When Haena returned from the tavern basement, she felt that she was almost full from eating ashes.
When she went down, she was actually very nervous and uneasy. Haina always felt that there might be some traps, mechanisms or curses in the basement - there might also be some familiars, or you could see synthetic beasts in jars.
But to her disappointment, she explored carefully for a long time but found nothing.
There wasn't even the altar described in the novel, filled with the smell of blood and various severed limbs. Except for a few places with traces of life, there was dust everywhere. The most common things were various bottles and barrels of wine that she didn't recognize.
The double bed in the corner was damp and musty, perhaps because of poor ventilation and lack of sunlight. She even felt a little sympathetic towards these demonologists - their quality of life was too poor.
She found the book "Alchemical Code" that Aiwas wanted easily.
It was a book that looked like a textbook, about the thickness of a required course for a semester. It was only about two fingers thick and one and a half palms long. The difference from a textbook was that it had a special dark red leather cover that felt like cowhide.
It looks expensive at first glance.
At least... it should be worth ten white coins, right
Maybe more, but the price is enough to make people want to steal it.
Aiwass lacked life experience—if he took something like this out, he would definitely be noticed. Even a thief who had no knowledge of the supernatural world and forbidden knowledge could easily judge the value of this book from its material.
And this evil sorceress must have treasured this book very much.
Because the book was placed on the desk beside the bed, next to it was a wine glass filled with water - this was one of the few dust-free places in the basement.
Apparently, the dangerous bald sorceress was reading this book before they arrived.
Haina did see a ritual site in the basement. In order to make room, the residents had apparently moved all the wine barrels to a corner, or even stacked two of them vertically together, to create this space that was only five steps in diameter.
Ten names of unknown meaning were engraved in a ritual circle. There was also a strange geometric pattern in the middle, and she could only barely understand that the mark meant "moon".
There was no blood or broken limbs on the ceremony site.
She only saw an empty swaddling cloth, lying quietly in the center of the circle. Just in case, she did not lift the cloth.
But in order to prevent the ritual from running automatically, she first cut all the ritual lines with the sword in her hand and completely destroyed the ritual site before she dared to start the investigation.
This is also the way we were taught in school - if you see a ceremony set up by a believer who transcends the Tao, do not walk in casually or take out the things inside. First, use a sharp object that has been blessed or cursed to gently cut all the lines. For example, if it is a circle, you can cut it anywhere at will; if it is a triangle, you need to cut it three times, and if it is a hexagram, you need to cut it six times.
Haina remembered this knowledge very clearly.
Because when she was learning this knowledge, she had an exciting illusion that she was fighting against demons. She had carefully studied the techniques for fighting against various illegal supernatural beings and even the techniques for fighting against demons.
But it was not until she was about to graduate that she learned from her colleagues that... In fact, more than 90% of the inspectors may never see a living demon in their lifetime. If they do see one, they probably won't have the chance to show off to others alive.
Because the devil cannot appear alone. When the summoner of the devil dies, the devil will be sent back.
This means that when a demon is found alone, the evil warlock who summoned the demon must be nearby - and most likely has noticed him. But he was unable to find the other party.
When they really encounter such a strong enemy, they usually hand it over to the white gloves of the Inspectorate. It is not their turn to take action.
So Haina fell into a very depressed mood.
I clearly have a lot of professional knowledge, but in reality I never use it at work.
In most cases, the work involves checking taxes, checking various identity documents, maintaining public order, and inspecting hygiene conditions, safety hazards and contraband. It is a meaningless, extremely busy job that does not involve any sense of adventure.
In most cases, they didn't even need to draw their swords. For ordinary stupid thieves and thugs, they could be stopped in their tracks with just a shout. For those who couldn't be stopped with just a shout, they would at least have to resort to human wave tactics - facing a powerful enemy that could not be defeated quickly alone was a serious violation and would result in confinement.
When a large number of people came, the sword was no longer useful. In this case, close combat with the criminals would make it easier for teammates to intervene. It would be more convenient to use a gun.
The result is that the legal tactics used in the onboarding assessment are not actually used at all.
Haina was quite dissatisfied with this.
—If she had known that the work in the Inspectorate was so boring, she might as well have joined the army as a cavalryman!
She has been going through the process of buying her current griffin for two months, but she hasn't even seen a single feather!
Originally, Haina was still dreaming that when her equipment and griffin arrived, she would ride her griffin, wearing armor and carrying a sword, and go to school to show off. That would definitely be very cool, and her classmates and younger students would definitely come over to watch her heroic appearance, and the teachers would definitely use her as a role model to teach the younger generations.
… But now it seems that I may not be able to touch my own griffin before graduation.
Haina coughed and pushed the door open with her left elbow. Her right hand gently puffed the air in front of her, and her left hand carefully held the book, as if holding a plate with a teacup on it.
She saw Edwards sitting quietly and obediently in his wheelchair, as if he was afraid of the smell of the corpse and stayed very far away from the horrible dead body.
"Does it feel fishy?"
Haina asked casually, and came over to hand the book to Aiwass: "Hide it quickly... The inspector from Lloyd's District will be here soon, don't let him see it."
As she passed the body, the strong smell of blood in the air suddenly came up, making her cough even more violently.
"This is it, thank you, Senior!"
Aiwass happily took the book and responded sweetly.
The corners of Haina's mouth slightly raised. She liked the feeling of being needed.
