I! Cleaner!

'Dear Little Leon,

Once again, thank you for everything you've done for the Purification Bureau and humanity. I'd like to take this opportunity to extend my warmest regards and convey a few things to you.

First, I sincerely apologize. I won't be able to fulfill my previous promise of giving you the Bead of the God of Brewing as expected.

Originally, I had promised to lend you the bead, intending to deliver it myself, but currently, I cannot leave headquarters. Knowing Olivia, if someone else were to deliver the bead, with her temperament, she would surely seize it by force.

To avoid such a scenario, I had no choice but to ask the Pisces Director to use the Pisces secret technique to predict how many times you would use the God of Wine Bead. We pre-prepared the corresponding liquors and sent them over, hoping this arrangement pleases you.

Secondly, although incomplete, you have indeed mastered the secret techniques of both the Taurus and Aquarius Palaces, which certainly require a substantial amount of materials for practice.

Therefore, besides the 1,111 bottles of liquor, I also sent along some anomalous materials for you to practice with, as well as a few of my notes from when I studied the Taurus Secret Arts, which should aid in your training.

Finally, I'm not going to say words like how I eagerly anticipate seeing you again in the near future. You should have already learned from Olivia about the decision made by myself and the other two directors, so the palace elevation ceremony six months from now has been canceled. Our last encounter at the headquarters two days ago should be our final meeting.

On a certain day six months from now, I will ascend directly from headquarters to the Watcher's Palace, where my soul will ignite a torch in the endless night, lighting the way forward for you.

Best wishes,

Taurus Director

P.S.: After I finished this letter, the Pisces Director also reviewed your file and showed great interest in you. He believes your ability to forcibly acquire intelligence on anomalous objects closely resembles the Pisces family's "Abnormal Observation" secret technique and thus thinks you might gain the recognition of the Pisces Star Palace, qualifying you for complete training in the Pisces Secret Technique. Once I ascend to the palace, you can visit him.'

...

*So that's how it is...*

After reading the letter that came with the wine, Leon suddenly understood.

No wonder the promised bead turned into over a thousand bottles of prepared wine; it turned out the Taurus Director feared the Red-haired Director would take drastic measures and seize it by force.

*Well... it seems his understanding of the Director is quite spot-on.* Given what I know of her morals, the likelihood of her doing such a thing is not small. It can only be said that the Taurus Director understands her well, and he's such a nice person—not only sending materials and notes but even helping me obtain the opportunity to study the Pisces Secret Technique...

Just when Leon was marveling at the Taurus His Excellency's reliability and generosity, an inexplicable chill ran through his heart, and when he turned his head in horror, he discovered the Red-haired Director glaring at him with clenched teeth, grasping a letter.

"Uh... Director, you really don't have to look at me like that."

Intimidated by the Red-haired Director's predatory gaze and swallowing hard, Leon forced a smile and said,

"I'm just tasting the wine, only taking a small sip from each bottle. You... you really don't have to glare at me like that. I truly will only take a sip, the rest is yours, isn't it?"

"All mine... If only I could actually drink it!"

Hearing Leon's words, the Red-haired Director bit her lip, her eyes suddenly reddening. She pointed to the mountainous pile of wine bottles beside her and said with indignation,

"These wines have been pre-imbued with the Word Spirit Secret Technique; only in your mouth do they taste like wine, in anyone else's, they're just plain water. Drinking them is pointless for me!"

"..."

After listening to the Red-haired Director's words, Leon clicked his tongue silently, then gave a mental thumbs-up to Taurus His Excellency.

Just as the Aquarius family has a secret technique specifically for suppressing the True God's body to extract materials for "Aberration Generation," called "God-Suppressing Forked Fingers," the Taurus family also has auxiliary secret techniques to complement the main secret technique "Anomaly Forge."

The Red-haired Director probably fell victim to the Taurus family's "Recognize Master Word Spirit," which places a "security lock" on an anomalous object, preventing those who do not meet the conditions from using it normally. The [Twelve Ant Nests] above the Virgin Branch's building are locked by this very technique.

A technique capable of locking even Numbered anomalous objects was used to secure some ordinary liquor. Taurus His Excellency certainly used a sledgehammer to crack a nut—making much ado about very little.

"Well... then I really can't do anything about it now..."

Leon never expected the Taurus Director to go so far. Unable to help, he could only shrug his shoulders helplessly, looking sympathetically at the Red-haired Director, who seemed about to cry, and quickly moved the boxes of liquor into the storage room on the first floor.

The Red-haired Director stood nearby, dejected, staring at the good wines she could only see but not drink, as an intense envy and acidity rose within her.

Should she make things difficult for him? Or find an excuse to dock his pay?

Watching Leon, like an industrious little squirrel, continuously move boxes of fine wine indoors, the Red-haired Director's gaze grew increasingly resentful and dangerous.

Even though it wasn't Leon's fault that she couldn't drink these fine wines, I had bought him drinks countless times, with long bills from the tavern, and whenever I had something good, I always thought of this bastard. But now he enjoys it alone. He drinks, I watch; he gets drunk, I crave...

If I don't do something, I won't sleep well this month!

...

"Hiss... that red-haired woman seems to have really stewed over this."

After Leon finished moving all the wine and firmly closed the stockroom door, the Black Goat emerged from the storage room's light bulb glass, cautioning nervously,

"Kid, let me tell you, although she treats people in the bureau well, she's no ordinary grudge-holder. You must tread carefully these next few days!"

"..."

Indeed, with so much fine wine at hand, yet unable to drink a single drop, the Director's bitterness was thick enough to solidify...

Listening to the Black Goat's advice, Leon nodded reluctantly, acknowledging its judgment. Then he twisted open a bottle of wine, taking a refined small sip.

There's nothing for it; although it feels a bit unfair to the Director, once I finish these thousand sips, my [Martyr of the Wine Country] will upgrade to the second heterochromatic badge [Immortal of Liquor]. Moreover, I wasn't the one who set the Word Spirit, so it truly isn't my fault... hmm... truly worthy of a Bead of the God of Wine, this wine is remarkable.

With great restraint, Leon resisted the urge to gulp it down, silently recapped the bottle, then opened another, all while trying to keep his expression less joyful, feeling the guilt of "eating alone" behind the Director's back. He gulped down a big swig.

Hmm, delicious.