"The situation is as follows," explained the priest solemnly to Ronald while sitting in the living room, "a child of one of our priests also attended Ms. Letitia’s ball last night. Since the child has not been very social since a young age and has some strange ideas..."
In simple terms, a child with some mental issues had developed some harmful thoughts, which led to the absurd actions last night.
Ronald listened quietly to the priest’s recounting.
After the other party finished describing the events and started drinking water to moisten his throat, Ronald voiced his doubts:
"Mr. Priest, I think I understand what happened."
"But how could a child have so much money to hire someone to kill, and have such high operational capability? Is that really all there is to it?"
Upon hearing Ronald’s question, the priest’s eyes darkened and his mouth stiffened slightly:
Ronald tried to keep his tone as less stern as possible:
"Is there something inconvenient?"
"If it’s just a simple misunderstanding, there’s no need to delve too deeply into it."
At this point, the priest finally sighed.
"This matter actually relates to negligence in our church’s duties."
"Recently, due to some complicated reasons, we’ve had some internal issues."
Admitting briefly that there were indeed problems within the church, the priest did not delve deeper into the topic.
Turning the conversation, he stared intently into Ronald’s eyes and continued:
"Mr. Ronald, we are aware of the displeasure you experienced in this matter."
"As an apology, we also hope that you will accept some corresponding compensation."
Ronald nodded to indicate for the priest to continue, and the priest immediately spoke the prepared response:
"We have two options here."
"The first is the normal financial compensation. To show our sincerity, it will definitely be a satisfactory figure."
"However, considering your actual needs, we have also prepared another option."
Ronald raised his eyebrows:
"Considering my actual needs?"
"Yes," the priest nodded, his tone very serious, "Mr. Ronald, we’ve been aware of your activities for a while."
"So the second option is to grant you access to read part of the church’s library for the next three months."
The church’s library.
Almost the instant the priest spoke, Ronald disregarded the first option mentioned.
And seeing the change in Ronald’s eyes.
The priest sitting opposite revealed a knowing expression, then pulled a golden card from his robe and placed it on the table:
"Indeed, Mr. Ronald, you seem very pleased with the compensation we’ve offered."
"Then please accept this. Just present this pass, and you can visit the church anytime in the coming months. Of course, remember not to take any books out of the church’s library."
His gaze locked on the card the priest had just placed down.
The golden card looked like it was made of metal, with almost no decoration except the church’s cross emblem.
Ronald found it hard to refuse.
"Mr. Ronald, I won’t disturb you any further."
The priest smiled kindly at Ronald.
Standing up, he performed a church gesture and then turned to walk towards the door.
After the priest gently closed the door, Ronald finally reached for the card on the table.
"Is this for real..."
The priest’s visit today was really too sudden.
Ronald had neither activated the lie detector nor used Fury’s power to sense the other’s emotions.
But considering everything that had happened since last night.
Although the priest’s explanation made complete sense, he still sensed something fishy.
Could this be a plan targeting him?
He sat in the living room looking at the card in his hand, and after a few minutes, Ronald finally shook his head resignedly,
"Even if it is deliberate, I still have to go."
Having such an opportunity to access the church’s archives, even if there were some risks, Ronald felt he could handle most problems that might arise.
This disturbance naturally also made him lose any desire to continue sleeping.
He walked to the balcony and drew the curtains, watching the sunlight reflect off the Wis River, then stretched comfortably.
Although the priest arrived quite early, the city had already started its day’s work much earlier.
The cargo ships carrying goods on the Wis River, the pedestrians coming and going on the opposite bank, the students on their way to school below.
All these things told Ronald what he needed to do now.
"Let’s start working."
He tidied up the room, washed his face, and brushed his teeth.
After taking care of his basic hygiene, Ronald turned and left the apartment, heading in the opposite direction towards the riverbank area.
He was definitely late for his job at the trade association by now.
He decided to first head to the Oak Theater to report his work situation from the previous night to Heloisa and discuss whether their plan needed any changes.
The morning time was more than enough.
Ronald walked to the theater and then at the destination met Heloisa disguised as Raphael.
The two went to an unoccupied storage room in the theater, then Heloisa spoke up,
"Ronald, you got up pretty early today, huh?"
"Were you by any chance spending a wonderful night with that lady?"
"The wonderful night would only be under the premise that I hadn’t resisted her Charming Spell."
Ronald gave Heloisa a glance and then began to describe the events from last night’s ball:
"Overall, the first contact went rather well."
"After the ball ended, Letitia specifically held me back, and then..."
As Ronald began his story, Heloisa’s expression became serious.
After hearing about the contact with the countess, a very satisfied expression appeared on the young girl’s face:
"Ronald, you’ve got quite a gift."
"If you ever can’t make it in Greed, consider joining me for good?"
Ronald looked at Heloisa speechlessly,
"That’s about it, I guess introducing you won’t take too long, remember to be prepared."
"I have to go back to work this afternoon, so I won’t stay here any longer."
Heloisa immediately stepped forward and opened the storeroom door for Ronald.
Though the place wasn’t that classy.
But Heloisa’s gesture carried a luxurious air, clearly Ronald’s news had put her in a good mood.
"Ronald, you really worked hard this time."
"Next time there’s a chance, I’ll treat you to a performance."