Eleanor Lawson suppressed a smile and then turned to Vermilion Bird.
"Mr Vermilion Bird, my family owns a restaurant that specializes in local Earthford cuisine. If you don't mind, I can take you there."
"Boss, how about you come with me?" Vermilion Bird scratched his head and looked at Billy. "You don't have to pay, I'll treat!"
He repeated exactly what Casey had said last time, even mimicking the tone.
"I have to attend to Ebony Lord's recovery later, so I can't accompany you." Billy scolded, giving him a stern look.
"Casey..." Vermilion Bird began, then looked at Casey.
"Don't look at me. I'm about to spar with Azure Dragon." Casey interrupted.
"Bioss, how is Ebony Lord's condition? Where is he? I want to visit him." Soul Chaser asked, ignoring Vermilion Bird's impending request.
Vermilion Bird glared at Soul Chaser but then glanced at Frostblade and Azura Dragon. Seeing their expressions, he wisely kept quiet. Observing their reactions, Eleanor Lawson tried to suppress her laughter, her face turning slightly red.
"Eleanor, please take care of him. After the meal, make sure to safely escort him back to the hotel." Frostblade said with a smile.
"Of course," Eleanor Lawson replied, blushing slightly. She then turned to Vermilion Bird and said, "Shall we go?"
"Um... Miss Lawson, please lead the way!" Vermilion Bird replied, scratching his head.
They said their goodbyes to Billy and the others before heading toward the door. The rest of the group continued chatting for a while before heading to Ebony Lord's bedroom.
The next morning, Billy and his team returned to the meeting hall after breakfast.
Shortly afterward, Wally Hammond led a few people into the room and bowed to Billy.
"Commander, we've finally managed to get him to talk!" Soul Chaser said.
"Tell us what he said." Billy replied with a faint smile.
As an S-class assassin of Ink Pavilion, Melvin Pearce had undergone brutal interrogation training, so it wasn't easy to make him talk. It was only thanks to SHADOW's intervention that they had managed to extract information from him. Otherwise, it would have been nearly impossible to learn the truth.
"Beneath the master of Ink Pavilion, there are two Councils of Elders, governed by two elder protectors. Below the elder protectors are the four chief leaders." Wally began explaining. "Below the chief leaders are the lords, and the one you killed yesterday, Alkaid, was one of them. The assassins are divided into five ranks, with S being the highest and D the lowest."
"Four chief leaders each oversee a specific region within the territory, responsible for all matters big and small in their respective areas. Alkaid and Melvin Pearce both belong to the Southern Division of Ink Pavilion." Billy explained.
"Do you know where Ink Pavilion's main headquarters is located?" Azure Fang asked.
"No," Wally shook his head. "The location of the main headquarters is known only to those above the chief leaders. Lower-ranking members like Melvin Pearce are kept in the dark. It's highly secretive."
"What about their branch in the South District?" Azure Dragon inquired.
"I found that out, it's located in a large mountain in the south."
"Ink Pavilion has four branch locations, and they typically operate as martial arts schools. Unless you have inside information, it's difficult to identify them as branches of Ink Pavilion."
"I see," Judge commented.
SHADOW had been searching for the main headquarters of Ink Pavilion by directly targeting the Ink Pavilion name, which had yielded no results due to the organization's secretive nature.
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