"As I thought."
Raon drew a similar smile as he looked at Denning Rose, who wore a gentle smile.
"So the Branch Manager knew about my plan."
When he asked Evelyn to investigate the missing persons, he had expected that Denning Rose would figure out his intentions, and seeing her come all the way here, it seemed his thinking had been correct.
"It was obvious from looking at the first investigation and the second investigation's contents."
Denning Rose shook her head, saying it would have been harder not to know.
"Honestly, it does look dangerous, but there probably isn't a better plan than this to strike at Derus's vital point. Besides..."
She gazed intently at Raon's face and lightly covered her mouth.
"You wouldn't listen even if I tried to stop you."
Denning Rose smiled with her eyes, saying that since it was obvious he wouldn't listen anyway, it would be better to investigate thoroughly instead.
"It's embarrassing, but you're right."
Raon nodded while scratching the back of his head.
"This plan absolutely has to be carried out."
As Denning Rose said, this plan was something he absolutely could not give up on. However, it wasn't like before where he would charge in recklessly. He intended to refine various plans and information countless times to prepare so that failure would be impossible.
-So what exactly is this plan!
Wrath charged forward like a buffalo.
-At this point, please tell this king too!
He frowned, asking why he wouldn't tell him when the information wouldn't leak out anyway.
'At this point, you should figure it out yourself.'
Raon let out a short sigh.
-That's because I don't know!
Wrath shook his head, saying he couldn't figure it out no matter how much he thought about it.
'Then wait.'
Raon raised his hand and lightly patted Wrath's head.
'You'll know soon enough.'
Since Denning Rose had brought the information, it wouldn't be strange to say the execution of the plan was right around the corner. There was no particular need to say anything now.
"That's right. So I've gathered proper information."
Denning Rose smiled and opened her Subspace Pouch. The fact that he hadn't sensed she had a Subspace Pouch at all suggested that while it might not hold large quantities of items like Dorian's, it seemed better suited for hiding important objects.
"I organized it in conjunction with the Shadow Agents, so you can look at it right away..."
It was when Denning Rose was about to take out a thick booklet from her Subspace Pouch.
"Wait!"
Evelyn let out a scream-like cry as she rushed out of the annex building. She seemed to be in quite a hurry, her usually neatly combed hair disheveled as she panted for breath.
"That information should definitely have taken until tomorrow to complete?"
Evelyn bit her lips, as if she had been anticipating when Denning Rose would compile the Black Market information.
"I stayed up all night to complete it."
Denning Rose smiled brightly, saying she was tired because of it.
"You've never stayed up all night before!"
Evelyn furrowed her eyebrows, asking why she suddenly didn't sleep, as if she had gathered information about Denning Rose as a person too.
"When things like this happen, I make an effort too."
Denning Rose smiled cheerfully, saying that since it was important to Raon, she wanted to give it to him quickly.
"Ha! She was aiming for this!"
Evelyn let out a hollow laugh as she looked at Denning Rose's smile.
"So she's not the woman who took charge of the Zieghart branch for nothing."
She nodded, saying she was qualified to be the disciple of the Black Market master.
"Thank you for the compliment."
Denning Rose nodded and held out the booklet she had prepared to Raon.
"Th-thank you."
Raon was startled by Evelyn's sudden appearance but still reached out to receive the materials Denning Rose had prepared.
"I wanted to bring it to you myself."
Evelyn clicked her tongue regretfully as she looked at the booklet in Raon's hands.
"Evelyn. What were you doing?"
Raon blinked as he looked at Evelyn. Her appearance was so different from usual that he wanted to know what state she was in.
"I went to check on that forest. There might have been changes."
Evelyn sighed, saying she remembered his request and had gone to survey the forest where Derus was expected to be hiding.
"Whether Derus is really hiding there, the location where the barrier is installed has been steadily changing."
She nodded, saying that as Raon had said, the forest was worth continuing to watch. (E/N: Did he say that? Maybe I'm getting too old and forgetting...)
"As I thought."
