Before Angel could ask anything, the man plopped down in the chair and rattled off his demands.
His daughter had been missing for nearly a week. He had tried reporting to the police and hiring detectives, but with no results. A detective had even tactfully told him that in Backlund, young women who had been missing for more than three days had almost no hope of being found.
Now he had begun seeking help from the divine, from the ethereal art of divination.
Well, thank you so much...
Hearing the man treat divination as a last resort after all strategies failed, Angel could barely maintain the smile on her face.
Taking the crumpled missing person notice from the man, Angel stopped her internal complaints and grumbling, reading it carefully.
The notice showed a girl about 15 years old with a sweet face and long hair. Below were some keywords: Emily O'Neil, brown hair, black eyes, wearing a light yellow dress when she disappeared, carrying a satchel containing grammar and arithmetic textbooks.
"Mr. O'Neil, can you describe in detail the circumstances before Emily's disappearance?"
Setting down the notice, Angel looked at the haggard father. He instinctively reached for a cigarette to light but glanced at Angel and put the cigarette and lighter back in his pocket.
"She went to school that day, at the comprehensive school not far from home, at the border of North District and Jowood District, but I never saw her come home even late into the night..."
Mr. O'Neil rushed to the school overnight and questioned the teachers, learning that Emily had left with classmates after school. After repeatedly searching the road between school and home without results, he reported to the police.
Of course, like everyone who eventually sought divination and mystical help, the police—even those detectives without Beyonder abilities—were powerless.
Within a week, this father who deeply loved his daughter had become unkempt and thin. He even neglected his job and tear-stained wife, frantically searching for solutions every day.
"I understand. Did you bring any items she frequently used or clothes she wore close to her body?"
Having heard about the girl's disappearance, Angel set down the citrine pendant she had untied and took out the magic mirror.
Perhaps only true mysticism could help this gentleman now.
"Yes, yes," Mr. O'Neil had obviously been advised. He hurriedly pulled out an exquisite pencil case. "She used this pencil case for a year and a half. I just bought her a new one. Fortunately, this one wasn't thrown away yet."
Though not a personal item, it had been used long enough to retain sufficient connection.
Angel took the pencil case, placed the magic mirror on top of it facing herself, gently stroked the mirror surface, and chanted:
"Magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me where Emily O'Neil is now?"
Mist visible only to her flashed by. The mirror surface first turned pitch black, then displayed several scenes that made Angel breathe a sigh of relief—the divination subject was currently alive.
In the images, a brown-haired little girl in a light yellow dress was roughly pulled onto an unmarked carriage.
The carriage passed low buildings and dirty streets, passed groups of homeless people on the roadside. A satchel was thrown out the window, and several vagrants swarmed over it.
Shortly after entering a two-story building, the carriage emerged again, made a circle, and drove in another direction.
Following the carriage's perspective, Angel saw a familiar building, but then the image seemed disrupted and disappeared, showing her slightly expectant expression again.
Taking a deep breath, after organizing what she saw in the magic mirror divination, Angel looked at the anxious Mr. O'Neil.
"Your daughter, Miss Emily, was indeed kidnapped..."
"By whom? Where? Tell me!"
Mr. O'Neil nearly jumped up, firing questions in succession. Then realizing he was too agitated, he sat back down.
"Sorry, I'm a bit... But how do you know? Just from this little mirror?"
"This is called magic mirror divination. Your daughter was carrying a blue satchel when she disappeared, about this big, with a row of tassels on the side..."
To gain his trust, Angel described the satchel thrown away by the kidnappers in the divination images, which wasn't detailed on the missing person notice.
"That's right, it's hers!" Mr. O'Neil's eyes reddened with excitement. "Is she still alive? Where can I find her?"
"I only divined partial information. Um, do you have a map? Of the East District and Jowood District."
Angel took the map from under Mr. O'Neil's windbreaker, finding it nearly worn through with annotations in different handwriting—perhaps from the detectives he had previously hired.
"The kidnapping location is most likely in this area of Jowood District..."
Based on the images from divination, she circled an area on the map, then drew a line pointing to the East District.
"Then the carriage went to the East District, briefly stopped at a two-story building, then departed in another direction, passing a very distinctive building on Darawil Street. After that, judging by direction, it should have returned to Jowood District."
