Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 116 Arrest
The blazing sun was high in the sky, and it was almost noon when Claire and Audrey boarded the carriage that Viscount Grallint had brought to pick them up.

In the carriage, Audrey complained to the smirking Grellant, "You're twenty-three minutes late for the agreed time! You almost made my reason for going out a joke!"

Grellant pulled the prepared wooden box out from beside his seat, hiding his embarrassment with a smile: "Beautiful Audrey, please forgive my small mistake this time. Don't worry, we won't miss Mr. A's party. Let's choose our outfits for the party first..."

Audrey tied on a black robe and a hood, and chose a gold-patterned mask that covered the upper half of her face.

Claire put on a gray cloak with a hood and chose a most common pure white mask to wear on her face.

Audrey, wearing a half-golden mask, revealed only the graceful curves of her lips. As someone who had experienced this, she warned Claire:

"Mr. A's gaze towards women is slick and disgusting, but he's also a very powerful Beyonder... So, Galadilla, you better avoid getting into a conflict with him later."

Claire's soft voice pierced through the mask: "The host of the Beyonder party is actually a lecher?"

Audrey lowered her voice and said, "I heard that a woman exchanged her body with Mr. A for extraordinary materials, and that guy's gaze was truly disgusting. You'll know when you get there."

Soon, the carriage stopped in front of an ordinary house in Queens.

When Claire got out of the car, she looked around and exclaimed, "Mr. A's choice of a gathering place is truly bold and hidden."

Despite this sigh, Claire was suspicious in her heart. It seemed unreasonable that such a covert method could escape the investigation of the Nighthawks and the Red Gloves.

Since unreasonable phenomena exist, there must be something unknown about them.

Thinking back to the last time the "Rose Bishop" was murdered, the Aurora Society disappeared at an unusual speed, evading the official joint search.

It's almost as if someone within the official ranks is tipping off the Aurora Society and covering up its not-so-secret whereabouts, which are similar to the current one.

Claire became suspicious and quickly memorized the surrounding environment and location.

Meanwhile, Audrey looked around after getting out of the car. She was looking for Xio and Fors. "Strange, they usually get to the party faster... Where are they today?"

Audrey looked around but couldn't find the two of them. She stretched out her hand from under her long robe and made the agreed gesture.

Then, Xio and Fors came out from the shadows at the corner of the alley.

These two men also covered their bodies with long robes. When they gathered with Claire and the others wearing cloaks, they looked like a gathering of cultists preparing to perform some dark ritual.

When Quinn saw Audrey, he asked, "Why are you so late than the agreed time? Fors and I even had to hide in the shadows in a corner to wait for you."

Before Audrey could speak, Grellant whispered, "Miss Xiu, it's my fault. I was delayed, so I'm half an hour late."

When Quinn saw Claire wearing a white mask, she didn't expect that an official from the Goddess Church would actually attend the party hosted by Mr. A. Her pupils constricted, and then she suppressed her surprise and whispered quietly, "All of you, follow me."

Xio walked to the door skillfully and knocked on the wooden door at the interval specified by Mr. A.

The wooden door creaked open, and the waiter guarding the door let them quickly into the house.

A man wearing a black robe and a white mask was sitting on the single sofa opposite the door.

Although the man was leaning back on the sofa, his strong aura gave people a sense of looking down on him from a high vantage point.

The man's eyes were just as Audrey had described, looking at Claire with extreme rudeness, which made her feel disgusted.

Fortunately, this gaze was very brief, so brief that Claire didn't think Mr. A was motivated by lust, but rather that he was looking for some target.

Claire followed Audrey and the others, found a small area, and sat down together.

At the front stood two blackboards with lines of words written on them.

That was the trading board that Audrey had emphasized to Claire before she came. All she had to do was write down the items she wanted to buy or sell and the approximate price. If someone wanted to trade, a waiter would pass the other party's note over to facilitate the transaction.

