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12. Going their separate ways

"..... They've tracked me into the country now, and sent demonic emissaries. First time I've seen a monster like that ......" Joe Mane's eyes showed real emotion of trepidation as he spoke. It wasn't that he feared the presence of those other-than-natural animals; those two shots from Clayton had made him realize that the demons and monsters were afraid of muskets, too. What he feared was the part where the wraiths overlapped with the people. It was like taking the soul of a man and stuffing it inside the body of a cow or sheep. The guilt of that desecration ....... Joe Mane's throat clogged up a little at the thought of the face of the gargoyle. "Relax, son, and tell me what you met." Father Petit's tone was unhurried as he gripped the necklace of sword crosses on his chest and half crouched down to press it against Joe's forehead, his warm voice reaching Joe's ears. "The Father's light will banish the evil in you, so there is no need to worry." "I saw the Hawkmoth, the monster of legend ......." Warmth came from his forehead and Joe felt himself floating up into the sky, but his body remained in place, the lightness made him resist the urge to tell everything in full, but something heavy held him down just in time. "It followed me all the way to the house. But I found it at last, and drove it away with a pistol." "Where do you live?" "214 Mercy Street." Joe had lied; last night, after Clayton had left, he had sunk the body of the Hawkmaster to the bottom of the river. Despite the shallow waters of the river in the Docklands, there were usually no visitors there. No one would be able to dig it back up for several years, and it was a relatively peaceful graveyard. When he got home he swept up the glass slag and found a way to cover up the gunshot holes in the wall, no one would think it had anything to do with Clayton. Joe did leave a little something as evidence though. He grabbed a blood-stained auburn feather from his pocket and held it in his palm to offer it. The feather smelled faintly of stench, and Petty, not minding the evil intent, picked it up and looked at it for a few seconds before finally making his pronouncement. "It's just a red-backed eagle's feather, not a hawksbane's." "How is that possible?!" Joe Mani asked back in surprise, but he had personally disposed of the body and confirmed that those strange shapes were not possessed by an animal in nature. "I clearly saw the woman-like head, and the bird body that continued to emit a putrid odor, just like the legends!" "I'm not saying you saw it wrong, I'm just stating the facts, it's not only eagle-bodied demonesses that can grow putrid feathers." Father Petit put down the necklace and stood up, signaling the clergyman to open the doors of the church to formally greet today's worshippers. "You have done well, but should go no further. Son, leave the rest to us." Joe looked up, the puzzlement still on his face, "But these presences are so bizarre, Father, please tell me what's going on here?" "It's none of your business after that, you should return to your mundane and comfortable life, of course, you can continue to volunteer with us if you're worried about safety."Joe cleared his throat, he wanted to know about the other world anyway, seeing as they had gotten him into a lot of trouble. "I want to be baptized, Father!" Maybe if he could become a believer, he'd be able to learn more, or so he thought. Father Petit was turning around with the intention of going to the raised platform to prepare for today's proclamation when he heard the cry and his footsteps lurched, confused by the man's enthusiasm. Of course he knew what Joe was planning to do, but the average man didn't just climb out of the muck and shove his head back in. "It's not that simple to get into the religion." He turned his head and told Joe seriously. "But if you insist, then go ahead and memorize the sacred texts. Over the next week, I'll arrange for a godfather who can help you understand God's grace. You can give up at any time during the process." "I'll prove my piety." Joe stood up, his legs were a little numb, so it took him a moment to find his balance. Father Petit could see that he had very little faith, but didn't care; there were few truly pious people left in this world long ago. In the false peace maintained with the Dark Ones, the States reduced the power of the White Church in order to restore centralized power; they took away a great deal of White land and severely limited the number and growth of monastic schools that could be opened, gradually replacing them with public schools. Having lost the power to educate, the Church's faithful base declined from generation to generation. By now, Father Pettigrew no longer