Secret: The undead do not die in the fire

Chapter 200 Development is the last word

January 1th, afternoon, Backlund North District.

On the busy Pestfil Street, a girl dressed in traditional knight's costume stood in front of a church and hesitated for a long time.

The girl looked only about 1.5 meters tall, with shoulder-length yellow hair that was rarely combed neatly. In front of the girl was a pure black church with a bell tower on each side, presenting a symmetrical beauty. It was the headquarters of the Backlund Parish of the Church of the Goddess of Night, Saint Samuel Church.

It's not like she hadn't been to St. Samuel's before, but this time was somewhat different.

The girl stood at the church door, hesitating for a long time, unable to make up her mind.

Next to the girl, a brown-haired girl wearing a beige stand-up collar dress and with a lazy temperament whispered encouragement:

"Come on in, isn't this what you've been hoping for?"

With the encouragement of her best friend, the girl finally gritted her teeth and made up her mind to step into the church. They walked through the quiet corridor and came to the big prayer hall under the sunlight shining through the stained glass.

It's very dim here, which makes people feel peaceful involuntarily.

There were not many people in the prayer hall in the afternoon, so the two women saw the figure sitting on the bench on the left side of the first row of the prayer hall almost immediately.

He was a young man with a straight back. He was wearing a custom-made suit that was obviously worth a lot of money. He had long, brilliant golden hair, which was completely different from the girl's yellow hair that was a little rough due to neglect.

The girl clenched her fist silently, took a deep breath, walked to the first row, and sat on the bench on the right.

Her friend did not follow, but sat far away on the bench in the middle, giving the girl a sign of encouragement.

The handsome young man with brilliant blond hair turned his head to look at the girl, suddenly took out a gold coin, threw it upwards, and whispered:

"Her name is Hugh Dilchar."

Snapped!
The gold coin fell into the palm of the hand with the head facing up, which meant affirmation.

Hugh Dilcha looked at this scene in surprise, and the handsome young man also noticed this, took the initiative to greet him, and said half-jokingly:
"Don't worry about it, Miss Dilcha, it's just a little habit of mine."

"Although this is our first meeting, I think Ash should have mentioned me to you, so I won't introduce myself."

Hugh Dilcha responded somewhat stiffly:

"Good afternoon, Lord Hibbert."

Hibbert Hall saw the girl's reservedness and said with a smile:

"Miss Dill, I heard about your situation from Ash. The Hall family is willing to provide some help to clear the injustice suffered by your father and restore the reputation and title of the Dill family."

Xio was silent for a long time, then asked:

“How are you going to help?”

Hibbert was not surprised by her question and explained:
"The context of this matter has been basically investigated. The former chief of the palace guards, Mason Dill, was framed by his deputy, Viscount Stratford, and the Witch Cult conspired with Viscount Stratford to exonerate the Dill family. His Majesty George IV is very happy to vindicate the Dill family, but it will take some time to collect relevant evidence."

Hugh remained silent, for she knew very well that George III was the instigator of all this.

Her father discovered the secret of George III and tried to tell the three major churches about it, so he was ordered to be executed by the king. As for Viscount Stratford, according to Emperor Russell, he was at best a lackey who fawned on him.

But from Hibbert's words, it was obvious that he wanted to label Viscount Stratford as the mastermind and use it to remove George III.

This is inevitable, George III cannot have any black spots on him, because neither the royal family nor the nobility will allow it. Therefore, some of the "crimes" committed during George III's tenure will only be attributed to the "blindness" of his subordinates, but George III, the initiator, will not be implicated!

Once upon a time, when Hugh learned that the culprit was George III, she was confused and even a little self-destructive. Because whether it was to restore her father's reputation or to take revenge, when facing a king, the hope was extremely slim.

And now that Viscount Stratford was dead and George III was dead, even her father's grievances could be cleared.

Even though she couldn't find the culprit, King George III, Hugh knew that this was the best result she could get. If it weren't for the help of the embers, she wouldn't even be able to achieve this with her own efforts.

Hibbert did not urge her. He turned his head and looked at the altar in front of him, giving the girl enough time to think.

Soon, Hibbert heard the response:

"Thank you for your help, Lord Hibbert."

