Free Web NovelChapter 495: Chapter 496: Can’t Count on It_1
The next day, Aiden bid farewell to the two witches and set off alone on foot from the lakeside "camp" to the nearest village, where he took a brief rest and then rented a carriage.
By the time he returned to the urban area, it was already afternoon.
"No, it’s fine, I mean, ma’am, really, there’s no need. It’s just an ordinary horse; there’s no need for compensation," said the man standing in front of Aiden, his hands spread and a polite smile on his face.
"An ordinary horse doesn’t come cheap in the market," said Aiden, holding his wallet, "are you all that generous?"
The man before him was one of the secret police stationed in Sunset City and one of several contacts assigned to Aiden by Heinz. Whenever Aiden needed something from the secret police, he just had to ask them. The horse yesterday had been provided by this contact.
"I’m just carrying out orders from my superiors and providing assistance to the best of my ability. That ’to the best of my ability’ includes a lot, including providing a mount on an emergency basis at no cost." The contact spread his hands, "I will not accept your compensation, just as I will not ask what happened to that mount. If other departments inquire here, I will respond that nothing unusual happened yesterday, please rest assured."
"You don’t have any questions about me?" Aiden asked the contact person with interest.
"My duty is to obey, not to ask questions," the contact person replied calmly.
"Counter-espionage is also part of your duties, isn’t it? An outsider running around freely in your country..."
"Well, the procedure for counter-espionage is like this—if the superiors decide someone is a spy, then we go and arrest them. If the boss says that person is a spy, then he’s a spy... That’s what I mean to say, ’it has to be’, you know," the contact person’s face showed an enigmatic smile.
Aiden also revealed a knowing smile. Catching spies was the duty of the secret police, but those arrested could be real spies or others arbitrarily charged with espionage, that truly defined the secret police’s "counter-espionage duties."
"So conversely, until your superiors determine you are a spy, you won’t be suspect of anything. As I said, our only duty is to obey," the contact person emphasized again.
"When I first arrived here, you tried to control my movements," said Aiden.
"That was also an order from a superior. It was ’if possible, pay necessary attention to you, but if it would cause offense, then abandon that order.’ Please understand," the contact person said helplessly with a shrug, "We gave up on the first day, even if we wanted to monitor you, we wouldn’t be able to. We simply can’t see through your disguise magic."
Heinz was aware that Aiden possessed the "Substitute" Divine Word, and that guy must have relayed the information that he was "skilled at disguise" to his subordinates. Therefore, when Aiden, transformed into the appearance of the avenging goddess, approached the contact person, the man who saw the evidence harbored no suspicions.
Just as Aiden had anticipated before he came, Heinz was very supportive of him personally taking care of this matter, after all Mr. Bloodcoat’s existence was also a huge threat to the Gistas Kingdom.
But that didn’t mean everything here would be supportive.
"So, would it be alright if I continued to make requests to you?" Aiden asked tentatively.
"Of course, assisting you is part of our duty," the contact person replied without hesitation.
"I really don’t know how to thank you," Aiden said with a perfectly courteous smile bereft of any flaws.
"Not at all, it is our obligation," the contact person nodded slightly.
"Enough of this, how long are we going to keep up these affectations?" the avenging goddess suddenly appeared beside Aiden, impatiently urging, "Hurry up with the real business."
"The so-called pleasantries are mostly just a prelude to the real business, don’t be hasty. Besides, the fact that the other party hasn’t brought up the real business yet is also an answer in itself," Aiden replied in his mind.
He then addressed the contact person, "Well, is there any progress on the matter I entrusted to you yesterday?"
Yesterday, when Aiden approached the secret police to borrow a horse, he also took the opportunity to request them to investigate a Mr. Katch residing in the Golden Lake district.
After yesterday’s investigation, Aiden had practically concluded that Mr. Katch was indeed Professor Dodge. Mr. Katch had previously also been on the secret police’s list of suspects—but at that time, that was all it was. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Searching for a target in a city, the secret police do not have enough manpower to carry out detailed investigations for every suspect.
But through his own investigation and reasoning, Aiden had successfully narrowed the investigative target down to just one person.
Focusing police effort on investigating one person, given the secret police’s authority, they should be able to unearth more intelligence, unless—
"Well..." the contact person’s face showed a troubled expression—just as Aiden had expected.
"Is it that you found nothing special, or..." Aiden deliberately paused here, then slowed down his speech, "encountered some... unexpected resistance?"
The contact person instinctively held his breath and looked up sharply, meeting the meaningful smile on Aiden’s face.
"Ma’am, if you already know, why do you ask?" the contact person understood the implication of the smile.
"Just for confirmation, all you need to do is tell me, which department is stopping your investigation?" Aiden asked, looking straight into the contact person’s eyes.
"The Kingdom Intelligence Agency," after a moment of thought, the contact person provided the answer, "They told us the information about this person involves their confidential mission, and asked us not to continue the investigation."
That confirmation—Aiden finally solidified his speculations in his mind.
Mr. Katch was indeed Professor Dodge, and he had assisted with the "Infection" plan; otherwise, there would have been no need for the Kingdom Intelligence Agency, which was leading the "Infection" plan, to prevent any further in-depth investigation of Mr. Katch by other intelligence departments.
"So, you’re certain you won’t continue the investigation?" Aiden asked for the sake of it.
"Yes, we won’t pursue the investigation further. The Kingdom Intelligence Agency doesn’t have a hierarchal relationship with our Security Bureau; our responsibilities just occasionally overlap. We don’t really need to follow their orders... but there’s no need to confront them over this issue either. That’s the superior’s intention, I can only obey. I hope you understand," the contact person said steadily. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
The superior—that is, Heinz was still maintaining this stance. If the matter potentially involved a conflict with the military, he would not allow the Royal Secret Police to assist Aiden.
Hoping to continue leveraging the strength of the Royal Secret Police for an in-depth investigation on Professor Dodge was no longer an option.
