‘How did you come across his information in the first place?’ Yui asks Madoka curiously.

   ‘Two years ago, I was on a mission in Mexico. My job was to assassinate a drug lord who was rumored to have so much influence on the locals, he might overthrow the government. Which is why their President asked me to get rid of him. Naturally, the drug lord hired a bodyguard, who happens to be Morcos. I found it strange that I have zero intel on him.’

   That surprise me by a lot. ‘Wait, seriously? There’s someone that you don’t have information on?’

   ‘It’s vexing, but true. I did wanted to play it safe by looking more into him before I cross path with him. Unfortunately, the drug lord was planning a rebellion in 2 days time, so I had to charge in without sufficient information on my opponent.’

   ‘And it was a pretty tough fight. It could easily be listed as one of my top 5 fights that I found myself to be in a life-and-death situation.’

   ‘He was that strong?’

   She nods. ‘I never got to find out how long he’s been in this business, but he’s extremely good at it. Not only was he very proficient in his powers, he was always mindful of his surroundings so that his enemies could not use it against him.’

   ‘Minutes after I start to fight him, I decide to limit his ability by destroying every single light source so that there’s no light for shadows to be produced. It worked for a while, until he one-upped me by hiding remote-controlled torch lights inside tiny gaps beforehand.’

   ‘When I realized that I could not defeat him, I went after his employer instead. The drug lord was stupid enough to leave all the driving to his subordinates and didn’t learn how to drive himself. When his driver abandoned him, he was easy picking.’

   ‘Even with Morcos protecting him?’

   Madoka shrugs. ‘Like I said, the drug lord was stupid. He wanted to see me getting killed, so he disregarded Morcos’s warning and kept on looking at our fight, all the while cheering for Morcos. Since he made himself into such an easy target, I decided to take advantage and tossed a poison smoke bomb at his feet. He died within minutes while frothing like he’s having a seizure.’

   ‘And you continued to fight Morcos?’

   ‘I was planning to, but he left before the drug lord even fell to the ground. A shame, really. If he tried to bring the drug lord to a hospital or something and touched him, the poison smoke stuck on the drug lord would have contaminated him too.’

   ‘Maybe he knew your plan, which is why he didn’t bother.’

   ‘Maybe.’

   ‘Wait, how did you even get to know his name? And the organization he works for?’ Ichika asks.

   ‘I searched the drug lord’s office and found a voice recorder. It recorded the conversation between the drug lord and Morcos. After learning his name, I managed to find out the organization that he belongs to: the Hourglass of Blood. After a few months of intense investigation and a few near-deaths experiences, I finally found something about him.’

   ‘Wow, that’s some dedication.’ I point out.

   ‘I prefer to find out everything about my future opponents so that I have a better chance of defeating them.’

   For some reason, she’s looking at me when she said that.

   ‘Madoka? Why are you looking at me like that?’

   ‘Oh, nothing. I realized that there was also a time where I did a through research on someone with the sole intention of wanting to know more about him.’

   ‘I…I see.’

   Just when I thought the atmosphere was gonna get weird, she said something unnecessary.

   ‘Like a certain file that person has in his computer that’s being protected by three layers of passwords.’

   ‘Hey, when did you-’

   Sakuya butts in before I could ask any further.

   ‘Madoka-chan, could you tell your big sister more about that file?’

   ‘I know I was the one who initiated it, but can we get back to Morcos now?’

   ‘...Fine.’ Sakuya says reluctantly.

   ‘Of course.’

   I want to say that I’ll reconsider Madoka’s privilege to hold the spare key to my room as well, but she would just use her lock picks, so there’s no point.

   ‘So what did you learn about him?’

   ‘He formed a contract with a rare Destroyer that could live in shadows. In exchange of his eyes and more than half of his lifespan, the Destroyer allows him to use its ability. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything regarding the Destroyer, since it’s rarely seen over here.’

