"Dire? You said that man's name was Dire!? Carl was repeating the Shadow Lord's words.

"Hmm."

"The wings are black? Are you sure? When you were on your mission, it was at night, and the light was not good. ”

"Sure." The Shadow Owl moved his right hand in a plaster cast, "I fought him that day, and I only took one move. I think if he wanted to take my and Phoebe's lives that night, he would have been able to do the same...... But strangely enough, he didn't. He said that he had only come to Mendel's Academy to recover the corpses of his subordinates, who were also winged men. ”

"Blackwings?" Carl asked.

"I don't know. The winged men all covered their wings with optical camouflage, and they couldn't see the color. ”

"That's right......" Carl picked up the teacup again, feeling the temperature of the tea slowly getting colder, "Do you have any other details you can think of about this 'Dire'?" ”

The Shadow Owl thought for a moment and said, "Silver-haired, very tall, wearing a very exaggerated black dress. And then there's ...... The power is surprisingly large, and it can be said that it is a strange power that even the winged people cannot have. ”

"yes, I don't have that strength anyway." Carl spread out his left hand, which was not holding the teacup, "Is that all?" ”

"He said something to me before he left."

"What?" Carl's expression changed to that of a child seeing a new toy, "What did Dire say to you?" ”

Shadowlord took a deep breath, as if recalling some unwanted scene. At the end, he said lightly: "He said that we will meet again." Hopefully, by then, I'll remember him. ”

- I think we'll meet again, Shadowlord. Hopefully, you'll remember me by then.

Dire's words were like a curse carved into the depths of the soul, but anyone who heard it could not easily forget it.

Phoebe tilted her head and sighed.

After sending Eliza and the Shadow Owl away, Karl ordered Naoto Ito to follow the Dire clue and continue to track down the inside story of the transactions related to Mendel College, and used it to take him away.

Naoto leaves, leaving only Carl and Phoebe in the office.

"Sir, then I'll ...... too" Phoebe saluted, and was about to retreat.

Karl stopped him: "Don't go yet." I just have something to ask you. ”

Phoebe had no choice but to stand still.

"Why didn't you report the Dire thing?"

"I wrote about the Dire in the trustee's arraignment report......"

"You've seen him in person."

"There's no evidence that the Dire mentioned by the school manager is the same person we met, so I'd like to investigate further......"

"Heh......" Carl's gaze suddenly became gloomy, and his dark red pupils were like bloodshot, "Fooling me with this kind of nonsense, it seems that I am being looked down upon?" ”

The afternoon sun shone through the curtains, and in the mild light, Phoebe couldn't help but shiver.

"On weekdays, it's the straight people who issue tasks for me, so you really think I'm the shopkeeper?" Carl picked up the investigation report submitted by Phoebe on the table and slammed it, "Carl. Orlando is just an idle, mischievous second ancestor waiting for death, even if the report is handed over to him to read in person, as long as the content is written professionally and uses more jargon, he will not be able to read any loopholes. - That's what you think, right? ”

"Absolutely not!" Phoebe couldn't help but tense up, and retorted loudly, "Sir, you are both wise and brave, and you have learned well, and your subordinates only have respect in their hearts, how can you have such offensive thoughts!" ”

"Hmph......" Carl straightened up, his slender fingers flicking the bangs on his forehead, revealing a sharp gaze that he couldn't usually see, "Then even if your few words of praise have an effect...... I'll give you one last chance - where did you get the information on the Blackwings? ”

"I'm ......" Phoebe hesitated, her mind racing.

- Carl. Isn't Orlando just an idle rich young master? Why does he ask such a sharp question?

- Why does he think I have information on the Blackwings?

- And what information is he referring to? Isn't it enough that Shadow Owl has already said so much?

- And what happened to the lieutenant's aura at that moment?

- So I ...... What I should say is......

Phoebe looked up in fragmented thoughts, meeting Karl's gaze.

The dark red eyes, deep, dark, as if they could see through all the disguises in the world, were looking at her: "Under normal circumstances, the first time I see the appearance of the Blackwing, the investigator will definitely report this encounter to his superiors, even if it is for his own safety. However, you didn't, so you already knew about the existence of the Blackwings. The red-clad lieutenant seemed to have some kind of strange mind-reading ability, and every word he said shocked Phoebe, "This information can't come from Naoto, and it can't come from anyone else in the MIA." Say! Who gave you the information about the Blackwings? ”

"Yes......" Phoebe lowered her head, her voice with a meltdown, "It's a man who calls himself a dark merchant, and he gave it to me......"

Sunlight becomes warm again.

Carl seemed satisfied with her answer, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly: "Dark Merchant...... Ha! Is his name 'Sophistry'? ”

"The lieutenant knows him?" Phoebe looked up in a little surprise.

