Chapter 4

With the thought of living if he could and scamming a pension if he couldn’t, Leon walked into the eerie clearing bureau that felt like a haunted house. Following the crinkly signposts along the corridor, he found the big office at the back again and knocked on the familiar door with force.

“Is anyone there? I’ve come to apply!”

“Creak.”

With the sound of the stiff metal hinges turning, the dark door was pushed open from inside. However, it wasn’t the red-haired female interviewer who came out but… a black goat standing on its hind legs?

“What’re you staring at? Never seen a demon before?”

Seemingly offended by Leon’s shocked gaze, the smoking black goat casually blew a smoke ring before curling its lips full of suspicious foam and glared angrily at Leon, growling: “I’m telling you, are your balls crushed or what? We amplified the evil thoughts in your heart sevenfold, and you still managed not to stab that fatso? Incredible!”

“???”

Demon? A standing goat? You amplified my evil thoughts? So I didn’t lose control just now? A series of questions flooded Leon’s mind, but before he could ask, a huge empty bottle spun out from inside the room and crashed onto the black goat’s head with a loud bang.

After getting hit, the arrogant black goat didn’t even grunt once; it just flipped its eyes and fell straight into Leon’s arms with a thud.

“Zzzt!”

[Encountered an incomprehensible special entity, anomalous badge “Materialist Soul (Bright Red)” activated. Your cognitive boundary has expanded and obtained partial information about this entity.]

With the familiar harsh buzz, the bright red strange badge flashed and disappeared. Suddenly, a lot of weird words appeared in the void above the black goat’s head.

[Name: Demon Horns (Fallen, Knowledge, Whisper)]

[Appearance: Two spiraled pitch-black horns. After using a Wales County rock goat as a sacrifice and correctly completing the erosion ritual, the sacrifice will turn into a black goat that likes smoking, walks upright on two legs, and calls itself a demon.]

[Ability: Amplify Evil Thoughts, Extensive Knowledge, Occult Knowledge]

[Cost: A pack of “Gaut” cigarettes or a sinful soul]

[File: Obtained and used by Olivia, Director of Division Six of the Clearing Bureau after capturing and reporting during the Aslan Campaign.

Note: Although no direct deaths have occurred since its acquisition, there are numerous records of indirect injuries. In five years, more than forty employees of the Road Administration Department were injured or resigned.]

[Assessment: Possesses the terrifying ability to easily start a war, but its true self is very weak, no different from a regular goat, and is extremely afraid of male humans from Wales County.]

[Taint Value: 0.1]

In less than 0.01 seconds, Leon strangely memorized all the content. Looking at the dimmed red badge on the virtual panel while holding the black goat, Leon couldn’t help but be stunned.

Amplify evil thoughts? Taint value? Before Leon could digest these strange pieces of information, the red-haired female interviewer from yesterday emerged, holding another giant bottle of alcohol.

“Why are you here again?”

She took a big gulp of beer and, seeing Leon’s bloodshot eyes, frowned and asked irritably,

“Didn’t I make it clear to you? Normal people like you aren’t suitable for joining the Clearing Bureau. You should go…”

“Please wait!”

Seeing her intention to drive him away, Leon quickly explained, unwilling to let go of this last lifeline:

“I’m not normal! No! What I mean is, I actually have some special abilities beyond the ordinary person’s range, which might be exactly what you need!”

Special abilities beyond the ordinary person’s range? Hearing Leon’s words, the red-haired woman slightly raised her eyebrows, a look of disdain flickering in her eyes. Crossing her arms over her chest, she said indifferently:

“Alright, tell me about them.”

Tell me… Since Leon had prepared to join here for compensation, he definitely needed to showcase his value first. But how could he explain the “badge”? Quickly assessing his situation, Leon decided to conceal the existence of the “badge” and instead stated:

“My observational skills are extraordinary! I can discern certain peculiar things, and if I have direct contact, I can immediately obtain some related intelligence!”

Impossible…

Upon hearing this, the red-haired woman couldn’t help but shake her head mentally.

So if he could really do that, his fundamental level must be terrifyingly high, at least comparable to extraplanar elder gods. But would something of that level apply for a job at our Clearing Bureau?

