Chapter 158: They Came Calling

It was far easier to search for clues left behind once you knew the outcome than to deduce the outcome from the clues.

Byron had little trouble learning from a teahouse near the city gate that, on the day Peter’s case had occurred, a bald man carrying a black cat had indeed spent a remarkably long time by the window. Byron went to look out from that window himself. It offered a perfect view of everything happening at the city gate.

He went to the scene as well. Time had passed, and the place had been more or less completely disturbed. But this time Byron knew exactly what he was looking for. Back when he had served in the Disciplinary Society, he had studied tracking magic specifically to make his work easier. Before long, he found an important clue: a single black cat hair.

He even slipped off to the place where the household waste from Andy’s villa was disposed of. After searching through it, he found a potion bottle. A magical examination confirmed that it bore Peter Clark’s scent.

Byron felt he had nearly pieced together the truth. But he did not report it to the Disciplinary Office.

Byron was an upright man, but he was no fool. He knew that reporting this now would do him no good at all. The head of the Disciplinary Office and Daina might even blame him for meddling. The case had already been settled; if he rashly reopened it, wouldn’t that be a slap in the face to both the Disciplinary Office and the Royal Capital Enforcement Squad? He had already been quietly sidelined simply for expressing an interest in investigating the matter. How much worse would it be if he stirred things up now?

Besides, the evidence he had gathered did not yet form a complete chain. And he did not want anyone to know the specific abilities of his Ring of Truth and Lies. So he had even more reason not to speak up recklessly. What he had was not enough to convict Andy, a man of the Charles family.

Byron kept the matter firmly in mind. He planned to bring it up once he had become one of the Queen’s personal guards, as a gift in return for her favor. It would also give him a way to make a name for himself at court when he was still new to the Queen’s service—a stepping-stone to advancement.

While Byron quietly plotted his next move, Andy had already forgotten all about him. These past few days, he had been busy recruiting new members for the Azure Phoenix Society.

He was determined to recruit because, after taking charge of the society, he had familiarized himself with the rules governing student organizations at the academy. Since societies were officially registered there, and the academy offered their members considerable benefits, each society had to pay an annual administrative fee based on its star rating. Most of the Azure Phoenix Society’s debts had come from unpaid fees.

The academy also set minimum membership requirements for societies of different star ratings. A one-star society like the Azure Phoenix needed to maintain at least five members. If its membership stayed below five for three months, its rating would drop to zero. Before Andy had bought the society, its former president had already been all alone for two whole months.

Now that the society had a meditation room, Andy wasn’t particularly concerned about its rating. But if it fell to zero stars, its credit would suffer, and the academy would demand that it repay its debts within a short time.

Andy figured he ought to recruit a few people to keep things afloat. At the very least, he had to stop the society from being downgraded.

So he put up an impassioned recruitment slogan at the academy’s club fair, then stood there waiting all day. Not a single person applied to join.

People around the academy were already familiar with Andy. Some had heard of the Azure Phoenix Society’s past reputation; others had heard of Andy himself.

Either way, they wanted nothing to do with the newly revived society.

That day, Andy once again came away empty-handed from the recruitment fair. He stopped wasting his time, packed up, and returned to the Azure Phoenix Society’s meditation room.

Ever since his sudden increase in mental strength, Andy had occasionally entered his mental space to investigate, but he still had no idea what had caused the growth. It had also slowed down, and for the past two days it had not budged at all. This time, when he entered his mental space, nothing had changed. He set aside his doubts and hopes and went back to meditating as usual.

When he finished and came out, he heard someone knocking at the door. The meditation room was warded against interruptions, so he could not hear anything from outside while he was within. Whoever was knocking had probably been at it for quite a while.

Andy opened the door. A pretty young woman stood outside, her bright eyes gleaming and her blue hair like something out of a dream. Most striking of all were her long legs: slender, straight, and perfectly proportioned.

Andy’s pupils contracted. He had seen this girl before. She was the second daughter of the Barov family—the girl who had also once been called Flora. Unlike Flora O’Liana, however, her full name was Flora Barov. Back when Andy had been in Dallas, he had even delivered a letter from her to Edward, though it had been a threatening letter. Oliver had also told him that she had since turned into a cat-obsessed fanatic.

What concerned Andy more was the exorbitant bounty posted in the mission hall not long ago. He had already worked out that she was the one asking around about Catherine. He had not expected her to come looking for him so soon. What was she really after?

Before Andy could speak, the girl introduced herself as Nicole Barov. She had heard that the society was recruiting, she said, and had come to apply.

Andy gave a cold laugh inwardly, then said without expression, “Oh, you’re Nicole Barov. Then who is Flora Barov?”

To his surprise, the girl suddenly grew excited. She looked like a fan who had just met her idol. “You’ve heard of me before?” she asked delightedly. Then, flustered, she explained, “That’s right, I’m the second daughter of the Barov family. But I no longer use the name Flora. Not long ago, when I came of age, I was granted the title of baroness, and Her Majesty the Queen personally gave me the name Nicole Barov!”

Andy thought, Even so, what reason could a cherished young lady of the Barov family possibly have for joining a society as barren as mine? There’s no way that isn’t suspicious.

He immediately asked why she wanted to join.

She had clearly prepared in advance, and her explanation was quite convincing. She said she admired the Azure Phoenix Society’s long history. Many famous figures had risen from its ranks, especially Sain, its president a century ago. He had used the society as his foundation to reorganize it into the Azure Phoenix Order, which was now as renowned as Grimm Academy and counted among the three great wizarding organizations on the continent of Doron.

Andy had seen this part of the history while reviewing the society’s records. When Grand Duke Sain had been its president a century ago, the Azure Phoenix Society had indeed been at its height. But when he rebelled and declared himself independent, he took many of the society’s best members with him and founded the Azure Phoenix Order. From then on, the society had steadily declined, surviving only through the support of people who had once benefited from it. Now, after all these years, it had become a thoroughly insignificant club.

But was she really speaking of the Azure Phoenix Society’s glorious history in that admiring tone? That was its darkest chapter, if anything. And as a member of one of the four great families of the Kingdom of Elan, was it really appropriate for her to idolize the leader of an enemy nation?