Tivian, Royal Crown University, King’s Campus.
At the top of a clock tower, inside a room used for storing tools, Edrick placed his hand on the floor, allowing the gecko that had traveled from afar to crawl onto his palm. He lifted it up and stroked it with his other hand, closing his eyes as if sensing something.
“How is it? Did you manage to scout anything?”
Sitting on a wooden crate, Brandon looked at Edrick and asked. After a brief silence, Edrick opened his eyes, put the gecko back into his pocket, and spoke quietly.
“I did gather some intelligence, but nothing valuable. That leader entered a stone gate, and my marionette was blocked outside, unable to follow. With no other choice, it had to return.”
“Hah… So basically, we wasted our time, huh? Rick, your marionette isn’t all that reliable.” Brandon chuckled with a hint of disdain in his expression.
Edrick, slightly annoyed, turned his head towards Brandon and said, “If you think you can do better, why don’t you go yourself?”
“Hey, don’t be mad. I was just joking, don’t take it to heart.”
Brandon grinned, apologizing casually before changing the subject.
“By the way, you mentioned you did find something. What exactly was it?”“Nothing much, just that when we took out those two lackeys in Green Shade Town last time, Lisa was seen entering the house by a passerby. Now those guys are looking for her.”
Edrick spoke slowly, then sneered contemptuously before continuing.
“Hah… But their efforts will be in vain. The physical description of Lisa they got from that passerby is based on her carefully crafted disguise. They even think Lisa is a student at Royal Crown University. Let them investigate. The more resources they waste chasing a false lead, the better.”
Hearing Edrick’s words, Brandon’s eyes lit up, and he laughed as he added,
“Lisa’s disguise, huh? Haha… Forget about the skin tone, but she usually has so little up front, and now she padded it that much. Isn’t she afraid it’ll fall off?”
After teasing their companion, Brandon’s expression turned serious as he addressed Edrick again.
“Speaking of which, our reconnaissance has hit a dead end, and we don’t know what those guys are up to. What should we do next?”
Edrick pondered for a moment before replying, “I suspect they have some kind of counter-surveillance measures, so for now, I’m halting all scouting activities. The safe house in Green Shade Town is no longer usable, and the matters at Royal Crown University will be a long-term operation. Our priority should be establishing a new base.”
“Hmm… That makes sense. We definitely need to rebuild our base at Royal Crown University. Do we already have a location for the new safe house?”
Brandon asked, to which Edrick shook his head.
“Not yet. There’s still a lot to do.”
Edrick glanced around before pausing briefly and continuing, “Eight days. Come back to this spot at 6 PM, eight days from now. By then, the new safe house will be ready, and I’ll give you the exact location.”
“Six in the evening, eight days from now? Got it. I’ll be there on time.”
Brandon nodded in acknowledgment.
“Alright, then let’s leave it at that for today. Keep a low profile for now, don’t provoke them. We’ll wait until after those eight days. By then, we might be able to give them a real surprise.”
After finishing his words, Edrick looked at Brandon seriously before speaking again with solemnity.
“Until then. For the Rose Cross.”
“For the Rose Cross. See you.”
After exchanging nods, Edrick and Brandon left the room together, descending the spiral staircase of the clock tower. Meanwhile, the two black spiders that had been secretly watching them also moved at the same time, following closely behind.
At the base of the clock tower, Edrick and Brandon parted ways without a word, each heading in a different direction. The two black spiders also split up, choosing separate targets to continue their surveillance.
However, after parting ways, Brandon and Edrick quickly merged into the crowd, their pace steadily increasing until they were moving far faster than an average person’s walking speed. This made it difficult for the spiders crawling along the walls and ceiling to keep up.
Due to the massive difference in size, the spiders simply couldn’t match the speed of a human. They had no trouble keeping up with a gecko before, but tracking Brandon and Edrick, who had picked up their pace, was a different story.
Before long, the spiders lost sight of their targets as the two figures disappeared into the bustling school grounds. Realizing this, the spiders had no choice but to retreat and return to their master’s hand.
Inside the gathering point of the Scholarly Society of Mystical Knowledge, Nephthys sat in a secluded spot, her expression serious as she focused intently on a book. Around her were other society members, their behavior odd and their gazes vacant.
Nephthys remained quietly absorbed in her reading, unaware that a pair of eyes was fixed on her.
Behind a distant stone pillar, a middle-aged man hid, peering intently at Nephthys from the shadows, his expression serious.
This man was the same one who had previously spoken with Thorn Velvet before the webbed corridor. He was one of Thorn Velvet’s direct subordinates. Just moments ago, he had received orders from Thorn Velvet to assist Jed in searching the school for the female student who had appeared near No. 23 yesterday.
According to eyewitnesses from Green Shade Town, before the gunshots rang out at No. 23, a dark-skinned great-figure female student had been seen entering the premises. Based on this, they concluded that she was connected to the incident that resulted in the loss of two of their members. Thus, they decided to track her down.
Just as the man was about to leave the gathering point to join Jed in their covert search at the school, he unexpectedly spotted a figure that caught him by surprise.
“Dark skin, great-figure… Oh… maybe a little too great. The description matches perfectly. Could it really be her? That brat from the little upstart society that Thorn Velvet controls? If that’s the case, then this was far easier than I expected…”
Staring at Nephthys from afar, the man pondered in his mind. He had assumed this search mission would take significant effort, yet right away, he had discovered a highly suspicious target matching all the given traits.
“Heh… Getting a lead this soon? This is too good. Might as well capture her and interrogate her immediately. Since she’s a member of this society, it’ll be even easier to take her in. And with a body like that… Who knows, during the interrogation, maybe I can—”
As his thoughts wandered, the man stepped out from behind the stone pillar, slowly making his way toward Nephthys. His gaze locked onto her like that of a predator stalking its prey, his pupils darkening with desire.
However, at that moment, another voice suddenly interrupted him.
"Mr. John, so you’re here."
The man, John, froze in place and turned toward the voice. Standing there was a male student with a dazed expression. John recognized him—one of the students who had read nearly all of Thorn Velvet’s books and had earned Thorn Velvet’s trust.
"What do you want, kid? Can’t you see I’m busy?"
Annoyed at being interrupted, John snapped at him. But the student remained calm as he replied.
"Mr. Thorn Velvet wants you to drop whatever you’re doing and see him immediately."
"What? Mr. Thorn Velvet wants to see me now?"
Hearing this unexpected order, John frowned. The student simply nodded and continued, "Yes, right now. He’s waiting for you inside."
John hesitated briefly, then glanced at Nephthys once more before gritting his teeth and muttering, "Fine, I’ll meet Mr. Thorn Velvet first. I’ll take care of business later."
With that, John turned and strode away, passing through the gathering point, making his way through the webbed corridor, and arriving at a stone door. He knocked lightly on it.
"Come in."
A voice sounded from within. John immediately pulled a lever beside the door, causing it to open with a low rumble.
Inside, dim light from gas lamps illuminated the room. Thorn Velvet sat in a chair, legs crossed, rubbing his temples as if deep in thought. In front of him, on a low table, sat an exquisite small box containing two black spiders resting inside.
"Mr. Thorn Velvet, you called for me?" John asked respectfully as he stepped forward.
Thorn nodded slightly and replied, "Yes… Earlier, I told you to help Jed search for that dark-skinned, great-figure woman. That’s no longer necessary. Not just for you—tell Jed he doesn’t need to search either. Any further efforts would be a waste of time."
Having just received the latest intelligence, Thorn Velvet spoke plainly to his subordinate. John stood there, momentarily stunned.
"Ah…"