript, I'd be there too?"
"Ahem—yes."
I carry the "Magic Pocket Watch," which interferes with divination, and the "Hidden Holy Emblem" makes me immune to divination by anyone below demigod level... For Sonia, a Sequence 9 Diviner, not discovering me is understandable...
Angel thought silently.
"As for selling the manuscript, that involves a secret gathering held regularly. Someone at the gathering publicly solicited clues about this manuscript. Any effective clue can earn a reward, and if you can obtain the manuscript, he's willing to pay 2,000 pounds to purchase it."
"Two thousand pounds?"
Angel repeated, her voice carrying a slight tremor.