Chapter 98 - 97: The Great Detective Boerlus

Chapter 98: Chapter 97: The Great Detective Boerlus

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

"Galen, heading out so early again today? Wait a moment, breakfast is almost ready."

"Thank you for the trouble, Lady Cassandra."

The walk from Feipu Lane to the ’Pulsating Goblin Head’ took less than ten minutes.

Hesia was in no hurry. He leisurely finished Lady Cassandra’s usual two-course meal—a savory wheat soup paired with... the roasted meat patties he was getting rather tired of.

"Thank you for breakfast, Lady Cassandra. Same as usual, I probably won’t be back for lunch."

"Alright, be careful on your way."

As Hesia left, Lady Cassandra was about to clear the dishes when she heard a faint sound from the stairs again.

A familiar hooded figure was tiptoeing down the stairs, looking as if they were terrified of being discovered.

Lady Cassandra was a little surprised, but she was used to seeing her dressed this way.

"Zoya? You’re heading out this early too? Let me get you a bowl of soup."

"No, thank you. I’m not eating today."

Since she said so, Lady Cassandra didn’t insist.

Her gaze merely swept over Zoya’s thin Stalker outfit, and she couldn’t help but add a reminder, "It’s probably going to get colder these next couple of days. The mornings and evenings are chilly, so remember to wear something warmer."

Zoya’s steps faltered for a moment, as if she hadn’t expected the other woman to be concerned about such a thing.

She tilted her head slightly and gave a small nod in Lady Cassandra’s direction, acknowledging her kindness.

Then, she quickly vanished through the courtyard gate.

Lady Cassandra looked at the empty gateway and shook her head helplessly. "This girl... how can she not eat breakfast?"

Before the words had even faded, a PITTER-PATTER of footsteps echoed from the stairs.

It was Bruce, scampering down with an excited look on his doggy face that seemed to say, "I’m off to do something important!"

Lady Cassandra paused, then smiled. "Oh, little one, you’re awake too? Don’t you want to sleep in a bit longer?"

"WOOF! Time for my workout! WOOF!"

"Alright, stay safe."

Lady Cassandra froze for a second, blinked in confusion, and then shook her head with a self-deprecating smile.

"Sigh, I must be getting old. I’m starting to hear things."

She didn’t realize anything was amiss, merely thinking that the two youngsters were so full of vigor that even their pet was this energetic.

"They’re all so driven. Such good kids."

However, the thought of the one person in the house who still wasn’t out of bed made her inexplicably irritated. She spun around and stormed toward Thomas’s room.

"Tom! Get out of bed this instant! Do you want Mr. Jonathan’s scabbard to come kiss your butt!?"

Tom’s groggy complaint came from the room. "Mom! Mr. Jonathan said we have the next two days off! I told you last night!"

"Don’t give me excuses! Can’t you go to the training grounds to stretch your legs on a day off? Your laziness will be the end of you!"

...

Meanwhile, on the stone-paved road of Feipu Lane.

Bruce was relying on his keen sense of smell to carefully track the faint, shadowy figure up ahead.

As Hesia’s most loyal companion, and as Zoya’s master (self-proclaimed), he felt it was his duty to personally confirm whether his "disciple"—Zoya—was acting strangely.

And the black figure in the distance looked suspicious no matter how he looked at it.

Following the faint, cold fragrance in the air, he maintained a safe distance, nimbly darting between street corners and piles of clutter, trying his best not to be seen.

Zoya had no idea she had a "little tail" behind her.

She moved nimbly through the quiet morning alleys, her eyes locked on Hesia in the distance.

When Hesia said yesterday that he only had eight Golden Shields, Zoya knew it wasn’t enough to buy a Magic Wand.

But she was a perceptive Elf. She had seen, on more than one occasion, how that burly man, Belte, had laughed it off when Laila mercilessly pointed out he didn’t have enough money. Yet, she had keenly caught the fleeting look of disappointment in his eyes.

She didn’t want Hesia to wear that same expression.

Hesia had given her the dagger stained with elven blood.

When she was little, her mother had told her that when you receive a gift, you must give one in return.

She also wanted to give Hesia a gift he needed—a Magic Wand.

Yesterday, she had gone out and "borrowed" a bag of Golden Shields from a "big house" in a certain town. The money should be enough now, right?

She just needed to find out where that Wand Shop was, and she could buy a Magic Wand for Hesia!

Watching Hesia’s back, Zoya imagined how happy he would be to receive the Magic Wand. Her steps couldn’t help but become lighter, the hem of her black cloak fluttering gently in the wind.

Hesia was even more clueless that Zoya was following close behind him, and that behind Zoya was her own "little tail," Bruce—meaning he was essentially being watched by two tails.

He once again passed through the narrow gap from yesterday and stood before the stone wall.

Then he focused his mind and began searching for the Magic Point on the wall that had a sense of spatial distortion.

Just as his finger touched it, a notification came from the ball of light in his mind.

[Affinity with Moon-eyed Elf Zoya Selene has increased. Decryption Points +2]

’Why would Zoya’s Affinity suddenly increase?’

Hesia muttered to himself inwardly.

’Bruce said she came back very late last night. She’s probably still fast asleep, right?’

’Could it be... she’s dreaming about me?’

He used these random thoughts to suppress some of his nervousness.

Then he stepped into the wall, which rippled like water.

He passed through the seven stone steps and arrived at the wooden door, which had a "Do Not Disturb" sign hanging on it.

Unlike yesterday, the door was now tightly shut. Hesia raised his hand and knocked.

"KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK."

There was no response from inside.

He waited a moment before knocking a second time, a little harder this time.

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"

This time, there was finally a response from within. First came an impatient mumble, "Coming, coming! What’s the rush!"

Immediately after, a quick and light PITTER-PATTER sound grew closer—the sound of bare feet on stone slabs.

CREAK. The door was yanked open a crack.

Lady Fevik Quick-thinker appeared behind the door with a head of messy, curly hair, a loose-fitting robe thrown over her body. Her eyes were drowsy; she was clearly not fully awake yet.

Hesia looked at the Half-Elf Mage before him, who had zero "professionalism" to speak of, and was speechless.

’Who was it that swore up and down yesterday about hating to wait for people and told me to be absolutely punctual? If I could, I’d grab her by her little feet and hang her upside down. Then I’d stare into her not-yet-fully-open eyes and demand sharply: Do you have any idea what a huge psychological barrier I had to overcome to crawl out of my warm bed?! Huh?! Say something!’

For now, however, he just said in a gentle tone, "Why don’t you sleep a little longer? It’s still early, so there’s no rush."

Fevik yawned, rubbed her eyes, and said vaguely, "It’s fine... You’re quite punctual... We..."

Her gaze unintentionally swept past Hesia, and her previously drowsy eyes suddenly shot wide open.

"Those two outside with their faces pressed against the wall, are they with you?"