Percy remained standing in the middle of the hallway, staring in the direction Lyro had disappeared.
For a moment, he considered following him.
But he shrugged the thought off.
Lyro had mentioned a mission, and despite all his complaints and jokes, the man had looked genuinely busy.
Percy didn't want to become a nuisance, especially when the work involved whatever strange things the Eclipse Syndicate dealt with.
"Well then..."
Percy glanced around.
"Where do I go from here?"
A few employees moved through the hallways, carrying documents or speaking to one another in hurried voices. Everyone looked occupied.
"As expected of a large organization."
Not that he actually knew what he had expected.
With nowhere else to go, Percy simply headed back the way he had come.
Eventually, he reached the reception hall once more.
Fiona was still behind the counter, while the elderly man stood nearby sorting through a stack of documents.
Percy walked over and waited patiently until Fiona looked up.
"Hello."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Oh?" Fiona blinked. "Done already?"
Percy remained smiling with no other visible emotion making his smile flat.
Realization seemed to seeped into Fiona . As the brightness in her eyes vanished.
"No, wait."
She stared at him.
"Don't tell me he left you just like that."
Percy maintained his smile.
"Yes. He did."
For a brief moment, they looked at one another.
A strange sense of camaraderie passed between them.
Then Fiona giggled.
"I should've seen that coming."
The old man beside her merely shook his head, looking completely unsurprised.
"Anyways," Fiona continued, "I'm afraid I can't help you with the recruitment process."
Percy's smile froze.
"If you were applying as a normal employee, I could handle it."
She pointed upward.
"But since you're one of the special cases, you'll need someone from the Eclipse Syndicate itself."
Percy already had a bad feeling about where this was going.
"And they're all gone for now."
Fiona tilted her head. "I wonder if Lyro mentioned that."
"He did."
Fiona sighed once more.
Then, for a brief moment, her eyes lit up.
"Oh!"
"I can't help you with the special registration," she said, pointing a finger upward, "but I can help you with the normal one."
A bit confused percy spoke "But you just said"
"No need to worry about that."
Fiona waved her hand dismissively.
"Everyone in the Eclipse Syndicate is also registered under the Union Law Syndicate."
She half stood up from her chair.
"They need a public identity, after all. They can't exactly go around telling people they work for a secret supernatural organization."
That was a fair point.
"Usually people complete their Eclipse registration first and then their public registration afterward."
"But in your case, we can simply do the public one first. No reason to delay."
Percy nodded slowly.
"That actually sounds reasonable i guess."
"And while we're at it," Fiona continued, "I can also show you around the building."
Before Percy could respond, a cough sounded from beside her.
The old man finally looked up from his paperwork.
"Fiona."
It was the first time he had directly spoken in front of Percy.
"That's quite the creative method of getting out of work."
Fiona's smile remained perfectly innocent.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
The old man stared at her.
She stared back. Not even a hint of guilt appeared on her face. After several seconds, she added,
"I'm simply helping out our special recruit navigate the building after Lyro abandoned him."
The old man's expression somehow became even flatter.
"So you're blaming Lyro."
"Naturally."
"Even though this was your idea."
"Especially because it was my idea."
The old man slowly lowered his gaze back to his documents. For some reason, he looked as though he had aged another decade.
Percy watched the exchange in silence.
Then a thought crossed his mind.
"Women are scary."
"Particularly the ones who could smile so sweetly while shifting responsibility onto someone else without the slightest hesitation."
"But then again , i guess Lyro deserves it "
The old man signed another document.
"At least you're self-aware."
Fiona ignored him and stood up from her chair.
"Come on, Mr. Ronan."
She smoothed her uniform.
"I'll show you around the headquarters."
With an awkward smile, Percy bowed his head slightly before following Fiona down the hallway.
---
Elsewhere within the headquarters.
A large room had a heavy atmosphere with four people in it . At its center stood Lyro, surrounded by three men dressed in Syndicate uniforms. A large map of the Fereom District was spread across the table before them.
"Clear the area from here to here," Lyro instructed, tracing a path across the map with his finger.
His hand stopped near a marked section.
"Especially around this area."
One of the men glanced down.
The Red Light District.
"Understood, sir."
The man saluted and hurried out of the room. Another quickly followed after him.
Lyro remained focused on the map.
"Marco."
"Yes, sir."
The remaining man stepped forward.
He was visibly older than Lyro, yet his posture remained respectful.
"Any news regarding the Church's movements?"
Marco's expression turned serious.
"Nothing confirmed, sir. However, we've observed several movements that don't match the Church's usual behavior."
Lyro raised an eyebrow which he immediately let down.
"Ahemm , what do you mean?"
"Their personnel have been moving after the descent of the Second Sun."
Lyro considered this for a moment.
"What's unusual about that?"
He folded his arms.
"It could simply be their Haunted conducting operations. Or perhaps they're using hired Strays."
"No, sir."
Marco shook his head.
"The attire clearly belonged to ordained priests."
That made Lyro pause.
"We verified their identities. They're listed among the Churches priests without a doubt."
Lyro's fingers tapped against the table.
"Senior Charles needs to hear about this before I make any decisions."
Marco nodded.
"Understood."
"Leave it for now."
"Yes, sir."
After receiving his orders, Marco saluted and excused himself from the room.
The door closed behind him.
For several moments, Lyro remained staring at the map.
Then he finally lowered himself into a chair.
His gaze drifted toward the ceiling.
"I thought they only accepted the Blessed as priests."
"Are those stuck ups finally changing their orthodox teachings?