CHAPTER 67: MY BANK PRESIDENT FATHER

“Londan is dangerous lately, especially at night. Stay at home and don’t go anywhere.”

Wayne nodded at the message from his master, wholeheartedly agreeing with her. At night, Londan was shrouded in mist that significantly weakened a mage’s perception. No one knew what lurked in the darkness. Take those elusive urban legends as an example. Even if only half of them were true, it would be enough to prove how terrifying the city was at night.

Never mind the other stories—just look at Julia.

The Death Knight’s warhorse wandered around carelessly at night and befriended an undead hound. The two skeletons roamed around in the dead of night. That could’ve been bad news for ordinary people if Julia and Do hadn’t been undead creatures with hearts of gold and unwilling to cause trouble.

Julia and Do were kind, but other creatures were a different story entirely. Wayne heeded his master’s advice and decided to avoid the streets at night as much as possible.

He’d take the sewers instead.

He released the white bird and realized that this messenger bird was one-time. It didn’t fly far but found a perch in a corner of the detective agency’s backyard.

You'd better stay away from that spot. You’re blocking Do’s doghouse.

To ordinary people, white doves were commonplace and unremarkable; many plazas raised their own. But in the eyes of mages, a white dove was often a messenger bird and could mark their owner as a mage.

Wayne didn’t want to be exposed, so he waved the dove over and fed it a handful of corn kernels, releasing his own white dove to play with it.

Coo, coo, coo—

Coo!

After a brief exchange, his messenger bird drove off the single-use dove, claimed all the corn, and tilted its head to stare intensely at him. It seemed to be demanding, “When did you get another bird behind my back?!”

He rolled his eyes and promised he wouldn’t bring home another bird without a reason in the future. Only then did his messenger bird let the matter rest, pecking its meal.

He’d never known that messenger birds were territorial.

Now he wondered if the snowy owl would drive the white dove away, too. They were both daytime messenger birds, so they wouldn’t be working in shifts.

“I’ve been careless!”

He scratched his head. What was done was done; he just had to make do. Thinking of the snowy owl looking at people through narrowed eyes, he wished for his white dove to knock it over with its rear end.

But he knew it was unlikely. Owls, despite their cute appearance, were birds of prey. Like lions and tigers of the cat family, they stood at the top of the food chain with virtually no predators in the wild.

The white dove pecked at the corn kernels on the table while Wayne started writing furiously. He was catching up on his diary, making sure that there was enough writing to present him in a glorious light before the next victim read it.

Half an hour later, he lowered his pen and looked up toward the office door. Someone was opening it. But it wasn’t a thief. Judging by the scent, it was a magical girl who should be making friends with a tentacle monster.

Veronica put away her keys, locked the front gate, and pushed open the office door, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. “I knew it was you. I knew you were back.”

“How did you know? Did Veryl tell you?”

Wayne silently cursed his carelessness. He’d promised his master not to reveal his whereabouts, but he’d been exposed anyway. However, Veryl couldn’t be blamed. Veronica was the young lady of the Lando family—what servant would lie to their master for an outsider?

He felt a pang of disappointment. Ultimately, he wasn’t Veryl’s master, and he wasn’t as important to him as Veronica.

He stood up and walked up to Veronica, arms spread to give her a hug for their long-awaited reunion. As expected, she rejected the gesture.

She strode up to the office desk and sat down, flipping through his diary with great interest. As a regular reader, she was very interested in his endless stream of lies, curious just how far his artistic liberty went.

“An upright and kind-hearted young man...” She snorted with amusement, entertained by the jokes in the diary. She was grateful to have encountered a scum like Wayne. Through his deception, she learned a valuable lesson in human dishonesty.

It was taught in school and emphasized many times, but such a lesson was best learned through personal experience.

“Where’s the rest? Why isn’t there more?”

“I’m still writing.”

“Here’s the pen. Write now and I’ll keep reading.”

Speechless, Wayne closed the diary. Enough was enough. A diary was supposed to be a sacred private confession. It shouldn’t be subject to such public humiliation.

Veronica looked disappointed. She’d like to see more of society’s dark side.

He changed the subject. “You haven’t told me how you know I’m back in Londan. Did Veryl tell you?”

“Veryl didn’t say anything. I made an educated guess.”