She hadn't felt it during the battle, but now that she was free, her eyes couldn't stop drifting to the corpse. And the smell was getting stronger and stronger, making her feel more and more uncomfortable.
Finally, Haina couldn't bear it any longer. She pulled a piece of white cloth from the table next to her and covered the upper body of the sorceress's body.
"If you feel uncomfortable, why don't you cover it up?"
"Because I thought we needed to protect the scene..."
Aiwass said hesitantly, "If you cover it with a cloth, won't it destroy the evidence on the body?"
"What?"
Haina was stunned for a moment.
She looked back at the corpse and instinctively felt that it made sense.
…but why isn’t this taught in schools
Unable to think of the reason, she turned around and said stubbornly, "Because there is no need to worry about any clues. We all know that she was shot dead by you... Is there anything else to investigate? I saw it clearly. I am a witness myself, and no other evidence is needed.
"Of course, this is not your problem. Your shooting was a heroic act of bravery and justice. I will make this clear to the Supervisory Bureau."
At this point, she couldn't help but sigh—Aivaz is really a good boy who obeys the rules and is polite.
—Completely different from myself.
Haena sighed sadly.
So she decided to confess.
She said hesitantly, "Mr. Aiwass."
"What?" Aiwass was stunned.
"I have something to apologize to you for..."
"No, no, you don't have to be so polite... Aren't we friends?"
"That's why I'm speaking out."
Haina looked ashamed: "When I was looking for your book downstairs, I couldn't help but flip through a few pages."
—In fact, she was actually worried about whether there was any curse or poison in the book.
She felt that she was physically strong, so she decided to give it a try herself.
But there is no need to say this because it sounds too much like an excuse, it is better to just admit that you want to watch it.
…because she actually did want to see it.
If it was the Haina before today, she would definitely not accept the temptation of such a crooked way. But on the way here, after listening to Aiwass's words, she suddenly felt that she seemed too old-fashioned before.
I want to become a "superior", which is an idea of transcendence; I think Aiwass is handsome, elegant, gentle and cultured, which is the influence of the way of "beauty" or the way of "love".
Similarly, after reading this book, I became curious... I was infected by the way of balance and wisdom.
The Way of Balance represents knowledge and science, and is the path of equal cognition of the world; the essence of the Way of Wisdom is related to mystery, rationality, and the pursuit of truth. This is all normal and is part of being a normal person.
This is nothing to be ashamed of.
What she really deserves to apologize for is that she touched other people's things and read other people's books without permission.
And to her shame... She had to admit that the things in this book were indeed attractive.
She just flipped through a few pages and was immersed in the mysterious and amazing world, which broadened her horizons.
Haena stayed downstairs for about fifteen minutes, and spent more than ten minutes reading the book. But she could only flip through it briefly, and she felt that she had to go out and read it... Otherwise, Aiwass would definitely be scared to be alone in a room with a corpse.
After all, this is the Lloyd's District with poor public security.
What if a criminal comes outside at this time
Aiwass was too weak to protect himself properly. If he shot him, he might accidentally kill someone.
Killing a demonologist is no big deal, and you may even be rewarded; but if you kill a civilian, you may end up in jail.
And what if there were more people? He might not have many bullets left, and he might not dare to shoot, or his weapon might be taken away...
Thinking of this, Haina ran up to see worriedly, but she found that Aiwass was safe and sound.
Then looking back, she felt itchy again.
The previous round of flipping did not quench her thirst at all, but only made her more curious.
"I'm a little curious."
Taking a deep breath, Haina frankly admitted her desire: “I also want to read… that book.
"Can I come to your house and see it afterwards?"
"But as an inspector, Senior Sister came to our house for no reason... Isn't this a bad influence?"
Aiwass declined, "This will cause gossips about both my father and you. You know, some inspectors have received money from businessmen and acted in a way that is obviously biased. I mean, even if you didn't do it, you can't refute it when someone says that. Because what you actually did is even more unexplainable."
"… really."
Haina nodded dejectedly: "You are right."
"But," Aiwass changed the subject, "Senior saved me and helped me get my revenge. She also helped me find the book back. It is only right and proper that I should thank Senior for her help.
"So if you want to read this book, you can ask me out regularly in your free time. You know, a more private place? Or if that's not possible, I can bring it to school. There are always places like this in school."
Aiwass narrowed his eyes and showed a kind and gentle smile, like a cunning fox, guiding and persuading: "Your daily work must be a bit tiring, right? If you have anything worth complaining about, or if there is anything big that has happened in the Supervisory Bureau recently, you can tell me about it then."
She is actually interested in alchemy...
Aiwas's mind moved. Knowing her personal preferences, things became easier. Haina could easily become his spy in the Supervisory Bureau.
… It’s so hard to learn good things, but it’s so easy to learn bad things.
Senior Haina, who was originally upright and righteous, was easily seduced by herself at the moment when her firm belief was shaken.
I don't know who the devil is.
I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but Aiwass feels that if he were a demon, he would be much more professional than the Shadow Fiend.
Upon hearing this, Haina was extremely grateful.
She respected Aiwas' generosity and his gentleness in considering others, and couldn't help but use honorifics to address her junior: "Thank you, Mr. Aiwas! But... is this too much trouble for you?"
Aiwass just smiled and waved his hand: "It's okay, no trouble. It's called each taking what he needs.
"—After all, I am also curious about the daily work of the Supervisory Bureau."