Mir's heart leaped in delight as the enforcers waiting outside his house rushed toward the wall upon receiving the signal that someone set foot into the trap they had laid.

Just five minutes ago, seeing that the intruders had been chased off by the police, Mir had decided not to keep hiding inside the doghouse. He had never imagined that someone would come looking for him there. It might have been a coincidence...or maybe that creature had really found him, whatever it was.

Mir had been lucky enough to hear its movements outside, making him resort to the last-ditch attempt at scaring it off. Luckily for him, it had worked.

But even if the companion creature he had scared off didn't suspect something, someone else might. That doghouse was no longer safe.

He had no idea what the extent of the power of his opponents was. But that only spurred him to take even the smallest threat seriously.

It wasn't his idea to use his previous hideout as a trap. One of the transcenders in the team had suggested it after hearing his story. He apparently had a mutated creature that could sense trespassing in a specific, limited area from a mile away. Many of the transcenders who worked for the law enforcement agency owned this companion creature, mostly used to hunt down criminals.

So Mir had left his shirt inside the kennel, hoping that anyone tracing him through scent would be tricked into going there. Once again, luck had favored him!

Hahaha, the Church of Sunbreaker is gonna have a field day tomorrow when they find out one of their Deacons is involved in a heist to rob a sacred artifact belonging to the Church!

Leaving his parents' bedroom, Mir walked out of the house and tried to get a glimpse of who the enforcers had arrested. But as his eyes fell on Mackie's yard, he froze.

A short man in loose underwear was standing in front of the doghouse, surrounded by half a dozen enforcers performing salutes. The man's piercing eyes found him the moment he had come out through the front door.

The criminal caught in the trap was an enforcer too? And he even was of a higher rank than the others here?

While Mir's mind completely got stuck in a blockade of confusion, one of the enforcers put his hand down and said, "Sir, we'll need to see a warrant for investigation-"

Another enforcer elbowed him from behind and cut in.

"It's a pleasure to learn that you're visiting the Capital, sir. Going by your current situation, I think you might know more than the rest of us about what's happening here. The Office of Law Enforcement in Enet District would truly appreciate it if you cooperated with us!"

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If eyes could speak, Mir would be hurling a litany of insults at the second enforcer.

Of course that criminal superior of yours knows that something strange is afoot! But why the hell are you ignoring the fact that this guy could very well be your target? He's most definitely the one who attempted the robbery!

But the second enforcer's diplomatic tone seemed to be supported by the rest of his teammates. The first guy cast a confused look at them, clearly not convinced. But to Mir's disappointment, he remained silent.

"There's no need to be alarmed," a new voice spoke out. Mir's gaze flickered back to the speaker, the semi-naked man.

"I have the warrant of investigation. In fact, it's one of the main reasons why the Aristocrats brought me back from retirement. Type case code S-466 into your database. You'll see my name on the list of investigators."

Mir heard a couple of the enforcers gasp. Was there something special about the code? Or were they surprised by his return from retirement?

The enforcer who had asked for an investigation warrant hesitantly took out his data terminal and did it. Mir didn't know what the results showed him, but he wore a clear look of shock as he turned it off.

Meanwhile, the other enforcer who had spoken so far had already found another crucial detail in the man's words.

"Sir, are you implying that this case isn't just about a simple robbery of a grade-1 sacred Artifact? There is a longer trail behind this?"

"It's not a grade-1 artifact," the man replied in a cool voice. "And I have no idea what robbery case you're talking about. I found a trace of the artifact while passing by, which surprised me so much that I got too immersed in tracking it, not noticing the amateurish trap. Retirement has truly damaged my skillset, it seems."

The enforcers were shaken once more. Even Mir's legs shook at the revelation. He recalled that the diary had the label 1-99 stamped on the back. So the 1 in the label referred to grade-1... Did the Church treat the ability of the diary as an equivalent of a grade-1 mutation in living creatures?

That made sense. But this man had just said that the diary wasn't actually a grade-1 artifact. This made even more sense! The true extent of the diary's capacity could definitely be at grade-2, maybe even grade-3, judging by how many secrets Murray had hidden from him.

While his mind was in disarray trying to waddle through the continuous twists and turns, he didn't realize that all the enforcers had turned to look at him by now.

"Grade- 1... Did this boy tell you that? Were you really so gullible that you trusted a random label that anyone can make? Tsk, tsk, tsk."

The man's voice was like the devil's whisper behind their ears. Mir suddenly realized the problem too, although it was too late to do anything now.

He had told these enforcers that his brother Murray had given him an artifact of the Church for safekeeping for the night. When he had told him that the artifact was labeled 1-99, they hadn't thought much of it, which was probably because they too, like him, thought the artifact wasn't anything too powerful.

Now, they had a reason to suspect him and Murray.

"What's this robbery case? Would someone brief me, please?" the man said.

After one of the enforcers explained what had transpired here till now, the man didn't wait for them to make a move. He strolled calmly through the encirclement and leaped over to this side of the wall, coming to a stop in front of a frozen, dumbstruck Mir. The enforcers were quick to follow.

"Would you please cooperate with the law enforcement agency and give up this artifact of yours, young man? You seem smart enough to not make a terrible decision right now."

Mir wasn't sure if it was his mistake, but he saw the pitch-black pupils of the man flicker toward his stomach several times where the diary had been hidden just seven minutes ago.

"...It's not with me," he said, finding his lungs too stuffy all of a sudden.

"Is that so?" the man brought his face closer to him, smiling wolfishly.

"Where is it, then? Where did you hide this precious artifact that your brother gave you for safekeeping?"

"Upstairs, in my room. I put it inside a pile of old textbooks..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the man rushed past him, leaving an order behind for the team of enforcers.

"Watch him."

As the men closed up around him, treating him the same way they'd treat a criminal, Mir sighed.

"WHERE IS IT? IT'S NOT HERE!" A furious shout came from upstairs half a minute later.

"Looks like the intruders found it before they ran. Oh man, my brother's gonna skin me when he gets home..."

Mir shook his head with a despondent look on his face.