As the sigh of the square-faced middle-aged man echoed, the golden emblem of the centaur holding a bow suddenly emerged from the mirror’s surface and floated right in front of Leon and the Red-haired Bureau Director.
“I’m not unwilling to help, but I cannot afford any failure here at the Watchtower Palace, so…”
“I understand.”
After casting a surprised glance at the floating Archer emblem in mid-air, a hint of a smile flickered on the Red-haired Bureau Director’s face. She then grabbed Leon’s wrist and nodded lightly,
“You have no choice. Ensuring the safety of the Watchtower Palace is far more important than our current situation.”
“I… well… thank you for your effort.”
Seemingly feeling somewhat guilty towards the Red-haired Bureau Director, the Archer Director sighed and turned to leave. But upon noticing some movement from the other side of the celestial sphere mirror, she spun around with an expression full of astonishment.
“Wait! What are you doing?”
Upon seeing the Red-haired Bureau Director pulling Leon’s hand toward the pattern floating in the air, the square-faced man couldn’t help but exclaim,
“Stop it! That’s meant for you! He’s just a Level 3 Cleaner; what good would my secret art mark do him?”
“Relax, Lady Archer.”
The Red-haired Bureau Director shook her head as she pressed Leon’s hand onto the golden pattern and said,
“Leon is far more capable than you think. Even if you gave me your secret art mark, it wouldn’t allow me to catch up with the Nightmare King. But if given to Leon, it might produce unexpected results!”
“…”
“Fine, do as you wish!”
After glancing at Leon, who had been silent since the start and showed no aura of a “strong person,” the square-faced man couldn’t hide his disappointment. With a shake of his head, he directly dragged the curious Twin Fish Director away from the range of the celestial sphere mirror.
Meanwhile, the Taurus Director, whose face also revealed a hint of surprise, looked at the small red fork on Leon’s collar and seemed to understand something. She then smiled kindly and encouraged him, “Come on, little guy. If you really can help Olivia get through this crisis, I will definitely give you a great gift!”
“…”
“Ahh!”
After someone pinched the soft flesh on his arm hard, Leon snapped back to reality, shaking all over as he hurriedly expressed his gratitude, “Thank you, Honorable Taurus. I’ll do my best!”
“Hmm, but remember to be careful. If there’s no opportunity, don’t force it. You too, Olivia…”
After reminding Leon and the others to take care, the Taurus Director seemed to recall something. Her gaze swept across Leon’s face, and she hesitated before saying,
“Also… if you want to drink alcohol, after this matter is resolved, I can send you some wine without spirit-bound spells…”
“Cough cough cough!”
Not expecting her to bring this up, Leon, who was still examining the secret art mark, remembered the fiery liquor from the Deathscape and immediately felt embarrassed, his face turning red as he waved his hands frantically,
“No thanks! We’ve quit! No need for more… um?!”
“Drink! We want to drink!”
“Alright, wait for it!”
Looking at Leon whose mouth had been forcibly covered, the Taurus Director couldn’t help but smile and shake her head as she turned off the celestial sphere mirror.
…
This is great, didn’t expect such a bonus.
After removing her hand that had covered Leon’s mouth and rubbed it on his shoulder, the Red-haired Bureau Director happily put away the celestial sphere mirror and asked with a grin,
“Do you fully understand the secrets of the Archer Director’s secret art mark?”
Hearing her words, Leon instinctively glanced at the panel.
[Name: Secret Art Mark of the Archer Star Palace (Secret Art, Temporary)]
[Appearance: A golden emblem of a centaur holding a longbow. When directly illuminated by sunlight, it emits a magnificent halo similar to a solar corona, revealing three bright gold arrow patterns.]
[Ability: Can temporarily use the “Anomalous Enhancement” secret art of the Archer Star Palace]
[Cost: Each time the secret art is used with an anomalous item as its target, one arrow will be consumed. Once all three arrows are used, the temporary anomalous item will disappear.]
