It was the act of suddenly pointing a blade at the neck of a senior from the same office, but Osian had reasons to do such a thing.
He could dismiss meeting Basilio in this place as coincidence, but hadn't Osian seen with his own two eyes what kind of power he wielded?
Basilio had shot bright red thorns of blood toward the head of the fallen one he had defeated.
In one perspective, it resembled a type of blood magic said to be used by dark mages, and from another viewpoint, it also seemed like blood manipulation techniques said to be used by vampires.
However, Osian felt that the power Basilio used was fundamentally different from the two preceding examples.
The technique of using blood to bloom all sorts of splendid thorns. Its source was connected to that of the Eternal Church priest they had been fighting until just moments ago.
"You'd better answer properly. Depending on your answer, I could cut off your head right here."
"Hehe. Our junior is quite fierce in spirit."
Basilio realized from Osian's resolute voice that he couldn't simply deflect and get by.
"Hmm. Yes. To get straight to the point, I have connections with these Eternal Church fellows.""Did you borrow the power of Red Eternity?"
"Borrow? No, it's more accurately the opposite. It's closer to power they forcibly injected into me."
Osian narrowed his brow. It wasn't easy to distinguish whether Basilio was telling the truth or lying. His voice was calm, but because he wore a mask, his expression couldn't be read, which was the reason.
'No. Let's not think complicatedly.'
No matter how much he racked his brain here, he couldn't reach the desired conclusion. Until now, he had crossed countless lines of death with a knight's intuition. So this time too, he decided to trust that sense.
Sometimes such instinctive, peripheral reactions would leap over all logical and rational processes to reach a conclusion.
'And by sensation, it's not a lie.'
Basilio was telling the truth. Osian withdrew the sword he had pointed at Basilio's neck without hesitation.
"Sorry for suddenly being suspicious."
"Huh? You believe me? This easily?"
"Yes. It doesn't seem like you're lying."
Rather, Osian withdrew so easily that even Basilio was puzzled.
"If you were really the church's lackey from the beginning, you wouldn't have tried to find out their headquarters' location or kill high priests."
"All of that could have been acting."
"If it were really acting, you wouldn't say such things either. Above all, you're the fixer that Ronan contracted with first."
When Ronan's name came up, Basilio shut his mouth.
"At least I know that the man named Ronan Roland has very excellent judgment. So I believe that the man he chose wouldn't be evil."
"Heh, well that's something. Leaves a person speechless."
Even when he tried to refute something, he felt cornered. Basilio scratched his mask with his hand, looking embarrassed.
"Well, as you can see, I'm entangled with the Eternal Church through bad blood."
"Is wearing a mask also for that reason?"
"......Something like that."
"I see."
As Osian seemed to accept and move on, Basilio conversely asked.
"Aren't you curious?"
"About what?"
"My identity, abilities, or past. What happened with that Eternal Church we'll have to fight. Since junior is involved this far, you must be curious."
Honestly speaking, he was curious. What exactly had he experienced to have bad blood with the Eternal Church, and why did he use power similar to theirs at the same time?
However,
"I won't particularly ask."
Osian cleanly gave up trying to dig into that truth.
"The fact that you haven't spoken about it until now means it's an uncomfortable past to talk about. No matter how much we belong to the same office, it wouldn't be proper for me to pry when we've only just gotten acquainted."
Moreover, judging by Basilio's reaction, it seemed he hadn't told the truth to other fixers either. The only thing he was curious about was whether Ronan knew, but since that was between the two of them, Osian cleanly dropped his interest.
"What's important right now is uprooting those Eternal Church bastards."
"......Sometimes I'm amazed by junior's clarity that borders on simplicity."
At Basilio's words, Grace, who had been quietly listening from the side, also nodded as if in agreement. No matter how much of a fixer he was, didn't he even accept requests from the Blood Brotherhood? It was an action that ordinary common sense would never take.
He was an extraordinary man not just in skill but in mindset as well.
"Anyway, let's meet at the promised time tomorrow."
With those words, Basilio disappeared as if melting into the darkness of the mansion.
The next morning the same sun as always rose over Tirna.
The street where morning smog rose and workers trudged along. Sitting by the window of a restaurant that overlooked that street at a glance, Osian gazed at Basilio sitting across from him.
"As expected, another quiet day no different from usual."
Of course, miscellaneous incidents occurred in Tirna every other day. It was far from quiet, but since they happened like a daily routine, they couldn't be called noisy either.
Above all, the reason Basilio said those words was simple.
He casually placed the newspapers distributed this morning on the table.
"Newspapers put out by various media outlets today."
"They're all dealing with nothing but trivial miscellaneous incidents."
"Right. They don't say a single word about that terrible incident that occurred yesterday."
The incident that occurred at the ballroom last night was something that should have been treated particularly seriously even in Tirna.
Wealthy people had gathered in one place and been massacred. If they felt something strange about that situation and began investigating, they would have immediately realized something big had happened.
Yet it being this quiet meant.
"It seems their influence reaches even the upper levels of media outlets."
It meant the church's fallen ones influenced the media to this extent. Of course, no matter how much media outlets boast, if the city government was determined to dig deep, spreading rumors would be instantaneous.
But being quiet without incident meant the city government also had no intention of officially acknowledging this matter.
"Does the city government intend to overlook the existence of the fallen ones?"
"No. That probably isn't it."
Basilio denied Osian's speculation.
"No matter how much they're guardians of a city steeped in greed, they know what should and shouldn't be done. The reason the city government didn't announce this fact this time is probably to prevent chaos in the city."
"Chaos in the city."
