South Tivian, outskirts of Bishop’s Square.
In the alley between Blue Weave Street No. 11 and No. 12, Gregor, now transformed into a different appearance, stands in the deserted alley. After hearing the voice that just echoed in his mind, he is momentarily stunned and then responds incredulously to "Detective" in his thoughts.
“Mr. Detective… Based on what you just said, are Duke Barrett and Princess Isabella under threat from the Eight-Spired Nest? Have their bodyguards been replaced by the Eight-Spired Nest? Are they planning to assassinate the royal family?!”
Gregor is shocked by the thought. Replacing the royal family’s bodyguards would require an unimaginable level of influence. The fact that these people have such a high-ranking mole in the Serenity Bureau is bad enough, but now they’ve even infiltrated the royal security personnel? How deep does their infiltration go?
“Correct. These spiders originally planned to create chaos in the square and then seize the opportunity to assassinate the royals. The people they had hidden in the square have already been dealt with, so the ordinary citizens are safe. However, the remaining assassins require your help to eliminate them completely.”
In Gregor’s mind, the Detective’s voice responds. Gregor swallows hard and then continues to reply in his thoughts.
“Alright… Since it’s about dealing with these guys, I’ll go. But Mr. Detective, you told me to disguise myself as injured. I don’t know how to do that… Do I need to cut myself a few times?”
Gregor speaks nervously, and soon the Detective responds to his concerns.
“You don’t need to do it yourself. I’ve already called someone to help you. She’s here now, right behind you.”
“Behind me?” Hearing this, Gregor is startled. He quickly turns around and looks behind him. There, at the entrance of the alley, he sees the figure of a woman—a nun dressed in a white habit.
“A nun… from the church?”
Seeing the nun, Gregor instinctively takes a step back. The bespectacled nun, carrying a medical kit, quickly walks up to him and, after a modest bow, speaks softly.
“Hello, Mr. Black Hound. I’m here to assist you with the mission. We serve the same Lord. You may call me White Prayer…”
“White Prayer…”
Gregor mutters the nun’s name, feeling a mix of surprise and unease. He hadn’t expected the Rose Cross Order to have connections within the church as well.
“They’ve planted their people in the Serenity Bureau, the church, and even other cults… Just how far do the tentacles of the Rose Cross Order reach? What are their goals?”
(T/N: Wait, when did Gregor learn about the connection between the Rose Cross Order and Akasha?)
As he looks at the nun before him, Gregor can’t help but wonder. After a moment, the nun who calls herself White Prayer speaks again.
“The situation is urgent. We must act quickly. Please remove your outer layers of clothing, Mr. Black Hound. I will help you create the appearance of injuries.”
“Oh… alright…”
As she speaks, the nun opens her medical kit and pulls out an emergency blood bag and a small knife. Gregor, following her instructions, quickly removes his outer jacket and a layer of his sweater, leaving him in just his undershirt. The cold winter wind immediately makes him shiver.
Next, the nun uses the knife to cut parts of Gregor’s clothing, pours blood from the blood bag onto the fabric, and begins wrapping him in bandages from the medical kit. She also tapes a blood-soaked cotton pad to his forehead, creating the appearance of a severe injury. In no time, Gregor looks like a heavily wounded man, his clothes tattered and bloodied, with bandages and cotton pads covering his body.
In the middle of winter, Gregor, dressed in thin clothing and covered in blood, shivers in the cold wind. His appearance is as pitiful as it gets.
“There, your disguise is almost complete. Now, go and play your part as instructed by Mr. Detective,” the nun says after finishing Gregor’s makeup. Shivering in the cold, Gregor nods in response.
“Alright… but… I’m not much of an actor. If we want this to look convincing, Mr. Detective might need to control me…”
Gregor says uncertainly, unsure how to convincingly play the role of an injured man in this sudden situation. However, the nun in front of him smiles and reassures him.
“Don’t worry. The role Mr. Detective has assigned you is simple. You won’t need his control to perform it well.”
“I won’t need his control to perform it well…”
Gregor scratches his head, puzzled. The nun then turns her gaze toward the entrance of the alley, where several figures are now entering, carrying an empty stretcher.
…
Late at night, Bishop’s Square.
The festive atmosphere in Bishop’s Square continues, but Blue Weave Street, just a row of buildings away, remains eerily quiet.
Unlike the rest of the street, the entrance of Blue Weave Street No. 1 is guarded by several uniformed security personnel, their expressions focused as they vigilantly monitor their surroundings.
The reason for this heightened security is that the most important guests of the New Year’s Eve celebration, Duke Barrett and Princess Isabella, are watching the event from the balcony of this building. As a result, the entire building and its surrounding area have been placed under strict lockdown to ensure no dangerous incidents occur.
Blue Weave Street No. 1 faces Bishop’s Square, where the princess and duke are watching the festivities from the front balcony. The back of the building faces Blue Weave Street, and the rear entrance is a key point of security.
At the rear entrance of Blue Weave Street No. 1, the royal guards remain on high alert. Suddenly, one of them notices several figures emerging from the darkness in the distance.
“Who’s there!”
Seeing the figures, the guard immediately raises his guard and shouts. His words draw the attention of the other guards, who all turn their gaze toward the approaching figures.
“Who’s there! This area is under lockdown. If you need to pass through, take another route!”
The guard captain, gripping his weapon, warns the approaching figures. As they get closer, the guards finally see them clearly. The leader is a man in a white lab coat and a mask, followed by four ordinary-looking men carrying a stretcher. On the stretcher lies a man covered in blood.
