Reached the end of the stairs and entered the underground base.
Ronald looked around.
Compared to the previous Investigative Bureau building, the layout and structure here were actually very simple.
What first caught the eye was a central hall dug deep into the ground and not too large in area; around this central hall, the underground space branched off in eight directions, each leading to a separate room.
But it inherited the situation Ronald had encountered before at the Investigative Bureau.
The underground base was eerily quiet, and there was no sign of anyone moving in sight.
At that mont, the nun who had brought Ronald down spoke:
"Mr. Ronald, please wait a mont."
"I’ll call the people from your Investigative Bureau over."
With a smile, waiting for Ronald to nod in acknowledgnt, the nun then turned and walked to the second room on the right.
Soon, a familiar figure erged.
It was Mrs. Mapple.
Led by the entering nun, this administrative officer from the Investigative Bureau walked out of the room to Ronald, appearing exhausted, and then gave him a subtly scrutinizing look up and down.
Hesitating for a few seconds, Mapple spoke:
"Ronald, why did you rush over so late in the evening? The Selifis matter shouldn’t have been so troubleso, should it?"
"..."
Ronald didn’t directly answer but instead glanced at the nun beside him with his eyes.
Seeing this look, Mapple imdiately understood.
With a careless wave of her hand, she candidly said:
"Just speak directly, no need to guard against Miss Audrey."
"She’s one of us."
"..."
"Alright."
Hearing Mapple say this, Ronald no longer intended to keep concealing.
Pulling out the Magic Book from beneath his folded coat, he straightforwardly handed it over.
"..."
Faced with the item Ronald presented, Mapple fell silent.
She initially intended to directly take the book wrapped in a shirt, but halfway through the action, an ominous thought crossed her mind.
Looking at the Magic Book in front of her, then back at Ronald standing close by,
Her eyes gradually growing somber, Mrs. Mapple spoke with an uneasy tone, almost probing:
"Ronald, don’t tell this is a..."
"It’s a Magic Book."
Ronald interrupted Mapple’s hesitation and luck, tersely explaining:
"This is what I found in Selifis afterward."
"Even on my way back to Berenwich from Selifis, I saw soone I shouldn’t have seen."
"Stop! Stop right there!"
This ti, it was Mapple who interrupted Ronald.
Listening to increasingly explosive information, this administrative officer from the Investigative Bureau couldn’t maintain her previous casual deanor and imdiately stopped Ronald from speaking, casting an apologetic look at the nun beside her:
"Sorry, this matter I need to discuss privately with Ronald."
The nun maintained her smile, not minding at all and nodded:
"Please go ahead, I don’t mind."
During the previous conversation, this clergy mber expressed almost no excess emotion, rely watching the two with a quiet smile. Now, catching the hint in Mapple’s words, the nun didn’t say much and turned to walk toward the ground.
Watching the nun leave,
Mapple took the Magic Book from Ronald’s hands, grabbed his wrist, and together they entered the room she had been in.
Entering here,
Ronald recognized this room, which bore a striking resemblance to the Investigative Bureau’s personnel departnt.
Stacks of files, a heap of unprocessed docunts, mobility information sheets compiled by investigators—various items proved this to be the alternate office space for the personnel departnt.
Sitting behind the office desk, Mapple didn’t rush to open the Magic Book but instead questioned Ronald anew:
"Your situation doesn’t quite match what Willard said earlier..."
"After they left, you must have encountered so issues in that town."
"Right?"
Ronald nodded,
"Yes, actually, the very next morning, I was in Serephis..."
Ronald slowly recounted the encounters within the fishing village, and Ms. Mapple just quietly listened.
Once he had explained the situation almost completely, she asked,
"You ntioned earlier that you saw soone you shouldn’t have, didn’t you?"
"And who was that?"
"It was Lama." Ronald directly nad him, then continued to explain in detail, "Ms. Mapple, as you know how I entered Berenwich. The Lama I am talking about is the mastermind behind the murder aboard the Dongfeng, and he’s currently being pursued by the authorities."
"When I was holding the Magic Book, coming back from Serephis to Berenwich, that guy appeared in the nearby woods and was clearly watching ."
"However, given the circumstances at that ti, I didn’t plan to confront him, and he didn’t seem to want to disturb the public either. So, in the end, I just ran back here without any unnecessary fighting or negotiation."
"Lama..."
Murmuring this na, Ms. Mapple’s gaze grew increasingly complex.
She sat pondering behind her desk for over a minute.
Then she suddenly awoke.
Pulling an envelope from her desk in front of her, she threw it to Ronald and waved her hand,
"The arrangents for after this are all inside. Once you’ve read it, rember to destroy it."
"For now, you can go back and rest."
"Alright."
He left the basent, then walked out of the confessional.
However, Ronald didn’t leave Lierdel Cathedral imdiately.
Seeing that there were few people around the circular corridor of the cathedral, he simply picked a secluded bench to sit on, then leisurely opened the envelope in his hands.
Inside was a piece of letter paper and a translucent card.
Ronald held the card up to a bright spot and examined it.
This...
This seed like a Moiré-patterned grating card?
Why would the investigative bureau send this?
With this question in mind, Ronald pressed his fingers on the text of the letter inside the envelope and quickly scanned the content.
The gist of the content was that every morning, the investigative bureau would send letters via the city’s post office newspapers to the investigators assigned to various residences, with tasks that were valid only on the day of issue and useless thereafter.
These mission dispatch letters used a new optical encryption thod.
Without pressing this grating card against the letter, it was impossible to directly discern the task’s details.
"..."
Ronald put away the grating card, his eyes filled with confusion.
The bureau’s reaction was too extre.
Sothing was amiss.
From his life experience, official organizations shouldn’t be driven to this state by a re cult.
Hiding underground was one thing, but even adopting such covert communication thods?
Although it could be considered as part of the mysterious nature of secrecy.
Still, at the end of the day, it was too much.
Ronald believed that besides the activities of the cult magicians, sothing else must have happened in Berenwich that he was unaware of, which had forced the investigative bureau to adopt such a stance.
So, what could it be...
While Ronald was pondering,
the nun who had left the basent earlier suddenly walked over and gently placed a small pouch in front of him.
Maintaining her own quiet manner, the nun gave Ronald a slight smile:
"Mr. Ronald, this is your weekly salary for the work you did last week."
"Since the investigative bureau is currently unable to do this, we’ll handle the transfer for you."
Taking the small pouch, Ronald sincerely thanked her,
"Thank you, you’ve been a great help."
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