"Still, it's impressive that you could figure all this out."
Lisi looked at Wei'en with a hint of approval in her eyes. A smart Investigator was one who lived a long time.
Marco nodded in agreement. "It really is impressive. You're almost as good as me."
"Actually, I only just joined Investigation Department One. It hasn't even been half a day," Wei'en said with a smile, pointing to his uniform.
"...If you hadn't said anything, I would've thought you'd been with the Investigation Department for ages. You've really never done work like this for the Secret Investigation Department before?"
"Nope. I have read a few detective novels, though."
Marco raised an eyebrow. "You mean *The Demonic Detective Sherlock Holmes* series by the Demon Hunter Conan Doyle?"
"Huh, you've read it too?"
"I'm a huge fan. I have a copy personally signed by Conan Doyle..."
THWACK!
Lisi smacked him. "Marco, it's working hours. Less nonsense!"
Marco crouched on the ground, clutching his head, his face twisted in pain.
'If only I wasn't too weak to beat her right now, I'd totally stand up and 'rebel'!'
"Wei'en, are there any other, better options?"
Wei'en thought for a moment, then said, "Well, it's not like there are *no* options... but what I'm about to say might not be accurate."
Lisi's eyes lit up. "Let's hear it."
"According to the parchment, the price for using 'it' is the spirit and blood of 3,000 people, but so far, only a little over three hundred have disappeared from the slums..."
No matter what that person's goal was, the price for using Forbidden Item 0-34, the Reviving Coffin, must be paid.
If they guarded the source, they were bound to find something.
It dawned on Lisi. "So, you're saying more people will go missing?"
The appearance of a new Forbidden Item had been such a shock that she'd overlooked such an obvious clue.
"Mhm," Wei'en nodded. "If that condition is real..."
"He still dares to continue? Does he really have no respect for our Secret Investigation Department?" Marco said, striking a cool pose with his hands in his pockets. "Isn't he afraid of being punished by a heroic Investigator such as myself?"
"A heroic Investigator? You?"
Lisi shot him a look. "Then how about I put you in charge of this case? For a heroic Investigator like you, two days to close the case should be plenty, right?"
"No way, I was just kidding," Marco said with a hollow laugh.
"Hmph."
Lisi rolled her eyes, then glanced at the parchment. "In that case, I'll go report to Yegor first and see if he has any better ideas."
Reporting what Wei'en had suggested was indeed far more reasonable than her previous plan of barging in and telling Yegor "the case is solved."
At least now they had a direction for the investigation.
Seeing she was about to leave, Wei'en quickly raised his hand. "I do."
"You thought of a good idea?" Lisi looked at him, her expression full of expectation.
"Ah, no," Wei'en said, rubbing his hands together with a bashful smile. "Um, Captain, about the fee for the translation... when do you think you could settle that?"
Lisi: "..."
Marco: "..."
The office fell silent in an instant.
The white-haired girl looked around, her expression puzzled. "Fee. Tina wants."
Lisi stared at him for a long moment before sighing. "Wei'en, next time, you can just say things like this directly."
She then pulled a wallet from her pocket, counted out three 1-gold-pound notes, and pressed one into Tina's hand. "This is for you, Tina, as a reward for using your 'Spirit Vision'."
"Wei'en, this is yours... 2 gold pounds!"
'Huh?'
'Why did she put so much stress on that?'
'Is she trying to say this is a hard-earned reward from the budget, so I should spend it wisely?'
'Of course. I'll definitely put this money to good use!'
Wei'en quickly took the money, a brilliant smile on his face. "Thank you, Captain! Don't forget me next time a good opportunity like this comes up. I'm pretty decent with the Gonzalez language."
'Earning money isn't easy. I didn't just have to translate it, I also had to rack my brain to find a direction for the investigation...'
Lisi forced a stiff smile and squeezed a sentence through her clenched teeth: "I'm sure we'll be troubling you again in the future."
Good heavens, she had nearly ground her teeth to dust.
'This guy... He gets paid and doesn't mention paying me back a single word, huh?'
*Sigh.*
'Forget it, forget it.'
'We're colleagues in the same department. Besides, he's a rare scholar who's proficient in the Gonzalez language.'