Claire's eyes fell on the information on the blackboard. She saw several Sequence 9 and Sequence 8 potion recipes, as well as the main ingredients of some other potions.

"This party organized by the Aurora Club is more upscale than I imagined... Is it because Mr. A organized it himself?"

Claire was familiar with the environment and rules here.

Meanwhile, Xio, who was not far from her, was fidgeting. Not long after, after whispering a few words to Fors next to him, Xio wrote a note and handed it to a passing waiter. Not long after, Claire saw Xio being called away by the waiter.

Xio is the Sequence 9 "Arbitrator." Claire just saw the sale information for the Sequence 8 "Sheriff" potion formula on the blackboard...

The price is quite expensive, costing 450 pounds.

And Hugh received a generous reward from Audrey.

Claire watched Xio enter the study and easily guessed his goal: "Is Xio going to use the reward Audrey gave her to buy the potion formula for advancement?"

Hmm… I hope Xio can complete her deal as soon as possible.

Claire, whose figure was hidden by the cloak, took advantage of the fact that no one nearby was paying attention and gently tapped the nightmare doll at her waist. Her consciousness instantly entered someone's dream.

In a pure white dream without any clutter.

In the dream, there stood a man with short golden brown hair and dark green eyes.

It was Creste Cesimer, one of the three Red Gloves of the Church of Evernight.

Holding a pitch-black spear, Krestai stood quietly in his dream.

At this moment, his eyes were clear.

This senior deacon who obtained the new holy relic, like Claire, can also stay awake in dreams!

"31 Broadway Street."

Claire quickly told Creste Cecima, who had been waiting for her since morning, Mr. A's current meeting place.

……

Claire looked up again. Some of the partygoers, whose identities were hidden, were whispering to each other, while others remained cautious and silent.

But no one noticed that the woman among them had just used her nightmare powers to report their gathering place to the goddess' hounds.

At the same time, in the study, a man wearing a golden mask was laughing softly at Xio and said:
"Not only do I have the formula for the Sheriff's potion, I also possess its main ingredients. Furthermore, I know that given your financial situation, buying just one formula is the limit. It would be difficult to gather enough money to buy extraordinary ingredients in such a short period of time."

After hearing this, Xio frowned under the hood and asked cautiously, "What do you want from me?"

The masked man chuckled: "I want to ask you for help... As long as you agree, the formula and extraordinary materials will be yours."

Xio's frown deepened. "Why did you choose me?"

"Because you're the Arbitrator," the masked man said calmly, "There are some things we don't want to handle ourselves. Every Arbitrator who has embarked on the path of a Beyonder on their own has some noble connections behind them, and that's what we need."

After hearing the masked man's words, Xio felt a little confused, but also relaxed a little. He thought to himself, "It seems like the other party has misunderstood something... Did he mistake me for one of those illegitimate children of the nobility who can't reveal their identities?"

The masked man continued, "Just think of it as another channel for commissioned tasks. I'll give you some tasks and pay you accordingly. If you feel it's dangerous, you can refuse it."

Xio became hesitant. Just as the other party had said, it would be difficult for her to raise the huge sum of money to purchase materials in the short term... and even if she raised the money, she might not necessarily find someone selling the corresponding extraordinary materials.

Sensing Xio's hesitation, the masked man chuckled. Just as he was about to say something to shake Xio's mind, he suddenly heard a huge commotion in the living room outside!
Which idiot dared to disrupt Mr. A's party?

This question popped up in the mind of the masked man who had some understanding of Mr. A.

Then, the masked man saw a pair of hands through the gap in the wall, a pair of gloves covered with a layer of bright red like blood!
"Red gloves?" The masked man was shocked.

A crack in the wall was torn open by the violent shaking.

The masked man saw clearly the owner of the red gloves.

It was a man with short golden brown hair.

The masked man's light brown eyes widened involuntarily: "Fuck! Cecima!"

(End of this chapter)