Josiah said, “Although we’ve discovered some clues, they are leading us in a very strange direction. It became increasingly hard to continue investigating as time passed.”
“Huh?” Xavier frowned. “Tell me what happened.”
“Well…” Josiah explained slowly, “The old man who was hospitalized used to be a soldier when he was young. He came from a military family. His son was a policeman who died in the line of duty over a decade ago while his grandson was from the special forces, though he retired due to an injury. After that, he joined the armed police and unfortunately sacrificed his life during an explosion. After that, the old man was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in his body and came to our hospital for surgery.”
He continued, “Between his hospitalization and the date of the surgery, his wife and two nieces were the only ones who had been visiting and keeping him company. I’ve checked his two nieces but neither of them has anything to do with Greta. The only possibility is that Greta knows the old man’s grandson. Since the grandson has already passed away, it’s very likely that Greta’s fulfilling his duty to his grandfather on his behalf.”
“Greta knows the old man’s grandson?” asked Xavier immediately. “But according to what you said, his grandson was a soldier and a policeman while Greta is a mercenary roaming in Jipsdale. Are you suspecting that they actually know each other?”
“Yes,” affirmed Josiah. “The old man’s neighbor said that when the old man was sick, the then-alive grandson would ask a friend to visit his grandfather when he did not have time to do so. Since someone similar to Greta has appeared in the hospital, they must be related somehow. Furthermore, a lot of mercenaries used to be soldiers. In fact, I suspect that Greta used to be a comrade of the old man’s grandson. I have no idea why she moved to a place like Manchernius afterward. The thing is, it’s just too difficult to proceed with the investigation. A lot of the information about them is confidential, so we can’t access them easily even if we want to. Well, even though it’s technically not impossible for us to keep digging into it, it’ll take a long time and it’s quite risky.”
“Even if it’s risky…”
Before Xavier could finish his sentence, Winnie suddenly opened the door and barged in. “Even if it’s risky, we must still keep investigating!”
She stared at Josiah with a clear gaze, showing no signs of her previous drunken state. “Continue with the investigation. Don’t give up regardless of what difficulties you face. This might be our only clue.”
Josiah glanced at Xavier before looking at Winnie and asking, “Didn’t you go to sleep already? Why did you come here all of a sudden?”
“I became even more awake after lying down.” Winnie said jokingly, “The thought that both of you might be discussing something top-secret behind my back compelled me to rush over instantly.”
Josiah laughed. “Since you can still joke around, you must still be quite energetic. If that’s the case, help us analyze the situation. Do you think that I’m right?”
“Are you talking about Greta’s identity?”
“Yes.”
“Sit here.” Seeing that Winnie had decided to stay, Xavier extended an arm to her.
After sitting down beside Xavier, Winnie jogged her memory and said, “I remember that the old man was very agitated when I showed Greta’s photograph to him. Although he claimed that he doesn’t know Greta, I have a feeling that he was deliberately chasing us out. My guess is that he definitely knows her. Hence, we can’t exclude the possibility that he knows Greta through his grandson.”
She continued, “Furthermore, Greta’s different from the other mercenaries. Mason mentioned that she had never brought up her past. Even though she’s been roaming around Jipsdale with Mason, she has always yearned for sunlight. She said the same thing to Mason and me, that she hopes the sun will shine one day over that dark and dirty place. If there was no hope or righteousness in her heart, there’s no way she could’ve said something like that. That’s why your guess that she might be comrades with the old man’s grandson might not completely impossible. We’ve already spread her photograph around, yet we still can’t find any information relevant to her. The old man ended up becoming our only line of investigation. This doesn’t really make sense unless her file is absolutely confidential.”
“I didn’t know she said something like that to you before.” Frowning, Josiah said, “In that case, I’m even more certain of my guess. Perhaps, she was actually a spy undertaking the same mission as Christopher. Otherwise, why would she disappear the moment Christopher’s mission ended even though she was completely fine and unexposed?”
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