The Demon’s Menu

“Good news!”

Jason said without hesitation.

Listening to the bad news before the good news helped dispel some of the terrible feelings brought about by the bad news, allowing one to feel some sense of comfort. But on the same note, the good news might become something that was not worth being so happy over.

Jason hated such a feeling.

Since he was happy, he should only be feeling happy, through and through.

And the bad news?

That would be a matter for later on.

“His Lordship, the director, is very pleased with you, Jason.”

“Whether it was before or just now, he’s satisfied with everything.”

“Two grams of gold a week, and this is the employment fee you are entitled to receive from earlier on, as well as your first week’s salary.”

Bondy said as he took out 4 grams of gold and 6 grams of silver from his wallet.

After excluding the pay for this week, the remaining 2 grams of gold and 6 grams of silver were the commission agreed upon prior to hiring the night watchman to resolve this round of trouble.

“Not bad.”

Jason said. After carefully counting the amount, he put the earnings into his wallet.

Although spices could be reimbursed as basic necessities, it was impossible to do likewise for some other things.

For example, the normal three meals a day.

Based on the price of food at the Yanan Food Store, Jason could infer the price range for a restaurant that truly had a specialty dish.

With his food capacity, if he were to uninhibitedly eat to his heart’s content… Oh, forget it. Up to 70% full was healthier.

“Also…”

“It will become your gun.”

“This is legal. It’s on record.”

“Of course, the ammunition that was used is also reimbursable.”

Bondy pointed to the “Winchester Brothers”.

The corners of Jason’s mouth curved upwards.

Compared to the pistols of this generation, the shotgun was undoubtedly his favorite, especially that unique sound when the Winchester Brothers were loaded and he pulled the trigger. That captivated him even more.

“What else?”

Jason looked at Bondy with great anticipation. He was hoping that there would be even more delightful things.

What a pity. The sheriff shook his head.

“What follows next is bad news.”

Bondy said as his expression became increasingly solemn. After a slight pause, he whispered, “The men standing guard outside the Moon Mask Club have gone missing.”

“What?!”

Jason immediately sat up straight as he clenched tightly onto the shotgun in his hand.

“Because of the battle earlier in the afternoon, I recalled Hall and two other young men and left only four young men there to stand guard.”

“And just a while ago, when Hall brought some men with him and returned there, he realized that there was no one there.”

“All four men were not by their designated post. Hall re-allocated his staff and then came back to report to me.”

Bondy gave a detailed account of the situation.

Then, he looked at Jason.

In the face of that bizarre situation, Bondy knew he was a mere layman. This was why he hoped to seek the opinion of an expert.

“To the Moon Mask Club!”

With his gun in his hand, Jason stood up and walked out without stopping at all.

The varying changes of the Moon Mask Club made Jason feel exceptionally heavy-hearted.

In fact, according to Jason’s plan, before his level of Protection from Evil rose to the point where he could deal with the bizarreness at the level of explosives, he would not even touch a place like the Moon Mask Club at all.

But…

Plans were always faster than changes.

“Is it the passage of time that allowed that place to accumulate enough power, thus allowing the change to happen?”

“Or is it…”

“Because of Kurtz in the afternoon?”

Jason thought as he walked.

When he stepped out of the doorstep of the police dormitory, he caught sight of Hall and Finch at first glance.

The two of them were each leading two troops. More than 20 constables were standing in front of the carriage as they waited.

“Sir!”

“Jason, My Lord!”

Bondy and Jason, who were seen walking out, exchanged salutations with the remaining men.

Then, they prepared to set off for the Moon Mask Club on two separate carriages.

And just as he got on board the carriage, Jason suddenly thought of something.

“Finch, I have boiled some soup in my room… Pour the holy water into a kraft bag and bring it here.”

Jason instructed.

“Understood!”

The young constable immediately replied, and he ran straight back to the police dormitory.

Jason and Bondy boarded the first carriage and waited quietly.

