Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3272: Chapter 3273: Direct Subordinate Investigator

Before long, Angel and the others arrived at the southeastern corner where investigators gathered.

Seeing the dense crowd of investigators in various colored trench coats moving swiftly ahead, Angel turned to Luigi: "Did Glaipnir mention how to identify direct investigators?"

Luigi hesitated for a moment: "She did, but it’s as if she didn’t."

Angel: "???"

With Luigi’s explanation, Angel somewhat understood what he meant.

The reason he said that is because Glaipnir clearly stated that direct investigators carry tokens corresponding to their stewards, and these tokens must have symbols representing the steward’s identity.

For example, the Ghost Steward’s token would have various Mirror Ghost symbols.

Similarly, the Dog Deacon’s token would likely have symbols of canine animals.

Hearing this might lead one to think that distinguishing direct investigators isn’t difficult, but the actual situation is different. Because the steward’s tokens aren’t fixed, some might be common mirror surfaces, while others might be brooches, rings, earrings, etc., and some are directly imprinted on attire as logos.

The tokens come in various forms and are not uniform, leading to a problem where not all tokens are displayed externally.

Stewards don’t force investigators to display their tokens, so typically, tokens are stored in the investigator’s personal space and only revealed when needed.

Thus, they can differentiate based on the symbols on the tokens, but only if the investigator has placed the token externally.

"At first glance... seems like I didn’t see any token." Angel murmured in the Mind Ribbon.

Luigi nodded as well, carefully observing those hurried investigators. They all dressed sharply and elegantly, yet not one of the so-called tokens could be seen.

Just as Angel and Luigi felt overwhelmed, Laplace suddenly said: "Fifteen degrees to the front left, there’s a man in a red trench coat carrying a box, take a look at his box — is it a token symbol?"

Angel and Luigi immediately followed the sound to gaze over, quickly locating the man Laplace referred to.

He carried a briefcase that seemed to be made of some dark leather, clearly showcasing a frame composed of bronze nails and long strips.

On the surface of this vintage-looking briefcase was a very abstract symbol.

Quite like graffiti carved by prehistoric humans on cave walls, it was simple yet hard to guess. One could vaguely see a group of matchmen celebrating around a bonfire, with some unknown small four-legged animals nearby.

"Is this a symbol of humans and some animals?" Luigi whispered: "But those animals... are they dogs? It’s hard to see any traces of dogs, no ears or tails. Though, there are dogs without ears or tails..."

"Even if we take a huge step back and this is indeed a steward’s token, is it a Human Steward’s token, or Dog Deacon’s token? Or, could those matchmen be some sort of ghosts... a Ghost Steward’s token?"

Luigi’s question echoed everyone’s confusion.

Even if they see a purported token, it seems they’re unable to determine precisely which token it is... they can’t even confirm whether this symbol signifies a token.

Angel: "Shall we ask Glaipnir again?"

Luigi nodded, sharing his perspective synchronized through the mind with Glaipnir.

Soon, Glaipnir provided her judgment: "The probability of it being a steward’s token is about thirty percent. If it really is a steward’s token, it’s most likely a Human Steward’s token, followed by Ghost Steward’s token, with Dog Deacon’s token being least likely."

The implication is that the likelihood of it being a Dog Deacon’s token is extremely low.

"Shall we go ask?" Angel noticed the red trench coat man with the briefcase had entered the task delegation room.

This room isn’t a private one, many people were inside. If they wished to inquire, they could go directly inside.

Angel looked at Luigi, awaiting his answer.

Luigi directly shared his vision with Glaipnir, soon receiving a message: "No need to inquire, his probability of being a Dog Deacon’s direct investigator just dropped again."

Angel: "???"

What did the man with the briefcase do just now? How did the probability continue to drop?

Glaipnir’s response surprised Angel: "Because he entered the delegation room."

After Glaipnir’s explanation.

