Looking at that familiar monocle, Hazel was completely stunned!
She remembered; of course she remembered!
This was one of the two items she had stolen from Scott's friend back then!
He—what does he mean by this? Bringing up the past?
Is he trying to remind me, to make me realize what I once did—
Hazel's body trembled slightly. Her heart, which had been leaping with joy because of being "trusted," instantly plummeted to rock bottom.
"It seems you still remember. I went out of my way to borrow it," Lorne said, observing her instantaneous reaction as the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously.
"I remember you saying that the reason you committed theft was to complete a certain mission, right?"
"So—so what if I did!" Hazel's voice carried a hint of unconfident trembling.
"I was going to send those things to the Police Station later! That day—that day I was just by you—" Hazel tried to defend herself excitedly.
"Shh—"
Lorne pressed his index finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet. They were currently in a coffee shop with people coming and going.
Although there weren't many people in the shop at this hour, there were still some customers after all.
Hazel also realized her reaction was a bit excessive and quickly reached out with both hands to cover her mouth—
Seeing her finally quiet down, Lorne shook his head slightly.
"I just wanted to ask about the person who issued that mission, your teacher—"
"How did you know it was my teacher?"
"Guessed." Lorne spoke bluntly.
"Uh—" Realizing she had fallen into his verbal trap, Hazel's cheeks instantly flushed crimson.
"I won't tell you anything about my teacher!" she said in shame and annoyance.
"Hmm—you won't?" Lorne leaned back against his chair, looking at her with leisure. "Does he know you're defending him like this?"
"Do you really think he's just simply teaching you as a student?"
"What do you mean by that?"
Lorne didn't explain directly, but changed the question instead.
"Then do you know why you received a 'theft' mission?"
"I—" Hazel was stunned at first, then shook her head blankly. She asked back, "Do you know?"
"Of course." Lorne nodded affirmatively.
"What is it?" Hazel couldn't hold back her curiosity. After all, it was this damn mission that gave him leverage over her. Lorne didn't reply, just smiling and looking at her with a "you know what I mean" look.
"Hmph, don't think you can trick me into talking. I won't betray my teacher—" Hazel stubbornly turned her head away.
"Hey, how can you call it 'betrayal'—" Lorne put on a helpless expression. "It's not like I want to do anything to your teacher—"
"I just simply want to get to know him."
"Do you really think that I, the 'east end hero' certified by both the official and the newspapers, would lie to a young girl like you?"
"I—" Hazel lowered her head, speechless.
What official certification? Isn't that phrasing just implying that my teacher and I are 'bad people' who can't see the light?
Though her teacher had indeed warned her that Wild Beyonders were not good people in the eyes of the official—
"How about this," Lorne said, seeing the timing was right, beginning to lead her on. "You don't have to tell me your teacher's specific identity, just tell me some of the process of how you spend time together—"
"Since you've already planned to work for me, as your boss, I naturally have to assess the risks around you—don't you agree?"
"As a reward, I can tell you why your teacher had you go steal things in the first place."
Lorne's tone was still polite. His words weren't actually wrong; if it weren't for Hazel having to work for him, with those leverage points in hand, he could have asked much more directly and roughly.
"You—you speak first—" Hazel's defense finally showed a crack of hesitation.
Lorne curled his lip, looking like he "just couldn't do anything about her."
"Alright—"
"You mean, your teacher—is a rat?"
After popularizing some incomplete common knowledge about the Acting Method, Lorne successfully wheedled some of the information he wanted out of Hazel's mouth.
"No, not a rat!" Hazel didn't quite understand the concept of "Parasitizing," so she could only explain to Lorne in a way she understood.
"It's just—Teacher turned into the form of a rat."
Since it was the form of a rat anyway, in her perception, there didn't seem to be much difference between the two.
"Heh—" Lorne suddenly let out a light laugh.
"You—what are you laughing at?"
"I finally understand why you were so skilled at crawling through the sewers back then." Lorne's face showed an undisguised teasing smile.
This expression made Hazel's face flush with shame. As the daughter of a Councilor and a lady, crawling through sewers was not an honorable experience.
"Sewers and rats, aren't they a perfect match?" Lorne said with a double entendre.
"You—" Hazel turned her face away in anger, deciding to ignore him.
"Your teacher went missing?"
"On the very day you caught me—"
As the conversation continued, Lorne gradually obtained more useful information.
Hazel's teacher was indeed a Beyonder of the Marauder Pathway. Judging by the abilities Hazel described, he was at least Sequence 6 or above, perhaps even higher.
No, just from the fact that he could maintain "turning into a rat" for a long time, Sequence 5 or above was very likely.
The other party was knowledgeable and suspected to be from an ancient Beyonder family; from the description, he should have completely known about the Acting Method, but he hadn't taught the relevant knowledge to Hazel.
Furthermore, the other party's state seemed to have been poor all along, as if hiding from something and constantly accumulating strength.
Most crucially, since his last sting operation where he caught Hazel, this mysterious teacher had gone missing and his whereabouts remained unknown to this day—
Could he have been found by an enemy—Lorne speculated.
He couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. This meant the plan to obtain intelligence about the Amon Family from the other party had fallen through—
Forget it—having an obviously suspicious High-Sequence Beyonder of unknown origin stay away from him voluntarily wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
After the talk ended, Lorne and Hazel attended the foundation's opening ceremony together.
Lorne met with every staff member of the foundation and greeted them warmly, showing the approachable side of the "east end hero."
Hazel, on the other hand, attended as the daughter of the investor, Councilor Macht.
Because of Councilor Macht's good relationship with the Night Church, plus the help of Bishop Electra, she logically stayed behind afterward to participate in the foundation's daily management work.
This matter was treated as an arrangement by the Church. With the nod of Lorne, the Director, no other employees in the foundation would naturally object.
After settling some basic work arrangements, Lorne could comfortably act as a hands-off manager—
After participating in all the activities with a smile throughout and sending off Hazel, who had a complex expression and seemed to have things on her mind, onto a rental carriage, Lorne walked alone on the streets of Backlund.
He reached out and touched his cheeks, which were already a bit stiff from smiling, and suddenly felt somewhat sentimental.
"This identity of Scott now has some idol baggage too, and the digestion progress of the potion has slowed down quite a bit—
I'm clearly a 'Winner'!"
Should I be a little more indulgent—"