“Sorry to disturb you, gentlemen. I’m Jack from the emergency medical station. There’s an urgent situation I need to report.”
The man in the white coat, Jack, speaks with a hurried tone to the guards. The guard captain, seeing his appearance, relaxes slightly but remains cautious.
“Medical station? What’s the matter?”
“Well, gentlemen, a severely injured man was brought to our station. He seems to have been attacked and is in critical condition. While we were treating him, he kept insisting on coming here, saying he had vital information about the safety of the princess and the duke.
“While we were treating his wounds, he passed out from the pain. Our nun, Sister Vania, was concerned about what he said, so after stabilizing him, she decided we should bring him here for you to see. Do you recognize him?”
Jack explains to the guards. After hearing his words, the guards exchange glances, gripping their weapons tightly. The guard captain steps forward.
“Alright, let me see him.”
Following the captain’s orders, the men carrying the stretcher set it down. The captain walks over and looks at the unconscious man on the stretcher. When he sees the bloodied face with a cotton pad taped to the forehead, his eyes widen in shock, and he takes a step back.
“H-how is this possible? It’s Mr. Camino! How can this be?”
The guard captain mutters in disbelief. The other guards, hearing this, also look surprised.
“Mr. Camino? Isn’t he supposed to be with the princess and the duke? How can he be here?” The guards murmur among themselves, then step forward to look at the man on the stretcher. Their faces all show expressions of shock.
“It really is Mr. Camino! If he’s here, then who’s with the princess?”
One of the guards speaks up, and the atmosphere instantly becomes tense. The guard captain turns to Jack and asks.
“How did you come across this man?”
“A local resident brought him to us. According to the resident, he saw this man severely injured but struggling to make his way toward the square. Out of kindness, the resident helped him to our medical station. While we were treating him, he kept muttering things like ‘fake,’ ‘danger,’ ‘midnight danger,’ ‘princess’s front platform,’ and so on. After stabilizing him, he passed out. Sister Vania was concerned about what he said, so she sent us here to see if you recognized him.”
Jack explains to the guards. After hearing his words, the guards’ expressions grow increasingly grim. For a moment, no one speaks, and the atmosphere becomes heavy.
“Cough… cough!!”
At that moment, the man on the stretcher begins to cough violently, his body writhing in pain. Jack immediately kneels down to check on him, then turns to the guards with a look of urgency.
“His wounds are worsening. His condition is critical. Gentlemen, we need to take him back to the medical station for treatment!”
Jack says to the guards. The captain, seeing the blood seeping through the bandages, frowns and nods.
“Alright, take him back quickly. Make sure you do everything you can to save him. We’ll come to check on him later.”
“Yes, sir!”
After a few more words with the guards, Jack and his team lift the stretcher and head back into the distance.
As the guards watch Jack and his team leave, the captain checks his watch. Seeing that it’s only ten minutes until midnight, he turns his gaze toward the building and says to his men.
“You all stay here. I need to go upstairs and take care of something.”
With that, the captain turns and enters the building. In the remaining ten minutes, he feels it’s necessary to warn the other guards and temporarily isolate the man posing as Mr. Camino.
…
On the stage in Bishop’s Square, the final performance has just ended. The host steps back onto the stage, preparing to lead the crowd in the final countdown to the New Year.
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a building at the edge of the square, a man dressed as a guard checks his watch. Seeing that midnight is approaching, he steps back from the edge of the roof and retreats to a corner.
In the shadows of the corner, the guard opens a rectangular box, revealing a beautifully crafted brass rifle.
The guard picks up the rifle and examines it. More than a weapon, it resembles a work of art. The entire rifle is made of brass and white wood, with no scratches or signs of wear. The white wooden stock is intricately carved, with the carvings extending to the brass barrel. At the densest part of the carvings is the symbol of the Lantern spirituality—a sun. From any angle, this rifle is clearly no ordinary weapon.
“It’s almost time…”
The guard mutters to himself, and the voice that comes out is Berlit’s.
Holding the exquisite rifle, Berlit stands up and looks across the square toward the balcony, where the duke and princess are standing. Behind them, a figure is poised to strike.
“With two White Ash assassins targeting him from both sides… there’s no way Duke Barrett can escape now. It seems tonight’s plan is going smoothly. The Night Demon won’t even need to make an appearance…”
Berlit thinks to himself, a faint smile appearing on his lips.
“It’s all because you dug too deep, Duke Barrett… Now, all that’s left is for the scapegoats to make their entrance…”
…
On the rooftop of another building, in a small, smoke-filled attic, Sado stands in the middle of a group of locals, clenching his fists and delivering an impassioned speech.
“The time has come, my brothers! Take up your weapons, and soon we will show those pale-skinned devils what true blood and fear are!”
“Kum and the others will be our vanguard! They will be our example! We will follow their sacrifice and bring pain to our enemies!”
Sado’s rallying speech elicits cheers from the other locals. Meanwhile, on the roof of the attic, Nephthys crouches like a cat, her vertical pupils fixed on the crowd below through a skylight.
On the streets outside the square, Vania, still in her white nun’s habit and with blood on her hands, walks alone down a deserted street. As she walks, she mutters a prayer under her breath.
Suddenly, an eagle’s cry echoes from the sky. Vania looks up and sees an eagle swooping down, clutching something in its talons. The eagle releases its grip, dropping the object toward Vania. She reaches out and catches it—a slender sword with a large red gem embedded in its hilt.
Gripping the sword, Vania twirls it in the air and then looks toward the rooftop of a nearby building.
“May the Lord protect us…”
With this prayer, Vania continues walking forward.