Chapter 18: Dark‑Circle Club

A sense of crisis prickled his back, and that night Leikèdun dared not fall asleep easily, fearing that when he closed his eyes and opened them again a clown would be standing by the bedside. Leikèdun felt an unprecedented urgency.

"No, I must find a way to boost my own strength; I can't rely entirely on that bronze phosphorus and the unknown hidden protector," Leikèdun thought, pondering ways to quickly increase his power.

"Advancing my Sequence is the best method, but the traits of the Reader Path I possess are only partially mastered; I'm still far from fully assimilating them. As for the higher Sequence of the Seeker of Secrets Path, unless I completely master the extraordinary traits I already have, a reckless attempt could cause a clash of traits and land me a boxed lunch," Leikèdun thought, feeling pitifully few options to boost his strength.

In the end, Leikèdun set several goals for this period: acquiring weapons and gear is the most direct way to raise his power, so he would try to join a gathering of extraordinary beings to purchase one or two items; next, to quickly gather the auxiliary material formulas for the Sequence Eight Combat Scholar of the Seeker of Secrets Path, which should ease his promotion to Combat Scholar; and finally, to find Mr. Kesi and promptly learn some ritual magic and spells.

Actually, Leikèdun thought the quickest way to strengthen himself was to seek a hidden sage to inject a wave of knowledge; with his deductive abilities he could grasp it fast, but now an unknown powerful raven circles him, and a clown lurks in the shadows, so Leikèdun dares not approach the hidden sage at all.

The next morning, Leikèdun appeared at the dining table sporting a pair of dark circles.

"Young master? You didn't rest well last night?" the butler asked upon seeing the dark circles on his master's face.

"It's nothing, I just stayed up reading too long; I'll catch a nap later this afternoon," Leikèdun brushed it off with an excuse.

After a quick breakfast, Leikèdun rushed out, feeling that only staying in the Executor Squad's office gave him a sense of security.

"Meow!"

Leikèdun's motion of opening the door startled a black cat resting by the entrance. The cat sprang up, assuming an attacking stance, cautiously surveyed the surroundings, then realized Leikèdun had merely pushed the door open, and with a nonchalant stretch, lifted a paw and licked it.

"What are you doing here? Your cat army doesn't need you as the leader anymore?" Leikèdun knew the cat was a magical creature, but it seemed unrelated to that clown; otherwise the cat army wouldn't have scattered when the clown appeared yesterday.

The black cat opposite gave a look of "What are you talking about? I don't understand," and licked its other paw.

"Stop playing dumb! I know you can hear me; you're at least a magical animal with a whole cat army under you. Could you have some dignity and stop pretending to be a clueless cat?" Leikèdun stared at the black cat.

"Meow!" the black cat looked at Leikèdun with puzzled eyes.

"Are you really afraid of that clown from last night?" Leikèdun asked again, ignoring the cat's silence.

When the clown showed up last night, those cats immediately scattered, and this black cat also hid, clearly having some awareness of the clown.

"Meow meow! Meow~" the black cat's fur bristled suddenly and, without waiting for Leikèdun to continue, it turned and fled.

"Such a big reaction?" Leikèdun was taken aback, not expecting such a strong response to the clown.

After this little incident, Leikèdun left on a public carriage to the Executor Squad. Until the clown issue was resolved, he wouldn't ride alone; based on his divination yesterday, the opponent likely possessed disguise abilities, and Leikèdun feared that while seated in the carriage, the driver might suddenly turn into that clown.

As he arrived at the building housing the Executor Squad, Leikèdun caught a glimpse of a raven perched on a rooftop across the street, its wings, legs, and head feathered with dark red plumage—the same raven that had perched on the streetlamp last night.

"Is it really following me?" Leikèdun walked into the building nonchalantly, pondering what identity the raven might represent.

…

"Morning! Leikèdun, you didn't sleep well last night either?" Joseph, who arrived at the office early, greeted Leikèdun, noting the matching dark circles.

"Also? You all didn't sleep well?" Leikèdun's gaze fell on Jiexika, who was sleeping on the desk, while Xi Ya, though not sleeping, was touching up makeup, focusing on the under‑eye area.

"No, we didn't sleep at all," Joseph said, his face turning dark.

"Was last night's operation not smooth?" Leikèdun asked curiously.

Mentioning last night made Joseph's expression turn grim.

"It went so well it was almost too well; those vengeful phantom shadows didn't try to avoid us, instead they played hide‑and‑seek with us in the cemetery, kept us up most of the night, and finally Xi Ya, unable to stand it, set the whole graveyard ablaze with a single fire," Joseph's tone showed his satisfaction.

"And then? How did it end up with us not sleeping all night?" Leikèdun pressed further.

