Now, they were in a street with a lot of beautiful hotels and guesthouses, sprouting like colorful trees left and right. Landon said he was looking for someone nearby – someone related to entertainments who was also his acquaintance.

  However, the moment she was about to ask, she was interrupted by Landon.

  “What do you see when you interact with Merik, Miss Cora?”

  She felt slightly flustered since she was caught off guard, but she deliberately replied,

  “A senior of mine that I have to look up to? Why, Head Captain?”

  He didn’t stop moving but his sharp eyes shifted sideways and landed on her. She couldn’t help but feel tense, nonetheless she decided to stay ignorant.

  Landon considered his choice of words for a moment and softly said,

  “Miss Cora, today I asked you to accompany for two selfish reasons of mine. One is I want to know you better, my subordinate and another one is that...”

  He deliberately paused for a breath or two and continued,

  “I wanted to ask several things about Merik.”

  Cora’s heart thumped with faint excitement but she restrained her facial muscles from giving her true feelings away.

  “What do you want to ask about, Head Captain? I think if it’s something related to him, I’m sure Merik as my senior can give a better answer.”

  Landon gave out a sigh and his tone changed to that of a demanding tone in an obvious manner.

  “Miss Cora, let’s not waste our time, because it’s not getting us anywhere. I know you’ve been dying to know about the case and as a Head Captain, I’m quite sure I can quench your thirst of knowledge. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not forcibly asking you. I just want to cooperate with you and trade information. After all, I’m not one to believe in barbaric behaviors.”

  Cora’s tracks slowed down and Landon had to stop and glanced back at her. After that, Cora steadily walked up to him.

  “Alright. I’m in.”

  He didn’t hide his satisfied smile and started walking again. Cora similarly walked beside him and answered, no longer wasting time.

  “About Merik, I’ll say that he’s quite arrogant, selfish, does whatever he wants, kind of a pain in the ass. Even when I’m doing my job quite well, he doesn’t seem to acknowledge it that much since his eyes are just annoyingly expressionless or whatever. Though he’s reliable, I’ll say that he’s unbearable with his, I don’t know...”

  “Facade?”

  “Ah, yes. Like he’s hiding behind some sort of an iron mask, not letting anything in or out. The only real thing of him could well be his... face and I’m not sure about that either.”

  Towards the end, Cora’s eyes darted downwards and muttered softly.

  “But he’s a good man.”

  Landon chuckled.

  “We are all hiding behind masks our own, aren’t we not, Miss Cora?”

  “Umm... yes. But, yeah, I don’t know, it’s just that he infuriates me, is all.”

  Landon’s smile softened while his gaze didn’t. He said,

  “Miss Cora, don’t get me wrong, I want to know all these peculiar traits of him as well but what I really want to know is... his power. Do you know anything about it?”

  “His power, huh? Not that I know...wait...”

  Wait, don’t tell me it’s the power that severed the monster’s hand and the black flames at the end...

  Noticing Cora went into contemplation, Landon instantly asked,

  “You recalled something, Miss Cora?”

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  “It’s too vague of an answer and it’s a bit of a stretch to even call that a power but Head Captain, I think Merik used some sort of blackish thing.”

  “Blackish thing, huh?”

  Landon went into deep thoughts at the mention of blackish flames because that’s what he saw that night as well.

  It was quite eerily scary sight since he never knew something like that even existed.

  Since then, he was torn between wanting to protect Merik as his subordinate and to uncover the veil to see the truth behind all of it.

  The truth of Merik.

  At the same time, he believed it was necessary to learn of his subordinates’ nature if their seemingly secrets concerned the entire safety of its garrison. Since they had been here for a long time, he knew such information about Davies, Allen and Albert naturally.

  All except Merik, of course.

  He was the kind of person who couldn’t sit still with even a single uncertainty sitting on his mind. For him, it felt like a dirty stain that he needed to wipe off no matter the cost.

  And there was that terrifying Light’s Envoy, Lucien Monroe, as well.

  “You know something about it, too, Head Captain?”

  Cora’s gaze turned to that of a curious one and studied Landon’s face.

  “As far as I know, my knowledge on the matter doesn’t exceed yours, as well, Miss Cora. I only know of the blackish things that resembled flames. What else do you know of?”

