"Lord Cesimir, we've arrived in Tingen."
Inside the train car, Al Hassan spoke.
"Mm."
Across from him, the golden-haired man had the lower half of his face buried in his high collar, resting with closed eyes.
Hearing the call, he slowly opened his calm emerald eyes. "What time is it now?"
"Twelve twenty."
On the other side, Lolotta pulled out a pocket watch and shook her head.
"We're late."
"Who could have predicted the train would actually be delayed?"
The gentlemanly Al Hassan shrugged.
"According to the train station staff, due to human error, Tingen City's train dispatch had problems.
Several trains were all blocked inside the station at once. Heh, if this were Backlund, such unprofessional behavior would cost the dispatcher their job."
"In Tingen too."
Borgia said coldly.
As they conversed, the train had already pulled into the station and stopped.
The Nighthawks rose from their seats and disembarked, following the crowd toward the exit.
Outside the station, the crowd dispersed and became less congested. The view suddenly opened up before them.
Crestet carried a silver-white metal briefcase, and people around him seemed to subconsciously keep their distance.
Suddenly, his brow furrowed, and he instinctively looked into the distance.
His spiritual intuition seemed to convey an ominous premonition.
"Everyone, proceed immediately to Blackthorn Security Company at top speed."
He suddenly ordered.
Al Hassan was just about to hail a coachman to hire a carriage when Crestet's command left him stunned.
But when he looked toward the senior deacon, he found the man's figure already surrounded by invisible phantoms, rising into the air and swiftly flying off into the distance.
People came and went before the train station, but ordinary citizens completely failed to notice the strange sight before them, continuing to busy themselves with their own affairs.
The Nighthawks were surprised by Crestet's sudden departure.
Remembering the command he'd left before going, they immediately dared not delay.
They hired the nearest carriage, demanding the driver depart at top speed immediately. The payment would be generous!
The coachman, lucky to land such a big job, was overjoyed and whipped the horses vigorously.
The carriage carrying the Nighthawks then charged forward wildly.
Amid the curses of surrounding pedestrians scrambling to avoid them, it rushed out of the station plaza, brushing past another slowly moving carriage.
Inside the slowly moving carriage, a passenger sat calmly, holding up a notebook with a pale palm, slowly turning the pages.
With the swaying of the carriage, the writing on each page of the notebook clearly displayed before him:
"Because he needed a mental health certificate, Silas Londor was forced to stay overnight in the hospital ward.
Based on reasonable logic, the doctor arranged for him a seemingly completely harmless patient, Hood Eugen, as his roommate for the night."
"To attempt the ritual of summoning an evil god's offspring, Lanevus found Hood Eugen tonight.
Making his roommate the sacrifice was a perfectly logical decision."
"The generous Ince Zangwill planted half a skull of Death's descendant inside Lanevus's fiancée's body. Tonight's ritual would go very smoothly."
(What followed were several lines heavily blacked out)
"Tingen City's William Transport Company manager Pond's wife had recently been suspecting him of having an affair.
Today, their conflict unexpectedly erupted. The couple's quarrel made Mrs. Pond determined to track down her husband's affair partner."
"Due to the recent incident of the banker's son being attacked, security companies and detective agencies were very busy.
Mrs. Pond searched everywhere and finally found Blackthorn Security Company in a remote corner of Zoutland Street, successfully issuing a commission."
"That night, Leonard Mitchell and Silas Londor would infiltrate the interior of the transport company.
They didn't know the secrets hidden inside this company. Their infiltration had already been discovered by the Demoness Sect's Madam Sharon.
Out of caution, she decided to send her subordinate assassins to silence them. This was very reasonable."
"Silas Londor would die from the sudden assassination..."
(Again, several lines of blacked-out text.)
"Incredible! Silas Londor was stabbed in the chest and didn't die. His body has peculiar secrets!"
(Flipping forward several pages)
"The bishop of Saint Selena Cathedral took the human trafficking case very seriously because he learned earlier today that a similar situation had occurred in Port Enmat.
As a responsible bishop, he naturally connected the two incidents together, sending a telegram to the Holy Cathedral to remind them the two cases might be related."
"In his report to the Holy Cathedral, he voluntarily mentioned a participant in this incident: Silas Londor, who cleverly discovered the problem. This was a natural thing."
"Under the bishop's unintentional promotion, Silas Londor was arranged to travel to Port Enmat on business to investigate the human trafficking case.
Ince Zangwill possessed relevant intelligence. In Port Enmat, there was a crazed and extremely dangerous envoy of the Aurora Order. Their journey would have only one result: death."
"Of course, the Quill of Alzuhod couldn't yet affect such distant locations.
Ince Zangwill, writing this passage, was merely expressing his beautiful vision.
The deaths of three Nighthawks would bring tremendous loss to the Tingen squad. Dunn Smith would become mentally unstable as a result..."
(Another section of heavily blacked-out text, written with very deep strokes.)
