"Mr. Barton Hall, I will leave that Blood Clan viscount in your care. In the near future, I'll do my best to avoid contact with the Brierda Mafia. I've reached an agreement with Iphatia; she is free to interrogate him as she sees fit."
Lanqi followed briskly behind Barton, stepping once more into the winding passage leading up to the surface.
Talia walked silently beside Lanqi, feigning a lack of higher intelligence to appear as nothing more than a simple, beautiful, yet powerful summon under his control.
"Take care," Barton replied, understanding Landry's reasoning.
The disappearance of a Blood Clan viscount would inevitably make the Blood Clan realize their plot to assassinate Elsa had failed. When Landry brazenly escorted Elsa back to Saint Creti Monastery from mafia territory, the spearhead of hostility would naturally point toward Professor Landry. As for Barton, the mafia boss, he was someone who had supposedly never appeared today.
Although Professor Landry might draw the Blood Clan's enmity for protecting Elsa, an elder brother protecting his sister was completely justified. Furthermore, he had already garnered considerable renown in Brierda. Given the Blood Clan's operational patterns and modus operandi, they still had to abide by Brierda's rules. Weighing the costs, they would not necessarily risk another move against him.
If the Blood Clan truly wanted to flip the table and resort to brute force against a mere Professor Landry, regardless of success or failure, they would risk being dragged from the shadows into broad daylight and losing everything, forced out into the open.
The dim yellowish lights overhead flickered, stretching their shadows long.
The walls forged from anti-magic steel gleamed with a chilling metallic luster, sealing out all noise from the outside world; only their footsteps echoed with distinct clarity.
Rounding the final corner, the magic-powered lift leading up to the mafia headquarters in the Hassel Building appeared before them once again.
"Before I see you off, is there anything you need my help with?"
Barton stopped in his tracks and suddenly turned back to ask. The request he had received from Iphatia was to assist Landry.
"I heard from Iphatia that you're well-acquainted with the empire's prodigy artificer, Abigail," Lanqi said, nodding and getting straight to the point. "Since we might not see each other for a while, I'd like to ask you to introduce me to her first."
"Abigail, eh..."
Barton pondered for a moment.
"It's not easy to see her. It's a rule of hers never to easily step outside her safe zone," he answered the professor with certainty, their voices raising ripples of echoes down the empty corridor.
When Barton brought Landry here earlier, he had noticed Landry's keen interest in the subterranean palace's spatial barrier. Even without that observation, it was easy to understand why Professor Landry was seeking Abigail.
As the empire's sole spatial magic artificer, Abigail held a status in the imperial magic engineering world akin to an empress; even without conducting any academic research, her authority was second to none. Yet currently, not even the imperial military could sway this Royal Artificer. If Professor Landry could convince her, then in the military's eyes, the value of Landry's team would be compounded by Abigail's immense prestige.
"I could tell," Lanqi said with a sigh and a smile.
From Abigail's handiwork—this subterranean palace—one could see she placed immense emphasis on safety and concealment. Some magic artificers attained high tiers by serving as specialized support alongside elites in Shadow Worlds, but they never dedicated much study to direct combat. Abigail's personal combat capability might be quite fragile, but inside a domain she had meticulously prepared, the situation would be an entirely different story.
"..."
Barton rested his hand on the button that activated the magic-powered lift. His brief silence plunged the underground passage into quiet once more.
As a mafia boss, he could not simply leave this district at will; doing so would draw too much attention. Plenty of eyes in the empire were on him. Even if he assumed a disguise to head to the Brierda Opera House, his movements could easily be deduced. Tonight especially, he could not let the Blood Clan discover that he had any contact with Professor Landry. Taking Professor Landry to see Abigail in person was out of the question.
"Can we contact Miss Abigail via communication magic?" Lanqi asked tentatively.
He sensed that Barton deeply distrusted communication magic, having mentioned the risk of being intercepted within imperial borders. What Barton feared was likely not standard detection methods, but divination; without specialized shielding, such magic was nearly impossible to defend against.
"...It's not very convenient."
Barton hesitated for a moment before opening the lift door.
