Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1297: Section 1298 Searching

“This gold, merely from an inadvertent small detail, you were able to deduce so much and even puzzle out your purpose.” White Bear touched the fluffy ears atop his head, expressing his amazement, “This person should not be underestimated.”

“His ability to observe details is very strong, and since this matter involves Suise, it falls right within his scope of interest. That’s why he could infer my intentions, which is normal,” Angel said. Nonetheless, he had to admit that Gold’s shrewdness was beyond the reach of ordinary people.

While marveling at Gold was one aspect, they still had no clue about Rolando.

“The Rolando that Gold mentioned hasn’t faked anything. It’s just that the information obtained is still too scant to confirm his identity; even the authenticity of his name remains in question,” Angel rubbed the bridge of his nose, “The only useful information is that Gold has planted spies in Sea Moon City. Currently, the Whisker Sea routes are still in a state of ice closure, so if Rolando intends to return to Flourish Continent and must travel by sea, the time has not yet come. That is to say, he should still be on Old Earth Continent, but his exact location, Gold does not know.”

As soon as Rolando disembarked, he left alone, and his whereabouts became unknown to anyone. Although Old Earth Continent may not be large in the Wizard’s eyes, hiding a person who has not even been seen is actually quite easy.

Angel turned his gaze to White Bear, “Based on the limited information we currently have, can you predict Rolando’s location?”

...
White Bear pondered, “If Rolando is his real name, plus I have his blood information, perhaps I can try.”

Without another word, White Bear entered the phase of constructing a model.

Angel raised a protective force field, blocking the falling snow from outside, and waited quietly for White Bear to present the results.

After a while, on the Gondola’s table stood a short wand that had yet to topple. Regardless of how White Bear released the Divination, the short wand remained immovable.

In the end, White Bear could only open his eyes in resignation.

Facing Angel’s gaze, White Bear gave a wry smile and shook his head, “My strength is still too weak to pinpoint his location. Later, I changed my approach, trying to ascertain whether Rolando is his true name, but my school is the mainstream River of Fate, not the ‘Questioning Bell’. So, even when inquiring about the truth, I did not get a definitive answer.”

At this point, it seemed that they had once again reached an impasse.

“In that case, let’s first head to White Shell Marine Transport to check the specific passenger list for the Old Man White top.” After pondering for a moment, Angel made this decision.

Clad in the cloak of night, with stars casting the afterglow, they followed the direction of the sea breeze to Sea Moon City that lay thousands of miles away from Conniea.

The only branch of White Shell Marine Transport on Old Earth Continent was located near the Wishi seaport in Sea Moon City.

Calling it a branch was somewhat of an exaggeration; it was more of an outpost, merely an inconspicuous three-story building. Moreover, the ground floor of this building was a shop, with only the second and third floors bearing the sign of White Shell Marine Transport.

At first, Angel thought he might need to present an access card to be recognized by the employees of White Shell Marine Transport. However, upon their arrival, he discovered that the person in charge was merely a level-one Apprentice, who promptly presented the most recent shipping rosters with a nod and bow as soon as he detected their strength.

Their proficiency made Angel wonder if many had come here to inspect the shipping routes before.

It took a few minutes to inspect the roster.

Angel looked towards the others and shook his head, “As expected, Gold was right, there is no record of him on the Old Man White top.”

Sanders pondered, “He must have boarded the ship through a special channel, like Suise. Those who board through such channels aren’t recorded.”

Angel flipped through the roster again; indeed, Suise’s name was also not recorded on it.

However, the Transcendents that Gold mentioned, including himself, as well as Feline, Henry, and so on, were all meticulously recorded.

“Then could he be hiding among the ordinary people?” White Bear asked.

Nearly a hundred regular folk were on the Old Man White top, with a portion of them being Talented Ones. Angel did not find Rolando among them either.

Either the name Rolando gave to Gold was a false one, or he truly did not register.

“Regardless, let’s first check these ordinary people,” Angel rapidly organized a list and inquired with the person in charge of White Shell Marine Transport about their addresses.

If it were about the Transcendents, there might have been hesitation, but for a few ordinary employees, the person in charge reported their information without a second thought.

It turned out that more than half of these regular individuals had left with the Old Man White top; the rest were mostly still in Sea Moon City, waiting for the next voyage.

The task of investigating was handed over to White Bear. Moreover, Angel provided him with several Scouting Puppets to greatly enhance the efficiency.

Angel and Sanders stayed in Gondola.

“Rolando is hiding too deeply. I wonder if White Bear’s investigation will be effective.” Angel wasn’t hoping to find Rolando immediately; just a trace would be enough.

