Baron stated his plan decisively. Seeing the silence that followed, he quickly explained the reasoning behind it.

The peculiar looks from Yalilan and Carmen, who stood behind her, finally faded.

Yalilan said, "But you have no way of knowing if he’ll even come tonight." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Baron said, "Since Ferdinand dared to leave the city at a time like this, he must have made some preparations.

The Undead Cultists captured in the city warehouse were all peripheral members. The person Tate and his group contact is the true core member. Finding and interrogating him is better than searching around aimlessly like a headless chicken."

"I shouldn’t have killed that Undead yesterday," Yalilan said apologetically. "I just didn’t expect Ferdinand to actually be in league with so many of Fude City’s upper echelons."

Her head had been clouded by anger then; she had only thought of using the mute Undead to establish her authority and put pressure on Ferdinand.

But who would have thought Ferdinand would go for broke, killing so many witnesses right in front of her and Stephen... ’That man’s power... just as L said, he’s probably about to break through to the Silver Tier.’

’No, based on his performance that day, he must already be on the critical threshold of breaking through to the Silver Tier, lacking only the Magic Potion Trial and a sufficient quality of Spiritual Power to make the leap.’

’A Silver Tier Demon Hunter... Forget Fude City, in the entire Gillian Duchy, there’s probably no one who could—or would be willing to—subject him to Judgement.’

’Mr. Stephen must have taken that into consideration, which is why he allowed Ferdinand to do as he pleased without intervening.’

’Otherwise, with the power he’s accumulated over many years at the Silver Tier, even if Ferdinand had already reached that level, he couldn’t have killed so many witnesses right in front of him.’

At this thought, a faint anger stirred within Yalilan, but she couldn’t let it show.

’It is all for the sake of my lady,’ she silently admonished herself.

Even a Pure-blooded Fierce Tiger is ultimately powerless before certain things.

Baron said, "Lord Marquis has already done more than enough. You need not disparage yourself."

Yalilan nodded. "Then I’m leaving this matter to you. Do you need anyone?"

Baron said, "Zod and Maguire will be enough."

"Stay safe." With that, Yalilan spurred her horse and departed.

Zod and Maguire dismounted and handed their reins to an attendant. Maguire glanced at Carmen, who was standing to the side holding a package, and asked Baron:

"Who is this woman?"

Before Baron could answer, Zod frowned. "I’ve told you not to go prying into other people’s private lives."

Maguire smiled sheepishly.

Seeing that Carmen had no intention of speaking for herself, Baron explained, "Her name is... KK. She’s my... employer."

"Employer? Someone wants to kill her?"

Zod shot Maguire another glance. Realizing his blunder, Maguire changed the subject.

"Should we go get Morey? He seems better suited for this kind of work than we are."

In the minds of the other Demon Hunters, Morey, the Blood Loss Knight, was already a professional interrogator. They wondered if he’d become a wandering Blood Loss Knight in the first place precisely because he’d made too many enemies with that talent.

Even though Baron still felt uneasy about how Morey seemed to see right through his profession, Morey had ultimately done nothing against him.

For now, Baron was still willing to trust him.

After all, they were comrades who had visited brothels together.

Of course, it would be even better if Morey also had some dirt on him.

After arranging a time with Zod and Maguire to head to the brothels that evening, Baron decided to head home. He would stop by the church first to make some preparations for the night’s work.

Someone was tugging his sleeve.

"You want to buy this?" Baron found himself pulled in front of a display window by Carmen.

Inside the display case was a bracelet that looked to be made of solid gold. It was engraved with some unidentifiable floral pattern and its outer edge was inlaid with diamond chips. It looked incredibly expensive.

"I do want to buy it, but I have no money right now."

Carmen crouched down in front of the window, peering inside. Her reddish-gold pupils were magnified by the glass, making them look like two rubies under a magnifying lens.

’You don’t have money, which just means I’m the one who’s supposed to pay, right?’ Baron grumbled to himself.

He roused himself mentally. ’Even though they’re the same person, Carmen and KK are different.’ As the Dragon Witch he was contracted to—a woman with a direct link to the Red Dragon—he figured he might be able to dig some useful information out of her.

"It’s a bracelet made of Water Gold, you know."

The shopkeeper saw Carmen through the window and rushed out of the shop, shouting, "Only 93 Silver Coins!"

’Ninety-three Silver Coins... a bit steep.’

Baron took a Gold Coin from his pocket, but didn’t hand it over immediately. Instead, he looked at the Witch, waiting to see what kind of conditions she would propose for the Exchange.

But Carmen simply stood up and said, "Let’s go."

Baron was stunned for a moment. Carmen was already walking away, and he hurried to catch up and ask her why.

Carmen said, "It’s the influence of the Red Dragon’s Soul. For a moment, I was slightly affected by its desires, but I just have to overcome it."

Giant Dragons love nothing more than Gold and jewels.

Baron said, "Before, KK made a deal with me..."

"I know. You want to ask how the Red Dragon is still alive, don’t you..."

Carmen stated, very naturally and calmly, "He’s already dead. At least, his body is. The corpse is probably being preserved on the Inner Side by some Law Enforcement Organization or an Old Blood Clan. Only his Soul Spirit hasn’t dissipated."

"The Soul is on my person. As for the Spirit, by my estimation, it should be somewhere in Prole Royal City."

The Soul is the vessel for the Spirit, while the Spirit represents the Red Dragon’s consciousness. This meant the Red Dragon’s Soul on the Witch was essentially the husk of the Dragon’s own soul; it did not represent the Red Dragon itself.

Baron was grateful he had paid attention in Lankao’s classes. At least his understanding of Soul Spirits was no longer that of a complete novice.