"That's fine."
Lanqi, accompanied by Talia, stepped with Barton into the silvery-white anti-magic steel car.
Seeing Barton's reaction, Lanqi guessed that Barton probably did have a way, but after weighing the risks, had decided against it. Lanqi would not press him. Barton was an earnest, genuine person; as the head of the mafia, he undoubtedly had his own principles and difficulties.
With a loud groan of metal, the lift slowly ascended, and the surrounding air gradually grew warmer.
"Later tonight, I'll contact her for you and arrange a time for you to meet," Barton suggested to Lanqi and Talia.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Barton. Though I'll have to adjust my upcoming schedule as well."
Lanqi mentally counted his impending commitments, which were already bordering on fully booked. If he were to meet Abigail, he would have to cancel certain appointments.
"Or..." Barton mused, then continued.
"Or what?" Lanqi asked softly, seeing Barton still deliberating.
"You could go find her directly and try to make contact. Tell her someone she knows referred you, and things will be much simpler," Barton offered as another, safer plan. "As long as Abigail gives you a chance to speak in private, you can tell her I sent you. She will at least give me some face, but how to convince her to help will depend on you."
This carried zero risk and would allow Professor Landry to meet Abigail as soon as possible. Moreover, the encounter would look entirely natural, preventing the Blood Clan from noticing any connection among the three parties.
Having witnessed Landry persuade even the boss, Iphatia, Barton had no doubts about Landry's negotiation skills, nor did he worry about Landry's safety.
"Can we go look for her tonight? Do you know where she is tonight?"
Talia's face immediately brightened with anticipation. She knew that if they delayed meeting Abigail, Lanqi's already jam-packed schedule would become even more overwhelming. She still wanted Lanqi to rest well and not overwork himself.
"Yes. She lives on the upper floors of the Brierda Opera House—or rather, the entire top floor belongs to her. She's also a renowned director in the performing arts."
Barton lifted a hand from his overcoat and traced the general layout of Brierda in the air, indicating a safe route for Landry and Talia to travel from the mafia's territory to the Brierda Opera House. He was sure Professor Landry knew this famous opera house in the empire.
Located in the central Manhote district of Brierda, on 33rd Broadway, it sat alongside renowned cultural institutions like the Voice of Brierda Orchestra and the Brierda Royal Ballet. It had been founded during the era of the Seros Empire, the predecessor of Creti, while its current building had been completed in 1662. With approximately 3,800 seats, its performance season ran from September through the following May, staging all kinds of classical and contemporary operas while hosting world-class actors, vocalists, and conductors.
October was currently the height of the season.
In recent years, the Brierda Opera House had begun broadcasting live performances across Creti Radio, drawing a vast audience throughout the country and even across the Southern Continent prior to the war. Now, this storied opera house had been purchased and taken over by Abigail with a colossal sum of money. Living on the top floor of the theater was an honor made possible only by her uniquely exalted status.
"She really is loaded," Lanqi mused. Even Hubao wouldn't casually buy up the entire Ikerite Opera House on a whim. Probably only Duke Mikhail would have that kind of wealth, along with the influence needed to convince the city government to sell it to him.
"What, jealous?" Talia let out a soft huff. "If I put in a little effort, I could earn piles of money with my magic artificer license too."
She was no longer an undocumented, unemployed drifter. She was a successful, twenty-five-year-old prime bachelorette holding a Platinum-rank card maker credential. Even if South Vantina discovered irregularities in her registry, they would beg her to settle down there. If Lanqi ever ran into financial troubles in the future and called her a wealthy lady, she might just be willing to look after this disciple of hers for a few more years. Noe Wilfort would certainly love for her to teach Lanqi a bit more, too.
"Then why wouldn't I just go to Hyperion?" Lanqi asked. Hyperion wasn't just rich; she was younger, too.
"..."
The air suddenly turned dead silent. Talia seemed utterly stumped for an answer.