She had called the manor to assure Wayne and tell him to wait a little longer. Also, Kristen’s birthday was on the seventh of the month, and she’d helped him prepare his gift.

Veryl answered the call, saying that Wayne was currently unavailable and would return the call when he had time. She hadn’t thought much of it then, but when she called the next day, she got the same response. Immediately, she realized that Veryl was hiding something.

She came to the detective agency to confirm Wayne’s whereabouts. It proved to her that Veryl had indeed been lying.

She looked at Wayne suspiciously. Just how did this man compel a Lando family’s butler to lie for him? Had Veryl read the diary and fallen for it?

That couldn’t be. Veryl wasn’t a fool.

Wayne felt a flood of relief and comfort. Veryl was worthy of being the best and only butler in his heart—such loyalty. Veronica wouldn’t have noticed the lie if not for her clever mind.

“But why did you suddenly come back to Londan?” she asked curiously. “Aren’t you afraid of getting stuffed into a cement barrel and sunk into the river by whoever’s after you?”

She felt compelled to remind him of the big shot’s influence in Londan. If even Mr. Lando had spent three months without making progress, the person was very likely to be a member of the royal family.

“Not anymore. Someone helped me deal with that person.”

“Impossible, even he couldn’t...” Veronica didn’t believe it. She pressed with a frown, “Tell me who it is. Wayne, don’t blame me for not warning you. All acts of care come with a price. They may have ulterior motives.”

“It’s my master. She taught me magic and guided me into the world.”

“What?” Veronica gasped. “You have a master now? And a female one at that? Is she pretty?”

“As a student, I shouldn’t comment on my master’s appearance, but she is indeed very beautiful—nearly perfect.” Wayne didn’t spare his praise for Silvia.

“Then you’d better be careful. A beautiful and powerful mage has even less reason to take such good care of you. She must be up to no good. Maybe someday she’ll sacrifice you.” Veronica pursed her lips. “Mr. Lando once said that the more beautiful a woman is, the better she’s at deceiving people. You only think she isn’t lying to you because you’re salivating after her.”

What, do you moonlight as a therapist now?

Wayne rolled his eyes. “Enough nonsense. I respect Master.”

“What about your promise to Kirsten? You said you’d join the Church of Moonlight.”

“Um, my master worships the Goddess of Nature, so from now on, I’ll be Her follower, too.” He shrugged. It was his fault for breaking his promise, but Kristen would surely forgive him with her magnanimous heart.

“I see...”

Veronica blinked at his knowing gaze, taking back her earlier comment with a blush. There was definitely no conspiracy or plan to sacrifice Wayne. His master worshipped the Goddess of Nature, so she had to be a good person.

“Then what about my promise to Kirsten?” Wayne asked her the question instead. “I said I’d join the Church of Moonlight.”

“What does that have to do with me? I wasn’t the one who gave her my word...” Veronica muttered under her breath, then just like he had done, she changed the subject. “What’s the lady’s name? If she can do what even Mr. Lando couldn’t, she must be well-known. Maybe I know her.”

“I can’t tell you. Master found herself in a difficult situation recently and told me not to let others know about our relationship. As you can see, I’ve been following her well, staying in the house and not going anywhere. I didn’t even call any of you.”

Veronica dropped the issue, though she felt somewhat annoyed. Despite her popularity at school and the droves of underclassmen following her like a celebrity, she had very few friends. She had two, actually: her roommate, Vera, and Kristen, who was one year her senior.

Veronica was modest and polite to everyone, never forgetting her noble manners. Her way of dealing with people made it seem like she was easygoing, but it would become clear after a few exchanges that she wasn’t a warm-hearted person. She was naturally aloof and stubborn, with a streak of mischief and a preference for being alone.

Over time, she developed a natural presence that kept people at arm’s length. She could be an idol at the academy, but not a caring sister figure to her underclassmen.

One’s family often shapes their personality. Veronica’s parents had separated, treating each other like strangers. Her mother had traveled far to Palis, Franc. If not for her dragonblood making her a great bit stronger than her peers, she would’ve become a victim of bullying long ago.

Of course, there was the possibility that some of her classmates had entertained the thought, but before they could act, they were threatened with cement barrels.

In the entire academy, only Vera and Kristen were able to break down her walls. Vera took it a step further—not only did she make Veronica drop her guard, she could even get Veronica to raise her fist.

