Chapter 974: A Beautiful Night

When Iruna and the Ten-Ring Shushi Miss Green of the Sun Church, the Thirteen-Ring Shushi "Sun Great Sword" Mr. Hog Lundell of the Sun Church, the Eleven-Ring Shushi Mr. Modro of the Peace Church, and the Twelve-Ring Shushi Mr. Franz Joseph of the Dawn Church arrived at St. Deran Square, half an hour had passed since Doctor Shi Nai De and the other four left.

The night was already very deep, and thin fog drifted in the city, making every gas street lamp surrounding the square emit a strange halo. The starry sky and the moon were exceptionally dim, as if they were also sleeping in this long winter night.

And the reason why the group of five came here so slowly was not only to wait for the main force of the Five Gods Church to arrive, to appease the people who fainted at the Prophecy Society, and to properly handle the three princesses who saw everything. The most important reason was that no one had forgotten that St. Deran Square had two existences whose names even Angel-level relics could not say.

Other things happened in the city tonight. After the "Sun Great Sword" arrived, they immediately came here. On the way, everyone had already seen the corpse of the 【Stalker in the Darkness】 lying on the street, and now the corpse was being transported to the church for examination.

But after Iruna and the High-Ring Shushi entered St. Deran Square together, they did not find any abnormalities here.

The neighborhood was very peaceful, the lights of the houses around the square were mostly extinguished, and only a few windows such as No. 6 St. Deran Square were still lit. Steam pipes and gas pipes crawled on the walls, and in the empty square, only the fountain with the image of a girl holding a water bottle stood under the moon.

None of the five made a sound, carefully releasing sorcery to test the surrounding environment. After confirming that the sorcery could not peek into any abnormalities, they used the Angel-level relic 【False Puppet】 originally housed in the Creation Church of this parish to investigate the surroundings.

After the small puppet was placed on the ground, it automatically walked nine steps forward and fell to the ground, which meant that there was no existence nearby sufficient to threaten it.

"Have they left?"

Mr. Hog Lundell whispered. After his companion recovered the puppet, he waved to the people behind him. The Ringed Shushi squad of the Five Gods Church, which had been mobilized, totaling more than 30 Ringed Shushi, officially entered the square and went from house to house to check.

Accompanying them were the sheriffs with stars on their shoulders from Liderwich Field. The people living in St. Deran Square were quite extraordinary, so it was not easy to persuade them to open their doors at night.

The High-Ring Shushi checked the square again, and only then prepared to enter No. 6 St. Deran Square to investigate the situation.

Xia De's neighbor, Mr. Smith, had already opened his door in his pajamas, looking uneasily at the many people appearing in the square. But Iruna, who came to the door of No. 6, suddenly stopped, and the High-Ring Shushi beside her also stopped, because standing at Xia De's door was a person wearing black clothes, whose face was completely covered by shadows.

Although they had never seen it, according to the disturbing whisper elements and the past data collected by the Church, everyone understood in an instant that this was 【Jack the Phantom Thief】:

"You caught me, I want to give you a gift."

The hoarse voice said to Iruna. The seventeen-year-old girl was a little surprised and just wanted to speak, but the hoarse voice said again:

"Because you defeated me not by using your own power, so what I can give you is only what I once stole."

Saying this, it handed out the Keeper-level (3rd level) relic 【Mandrake Snake Nest Bottle】 that the Black Stone Security Company had once stolen.

The long-necked glass bottle with a cork stopper, golden runes written on the bottle body, and crawling with small snakes was stuffed into Iruna's hand. She looked at the bottle in her hand and blinked. The humanoid relic in front of her said again:

"I will never steal from you or your residence again."

It slowly retreated backward, but did not touch the door of Xia De's house, instead seeming to melt into the darkness. The High-Ring Shushi did not dare to stop it, watching it leave with their own eyes, but Iruna, who had come back to her senses, suddenly asked another sentence:

"Have the ancient existences and incomplete ancient existences that once descended nearby already left?"

Half of the thief's body was almost melted into the darkness, and the thick darkness stuck to it like mud, as if that darkness was some kind of squirming malice:

"Yes, they left half an hour ago."

After telling the truth, it retreated again and disappeared completely from No. 6 St. Deran Square. Iruna, holding the bottle, breathed a sigh of relief, but the Thirteen-Ring Shushi wearing a black trench coat and a holy emblem on his chest tonight was still worried:

"Check it again. After all, the nearby neighborhood is not an ordinary place."

St. Deran Square in the middle of the night seemed to become busy, but the Church had a proper inspection method, so such noise would not last long. Most of the people living here knew what the large-scale action at night meant, so there were not many people complaining or even uncooperative because of this.

Iruna handed the 【Mandrake Snake Nest Bottle】 to the accompanying squad, and then let the Ringed Shushi of the Mechanical Church open the door of Xia De's house directly.

Xia De believed in the righteous god 【Mr. Dawn】, so the group guaranteed to the Twelve-Ring Shushi Mr. Franz Joseph of the Dawn Church that they would not touch or take away the items in the house at will, before officially entering it.