'Y-You don't understand the charms of slightly older women! Don't you always talk about charm and elegance? How could a girl younger than you have that kind of charm you like? I—I don't actually care, really. Whatever you like has nothing to do with me. It's just that I have some friends—yes, I mean Antanas, Sinora, Almis, Iphatia, and the like. Which of them isn't older than you? If they caught wind of what you're thinking, they'd definitely lose their minds...'
Her tone grew flustered. Suppressing the urge to tackle him and argue it out, she rattled off a lengthy telepathic lecture in his mind.
"...Fine, then I'll find someone who's both rich and older, alright?" Lanqi replied, at a loss for words.
"Naturally! Now you're talking. You've got taste," Talia said, tossing her hair with smug satisfaction. Instantly refreshed and invigorated, she praised Lanqi.
"Meow..."
Boss Cat, sitting on the floor, couldn't hear what Lanqi and Talia were secretly whispering, but it could roughly guess: the bronze medalist was popping champagne again.
"If you had booked tickets in advance for tonight's opera, you'd be able to get right into the grand theater," Barton said, pausing halfway through his route explanation with a troubled look on his face. "You might even have a chance to meet Abigail directly while she's supervising on-site as the director. Otherwise, you'd have to find a way to sneak in... but those tickets are exceptionally hard to come by."
Barton spoke in a heavy tone.
The opera adaptation of Holy War Romance, which had opened recently, was receiving rave reviews. Three separate casts were rotating in shifts to pack in as many showings as possible, yet tickets remained practically impossible to get. It was said that Abigail's rigorous auditions and grueling rehearsals had pushed some performers to the verge of collapse before barely meeting her exacting standards. Consequently, the performance was celebrated with tremendous acclaim.
Had Barton known earlier, he certainly would have procured tickets for Landry. But with showtime fast approaching, even he would struggle to get any.
"Furthermore, Professor Landry, you'd best bring a companion, attending the opera just like a regular date. Otherwise, approaching Abigail with an obvious magic engineering objective will make her very unhappy," Barton added, looking increasingly concerned. "A genius like Abigail, whose interests diverge from her natural talents, has her own eccentricities. What she truly loves is opera; magic engineering is merely an innate gift that she doesn't value all that much. Because of that, she has long detested people who fawn over her magic engineering while completely disregarding her primary passion."
Given Professor Landry's sensitive identity, going straight to see Abigail would make his ulterior motive painfully obvious. Before he could even secure a private audience to mention his connection with Barton, he would likely have the door slammed in his face.
Barton trusted Landry understood his point: one had to demonstrate great respect for the theater production Abigail directed, watching it attentively with genuine appreciation before discussing other matters with her. Blatantly ignoring the opera to jump straight into magic engineering would destroy any goodwill with Abigail.
"Wait, is that opera called Holy War Romance?"
Lanqi and Talia exchanged a glance, setting aside everything else Barton had said to ask in surprise.
"Yes. Do you happen to have tickets?" Barton looked up and asked. As long as this problem was solved, everything else would be easy.
"As a matter of fact, we might."
Lanqi recalled that when Elsa came looking for her brother this afternoon, she had asked if he had time to watch this show tonight, and the venue happened to be the Brierda Opera House. Elsa and Ursula certainly wouldn't be in the mood to watch an opera tonight; they needed to stay safely inside Saint Creti Monastery. That meant their tickets would go unused.
Since the tickets were already bought, they might as well use them.
Lanqi lifted his wrist to check his watch. It was only a little past seven in the evening, and the show started at eight. After escorting Elsa and Ursula back to Saint Creti Monastery, they would still make it in time!
"Want to go see the show?" Lanqi asked Talia tentatively.
It would be the perfect chance for Talia to make use of the new identity Nigel had arranged for her. That way, Lanqi's schedule for next week wouldn't be thrown into total disarray, and they could check off an important task in advance!
However, he was a little concerned that Talia might not take well to the subject matter of the opera, as it could stir up some rather awkward memories between the two of them.
"Sure, why not?"
Talia's cheeks flushed slightly. Raising her chin, she turned her head aside and crossed her arms with haughty poise. It wasn't as if she had never gone on a date with Lanqi before; what was there to fear? As long as Lanqi could sit through it, so could she.
Chapter 749