Atticus [BL]
Chapter 24 Help

Chapter 24: 24 Help

Atticus was wearing his reading glasses, his gray eyes didn’t even spare a glance at Deacon Frantz. Instead, he was looking straight at the white-haired man who was enjoying macarons sitting next to the Deacon.

If it was not for Atticus’s gray eyes and pale gray streaks in his hair, he certainly resembled the white-haired man. Although not totally but, the similarity of their features was what made Deacon and Nolan confused and suspicious.

Frantz was the first to break the silence, "I apologize for the unannounced visit, Lord Nolan."

Nolan then quickly gained his composure and sat opposite the two visitors. Atticus, with a reserved manner, actively attended to his Young Master by pouring him tea before he stood behind Nolan from the sofa.

"What’s the purpose of the visit?" Nolan quickly asked, not bothering to look at his tea.

"A tragic accident happened, a resident of the village was brutally killed. A young girl who lived alone with her grandmother." Deacon Frantz briefly answered.

"Any leads for the perpetrator?"

The Deacon gazed at the Young Lord of their village before he looked down at his untouched tea on the table.

"It’s more complicated than that," Frantz then slipped his hand into the sleeve of his cassock and pulled out something before he placed it on the table for the others to see.

"I saw this item at the scene. Most probably, the perpetrators left this on purpose."

The item that was laid on the table was a necklace. It had a silver chain, its pendant was a small silver-colored plain metal phallic cross.

Nolan was certainly familiar of the item. Although it was not exactly what he saw with one of the leader of their occult group, the material and the symbol was certainly the same.

He took the necklace from the table and studied it in his hand, "Has the corpse been taken care of?"

"The City official police and the forensic teams should be on their way to handle the case," Frantz answered as he intently watched Nolan examine the necklace.

"I’ll take responsibility on this," Nolan placed the necklace on the table and pushed it back in front of the Deacon, "Thank you for informing me, I’ll take care of the rest."

Deacon calmly watched Nolan stand up from his seat.

"Nailed upside down against the wall, her arms and legs spread open. Her intestines were wrenched out of her stomach and draped across her chest, her private part was bleeding,too. "

Nolan paused and glanced at Deacon Frantz, who was staring straight into his eyes.

"Lord Nolan, I don’t think you understand the situation yet."

"What are you talking about?" Nolan asked, meeting the eyes of the Deacon without wavering.

Frantz broke free from their gaze before he took the necklace and put it back into the pocket of his cassock, "The church is aware of the occult group hiding amongst the residents of the village."

Nolan remained standing and listened to the Deacon across him. The white-haired man beside him had almost finished the pastries from the tiered serving stand.

"The Sanction had managed to gather intel of the names suspected to be heretics. The current team conducting an investigation confirmed almost all the names were innocent."

Suddenly, Nolan’s face turned more serious. The Deacon was undoubtedly trying to get a reaction from him, but he remained still, meeting the eyes of the Deacon with his unwavering eyes. He knew what the Deacon was capable of. He had done more than investigate suspected heretics but even killed and captured heretics himself.

For a man who had a ragged and frail appearance, there was a reason why he had become a Deacon.

"That’s certainly a bad news. I can’t let those occultist people linger around my estate."

The Deacon took his cup of tea, raised it, and sipped a small portion of it.

"Lord Nolan’s name and your friend’s name, Elwin Grabenstein, were the only names that have not been cleared yet."

Certainly, Nolan couldn’t help but admire the Sanction’s quick and remarkable investigation. Or perhaps it was the Deacon who headed the investigation even before the Emperor approved of the new law?

Nolan sat back down on the sofa and crossed his legs, his purple eyes focused on the old man opposite him. He didn’t say anything and waited for the Deacon to speak more.

"Not enough, I’m still hungry."

The white-haired man suddenly spoke and glanced at Atticus, who was silently standing behind his Master.

"Hey you, will you get me some more of those cute and colorful food? Do you have more of those?"

Deacon Frantz couldn’t help but sigh at the impudent manner of the man beside him.

"Who is he?" finally asked Nolan, glancing in the direction of the white-haired man.

The man was wearing a white loin shirt with long sleeves and a black vest. His white hair was messy, and his scarlet eyes seemed to be smiling in amusement.

He had been curious about him. Deacon Frantz had always been alone, as Nolan could tell.

"Atticus, my temporary assistance." Answered Frantz shortly, "Please, forgive his insolence action, Lord Nolan. I will make sure to reprimand him."

"Atticus," Nolan called to his butler, "Take him to the kitchen, asked Sofia to prepare what he wants."

The white-haired man was delighted to hear Nolan. He instantly stood up and walked towards Atticus, "Well? You heard your master." and walked towards the door, leaving Atticus behind him.

Atticus cast a last glance at his Master before he followed behind the white-haired man and left the two.

"Deacon Frantz, I know that you have been suspicious of me and Elwin for a long time now since we arrived here. It’s thanks to my father’s good relationship to the orthodox church and his donations and support that held you back into capturing me."

Frantz listened to Nolan. He was correct, Benson Loic was one of the wealthiest and powerful Tycoon not only in their country but throughout the empire. The church would never want to lose one of their powerful source of wealth.

"Allow me to help you instead," Nolan suggested.

Deacon Frantz’s eyes stirred, "What help are you going to offer?"

"The Black Market, for instance."

The Black Market was certainly a headache for the church. Despite the lead they had on it, the church would still fall back to zero.