After class, a line of students walked along the road.
They were all schoolmates who had grown close to Mr. Aiwass in the past few days and were eager to visit the award ceremony. They hoped Mr. Aiwass would take them to see the excitement and the world.
And Mr. Aiwass had generously agreed.
"Honestly, Mr. Aiwass, I have some doubts..."
Aiden, walking in front, turned his head and complained, "Did the Supervisory Bureau seal off the White Ballet Shoes Club because they wanted to use it for free as the venue for the award ceremony?"
"That might well be the case."
Angela, beside him, said with a smile, "After all, it's the end of the year, and the Supervisory Bureau's budget has been pretty tight recently."
"My mom told me that the budget allocated to the Supervisory Bureau each year has to be spent, but it can't be overspent by too much. So, at the end of the year, they're either trying hard to spend money or trying hard to save it... anyway, last year's budget was definitely off."
Her words held considerable weight.
After all, this girl with the long, dark blue hair, who always had a smile on her face, had a mother working in the city's Supervisory Bureau II.
The city district was northwest of the Red Queen District and directly opposite the Lohar District to the southeast of the White Queen District. Compared to Lohar District, which adjoined the port of departure, it went further inland. Continuing northwest from the city district, one would leave Glass Island and reach Garden City.
It was the largest district on Glass Island in terms of land area and also the most populous and busiest district. Even three Supervisory Bureaus were necessary to ensure basic coverage. In contrast to the poor public security of Lohar District, the security level in the city district was quite good, with abundant resources, stable prices, comprehensive and well-equipped public services. Also, because it neighbored Garden City, the environment was quite good as well.
In a sense, this was the main area for the ordinary citizens of Royal Capital Avalon to work and live in—it was not as chaotic and busy as the Port District, nor as quiet and solemn as the Red-White Queen District, which was closer to the center of the island.
Public horse-drawn carriages had recently been introduced there, with one carriage being able to carry nearly thirty people. This had made travel much more convenient.
Occasionally, students would go to the city district for fun—of course, it wasn't as exciting as Lohar District, and the prices were quite a bit higher, and there was much less of those shady things. But there were always students who were too scared of the Strangler Party in Lohar District.
"The budget for the Supervisory Bureau this year has mostly been transferred to Lohar District. Inspectors willing to transfer to Lohar District get an immediate salary increase of eighty percent of their original income, with a guarantee of another thirty percent increase within a year."
Angela sighed, "Although Lohar District is quite dangerous, they're offering too much."
"It's mainly because the Strangler Party in Lohar District has become increasingly crazy recently," another male student from the Theological Seminary interjected with a sigh. "I heard they have even started attacking the Inspectors now, though I don't know if that's true."
"It's most likely true."
Angela shook her head, "More precisely, they've found Inspector bodies that have been 'strangled.' Their clothes were completely stripped off, all belongings stolen. Even their eyes and tongues were taken."
At this point, the girl with the blue hair blushed slightly: "And the body they found this time was quite severe... even his privates were cut off while he was still alive."
She turned to look at Mr. Aiwass behind her: "What do you think, Mr. Aiwass?"
"This indicates that the Pelican Bar is not the only sales point for ritual materials."
Mr. Aiwass's calm voice came from not too far behind them, explaining in as refined a manner as possible: "This is a form of superior substitute for ritual materials. Usually, one would use materials from a male goat, especially a black male goat. Some Demon Scholars might smoke them with dried sage, dry them, and consume them to restore their life force and Dark Attribute Mana. And using a Transcendent as material, more Mana can be recovered..."
Although Mr. Aiwass tried to be tactful, everyone fell silent for a moment.
Soon after, Aiden gasped quietly, as if feeling a phantom pain.
"Where did you read about this, Mr. Aiwass?"
Angela, her face slightly flushed with curiosity, asked, "Did you see it while you were at the library?"
"—This is knowledge from 'Ordinary Ritual Studies,' students."
A familiar voice came through, causing them to instinctively shrink their necks and look towards the source of the sound.
The person who suddenly spoke up from the front was Miss Maya, who had left the classroom immediately after class ended. Compared to her previous attire, she had only added a silver mitre on her head adorned with three small candles and had put down her bag carrying the teaching materials and textbooks.
After class, Mr. Aiwass hadn't gone straight to the White Ballet Shoes Club but had instead returned to his dormitory to pick up the "Key Holy Sword" that Bishop Mathers had lent him.
The assassin had not been killed. With the life force of the Path of Adaptation, she should recover by today.
In the midst of the crowd, Mr. Aiwass couldn't use the power of the Shadow Demon. It would be troublesome if she came for revenge.
Therefore, Mr. Aiwass specifically picked up the key.
He was now able to spend 33 points of Fire Attribute Mana to use the Holy Sword Skill once a month. At the very least, surviving shouldn't be an issue—wouldn't there be some important figures attending the award ceremony?
This was the Holy Sword Medal!
Among all the medals of Avalon, it was one of the top three in rank. In peaceful times, it was even rarer. Not to mention Mr. Aiwass's surname was Moriarty... surely a few old Knights from the Round Table Hall should come, right?