"Think about it. In the heart of the free city, monsters that eat people committed terrible acts. Most of them even belonged to society's wealthy class. What would happen if this fact were revealed to the world?"
It would truly become pandemonium. The city would be engulfed in chaos, and stock prices of all companies related to Tirna would hit the daily limit down day after day. How would they handle the astronomical damage that would result? The moment it exploded, it wouldn't end with just one or two people losing their positions.
"The city government probably intends to cover up this incident, then handle things unofficially."
Osian thought he understood why Basilio had suggested meeting after some time.
"You intended to see the city government's reaction and then decide how to move."
Basilio asked back as if to say what was he talking about.
"What? I just said to call it quits yesterday because I was tired."
"......"
"Well, whether the city government moves or not, what we have to do doesn't change. Attacking Trinity Building in District 17, their stronghold."
"The problem is how to get to District 17."
It was none other than a district in the 10s. This place was famous for very thorough screening, where ordinary people couldn't even get transit permits issued.
"You don't need to worry about that part. Who am I? The industry legend, Basilio."
Basilio spoke in a much more reassuring voice, telling him not to worry.
"If you go with me, you don't need transit permits or anything. My very existence is a free pass."
Indeed. There were reasons why Basilio told him to trust him.
"Then since we're talking about it, shall we move right away? Isn't that vampire young lady coming?"
"She can't move openly during the day, so she said she'd come separately."
"Hmm. Well, they're terrorists of the century, so they'll manage to get to District 17 on their own. Then let's go ahead, just the two of us. Ah, is it unsettling to kick aside a date with that lovely young lady and go with an old man like this?"
"Let's go quickly."
Telling him not to say unnecessary things, Osian stood up from his seat. Well, if Basilio was with him, going to District 17 wouldn't be difficult.
"I'm sorry, but entry is not possible."
This was the first thing Osian and Basilio heard from the guard protecting the entrance to District 17.
Basilio asked back as if he had misheard.
"Hmm? Have I gotten old, so my hearing isn't good? Won't you say it once more? Ah, I see. You're saying I can enter anytime? Haha. Don't worry. You want an autograph too? Hey now, I said it's fine!"
"You cannot enter."
At the guard's firm words, Basilio's mouth snapped shut.
Osian glared at Basilio with bulging eyes.
What? A human free pass? Just enter?
Reading the meaning contained in that gaze, Basilio asked the guard in an urgent voice.
"No. What exactly can't be done? I'm Basilio. The legend of the fixer industry. Don't you know?"
"I know. However, no matter how much of a fixer you are, you cannot enter without a permit from inside."
"No, what's this, someone of my level doesn't need permits or anything. And I've been back and forth a few times already, but you still say no?"
"I'm sorry, but regulations are regulations. Please understand."
The reason Basilio had been able to enter districts in the 10s back then was because permits from inside had been issued for requests as a fixer.
But that was only a one-time thing, and now that time had passed, Basilio had no means to enter again.
However, Basilio couldn't back down here either. It wasn't just anything - with his junior watching from behind, being rejected was something his pride couldn't tolerate.
"Come on, can't you just let me in?"
"What's your business here?"
"Tourism?"
"Why is that a question? Anyway, it's not allowed."
Basilio was persistent, and the guard was stubborn. From the guard's perspective, it was quite troublesome. Basilio was famous enough that even the guards protecting this place would know him.
If other people did such things, they would have scared them or swung clubs to chase them away, but such physical methods didn't work on Basilio, who had entered the realm of superhuman.
Rather, if he got even slightly upset and used force, it would be dangerous for the guard. But he also couldn't submit to Basilio and step aside.
It was when Osian was about to tell him to stop it and come back.
"Why don't you stop it already? You look too pathetic."
A third party interrupted and scolded Basilio. To use such direct words as "pathetic" toward none other than Basilio.
It was a woman of mysterious age who had intervened. Early thirties, at most mid-thirties? She wore rimless glasses, and her light brown hair was also twisted up and tied back - truly a neat yet strict-looking impression.
With her appearance, the guards stiffened up and changed their posture.
'The guards protecting districts in the 10s are reacting like that?'
These were people who would swing clubs regardless of wealth if rules were broken or if they got upset. The fact that such brave people were flustered by that woman showed that her position was not ordinarily high.
'The guards showing such reactions means she's a high-ranking civil servant.'
And the moment he saw Basilio's shoulders slightly shrink upon seeing her, Osian could tell the two weren't meeting for the first time but were acquainted.
"I happened to be passing by when it got noisy, so I came to check, and what is this unseemly spectacle?"
"Hehe. It's been a while, Plimene."
The woman called Plimene gazed at Basilio with a cold stare from behind her glasses. No matter how you looked at it, it wasn't a very good reaction. It was a gaze filled with disgust, contempt, and anger beyond that.
"What exactly are you doing here?"
"No, Plimene. I'm trying to go to District 17, but this young man is blocking the way, what's up with that?"
"Are you playing around with innocent guards again?"
"That's unfair. I really intended to go to District 17."
"What business do you have there? Seeing that you can't enter, you don't seem to have permits from inside either, which means it's for some purpose other than a request. No matter how famous a fixer you are, did you think the guards would allow you to go to District 17 without permits for personal business?"
Plimene systematically refuted Basilio's words and pressed him.
"I have important business. Very important work. So Plimene, for old times' sake, let me inside."
"I don't know what purpose you're trying to go to District 17 for, but give up cleanly. Without permits, it's absolutely not allowed."
A reaction as cold as frost on a winter day. Though she was rationally refusing, judging by the emotions in her voice, she was dealing with Basilio quite emotionally. No matter how you looked at it, the two seemed to have quite an extraordinary relationship.
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!