“Since the other party has gone to the trouble of concealing their presence, I guess it’s hard to find them with just the information on the surface,” Sanders replied offhandedly.

Angel probably understood as well, but for now, there were no other effective methods, so all he could do was check the superficial information step by step.

About three or four hours later, when the Morning Star shone brightly and the sky turned the color of a fish’s belly, White Bear came back.

“I found thirty people, and none of them were problematic. As for those who left Sea Moon City, there were a total of seven people. I questioned them too and even found people who had worked with them for many years, so we can pretty much rule them out as suspects. Besides, they all left records behind; they mostly went to other cities around Sea Moon City.”

Angel sighed. Just as Sanders had said, it was difficult to find Rolando based on information that was only skin deep.

“Among the seven who left, was there anyone heading towards Gru Town? For instance, to Waterford?” Angel asked without much hope.

White Bear recalled for a moment: “Waterford… Oh, there actually was one, named Frinton. He told others that because of the previous war between the Goldfinches and Hailan, he was going to Waterford to look for a refugee who had been displaced by the war, a relative of his. This news had indeed been verified.”

“It sounds like there’s no problem there either,” Angel mused. “Anyway, since we have no leads for now and have to return to Gru Town, we might as well stop by Waterford to take a look.”

…

It started to snow heavily in Waterford, and the stone ground quickly became blanketed in white.

In such low temperatures, there were significantly fewer people on the streets. Those who did need to go out were dressed in thick clothing, wearing felt hats, their breath forming white mist as they hurried past.

At this moment, two people walked out from the town hall, one dressed in an odd White Bear mascot costume, and the other in a tidy nobility outfit.

The noble youth walking in front exuded a remarkable presence in these Cold Winter streets, brightening the eyes of those who saw him. Unfortunately, the people in a hurry, already struggling against the cold, did not have the luxury to appreciate him.

It was, however, a man leaning against the wall of a large building near the town hall, smoking a pipe, who noticed the noble youth.

Amidst the swirling smoke, the man’s expression seemed thoughtful. Watching as the noble youth was about to walk away, he appeared to make up his mind and walked towards the noble youth.

“Noble young master, you seem troubled,” the man said, removing his black soft hat and giving a bow.

The noble youth was none other than Angel.

He glanced at the man who was wearing a vest and long trousers with leather shoes, covered by a coffee-colored overcoat—a standard gentleman’s attire. However, the overcoat was wrinkled, the bow tie bleached, dark circles under his eyes were severe, and his stubble unshaven. There were even grayish dirt stains under his fingernails, and he emitted a scent mixed with tobacco and body odor. If it weren’t intentional sloppiness, then life must have been tough for him.

Seeing Angel survey him, a flicker of embarrassment passed over the man’s still relatively handsome face.

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Richard Kafu, a private detective. Because I was trying hard to crack a major case these past days—the one that recently shocked Waterford—you know, I haven’t had a chance to clean up, so I may look a bit scruffy,” he explained.

Angel recalled that while he was in the town hall, he seemed to have seen a headline on a newspaper in a corner.

“Are you referring to the Blood Cross gold theft case?”

Richard was taken aback but quickly replied, “You know about it?”

White Bear, standing beside Angel, snorted coldly, “According to today’s newspaper, it clearly stated that the case was solved by the Knights’ Order. Mr. Kafu, forgive my bluntness, but you have no characteristics of a knight on you.”

“Do you think that because you haven’t seen the two of us before, you believe we can be deceived, and that’s why you lied to swindle us?”

Richard gave a dry laugh, a hint of embarrassment from being exposed showing on his face.

“I’m just not well-known. The Knights’ Order also needs detectives…”

White Bear couldn’t be bothered with him. It wasn’t worth wasting time on such a person and was about to turn away.

However, Angel didn’t move but instead regarded Richard, “Mr. Kafu, it seems you’re good at recognizing people, huh? Indeed, we’ve just arrived in Waterford, so you thought we were new faces, right?”

Richard quickly waved his hands, “No, I really am a private detective. It’s just that…”

Richard’s voice trailed off into a murmur, “It’s just that I haven’t received a commission in a long time. Seeing the two of you come out from the town hall, I thought there might be some difficulties and wanted to come over and inquire, to see if you needed help.”

Richard also indirectly admitted that he had lied about being involved in the gold theft case. After explaining, he bowed to Angel, “I apologize. I’ll leave now.”

As Richard turned to leave, Angel suddenly called out, “Wait, since you’re good at recognizing people, I wonder whether you’d be willing to take on a commission to find someone.”