New Gods of North America.

Chapter 637 Difference
After talking with Warren Leitcher, who was like a "2.0 version" of Wayne, the cathedral treasurer,
Wayne then began writing a letter to the mayor from the carriage, hoping to mail it when he passed through the town later, to expedite the process and help the workshop enter the new phase of "channel supply" as soon as possible.

It's really not easy to buy paper and pens in the dock area. There are quite a few vendors and shops around the small square, and it's not hard to find even tabloids and cheap magazines, but there's not a single shop selling proper books and stationery.

The stationery he used this time was obtained from the monks who were in charge of supervising the "public display." Although the workmanship and materials were far inferior to things like church charters or pastor's identification documents, the quality was still quite good, even better than the paper used for homework in the college.

The letter was only half-written when the sun began to set. Suddenly, the carriage door was pulled open, and Lina's head popped in. "Why are you back so early today? Did you find anything?"

Wayne's gaze returned to the letter, and after a moment's thought, he wrote: "I've roughly discussed the cheese supply with the new treasurer of the cathedral, and I've also confirmed that there were more than one group that attacked me last night—the number of bodies left at the scene is incorrect, and two of them were shot dead, seemingly when they were off guard. It feels like someone didn't want them to live before the police even arrived."

Lina said "Oh," and then it was Wayne's turn to ask, "What about your side? Has the intelligence team found out who those people are?"

“There are all sorts of rumors going around, and we’re still gathering and filtering them. The incident happened late last night, and it’s not even dark yet. To ‘soften’ them, we need to wait until tonight to go to bars or back alleys to verify and confirm some information with people indirectly. It won’t be that quick.”

After saying that, Lina shrugged, pulled her head back, and closed the car door from the outside.

Wayne peered out the car window and saw the girl turn and head towards a group of monks who had just returned to the small square to continue gathering information while everyone was still waiting.
Compared to her usual "brainless sweetheart" and "noble lady" style in the detective agency, Lina's temperament changes completely when she's with the monks. She appears gentle and full of curiosity, like a shy but kind and inquisitive young girl.

She has the same figure and the same face, but at first glance, she looks like a completely different person.

Trying to write down everything necessary on a single sheet of paper, Wayne found there were no envelopes in the carriage, so he folded the letter and placed it in a hidden compartment under the seat.

When he got out of the carriage to return the pen and ink to the monk, a small group of monks who had returned to join him had already gathered around Lina. It seemed that all the information had been given, and the crowd had entered a state that was more like "casual conversation".

Lina was still playing the role of a curious child: "...That area is supposedly the 'Rabbit Gang's' territory. Although it's the closest to the city, I haven't been there yet. Is there anything interesting going on there?"

The monk beside her then casually mentioned some of her previous observations, such as that the "nightlife" in that area was the most vibrant in the dock district. Often, you could see many people on the roadside late at night, and the composition of the people was also the most complex, as if people came from all over the place, a miniature version of a "hodgepodge of local customs and traditions".
Wayne knew that Lina was just trying to get information out of him, so he didn't listen in much. The information he had seen about the "Rabbit Gang" was compiled by the intelligence team, and Lina might actually know more than he thought.

Unlike the other type of "rabbit" that Wayne was more familiar with in his previous life, in the cultures of both the Old and New Worlds, the rabbit is a multifaceted metaphor. In fairy tales, it can represent "innocence" and "guidance," while in religion it can symbolize "restraint" and "rebellion." Sometimes, its meaning can even be completely reversed, representing "evil," "indulgence," and "lust."
As a gang in the dock area, the "Rabbit Gang" was naturally not so cultured. They mainly engaged in the sex industry, so the name was more associated with "bunny girls." It is even said that they were originally called the "Skull Gang," but the Holy Spirit Church publicly stated that such a symbol was "bad," so they had to add a pair of rabbit ears to the skull...

With this background, the Rabbit Gang is actually quite violent. In addition, given the current attitude of people "neither encouraging nor cracking down" on the sex industry, the Rabbit Gang's territory, located near the city center, is more like Richmond's semi-public "red-light district." They are well-funded and their strength ranks among the top in the dock area.

