After hearing Kavach's description, Godfrey was completely bewildered.
If what the Association President said was true, then either he had been deliberately excluded from critical intelligence, or he had somehow previously offended that mysterious attacker.
But after careful consideration, he couldn't determine a clear answer.
Furthermore, as the Director of the Public Security Office of the Donglai Cardian Master Association, it would be impossible for such a dangerous individual to operate without his knowledge, assuming they truly intended to assassinate Azrael.
Of course, the most crucial point was that, given that attacker's demonstrated strength, while victory against President Azrael wasn't guaranteed, they certainly wouldn't be forced to flee in such obvious panic.
Glancing at Azrael, whose shirt bore only minor soil stains, Godfrey rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Something about this entire situation felt wrong.
But Azrael's calm voice quickly interrupted his contemplation.
"Perhaps we should call it a night." Azrael's expression remained unreadable, his inner thoughts impossible to decipher. "Everyone should return home and rest."
After all, he remained uninjured, and he had already identified the suspect. There was no point in having them continue their protective vigil around his residence.
Upon hearing this dismissal, Kavach and the other two officials quickly departed, each wearing distinctly different expressions.
However, before Godfrey could leave, Azrael called out to him.
"Director Godfrey, have your maintenance staff come over tomorrow to help with the structural repairs around here."
"Consider this your compensation," he said, accepting a thick stack of materials from one of the Shadowkhan soldiers beside him.
Most of the materials were bronze and black iron-grade, but several silver-grade materials were mixed throughout the collection. These weren't particularly high-quality materials by Azrael's current standards, but they represented everything he had casually collected over recent weeks.
Even a relatively lazy supervisor like Alice could produce substantial amounts of silver-grade materials, so given Azrael's position and connections, the volume of materials he no longer needed was even greater.
Some of these had actually been donated by his subordinates as tribute.
As mentioned before, Azrael had returned those materials where he could identify the original donors, keeping only those that remained unaccounted for.
The situation left him somewhat exasperated.
Even if he genuinely wanted to use his influence to help those contributors, Azrael couldn't identify who had sent them, making reciprocation impossible.
Still, given his current strength and status, it wouldn't matter if he didn't distribute these low-level materials, effectively leaving Senior Instructor Johto to work without compensation.
But since he had no practical use for these lower-tier materials at his current level, he might as well use them to cultivate loyalty among his staff.
Better to be a generous leader than a miser hoarding worthless resources.
In ancient times, such behavior would have been considered taboo, equivalent to a border general secretly cultivating personal power, which would inevitably lead to reports of treasonous activity.
But with the existence of supernatural forces like Lore Cardians in the current Empire of Aetherlight, such concerns were irrelevant. After all, even if someone commanded 100,000 low-level Lore Cardians, they might not be sufficient to defeat a single Emerald-tier master.
In this extraordinary world, ultimate power still depended on who possessed the strongest individual abilities.
Taking the materials with obvious gratitude, Godfrey lowered his head respectfully and replied, "I understand completely. I'll arrange everything for tomorrow morning."
With that assurance, the middle-aged man with his perpetually serious expression disappeared into the night.
Seeing the others finally depart, Azrael sighed and returned to his residence.
Fortunately, only the bedroom had sustained damage during the attack, while the rest of the house remained structurally sound. Otherwise, he would have been forced to sleep on the street tonight.
"I should probably create a Wallpaper House if this keeps happening," he mused to himself.
As a prop frequently utilized by the blue cosmic deity in various theatrical productions, the Wallpaper House represented a very convenient spatial storage solution compared to other reality-bending items involving time manipulation or causality.
When he thought about it, such a tool would also be quite practical for Lore Cardians exploring dangerous secret realms.
Shaking his head to dispel his increasingly scattered thoughts, Azrael directed several Shadowkhan soldiers to begin preparing the guest room.
They would simply have to make do with the guest accommodations tonight.
In the basement of Kavach's residence, Sun Jea-Minrun, the individual who had previously attacked Azrael, was casually eating out-of-season oranges with a nonchalant expression.
