Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord Chapter 392 : Dead People Also Have Overtime Pay

Chapter 392: Dead People Also Have Overti Pay

“Family mbers, I am your most beloved special reporter, Nini, now live-reporting and writing from the gate of Castel Cathedral~”

“The Inspection Squad isn’t around, so I’ll write two more pieces.”

“The Lord went up to the rooftop, so today we’ll have an explosive update.”

“The the of this report—of course it’s the untold story between our Lord and Chloe. This ti don’t accuse of making things up, the Lord himself is hanging up there!”

“What, no one said my report was fake? Just that it isn’t exciting enough? Don’t talk nonsense, I’m risking my life doing this live coverage!”

“And also—hmm? Do you need sothing?”

Nini stopped her exaggerated gestures and looked down. Soone had just tapped the scales at her waist.

The Prince was standing there with a smile, lowering the hand he had raised high.

“Hello, are you the famous Nini? I’ve seen your statue.”

Previously, a statue of Nini had been erected at the school gate. Later, during the Deep Sea War, it was lost. When rebuilt, Castel no longer needed a dedicated literacy school, but the statue had still been raised again.

Nini’s eyes lit up at his words, even the tip of her tail stood straight.

“It’s nothing, just old fa. Not as good as the now.”

“Indeed. To stop progressing is no different from dying.” The Prince nodded, then raised his hand toward the top. “What is your Lord doing up there?”

A crowd had gathered below the cathedral. So were watching Nini’s antics, but most had their eyes fixed on the top.

At this mont, Hughes was hanging from a safety rope, his whole body suspended by the cathedral’s monunt, whispering to a diary in his hands.

“That—comforting the dead’s emotions.”

The Prince’s smiling face froze for a mont, almost breaking his composure.

“What?”

“That’s it.” Nini briefly explained Chloe’s matter. The Prince rubbed his chin, looking quite strange.

“I once heard rumors like that. They say certain secret arts can preserve an undying soul. As long as a suitable body is found later, one can return to the mortal world.”

“Oh? Really?” Nini’s face was full of gossip. “Can you tell more? I’m planning to start a ‘Love Beyond Life and Death’ column, and I need cases like this.”

“Sorry, I’m just a mortal. I don’t know much about the extraordinary world. These are rely hearsay.” The Prince spread his hands.

He glanced a few more tis at Hughes above, then turned to leave.

Nini, however, continued her antics in front of the cathedral, attracting quite a few gazes.

But within the Mind Link, the scene was different.

『This is Team Three. The target has left our sight. Should we follow?』

『Stay in place. Do not follow. Repeat, do not follow. The target may have other observation thods. Strictly no direct tracking!』

『Nini, the Banshee Inspection Squad will be coming down soon. Head southeast to escape. They’ll lose track of you halfway and then start searching everywhere. Soone will pick you up then. Understood?』

『Understood.』 Nini was performing a six-handed simultaneous writing act amidst the crowd, her eyes narrowing slightly, casually sweeping toward the direction where the Prince had just left: 『Lord, when the Prince was right beside just now, I couldn’t sense even the slightest extraordinary power. Could it be true that he carries a second soul with him?』

Hughes was still dangling from the top of the cathedral. Without turning back, he softly asked Chloe.

【You’re certain you didn’t mistake it?】

〖Of course. My current perspective is different from when I had a body. You rember that ti, right?〗

Hughes and Chloe had once studied whether her internal pollution could be purified. By accident, he had connected through her extraordinary senses.

It had been an extrely bizarre perspective, as if one could see both the inside and outside of things simultaneously. Information had poured into his mind like a torrent, leaving a deep impression.

【Alright, describe those two people to .】

〖Hmm… One looked like the Prince—by that I an the Prince as described in Nini’s reports. The other, however, was a woman.〗

【A woman?】

〖Yes. She looked about twenty, and her soul energy was very high.〗

【Soul energy? Do you an she had extraordinary power?】

〖No. From my perspective I can see soul energy. It’s unrelated to extraordinary power, more like… whether soone is full of vitality, whether their ntal state is healthy.〗

〖For example, that Galahad from before—he was an extraordinary being, but his cognition wavered, leading to loss of control. His soul energy was very low. Hmm… ‘soul energy’ may cause misunderstandings. I should say—she seed very spirited.〗

Hughes neither agreed nor disagreed, pondering for a while before asking: 【Then how about the man’s soul energy?】

〖You an the Prince? His soul energy was fine, a bit higher than an ordinary person, but not as high as the woman’s.〗

〖To be precise, that woman had perhaps the strongest soul energy I’ve ever seen.〗

That was strange indeed.

The Prince always had a woman by his side, unseen by others.

Hughes reopened the Mind Link.

『Did any of you sense anomalies near the Prince earlier?』

『No.』

『No abnormalities at all.』

Nini: 『He was right beside , yet I felt not a trace of extraordinary power, like he was a completely ordinary man.』

Hughes: 『Alright, I see. What about the extraordinary ones of the Moths Chasing Fire?』

Inside one of the cathedral’s rooms, Richard was with a banshee. At Hughes’s words, the banshee imdiately turned to him.

Richard, however, shook his head in confusion. “Nothing. No abnormalities. I already used the extraordinary perspective of 【Chrysalis】, but I could detect nothing.”

The banshee paused, then relayed the reply through the Mind Link, and asked aloud: “Lord, is Chloe’s perspective different from yours?”

“In theory, it should be the sa. But she is a dead one, abandoned her body. Perhaps her senses are stronger in this regard? Still, it shouldn’t be that I sense nothing at all, while she sees it clearly.”

After much analysis with no results, Hughes sighed.

【Perhaps it’s one of Duke Tis’s thods. I’ll try to arrange secret surveillance. Chloe, I’ll trouble you to stay up there for a while longer.】

〖…〗

【Of course, Nini’s new report will be sent up for you to hang there—legal or illegal, you’ll have them all.】

〖…〗

【There’ll be soone to do your regular maintenance too—spine massage, page care, corner binding… And all your night shifts will be recorded. Once you’re revived, you’ll have endless overti pay and unlimited compensatory leave.】

〖Overti pay? H-how much will there be?〗

【A great deal.】 Hughes said with absolute certainty.