After some time, the door to the villa Lavinia had rented was opened from the outside. The person who opened it was Lavinia herself, with Liyami and Eleanor following behind.
Looking at the villa they had left not long ago, the three of them walked inside in silence. After closing the door, they all headed without hesitation in the same direction—toward Colin’s room.
Once back in Colin’s room, Liyami finally couldn’t hold back any longer.
“…When do you think Colin will come back?”
“It shouldn’t… be too long, right? After all, it’s only the first day today. He probably won’t be able to find out much?”
Lavinia said somewhat hesitantly, seeming not to fully believe her own speculation. Based on Lavinia’s understanding of Colin, if he was truly serious and urgent about this matter, there was a good chance he wouldn’t return today, or even tomorrow. He likely wouldn’t come back until he found a concrete lead.
But Lavinia didn’t voice these thoughts. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, but because even if she didn’t say it, Liyami and Eleanor had already figured it out. Their understanding of Colin was no less than her own.
However, now was not the time to compete over who knew Colin better. They needed to wait for Colin to return so they could proceed with their investigation more efficiently. After all, Colin was the squad leader. Acting without the leader present was dangerous.
This was the unanimous decision they had reached after hearing Liyami’s thoughts. Although they had initially been somewhat resistant, upon careful consideration, they realized they truly couldn’t investigate effectively right now—they didn’t even have an investigation permit. It was better to wait for Colin to return and then make detailed preparations.
But that raised a question. When would Colin return?
The three of them looked at each other and simultaneously shook their heads. They didn’t know the exact time Colin would be back.
Seeing this, Eleanor was the first to speak up. “Then we can’t just keep waiting like this, can we? What if Colin doesn’t come back at all today? I think it would be better to go back out and try to gather some information.”
Eleanor’s suggestion was sound, but Liyami and Lavinia didn’t agree. The reason was what they had discussed earlier: even if they ran out now and investigated like headless chickens, they wouldn’t uncover anything valuable. Moreover, without an investigation permit, they couldn’t just investigate freely.
The reason they needed to wait for Colin wasn’t just because he was the squad leader, but also because only he and Hifny in the squad could easily contact other squads.
The communication magic used by the Special Incident Handling Squads was special, usable only by the squads themselves. Normal communication magic required detailed information about the target to function, which wasn’t suitable for squads where most members didn’t know each other. Hence, this special communication magic was developed.
This communication magic only required a specific numerical code to easily contact all Special Incident Handling Squads, even with no knowledge of the other party. However, to prevent unwanted disturbances, each squad had set permission levels. Usually, only people at the squad leader level could freely contact other squads. Otherwise, one had to wait for the other squad’s leader to approve the connection request.
Colin could do so because his own permission level was excessively high. No one dared to reject his connection requests, no matter who he contacted.
Hifny’s method was even more outrageous. She used magic to forcibly bypass the other party’s communication permissions, directly projecting the communication magic in front of other squads regardless of whether they approved her request. Because it was Colin’s squad, although Hifny’s forceful method was displeasing, no one dared to say anything.
Now, Hifny wasn’t here, and Colin wasn’t with them. They didn’t have such high communication permissions. Lavinia had already sent a connection request long ago but had received no reply. Perhaps the local squad had no time to reply, or they felt it unnecessary.
Whatever the case, they still needed to wait for Colin to return; otherwise, it would be difficult to proceed with the investigation. But they had absolutely no idea when Colin would come back!
Just as the three of them stood there at a loss, even starting to anxiously fidget, Liyami’s eyes suddenly lit up. She seemed to remember something and took an object from the shadows within her clothes.
It was a golden-yellow badge depicting a human figure resembling a knight. Judging by the faint magical power emanating from it, this was definitely no ordinary badge.
Lavinia and Eleanor recognized it immediately. It was Colin’s Temple Knight Badge. This was his symbol of identity. How did it end up in Liyami’s hands?
Compared to Lavinia, who was merely puzzled, Eleanor’s eyes widened. She stared at the badge in Liyami’s hand, her mouth agape, speechless.
She never imagined Colin would give something so important directly to Liyami! This was the symbol of identity issued to Colin by the Temple, something absolutely not to be given to others lightly! And Colin just handed it to Liyami?! Was Liyami that important in his heart?!
Looking at the badge in Liyami’s hand, Eleanor felt a sharp, throbbing pain in her heart. She suddenly felt short of breath, as if she might suffocate on the spot the next second.
He only ever showed it to me once, and didn’t even let me touch it! Why… why can Liyami…
Seeing the expressions on the faces of the two before her, Liyami remembered that when Colin gave her the badge, neither of them had been present, so they didn’t know about it.
Seeing this, Liyami offered a brief explanation and immediately prepared to activate the badge to call Colin over.
But Eleanor raised a hand to stop her, speaking seriously. “Do you truly understand the real value of this item?”
Hearing this, Liyami looked at Eleanor with a puzzled expression.
“Isn’t it just Colin’s symbol of identity as a Holy Knight? Of course I know that. I’m just about to use it to call Colin. Is there a problem?”
Seeing Liyami’s confused look, Eleanor felt a surge of anger. She held back her fury, preparing to explain the badge’s value properly, but Lavinia suddenly cut in.
“Alright, alright, never mind the value for now. Contacting Colin is more important. We can talk about this kind of thing later when we have time.”
Although dissatisfied, what Lavinia said was true. So, after frowning, Eleanor turned her head away, no longer looking at Liyami.
This left Liyami even more confused. It’s just a badge, right? Is it really that big a deal? Does it hold that much value?
Although she really wanted to ask for clarification immediately, seeing Lavinia’s anxious expression, Liyami gave up on the idea for now and promptly activated the badge.
I’ll ask Colin about this badge properly later, when there’s time.