Rose Street.
Through a simple investigation, Klein pinpointed the location of the church.
Harvest Church was one of the few churches of the Earth Mother Church in the Kingdom of Loen, and the only church in Backlund that worshipped the Earth Mother.
This golden-yellow church had a striking spire and a Holy Emblem of Life engraved on its exterior wall, which was a simplified baby surrounded by symbols like wheat, flowers, and springs. This was distinctly different from the surrounding buildings.
If he was not mistaken, it would be here… Klein took a deep breath and pushed open the Door of the church.
Inside the church hall, rows of seats were neatly arranged, with a large Holy Emblem of Life at the very top and lit candles on both sides. In the front row, a tall man in his forties or fifties, dressed in a brown priest's robe, sat on one of the seats.
Just by sitting there, he exuded an immense sense of oppression, like a giant brown bear.
Definitely a Beyonder, and a high Sequence at that!
Klein's spiritual intuition immediately tensed.
"Hello, sir." As expected, the other party noticed Klein and greeted him. His voice was surprisingly gentle, completely disproportionate to his tall physique, but his gray eyes were sharp as knives. "This is a holy place dedicated to the Mother."
"Are you the bishop here?" Klein walked in openly.
The tall man in the brown bishop's robe replied in a gentle tone:
"My name is Utravsky, but I prefer to be called Father Utravsky."
Klein bowed slightly in greeting, then honestly said, "Excuse me, Father Utravsky. I am looking for a Mr. Emelyn White."
"Emelyn White… Are you from the Truth Union?" Utravsky asked.
How did he know? I shouldn't have exposed that… Klein was somewhat surprised at having his background seen through so quickly.
But looking at Father Utravsky's gentle expression, he still nodded slightly, "That's right. I am a detective from the Union."
He looked at the other party with some curiosity and asked:
"May I ask, how did you figure that out?"
"Only people from the Truth Union come looking for someone," Father Utravsky revealed with a meaningful smile.
Huh?
The other party's answer left Klein feeling confused.
But seeing that the priest had no intention of explaining further, he chose not to press the matter.
The two exchanged a brief conversation, and after confirming that neither had any ill intentions towards the other, Father Utravsky led Klein to a basement.
As if hearing footsteps outside, the stone door of the basement was pounded, and the pounding grew more intense.
"Let me out! I've had enough of this damn place!" A hoarse male voice echoed between the stone walls. "This is illegal detention!"
"I'm going to report you!"
"This should be the person you are looking for," Father Utravsky looked at Klein.
"Are you Emelyn White?" Klein asked through the wall.
"Yes, that's right, I am Emelyn White." Hearing someone call his name, Emelyn suddenly became excited.
"My parents must have sent you to find me, right? Right?!"
Uh… Actually, it's your creditor.
Seeing the other party in such a miserable state, Klein almost couldn't bear to speak the truth.
After some hesitation, Klein spoke, "Mr. White, I am a detective…"
"Detective? Detective! Sure enough, my parents sent you to rescue me, didn't they?!"
Klein looked back at Bishop Utravsky, and seeing his gentle face, he couldn't help but ask:
"May I ask, why is Emelyn locked up?"
Bishop Utravsky scrutinized Klein for a few moments, then slowly began, "He is a Vampire. When I met him, he was already somewhat disoriented."
"To prevent him from harming innocent people, I had no choice but to temporarily detain him in the basement."
"Not a Vampire!" As soon as the words fell, Emelyn in the basement shouted loudly,
"It's a Sanguine, a noble Sanguine!"
"And I only drank contaminated blood at the time. I'm fine now, hurry and let me out!"
This is a bit tricky! Director Charles didn't tell me the other party was a Vampire… Klein realized he was at a disadvantage due to incomplete information.
Seeing this situation, he felt a headache coming on.
A clergyman with preaching qualifications and a Vampire who could lose control and harm people at any moment. If a conflict arose, they would be completely in the wrong!
As for forcibly taking Emelyn away…
Looking at Father Utravsky, who was tall and burly, and looked like a human Gundam when he raised a weapon, Klein dismissed the thought immediately.
However, since he was here, he still felt it was necessary to fulfill some of his duties.
"Mr. White, I am from the Truth Union."
"Truth Union? Why are you looking for me?"
Uh… don't you realize you're still in debt at all…
Klein was somewhat speechless at Emelyn's thick skin. If he owed over 1,000 pounds, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep from worry.
"Do you know how long you've been here?" Klein asked.
The voice behind the stone wall fell silent. "About… three days?" Emelyn answered with some uncertainty.
Do long-lived species all have such a vague concept of time?!
"Is there a possibility that you've been here for over a week?"
"Over a week…" Emelyn muttered to himself, "No way, it's already been over a week?"
"Then you came to… to…" He seemed to have guessed something, but there was still a hint of hope in his words.
"Ahem." Klein cleared his throat, imitating Charles's tone.
"Mr. White, I am here specifically to inform you that due to your breach of contract, those precious items you used as 'collateral' will be disposed of."
"What?!" Emelyn suddenly roared.
"No! You can't do that!"
"They are my everything, you can't…"
The sound of pounding on the stone wall became even more violent.
The intense thudding made Klein involuntarily take half a step back.
Seeing this, Father Utravsky turned to Klein: "It seems you two are very familiar?"
"Strictly speaking…" Klein awkwardly cleared his throat, "I'm here to inform him of his bankruptcy."
…
Truth Union, Charles's office.
Charles sat in his chair, listening to Klein's detailed report on the situation at Harvest Church.
"So that's how it is." Charles finished listening to Klein's report and deliberately showed a look of sudden realization.
"So our client is actually a Vampire~" He interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on them. "What a… regrettable discovery."
As expected… The Union must have many channels to access Beyonder matters. Seeing that Charles wasn't surprised by the Vampire, Klein analyzed.
Moreover, Charles didn't ask him about his thoughts on Vampires, as if he had already assumed he was a Beyonder.
"Your approach was very correct. Unless the situation is urgent and you are completely in the right, we cannot conflict with clergymen."
Charles nodded, approving Klein's actions, while also showing a look of regret,
"Although you did well this time, you ultimately didn't bring Emelyn White back."
"So, the promised share is gone."
Sigh… All that effort for nothing. Klein sighed inwardly.
Just as he was disappointed, Charles suddenly said, "But! I still have to give you some rewards."
Saying that, he opened a drawer and took out dozens of pounds in banknotes.
The Union is still very generous… Klein's mood immediately brightened.
However, just as his gaze was drawn to the banknotes, Charles suddenly changed the subject,
"However, I heard that the fish in the cafeteria wasn't very fresh a couple of days ago, and some people got food poisoning because of it."
"The cafeteria's purchasing agent just came to complain to me." He looked at Klein and curved his lips slightly, "Sherlock, do you know who is spreading rumors?"