Ciel didn't particularly like coming to the Burial Agency's headquarters.
The reason was simple—she just didn't want to meet that annoying director.
The Burial Agency was the Church's most powerful combat organization, and its selection criteria weren't based on faith but rather on the ability to truly eliminate heretics. Faith and personality were only secondary and tertiary factors. Naturally, the chosen members were all individuals with abnormal personalities.
And even among the Burial Agency's members, the director's level of abnormality was at the top. As a serial killer, she also enjoyed various forms of "oppression," including tormenting Ciel and every other member of the Burial Agency.
Because of this, every member of the Burial Agency wanted to kill her.
If possible, Ciel really didn't want to meet her, but she had no choice. No matter how much she hated it, a summons from a superior had to be obeyed. Otherwise, she'd be accused of insubordination, which would bring a lot of trouble.
"Oh? How rare, it's Ciel, isn't it?"
Another irritating voice rang out. Of course, compared to the director, the owner of this voice didn't annoy Ciel as much. To be honest, all members of the Burial Agency disliked each other—it was just a matter of degree.
The owner of the voice was a priest, with spiky hair like a hedgehog, a fairly tall build, but an aura of laziness, like a countryman who often basked in the sun.
"Pastor Dawn."
Ciel greeted him.
"It's been a while. Were you also summoned by the director?"
"Yeah, I was sleeping soundly, but suddenly got a call like a food delivery order." Pastor Dawn gave a bitter smile. "Though my job isn't much different from delivering food anyway."
"As unlikely as it seems, the director wouldn't assign us the same mission, would she?"
"Eh? Wouldn't that just exhaust you? Dragging me along as dead weight would be such a hassle."
"At least you're self-aware."
Though they were both members of the Burial Agency, Pastor Dawn was vastly different from the others—he was extremely weak.
Among a group of superhumans, each with strength enough to rival a Servant, Pastor Dawn was the only member selected not for combat ability but for other reasons.
He had no exorcist abilities, no means of attack or self-defense, couldn't handle blood and violence, disliked horror movies, and even fainted at the sight of a heretic's massacre scene. He didn't even possess the basic knowledge of Magecraft, a mandatory requirement for an Executor.
In other words, he was completely ordinary. The reason he could join the Burial Agency was largely due to his irreplaceable role in certain situations. Beyond that, all he could do was menial labor—carrying weapons, escorting people... and being dead weight.
As unlikely as it seemed, given that the director wouldn't casually summon two members for a meeting—
'It must be another difficult mission.'
Ciel let out a heavy sigh.
As they spoke, their footsteps didn't stop, leading them to the end of the hallway. Pushing open the closed office door, they immediately saw the director imitating Commander Ikari's pose.
"You're on time, but next time, be faster. If you're any slower, though Dawn would be fine, Ciel, you might die once or twice."
The young woman covering one eye with her long hair smiled.
Facing those words, Ciel only replied flatly: "If you could kill me, that'd be great, Director Narbareck—so, what's the mission?"
"You're so impatient. I like your straightforwardness, but backtalk isn't good."
*Pu-chi!*
A Black Key pierced Ciel's shoulder.
Calmly, Ciel pulled out the Black Key and tossed it back, ignoring her bloodstained clothes, and asked again: "What's the mission?"
"Go to Paris, France, and kill a high-ranking Dead Apostle."
"That simple?"
"Consider it a vacation. I just won a grand prize from a TV lottery, but I'm too busy to go, so I'm giving it to you."
A TV lottery grand prize?
Ciel sighed. "I get it, you called me here just to mess with me? Then I'll go back to training."
"Did I say you could leave?" Narbareck's voice suddenly turned cold. "Dawn will escort you to Paris. The mission target is a high-ranking Dead Apostle—and a great evil."
"A great evil?"
Ciel frowned.
"One of the 27 Ancestors? Or a True Ancestor?"
"No. There's only a prophecy like that. You know, when hunting heretics, we sometimes perform divination through secret rituals—though it's mostly just tracking their scent. This time, the ritual marked a great shadow looming over Paris."
"Roa?"
"His reincarnation cycle isn't that fast, it's only been four years, right? And we don't need to hunt Roa—just wait for the princess to show us the way." Narbareck smirked. "Well, though it's called a 'great shadow' over Paris, it's just a shadow. After interpretation, it only means a great evil is coming to Paris. Whether it's a heretic we need to execute still needs confirmation."
Hearing this, Ciel understood. "So, under the pretext of killing a Dead Apostle, we're also investigating the true nature of this 'shadow'?"
"More or less. Expenses can be covered by the local church. You can bring the Seventh Scripture—safety comes first. Dawn will drive and carry your equipment."
"If you really cared about my safety, you wouldn't send this slacker along."
"Your words truly wound me." Dawn gave a wry smile, then looked at Narbareck. "But I also understand why I was called—to verify the clues from the Holy Virgin's prophecy, right?"
The only reason Pastor Dawn was recruited into the Burial Agency was this—a Holy Virgin once prophesied that in his lifetime, he would exorcise demons three times. In fact, he was the only person with a verifiable record of completely exorcising a fully possessed individual.
If the great shadow was the demon prophesied to be exorcised by Dawn, great—let him handle it. If not, no problem—he could just do the grunt work.
"Ciel, Dawn, I look forward to your good news."
"Understood."
"Yeah, yeah."
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
At the same time.
"Hachoo!"
On a plane heading to Paris, the great shadow—Naoki—suddenly sneezed loudly. Gray, sitting beside him, quickly handed him a tissue: "Big brother, here."
"Thanks... I suddenly feel like someone's out to get me."
"Out to get you... really?"
"Well, just a feeling. Maybe it's just my imagination."