Blue-haired Girl

"McNee, I guess our deal is done. You've got your payment."

Erich looked at the Dark Spider Silk Cloak, which was now folded on the counter. He picked it up again and examined the fabric under the dim light of the shop's oil lamps.

"If you do something interesting with it, be sure to let me know," I said, taking a few steps back.

"And if I find more items like this, maybe we can continue doing business."

That seemed to awaken Erich's mercenary side. He smiled, adjusting his round glasses on his face.

"If the other items are of that level of rarity, I'll always be interested," he replied.

That was exactly what I needed to hear. Because despite all the madness involving monsters, Hunter Ruse, the system, and now this Necronomicon thing, I still had a very simple and human problem to solve: money.

My family still had bills to pay.

If I wanted to continue down this path of exploring Dungeons, I needed a source of income, and the best way to do that was to keep trading items.

The big question here was that the best way to do that was to register as a Climber at the nearest branch of the Church of the Golden Halo, be it a convent, an abbey, a cathedral, or even a monastery.

To register, I didn't even have to pay a bronze coin, but I would have to show my Blessing. In other words, I would reveal to the world that I was a Summoner.

The only people who knew about the Blessing so far were my family. Telling other people was not something I had planned to do, but considering my financial situation, not even having enough to ride the tram, I had no choice.

So, after leaving Erich McNee's shop, the first thing I did was look through my memories to find the nearest branch of the Church.

Unfortunately, Birsk was a poor neighborhood where the Church was almost non-existent, so there wasn't even a small chapel nearby. However, on Cross Street—two streets away from where I was—there was a police station.

Police stations usually had the necessary instruments to determine if a person was Blessed, because all prisoners had to undergo a rigorous inspection.

This meant that police officers were also allowed to register Blessed people. It was not common for people to register at police stations, but it was not frowned upon by society either. Many of those who had no money or lived in small villages registered at police stations.

So, I walked the few blocks to Cross Street. The most imposing building on the entire street was the police station. Its facade featured two stone columns that evoked Greek architecture and two statues of Doberman dogs.

High above, engraved on the stone facade of the city hall, was written "99th District Police Station."

Yes, as Lovikalen was a huge city, the neighborhoods were also treated as districts by politicians and officials. They said this was to facilitate communication, making it faster and cleaner.

Without fear, I started climbing the stairs of the police station, but suddenly I heard a loud bang. It was the double wooden doors of the police station opening.

In slow motion, I saw a thin girl with short blue hair jump off the last step as a uniformed police officer in a blue uniform tried to grab her. In midair, my eyes met hers, and I also saw that she was hugging a stack of yellowed papers.

"Come back here, girl!"

The girl, dressed in light clothing, landed after the first step and immediately turned on her heels to the right. The people on the sidewalk were startled, but she didn't care and continued to run, skillfully avoiding bumping into any passersby. She was thin, so this was very easy for her.

On the other hand, the police officer was clearly out of shape. By the time he had descended the five steps of the staircase, the girl had already slipped into the crowd.

Gasping for breath, he rested his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath. When he managed to do so, he muttered:

"Shit, shit, shit! Shitty job!"

The cop raised his head and looked around with a stern expression. Everyone who had stopped walking because of the situation immediately got the message and started walking again. Thus, the cop's gaze inevitably fell on me.

"You! You could have grabbed her, why didn't you?" he asked, pointing his index finger at me.

In fact, I could have helped the cop and grabbed the runaway without any problem. But why would I do that if I didn't get anything in return? Of course, I couldn't say that directly to the cop either. So I rubbed the back of my neck and smiled awkwardly.

"Sorry, sir, but I thought you could catch her without any problems."

The overweight police officer gritted his teeth and turned around to climb the stairs to the police station. When he reached the third step, he looked back at me over his shoulder and asked,

"Aren't you coming? Come on, there was a reason you were standing on the first step in the first place, right?"

"Oh, yes, sir."

So, I followed the cop into the station. The inside, however, was even emptier than I had expected.

The hall consisted of a long blue carpet emblazoned with the Lovikalen Police Force symbol — a Doberman with a rounded top hat—a pair of doors on each side of the room, and a desk where a woman with long brown hair sat. Behind her desk was a wooden staircase that split in two and led to the second floor of the station.

"Who is this, boss? The accomplice of that prisoner?" asked the woman with a sly smile.

"No, he's just a civilian... I think. Register his request and then come to my office so we can figure out how to explain how our only prisoner robbed us and got away," said the policeman with a defeated expression as he walked to a door on the left. On that door was written "Lieutenant Donovan's Office."

"Yes, boss," replied the woman to Donovan.

As instructed, I went to the woman's desk and saw that there, in addition to a pile of documents and a typewriter, was a metal plaque with her name on it. Secretary Elowen von Waldifoe — a typically foreign name.

"Good morning, sir. How can I help you?" Elowen asked.

"I want to register as a Blessed One and a Climber, please."

Elowen, who was more interested in the pile of documents she needed to deal with, immediately snapped her head up with wide eyes.

Police officer Donovan, who was about to close the door to his office, soon heard his name being called by the secretary.

"B-boss Donovan, come here please."

He clicked his tongue and opened the door again. "What do you want, Miss Waldifoe? I really don't have the patience right now to listen to more of your family gossip."

"It's not that, sir."

Donovan's eyes fixed on me. "And you're still here, boy? What do you want, huh? I'm sure you've noticed that we're severely understaffed in this district because of the increase in crime in other areas. If you want to report a crime, go to the 88th Precinct, where they'll be more equipped to hear you."

"Actually, as I told your employee, I just want to register as a Blessed One and a Climber."

Like Elowenn, Donovan raised his eyebrows. "A Blessed One? How old did you say you were, boy?"

"I turned eighteen yesterday."

"Humph. Now that makes more sense..." Donovan scratched his chin. "And you live here in Birsk?"

"No, sir. I'm from Bronxord, but I was nearby already, so I decided to come here."

Donovan waved his right hand. "If you're from Bronxord, go to the Bronxord police station. This isn't our problem... We have more than enough things to do."

"With all due respect, sir, are you sure about that? I heard that your only female inmate escaped," I said with a smirk. "I imagine it will be difficult to report this to Central, but it would be nice if you could say that a Blessed One registered as a Climber here. When was the last time that even happened?"

A vein popped out on Donovan's forehead.

"He's right, boss," Elowen chimed in. "The commissioner mentioned during one of his visits here that it would be good if we at least focused on the 99th in registrations, since we can't arrest anyone."

"You heard that new directive?"

Elowen scratched behind her ear. "My job as a secretary is to listen behind closed doors."

Donovan continued to grind his teeth for a few seconds but soon took a deep breath. "All right, boy. We'll make your report... Miss Waldifoe, go down to the basement and get the Magic Eye to bring it to my office."

"Yes, boss!" Elowen dragged her chair as she stood up.

"And you, boy, come with me right now. Let's get this done quickly."