They first came to the second floor and saw the young detective lying on the carpet, seeing the 【Sage's Glow Stone】 in the detective's hand, the antique knight sword, the cat beside his head, and the smashed jewelry box.

"It seems that Mr. Hamilton also got a gift from that thief."

Miss Green whispered, bending down to check Xia De's injuries. Others did not enter the other rooms of this house at will but checked the foyer, stairs, corridor, and the kitchen and living room of Room 2 separately. This event, after all, involved both an Angel-level (1st level) relic and a Sage-level (2nd level) relic, so they had to be very cautious.

"Mr. Hamilton just had too much mental consumption and fell asleep. It is Wednesday night now, and he should wake up between Thursday night and Friday morning. Of course, the Church will conduct a simple check on him to ensure that there are no hidden dangers left on Mr. Hamilton."

Miss Green, who was wearing a blue dress and looked like she was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, said, reaching out to make Xia De float, and then let him lie on the sofa. Little Mia, who was lying beside him, immediately chased after him. This time she lay directly on Xia De's chest and meowed pitifully.

"Is this the cat with the 【Beautiful Cat】 trait? It is indeed very beautiful. Oh, its combat power is 2."

Miss Green said to Iruna with a smile, confirming that the event was basically over, and she was also very happy.

Iruna nodded, pursing her lips and looking at Xia De, while Miss Green made the teardrop-shaped blue crystal that slipped from Xia De's hand fly over. She did not grab the glow stone but let it fall into Iruna's hand. The 【Sage's Glow Stone】 only took effect on the owner and the first person gifted, and the glow stone that fell into Iruna's hand turned into a gray petrified state.

"Sure enough, it is like this. It seems the Church still has to find a way to make Mr. Hamilton agree to transfer this glow stone."

Miss Green shook her head with some distress:

"Although he is an ordinary person, after all, he has a relationship with the royal family, and he cannot be forced. The coma can be explained by a gas leak, but how to explain the origin of this stone? And what price should be used to exchange for it?"

"Xia De likes Luo De cards very much."

Iruna mentioned, looking at the broken jewelry box on the ground, and then thought of the 【Mandrake Snake Nest Bottle】 just now.

Although the abrupt appearance of 【Jack the Phantom Thief】 just now could also be explained, Iruna's intuition told her that it was absolutely abnormal. She probably guessed that Xia De gave up his opportunity to obtain the relic and let the thief return the relics stolen from them. In this way, the punishment of "year-end bonus suspension", "everyone accepts disciplinary action", and "submitting self-criticism" caused by the theft of the squad did not exist because of Iruna's rescue.

She could think of the smile on Captain Robinson's face, could think of the relief of Mrs. Moody who was responsible for reception downstairs, could think of Miss Kadia in the squad who took good care of her thanking the gods for keeping the year-end bonus... Everyone in the squad would thank her.

"I also helped tonight."

She thought in her heart, bit her lip, and looked at the young detective sleeping with his eyes closed:

"You really were thinking about my affairs."

The corners of her mouth curled up unconsciously.

Miss Green let Iruna watch Xia De for the time being, while she went to help check if there were any lingering effects of the relic in the house. Because Xia De had been to the Black Stone Security Company to find Iruna, the people of the Sun Church knew that Xia De Hamilton was friends with the Chosen. But tonight's events proved that Xia De was just an ordinary person, so they didn't have to worry about Xia De being someone with ulterior motives.

"We cooperated well tonight."

Iruna said in her heart, feeling proud of herself. She looked left and right, and seeing that no one was paying attention here, she reached out and touched Xia De's face on the sofa.

A smile appeared on her face, and she turned around with her hands behind her back, feeling a little embarrassed, and looked left and right again. Only then did she turn back to Xia De's direction. The seventeen-year-old girl was in a good mood now. She picked at the brown hair hanging by her ear with her left index finger, looking at Xia De's home.

Unlike Luweiya, she didn't come here often and felt everything here was fresh.

She scanned the room with her hands behind her back, and seeing that everyone was still busy, Iruna pursed her lips and looked at Xia De's face. Feeling a little embarrassed, she sat on the sofa in front of Xia De's head, tidied her skirt, and only then did her lively eyes move slightly downward, moving left and right a few times. She supported the sofa with one hand, pursed her lips, and leaned her face toward Xia De, as if wanting to check his breathing, but suddenly felt someone paying attention to her. She raised her head slightly and found Little Mia staring at her with amber eyes.

This cat had its four little paws pressed on the shirt on Xia De's chest. Iruna felt a little embarrassed, but realized that this was just a cat, so she gave up the move of secretly kissing Xia De's cheek and reached out to grab the unwilling cat and hold it up:

"While Xia De is in a coma, I will take care of you for the time being."

Looking down at Xia De again, the seventeen-year-old girl thought of the dance under the moon at the Lake View Manor, the long dress Xia De wove with illusions, and the field ridge under the silver moon:

"Everything will get better and better."

Some unspeakable emotion in her heart was rising. Iruna turned her head to look at the hazy starry sky and the moon outside the window, feeling that everything tonight was so beautiful. ===== CHAPTER 975 =====