19 Operation 3/3

The white-haired man watched in silence. Humans, he thought, were certainly nothing but a whole empty sack filled with emotions and desires.

He stood close to Deacon Frantz, occasionally glancing down at him and watching his every subtle movement as he led the meeting.

"How's the result of your operation today?"

Molly, the single female from Owen's team, answered Deacon Frantz first, "Two of the people assigned to me are innocent."

The rest of the members disclosed the results of their operation. All the names on the list were confirmed not to be occult members, except for two: Nolan Loic and Elwin Grabestein.

"Nolan Loic hasn't been at his estate. I've been observing for a few days, but I haven't seen him at the manor—only the servants and the butler."

Abel, who was assigned to observe Nolan, wondered.

"Anything unusual you have noticed?" Owen asked Abel, his sharp brown eyes nonchalantly glanced at his member.

"Well…" Abel thought for a moment, "Well… it's weird to see a butler carrying a black cat wherever he goes. Does he really like cats that he can't put them down during his duty?"

"A black cat?" Deacon Frantz asked. He paused for a moment, then tilted his head up to glance at the man standing beside him.

But the white-haired man was looking ahead and didn't even notice his gaze.

Deacon Frantz turned to Owen, "How about you, Owen?"

"Nothing unusual. I'll continue to monitor Elwin Granbestein for another couple of days. The intel says he lives alone, but another man is living with him." Owen answered immediately, his face serious and pensive.

"According to the intel we received, Elwin and Nolan are friends. A noble and, if not a peasant, a mere commoner sharing that kind of relationship—I think we might need to investigate these two further."

Eyes were immediately cast at Easton, one of the members of Owen's team.

"We can't roll out the possibility that these two are actually practicing dark magic," Easton added. 

The meeting continued until they uncovered that, aside from the unconfirmed cases of Elwin and Nolan, the individuals suspected of heresy were innocent. They concluded that heretics might be hiding in Cerefina Village to hide from the church, rather than being actual residents of the village.

A countryside like Cerefina, surrounded by forest and mountains, could be a perfect hiding spot for those kinds of people to perform their unholy rituals.

Their operation would focus on Nolan and Elwin. 

As their meeting concluded, Owen was in a contemplative state.

*

"This is not the way to your bedroom, where are you going?"

"To the underground cell. I need to speak to those two heretics that have been captured." Frantz replied before he suddenly stopped on his feet and threw a glance at 'Atticus'.

"How'd you know this is not the way to my bedroom?"

The white-haired man shrugged and did not say anything. Already tired, Frantz did not press further and merely forgot about his question. If he was capable of floating in the air, it should not be a surprise if he knew.

He continued on his way until they finally reached the underground cell next to where the white-haired man was imprisoned.

Inside the cell were a man and a woman. As the subdued light of the oil lamp held by the white-haired man flickered into view, they rushed toward it, their arms wriggling through the steel bars.

"Put out the fire! Put out the fire!"

"There should be no light! Only darkness!"

"Kill the light! Kill the light!"

"Oh, Atticus, Lord of Darkness! Kill these people for bringing light into your darkness!"

Their agonized shrieks of misery pierced Deacon Frantz's ears, and he nearly shuddered at the horrific sight before him.

The man and woman had sunken cheeks and hollow, delirious eyes that stared at them with horror and panic. Their pale, sickly complexions appeared even more ghastly in the dim light of the oil lamp.

"Only darkness! Only darkness!"

They shouted and gasped, desperately reaching for the oil lamp, their heads banging against the steel bars of their prison.

"Put out the light! I SAID, PUT OUT THE LIGHT!!"

Frantz stepped back in fear as the woman let out a piercing shriek and slammed her head against the bars. Her body trembled violently, and her eyes burned with intense animosity as she glared at them.

Right after that, the man laughed loudly, egging the woman to do it again.

"Do you still want to speak with them?"

Deacon Frantz stood straight as he gathered himself. He had seen a lot of heretics, but these people were certainly new to him. Most heretics he had confronted were overly zealous and had already lost grasp of their reality.

"Strange…" Deacon muttered to himself as he intently watched the man and the woman kept flinging themselves into the railings while laughing hysterically.

"What is?" asked the white-haired man

Frantz glanced and stared at him.

The white-haired man raised a brow as he threw the Deacon a small smile. "What?" he asked again.

"These people are your followers, do you not feel anything?"

"Am I supposed to feel anything?"

Deacon Frantz was surprised by his answer, he fell silent for a moment before returning his gaze to the prisoners.

"It's just strange…why are they like that? Are they possessed?"

"No, they're just high on drugs."

Before Frantz could react, the white-haired man stepped forward and sniffed. His action prompted Frantz to stay silent and observe.

"Yes, they're high and had already lost the thread of sanity. It is no use talking to them."

The white-haired man watched the Deacon's weary and ragged appearance turn more confused.

"But… how did you know?" Frantz asked skeptically.

"It's obvious, I don't need to answer your question. Let's head back, you certainly need to rest."

Deacon Frantz had no choice but to head back. The white-haired man was right, it would be no use to speak to the prisoners.

Upon arriving in front of Frantz's bedroom, he realized he had no room prepared for his new subordinate. However, when he turned to his side, the white-haired man was nowhere to be seen.

"Atticus...?" he called out, but there was no sign of the man.