Chapter 80: Clearing His Name

Chapter 80: Clearing His Name

When Kevin saw Miss Yingling sitting on the sofa in the private booth, legs crossed and gently smoking her pipe, he felt a wave of warmth in his heart.

Miss Yingling was somewhat of an acquaintance. After her aunt introduced them at the last ball, Kevin couldn’t get her out of his mind. Besides her beauty, this lady was an Earl!

It was simply too perfect a match!

Unfortunately, there had been no contact since then. He originally thought he could attend this charity gala, and Miss Yingling was also considering having him as her dance partner. But he had urgent matters and couldn’t attend, so he didn’t know who she ended up dancing with.

Thinking of this, Kevin felt a little sour inside.

‘To have the honor of sharing a dance with Miss Yingling… that bastard got lucky… Miss Yingling didn’t let him take advantage, did she? No, she’s not that kind of person.’

At this moment, Kevin noticed Yingling kept looking at Ross. Remembering he hadn’t made introductions yet, he stood up.

“By the way, Miss Yingling. Allow me to introduce someone. Mr. Ross has actually been an undercover agent we placed within the Voodoo Gang all along.” Kevin stood up very gentlemanly and nodded as he introduced. “In fact, he has been undercover there for many years, but who would have thought, the longer he stayed, the more he…”

At this point, many agents and Ross exchanged knowing smiles, and the mood in the room lightened up.

Ross chuckled while thinking it over. He understood Kevin’s meaning. This was a plan to gradually clear his name. Afterward, he would just need a file from the Magic Prison side, Kevin would pull some strings, and things would be pretty much settled.

From what Kevin implied, he probably intended to include Ross’s entire career record in this Faceless One investigation report—for example, cooperating with Lord Polst, infiltrating Blackhorn Alley for years to gather information on wanted criminals, and finally closing the net.

And in this final operation, besides catching many wanted ‘flower card’ criminals, they also caught a big fish like Harold.

As for the true souls of the Voodoo Demon Marquis, they had already been ‘eaten’ by ‘Warden Ross’.

The files were easy to handle; with Stuart here, it wouldn’t be a problem.

As for Polst’s side, Stuart would likely communicate with him afterward.

“Miss Yingling, the specific details about Mr. Ross are not widely known yet. However, the two of you will need to cooperate closely from now on. Please take the time to get to know each other better.”

After hearing this, Yingling was slightly stunned. She exchanged a glance with Ross and then suddenly understood.

“Kevin~ You’ve really brought me a ‘surprise’—over these years in Blackhorn Alley, the Foxes and the Voodoo Gang have had plenty of dealings. The name of the Voodoo Demon Marquis certainly rang loud in my ears. I just never imagined he was actually a member of the Ministry of Magic’s Magic Prison Division. With his cooperation this time, we will surely be able to bring peace back to Blackhorn Alley.”

“Then I’ll have to trouble both of you greatly from here on out.” Kevin said with a smile. “Blackhorn Alley, that den of filth, has been on the Ministry’s radar for many years. If you two can open a breach here this time and restore order, then when the Ministry establishes a branch office here, you two will undoubtedly be the ones credited with the greatest merit…”

Kevin said a lot, sounding very much like someone trying to turn a small matter into a big opportunity, full of the flair of a capable official—but in fact, these were all hints Louis had previously left for him.

These hints were like a wake-up call for Kevin, allowing him to seize this major opportunity—now Blackhorn Alley had just been ‘cleaned out’ by Lord ‘Polst’ and twelve Wardens. It was a golden, once-in-a-lifetime chance to reclaim Blackhorn Alley.

And once this succeeded, the credit would be far greater than capturing Harold. Yingling and Ross would most likely become the Director and Deputy Director, and he himself would surely take a big step up in the Ministry of Magic!

Kevin didn’t say many things explicitly. But the words ‘Director’ and ‘Deputy Director’ flashed in Yingling’s mind like a bolt of lightning.

Did I just hit the jackpot in one go?

Director!

No one can really compete with me for this Director position!

Even if the Ministry parachutes in someone as Director, making me the Deputy, he’d just be someone I could easily sideline!

I thought I was just doing some small business here in Blackhorn Alley, but my little venture has run into a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—right now, Blackhorn Alley is truly a place where ‘when the tiger is away, the monkey reigns as king’.

And I, dear me, am that monkey!

A tiger did show up today—and darn it, he’s my bodyguard!

Hahahahaha…

Once she figured it out, Yingling sat up even straighter and spoke to these distinguished Ministry guests with more confidence—these used to be big shots. Especially this Mr. Kevin; though his official rank wasn’t extremely high, he was someone who could speak to her aunt, as his backing ran deep.

But now, I don’t have to carefully curry favor with anyone.

This Directorship is practically in my pocket. If I really get it, even county senators will have to suck up to me in the future. I might even run for senator myself—once Blackhorn Alley is unified and becomes a new voting district, who gets the votes here will be entirely up to me, won’t it?

On the other side, Kevin had already given some instructions, hinting to Yingling to cooperate with Ross to make the ‘pie’ of Blackhorn Alley bigger.

The current opportunity was not only rare but also easy to get into. With Yingling, a local power, and Ross, Polst’s representative, here in Blackhorn Alley, the future credit couldn’t possibly go to anyone else—after all, the one who truly calls the shots in Blackhorn Alley is the Faceless One.

And later, as long as Kevin’s father and Yingling’s aunt seized this great opportunity and maneuvered within the Ministry, the big pie of Blackhorn Alley could be baked.

After the group had discussed the matter fairly thoroughly, Kevin steered the topic back to the Faceless One investigation report.

Hearing everyone start talking about this, Yingling remembered something, and her expression couldn’t help but turn odd.