The two of them sat face to face.

Looking at Jason, who sat across him with such a calm expression, the sheriff, who had been holding back for a long time, finally could not help speaking up. So he asked,

“Aren’t you curious?”

With that, the sheriff looked at Jason.

He was expecting to see something subtle in Jason’s face.

Unfortunately, Jason’s expression remained as calm as before.

“Why did Kurtz become an Avenger? Aren’t you curious at all?”

“What’s the relationship between Kurtz and Kalina? Aren’t you curious at all?”

“How did Kurtz come to possess that ability? Aren’t you curious at all?”

Bondy asked his questions in succession.

“Kurtz became an Avenger because of Kalina.”

“He should have known Kalina since a long time ago, and they should have been involved in a romantic relationship. It might even be because Kurtz came to Rhode to become a constable, so Kalina also chose to come to Rhode.”

“And in Rhode, while the probability of ordinary people encountering the mysterious side is small, it’s not exactly zero. Kurtz’s talent caught the attention of someone from the mysterious side. So he was accepted as a disciple, and eventually, he gained that kind of ability.”

Jason answered the questions one by one.

Hearing the answers here, Bondy’s face was filled with surprise.

If it was not for the fact that he had confirmed that it was impossible for the investigation report, which was just handed over to him, to have first been in the hands of someone else, Bondy would really have believed that Jason had stolen a peek at the report.

Could it be…

“Did you practice divination to derive the answers?”

Bondy could not help asking.

“I’m not good at the practice of divination.”

Jason said matter-of-factly. Then, without allowing Bondy the chance to ask any further, he said right away, “Kalina is an admirable lady. She’s brave, tenacious, and she’s neither vain nor greedy. Given her character, if there’s no apparent reason to do so, I believe she basically will not leave her hometown.”

“And a reason that’s enough to make a young lady leave her hometown, other than love… I really can’t think of any other.”

“Love is really something so frightening.”

“As for the Avenger?

“We have discussed enough.”

Jason said as he adjusted his posture. Just as Bondy thought Jason had finished talking and was prepared to close his eyes to rest, Jason suddenly opened his mouth to speak.

“What are the chances of an ordinary person encountering people from the mysterious side?

“And as luck would have it, this ordinary person happens to be quite talented. How likely could this be?”

“Or even more coincidentally, this ordinary person lost the love of his life to an unexpected cause of death, thus causing him to be filled with hatred. If so… how high could the odds be in this case?”

A series of questions brought about a series of changes in Bondy’s facial expressions.

“You mean to say?”

“Someone…”

“Is manipulating all this?”

Once again, Bondy’s voice became so soft that it was only audible to the two of them.

“All the good, and also, all the bad, in the world, come with reasons.”

“Those gifts that seemed to be given by destiny?”

“Those have long been secretly marked with a price.”

With that, Jason closed both his eyes.

Once again, he thought of himself.

The series of opportunities he had met along the way… were those also marked with a price from a long time ago?”

Jason did not know about this.

He only knew that, even if it meant being used as a pawn.

He was going to live through it.

And, he had to live well enough, as well as long enough.

Because…

Only then would he have a chance to jump out of the chessboard!

And at this very moment, he was about to face another crisis.

It was going to be a situation that was many times more dangerous than what had happened in the afternoon!

While he was thinking of it, Jason suddenly opened his eyes.

“Bondy, I need some stuff to increase our chances of winning.”

Jason said.

“What things?”

“I’ll do my best to help you get hold of them.”

First, Bondy looked at Jason. When he saw Jason’s earnest expression, the sheriff could not help hearing the sound of drums beating in his heart. His voice carried a hint of hesitation because he was very worried that at this point in time, Jason’s cold sense of humor might act up again, and that Jason would be requesting foods like potatoes, carrots, and onions.

Fortunately, this time, Jason made a pretty normal request:

“Kerosene!”

“Explosives!”

“Cannons!”