In Wayne's mental list of targets, the "Rabbit Gang" was almost second only to the "Sailors Gang," with whom he had a direct grudge.
On the one hand, it was because some of their deeds were indeed too "inhuman," with several of their leaders, both big and small, on the list given by the Bishop of Tyrell. On the other hand, it was because Wayne himself couldn't stand it.

What kind of bastards dare to call themselves "rabbits"... In their next life, they should be called the "Elephant Gang" or the "Raccoon Gang".

After slacking off in the carriage for a while, Inessa and Brother Merlin, the two workaholics, still hadn't returned with their teams. Instead, Doug, who had been instructed to bring Parker's pizza after everyone had enjoyed the chef's delicious food today, came over first. Lina helped Wayne take two slices into the carriage, picked one for herself, and started eating it. She even stretched out her long legs and rested them on the seat, her whole demeanor turning into the kind of "even her own mother would want to beat her up" style.

Wayne was about to complain when he heard Lina muttering across from him, "You should eat too. It seems the safe house where those cultists were hiding has been found."

Ok? !

Wayne was truly exasperated: "You sent people to rummage through the trash again?! And they still have the nerve to have afternoon tea?!"

I just saw you chatting with someone. Isn't this sudden change a bit too dramatic?
Could it be that the hidden characteristic of the Tranquility Cult is that it "has a smell," while the Truth Cult is actually good at rummaging through trash cans?

“I didn’t find it… I was just outside chatting with some cultivators about their finds today, and it was two of them who mentioned it casually.”

Lina looked over innocently. "They said that when they were checking recently rented houses in the Rabbit Gang's territory today, they saw a middle-aged man sitting by the window in a house next door, knitting with wool. His movements were so skilled that he looked like a ranch worker in a picture book. I think what he saw was very likely a member of that cult."

Wayne had heard of the joke about "everyone in the British Empire loving to knit": "That makes sense... but can we really be sure they're a member of that cult just based on that? They could also be other illegal immigrants from Windsor?"

Looking at the map, the 'Rabbit Gang's' territory is neither within the ritual area nor far enough from the Ellan people's territory, making it a prime location for setting up a safe house.
Moreover, a middle-aged man who doesn't go out to work during the day but instead does knitting at home, and whose residence is near the house being investigated, is indeed suspicious.

Lina's face showed a suspicious look, as if to say, "Don't you want to listen to the nonsense you're spouting?"
"The reason why wool knitting became popular among the people of Windsor is that many poor people could not afford ready-made clothes and had to find ways to keep warm when they came into contact with sheep. Even now, people in Windsor still consider wool knitted clothing not respectable, and the upper class does not have a high acceptance of knitted items such as scarves, gloves and socks."

“But Richmond isn’t a wool-producing region. Yarn might be harder to buy than ready-made clothing. People with this hobby shouldn’t be short of money, so why would they live in the dock area? Besides, ‘sitting by the window doing knitting’ is, in other words, monitoring the surrounding environment, which sounds like disguised surveillance.”

Well……

This is slightly different from Wayne's stereotypical image of the "Empire on which the sun never sets." In his memory, even a particularly famous prime minister of a certain country knitted sweaters all day long, and he thought it was a national hobby of the Kingdom of Windsor.
However, considering the differences between the two worlds and eras, Wayne chose to trust the experts' judgment. He quickly picked up his pizza as well. "Didn't you tell the monks about this discovery?"

“No,” Lina pondered, biting into her pizza. “Actually, it doesn’t seem to matter if we tell the church, since those ‘Koyatl’ believers probably don’t have much of value left…”

Wayne added a point of knowledge for Lina: "When the new cathedral treasurer came over today, he said that because this involved the belief in an evil god, all the extraordinary materials obtained must be handed over to the church."

Lina, who was chewing something, immediately shut her mouth and stopped when she heard this. After a short while, she continued, "Then I won't tell them later..."

(End of this chapter)