They walked towards him and stood in front of Mikhail.

"Are you Jonathan?" One of them asked in a deep voice. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Because he was wearing a hat, Mikhail couldn’t clearly see his face.

He frowned and answered. "No, why?"

They both looked confused before glancing at each other.

"Didn’t he say he will meet us here?" The other one asked, taking off his hat. "What happened?"

He was a young man with ordinary features, black hair and brown eyes. His face had a small birthmark on his right cheek.

"...I don’t know." His partner replied, the look on his face unusually grave.

He was older, in his late forties, with a grey beard and moustache on his wrinkled face.

Mikhail looked at both of them and began to form his own guess.

’Looks like this Jonathan guy was important to them and by extension to the church.’

’With how confused they look and how they asked me to confirm, it looks like they don’t know what he looks like.’

’Someone they haven’t seen but who is important... perhaps an undercover agent or an informant?’

Just as Mikhail was forming his own guess, the two of them began to move.

The older one walked towards the owner while the other walked towards the back of the place.

Both of them ignored Mikhail, who seemed like an ordinary person to them.

Mikhail remained silent and kept on observing both of them like a spectator.

’...This Jonathan fellow must really have some secrets to him.’

Mikhail mused, shifting his focus back on his book.

The book depicted the life of Saintess Agatha and how she played a big role in establishing the Faceless Moon religion in the Aegon Kingdom.

’Before her arrival, the Undying Sun dominated the kingdom.’

It had to be noted that none of the main three religions was born in this land.

All three gods were born in the Abraham Empire, which was also called the Land of Gods.

If one wanted to know everything about the gods, they would have to visit the Empire.

’I should visit the place sometime...’

Mikhail thought, and just as he turned the page—.

"Fuck!!"

He heard a loud voice from the back of the shop.

It was the church member who had gone to check around.

The older man rushed outside in a hurry along with the owner.

Mikhail followed after them out of curiosity.

Just as he walked out of the backdoor, he immediately saw it.

A dead body sitting against a trash can.

His eyes had been gouged out and his chest ripped open. The man’s intestines had been completely removed while his lungs and heart were missing.

Mikhail immediately felt nauseated at the sight and the owner wasn’t able to control himself either.

He rushed to the side and threw up whatever he had been eating.

Mikhail looked at the dead body for a while before looking away.

The young church member let out a deep sigh and said gravely. "I saw...something, e-eating his heart."

The older man, who had been about to scold him for cursing, stopped in place.

He nodded his head and turned towards the owner and Mikhail.

"I would like you both to give me your ID and leave this place." He said in a deep voice. "I will return your IDs after checking them."

"Wait, wouldn’t it be better to call the police?" Mikhail protested.

The older man reached into his back pocket and took out an ID badge.

"My name is Corvin Ashford." He said, showing his badge. "I am an Enforcer, the crime department of the church."

He put his badge down and looked at both of them with authority. "This case is related to a dangerous cult. So, if you don’t wish to die, I would ask for your cooperation."

Mikhail remained silent as he thought. ’A cult?’

---

After taking Mikhail’s ID and learning of his connection to the university, Corvin let him go.

Mikhail, still in a bad mood, found another coffee shop with more customers and sat down, waiting for Kevin.

’A cult’s involvement, the church informant’s death...’

Mikhail was replaying everything that had just happened.

He was really thinking about how the whole thing tied together.

’The man, Jonathan, had some information about the cult and wanted to pass it to the church, but before he could the cult found out and killed him.’

Mikhail nodded his head as if he could already see how things must have unfolded.

’...Why am I thinking about it.’ He grumbled inwardly. ’This has nothing to do with me.’

He rubbed his temples and looked at the busy road outside.

Mikhail rubbed his chin as he waited for Kevin to return from the church.

As he was looking outside, he noticed a carriage with an insignia moving along the pedestrian road.

’...Why would you do that?’

It was a road meant for people, not carriages.

"Is this the crazy noble James’ carriage?"

Mikhail’s ears perked up when he heard someone at the next table talking about it.

He glanced over where two young men in their twenties were sitting.

"It’s his insignia." His friend replied. "So it must be him."

"I bet he is going to the red light area again." He said with a light chuckle. "Man, he really has a life; home to red light and back home."

"You call that a life?" His friend criticised. "He is a failure who killed his entire family just to inherit the Baron’s title."

"It was his family’s fault." The young man replied. "They should have known how much of a crazy person he is."

His friend nodded and said in a subdued voice. "I heard, after his family business failed he is helping in the slave trade—."

"Shhh." The young man clamped his hand over his friend’s mouth. "Don’t talk about that! Many nobles are into it, you will get us killed!"

His friend nodded and both of them quieted down.

Mikhail, who had been listening, couldn’t help but mumble.

"Crazy noble James..."