Request

Three stars and one shield? Does such an institution exist in this Bayern City? I thought while breathing a sigh of relief at escaping the terrifying experience earlier, silently thanking the golden-spectacled man.

"My goodness, how rare for the Handsome Investigator to come early in the morning like this. Have you accepted my offer about night services, Mr. Law Enforcer?" Miss Vanessa said while forming a ring with her fingers and moving it back and forth near her sexy lips. A mischievous grin appeared as if intended solely to tease men.

Hearing the indecent joke, I blushed and reflexively wiped my face with my hand. As a virgin on earth, such vulgar jokes were new to me.

"Tch, get that dream out of your head," the man answered with a disgusted expression before finally taking a seat.

Miss Vanessa, hearing this cruel rejection, immediately frowned, contrasting with her previous expression. To dispel her bad mood, she inhaled her cigar before asking flatly, as if uninterested:

"So why are you here?"

The man cleared his throat while straightening his back, fingers interlaced:

"I want to borrow your power this time..."

"Borrow?" Miss Vanessa replied while raising a questioning eyebrow.

The cold-eyed man nodded firmly before his gaze shifted to me.

Huh!? Why is he staring at me? Did I wrong you, Sir!?

My thoughts raced for reasons why he kept staring relentlessly at me. Nervousness overwhelmed me until Miss Vanessa broke the tense atmosphere.

"Don't worry, she's my employee now. Daenerys will fill the vacant bartender position..."

Her voice redirected the man's gaze from me.

"Really? I thought he was some noble visiting as a guest..."

"Hmph, of course not. From now on, don't you dare lay hands on my treasure...!"

Who are you calling treasure, Miss... I sighed inwardly.

The man fell silent momentarily before speaking,

"Recently we captured a member of a criminal organization three days ago..."

"Criminal organization? Don't tell me you mean 'that' organization?"

"Correct, as you guessed."

Huh? Criminal organization? Is this a case involving Ascendants, Mages, and Witches...? A series of thoughts spawned hypotheses and dilemmas. The fantasy novel conflict I've been waiting for might happen soon!

Literally, those holding great power often harbor hidden malice—whether church puppets, atheists, or humans in general.

While I pondered, their Q&A session continued.

The cold-faced, serious man was named O'Connor Eggers—a division head of a security company in Bayern City.

Wait... Eggers? Is he nobility? He clearly uses a surname... As my thoughts wandered, Miss Vanessa raised a finger to her lips, puckering them as if explaining would be troublesome:

"O'Connor isn't nobility."

"Sir O'Connor is a commoner, you mean?"

I asked spontaneously, receiving a quicker reply than expected.

"This handsome man is commoner—more precisely, a special commoner..."

Miss Vanessa smiled faintly, puffing her cigar.

"..."

"Hmm... You could say he gained privileges from Bayern City's Mayor for resolving a critical crisis years ago..."

After hesitating, I mused aloud,

"Like a hero's privilege, perhaps?"

An awkward smile formed as I awaited their reactions.

A loud cough seized our attention.

"Hero? I just fulfilled a client's request—I got paid too. The privilege was just a bonus..."

Sir O'Connor coughed into his fist, cheeks faintly red.

This cold man isn't as icy as I thought... I chuckled inwardly.

On the other hand, Miss Vanessa exhaled cigar smoke, forming gray circles in the air that mingled with the morning sunlight seeping around the vents. "Tsk. Privilege... that allows him to interrupt people's mornings," she muttered, but her eyes were sharp. "Continue, O'Connor. What kind of trouble would make the City Hero of the Security Company have to borrow my powers?"

O'Connor ignored the title. His gaze lingered, weighing my reactions before returning to Vanessa. "I want to borrow your power to track that criminal..."

Miss Vanessa furrowed her brow before her two fingers finally landed on her temple, "Don't tell me you lost him?"

"We messed up. We thought he couldn't escape the Mayor's magical prison cell. We didn't account for him hiding an artifact in his ass..."

I failed to suppress disgust—despite my 'Miracle Survivor' ability to control expressions, instinct held me back.

Miss Vanessa turned deadly serious. "What artifact?"

"A Sealed Artifact. We confirmed it's approximately Stage-3..."

Then—

"...Wooden Statue. That's its name." O'Connor rasped.

Wooden Statue? What kind of artifact is that? And if sealed artifacts exist, unsealed ones must too, right? I wondered.

"The Wooden Statue is a Stage-3 Sealed Artifact that has the ability to switch positions with the wooden clone's position within a seven kilometer radius. Although powerful, in fact the use of that artifact has quite troublesome side effects..."

"Heh!? So using the Sealed Artifact has a price to pay?" I replied while wondering.

The corners of Miss Vanessa's mouth lifted for a moment as she glanced at me, "Just like using magic spells, mana must also be required. Just like you and me, using abilities also drains so much spiritual energy...."

Miss Vanessa! Why did you reveal my identity?! I silently railed inwardly while expressing my dissatisfaction towards the noblewoman. I secretly gauged Sir O'Connor's reaction out of the corner of my eye.

He had an indifferent expression in contrast to my expectations.

But unluckily, Miss Vanessa's next words became a bombshell for myself.