Mystic Overlord: Reading Gives Strength
Chapter 123 - 122 Out-of-Town Inspection

Chapter 123: Chapter 122 Out-of-Town Inspection

He appeared before Ronald once again.

Patricia did not act like a stranger at all.

Still dressed casually, she walked into the house wearing slippers.

But unlike when she had come downstairs earlier, she was now carrying a tray with a cup of hot tea and two kinds of bread.

Patricia casually placed the tray on Ronald’s table, picked up a piece of bread for herself, and handed another piece to Ronald,

"Ronald, I heard from the bureau that you went out of town, is that right?"

"So, has the Blenheim Investigation Bureau’s situation gotten so bad that even temporary employees have to go out of town for work?"

"Actually, it’s not too bad, I was just going to do some clean-up work."

Ronald took the bread Patricia had handed him, bit into it to confirm it was their landlady’s handiwork, and then continued the conversation,

"Patricia, you’re a member of the Nicholas family, I haven’t got that wrong, have I?"

"Of course not."

Patricia nodded, her expression becoming curious.

"Ronald, why are you suddenly asking this?"

"..."

Feeling the full texture of the bread while chewing, Ronald organized his thoughts before speaking,

"The thing is, a month ago I was also on that train called the East Wind, and I happened to witness the whole incident that occurred on board."

"That guy named Lama, I saw him myself."

"Hmm?"

Patricia’s previously relaxed expression immediately became focused.

She then looked intently at Ronald, her eyes serious.

She was well aware that the man in front of her would not bring up such a serious topic in idle chit-chat for no reason; steering the conversation in this direction meant he must have something important to tell her.

Faced with Patricia’s solemn demeanor, Ronald also spoke earnestly,

"Today, I completed a task outside the city, and on my way back, I encountered that man named Lama again."

"..."

Patricia raised an eyebrow, her emotions fluctuating slightly but she didn’t lose her composure.

After some contemplation, she first appraised Ronald from head to toe before asking,

"By the look of it, there doesn’t seem to have been a fight, has there?"

"That’s right," Ronald nodded in agreement, then continued to explain, "Because it happened on the way back to Blenheim, and there were ordinary passersby around, it was inconvenient to start a fight, so we just faced each other briefly."

"..."

Patricia crumpled the bread in her hand into a ball, biting and finishing it off as if it were a strip of beef.

After sipping the hot tea from the tray, she crossed her arms and leaned her lower back against Ronald’s table.

"Ronald..."

"You wouldn’t mind if we both stepped out for a bit, right?"

Ronald asked, "Tonight?"

"That’s right," Patricia nodded decisively, "The sooner the better."

"There’s no point in hiding it, my main purpose in coming to Blenheim is to investigate the man who killed my uncle, and if you can provide some assistance, I would greatly appreciate it."

"Of course, I have no objections," Ronald promptly swallowed the remaining bread, "Then why don’t we set out right now?"

"But I have to tell you in advance, that guy only appeared for a short time, so I doubt he left any traces."

"It’s okay, I’m just going to have a look."

Upon hearing Ronald’s warning, Patricia picked up the tray and continued,

"To be honest, after entering Blenheim, I’ve negotiated with both the military and the bureau, but the useful information provided by both sides is very limited and practically no help to my work."

"I’m already very happy to get new information from you."

"So we set out now?"

Taking the last bite of his bread, Ronald’s gaze swept over the girl’s attire in front of him.

— Ronald’s look clearly conveyed his thoughts.

"You haven’t changed your clothes yet!"

Patricia also immediately understood,

"Let me go up and change my clothes, I’ll be down quickly."

Taking the tray, the girl didn’t forget to close the door behind her as she left Ronald’s room.

Listening to the sound of slippers ’clap clap’ fading on the stairs, Ronald turned to look at his wardrobe.

It would be better to change into something more normal...

Thinking this, Ronald started rummaging through his wardrobe.

Though he had been at the Blenheim Investigation Bureau for just over a month, he had made various preparations in advance.

————

Less than ten minutes later, the two met again at the entrance to Ronald’s second-floor room.

As they passed the first floor, the landlady naturally looked over:

"Mr. Ronald? Miss Patricia?"

"What are you two..."

Before Ronald could respond, Patricia stepped forward and took the initiative to answer,

"We’re just stepping out for a walk together, it’s not often you make new friends in a place like this."

"Ah, that’s right, it’s nice for young people to make friends."

"It’s really quite nice."

The landlady didn’t suspect anything.

Giving the two a heartening glance, she continued to focus on her work.

After saying goodbye to the landlady, Ronald and Patricia immediately headed out of town.

Thanks to the girl generously renting a carriage,

By the time they reached their destination, not much time had passed.

Still, at this time of day, there were almost no pedestrians to be seen on the roads outside the city.

Jumping down from the carriage, Ronald pointed to the woods they had passed in the afternoon:

"Lama was spotted right over there before."

Patricia nodded her head and then jumped down from the carriage to check.

Surrounding trees, ground impressions, remnants of magic power...

After an exhaustive check of nearly a quarter of an hour, the girl still came up empty-handed.

In the ordinary little woods, there was no trace left behind.

"Ah—"

She shook her head in disappointment and sighed,

"Just like you said, this guy really didn’t leave any clues behind."

"..."

"It’s not necessarily the case, though."

Seeing Patricia’s troubled expression, Ronald thought for a moment and then mentioned something he had not told the investigation bureau:

"Patricia, you know my ability is related to human emotions."

"But when Lama appeared before, I didn’t feel any human emotion from him at all, which might help with your work?"

"No human emotion..."

Hearing Ronald’s words, Patricia tilted her head slightly and furrowed her brow slightly,

"Ronald, are you sure your ability isn’t mistaken?"

"There’s no way to guarantee that."

Ronald shrugged and continued,

"But as far as I can tell, since I’ve had this ability, it’s never been wrong."

"The only one that’s slipped through the net is this Lama."