'With his ability to translate a parchment in less than an hour, the entire Investigation Department should be treating him like a treasure.'
'2 gold pounds... My 2 gold pounds...'
Lisi turned and walked out of the office, her expression melancholic.
Watching her leave, Marco asked in confusion, "What's wrong with her?"
Wei'en counted the two banknotes several times before pocketing them and saying casually, "You know how women are. They have those few days every month where they don't feel well."
Speaking of which, after spending half a day with them, he had basically figured out the personalities and work styles of the people in Department One.
Lisi had a direct personality and was quite brash in her actions.
From her file, he could tell she was better at solving cases with a brute-force approach. Simply put, she was more brawn than brains.
As for Marco, hmm, he was a bit more simple-minded.
And Tina... she was mysterious, with a strange personality. A type of person he had never encountered before.
"Wei'en, how do you know so much?"
"You don't know?" Wei'en asked, taken aback for a second.
Marco shook his head. "I know a little about other girls, but Lisi... I've rarely seen her act like this."
Wei'en said, feeling a bit guilty, "Maybe this case is just too difficult. She's probably under a lot of stress."
'Don't women in this world get periods?'
Thinking back to the wet dream he'd had last night, it wasn't entirely out of the question.
"Maybe," Marco said, a smile returning to his face. He walked over and slung an arm around his shoulder. "Wei'en, I've never seen a newcomer as amazing as you. Want to go to the Nocturnal City together tonight?"
Wei'en answered honestly, "Tonight? The captain did say yesterday that she was going to take me to experience the nightlife in Caster tonight."
"Her? Take you to experience the nightlife?"
"What's wrong?"
Marco clutched his stomach, laughing. "Wei'en, you—you've been fooled by her. What could she possibly know about nightlife spots? Haha..."
"Huh? She doesn't?"
"Of-of course not," Marco took a while to recover, then said with a secretive expression, "I'll tell you, but you can't tell her."
Wei'en nodded repeatedly. "Mhm, mhm."
"A while back, Lisi wanted to experience the nightlife and insisted that Roger and I take her."
Marco suppressed a grin. "So the two of us just found a random place and took her to play cards all night."
"Cards?"
"Thirteen-Card Roland. It's a very popular game here in Shetland. I'll show you sometime."
'Sounds like some kind of Texas Hold'em.'
Then Wei'en looked at him suspiciously. "So where did you take her?"
"Roger and I pooled together three gold pounds, rented a two-story building, and held a midnight cocktail party."
"Why didn't you take her to that... uh... Nocturnal City?"
"Shh!"
Marco glanced over at Tina, who wasn't far away, and whispered, "That's a place only men can go. If Lisi found out, she would definitely tear the place down."
"I get it."
It dawned on Wei'en. 'So it's that kind of place.' "Then you have to take me to see it sometime."
"No problem. As long as you don't tell Lisi what kind of 'entertainment' they have there, I'll take you."
"Mhm, mhm, of course I won't. But still, you two really went all out just to keep her from finding out. Three gold pounds..."
'They're really willing to spend. That much money could get me *Alchemy (Beginner)*.'
"That's where you're wrong," Marco said smugly. "The party cost a lot, but we also collected 5 gold pounds in ticket fees. Speaking of which, we should thank Lisi. She helped Roger and me discover a new way to make money."
Just then, Lisi pushed the door open and walked in. Seeing the two of them, she asked doubtfully, "What new way to make money?"
Marco reacted instantly. "Ah, nothing! I was just saying, since Wei'en knows the Gonzalez language, he could totally make money..."
"Right, right, that's what he said."
Wei'en rubbed his nose guiltily. He just wanted to check out the Nocturnal City; he hadn't intended to deceive anyone.
Lisi gave the two a suspicious glance, then turned to the white-haired girl. "Tina?"
The white-haired girl tilted her head and looked at them, then repeated in her simple way: "Tina heard. They're going to Nocturnal City. Fooled Lisi before. Not nightlife!"
"Ti—Tina..."
Marco's face went ashen. He had forgotten there was someone in the room who couldn't lie... 'I'm so dead.'