  Cora thought for a moment and decided to answer but suddenly, stopped the words that was almost out of her mouth. Then, she answered in a calm manner.

  “Blackish things appear from the back of his neck but I don’t know anything else. What about you, Head Captain?”

  Even though she wanted to learn more for the sake of getting stronger, she felt... guilty over giving information away like this. She felt like she was somewhat betraying Merik. Moreover, it’s the first time they have started talking; thus, she decided leave some facts out such as the terrifying power made the monster to sever his own.

  Funnily enough, Landon similarly felt the same thing. As much as he wanted to wipe the stain off of his mind, he wasn’t going to sell his subordinates at the expense of his unhealthy curiosities. More so when Cora had just been here under two months and compared to her, Merik was more of a trusted companion... colleague.

  It wasn’t that he didn’t trust this gullible girl as well, but he decided to be cautious in his own steps.

  However, he needed to show his good will, so he gave out harmless information to her.

  “I don’t know much about his powers hence my questions, but what I can tell you right now is the previous case you were in, isn’t that simple and is more than it meets the eyes.”

  “Hmm, I know that much since the monster uses the mind attacks, which is basically unheard of...”

  Landon interrupted her.

  “No, I’m not talking about the mind attacks. What I meant is that the case itself isn’t something that we face normally where we subdue these abominations and call it a day. It involves the higher powers.”

  Cora eyes visibly widened.

  “Huh? What do you mean higher powers? What kind of higher powers? Wait... what does this mean, Head Captain?”

  However, when Cora glanced back at Landon, all she saw was a gentle smile but the meaning behind was anything but.

  “You are not the only one hiding things, Cora, which I have to admit I’m quite proud of you, if you were to just blatantly sprout of all kinds of things of Merik, right from the start, I would have cut the deal off – your face lost to me forever, because first, giving the information away of your fellow Overseer to a person you barely know, speaks a lot about your loyalty and character, I’m afraid.”

  Cora kept listening while her heart was beating wildly. Landon continued,

  “Second thing is that instead of giving everything I needed, you let out a few things which led me to think you are in for a cooperation. Similarly, I believe you might have thought the same. It’s not our enemy we’re talking about, it’s our fellow colleague, so I believe, to build a mutual ground between us, this should be a very first step.”

  “Not just the information regarding Merik, Miss Cora, I want to build a lasting beneficial relationship with you because I see your worth. You have a great affinity especially towards Fire and a relatively calm mind. You want to save people and your desire for strength is crystal clear. I believe you will further grow up to be a fine Overseer – someone who I can rely on.”

  “I have just been recently promoted to my current position and to my embarrassment, I must admit I have my fair shares of struggles regarding the whole garrison. It is too big of a shoe to fill, I’m afraid. Thus, I need allies – comrades that I can trust and rely on, which is why here I am, letting my innate instincts be the judge of mine.”

  Cora had a shaky breath and kept staring speechlessly at Landon, a fierce yet confident man with vermillion hair. With his exquisitely sharp features, combined with his well-built body structure, Cora saw not just a man but a leader with immense aura, one she could truly rely on.

  Cora couldn’t help but compare Merik and Landon, and saw them in the same calm and confident demeanor. Landon was more of a polished gem while Merik seemed like wild gem with visible rough edges though both were precious in their own way.

  Landon seemed like an upright man who never failed to hold justice and accountable towards any mishaps and mischiefs. A strong and stoic man, with countable features of a true leader.

  Even if Cora knew that she was bad with judging people’s characters, she felt she wasn’t wrong this time.

  Cora shook her necessary thoughts when Landon gave his hand out for a shake.

  “So, what will it be, Miss Cora?”

  Cora gave out a satisfied smile and returned the gesture and firmly shook his hand.

  “You can count on me, Head Captain.”

  “Heh, call me Landon.”

  After holding in a firm handshake for a considerable amount of time, Cora felt slightly awkward.

  “Umm, is it okay to let go, now?”

  “Of course.”

  Landon, however, felt no embarrassing things from such prolong gesture and lightly tilted his head and looked at the huge building they have arrived in front of.

  “Miss Cora, it seems that we’re here.”

  The grand building was, in fact, the renowned hotel named “Twilight Hours”.