The girl's voice was brighter and clearer than ever before, it was the relief and ease she felt after completely letting go of all her burdens.

Hibbert smiled and nodded:
"You're welcome, Miss Dill."

After a pause, Hibbert continued:

"Ms. Dill, what level of Beyonder are you now?"

Xio was not surprised by Hibbert's question. After all, he was the son of the Earl and had a close relationship with Yu Jin. It was not surprising that he knew that he was a Beyonder. She was very relaxed at the moment because she had successfully fulfilled her wish. Therefore, she did not hide anything and answered directly:
"Sequence 7 'Interrogator'."

"The arbitrator route?"

Hibbert looked thoughtful and suddenly asked:
"Ms. Dilcha, are you interested in joining MI9 and serving the kingdom?"

"Military Intelligence Division 9?" Xio was stunned.

Hibbert nodded slightly:
"Yes, the Hall family also has some friends in MI9 and can arrange a good position for you."

Xio reacted immediately, and this was undoubtedly a good thing for her!
Because even if she could restore her father's reputation and restore the family's title and fiefdom, that was all. She could neither restore her ancestor's status as a 'court earl' nor serve as the commander of the palace guards or the chief of the palace guards.

This means that the only two options for Xio in the future are to join MI9 or the military. The military needs military merits to be promoted quickly, while MI9's goal is to capture those threatening wild Beyonders and members of secret organizations.

If he joined the military, he would have to leave Backlund, or even leave the Northern Continent, and go to the colonies of the Southern Continent. But for Xio, who was committed to restoring his father's reputation and family status, this was obviously not a good choice.

In comparison, joining MI9 was undoubtedly a better choice. Not only would she not have to leave Backlund, but she could also rely on the intelligence network she had established in the East District to gain greater convenience than her colleagues and make contributions more easily.

Xio asked with some caution:

"Is this also Yu...Ash's suggestion?"

If it was Yu Jin's proposal, she would definitely not refuse, even if she didn't want to join MI9, because she believed Yu Jin would not harm her. But Yu Jin only said that he would contact the Hall family and try to clear her father's name, and never mentioned MI9. If it was Yu Jin's proposal, he would definitely tell her in advance, instead of letting Hibbert propose it to her. And this made Xio have to doubt the other party's purpose...

Hibbert shook his head and said frankly:

"No, this is my personal suggestion. Miss Dill, you can think about it carefully. It won't do you any harm, right?"

Xio frowned slightly. She really couldn't see how this would be bad for her, but the question was, what good would this do to the Hall family? She didn't think such a great noble would do such a thankless task. To cram a wild Beyonder like her into the official Beyonder team would definitely consume the Hall family's connections in MI9...

Hibbert did not beat around the bush and said frankly:
"You can think of this as an investment. The Hall family needs a firm ally within MI9."

Fors, who was sitting behind the two men, had been eavesdropping on their conversation, and almost immediately caught the key point in his words: 'firm' ally!
Hugh didn't know much about the Hall family, but he knew the Hall family's lofty status in business. According to common sense, it was difficult for a family to have a lofty status in multiple fields at the same time.

The Hall family's position in business just shows how weak the family is in the military and MI9. They can certainly win over a group of "friends" close to the Hall family by giving money and gifts.

However, the relationship between these "friends" and the Hall family is not stable. They come together for profit and may betray at any time.

The Hall family had always been like this before, which showed that they didn't care too much about whether these allies were firm enough. But now that George IV had just ascended the throne, the Hall family would surely gain a lot of benefits from it.

In order to adapt to the new situation, the Hall family also needs to re-arrange. Audrey's purchase of extraordinary materials at the Tarot Club is itself a manifestation of the re-arrangement, which means that the Hall family is cultivating its own extraordinary people on a large scale.

On the other hand, the Hall family also needs to develop new "allies". Those superficial friends in the past are obviously unreliable. The Hall family needs to cultivate a group of "firm" allies who stand on their side or at least have the same interests. And people like Hugh who were deprived of their titles because of the injustice suffered by their fathers are undoubtedly the best investment targets!

Fors thought he understood this, but Xio was obviously still a little confused.