"Once again! Silas Londor escaped death's shadow once more and returned to Tingen!"
(The next several pages were quickly flipped past)
"An uninvited guest came to Tingen.
She was none other than Ma'am M from Port Enmat. Craving the power within Silas's body, she came to Tingen, moved into Silas's home, and controlled his entire family."
"It turned out that on Silas Londor's body there was..."
(Below were several lines of chaotic writing and wildly splattered ink, as if the person writing this passage had been greatly frightened and couldn't even hold the pen steady)
(The hand flipping through the notebook paused when reaching this page)
(Immediately following was writing that was extremely neat, with polite and standard language)
"The Quill of Alzuhod prioritizes protecting its own safety above all else.
It has no specific malice toward Silas Londor and absolutely does not want to understand any secrets about him.
All consequences shall be borne by the writer, Ince Zangwill, himself."
"Reiterating once more: all consequences shall be borne by the writer, Ince Zangwill, himself."
"Ma'am M craved Silas's body, wanting to claim it for herself.
After drinking Sharon's healing potion, her body's injuries were alleviated.
When she went out to implement her plan, she coincidentally encountered Ince Zangwill."
"The two had known each other before and, under current circumstances, had similar objectives.
They quickly reached an agreement. Ince Zangwill would facilitate while Ma'am M executed. Together, they would launch an attack on Blackthorn Security Company."
"Ma'am M used a forbidden ritual, peeling off her own skin.
Using her ability, she housed part of her spirit within it, crafting a special scripture.
This ritual would be very successful. Silas Londor would completely fail to notice."
"Her followers came to Tingen with her."
"After a brutal battle, Ma'am M faked her death, transferring her remaining spirit into the scripture as well.
Ince Zangwill used the Quill of Alzuhod to investigate the Holy Cathedral's subsequent handling..."
(Below was the relevant approval from the Holy Cathedral regarding the handling of Silas, including the roster of Nighthawks personnel coming to retrieve him)
"Ma'am M's plan was very bold and mad.
She not only wanted to seize Silas's body but also wanted to take advantage of the spirituality precipitation opportunity to directly advance to Sequence 5 Shepherd.
Her subordinates had already prepared all materials for her, including the potion to dissolve the [Rose Ring] back into Beyonder characteristics, as well as the remaining materials."
"Tingen City's train station, due to dispatch problems, would issue a delay request toward Backlund today."
"Ma'am M's plan only partially succeeded.
The despicable Ince Zangwill had hidden part of the information. She would go berserk during the ritual, causing terrible harm.
To solve this overly dangerous out-of-control monster, Dunn Smith decided to employ the Tingen Nighthawk squad's most powerful force: Saint Selena's ashes.
This was a correct and reasonable decision."
"After a brutal battle, everyone was greatly depleted.
Saint Selena's ashes also suffered severe trauma. All of this conformed to Ince Zangwill's expectations."
"He easily killed Silas Londor, who had been causing him trouble all along, Klein Moretti, who obstructed him, and Dunn Smith, who held the ashes.
He obtained the ashes and left before the Backlund Nighthawks arrived."
"Ince Zangwill used the remaining Death descendant characteristics to arrange a ritual, consuming Saint Selena's ashes.
He successfully advanced from the 'Death' pathway's Sequence 5 'Gatekeeper' to the 'Darkness Pathway's' Sequence 4, 'Nightwatcher.'
Thus, he obtained divinity and became a demigod, a half-human, half-divine powerhouse."
"However, at this moment, he still didn't know what price he would pay for this."
The notebook stopped here.
Ince Zangwill, with dark golden hair, blind in one eye, and deeply chiseled features, stared fixedly at the last line, gazing for a long time, his face showing no expression.
A moment later, he picked up a classical-style quill pen, letting the tip fall on the page.
The quill wasn't dipped in ink, yet it clearly wrote out words.
He simply wrote one sentence:
"The story of Tingen ends here."
"Thud."
He closed the notebook, putting it together with the quill into his coat, looking out the carriage window at the surging crowds before the train station.
"Customer, I just heard someone say there seems to have been a gas explosion over on Zoutland Street."
The coachman spoke through the small front window. "This world is really dangerous..."
"Indeed."
Ince Zangwill nodded slightly, seemingly expressing agreement.
---
[Notes:
1. 0-08 can only affect a region where it's located, manipulating events toward its anticipated results.
2. All descriptions in the notebook involving other cities are indirectly promoted through influence in this region. Essentially, it's not activating abilities in other cities.
3. For example, the Holy Cathedral arranged for Silas to go to Port Enmat because 0-08 made the bishop mention the connection between the two cases and Silas's important role. Whether the Holy Cathedral would issue this command wasn't under 0-08's control. It was merely using the bishop to push things in the anticipated direction.
4. Other relevant descriptions elsewhere are similar.
5. If there are issues with any part of the narrative, discussion is welcome.]