After spending a few more minutes emptying the false bottoms of every drawer, I started inspecting the rest of the room, hoping to find something else of value.
But nothing stood out.
Because as I said, it was just a plain office.
Then I spotted the High Priest’s laptop.
It was a cheap, outdated model. Nothing fancy. It didn’t even have a biometric scanner. Of course, it was still password protected.
Naturally, I decided to open it and see if I could find something inside.
I started guessing the most obvious passwords like — “password,” “123456,” even “qwerty1234.”
Nothing worked.
Maybe his password was someone’s birthday or another important event. Thinking that, I started typing in the marked dates from his desk calendar.
Still no luck.
I was about to give up. I had everything I already needed, after all. At this point, I only wanted to go through his laptop out of pure curiosity.
On a whim, I typed the name of the church.
…And the screen unlocked.
I shook my head. “Amature.”
Immediately, I started clicking through the folders. But just as I had expected, I didn’t find anything of importance.
There were no incriminating files, no sensitive data. Just the usual bland assortment of notes and spreadsheets.
It was boring, but nothing unexpected. I wasn’t surprised at all.
Most people, even in this day and age, don’t trust computers with their deepest secrets.
Digital files can be hacked, copied, or stolen remotely. A thief doesn’t even need to touch your device to siphon everything off a flash drive these days.
On the other hand, stealing physical documents required more effort. You’d need to be physically present to steal them. As such, there was more risk, more trouble.
Or, at least, that’s how old people see it.
Personally, I’d still put all my sensitive files online in a secure digilocker. Why? Because I’m lazy. And also because I believe that is safer.
But let’s get back to the topic.
As I was saying, I didn’t find anything noteworthy on his laptop. Well, except for one thing.
…His search history.
When I opened his search history, I saw things I wish I hadn’t. Things that made me reconsider the existence of life and free will.
The things this man had looked up… well, I had seen less disturbing content in horror films.
It was so bad, I thought about cleaning my eyes with holy water.
After a minute of mental recovery — and desperately trying to unsee what I’d seen — I got back to the task at hand.
I found the High Priest’s and the Overlord’s personal contact information. I was going to need this later.
After that, I took pictures of all the important documents I’d found earlier.
Then, I meticulously put everything back in its original place, just like how it all was.
Satisfied, I exited the room and started planning my escape.
The Enforcers were still stationed at the checkpoints, even in the dead of night, which meant I’d have to take an unconventional route to get out of this building.
Climbing down a window was the simplest option I could think of. It was risky, sure, but better than trying to sneak past guards.
I found an office that didn’t require a keycard to enter.
Maybe it was a storage room, judging by the tall shelves overflowing with papers. It also had several windows, and one was large enough for me to climb through.
I unlatched it, letting in the cool night air, and was halfway through when I remembered the keycard still in my pocket.
“Right,” I took out the keycard and tossed it under a dusty cupboard where it would stay hidden.
Then, I hoisted myself over the windowsill and started my slow descent.
Thankfully, since it was still the middle of the night, the darkness outside worked in my favor. I was dressed all in black, making it even harder to spot me.
But I was still three floors above the ground.
Climbing down was going to be long and difficult.
Haah.
I wish I had a Card that let me fly.
•••
By the time I climbed down, discreetly exited the church’s vicinity, and took care of a few more things, it was late morning.
Today marked our eighth day on this mission.
If my prediction was correct, then by tomorrow, all of this would be over.
For now, I needed a change of clothes, food, and some rest. I also needed to iron out a few details of my plan.
So, I decided to finally go back to my hotel room.
I hadn’t been back since Michael and I had that little fight, and because of that, I was naturally a bit reluctant to return.
Well, whatever.
It wasn’t like I was going to see him. I’d avoid him and go straight to my room.
And I did just that.
As soon as I got back to the inn, I took the lift to the second floor and quickly made my way to my room.
“Fuu,” I let out a relieved sigh as I opened the door.
…Only to find a group of people inside.
Lily and Michael were sitting across from each other on the couches. On the center table between them lay a large holographic satellite-view map of the city.
They were locked in an intense discussion.
Alexia was lying on my bed again, kicking her feet in the air like a bored child. Today, she was folding a piece of paper, making something with it.
It seemed she had picked up a new hobby… again.
Ironically, the blind girl was the first to notice my presence.
She turned her head in my general direction, and her face lit up with a smile.
“Oh, Lord Samael! You’re back!” she exclaimed. “I was starting to get bored without you!”
Because of that, Michael and Lily also turned their attention to me.
Just as I thought, the black-haired protagonist wasn’t pleased to see me.