She almost subconsciously turned around to look at her friend, and when Fors met Xio's gaze, she nodded imperceptibly.

The Hall family certainly wanted to cultivate a group of allies, but this obviously did no harm to Hugh.

Like Hibbert said, it's an investment.

Such an investment without any strict requirements is of great benefit to the investee with no harm at all!
Xio in the front row received the signal released by Fors, believed his friend's judgment without hesitation, and agreed to Hibbert's proposal.

"Wise choice."

A smile appeared on Hibbert's face, and he immediately stood up and walked towards the altar, bowed to the bishop with short black hair, then went to the offering box next to him, took out 10 10-pound notes and put them in one by one.

Seeing Hibbert turning and leaving, Hugh hesitated for a moment, took out a huge sum of one pound and put it into the donation box.

Fors, who was sitting in the back, hesitated for a long time, then stood up and walked to the donation box.

Everyone else had donated money, so it would be wrong for her not to donate. But it would be even more wrong for her to donate, because she was a believer of the Church of Steam. Not only did she enter the church of the Church of Night, she even had to donate money to the donation box...

Fors took out a one-pound note from her purse and put it into the donation box. Suddenly, she felt guilty. She had prayed so many times in the Steam Church, and each time she only put in a few pennies. In addition, she was lazy and often didn't go once a week, so the amount she donated to the Steam Church in the past few years was not as much as this time...

Fors couldn't help but whisper in her heart:
"How about I just convert to the Goddess of Night?"

After walking out of the church, Fors saw Hibbert and Hugh standing next to a luxurious carriage. She immediately wanted to pretend that she didn't know them and walked away.

Hibbert spotted Fors who was also leaving the church and greeted him with a smile:
"Good afternoon, Miss Forth."

Fors was inevitably a little embarrassed after being discovered, and asked to change the subject:
"Lord Hibbert, do you know me?"

Hibbert smiled and said:

"Of course, Audrey often told me about you and said you were a great writer."

"That's it."

Fors showed a look of realization, but muttered in her heart, "No way." Even if Audrey really mentioned her, Hibbert had never met her, so how could he know who she was? He must have investigated Hugh in advance and knew their relationship.

After a brief greeting, Fors and Xio watched Hibbert slowly drive away in the luxurious carriage with the Hall family crest.

"Fors..."

Xio shouted softly, but was quickly interrupted by Fors, "Let's talk about it when we get back."

"it is good."

Xio nodded silently, and the two of them confirmed the direction and turned into an uninhabited alley on the side of the road.

Xio gently grasped Fors's hand, and in a burst of illusory blue light, the two figures disappeared in the blink of an eye.
-
At 117 Burningham Street, Hillston District, the two people who had just disappeared on Pacefield Street quietly appeared in the living room of the house.

"Ah~ I'm so tired..."

Fors fell on the sofa all of a sudden, hugged the petite little girl who was sitting on the sofa obediently, and rubbed her cheek vigorously:

"Kurara, did you miss me?"

Xiu put his hand on his forehead and sighed helplessly:
"Fors, be normal."

Fors asked confidently:
"Am I abnormal?"

Xio was somewhat speechless, but she did not continue to pursue the question, because she knew she would definitely not be able to win the argument with Fors——

Although he is a layman, as a novelist, Fors is much more eloquent than Hugh.

"Let's get down to business."

Xio's face turned serious, and he asked with some doubt:
"Why would you ask me to accept Lord Hibbert's proposal?"

Fors waved his hand and said:

"Don't worry, this is good for you. As for the Hall family, you don't have to worry about their ulterior motives. This is just one of their many investments. They probably chose you because of Yu Jin. What's more, joining MI9 can make you less transparent. No matter how you look at it, it will be beneficial to you."

Xio immediately realized that the "transparent" Fors was referring to the Tarot Club. Among all the members of the Tarot Club, she was the only one who had no power behind her. Therefore, she had always been just a little "transparent", with no needs and no ability to provide any help.

This was not a good thing. It would easily make others feel that her presence in the Tarot Club was redundant. If she continued like this, she might even be kicked out of the Tarot Club by Mr. Fool. Joining MI9 could be considered to have slightly increased her value.

(End of this chapter)