cared whether the faithful were pious or not; in this day and age, the faithful could even cease to be human as long as it was favorable. The mayor's son's pet dog had been baptized by him, and it was a really pious and good dog. "By the way, do you still plan to come to the church to volunteer during this time?" He asked Joe. "We don't have any money here, but we can offer free communion." Joe touched the prickly heat that hadn't faded from his face, then gave a strong nod. "I'll do it!" ................... "Still following me ........" Clayton pressed down the brim of his hat in an attempt to hide his face. But it didn't help much, as his 188 centimeter height was still quite conspicuous in the crowd even when he was sitting, matching the broad shoulders of his lanky frame. Bruno was following him - in order to enforce a business contract with Mary Etta. Although Clayton knew that Bruno was following him, and Bruno knew that he knew he was following him, Bruno still wouldn't give up following him. Because Bruno had taken money from Mary Etta. Sitting at the round table covered with a clean white tablecloth and looking out the glass floor-to-ceiling windows, Creighton subconsciously took a sip from his coffee cup before dropping in three lumps of granulated sugar in one gulp. He pondered whether he should call Bruno in or not. The guy was sitting on a bench across the street from the café with his hat on, tearing breadcrumbs down to feed the pigeons while he watched the place, doing another one of these completely risk-free jobs, and Clayton was a little envious of him.Do.He held out two fingers to knock on the window, and Bruno, true to his cue, threw his own bread, which he himself had put on stale, directly on the floor and walked straight into the café and sat down opposite him. Bruno rang the brass bell on the table to summon the waiter: "Four slices of buttered bread, two sausages of samella, and a glass of hot milk. Put it all on the account of the gentleman across the way." The waiter nodded, sketched twice on the menu and ran off into the background. Clayton choked a little, "Why would I pay for breakfast for someone who's spying on me?" "For the simple reason that you need me to ignore something." Bruno pointed to his eyes, then pulled a cynical smile, "You're not being told off by Ms. Mary Etta, are you? Have you really been up to something unspeakable lately?" "How could that be, I've always been an amiable person. All her speculations are mere delusions. In all the time we've known each other, have you ever seen me angry?" Clayton responded without changing his face. But he did have Bruno's thoughts. He needed Bruno to stop spying for a while. Because he wanted to see Galeed. During the last night, Galeed had told him that if he had questions he could see him at the General Sheriff's Department during the day. But if Bruno kept watching from the sidelines, he was afraid that Galeed might misunderstand him and do something to jeopardize the public's safety. And Bruno wasn't a generalized person, he was a rather sharp detective, and he could find something strange in the other person just by meeting Galeed once. "Indeed, I don't think I've ever really seen you lose your temper." Bruno held his chin, seriously recalling and thinking about it, then said, "But this feels even more suspicious, how can you be considered a mid-ranking officer, and you actually don't have any temper at all, maybe there's a conspiracy here." "I think you can trust me a little more." Clayton sighed, counting out the change from Bruno's order amount and placing it on the table, "I'm going to go do a little personal business, but that's not just my personal business either. You don't have enough rank or authority to understand these things, understand?" "You're going back again?" Bruno couldn't hide his surprise. Clayton saying that could only mean that he was participating in the military's actions. After all, he was one of the few members of the six hundred Loren War Medal of Honor recipients who participated in frontline battles, and with his ability, it made sense for him to be secretly recalled to the Royal Guard. "Just so you know." Clayton equivocated. Bruno had been in the military at a much lower rank than him, and even if his mind was smarter than his, he would still hold a reverence for secrets he couldn't access. And most people who had been on the front lines wouldn't want to go back to the military, and were often too afraid to ask or listen to anything like that. Bruno did look as cautious as he thought he would. "What about Mary Etta's place? Even if I leave, there's a chance she might decide to come investigate you on her own." Clayton smiled, "I think that's something you can rest assured about, just with her eyesight ........"Bruno smiled back.