"Then the tomb guardians reported us to the Public Security Bureau, and we were arrested, spending the whole night explaining ourselves, until the captain and the bishop came in the morning to bail us out," Joseph said, his expression despondent.

"Setting fire to a mountain, you get buried to death! Burning a cemetery is even more despicable!" Leikèdun was stunned by Joseph's story, thinking only Xi Ya could have such a fiery temper.

"With all this going on, when will my Sequence Eight magic potion get approved?" Joseph complained bitterly.

"Don't worry, I was the one who set the fire; it has nothing to do with you," Xi Ya said, offering a half‑hearted reassurance.

"But we didn't stop you! Besides, we're a team, so it obviously involves us," Joseph replied.

"Ah, didn't expect our classmate Joseph to be so team‑oriented! Don't worry, it's just a Sequence Eight magic potion; even if the church doesn't approve it, you can buy the ingredients and brew it yourself—I know the formula," Xi Ya teased Joseph.

Before Joseph could speak, Xi Ya turned to Leikèdun: "Our big boy, what's up with you? Did you hear we didn't rest yesterday and now you're staying up all night too? Nice, our Dark‑Circle Club gains another member."

"It's complicated; I'm far worse off than you all. We'll discuss this later; I need to find the captain first, I have something to report, the captain should be around, right?" recalling last night's ordeal, Leikèdun's face grew even more miserable than Joseph's.

"Go ahead. After the bishop bailed us out this morning, the captain has stayed in the office, maybe even sneaking a nap," Xi Ya said, raising an eyebrow.

"You all could also sneak a nap," Leikèdun nodded, indicating he understood.

"Huh? Our big boy is actually so considerate? You aren't just pulling us in because you want to sneak a nap yourself, are you? We're not the kind of idle employees who slack off at work!" Xi Ya, seemingly unaffected by the sleeplessness, continued to tease the squad members energetically.

Ignoring Xi Ya's teasing, Leikèdun turned and headed to the captain's office.

"Thump thump~"

"Come in."

After the two knocks, the captain's voice came from the office, and Leikèdun could hear the fatigue in it, as if the captain hadn't rested well either.

"Last night was really lively! How come none of us got proper rest? I didn't expect to see colleagues showing up to work with dark circles," Leikèdun muttered inwardly as he pushed the door open.

"Hmm? Did something happen last night? You look unrested," the captain said, surprised to see Leikèdun.

"I encountered a clown; that person must be the one who was playing pranks in the hospital," Leikèdun said, his voice heavy.

"Hmm? Sit down and tell me slowly—did you encounter any danger?" the captain asked, surprised that Leikèdun had come so quickly.

Leikèdun recounted the previous night's events to the captain in detail, mentioning the cats that chased the stray dogs, the raven perched on the streetlamp, omitting his use of the Seeker of Secrets Eye to observe them, but still using his intuition as an excuse to stress that the leading black cat and the streetlamp raven both seemed to be extraordinary beings.

Captain Yikangdun thought for a while before speaking: "As you said, that clown must be the extraordinary individual of the Thief Path who was causing mischief in the hospital. I'll promptly contact people from the Great Mother Earth Church to have him captured. In the meantime, take care of yourself; I'll arrange for you to apply for a handgun, pick it up from Owen's office this afternoon. Do you need any other weapons or equipment?"

"Give me a dagger. I've never used firearms; in a crisis a gun might not help me as much as a dagger. I also want to learn some simple combat techniques, and if I could master spells and ritual magic that would be even better. My own extraordinary abilities don't aid much in either fighting or fleeing," Leikèdun stated his long‑considered needs.

Captain Yikangdun furrowed his brow: "Grasping so many things at once is difficult. Even with extraordinary assistance, learning a spell or two of ritual magic is feasible. As for combat techniques, if you have spare time you can go to Xi Ya; her combat skills are the strongest I've seen, discounting any extraordinary bonuses."

He added, "Combat techniques can't be mastered in a day or two; I originally planned to address this after you fully mastered your own extraordinary abilities, but given the special circumstances, learning a few basics now is fine."

"Alright, first go find Kesi and learn a spell or two of simple ritual magic. This afternoon I'll arrange for you to receive a handgun and a dagger; then you can go to Xi Ya for a brief lesson on how to use them. But don't neglect studying knowledge—it will help you better master your extraordinary abilities," Captain Yikangdun declared gravely, reminding him not to skip learning.

"This way, you first go find Kes, learn one or two simple spells and ritual magic; this afternoon I will issue you a pistol and dagger; when the time comes, you will go find Sia briefly to learn how to use them. But also don't neglect the study of knowledge; this will help you better master your extraordinary abilities." Captain Ekton said in a low voice, making the decision, and finally didn't forget to remind again not to neglect learning.

(End of chapter)