Raon briefly clicked his tongue and clenched his fist.
'If what she says is true, Derus hasn't noticed our movements yet.'
Since secrecy was more important than anything else for this matter, he had controlled information as much as possible, and fortunately it seemed their movements hadn't been caught by Derus's eyes yet.
"Thank you, Evelyn."
Raon expressed his gratitude to Evelyn, who had moved without even sleeping, and held her hand.
"Hmph!"
Evelyn made a strange sound like a hungry puppy or cat might make and trembled her shoulders.
"It's nothing!"
She said it was a simple matter while subtly raising her eyebrows toward Denning Rose.
"Hmm."
Denning Rose maintained her smile without any change in expression despite seeing Evelyn's provocation.
"Let's see..."
Raon opened the book where Denning Rose had compiled and organized the information.
'The missing people aren't particularly special.'
The book contained information about the missing persons who had disappeared so far, but there didn't seem to be any particular pattern or criteria. There were ordinary people, martial artists, and magicians.
However, the levels of the martial artists and magicians weren't very high. Seeing that the highest level was only Master rank, it seemed they didn't kidnap those with strong martial prowess.
'Is there a special reason?'
Considering the power of Derus and the Archangels, they could easily kidnap even Grandmaster level individuals, so he couldn't understand why they only took up to Master level. (E/N: Because grandmaster are supposed to be very rare bla bla bla?)
'Men and women, young and old. They really don't discriminate.'
The occupations were diverse - merchants, blacksmiths, bartenders, storytellers, guards, homeless people - but there were almost no common points among the missing people, regardless of whether they were men or women, elderly or children.
'The locations where they disappeared are all different too.'
Some disappeared from homes where they were alone, others vanished while traveling, and some disappeared from taverns full of people. It seemed there were no clues to catch them.
'Wait...'
Raon narrowed his eyes as he read through the booklet.
'A few of the missing persons said they found a way to go to heaven?'
There were records that a very small number among the missing persons had said they would go to heaven.
"What does this mean?"
Raon pointed to a section of the booklet to Denning Rose with slightly narrowed eyes.
"It's exactly as it says. A very small number of the missing persons told people around them that they thought they would go to heaven."
Denning Rose shook her head, saying that was all she had learned about that part.
"I also met an acquaintance of a missing person who said such things during my investigation."
Evelyn raised her hand high.
"They said the person disappeared not long after saying they had found a way to go to heaven."
She raised her nose proudly, saying her information was also in those records.
"Heaven..."
Raon frowned as he examined all the contents of the booklet.
'There's nothing more than that.'
He had looked through the entire booklet, but couldn't obtain any special information.
'This is difficult. At this rate, it'll be hard to execute the plan... Hmm?'
Raon clicked his tongue briefly, then his eyes flashed open.
'Wait. Could this be...'
He swallowed dry saliva and read through the front section of the booklet containing the missing persons' information again.
"I think I'm right?"
Raon nodded heavily with a certain degree of conviction.
"What is?"
"Did you find something?"
Evelyn and Denning Rose narrowed their eyes curiously.
"Until now there have been countless missing persons regardless of gender or age, but there's exactly one occupation missing."
Raon closed the booklet and looked up at the sky.
"What occupation is that?"
Evelyn blinked as if she had no idea at all.
"Priests. There isn't a single person who believes in gods."
Raon curled up the corners of his mouth as he read Derus's plan through the booklet.
"It seems Derus Robert has created a new religion."
"Priests, religion..."
Denning Rose let out a low groan as if she had just realized.
"That's definitely right! There are all sorts of occupations like gem cutters, blacksmiths, beggars, merchants, boxers, magicians, but there isn't a single religion-related occupation like pastors or evangelists!"
She clapped her hands loudly, saying Raon's words were accurate.
"How did you..."
Denning Rose let out a breath of disbelief, wondering how he had read this part just from looking at the materials once.
"Hmph! Amazing, right?"
Evelyn shrugged her shoulders with a proud expression as if she had discovered the secret herself.