   I look at Mashiro, who’s our expert when it comes to Destroyers. ‘Mashiro, you know anything about it?’

   ‘Mashiro thinks it’s this one.’

   A few seconds later, a black Destroyer that looks like the skeleton of a snake appears. It’s roughly the same size as a full grown anaconda. It has no eyes, and its fangs are as long as my forearms.

   ‘Despite its small size, this kind of Destroyer is strong enough to be classified as a S Rank. It not only has strong magic, but it’s also basically untouchable.’

   To prove her point, Mashiro walks over to the Destroyer and touches it. Her tiny hand passed through it like it’s a hologram.

   ‘Now that you mention it, when I tried to wound Morcos, it did feel like my knife just passed through him. At that time, I thought it was because I slashed the shadows that came out of his body.’ Madoka recalls.

   ‘So, how are we going to fight someone that we can’t hurt by using brute force?’ I ask Mashiro.

   ‘The Destroyer is strong and won’t be harmed by physical attacks, but it has one weakness.’

   Mashiro takes out her phone and turns on the flashlight function on it. She then flashes the light at the Destroyer.

   The Destroyer hisses loudly and moves away from the light.

   ‘As you can see, this Destroyer hates light. Mashiro is pretty sure that the Morcos person can be defeated if we shine enough light at him.’

   Madoka stares at Mashiro like she couldn’t believe what she just heard. ‘So, I shouldn’t have destroyed those light bulbs?’

   ‘Probably not.’ Mashiro agrees.

   Madoka hangs her head in shame. ‘To think I call myself an expert at finding information. First Morcos, now this Destroyer. I’m nothing but a failure.’

   ‘Come on, don’t say that. Some people are that good at keeping secrets, you know.’ I say to her.

   Which is why she doesn’t know my true identity either.

   Madoka sighs. ‘I guess so.’

   Sakuya walks to my side and nudges me lightly.

   ‘Akira-kun, you’re supposed to comfort her. With a head pat, for instance.’ she whispers at my ear.

   ‘Oh, right.’

    I walk up to Madoka and put my hand on her head. Her eyes widen up immediately.

   ‘Wha-? What are you-’

   ‘There, there. There’s no need to feel down over not doing your research properly.’ I say while giving her a head pat.

   What happened next was extremely unexpected.

   ‘Wait, you don’t have to…hwaaaaaa~’

   Not long after I start stroking her hair, Madoka’s expression became very mellow. It’s like she’s melting.

   I stop the head pat at once.

   ‘Uh, Madoka? Are you all right?’

   Her expression’s back to normal at once, and she starts to pout with some tears at the corners of her eyes.

   ‘I’m not all right! You’ve find out that I’m weak against head pats!’

   I glance sideways at Sakuya. She’s smiling ear to ear. She probably knew from the start.

   ‘I’m sorry for doing that without giving you any heads-up. I won’t do that again, so cheer up, okay?’

   She shakes her head.

   ‘No. I want you to do it again someday. When we’re alone.’ she says while slightly blushing.

   ‘Oh. Alright.’

   ‘Anyway, we’re getting off topic.’

   ‘Indeed we are. What were we talking about again?’

   ‘The Destroyer’s weakness.’ Albanese reminds us. ‘And how Morcos can be defeated by using torch light.’

   ‘Oh. Right.’

   ‘I hate to be pessimistic, but will it go that smoothly?’ Ichika asks. ‘I doubt Morcos will survive for this long while having an obvious weak point like that.’

   ‘True. He probably has something else up his sleeves. However, we know too little things about him. The only thing we can do is execute this Plan A and see where it goes.’

   ‘It is quite risky to fight an opponent who we do not know much about.’ Ichika warns.

   ‘I know. But there’s nothing much we can do, is there?’

   ‘And assuming that Morcos is defeated and captured, will there be a possibility that his group will send others to rescue him?’ Albanese asks Madoka.