Thanks to the existence of agricultural enhancement cards, the various fruits available in the Empire of Aetherlight no longer had to worry about seasonal availability.
After all, in the world before Azrael's transmigration, out-of-season fruits could be purchased and consumed year-round through modern logistics.
"How did the assassination fail?" Kavach's face was dark with frustration, his tone barely containing his anger. "Didn't you claim you were sufficient on your own?"
Sun Jea-Minrun shrugged dismissively. "Indeed, I was more than capable. If I hadn't specifically told you not to accompany me, wouldn't you have been immediately exposed?"
Kavach paused, recognizing the truth in the assassin's words. "So what do we do now? After tonight's failure, he's probably on high alert. This will only make future assassination attempts exponentially more difficult."
The chain reaction from this failed assassination attempt carried severe implications, extending far beyond simply raising Azrael's vigilance.
Kavach feared that if Azrael directly requested reinforcements from the capital, the situation would become truly problematic.
He might then face suspension from his position, and his previous fantasy of ascending to the highest echelons of the imperial court would shatter like a pipe dream.
Sun Jea-Minrun scratched his cheek thoughtfully and tentatively suggested, "How about I attempt another approach tomorrow?"
Hearing this proposal, Kavach hesitated before finally sighing heavily. "You'd better not go and get yourself killed unnecessarily."
"Let me spread word tomorrow about the Crimson Oath Society's alleged attack on him, and then we'll reassess our options."
He couldn't help but feel increasingly discouraged at this point. The entire situation seemed to be developing into an inescapable dead end.
Seeing his employer in such a demoralized state, Sun Jea-Minrun rolled his eyes and slumped down in his chair. "Fine. I'll find a discrete location to lay low for a while. It would be problematic if someone discovers me in your residence."
Kavach was already irritated beyond measure, so he didn't particularly care where the assassin went to hide. "Very well. I'll contact you if anything significant develops."
Seeing that further discussion would be pointless, Sun Jea-Minrun offered no additional commentary and immediately vanished from the basement, leaving Kavach alone with his mounting frustrations.
The next day arrived with deceptive tranquility.
Azrael sat in his vice president's office after a prolonged absence from administrative duties.
"Knock, knock."
A respectful series of knocks echoed from the door.
"Enter."
Pushing open the door with practiced efficiency, Godfrey, the Director of the Public Security Office, stepped inside.
"President Azrael, this contains the information you requested yesterday," the middle-aged man stated directly upon entering, handing Azrael the documents he carried.
Initially, Azrael assumed the reports concerned street repair arrangements.
However, after accepting the documents and reviewing their contents, he realized they focused entirely on the Onefold Doctrine cult.
Quickly scanning through the comprehensive reports, his expression grew increasingly grim. "So there have been significantly more disappearances recently, and the frequency continues to escalate?"
Godfrey nodded gravely. "Correct. They're still primarily targeting small-time criminals and street thugs, but we haven't discovered anything unusual using the investigative methods you previously described."
After Azrael had suggested that the Onefold Doctrine might be becoming active again, Godfrey had immediately arranged for his staff to begin collecting and analyzing recently registered missing persons cases.
Their investigation revealed that compared to the last confirmed incident of Onefold Doctrine criminal activity, the number of missing persons had actually increased substantially.
Furthermore, their operational methods had become significantly more covert and sophisticated.
Azrael rubbed his temples, feeling the onset of a persistent headache. If Godfrey could reach these conclusions, then Azrael could certainly arrive at the same disturbing implications. "Didn't I eliminate that demon who could perform those forbidden blood techniques?"
"Why are these ritual murders happening again?"
"Or are there new demons infiltrating southward from the northern borders?"
A growing sense of foreboding crept into his consciousness.
Azrael felt as if he had triggered some cosmic law where defeating a younger enemy inevitably resulted in the arrival of their more powerful elder seeking revenge.
"No way. Are demons really following that tired old trope too?" he muttered internally, then forced himself to calm down and think rationally.