"I've just heard of it." Carl picked up the report in front of him, "Intelligence dealers and arms dealers from all over the world. The debt of human life on his body could not be paid off even if he was thrown on the execution ground and shot a hundred times. However, the gods are very kind to him, and Interpol cleverly escapes every time he wants to catch him. The Dark Merchant does not exist in front of the populace at all. This person will hand-pick the customers. Approach them and sell what they absolutely need at a price they can absolutely afford. ”

After hearing this, Phoebe shook her head: "The trickster gave me the information of the Black Wingman, and he didn't charge any fees. He said that the Blackwingmen were mutants who were born to kill. They are the fuel of war, the weapons of humanoids. No matter how powerful the Winged Man is, he has no chance of winning against the Blackwing. ”

"Why did he give it to you...... No, I think why do you need information on the Blackwings? ”

"Because I want the metrics of winged humanization." Phoebe lowered her head in shame, her eyes drowning in the shadow of her bangs, "Every year, there are as many original people competing for the Wing Humanization Index as a carp crossing the river. No matter how strong I am, I can't stand out if I don't have a good point that I can't ignore. One day, while I was searching for information on the Internet, I was contacted by an account called 'Tricks'. He sent me a message from the Blackwings, and told me that the military personnel with the Winged Humanization Indicator in their hands would not turn a blind eye to such important information. That said, the information of the Blackwing can help me stand out in the battle for the Winged Humanization Metrics. ”

"At what cost? Even if you don't have to pay, there's always a condition for exchanging information, right? ”

"Join the Imperial Army."

"Oh?" Carl raised an eyebrow, "Surprisingly cheap......"

"The Blackwingman information that Trickster showed me was initially only 3 minutes to read. In the last 3 minutes, I tried everything I could to save the document. After the time limit has passed, the web file is destroyed. Phoebe continued, "That's when he contacted me again and said that if I could pass any of the Wingman officers' initial Wingman Test, he would send me a downloadable document to my inbox. ”

"So you signed up for the assessment I set?" Karl pressed his index finger to his temple, thought for a moment, and then suddenly said, "No...... You signed up and passed the initial test for the Wing Humanization set up by a total of six officers, including me, but for the other five, you gave up. ”

Phoebe's face was once again surprised.

Karl didn't give her time to ask questions, and continued to himself: "Because you originally thought that among the six officers, only I, Carl. Orlando is the least likely to cross-examine your intelligence sources. After all, with my usual performance, I am simply the kind of idle and incompetent rich second generation! Everything has to be done by straight people, and the management of subordinates is also the most loose...... So you think that as long as you give me the information of the Black Wings as a favor, you can easily become my subordinate and enjoy life with taxpayers' money. It's just that what you didn't expect was that the powerful teammates didn't have your turn to come up with intelligence at all, and they helped you win the Winghumanization indicator. So the information of the Blackwings is useless - since you have already got what you want, why bother yourself by giving me the information of the Blackwings? So you simply instructed the shadow owl to report all the work to be done by you, and told him not to interfere. ”

"The subordinates don't dare!"

"You've done it all, what else is there to dare?" Karl glared at her, "Do you think the Dark Merchant really sent this information in order to make you successfully winged?" ”

"Huh?"

"He wanted me to see the information of the Blackwingers and take this matter to the higher-ups...... No, this person doesn't have to be me at all. The officer who holds the wing humanization index in his hand, which one is not a golden hall royal horse, either rich or expensive? As long as any one of them reports the news of the Blackwings to the higher rulers, the goal of the treacherous has been accomplished. ”

“…… What exactly is the purpose of the Dark Merchant? ”

"What do you think?" Karl rested his chin in his hand and returned to his usual lazy state, squinting at Phoebe.

"I ...... I do not know. ”

Karl snorted through his nose: "Informants, arms dealers, and opportunists who have traveled all over the world. Blake has always wanted the same thing. ”

"That's ...... What the? ”

"The reorganization of power at the expense of human life, the redistribution of wealth around the world, the reluctance of rulers to sacrifice their money, and the great sale time that the merchants of darkness are most fond of—" Karl said, playing with the black tea cup in his hand, word by word, "War." ”

"War!?" Phoebe gasped.

"Give me the information on the Blackwings." Karl looked up at her again, "Then you will go to the Imperial Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Advanced Life tomorrow to find Professor Sun Lin and prepare for the humanization." ”

Hearing the news of the humanization of the wings, Phoebe's expression perked up, and she said, "Yes, sir!" ”

"By the way, you need to use culture wings for humanization of your wings, and you don't need to transplant them - culture wings use your own blood and cell culture, which is not easy to go wrong. Although I have already told Old Man Sun, he is easy to forget when he is old, so you can emphasize it. ”

"Yes!"

