Transcendent Dawn

Once again, Su Lu inspected the apartment and was very satisfied.

Not only was his own bedroom quite large, but there was also a room reserved for servants, so there wouldn’t be a problem even if he hired a live-in maid.

Despite being a bit dated, the apartment had been cleaned up nicely and the furniture was comfortably arranged.

“I can tell… the previous tenant was a pretty good person, with a bit of an artistic taste…”

“And judging from the absinthe within the flower bed, he might have known a bit about the mysteries… of course, it could just be a coincidence.”

Su Lu dismissed Duran and Wood, then started inspecting the information they provided.

It was a list of affluential individuals and middle-class citizens in Lore city who were troubled by some peculiar incidents, offering rewards for solutions!

He planned to find a suitable case, and then apply for job.

After all, after paying two months’ rent, his pocket was almost empty again.

‘And… it shouldn’t be too strong, I don’t want to engage in harsh combat…But the truly terrifying ones, the ones with a wide range of influence, have surely been dealt with or sealed by the church and the Federation, right?’

The remaining ones were either being overlooked, or they weren’t life-threatening for the moment, so there wasn’t an urgency to deal with them, and the danger wasn’t too high.

By resolving them, not only could he gain a generous bounty, but perhaps even touch upon the city’s Transcendent circle.

Half a month later.

In a villa in Lore city.

“…In conclusion, Ms. Rosan, the reason you have been feeling headaches and palpitations…is not due to any disturbance from evil spirits. It’s only because of this new bed…”

Su Lu, now dressed in scholarly attire with glasses that made him look much older, tapped his knuckle against the mahogany bed in the mistress’s bedroom. “This bed is made of Red Spot Fir from the Ariet Archipelago… It doesn’t have anything wrong with it, but when mixed with fasaran perfume, it creates a subtle chemical reaction… That is the source of your recent problems.”

“So that’s why…”

Ms. Rosan, a very beautiful lady, muttered to herself as she clung to her husband’s arm: “No wonder… after you asked me to move out for a few days, I felt much better.”

“Since the matter has been settled, I will take my leave now.”

Su Lu gave a polite farewell and was personally escorted out by the man of the house. He returned to his carriage.

He counted the reward he had received and casually threw a small bag of Golden Dragons to Duran and Wood: “Here you go… this is what you deserve.”

It wouldn’t do to keep exploiting these two thugs for free. They needed some perks.

At present, a bit of Golden Dragon was sufficient.

“Thank you, generous Sir!”

Wood and Duran’s voices were noticeably more excited.

Lately, they were ill-at-ease. Not just due to their ‘curse’, but also the tasks Su Lu commanded them to do had been taking a toll on their daily lives, causing some murmuring within the Shark Meeting.

But now?

Most problems can be solved with money!

“Let’s go, back to the apartment!”

Su Lu half-leaned in his carriage seat, squinting.

Lately, he had chosen some not-so-difficult commissions which took only a bit of effort to complete, and he had earned a great deal of Golden Dragon.

Indeed, at least half of these cases turned out to not be mysterious incidents at all.

Some were just regular psychological issues, and others were pure pranks.

Luckily, he was well-learned, not only a scholar in the mysteries, but also a physicist, a half-chemist, knew a little bit of everything. As he solved case after case, it was clear that before long, he would become somewhat famous in certain circles of this city.

This would be his ticket into the Transcendents circle!

Otherwise, being a total stranger, he would have been subjected to a lot of scrutiny and caution.

‘Moreover…within the mysterious incidents, supernatural cases are relatively few… the reason I encountered so many in the past… mostly, is because I actively sought them out.’

When he returned to the apartment, Su Lu asked Duran and the other to leave.

Upon opening the door, a figure busy in the kitchen welcomed him with a sweet voice.

“Welcome home, Sir!”

She was wearing a cook’s apron, in her twenties, round face, big eyes, named Mary, Su Lu’s hired maid who also acted as a chef.

She was responsible for cleaning the house and making three meals for him every day. She didn’t live in the house, so he also had to pay her commuting fees.

“What’s for dinner?”

Su Lu left his coat and sat at the dining table.

“The main dish is veal, with a vegetable salad as a side dish and oxtail soup… please wait a moment!”

After curtsying, Mary went back to the kitchen, and not long after, the fragrant smell of flavorful beef filled the air.

Su Lu opened a bottle of red wine nonchalantly and reached for the newspaper next to him.

He had spent the whole day ‘exorcising’ outside, and didn’t even have time to read the morning paper.

When he unfolded “Federal Daily”, he saw the latest report on Nia City.

“Mysterious disappearance of Nia City, leaves astonishing crater… ”

When it came to the timeliness, this information was already outdated and censored.

But as he looked at the picture of a massive hole taken from high above, Su Lu couldn’t help but fall silent.

“A city, tens of thousands of citizens… this will surely shake up the Federation and astound the world, there’s no covering it up…”

Despite the fact that the officials seemed to be desperately suppressing it, he knew that the day of reckoning wasn’t too far off.

“Sir, your dinner!”

About fifteen minutes later, Mary brought a tray to the table in front of Su Lu, and lifted the silver cover.

Sizzle!

Fierce steam surged about, carrying the appetizing smell of the steak, wildly stimulating the taste buds.

“Thank you!”

Su Lu tied a napkin around his neck, enjoyed dinner contentedly, and watched Mary clean up and leave.

He then rested a bit, took a basket and a sickle, and went to the garden.

“The absinthe grew well… It’s harvest time…”

The processed absinthe planting was the primary material for creating Trick Cards.

His deck was nearly exhausted from previous battles and needed to be replenished.

‘Making the cards is just the first step, then I need to track down a Transcendent and seal a skill… this is not something I can accomplish right now.’

‘However…. producing enough blank cards to carry around, is by all means a sensible thing.’

‘As I gather more and more items in the future, I will indeed need a means to store them… but such magical items, even if available, would surely be very pricey, right?’

During this time, he had resolved some minor mysterious events, but his income wasn’t very high, adding up to only about a hundred Golden Dragons.

This kind of income could allow an average person or family to have a comfortable life free from worry for several years, but for buying Transcendent materials, it was like a pebble thrown into a river.

You hear a ‘plop’, and then there’s nothing left.