“Oh, look, Lily! Guess who decided to grace us mortals with his presence again?” Michael snarled.
Lily looked like she had been dealing with his temper for a while. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, as if warding off an incoming headache. “Michael, please—”
“No, no, let me have this,” Michael interrupted and turned to me. “Must’ve been nice, huh? Running off to do whatever important thing you deemed necessary while we’ve been here actually working on the mission.”
I leaned casually against the doorframe, folding my arms as I gave him a bored look. “Good to see you too, Michael. And yes, it was nice. Thanks for asking.”
His scowl deepened, and I could practically see steam coming out of his ears.
But before he could launch into another tirade, Lily interjected with a firm voice.
“Enough. Both of you.” She turned to me, her expression softening slightly. “Where have you been, Sam? We’ve been trying to finalize our plan, and we need you to be part of it.”
I gave her a brief look before ignoring her and shifting my attention to the blind ginger. “Why are you all in my room?”
But Alexia’s focus stayed fixed on the piece of paper she had been working on. Then, I realized she couldn’t see me looking at her.
So I called her out. “Alexia, I’m asking you.”
Her ears perked up. “Oh! Well, you see, your room is the biggest of all our rooms. So, we hold strategy meetings here.”
“Where were you?!” Michael’s shout snapped my attention back to him.
I took a measured breath and shrugged. “Believe it or not, I was also working on the mission. I told you how the church is involved in something shady the last time we met. I’m investigating it.”
Michael frustratedly rolled his eyes. “Again with that?! Do you have any proof?”
I pretended to look stumped. “Ahh, well, not yet. But—”
Michael cut me off. “Damn it, Samael! You’re chasing ghosts!”
“I’m not!” I shot back. “I don’t have anything concrete, but I know the church is involved in all of this. I know it!”
Michael grunted in exasperation. Instead of arguing, he picked up a paper from the center table and walked up to me.
He shoved the paper in my face and yelled, “Look at this. This is the city’s underground blueprints of sewer lines. The Overlord recently launched a project to expand the sewer system, claiming they were maintaining infrastructure. But in reality, they were digging tunnels to connect the whole city.”
“…These tunnels,” Lily added. “That’s how they’re deploying the Spirit Beasts to attack different parts of the city. No one sees it coming until it’s too late. And after the attack is over, the Spirit Beasts can escape through those same tunnels.”
“I checked it,” Michael said, gritting his teeth. “I have a Card that grants me something similar to X-ray vision. I could see through objects, so I searched for these tunnels. And they indeed exist all under the city. And do you know where every single one of them leads back to?”
Of course, I knew.
I was the one who forged all the documents Michael read to reach this conclusion, after all.
And it was all true, but it wasn’t the full truth.
“To the Overlord’s mansion?” I asked, feigning ignorance.
“Yes!” Michael threw away the city’s map of the sewer system. “All those tunnels lead directly to the Overlord’s mansion. There’s something under his grand palace! He’s behind all this! Not the church.”
“Michael, do you really think the Overlord alone had all the resources and power to pull something like this off without anyone noticing?” I said.
Before he could speak again, I continued. “There’s another man involved here, someone with almost as much influence as the Overlord himself — the High Priest. Do you really think he wouldn’t have noticed what’s happening right under his nose?”
Michael made a ridiculing face. “Oh my god! You’re just throwing out baseless accusations now! Why can’t you accept that you’re wrong for once?!”
“Because I’m not!” I retorted.
Michael was about to launch into another screaming session, but Lily stepped in.
“Look, whatever the case may be, we’re raiding the Overlord’s mansion tonight,” she said.
I frowned. “What? Without a search warrant? That’s illegal!”
“A search warrant won’t be issued in such a short time,” she argued back. “Many people will die if we don’t hurry. Besides, once we find proof that the Overlord is indeed responsible for all this, we won’t have to worry about breaking the law then. But we need your powers. So, help us, Sam. Please.”
“First, don’t call me that,” I shook my head. “Second, have you all gone insane?! You’re talking about breaking the law! What if you don’t find any solid proof? What if it’s just a trap you’re walking into? I won’t break the law for that.”
“Are you serious?!” Michael yelled back. “Of everyone here, you have a problem with breaking the law?! Who the fuck are you fooling?!”
I didn’t answer right away.
Instead, I took a deep breath and shook my head again. “I don’t care what you think. I won’t do it. Besides, I still believe you’re not seeing the full picture here. The church is still on my radar, so I’ll keep investigating that.”
With that, I turned around and started walking out of the room.
“Wait, Sam—” Lily tried to call after me, but Michael stopped her.
“No, leave him, Lily!” he said, glaring at my back as I walked away. “We’re better off without him anyway.”