Marking several important locations and connecting them with lines, Angel roughly traced the kidnappers' route. But because the divination information was insufficient or disrupted at the end, she couldn't confirm the carriage's final destination.
Fortunately, she had seen one important landmark—the apartment spanning Darawil Street where Dominic and Sonya had lived.
As for the two-story building, there were countless similar buildings in the East District. Angel had no way to pinpoint the specific location.
"Right now, the only clue is where they stopped. I suggest you find a private detective to search based on this route. Emily is currently alive, but after this... I can't say."
"Thank you, thank you!"
O'Neil first studied the map carefully, as if trying to imprint the route drawn in red pen in his mind, then carefully folded it and put it away before continuing:
"I'll find the best detective to start investigating immediately. Ha, I originally just thought I'd tried everything and came here to try my luck. I didn't expect you..." He even used honorifics. "You're really as capable as Miss Swan said."
Swan? Laura Swan?
Angel raised an eyebrow, not expecting to hear Laura's name from O'Neil. Why would she promote her small divination room—to observe her "acting"? Or just a casual recommendation?
Seeing O'Neil set down a full five pounds in bills and turn to leave, Angel quickly called him back.
"Mr. O'Neil, if those detectives are powerless, you can try your luck at the 'Brave Bar' in Bridge District. The 'Old Man' there knows some people, um, like me. They might be able to help you."
O'Neil was stunned, silently repeating "Brave Bar" and "Old Man" to deepen his impression, then nodded and thanked Angel.
Compared to those love divinations, divining for Mr. O'Neil to find his daughter, though it didn't help Angel digest her potion, gave her the long-missed joy of helping others.
Though no new business came until sunset, the high spirits surrounded her throughout.
In the evening, leaving the Divination Club, she still went to the new safe house in the East District to change clothes and rest briefly before preparing to return home to Red Rose Street in Bridge District.
Passing the iconic apartment on Darawil Street, Angel got off the carriage and looked up at the apartment's aerial passage spanning the street.
In the magic mirror divination, that carriage had passed through this street and headed west, eventually returning to Jowood District.
Looking at the street already tinged with the crimson moon's pale light, Angel found a deserted corner, took out the magic mirror, and prepared to divine again here.
Perhaps there would be new gains, or perhaps like this afternoon, it would be interrupted at a critical moment...
But trying was better than leaving regrets.
"Magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me, Emily..."
"BOOM—"
The apartment building opposite her suddenly exploded violently. Bright yellow flames burst from a third-floor room's window, lifting half the roof into the air. Then bricks, tiles, and flesh rained down toward Angel.
What's happening? Is someone attacking me?
This thought just flashed through her mind when her body instinctively dove to the side, dodging a stone that fell toward her, then zigzagging left and right to avoid blocks of bricks and sharp tiles.
Cries of pain arose around her. The pedestrians on the street were caught off guard and hit by falling stones.
Fortunately, the explosion occurred only once. The rain-like debris soon stopped falling. With a Beyonder's agility, Angel wasn't injured, but groans and moans continued around her—the pedestrians had suffered heavy casualties.
Through the mist floating above the street, Angel looked toward the explosion's center. At the top of the three-story gray-blue apartment, half a wall had been blown down, with thick smoke still billowing out. A faint coal gas odor entered her nostrils.
So it's a coal gas explosion...
She relaxed slightly and walked toward the apartment, wanting to check the casualties.
"Are you that bounty hunter, Hugh Dilcha?"
A hoarse voice rang out from inside the apartment entrance. Angel saw a tall figure emerge from the smoke-filled apartment. He was nearly two meters tall with broad shoulders, like a giant, wearing an ill-fitting hooded robe. His beast-like deep brown eyes looked toward Angel.
"What bounty hunter?"
Angel instinctively thought he had mistaken her for someone else. She even looked behind her to confirm that besides those lying on the ground either moaning or motionless, she was the only one standing on the street.
"You're the one who had that guy search for Lanevus."
The "giant" muttered as if confirming, then his feet pushed off and he lunged toward her with agility unmatched by his size.
Searching... for Lanevus?
Hearing this familiar name, Angel instantly recalled the evil god's descent in Tingen, the father of the "child" in Megose's womb, the street heart park with casualties everywhere like today.
"Click." Without hesitation, she pressed the magic pocket watch. One foot stepped forward creating frost, one hand forming black flames, meeting the mountain-like charging "giant."