The car drove into Lundan, where Wayne randomly chose an alley to abandon it and gave the supplies in the car to someone in need.
The four of them took a taxi back to the detective agency. Veronica and the other two were in a hurry to return to the academy; they still had their graduation thesis and a report on eliminating the death stronghold to complete.
Before leaving, each of them expressed their gratitude to Wayne. No matter what, Wayne had saved them.
After they finished their busy days, they would bring gifts to the detective agency.
Chris reminded Wayne not to go out if he didn't have to. Although the death aura on him had dissipated due to the Gate of Truth, it was fortunate for him, but there were still other death walkers in Lundan, and who knew when they might target him again.
Chris valued Wayne very much and wished she could take him to the academy for enrollment ceremony right away. However, Evanston was a women's college, and it was impossible to admit male students.
Chris remembered there was a night school specially designed to train wizards. She still needed to inquire about the specifics, and since it was a crash course, the content taught was limited. She would personally tutor Wayne in the near future.
Once Wayne completed his initial studies and acquired a certain amount of knowledge, she would recommend a qualified mentor for him.
In this way, bathed in the goddess's radiance, Wayne would surely willingly embrace the embrace of the moonlight.
This was a solid plan!
...
Wayne waved goodbye to the three of them, following Chris's advice not to go out unless necessary.
He hailed a taxi at the door and headed to the apartment where the failed art student lived.
"Don't go out unless necessary." He had something to do.
It was time to meet the Spirit of Vengeance!
Wayne signed a contract with the Vengeful Hound and obtained his first summoned creature. Previously, he couldn't feed the other party due to lack of magic power, rendering it unable to move freely.
But now things were different. Wayne felt like a young man who had just acquired superpowers, feeling very good about himself and couldn't wait to awaken his servant.
In addition to his expectations for the first summoned creature, he had another reason he couldn't ignore. The Spirit of Vengeance had awakened. If it didn't receive its master's magic power for a long time, it would starve and likely go mad, with a high possibility of turning against its master.
As the night fell, Wayne didn't want to delay. He planned to bring the dog back home before nightfall.
Of course, he wasn't without precautions. Just in case, he tucked the Bible that restrained evil spirits into his arms.
And the white gloves.
He was confident that even if he was unlucky enough to be targeted by the ghosts, he could turn the tables and chase after them everywhere. Who would scare whom by then was uncertain.
Times had changed, he wasn't as poor as before—well, not so poor anymore. At least he wasn't afraid of the ghosts!
The taxi pulled over by the roadside. Following the guidance of the Book of Greed, Wayne searched for the Spirit of Vengeance's burial place.
The Book of Greed could only capture the wailing of the vengeful spirits and couldn't respond to the wishes of the living, which made Wayne quite annoyed. It would have been much better to sign a master-servant contract directly with a magical girl, taking a direct and smoother path on the road to becoming a mage.
With the guidance of the Book of Greed, Wayne moved as if he had a red name, and soon arrived at his destination—a wilderness area behind a pet shelter, with a nearby veterinary clinic. Occasionally, the barking of large dogs could be heard.
As night approached, the barking sounded like howling wolves, coupled with the gradually thickening fog, creating an immediately eerie atmosphere.
Indeed, it was very eerie. Wayne saw many green light spots emerging from the ground, gathering together like will-o'-the-wisps, flickering with a chilling glow.
"Damn taxi driver must have taken the long route!"
Wayne complained about being late. After a few steps, he stopped in front of a soft and muddy ground. He closed his eyes to sense and called for his servant companion, transmitting magic power to it through the Book of Greed.
The soft and damp soil slowly rose, revealing a rotting claw that emitted a nauseating stench, making Wayne instinctively cover his nose.
Having a dog's nose wasn't necessarily a good thing; it shattered many illusions, like the idea that a magical girl's fart would smell nice.
A large dog with rotting flesh all over its body crawled out of the grave, one eye socket gray and the other glowing with eerie green flames. Receiving its master's magic power, the rotten flesh on its body quickly fell off, leaving only a skeleton.
The mist gathered and formed a semi-transparent body around the skeleton of the vengeful hound, appearing both sinister and handsome.
It was a Doberman Pinscher, with a compact and symmetrical body, standing nearly seventy centimeters tall at the shoulder, with its ears uncropped and drooping.
The putrid smell in the air diminished somewhat. As their eyes met, the Doberman growled low, and Wayne saw deep-seated resentment in its eyes.
Flashes of images passed, explaining the Spirit of Vengeance's past.
This Doberman had been raised as a pet by a young boy. As the boy grew into a young man and joined the army after enrolling in military school, his family had no time to take care of the Doberman, so they left it in a pet shelter.