"Derus Robert kidnapped people secretly. Seeing that there are so few traces left, it seemed like the missing persons themselves moved. The best method for that would be religion."
Raon nodded as he explained the process of deducing Derus's intentions.
"Especially since the White Blood Religion, which stood at the pinnacle of cult religions, was destroyed, it wouldn't have been too difficult to take that position."
Those who believe in cult religions want direct rewards from gods, so they never pursue ordinary religions. Since the White Blood Religion, a cult that had spread across the entire continent, was destroyed in an instant, it would have been very easy to target that gap.
"Thinking about it that way, it's certain."
Denning Rose lowered her eyebrows, saying it seemed reasonable.
"I'll have to dig into that direction for investigation."
She nodded, saying she would have to change the direction of investigation.
-This bastard's head really...
Wrath turned his head as if he couldn't believe it.
-It's really amazing. He has no sense when it comes to human relationships, but his intuition for this kind of thing is ridiculously fast!
He frowned, wondering how such a structure was possible.
"Now we have the answer."
Raon let out a sinister smile and swept up the golden hair that had fallen on his forehead.
"Where we need to go in."
***
A dark night when the moon is erased from the world. Two figures in pitch-black robes pass through the alleys of the busy district as if darkness itself was flowing.
It wasn't that there were no people around, but strangely, no one paid attention to the two robed figures. It seemed as if people's gazes couldn't reach them at all, as if they were hidden behind a veil.
The short man leading the way moved forward without hesitation, turning through the alleys as if familiar with the path, while the tall man behind him walked stiffly, unable to keep his eyes still and constantly turning them left and right as if anxious.
"There's no need to be so nervous."
The short man turned back slightly and smiled.
"You are chosen, so everyone in heaven will welcome you."
He waved his hand while letting out a warm voice as if melting away the tension.
"Ah, I know."
The tall man's blue eyes trembled as he swallowed dry saliva. His stiff movements and shaking voice showed he was quite nervous.
"We're almost there now."
Despite the short man saying the place was right around the corner, he only stopped walking after turning through five more alleys.
"Here it is."
He straightened his back as he stood in front of a small building with blackened walls and a door so old it looked like it would break.
"It looks shabby, but we chose this place on purpose. We have to avoid the eyes of jealous humans."
The short man gently curled up the corners of his mouth, saying not everyone could go to heaven.
"Y-yes, that's right."
With the entrance in front of him, the tall man's complexion turned pale as his nervousness increased.
"Let's go."
The short man grabbed the rusted door handle and opened the door. Despite being so old it looked ready to break, it opened smoothly without any sound.
"Hmm..."
The tall man let out a low groan as he entered through the door. The interior was just as broken down as the exterior, so he didn't know where to sit.
"Th-that person is..."
His eyes trembled as he saw what appeared to be a homeless man snoring and sleeping in the corner.
"You don't need to worry about him. He's in the same world as us."
The short man waved his hand, saying the homeless-looking person was like a gatekeeper of this land.
"You seem disappointed."
He drew a gentle smile seeing the tall man's expression slightly crumpled.
"N-no, it's not that."
"That's understandable. You're still only seeing reality."
The short man reached out his hand as if the real thing was starting now.
"From now on, you'll see with the eyes of your heart."
When he lightly tapped the wall with his finger, the floor opened without any sound and a door leading underground opened. The inside of the door leading underground was completely free of dust unlike this building, and gleamed luxuriously as if made of platinum.
"Huh!"
The tall man breathed heavily as he looked at the door and stairs that shone divinely as if truly leading to heaven. His expression was beyond surprised, almost shocked.
"Let's go. Take the first step toward heaven."
The short man nodded as if telling him to follow and went down the stairs first.
"Ah, yes!"
The tall man followed behind the short man with a flush rising to his cheeks.
"I'm looking forward to it."
Though no one could see it, a red gleam hotter than lava flashed deep within his blue eyes.
"The real heaven."
That expression wasn't excitement about a new world, but the ecstasy of finding what he had been looking for. (E/N: Raon?)