I! Cleaner!-Chapter 419 - 357: Interrogations and Suspicions

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"..."

*What does ’your Emma’ mean... Could it be that there’s something between the two of you...*

"What are you thinking about?"

Leon saw the strange look in the red-haired director’s eyes and guessed his thoughts. Quickly letting go of his collar, the director said with annoyance,

"Emma and I are friends, the best of friends! Um, other than that, she’s also my biggest creditor, and that’s all there is!"

"Oh..."

"Oh, what? Oh!"

Seeing Leon’s expression of sudden realization and recalling the widespread Marquis lake incident, the red-haired director became angry and said with displeasure,

"You bastard, you’re a genius at playing dumb!

And about that ’everything will be fine with William and Melanie’s help’... I scoff! Emma almost wrote what she wants on her face, and I don’t believe you couldn’t see what she was trying to say!"

"..."

"Hurry up! Give me a straight answer! What do you really think of Emma?

And! That female police officer from the Secret Investigation Bureau who always has lunch with you, Princess Veronica, who is nominally betrothed to you, what do you plan to do about all this?"

"..."

*It seems the Master Performer doesn’t work well on the director either...*

Leon scratched his head and replied with a slightly awkward smile,

"Yisha and I are just friends, the kind that didn’t know each other until we fought, and as for the princess, I’ve always wanted to break off the engagement, but she keeps talking me out of it. Three times it happened, and still no success.

And the reason I pretended not to understand earlier was mainly because of the princess...

After all, regardless of how things actually are, there really is an engagement between us. If it’s not sorted out first... well, it just doesn’t seem right..."

*Goodness, I didn’t expect you to be so compatible with anomalous demons, but morally upright in private...*

Recognizing Leon’s expression and confirming that he wasn’t lying, the red-haired director’s demeanor softened slightly. He narrowed his eyes and said,

"I don’t care what your final decision is, but as Emma’s best friend, you need to handle this properly. At least don’t hurt her again, or don’t blame me for causing you trouble!"

"Ah, well... even though I don’t want to hurt Senior Emma, isn’t this an abuse of power on your part and a personal vendetta?"

"That’s right! So what? If you have a problem, go complain to headquarters!"

"..."

*Not to mention whether complaining would work, headquarters is over seventy thousand kilometers from the surface. Could I even get there?*

After seeing Leon’s speechless look, the director, having vented quite a bit of anger, hesitated briefly before saying in a low voice,

"Also... honestly, I don’t really want you and Emma to be together."

"Ah?"

Upon hearing this, Leon was a bit bewildered, and his mind involuntarily recalled his deep bonds with the director, along with that warm and passionate kiss in the Realm of the Dead.

*Did this mean...hiss... does the director also... could I actually be some unparalleled handsome guy?*

"Emma’s connection to the Realm of the Dead is actually much closer than you imagine, and it’s not just a simple Sin of the Precious Flower.

For years, she’s the only cleaner able to enter and exit the Realm of the Dead freely and sign a contract with the True God of the Dead. Even little Ellie has some issues..."

The red-haired director said with a furrowed brow,

"Leon, I won’t lie to you, when the Bauhinia Family incident occurred, I paid special attention to the situation there.

Did you know? If Emma hadn’t entrusted Ellie to someone else and accidentally escaped from the Realm of the Dead, the members of the Bauhinia Family who died under that tree would have numbered exactly nine hundred ninety-nine, and that number really stuck in my mind...

Hmm? What’s the matter with you? Why aren’t you speaking?"

"..."

*Because I just had the wild idea that... maybe... you want to compete with Senior Emma for me... How could I admit that out loud?*

Using the effect of the Master Performer to suppress the strong sense of shame that surged in his heart, Leon took a deep breath and replied with a straight face,

"I just didn’t expect there to be more to the story...

But director, whether it’s Senior Emma’s Sin of the Precious Flower or little Ellie’s Jewel Flower’s Woe, I’ve already encountered them, and I didn’t see any suspicious records. Could you be overthinking it?"

"I shouldn’t be."

The red-haired director shook his head and said,

"Leon, remember, as a cleaner, you must learn to rely on your ability, but you cannot believe only in your ability!"

"I carefully compared it, and the information your ability reveals is mostly just related to the anomalous objects themselves, rarely mentioning anything beyond them, so it can only be used for reference, not as decisive judgment criteria.

For instance, let me ask you, since it was Emma’s departure from the Realm of the Dead that led to the Sin of the Precious Flower emerging, but with the Three-headed Dog guarding the gate of the Realm of the Dead, how did she get past the gate guarded by that dog? Did your ability say anything?"

"Well... no, it didn’t..."

Hearing this, Leon was taken aback, his brows furrowing as well.

"But I’ve seen in other anomalous object descriptions, the Canine Deity is mostly asleep while guarding the gate, and occasionally leaves briefly to hunt. Could it be pure coincidence..."

"Why did coincidence fall on Emma?"

The red-haired director said seriously,

"Why did that dog leave early or late, but when nine hundred ninety-nine souls, sharing the same bloodline and cause of death, each with similar regrets and grievances, gathered as one, that’s when it left?

Moreover, the number nine hundred ninety-nine is very intriguing!"

At this point, the red-haired director couldn’t help but sigh,

"I reviewed the dossiers, and about a thousand one hundred and four Bauhinia members were incarcerated before execution, yet in the half-month leading up to the execution, a series of exactly one hundred and five people died, leaving just nine hundred ninety-nine.

Numbers like nine hundred ninety-nine, seven, thirteen, six, three, and one hundred eleven are often associated with rituals in occultism and shouldn’t be ignored. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

In particular, nine hundred ninety-nine is related to ’descent.’ Considering this deliberately arranged number, along with Emma’s obviously overly close ties with the Realm of the Dead, it’s hard not to overthink it.

Especially considering the Bauhinia Family’s demise coincided with the Ice Plains Nation’s invasion, and the ensuing war brought a lot of deaths, which would be the perfect nourishment for an entity descending from the Realm of the Dead."

"..."

*Considering it this way... it’s not impossible...*

After reflecting on the Bauhinia Family’s plight, Leon nodded gravely.

If one didn’t delve too deeply, the Bauhinia Family tragedy seemed to be the result of Leonard’s ambition with no orchestrator behind the scenes, but it all felt a bit too coincidental.

If someone else had been in charge of the trade route, if the Bauhinia Family had received the information in time, if the information had been gathered by someone other than Leonard, or if the royal family had tried negotiating before taking action, the outcome could have been different each time, but each result was the worst one.

*So... was the Bauhinia Family’s downfall really as simple as it seemed?*

"Director."

Calling out to the red-haired director, Leon said with a furrowed brow,

"Did you share these suspicions with Senior Emma?"

"What could I say?"

The red-haired director replied with a sigh of exasperation,

"Even setting aside the lack of evidence, would I tell her that a possible Overlord of the Dead Realm is secretly manipulating events, using her family’s lives for a ritual?

As things stand now, she’s still got some hope for revenge. If I shared my suspicions, letting her know that the Bauhinia incident might involve an Overlord of the Dead Realm, her chances of finding joy in this life might vanish."

"Besides, although the Marquis Goldcrest was a complete bastard, he did take Ellie away and didn’t let her die directly beneath the red cedar. Maybe that’s why the descent ritual was disrupted.

So if my guess is correct and a Dead Realm Overlord sought to descend, he might actually have saved most of the Capital City..."

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