‘I vaguely remember, these agents all barged into the box and were taken away by the Master, right?’

‘Yes, I remember now, they should have been taken away.’

‘What happened in between? How come these agents all seem familiar with the Master? Could it be that they and the Master’s true identity are actually acquainted?’

Yingling’s face grew even more peculiar. She noticed the agents deliberately didn’t mention the Faceless One’s identity, but when talking about the Faceless One, they were smiling…

Very much in a ‘this esteemed gentleman such and such’ tone.

And when Yingling inquired, the agents all gave mysterious smiles, very much in a ‘we all know who he is, but we can’t tell you’ manner.

Could it be… the Master is really a high-ranking official in the Ministry?

Yingling couldn’t help but look at her new butler—Ross—with a face full of confusion.

Ross smiled and didn’t say much, seeming to say ‘just watch the show’.

Yingling felt stranger and stranger inside.

However, this fox lady just quietly smoked her pipe, not showing any particular expression. She certainly didn’t reveal that she knew the Faceless One—before, she had tossed Louis’s name around wildly everywhere, but now that she actually had a connection, she wanted to keep it hidden.

Occasionally, the agents would ask Yingling, the local power, about various things concerning Blackhorn Alley. And Yingling gave the agents the latest intelligence.

After receiving this information, the agents communicated in detail. Soon, these seasoned veterans had things sorted out. The relevant report contents and some plans were also preliminarily agreed upon.

“Inspector Kevin, I think this matter must be handled very cleverly.” One agent said, stroking his chin. “The identity of the Faceless One will definitely still be of great use to Pol… cough… that gentleman in the future. So, the matter of who the Faceless One is should be made known to the Ministry’s upper echelons through our investigation report—it’s best to also classify it as a Level A or S secret.”

“Indeed.” Another agent, who was writing notes, looked up and added. “The stuff in the newspapers must not expose the ‘gentleman’s’ identity—the gentleman just wants to put on a… cough… wants a reputation. Those familiar with him will know who the Faceless One is just by reading certain things in the newspaper.”

A third agent added, “Right, so for the newspapers, just do some positive publicity about the Faceless One capturing wanted criminals, and suppress all the unfavorable rumors about the gentleman in Blackhorn Alley—Miss Yingling, newspapers alone aren’t enough; this matter also needs the Foxes to cooperate a lot.”

Yingling nodded stiffly.

After listening to the agents’ discussion, Kevin also couldn’t help but nod repeatedly.

“Good, good.” Kevin said with a laugh. “Lord Polst will surely be happy this time…”

Hearing Kevin actually speak the gentleman’s name, many agents couhed sharply.

Kevin realized his slip of the tongue, and his face stiffened slightly.

He turned to look at Yingling, whose face was also stiff. He said a bit awkwardly—even his tone became more solemn: “Earl Yingling, you guessed correctly. Lord Polst is indeed the Faceless One.”

Kevin explained, “After we were taken away by the gentleman, he revealed his identity. But he doesn’t want anyone to know about it—just putting it in the newspaper is enough… heh, you understand.”

“I understand, I understand…” Yingling said with a bright smile.

Turning away, she fanned herself rapidly with her fan, her eyes wide open as she cursed vehemently in her heart.

The Thousand-Faced Lantern Reaper… he is indeed male.

But him?

Him?

That skinny ghost and Ross, one is a skeleton in human skin, the other is a clay doll. Send the two of them tied together to the harem of the Muggle Kingdom, and they wouldn’t even need to be castrated!

If you said the Faceless One was of the Dragon Clan, I might believe it. Say he’s Polst? You could beat me to death and I wouldn’t believe it!

[Miss Yingling, the gentleman is indeed not Polst. Polst is his future stand-in—please don’t say more.]

Ross’s voice suddenly sounded in Yingling’s mind. Yingling glanced at Ross, who was puffing on his pipe and reading a newspaper, and suddenly understood what was going on.

Her eyes suddenly shifted, and she got an idea, smiling brightly. “Sir Kevin, I’ve known the Faceless One’s identity for a long time. Don’t forget, I was present during that fight with Harold, you know—back then, you were in a fierce battle with Harold. Right at that critical moment of life and death, Lord Polst arrived just in time with his men to rescue us. In the end, we all worked together and successfully captured that major fugitive, Harold.”

Hearing this, Kevin was first stunned, then smiled in understanding—Miss Yingling, this clever vixen, was trying to get some benefits from me!

To be honest, to handle Lord Polst’s matter properly, they really needed this local lady’s help. Logically, she deserved a share of the credit.

But the pie of Blackhorn Alley was already big enough, why was she still eyeing this credit?

“Miss Yingling, I understand what you mean. But…” Kevin couldn’t help but look at Yingling with confusion.

“I certainly don’t care for such petty gains. However—several of my friends were present back then, Sir Kevin. Don’t you need to interview a few more people? They can all testify. At that time, County Senator Sir Barton, my good friend Ocris and her two apprentices happened to be passing by. They all participated in the battle and helped capture that major fugitive Harold—oh, by the way, Ocris’s two students are named Louis and Helen. They are temporary workers at the Mystery Office. Don’t forget to include them in the report too.”

After speaking, Yingling quietly pondered for a moment.

They had to give Sir Barton his share of the benefit. He was currently being courted by the Lufield family and was about to join the ‘Princess Faction’.

With this benefit, this ambitious fellow would surely be willing to support the Princess Faction later on.

As for that little lass Ocris, she really needed reputation within the Ministry right now! Once this report was sent to the Ministry, and her aunt worked her magic properly, it would surely create a buzz and earn the little lass quite a bit of prestige.

By then, surely more people in the Ministry would pay attention to the ‘Princess Faction’. If the Princess Faction played their cards right, they might even secretly recruit a few Ministry officials.

…