"There's also a third thing. Backlund's 'Red Gloves' squad received a request for aid from the Tingen City squad and will arrive in Tingen tomorrow... um, already today, this afternoon, to search for traces of that 'Aurora Order' member."
Red Gloves... that elite unit with all members Sequence 7 and above... The captain only sent a telegram to Backlund yesterday afternoon, and they'll arrive this afternoon. Much more efficient than the previous Enmat Port operation.
Not knowing Angel's inner thoughts, the semi-transparent face representing Daly continued:
"They're a three-person squad that usually carries one sealed artifact. Heh, this is the common Nighthawk offensive configuration. Sometimes they'll add one or two people according to circumstances, or change the number of sealed artifacts. You should have discovered this in multiple battles."
"The key point is, you need to find an opportunity in this operation to display the mystical item from 'Mechanical Heart' - the one you just used. By actively revealing the facts and having it appear in the Red Gloves' mission report, according to my understanding of the church's internal behavioral guidelines, no one will mention this matter again before 'Mechanical Heart' discovers and actively demands you return the item."
This is some kind of tacit rule of competition between churches... Angel speculated, remembering that Dunn had also mentioned this 'little trick' before.
"So you're the 'Backlund acquaintance' the captain mentioned. He already told me about this yesterday, including the significance of using mystical items in front of Red Gloves."
"Backlund acquaintance..." The semi-transparent face showed a bitter smile, with a trace of gloom in its tone. "So that's how he sees me?"
Angel broke out in cold sweat. She suddenly realized she might have made a big mistake.
After completely digesting the "Instigator" potion, her perception of others' negative emotions became more acute. Even through this semi-transparent face, she could now detect that Daly was brewing extremely negative emotions.
"No, no, I remembered wrong. I mean he said best friend... that's not right either..."
Angel hurriedly tried to salvage the situation. She had a premonition that if she didn't correct the mistake in time, some misunderstanding that would cause lifelong regret for both parties would occur in the future.
"It's fine. Maybe I was being too presumptuous. A conservative person like him has always kept his distance from me. I should have understood long ago..."
Daly's words were steady but lacked vitality. Angel seemed to see through the voice her expressionless face with empty eyes.
"You might not know yet. Just a few years ago, I was still a..."
"Stop, wait a minute!"
Angel immediately interrupted Daly's reminiscence. She knew that in this situation, continuing to let the confider speak would only strengthen the other party's negative emotions, making the conversation slide toward an irreversible abyss.
"On my first day joining the Nighthawk squad - no, even the night Lady Sharon attacked Blackthorn Security Company - I learned from Leonard that Captain Dunn likes you. He said the whole squad knew. How come you're the only one who doesn't know?"
Angel said it all in one breath before stopping to catch her breath.
The semi-transparent face floated before her, lips tightly closed, saying nothing. Angel could feel Daly's gaze falling on her through this eyeless face.
The living room fell into embarrassing silence for a moment.
"Really? He, he said he likes me?"
After several minutes, Daly's words finally came through.
"Have I ever told you that I became an Extraordinary at 19, became a 'Corpse Collector'?"
"The captain mentioned it..."
Angel curled up in the corner of the living room, doing her utmost not to notice the street lamps with weak flames outside the window. The two blue-green gas lamps in the room had been considerately extinguished by Daly, making her semi-transparent face even more ethereal, like a wisp of light smoke in the air.
Hearing Daly's question, she answered in a weak tone.
"At that time I had just lost my family and was somewhat cynical. Combined with the potion's influence, I became a true 'Corpse Collector', wandering graveyards daily, sleeping before graves, even kissing corpses in dreams."
"Everyone I knew feared my strangeness and instinctively wanted to stay away from me. I both enjoyed this life free from social interaction and feared the loneliness of being alone, terrified by the cold feeling when waking up at midnight."
Only now did Angel learn that Ms. Daly, who liked heavy makeup and had a sharp tongue, had such a past.
"So that's when you met the captain?"
"If only I could have met him then..."
The face showed a bitter smile.
"Before meeting Dunn, I had a period of indulgent life. Um, just as you understand - one man after another. They coveted my body, lusted after my appearance, while I needed their warmth to fight against the loneliness and coldness brought by the potion's acting."
This, this is a bit...
Angel tried hard to keep her expression unchanged, but deep down she still felt somewhat uncomfortable.
This went against her previous life's principles and current behavioral standards. Although she wouldn't interfere with others' private lives, that didn't mean she would approve of Daly's behavior.
However, Angel still didn't speak but continued listening. Through this period of contact, she knew that although Daly loved joking verbally, she was no longer such a casual person.
"In such a depraved, confused life, I met Dunn, met this man different from all others..."
Daly had nothing but praise for Dunn Smith. Even considering the filter's enhancement, Angel could agree with most evaluations of her captain. Dunn was indeed a teammate worthy of trust, a selfless Nighthawk, a captain who stood before everyone.
Well, except for his increasingly poor memory recently...
"So, having had so much indulgence in the past, could such a conservative person really like me? Did he really say that?"
After introducing her past, Daly seemed to fall back into that previous negative state, even her mouth corners drooping.
"Well, he didn't directly... No, I mean he never said it directly, but everyone can see it, even Klein knows."
Angel answered with a smile at the corner of her mouth.
"By the way, when I discussed the 'Acting Method' with the captain, he mentioned your advancement experience, feeling he had stayed in the 'Nightmare' sequence too long, too long. At that time he also had a kind of... inferiority emotion, just like you now."
Angel's "Instigator" instinct surfaced, extracting that trace of negative emotion from her memory of when Dunn discussed Daly.
"Is there a possibility - not necessarily right - that you both hold the same inferiority, the same fear of approaching each other, so no one can break through this barrier?"
"Is that so? Should I really be more proactive? But he..."
Daly seemed somewhat swayed.
Logically, this matter should be handled by Leonard, by Seeka, Frye, or even Rozanne. How did it fall to me, a newcomer who's been on the job less than two months?
Angel complained inwardly, once again using "Instigation" ability, adding the final straw.
"Speaking of which, after two months of working together day and night, I found I quite like mature, reliable men like the captain. If you feel inferior and think you're not worthy of him, why not just give him to me..."
"Bang—"
The large gas lamp hanging from the living room ceiling suddenly burst into blue-green flames.