"Is he dead?"
Ronald was truly shocked as he looked at the cult magician lying on the ground, vomiting blood.
Could it be that the cult magicians of this world all have issues in their heads? They clearly possess the ability to protect their upper echelons and control the information their subordinates leak, but they leave their plans unguarded during operations.
It was a trap set by the opponent deliberately.
Or could it be similar to the spell system birthed by the "Hell Chapter," inheriting a type with severe limitations?
"..."
Seeing Ronald was fine, Elaine kicked the cult magician under her foot again. Confirming that his death was inevitable, she quickly bound the remaining three cult magicians together.
"Mr. Ronald, since things are as they stand, I’ll be taking off early today. If there’s anything else, we can talk about it tomorrow morning."
"Safe travels."
After bidding each other farewell, Elaine soon disappeared from the basent.
Now, the only ones left here were Ronald, Eloise, and the subordinates left behind by Sir Philips.
"Mr. Ronald, if there’s nothing else, may I head upstairs?"
"We’ll be leaving soon."
After greeting this person one last ti, Ronald left together with Eloise.
Encountering such an incident during a banquet made it unsuitable to continue the festivities. After briefly bidding Sir Philips goodbye, Ronald considered his attendance at tonight’s banquet concluded.
The pair departed from Sir Philips’ mansion.
Outside, the night had deepened.
Few people were visible on the streets now, a stark contrast to when Ronald was chasing the cult magician. The dark night seed to remind Ronald: Tonight in Springs won’t be a quiet one.
Indeed, since entering Springs, Ronald had distinctly felt changes occurring in the city.
From the very beginning’s leisurely pace of life to now, where after a period, organizations like "Nine Commandnts," "Original Witch Society," and "Cult Magicians" would erge.
Almost exactly as Eloise had warned before.
The city was entering an increasingly dangerous state.
Considering this, Ronald glanced at Eloise walking beside him on the street. The girl, currently accompanying him, held his hand with a warm gesture. In the current environnt of Springs, she indeed was a rare partner he could trust.
"Hmm?"
Ronald’s slight turn of the head seed to startle Eloise.
The girl imdiately shifted her gaze to et Ronald’s, her beautiful face soon lighting up with a smile. After walking a few more steps, Eloise redirected her gaze forward before speaking softly:
"Ronald, I do know sothing about the Red Robe ntioned by that man just now."
"According to those nutcases, in their organization, only those who have directly communicated with that so-called great existence and are highly skilled in magic earn this title."
Ronald was instantly intrigued:
"You’re quite familiar with the internal structure of this organization."
Eloise shook her head resolutely:
"I only know a bit through my work; it’s just superficial. Their organization is actually quite simple, divided into four ranks: Divine Service, Red Robe, Pilgrimage, and Followers. There are a few other independent roles, but nothing special."
"Do you think their objectives... no, do you think what that guy summoned earlier is credible?" Ronald continued to inquire.
"Already parted ways, don’t trust her," Eloise shook her head assertively, "Even if Elaine is strong enough, how can you trust a madwoman? The things these cultist magicians believe in aren’t usually the sa as those of normal people."
"That’s true..."
"Ronald, just relax. The Investigation Bureau might seem weak in your eyes, but there’s no doubt they’re Grideland’s, even perhaps the world’s most formidable mystical organization right now. They’ll surely keep the city safe."
"..."
Ronald and Eloise didn’t bother hailing a cab.
Holding hands and discussing the night’s events, they didn’t return to their apartnt in the Riverside District until the stars were high in the sky.
As soon as they entered, Eloise hurried into the bathroom.
With the sound of the shower running, Eloise’s complaining voice ca through the slightly open door:
"Ronald, the process of mingling at the party wasn’t bad."
"It’s just that afterward, I always feel uncomfortable all over. Why don’t you co and wash up too?"
"..."
"I’ll talk about it later, okay?"
While brushing Eloise off, Ronald took off his coat and sat at his desk, beginning to ponder the day’s events.
Just like Eloise had said.
For them, tonight’s incident was presumably wrapped up, as the Investigation Bureau would naturally handle all related matters.
However, now that he was back ho, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that sothing was amiss.
Did the cultist magicians suddenly cause such an incident just to ’save’ the citizens of Springs City?
Had he missed so key clues?
With these doubts in mind, Ronald naturally wanted to try and unravel them.
He waved his hand, and a map of Springs City on a nearby bookshelf was pulled over by his spell. He began marking on the map, which was sowhat crudely drawn:
"Lorbo Mansion in the White Star District, the Riverside District’s Viel University canteen, the Brent family at 24 Oyer Street in the Organ District, the Border Forest District..."
It didn’t take long for him to mark the targets of the fifteen teams of cultist magicians.
Using common knowledge about mystical rituals, Ronald tried connecting these placents.
Thereby, he arrived at a rather interesting shape.
On the intersection point at the center of a horizontal figure ’8’, a vertical line extended upward with a long and short horizontal bar placed toward the other end, near the bottom.
"This... is sulfur?"
Ronald used to enjoy reading.
If this symbol were to be interpreted using Earth culture, then it likely represented the alchemy symbol for ’sulfur.’
This shape was symtrically organized on the map, obviously a deliberate arrangent rather than random placents. Could these cultist magicians be involved in so sort of operation connected to sulfur?
Click—
As Ronald continued his contemplation, Eloise erged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel, ticulously tending to her smooth hair while simultaneously making conversation with Ronald:
"Ronald, this hot weather really is annoying. The only benefit it seems to bring is that the city’s tap water isn’t so cold anymore, even the speed of heating bathwater has increased a bit."
"Heating water..."
What was initially just small talk from Eloise, now made Ronald mutter as he pondered. He seed to have stumbled upon so minuscule possibility.
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