Although she didn’t believe Leon’s words, the red-haired woman didn’t refute them directly either. She nodded toward the unconscious black goat and calmly said, “Here’s a ‘peculiar thing,’ and you’ve already made contact with it. Now start explaining, let me see where you’re so special.”

Phew…

Hearing the red-haired woman’s “exam question,” Leon secretly sighed in relief.

What he feared most was being driven away without any chance. Now that he had the opportunity to demonstrate his abilities, as long as the “badge” worked fine, this job should be secure. After all, intelligence is valuable to any organization.

Also, if this cleaning bureau values intelligence capabilities highly, then even if he isn’t heavily utilized, he probably won’t be treated as cannon fodder. He might even get some special treatment and survive a few more rounds in that terrifying monthly death rate.

Although he had already prepared to exchange his life for compensation when entering here, if he could live well, who would want to die?

…

With the hope of possibly living a few more years, Leon steadied himself and selectively replied: “This goat’s true self is actually the pair of goat horns on its head. Its ability is to amplify others’ evil thoughts, and it also possesses extensive occult knowledge.

Besides, it likes ‘Gaut’ brand cigarettes and sinful souls. It belongs to someone named Olivia, and in the past few years, it has caused many officials in the Road Administration Department to get injured and resign. It fears men from Wales County…”

Not a single mistake, one after another, the contents displayed!

As Leon recounted the intelligence obtained from the badge sentence by sentence, the red-haired woman’s initially dismissive expression gradually became serious. Finally, she narrowed her eyes and began repeatedly examining the lean young man in front of her.

The intelligence about amplifying evil thoughts, liking Gaut cigarettes, those are fine, they’re easy to obtain; the incidents of the dumb goat injuring road administration employees could also be discovered by reading newspapers; but the fact that the dumb goat’s true self is its horns and her own name are absolutely not something an ordinary person could know.

Moreover, the fact that the dumb goat fears men from Wales County is something she herself just learned.

If what this guy says is true, the innate “anomaly” level he possesses must be incredibly high. Even if it doesn’t reach the level of extraplanar elder gods, it must at least surpass the great demon represented by the dumb goat…

Thinking about this, the red-haired woman drank the remaining beer in her hand and then struck the black goat’s head hard with the thick empty bottle.

“Ugh… what happened… Damn it! Olivia… you stupid woman! You hit me with the bottle again!”

Under the red-haired woman’s glare, the awakened black goat swallowed the half-spoken name and covered its head with its hooves, complaining loudly:

“I was once a great demon! Can’t you show me a little respect?”

“Ho ho, with the crap you’ve done, you don’t deserve my respect.”

Lifting the empty bottle, she drank the last bit of beer clinging to the walls of the bottle and pointed at the anxious Leon, narrowing her eyes as she told the black goat, “This young man from Wales County just gave me a bottle of good wine worth two silver coins. Starting now, you belong to him.”

From Wales County?! Hearing the red-haired woman’s words, the black goat trembled all over, looking at Leon with both surprise and fear. Soon realizing she was likely lying, it crossed its arms over its chest and sneered contemptuously:

“Hmph, stop fooling me. The year-end review will definitely come in two months, and even you wouldn’t dare mess around at such a time!”

“You’re right, I was lying.”

The red-haired woman nodded, frankly admitting the black goat’s judgment, then slightly curled her lips and asked curiously,

“But… you seem to be quite afraid of men from Wales County?”

Damn! How does she know?!

While the black goat’s eyes darted around, trying to figure out how to cover up its “weakness,” the red-haired woman chuckled lightly after verifying the authenticity of the intelligence. Turning around, she extended her white hand toward Leon with a kind smile and said, “Great, you’re indeed the kind of person we need. From now on, you’re a member of our Sixth Bureau.”

Phew… This isn’t easy!

Hearing the news that he was hired, Leon exhaled deeply, his tense face relaxing slightly. However…

Wait? Something seems off. Reconsidering the red-haired woman’s words, Leon couldn’t help but widen his eyes in shock.

Say that again? What the hell kind of bureau are you?!!

(End of Chapter)