   ‘From what I know, Hourglass of Blood is very strict on those who failed on their mission. They will either be deserted or assassinated by one of their own.’

   ‘I see. I must admit that I have never heard of this Hourglass of Blood. Is it some sort of cult like Lost Children?’

   Madoka shakes her head. ‘The leader and executives of Lost Children seek world dominance via brainwash and military might. Hourglass of Blood is only interested in hiding in shadows and earn money by taking dirty jobs.’

   ‘For what purpose?’

   ‘I’ve heard rumors that they use those money to help the poor.’

   I’m literally flabbergasted. So is everyone else.

   ‘Wait. You’re telling me that an organization that encourages it members to learn life-threatening skills is actually actively helping out those in need?’ I ask.

   ‘I have yet to find any definitive proof of that, but that’s what they’re claiming.’

   Suddenly, I find myself unable to criticize them. If I do, I’ll be indirectly criticizing Madoka and her fellow schoolmates that belong to the Information Squad, who’re doing similar jobs for similar purposes.

   ‘The purpose of the organization aside, Morcos must be stopped.’ I say.

   ‘True enough. Should I ask some of the knights to go outside and spread the rumor?’ Albanese asks.

   ‘Please wait for a while. I got something to take care of first.’

   When I say something, I meant my power-ups. Like Ichika said, we don’t know what Morcos might do to counter our Plan A. Therefore, I need to make sure I’m as prepared as possible.

   First, I make a phone call to contact Ueno. It might be pretty late at Japan, but I have to wake him up regardless. It took him a while to pick the phone.

   ‘Hello…?’ Ueno answers in a sleepy voice.

   ‘Hey, Ueno. Really sorry to bother you, but is my ring ready yet?’

   ‘It’s…around 70-80% done. We need two or three more days.’

   ‘Is that so? The thing is, I’m going to fight a strong opponent soon, so I need to have my ring back for now. Is it possible to use it as it is now?’

   ‘If you’re really desperate, I guess. The limiter’s already installed, just that it needs some more fine-tuning. All you have to do is to think of how many percent of its power you want to use, and the limiter will do the rest. Just one thing. Never, ever crank it up to 80%.’

   ‘Got it. Thanks.’

   ‘No problem. By the way, did your plan worked out well?’

   ‘Yeah. All thanks to you. I’ll treat you guys to something good when I get by.’

   ‘I can’t wait. Don’t die on me, okay?’

   ‘Don’t worry, I won’t.’

   I hang up and use my teleportation magic to warp my ring to me. There’s a piece of glass on top of the jewellery with a “60%” written on it.

   I wear the ring and think of using 50% of the ring’s power. Immediately, the number lowers down to 50. Needless to say, I didn’t try it out right away.

   Next, I decide to talk to Coinchenn, since I need all the help I can get.

   It would be a blasphemy to draw a pentacle inside a church, so I had to go outside and look for a secluded spot, with Madoka following me.

   At this point, the news of the arrest of the priests and most of the knights were probably spread around the city. I could tell this from the way the locals are looking at the church like they’re afraid of it. Some of them, on the other hand, are looking at it in a loathsome manner.

   All of them are not doing anything though. No riots, no surrounding the church, no demand of answer. It’s either they’re afraid of the Pope or the divine punishment that follows from questioning the representative of the Almighty.

   ‘Do you think that they know of the deaths?’ I ask Madoka.

   ‘Probably. Some of them are quick to get this kind of information, after all. Either way, it doesn’t concern us. Morcus should be our highest priority.’

   ‘Right.’

   Madoka brings me to an alley that looks like it’s rarely been used by people so that I could talk to Coinchenn. I ask her to keep watch while I draw a pentacle on the ground with a white chalk. After I’m done, I sit down cross-legged inside the pentacle and close my eyes.

   Honestly, I don’t know how to get Curruid to come inside my head. I did the only thing that comes into my mind: by keep on calling him.

