Walking on the winter morning streets, Ronald left the meal and lodging apartment and walked to work.
Nothing happened along the way, and he successfully arrived at Long Beach Street.
Standing in front of the investigator bureau, he looked around, and today the bureau seemed as calm as usual.
He stepped forward and pushed open the door.
Inside the warm lobby, Nicole wasn’t sleeping in bed like yesterday.
At that moment, the young investigator turned her body, leaning on the edge of the front desk in the lobby, distractedly playing with a small plaque in her hand.
Ronald saw it very clearly.
—That was the emblem of the investigator bureau.
Ronald silently watched her.
He didn’t know how to evaluate this "elite investigator".
After all, such an important spellcasting medium shouldn’t be played with so casually, should it?
To say she was unobservant.
Or to say her mind was really crude...
At that time, Nicole heard the sound of the investigator bureau’s door being pushed open.
When she saw that it was Ronald, she covered her mouth with her hand, yawned gently, and slowly strolled over to him.
Suddenly, the investigator girl got a jolt.
Then her body abruptly straightened up, and the half-asleep expression vanished in an instant.
While stuffing the emblem into the inside pocket of her shirt, she slapped Ronald’s shoulder with one hand:
"Do you actually know little Nicholas?"
"Yesterday when that young lady came to report, she pretended to be indifferent and probed about you with me."
Ronald didn’t react immediately.
But soon, he realized the name Nicole mentioned was Patricia’s last name.
Then, he answered solemnly:
"I met Patricia coincidentally at the Berenwich train station when I was wandering around the platform there."
"Is there any problem with her?"
"You really don’t know?"
Dragging the surprised tone suspiciously, Nicole seriously assessed Ronald again, as if she was meeting him anew.
Then she jumped up, put her arm around Ronald’s neck single-handedly, not minding the intimate distance between them, and spoke in a calm and steady pace:
"Volume eleven, page two hundred sixty, item six."
Is this a lie detector test?
While Ronald was still bewildered, Nicole told him through her actions how casual a person she was.
With a tone like brothers bragging and chatting, the young investigator continued:
"That’s little Nicholas, don’t you know the Whitegold family?"
Listening to Nicole’s teasing tone, Ronald chose to tell the truth:
"I used to be a country person before, in the place where I lived everyone used candles at night, we didn’t even have gas lamps."
"So there are a lot of common things I really don’t know."
Nicole blinked her eyes in confusion.
The lie detector told her that Ronald’s attitude was very honest, and there was no deception.
Reluctantly scratching her head again, the young girl continued,
"Let me explain to you, you’re dealing with someone extraordinary."
"The Nicholas family is a legendary family that has held a considerable position in the nation since the founding of Greed, even though they’re still old nobility, their reputation remains exceedingly high."
"However, what this family is most famous for is their heirloom original text. That thing is said to be a very rigorous and fierce swordsmanship, where almost no one can match them in a melee fight with cold weapons."
"When I was still young, my teacher specifically warned me,"
Lowering her voice, Nicole imitated an elderly tone, "Never let any member of the Nicholas family get close to you, because even if you had thirty lives, it wouldn’t be enough for them to deal with in a minute!"
Watching Nicole’s exaggerated expressions while describing the Nicholas family,
Ronald nodded in agreement.
Recalling Patricia’s performance at the train station, her movements were as fast as lightning, and even difficult to follow with the eyes, along with her incredibly precise swordsmanship—just like what Nicole had described.
Having such abilities in the past era, it was only natural for them to earn a resounding reputation.
Not to mention swordsmanship, a physical strike, is easier to wield than spells with "special effects."
Even if an ordinary person witnessed a user’s combat,
As long as the movements weren’t too outrageous, it wouldn’t cause much trouble.
At most, bystanders would marvel, "This person’s swordsmanship is divine!"
Dragging Ronald along, both of them ran up the stairs to the second floor and headed straight to Mrs. Mapple’s office.
She knocked forcefully on the human resources door, and after Nicole jumped in, she boldly announced,
"Miss Mapple, I’ve chosen Ronald as my designated investigator apprentice!"
"Please process the paperwork!"
Looking up at the young girl before her, Mrs. Mapple slammed her hand, not holding a pen, down on the table, then began to reprimand,
"Have I not said it already?"
"Our Investigation Bureau isn’t some antiquated apprenticeship system; don’t bring those oddities into our organization."
"Hey, I’m just used to it after all these years!"
Nicole shrinkingly recoiled her neck, her eyes evasively beginning to explain,
"Prepared personnel and apprentices, the meanings are similar, anyway. Besides, I’m not taking any money from him."
After a ramble, Nicole casually came up to Miss Mapple, her manner a bit sneaky, and inquired,
"That Platinum family, is there a problem with them in Springs?"
"What are you asking this for..."
Before she could continue, understanding flashed across Mapple’s face.
"You saw that young Nicholas on the first floor yesterday; it’s reasonable that you would be curious."
Thinking for a few seconds to gather her thoughts, Mrs. Mapple straightforwardly explained,
"Actually, just before this, an important person from the Nicholas family went to Yizi Forest to complete this year’s railway clearing work."
"The task was completed not long ago and just as they were preparing to return to Springs, an incident occurred."
Miss Mapple shrugged her shoulders and began to shuffle through her drawers for files,
"As for the specifics, you know about the Eastern Wind."
"Was it someone from the Nicholas family who met with trouble?"
Nicole couldn’t believe her own tone as she exclaimed,
"Are you joking? Were they defeated by someone?"
"Aren’t they the kind of people who can ’swoosh swoosh swoosh’ and chop someone into geometric figures..."
"Hey, keep your voice down!"
Mrs. Mapple slammed the desk, interrupting Nicole’s vivid narrative,
"This is considered level-three classified information, not to be disclosed."
"Anyway, that young Nicholas is now responsible for the deceased’s remaining railway maintenance work. He’s come to our Investigation Bureau just to lend a hand before spring arrives."