She shared perspectives with Luigi and also used Illusion Technique Hut left outside by Angel to present what they saw to Gutalace using an illusion technique.

Gutalace glanced once, firmly identifying that his probability of being a Dog Deacon’s direct investigator was very low.

The reason being, Dog Deacon’s direct investigators generally aren’t skilled in handling combat-related assignments. Whereas, the delegation room tasks are either covert information tasks or require external combat tasks.

Information tasks are adeptly handled by Ghost Steward’s direct investigators.

Combat tasks are usually undertaken by Human Steward and Ghost Steward’s investigators.

That trench coat man with the briefcase entered the delegation room; in Gutalace’s view, his probability of being a Dog Deacon’s direct investigator is quite low.

Of course, one can’t entirely rule out the possibility of Dog Deacon’s direct investigators.

But combined with other information, this trench coat man’s association with Dog Deacon is infinitely low.

After listening to Glaipnir’s explanation, Angel inquired: "Then what type of tasks do Dog Deacon’s direct investigators excel in?"

Glaipnir soon answered: "Dog Deacon’s direct investigators excel at handling small tasks, like finding cats and dogs, cleaning and tidying, psychological counseling, and intelligence analysis tasks."

These small tasks are indeed quite simple, but when it comes to psychological resolution and intelligence analysis tasks, the difficulty is unpredictable.

Additionally, Glaipnir shared some news. Previously, Gutalace gave an example saying her descendants, due to being young and playful, and also lazy, commissioned the Cross All Things House to help complete a revision titled "A Vortex God’s Personal Training Summary."

This task was actually completed with help from Dog Deacon’s direct investigators.

Therefore, seeking Dog Deacon’s direct investigators is best done by examining the type of tasks they undertake.

"Among the commission room tasks, although some are taken by Dog Deacon’s direct investigators, it’s rare. So you don’t need to focus on the people inside the commission room." Luigi was relaying messages while being guided by Glaipnir to look at the left wall.

On the wall, a whole row of mirrors lined up neatly was visible, and from afar one could faintly see text seemingly flickering on the mirror surfaces.

"These mirrors are the self-commissions’ acquisition point, which doesn’t require third-party verification. Commissions acquired here are mostly small assignments."

"If you’re looking for Dog Deacon’s direct investigators, you could check out the self-commissions acquisition point."

Glaipnir’s provided clue can help narrow their search area.

Also, Angel noticed that not many were willing to take on self-commissions; currently, there were only five investigators standing by the wall.

This further narrowed the search area.

However, these five individuals show no traces of the token... Trying to find them through the token is still not possible.

Luigi: "Alright, I’ll go over and ask."

Luigi picked up the harp and gave Angel a reassuring gesture: "I believe no one would refuse a poet who plays the harp."

Angel: "..."

With confidence, Luigi walked towards those people.

While Luigi went to inquire, Angel and Laplace also arrived at the self-service commission area.

It was a rare occasion to visit the Everything House; he wanted to see what kind of commissions were available.

As Angel got closer, he noticed the text on the mirror was not the familiar universal language but seemed to be the Mirror Domain’s language. Angel was thinking about asking Laplace for a translation, but to his surprise, as soon as he approached, he noticed a subtle fluctuation on the mirror.

The dense and indecipherable text suddenly turned into the universal language.

"Does this mirror have recognition functionality?" Angel was somewhat surprised.

Obviously, the mirror recognized his human identity, so the text changed accordingly.

This detailed design was quite thoughtful, reminding Angel of Pirush’s inventions. The inventions Pirush sold externally were exceptionally detailed, which is why similar products were more readily accepted by various races when invented by Pirush.

"Could this have been made with Pirush’s assistance?" While pondering this, Angel began to examine the commissions on the mirror.

"0-star commission: Lost map. Points reward: 1 point."

Angel tried to click into the commission to see more detailed information, but his touch received no response.

Angel remembered that investigators could operate the mirror to see detailed commissions, but it didn’t work for him, likely because he was not a Everything House investigator.