Standing up with renewed determination, Azrael declared, "Let's go! Today we'll conduct some direct field investigation."
Before departing, he casually asked Godfrey, "By the way, have you informed President Kavach about our investigation plans?"
Godfrey appeared genuinely surprised and shook his head honestly. "No, I haven't."
"Do you need me to brief him on our activities?"
Azrael gave the middle-aged man a subtle, knowing look before patting him on the shoulder with satisfaction. "No, this current arrangement is perfectly fine."
With a meaningful glance toward the closed door of the president's office, he sneered internally, 'From top to bottom, from legitimate channels to underground networks, they're all my people now.'
'What resources could you possibly use to oppose me?'
With this confident thought, Azrael and Godfrey departed headquarters to investigate the current whereabouts and activities of the Onefold Doctrine.
Unfortunately, by the end of their extensive working day, they had discovered no concrete signs of cult involvement.
The few individuals under surveillance hadn't made contact with any suspicious persons or visited unusual locations.
Returning home as evening approached, Azrael bypassed dinner entirely and instead descended to the underground study that had previously served as a replacement meeting location for Crimson Oath Society operations.
After the previous night's assassination attempt, he was no longer prepared to wait passively for events to unfold.
Quickly eliminating Kavach, that insufferable parasitic obstacle, had now become his absolute top priority.
Additionally, since Zoro had already been successfully created and tested, working in coordination with Godfrey to neutralize Kavach shouldn't present excessive difficulties.
Unfortunately, he still needed to maintain his role as vice president, and couldn't personally lead Zoro, Shiraori, and the others in a direct elimination mission against that incompetent fool.
[Sixth Master: Come see me immediately.]
After sending the encrypted message to Magnus requesting his presence, Azrael began browsing through the collected intelligence reports in the study.
Soon, Azrael's designated operational tool arrived at the basement study.
"Sixth Master, you wanted to see me?" Magnus inquired respectfully.
Looking at the young man who had just entered while he continued examining various documents, Magnus felt somewhat confused. "Did headquarters issue new mission parameters?"
As far as he understood the situation, it seemed that the organization hadn't distributed any major assignments since the Sixth Master had established operations in Donglai.
But Azrael's next words completely stunned him.
"I'm planning to eliminate Kavach permanently, but I cannot be present when the operation is executed, so you'll need to continue impersonating me during the mission."
Magnus's mind went completely blank, and he asked in bewilderment, "Assassination? Target: Kavach?"
Azrael nodded calmly, then glanced at the middle-aged operative with a slightly puzzled expression. "Didn't you know he arranged someone to assassinate me last night?"
Magnus was genuinely shocked and replied with poorly concealed guilt, "So he was the one who ordered the attack."
He didn't actually know about the assassination attempt against Azrael, since he had spent the previous night engaged in recreational fishing and ended up fishing continuously through the day and night without catching anything.
He had been so frustrated that he almost resorted to illegal explosive fishing methods.
Then he received Azrael's urgent summons.
So he could only feign appropriate shock that Kavach had actually sent someone to assassinate Azrael.
Wait.
Kavach?!
The middle-aged operative finally grasped the full implications of what was happening.
Seeing Magnus's delayed comprehension, Azrael pulled the corner of his mouth in mild exasperation, but chose not to expose his subordinate's obvious deception. "Correct, it was him. So I've decided to eliminate him permanently to prevent future complications."
Hearing this decisive statement, Magnus's expression became appropriately serious. "Sixth Master, you're absolutely right. We should have taken this action much earlier."
Azrael raised his hand to stop his subordinate from continuing with unnecessary commentary, and explained, "I'll arrange for Godfrey to coordinate with you to ensure we can successfully complete this elimination."
"Incidentally, I've created several new cards recently. Don't allow any operational flaws to show when you're working with Godfrey."
With that introduction, he summoned Shiraori, Frieren, and Zoro into manifestation.
"?"
A very large question mark appeared in Magnus's confused mind at this moment. If he remembered correctly, not long ago the Sixth Master only possessed a single card, Shiraori, didn't he?