Chapter 172: Chapter 108: Give Me Back My Hard-Earned Money
Before long, Wei’en and the others returned to the Secret Investigation Department.
THUD.
Lisi threw herself heavily into her high-backed chair, a look of exhaustion on her face for the first time.
Kali returned to her seat without a word, her head bowed, lost in thought.
After leading Tina back to their seats, Wei’en shot Marco a look, warning him to tread carefully.
Marco and Lydia caught his glance, and sensing the tense atmosphere, they quickly and quietly moved apart.
After moving away from Marco, Lydia walked elegantly over to Lisi. "Captain Lisi, I’m Lydia Ernst. I’m new to Division One as of today."
"Did you go to Klande for a few years just to fry your brain?" Lisi watched her with a half-smile.
"..." Lydia clenched her fists. After a long silence, she forced a smile. "Sister Lisi, you’re as direct as ever."
"You, on the other hand, have changed quite a bit. Mmm, you’ve become less... likable."
Lydia felt like fire was about to shoot from her eyes. ’Damn it! This woman has bullied me since we were kids. Why is she still so hateful?’
’If I didn’t know I couldn’t beat her, I’d give her a taste of the Cross Swordsmanship they teach at Klande Academy...’
Before Lydia could say anything else, Marco pulled her away. "Captain, I’ll teach her some of an Investigator’s duties first. I’ll start taking her on missions tomorrow."
"Given your relationship, it’s more convenient for you to be in charge of her. But Marco,"
Lisi looked at the two and warned, "If anything like yesterday’s incident happens again, don’t blame me for roughing her up along with you..."
Before she could finish, Marco hurriedly cut in, "Understood, understood! I guarantee it won’t happen again."
’Officer Lisi, Lady Lisi—please, I’m begging you, don’t say another word! Someone’s going to get killed!!’
"It had better be..."
For the rest of the afternoon, everyone in Division One fell silent, each sitting at their desk lost in their own thoughts.
It wasn’t until the four o’clock bells chimed that Lisi finally spoke. "Let’s go home."
Marco packed his things at top speed, grabbed Lydia, and bolted from the office, as if staying one minute longer would be his doom.
Wei’en left with Kali. "We’re heading out too, Sister Lisi."
"Mm."
Wei’en was glad that with Lisi around, Tina wouldn’t have to follow him back to his residence.
Especially after how miserably Tina had dealt with Mr. Leonard today...
’The last thing he wanted was to enter that True World tonight and get cornered by the clown venting his anger...’
’Still, just in case, I should probably make a few extra preparations.’
When the two of them left the Secret Investigation Department, they found Marco and Lydia waiting for them by the entrance. They wanted to ask about the case from the afternoon.
Inside the office just now, Lisi had clearly been in a foul mood, so neither of them had dared to ask too many questions.
"So, someone intentionally introduced a Bone-Eating Mother Worm to cause a widespread infestation inside Caster?" Marco frowned after hearing the details of the case.
Wei’en nodded. "Yes. Lisi said we have to wait for the higher-ups to approve our request to investigate the City-State Array before we can continue the chase."
"Hmm, that’s troublesome. The Council and the Noble Committee might not agree to let the Secret Investigation Department get involved." Marco looked at Lydia and asked, "Can your brother do anything about it?"
"My brother? I refuse to ask him for help. Yesterday, Grandfather told me not to bother him for the time being. He even specifically warned me not to compete with him anymore..." Lydia said indignantly.
"Oh, you... That was bound to happen sooner or later."
Marco looked troubled. "I’ll ask my family about this when I get home and see if they can put in a word with the Committee."
"Then I’ll try asking Grandfather, too..."
"Right. As long as we can continue the investigation, I’m sure we’ll find something."
Wei’en knew both of them came from noble backgrounds and that many of their family members sat on the Noble Committee.
Lydia’s family, the Ernst Clan, was particularly prestigious. They were one of the twenty-four great meritorious families of the Shetland Kingdom and held significant influence throughout the Caster City-State.
He remembered seeing Old Count Ernst at the welcome celebration hosted by the Dawn Church and the Secret Investigation Department. The Count was a very dignified old man.
Before long, the four of them parted ways at the entrance of the Secret Investigation Department. Wei’en and Kali headed off in the direction of Golden Street.
Just then, Kali, who had been silent all this time, spoke up. "Wei’en, do you think I should be trying harder?"
"Why do you say that? You already work very hard."
Wei’en knew she was still troubled by the fact that the Dawn Church hadn’t sent anyone to help. But from what he had learned, to the Church, ordinary people and even most believers were dispensable.
They wouldn’t proactively save those in suffering out of sympathy or even out of their own faith.
In their eyes, the fact that the city-state could still maintain a semblance of order was largely thanks to the efforts of Dawn.
To borrow a phrase from his past life, the Dawn Church had contributed so much, they practically deserved to be deified!
"If I became the Saintess of the Dawn Church, would they have shown up there today...?"
"Perhaps. But all those people had already been infested by the Bone-Eating Worms. Even if people from the Church had shown up, they couldn’t have saved them."
Wei’en knew very well that what had happened could not be changed.
"I know," Kali said, biting her lip. "But... the way they are... I... I don’t like it."
"Oh?"
"I wish that when I need them, they would be there. That’s how it’s supposed to be."
Wei’en gave her a surprised look. "Is that what you think?"