   Suddenly, I’m back at the ocean floor. Once again, Curruid keeps his distance from me while covered in complete darkness. His huge eyes are the only things I could see.

   ‘All right, all right. I heard you the first time. There’s no need to keep on calling my name.’ he grumbles.

   ‘Sorry, bud. I never tried this before, so I don’t know how to do it right.’

   ‘Do not call me bud! We are not friends, and you know it!’

   ‘Oh come on. Does our time spent together means nothing?’

   ‘Indeed it does not! And do not even get me started with that accursed ring of yours!’

   ‘Hmm? You mean this?’ I show him the ring on my finger.

   ‘What else? I am pretty certain that you do not need the assistance of this overgrown fish now that you have a Regalia of a God!’

   ‘Come on, you know that’s not true.’

   I got tired of standing, so I imagine a deck chair to appear right next to me. It worked. I lie down on the chair and continue our conversation.

   ‘Will you stop treating this place like it’s your own house?’

   ‘But, this is inside my head. And technically you’re the one who’s intruding.’

   Curruid growls frustratingly. ‘I have totally forgotten how much you get on my nerves.’

   ‘You’ll get used to it.’

   ‘I doubt that I will.’

   ‘Back to our discussion. The thing is, my team and I are about to-’

   ‘Save your breath. I have heard about the opponent you lot are about to face, assuming that he will even make an appearance. What is it that you want to talk about?’

   ‘I need your help in defeating that assassin.’

   He scoffs. ‘Like I said, do you not have that ring? Do you really need my assistance?’

   ‘Of course I do. It doesn’t matter that I have this ring, I still see you as my partner.’

   It’s a while before he speaks again.

   ‘...Do you truly mean it?’

   ‘Of course I do. I didn’t have the privilege of choosing you myself, but we’ve been so much together I won’t trade you for anyone or anything.’

   I’m not saying this to sweet talk him. This is how I truly feel. He’s most of the reason I’m still alive after all those fights I went through, after all.

   ‘That is…quite a nice thing you said. The Hound never bothered to talk to me, you see. My bone was merely a tool to him, nothing more.’

   I could be wrong, but I think he interrupted my training just so he could talk to me. I decide to let it slide.

   ‘Honestly, I was the same. I’ve never bothered about you until you spoke to me that day. Even so, I want things to be different now. I sincerely apologize for taking this long to tell you that.’

   I stand up from the chair and bow at him.

   Curruid merely snorts at my apology. ‘We’ll see how sincere you were when more time passes. For now, I shall believe in you. I shall grant you my power. My full power. Should you ever get in trouble, just shout my name.’

   ‘What’s gonna happen then?’

   ‘Consider it a mystery, since it would serve as a test for those word of yours. If you want my trust, you would have to earn it.’

   ‘Fair enough.’

   ‘Now leave. I had enough of you for a lifetime.’

   ‘Just don’t hold your breath. I might be back soon.’

   ‘I shall pray hard that it will never happen.’

   And with that, I’m back to where I was before. I slowly get up, erase the pentacle thoroughly, and then go outside the alley to meet Madoka.

   ‘Did everything went well?’ she asks me.

   ‘I think so. Let’s head back.’

   After we go back to the others, I ask Albanese to ask some knights to go out in disguise and spread rumors that Wilson might know the same secret that the priests know. He obliges immediately.

   Meanwhile, all of us except Kaoru are in standby. To make sure that Morcos doesn’t suspect anything is amiss, we act like nothing is wrong and take a tour around Vatican City. Meanwhile, the knights who’re guarding the crypt are to make their rounds as usual.

   Before we leave, we had tiny surveillance cameras installed all over the crypt. As soon as an intruder sneaks inside, the camera will sound an alarm which is connected to Madoka’s phone. Mashiro will then summons Sogdrul to have us teleport outside Wilson’s room.

   It’s a really long shot, but we got no other leads. If he’s coming, I hope he’ll come before the rest of us leave for Japan.

   Around an hour later, my wish got granted.