The shelter staff were negligent in their care of the dogs, withholding funds and using the cheapest inferior dog food, occasionally starving them. Bathing the dogs by simply locking them in cages and spraying them with water caused the Doberman to suffer from bacterial infections due to its uncropped ears.
Later, the Doberman became pregnant and gave birth to seven puppies.
The shelter staff suddenly became enthusiastic, registering the seven puppies and applying for a batch of dog food funds. This money wasn't spent on the Doberman; it all went into the pockets of the staff, and the seven puppies were killed in front of the Doberman.
That night, with thick fog, the Doberman went crazy, attacking the staff, who were eventually starved to death and buried in a pit dug in the wilderness.
Under this wilderness, there were many pets who had died due to abuse. Every night, when darkness fell, their cold lights would flicker eerily.
"Damn it!"
Wayne felt a headache coming on as he watched. He sensed the Doberman's desire for revenge and understood the meaning behind the name Spirit of Vengeance.
The Spirit of Vengeance wasn't acting without reason. Wayne needed to let it complete its revenge if he wanted to gain its loyalty. Only then would the Spirit of Vengeance bid farewell to its past.
This was quite a headache!
As a scumbag who loved both cats and dogs, Wayne detested animal abuse, especially by the shelter staff. They deserved to be haunted by the Spirit of Vengeance.
However, Wayne believed that human life was more valuable than a dog's life. So, allowing the Doberman to complete its revenge...
"Oooh—"
Sensing Wayne's hesitation, the Spirit of Vengeance became restless, its low growls becoming more intense.
"Don't be impatient; I haven't said it's not okay."
Wayne patted his neck and winced: "Good dog, I'm a detective, best at gathering evidence. With me involved, those irresponsible guys at the shelter will definitely be fired. Then I'll spend money to publicize their misdeeds in the newspapers, condemning these heartless scum, and the angry public won't let them off."
The Spirit of Vengeance didn't understand, staring at Wayne's neck, seemingly contemplating whether to bite him to gain freedom of movement.
Wayne touched his neck, feeling a toothache: "I'll treat you well, with the best dog food and a comfy dog bed. Give me some face, okay? After all, I'm your master." Wayne's expression turned serious.
This time, the Spirit of Vengeance didn't resist anymore, probably because Wayne's description awakened some good memories, silently agreeing to let the coin toss decide.
"Man proposes, God disposes. Let fate decide their destiny..."
Wayne shrugged and flicked the coin into the air. Both Wayne and the dog watched as the coin fell, until it stood upright in the mud.
"..."
Wayne was dumbfounded, and so was the dog. It wasn't heads or tails—how should they make a choice now?
Wayne regained his composure and pondered, "Standing upright means it's fifty-fifty. You can bite them half to death, and then I'll investigate and gather evidence, publicly condemn their misdeeds through the legal system."
The Spirit of Vengeance didn't speak, hesitating whether to toss the coin again.
"Don't worry, I'm very good to my own dog. I promise to make those guys lose their jobs and end up on the streets. When they find new jobs, I'll spend money to criticize the heartless bosses who employ them..."
Wayne became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, realizing how bad he was: "You know, living on the streets means sleeping on the streets. You often stay up late at night and meet them by chance, then bite and chase them everywhere, making them constantly haunted by nightmares of being retaliated against by the vengeful hound."
The Spirit of Vengeance's eyes lit up, nodding repeatedly to indicate approval. It felt like Wayne's description had awakened some good memories, agreeing silently to let the coin toss decide.
"Occasionally being bad is fine. You like it, don't you?"
Wayne subconsciously replied, then paused, realizing he could hear the voice from the depths of the Spirit of Vengeance's heart.
"Go ahead. It's late, and I'm waiting to go home!"
"Woo-woo-woo—"
The mist surged, and the restless resentment of the Spirit of Vengeance surged to create a ten-meter-high wall of fog, carrying ghostly green flames, rushing towards the pet shelter.
That night, screams and barks covered the entire shelter in fear.
The next day, the newspapers reported the news of the shelter staff being attacked by a rabid dog.
The staff were horrifically bitten in multiple places, and they were infected with a virus and couldn't shake off their high fever. At the end of the report, the journalist expressed regret, saying that a group of kind-hearted animal lovers shouldn't have ended up like this.
The public also expressed sympathy, and some went to the hospital to visit them.
Two days later, the newspapers published shocking words again, with chilling photos accompanied by condemning words, sparking a wave of condemnation.
The skeletons buried in the wilderness were dug up, and another batch of photos entered the public eye, continuing to escalate the outrage...
At night, at the detective agency.
Wayne put down the newspaper and the cup of tea, looked around, and said, "Huh, where did Alvin go again? Did he go out to play with someone?"
"He's so energetic at this late hour!"