"Let's get out."

Phoebe turned and walked out, the door closing behind her.

Carl heard footsteps in the hallway fading away, got up from behind his desk, and walked over to the low table to pick up Phoebe's teapot.

The tea has become cold, and the body of the pot has lost its temperature. Carl lifted the lid and the soaked tea leaves shimmered with a dull golden glow.

There are several kinds of black tea in this office drawer, most of which are prepared by military administrators for business use, which is cheap and affordable, and has a bland taste. Only a few packets of tea leaves that he had placed in the depths of the drawer and wrapped in wordless aluminum foil had been picked by women who had admired him in the past, and had traveled thousands of miles for him to taste. It is a pity that the idle lieutenant prefers to drink a sip of chilled brandy to good tea, so he never touches those teas.

He had never mentioned the difference between these teas to Phoebe, and there was no text on the packaging of the tea. But the pot of tea she had just brewed was one of those high-quality teas wrapped in aluminum foil; Moreover, the water temperature, brewing method, and time of making tea are also very particular. Otherwise, even if it is a good tea, it will be difficult to brew in this fresh and translucent color and rich and sweet smell.

This is by no means the cultivation that a former servant should have.

A meaningful smile tugged at the corners of Carl's mouth.

Outside the MID gate, the Shadow Owl followed Eliza step by step, walked to the private car prepared by the butler Simon, and opened the door for the owner.

"It's finally over!" Eliza slipped into the back seat of the car with relief, leaned back in the chair and said relaxedly.

"Second Miss has worked hard." Shadowlord himself sat in the co-pilot's seat.

"You're proud, aren't you?" Eliza straightened up and glared at the Shadow Owl, "8 million is not for sale, you are worth more than this limited edition car." ”

"Second Miss, don't make fun of me......" Shadow touched his face in embarrassment, "Even if you really sell me to that lieutenant, I don't want to stay with him." ”

"Huh? Will you run away? ”

“…… Possibly. ”

"It's good that it wasn't sold, otherwise if you really ran away, I wouldn't have been able to explain to Carl." Eliza turned her head to look out the window and paused before saying, "...... By the way, when Simon was on tour, he investigated the 'green cloth' store back then, which was the purchase channel of the store that sold you. When we sold your suppliers, we basically had some eyebrows. ”

"Really?" Shadow Owl almost turned back from the passenger seat.

"Well, but those suppliers are not in the Empire, but in the Kingdom of Blaze." "Coincidentally, our band's summer tour is also scheduled to be in the Kingdom of Blaze. When the time comes, I will take you with me to try to find out your background. ”

"Second Miss......" said the Shadow Owl, trying to make a look of emotion, "You are such a good man who speaks. ”

“……”

"There is no way to repay the great kindness."

Eliza cried and laughed: "Okay, okay, your level of sycophants is too bad." ”

“……”

"Take good care of your hands during this time, go to a foreign country, it's not convenient to change the medicine or anything."

"Don't worry!" Shadow Swore solemnly, "This little injury will be fine in two weeks." ”

"Two weeks!?"

"yes."

"Hurt your muscles and bones for a hundred days, don't you know?"

“…… Got that said? ”

“……”

However, Shadow Owl really didn't lie. Two weeks later, he was able to jump up and down and help his co-workers with manual work.

At the same time, Eliza's side is also in full swing to prepare for going abroad.

There is still about a month and a half before the start of the summer vacation. During this time, the members of the band not only have to complete the free selection of topics at the end of the semester and prepare for various exams, but also find time to write new tracks and prepare for the release of the band's debut album. Rao is captain Gu Yang is good at arranging, and the team members also cooperate seamlessly, and everyone is still busy and complaining in the past month and a half.

By the end of the final exam, the four of them were so tired that they didn't even have the spirit to celebrate, and they each went back to the dormitory and fell asleep.

In the blink of an eye, it was July 2nd, the last day before the holiday.

As usual, the Shadow Owl hides his figure under the huge plaque of the "Imperial Conservatory" and waits to pick Eliza home from school.

A black figure suddenly flashed at the edge of the line of sight, and disappeared behind an ancient tree with intricately roots at the school gate.

The figure was extremely fast and fleeting, and if it was someone else, he would definitely think that he was dazzled by the mistake. Not so with the Shadow Owl. The moment the figure flashed, his excellent motor vision not only accurately identified it as a male original man in his 20s, but also saw something like a blade in his hand flashing by.

Shadowlord glanced at the time—there were about 15 minutes left before school ended. Immediately flew up and chased after the figure.