Chapter 251: Going to Be Late Aiden sat in his office, glancing at his pocket watch—the time agreed upon with Kyle was approaching. He needed to leave. Although Kyle was responsible for the search, fully utilizing his power to split into bats required Aiden to temporarily lift the restrictions imposed by the Inquisition. Aiden had an obligation to supervise this process. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novel·fiɾe·net Tonight's operation was far from a sure thing. Their ability to catch the God of Death's Agent tonight depended entirely on the Agent being active in the target area. The ideal scenario was finding his hiding place through clues and then notifying Abigail to come and deal with him. However, Aiden knew things didn't always go according to plan; the Agent might be active elsewhere. But currently, they had no better search direction. Still... what if? An unexpected possibility surfaced in Aiden's mind. What if they happened found the God of Death's Agent just as he was about to commit a crime? In that case, saving the victim would have to take priority. Having Abigail eliminate the enemy was indeed a foolproof method, but watching an innocent citizen die when they could have been saved... he probably wouldn't be able to call himself a 'police officer' with a clear conscience afterward. Considering Kyle's background and the Agent's special concealment methods, getting direct help from the Inquisition might be difficult. As for the prison inmates, finding someone capable of reliably defeating such an enemy was unlikely—and few inmates would likely volunteer for such a life-threatening mission. While the amalgam golem had shown strong counter-effects against Father Bales and Sister Nawei's, who wielded the "Proliferation" utterance, it likely wouldn't be very effective against the God of Death's Agent. The golem could only use physical attacks, rendering it nearly useless against high-ranking blood-kin capable of transforming into mist or bats. Furthermore, the Agent's "Reaping" power, effective against all living beings, was one of the few threats capable of harming the amalgam golem. Even if Abigail was the one who granted the golem life, it would likely sustain significant damage upon contact with the Agent. Besides, their initial plan was searching, tracking, and surveillance; bringing the cumbersome amalgam golem would only be a hindrance. If the situation deteriorated to the point where the two of them had to fight, he would likely have to let the immortal Kyle take the lead, providing support from the rear. However, if the Agent committed murder tonight somewhere other than the Red-light district, they probably couldn't stop him. After changing out of his uniform, Aiden left the prison through the side gate. Then, he took a sealed glass test tube from the briefcase he carried. Inside the tube swirled a dense, greyish-white mist, as if someone had taken a drag from a cigarette, exhaled into it, and sealed it. This was the hand Ophelia had given him. Regardless, carrying a severed hand in his bag like some villain from a horror comic was too macabre. Plus, with the Inquisition and Mounted Police patrolling and checking the area frequently recently, being seen with it would inevitably cause misunderstandings. After Dailey helped him place familiar magic runes on Ophelia's hand, turning it into his familiar, Aiden had controlled the hand to turn into mist and enter the sealed container. Aiden resealed the tube, tucked it back into his briefcase, and flicked his sleeve, sending the black bat flying towards a nearby rooftop. "Patrol the area. And Follow me." Only in bat form did Ophelia's limb possess the olfactory sense capable of detecting the enemy. Since Ophelia insisted on lending a "hand," Aiden certainly wouldn't waste this resource. At the very least, he needed his own enemy-detecting radar. Then, Aiden left the narrow path beside the prison and entered the main road, striding towards a nearby intersection. He and Kyle had arranged to meet at a coffee shop nearby to discuss the operational details before heading to the Red-light district. A public carriage slowly approached from the opposite direction and stopped by the roadside. Aiden saw Veronica hurriedly jump off, then immediately break into a sprint towards him with an explosive burst of speed that even a track athlete would struggle to match. Aiden instantly understood the reason for her haste—when he left the prison, it was already past the sign-in time for the evening shift. In other words, Veronica was late today. "Yo!" Aiden greeted his approaching subordinate with a smile. Recognizing who was approaching, Veronica turned pale with fright. "Ah!" "W-Warden!?" She immediately braked in front of Aiden, reflexively saluting, her face slightly greenish. "I told you, no need to salute outside," her subordinate's nervous reaction made Aiden chuckle. "Well, well, this is rare. Your first time being late since you started, right?" "I'm sorry... I'm very sorry," caught red-handed by her superior, Veronica's eyes dropped dejectedly. "Overslept?" Aiden asked, knowing the answer. "No, really not! I... I'm not trying to make excuses, but today, the public carriage got stuck on Silver Avenue. The Inquisition set up a checkpoint there, checking all carriages and pedestrians heading this way. It caused quite a delay," Veronica mumbled, a hint of grievance in her expression. "Well, given what happened, the Inquisition strengthening security in the surrounding area is understandable. Besides checkpoints, they also have people patrolling nearby constantly. It's also for the safety of our prison..." Aiden explained to Veronica. However, Aiden knew very well now that this kind of security was likely useless. If the God of Death's Agent truly operated in the city by controlling the dead as Kyle suggested, he essentially possessed a completely legitimate identity. "I'm sorry, I didn't anticipate... If I'd known, I should have just run straight from home; it would have been faster," Veronica lowered her head, looking vexed. Probably only you would confidently claim you could outrun a carriage over two or three kilometers, Aiden thought. "Someone reported it to me this morning, so I already specifically notified HR. Being late by less than ten minutes recently won't be counted as tardiness," Aiden laughed heartily. "Eh?" Veronica looked up in surprise. "So you..." Aiden checked his pocket watch, "...have about five minutes left. You can take your time." "That's great—" Veronica let out a long sigh of relief, but then frowned slightly. "Wait, Warden... then why didn't you tell me when you first saw me?" "Seeing your expression just now, anyone would want to tease you a little," Aiden chuckled. "Stop picking on me all the time," Veronica grumbled, but at that moment, her mood rapidly shifted from cloudy to sunny.