Just as the mirror can recognize his human identity, it can also recognize whether he is an investigator.

Although slightly disappointed, unable to see detailed commissions, Angel understood this operation of the Everything House. After all, commissions are closely related to the clients, and protecting the client’s privacy is the fundamental reason why the Everything House can continue to operate.

"0-star commission: Concerns on the Watchtower. Points reward: 1 point."

"0-star commission: Problems of the Cubs. Points reward: 1 point."

"0-star commission: Lost rabbit. Points reward: 1 point."

"0-star commission: Foolproof puzzle. Points reward: 2 points."

"0-star commission: Return of the deceased. Points reward: 2 points."

"0-star commission: Lonely crystal. Points reward: 2 points."

...

"1-star commission: Detective’s reasoning code. Points reward: 15 points."

"? star commission: Analysis of hollow corpses. Points reward: ?? points."

Although unable to see specific commissions, one can roughly infer some information just from the names. Words like "lost," "disoriented," "return" probably indicate commission of finding items or paths; terms like "concerns," "problems" likely indicate commissions related to psychological counseling or emotional guidance, while "detective," "corpse analysis," probably refer to intelligence analysis commissions.

The general type is evident just from the wording.

This not only protects the privacy of the client but also saves the investigators time in sorting when taking commissions.

Clearly, the Everything House has put considerable effort into naming these commissions.

Furthermore, Angel noticed that the majority of commissions here were 0-star and 1-star, and according to Glaipnir’s understanding, the Everything House’s commissions have twelve levels, the highest being 12-star.

The higher the star rating, the more challenging the commission.

Everything here is 0-star and 1-star, which aligns with Glaipnir’s claim that most self-service commissions are small tasks.

However, there are uncategorizable "? star commissions," which are difficult to determine their star rating before completion.

So, not all self-service commissions are necessarily low-star.

"Most of these commissions are prepared for the direct investigators of the Dog Deacon." The speaker was Laplace, but she was only relaying what Glaipnir actually said.

Angel: "So, just by the proximity of these five investigators near the self-service commission area, are they likely to be direct investigators of the Dog Deacon?"

Laplace shook her head: "Not necessarily. There are many investigators in Everything House, and the direct investigators of deacons account for less than 1%."

Because there are so many investigators, with many of them at low levels, even if they are not direct investigators of the Dog Deacon, they still start with 0-star commissions.

So, those five investigators Luigi approached might not necessarily be direct investigators of the Dog Deacon.

After Laplace spoke, Luigi was seen returning with a disgruntled expression.

Angel: "Nothing?"

Luigi waved his hand: "Probably not. I mentioned the Dog Deacon while using the reverberations of harp melodies to perceive their blood flow. None showed any abnormal reaction to the Dog Deacon."

Although this wasn’t definitive proof, the five investigators were already of low rank, and Luigi could directly sense if they were lying.

"What do we do now? Continue waiting, hoping someone comes along?" Luigi glanced around; there were too few investigators there.

"At this pace, we might not see anyone even when the external showcase starts." As Luigi lamented, he suddenly noticed Angel squinting in the direction behind him.

"Is there something behind me?" Luigi turned to check but saw no one.

It wasn’t until he lowered his gaze that he noticed a little girl wearing a mask, not even reaching his waist in height, dressed in a somewhat dragging pink coat, with chubby hands rummaging on the mirror, head pushing up, seemingly looking at the commissions on the mirror.

From her attire, she appeared to be an investigator of Everything House.

But, has Everything House started using investigators so small?

While Luigi was puzzled, the little girl reached out her finger to open the "? star commission: Analysis of hollow corpses."

The fact that she could open detailed commissions already proved she was indeed an investigator.

Next, the little girl accepted the "Analysis of hollow corpses" commission in front of them. After accepting the commission, she patted her hands and prepared to leave.

Just as she turned, Angel called out to her.