Some time ago, Veronica had reluctantly classified Wayne as a friend, pleased that her social circle had expanded, but it turned out Wayne had downgraded her and prioritized a master who came out of nowhere.

Hmph, I’m downgrading you, too!

“By the way, since you’re back, I’ll return your owl to you tonight.”

“Already? Help me take care of it a bit longer.”

Veronica refused. “It doesn’t get along with Monica. They almost got into fights several times.”

She had a black cat named Monica. It was Mr. Lando’s pet and was usually cared for by Butler Megan. Mr. Lando only handled the petting and had never once scooped litter for it.

The snowy owl and the black cat were both felines in a sense[1], but with contrasting colors. They got along poorly. Even after being moved to different houses, they got into fights in secret. If this went on, one of them was going to die sooner or later.

“Alright then. I’m not going out much lately. It’ll be good to get to know it.” Wayne hid his disappointment. There was going to be another mouth to feed at home.

Unlike the Lando family’s resident, there was no servant to clean up after the bird at his place, nor were there mouse jerky readily available. He hoped the snowy owl would grow up quickly and learn to be self-sufficient.

“There’s one more thing,” Veronica said. “Have you considered moving the agency elsewhere?”

“Moving...” He thought about it for a moment. “I’ve considered it. The agency’s location is too remote to attract big cases, but I can’t afford to move it to a wealthy district—”

“I’ll pay,” Veronica interrupted. He didn’t know that the agency had been in trouble recently. When the landlord came to collect rent, she had paid to settle the matter. If she were even two days late, he would’ve lost his home.

“Then I have no problem with it at all. You can move it anywhere.” Wayne raised both hands in agreement. He found no shame in freeloading on another. There was no point in that. He would even write an essay about his bank president father. “Um, are you being serious?”

“Yes.”

Veronica nodded. Her mother had come home, but it wasn’t long before she started fighting with Mr. Lando again. They threw barbs at each other whenever they shared a space and never behaved like proper parents. It frustrated her, and she wanted a place to run away to.

The detective agency was good for that, and she could read updates to the diary anytime. The problem was its distance. She had wasted a lot of time on traffic.

It wouldn’t be a problem after the move.

Veronica left, locking the gate behind her. Before leaving, she said again that she would deliver the owl as soon as possible. Wayne asked her to keep the secret and not tell Vera and Kristen that he was back. Vera, especially, had to be kept in the dark, or her family of macho men would be blocking his door and flexing their pectorals menacingly.

“I can do that, but you’d better give Kristen an explanation. She’s been staying up all night writing teaching materials for your tutoring sessions. She’s gotten to the fourth-grade curriculum.” Veronica indicated the thickness with her fingers.

Wayne felt guilty. Kristen had worked so hard to take him into the Church of Moonlight, but he’d turned around and thrown himself into the embrace of the Goddess of Nature.

That was cheating in a sense.

He didn’t want to owe anyone favors. After thinking it over, he decided to go through with the one-on-one tutoring sessions. Having already broken his word by not joining the Church of Moonlight, wouldn’t he be worse than an animal if he wasted the teaching materials Kristen had carefully written?

He had to do it, no matter what.

After seeing off Veronica, he continued writing his diary while waiting for news from Bo’s side. The sooner he got his revenge, the sooner he could join the company.

Forming contracts with vengeful spirits granted Wayne their abilities. Do gave him a keen sense of smell and a supernatural sense; the former was within what was possible for an ordinary creature, while the latter exceeded the limits of animalistic instinct.

He suspected it had something to do with the Book of Greed, though he didn’t rule out that Do could be a special case. So many pets had died in the shelter, but only Do became a wraith. That made her unique.

Bo, too, was special. He had a special bloodline and ended up granting Wayne marksmanship and super vision. Super vision allowed him to see into a far distance and observe fine details that would normally require tools to observe, and he was able to switch between the telescopic and microscopic visions at will. Moreover, he could see more colors. Like his sense of smell, super vision could be enhanced with mana, too.

It made sense that Bo’s contract would grant marksmanship. As a police officer, he would naturally be skilled with guns. But super vision was a different story.

“Hope I’ll get a physique of steel next time...”

1. Owl in Mandarin is literally cat-faced eagle. ☜