Chapter 319

After hearing the Red-haired Bureau Director’s inquiry, Leon’s breath hitched slightly.

The most likely answer to this question was his identity as a transmigrator—he wasn’t even from this world. The death-announcing crow, which heralds the death of someone in this world, naturally wouldn’t react to him.

Another possibility was the badge system that accompanied him. Just like how the toad of the Scale Gold Religion couldn’t buy him no matter how much power it exerted, the death-announcing crow’s ability to predict death might have been blocked by the badge system.

But both his identity as a transmigrator and the existence of the badge system were his biggest secrets, and he absolutely couldn’t reveal them. So how should he answer this question?

“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure either…”

After hesitating for a moment, Leon looked at the Red-haired Bureau Director, whose expression was serious but not hostile, and decided to partially tell the truth.

“As for why the death-announcing crow didn’t come, I have some vague guesses, but it involves some… uh… secrets of mine, so I’d rather not say. Is that okay?”

“…”

Is that okay? Do you really think that’s okay? After hearing Leon’s response, the Red-haired Bureau Director almost laughed in frustration.

According to the situation the crocodile just relayed, you’re currently under suspicion of being a spy from the Old Lands! There’s a high chance you’re an Old Lands infiltrator who snuck into the Clearing Bureau with malicious intentions! And although I haven’t been very diligent in recent years, I’m still the director of the Virgo Subdivision of the Clearing Bureau, a genuine high-ranking official! And yet, you didn’t explain anything, just said you have secrets you don’t want to reveal, and expect to brush it off like that?

“No!”

After glaring at Leon with annoyance, the Red-haired Bureau Director said irritably, “Do you really think I’ll just let you off the hook unconditionally? That crocodile already told me everything you said to the Goddess of Wealth. Do you know how serious this is? According to bureau regulations, just the suspicion that you might be from the Old Lands is enough for me to arrest you, tie you up, and send you to the General Bureau to have your brain licked by that god-tier brain-eating demon!”

…

*Sigh… Looks like I might get through this!*

After his “unreasonable request” was sternly rejected by the Red-haired Bureau Director, Leon felt a wave of relief as he looked at her slightly annoyed but still beautiful face.

If the director really suspected him of having ulterior motives, given her usual way of handling things, she would have already arrested him and tried every method to extract information.

But now, not only did she give him a chance to explain, but even after he gave up on explaining, she didn’t immediately arrest him. Instead, she scolded him for being reckless and threatened to send him to have his brain licked by the brain-eating demon. These actions actually proved that things hadn’t escalated to that point yet.

If he hadn’t chosen to be partially honest earlier and instead tried to deceive her, he probably wouldn’t have been able to fool the sober director. She would have seen through him, and the situation would have become much worse.

“If it’s that serious… then I’ll say a little bit?”

Making a small gesture with his hand, Leon tentatively said, “Director, you know from my file that my ability is to forcibly obtain information about anomalous items through touch, but actually, my ability is a bit more special…”

“…”

“…”

So when you said you’d say a little bit, you really meant just a tiny bit!

“Well… that’s just one possibility…”

Seeing the Red-haired Bureau Director’s increasingly displeased expression, Leon cautiously added, “Besides that, there’s another possibility related to my background. I’m actually not Anna’s real brother. It’s because of that family portrait…”

“So you’re saying… since there shouldn’t be a Leon Lane, there’s no corresponding death-announcing crow?”

After hearing Leon’s explanation about the “Warm Home,” the Red-haired Bureau Director frowned.

“But that’s just your speculation. And the ability of that anomalous item has changed. Now we can’t even test it. Isn’t this still the same as saying nothing?”

“I’ve said all I can say!”

After barely managing to come up with two excuses without lying, Leon shrugged and said, “I can’t be sure why there’s no death-announcing crow for me. These are just guesses. But I know for sure that I’m not some Old Lands infiltrator trying to sabotage the Clearing Bureau. These are all her own baseless suspicions. I haven’t admitted to any of it.”

“In short, Director, if you believe me, just pick one of these two explanations to believe. If you don’t believe me, then tie me up and send me to the General Bureau to have my brain licked by that god-tier brain-eating demon. The choice is yours!”

“…”

The choice is mine? What choice do I even have? You took such a huge risk this time, even directly confronting a true god, and saved Emma, who was captured because of my mistake. How could I report you over some baseless suspicions? Besides, even if I could bring myself to send you to have your brain licked by the brain-eating demon, the General Bureau is completely sealed off now. Am I supposed to fly you 70,000 kilometers up there and force our way in to torture you?

This little brat! He’s just taking advantage of the fact that I wouldn’t do that, and he’s not even pretending anymore! Unable to help herself, the Red-haired Bureau Director glared at Leon, who had completely given up on pretending, and said sternly:

“Don’t think you can just brush this off! I’ll remember this! And make sure you write a detailed report on this cleanup mission! But since the related suspicions haven’t been cleared up yet, we’ll skip the Old Lands stuff for now. Just write it as the Goddess of Wealth suggested… ahem… as she said. Write that the Dream Lord ambushed the Goddess of Wealth, and you barely escaped.

Also, make sure to write the earlier parts in detail, but don’t write about what happened at the end.

You’ve never seen the Dream Lord before, so I’m afraid your description might not be accurate and could mislead the General Bureau’s reviewers. So finish the report quickly and hand it in. I’ll help you review it and fill in the details. Got it?”

“Ah, yes, yes, I definitely need someone to review it!” Realizing he had completely passed this hurdle, Leon chuckled and agreed, promising to write the mission report thoroughly and not leave out any details.

Seeing the relaxed smile on his face, the Red-haired Bureau Director, who had failed to get to the bottom of things, couldn’t help but pout slightly. Then, with a hint of annoyance, she asked, “For Emma’s sake, I won’t pry into your secrets anymore. Just keep them to yourself.

Also, I heard from that crocodile that the Holy Spirit Pendant made for you by Honorable Taurus was destroyed by the Goddess of Wealth?”

(End of Chapter)