“Rudolph, can you focus on your work? Why do you keep checking your watch? Are you really that idle?”

  Officer Kellyta was overwhelmed—reports of werewolf attacks were flooding in, and she had no idea where to start. Meanwhile, Rudolph was lounging in his chair, legs propped up on the desk, looking completely unbothered. What was even more frustrating was that he kept flipping open his pocket watch, as if he were counting the seconds until he could clock out.

  “What’s the rush?” Rudolph replied lazily. “The sheriff said not to leave town for now. Going outside is just feeding ourselves to the werewolves. A patrol officer like me? I’ve got nothing to do. Might as well take it easy, relax while I can…”

  Kellyta, still drowning in paperwork, hurriedly gathered a thick stack of documents and handed them to Yvonna, who had just walked in. “Take these to Sheriff Claude.”

  “If you hadn’t actually fought werewolves several times, I’d report you to the sheriff and have your salary docked!” she grumbled.

  Unfazed, Rudolph casually took a sip of his coffee and closed his eyes, mentally going over his "spirit pet collection."

  For daytime surveillance, he had a dozen sparrows—small, energetic, and perfect for observing the town from the sky. For night operations, he had three owls—sharp-eyed creatures that could clearly see the ground even in the dark. Perching on rooftops, trees, and streetlamps? That wouldn’t seem suspicious at all. And for infiltrations, he had a nest of rats. If needed, he could send them into buildings to gather intel, though they were the least reliable—sometimes, they ended up as cat food.

  At that moment, through the eyes of Sparrow No. 1, Rudolph noticed a group of well-dressed individuals entering the police station, accompanied by attendants. Immediately, he sat up straight, pretending to study a document with a serious expression.

  Kellyta had finally reached a temporary break in her work and was leaning back in her chair for a moment’s rest.

  A short while later, Sheriff Claude walked into the office.

  “Rudolph, come to my office.”

  “On it.” Rudolph immediately put down his "exhausting" workload and got to his feet.

  Just before leaving, Claude turned back toward Kellyta. “Kellyta! The station is extremely busy right now—no slacking off!”

  Kellyta was dumbfounded. She had been working non-stop all morning while Rudolph had been slacking off, yet because of these few minutes, she was the one being accused of being lazy?

  As Rudolph passed by, he shook his head in mock disappointment at Kellyta’s "lack of work ethic," as if he disapproved but wouldn’t bother saying anything. This only made Kellyta even angrier.

  **Information is power. The one who controls the information holds the advantage.**

  Rudolph stepped into the sheriff’s office and found several people already there. The most striking among them was a young woman clad in armor, golden-haired and smiling.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “Let me introduce you,” Sheriff Claude said, addressing the young woman. “This is our most experienced patrol officer. He has participated in one witch-hunting operation and two werewolf crisis interventions.”

  Then, he turned to Rudolph.

  “Rudolph, this is Lady Jennifer, the daughter of Sir Jacques.”

  “Lady Jennifer, a pleasure to meet you,” Rudolph greeted politely.

  Sir Jacques was a knight, which meant his daughter was at least a squire. This was the first time Rudolph had met a knight, and he was curious about what abilities knights possessed.

  Jennifer gave Rudolph a quick glance—his appearance was decent, but otherwise, he seemed unremarkable. She then asked, “Officer Rudolph, are you an alchemist or an alchemist’s assistant?”

  “No, he’s just an ordinary person,” Sheriff Claude answered before Rudolph could respond. “However, Lady Jennifer, I assure you that Rudolph is far more capable than old Bebe. The Alchemist Guild firmly believes in this: **arming enough ordinary people yields the greatest strength.**”

  Hearing this, Jennifer said nothing further.

  Rudolph, however, raised an eyebrow slightly. He had a feeling that she looked down on him.

  Claude took a document from his desk and handed it to Rudolph. “There have been too many werewolf sightings in the wild. The police station is overwhelmed. Sir Jacques has decided to dispatch his cavalry to deal with the werewolves outside town. Your task is to serve as their guide to the Elk Tribe.”

  Rudolph nodded and accepted the mission document.

  “When do we depart, Lady Jennifer?”

  “Tomorrow,” she replied curtly before turning to leave.

  Watching her walk away with her back straight and head high, Rudolph turned to the sheriff. “She’s a knight, right?”

  “No, just a squire.”

  Just a squire? That meant she was at the same level as Rudolph, who was a Rank 1 Apostle.

  “Can I just be the guide and nothing more?”

  Claude nodded. “Of course. You’re only responsible for leading the way. If the knight wants to take charge, let him.”

  That night, Rudolph once again donned his mask and entered the Casino de Cassino.

  Cassino still owed him two starstones. If he said he was taking three, he was taking three—anything missing was considered a debt.

  This time, the casino office had a completely different setup. Gone was the interrogation-style lighting—now there was a spacious sofa, and a bottle of red wine sat on the coffee table.

  Cassino couldn’t see Rudolph’s expression behind the mask, making it impossible to gauge his thoughts.

  Rudolph, however, was feeling a little awkward. He had wanted to take advantage of the situation and try Cassino’s fine wine, but with his full-face mask on, how was he supposed to drink?

  So that’s why Zorro and Batman only covered the top half of their faces—**it was more practical.**

  Cassino had already guessed that the masked visitor was likely a newly recruited apprentice of the infamous sorcerer Seren.

  Seren had been hit hard by the Inquisition and was undoubtedly in a weakened state, forcing him to rely on an apprentice to act on his behalf.

  It was a clever move—killing the apprentice wouldn’t solve anything. The real threat, the Bloodstained Seren, was surely hiding somewhere, recovering in the shadows.

  Cassino handed over two starstones. “These are for Sorcerer Seren. I acquired them through the black market.”

  “How do I get to the black market?”

  Cassino wasn’t expecting such a direct question.

  “…Didn’t Seren tell you?”

  Cassino scrutinized Rudolph, hoping to gauge how much Seren had revealed about his current condition.

  Rudolph had no interest in playing mind games. He leaned forward slightly.

  “Cassino, generous as ever. Maybe lay off visiting No. 13 Pagie Street and stop exchanging opinions with those three people—it’s not doing you any favors.”

  Cassino broke into a cold sweat. Someone in that trio must have switched allegiances and completely sided with Seren.

  “…So, how do I get to the black market?”

  Cassino quickly answered, “The black market is in Fabro City—there isn’t one in Lemoine Town. If you need access, I can get you an identity token when the time comes.”

  Fabro City… Rudolph wasn’t planning on going there just yet.

  He picked up the starstones and stood to leave. “Maybe later. I’ll come back for the token when I need it.”