[Effect: The anomalous item locked by this mark will experience a significant enhancement when activated next time, until the end of its usage. The enhancement degree is equivalent to the “Anomalous Enhancement” secret art personally released by the Archer Director.]
[Assessment: These are life-saving hairs exchanged for by the Archer Bodhisattva. Monkey, you must cherish them and absolutely do not use them to enhance the anomalous items you forge.]
[Taint Value: 0.1]
“I guess I understand it pretty well…”
Seeing the note in the file about “at the cost of three years of life,” Leon’s expression became complicated as he said, “Actually, although the Archer Director is a bit stubborn and sounds cold, she seems like a pretty decent person.”
“Hmm.”
Hearing Leon’s words, the Red-haired Bureau Director nodded and said,
“The Archer Director has a strict and serious personality, placing great emphasis on rules. Although not as amiable as Honorable Taurus, she is certainly not a bad person. The Twin Fish Director is slightly eccentric, but trustworthy as well.
Or you could say, except for Aquarius, among the remaining eleven directors, while each has their own small issues, most of them are still quite decent.”
None of them are wrong, one after another, content inside 69 book bar read!
“…”
Most of them are still decent… meaning there’s at least one or even several who are pretty bad, right? Catching the implied meaning in the Red-haired Bureau Director’s words, Leon couldn’t help but ask,
“Not all directors are good people… Director, has the Clearing Bureau always been this loose over the years?
For instance, now with the Nightmare King invasion being such a big deal, the Bureau Director of Scorpio doesn’t have to come help because they don’t get along with you? Throughout all these terms of directors, hasn’t anyone thought about tightening things up?”
“Not that no one has wanted to manage it, but how exactly would you manage it?”
The Red-haired Bureau Director sighed upon hearing this, helplessly shrugging her shoulders, “Directors don’t need to be mentioned; whether they can inherit the secret arts depends entirely on their aptitude. In the past, many times the bureau couldn’t even gather twelve directors. The star palaces and secret arts represented by the directors are some of the bureau’s most crucial trump cards.
Even if someone with aptitude turns out to be a rotten person, having a director is better than having none. After all, no matter how corrupt, they’re still human and won’t completely turn to entities that seek to destroy humanity. They usually step up in critical moments.”
“…”
That makes sense…
“As for the various branch offices, it’s even more complicated.”
Patting Leon on the shoulder, the Red-haired Bureau Director continued,
“Most cleaners in each branch office are recruited and trained by the branch directors themselves. The vast majority of cleaners below the level of branch directors may never even enter the headquarters throughout their lives.
They have no direct contact with the General Bureau and receive orders through the branch directors, thus lacking familiarity with the General Bureau’s situation… For example, you and me, if the order from the General Bureau conflicts with mine, whose would you follow?”
“That’s simple.”
Leon didn’t hesitate to answer,
“If you haven’t been drinking, I’ll follow yours; if you have been drinking, I’ll follow the General Bureau’s.”
“…”
Tch, should’ve used a different example…
Looking at Leon who answered without even a second of hesitation, the Red-haired Bureau Director couldn’t help but roll her eyes and said irritably, “Anyway, the power of each branch director is enormous, and their autonomy is strong.
Among the non-Yellow Path branches, the directors’ strength is relatively weak and they can only suppress ordinary True Gods with the help of the star palaces, so they tend to be more obedient. However, the Yellow Path branch directors, like the main directors, have Leon values between 60 and 70. Without considering secret arts, their strength is basically on par.
And I, with the support of the star palace, can reach a maximum Leon value of over 70 points, making me stronger than many directors. As long as I don’t openly defy the rules, the General Bureau has no good way to handle me. Got it?”
“Pretty much got it.”
“Got it, let’s start working then.”
After leaving several strands of fresh red hair on Leon’s shoulder, the Red-haired Bureau Director retracted her hand, stood up, left the office, and walked toward the stairwell.
“Come on, let’s go upstairs and grab something. It might come in handy when dealing with the Nightmare King!”
(Chapter End)
