Once again, Jim put on one of his nicer suits. Today was one of those days were he rejected the cheap, disposable suits of his cold, callous work as an assassin and instead presented to the world a man who is personable and trustworthy. These were not suits meant to be splattered with blood and chunks of greymatter, but for networking. The distinction was important, as it mattered as to which aspect of himself he presented to others and which headspace he currently resided in. At one point, dressing like this felt alien to him, like he was wearing some sort of disguise, but now, both types for the different types of "business" he engaged in felt natural. Somehow, when he dressed for the more "acceptable" parts of his job, however, he felt a little bit more prideful. It was different from the power he felt when donning the assassins' suit—still strong, but in a different way that he couldn't quite describe.

Still, despite looking and feeling the part, the blonde Phantomhive felt nervous. While it wasn't the first time that he had interacted with the wider, international supernatural maintenance community, it was still an anxiety-inducing experience. Most humans were afraid and skeptical of demons, and truth be told, Jim didn't blame them. The vast majority of his species were dangerous and very well should not be trusted. He knew he would have to earn that trust, but also knew that he could rely on the citizens of Gehenna to help him as he gave the three ministers of ORSAP a tour of their city.

Furthermore, he could also count on the help of his husband, who decided to get dressed up in his nice clothes as well. He tied a strong, windsor knot around his neck and changed his earrings, standing at the vanity in their dressing room while Jim checked his appearance in the full-length mirror elsewhere in the room. Then, Ciel watched the blonde's reflection in the vanity grow closer and closer until he felt hands grasp at his hips from behind. Jim rested his chin on the other man's shoulder, watching their reflections for a moment as Ciel decided on which eyepatch to wear.

"Thanks for coming along, darling. I know they speak English, so I'm not really sure how much I'll need you, but it makes me feel better, just in case." the blonde said, moving away as his beau reached up to put on his eyepatch. "Want me to tie it for you?"

"Can you reach it?" the bluenette asked.

"I'm not that much shorter than you. I could be taller than you if I wanted. Gimme."

Ciel rolled his visible eye as his sealed one was covered. Jim took the strings from his hands and began to fasten it in an admittedly unnecessary gesture, but it was one of those odd acts of intimacy that Ciel came to enjoy as he got older. Still, the Earl answered his beau's original statement.

"I don't mind going with you. In fact, I like watching you work. Perhaps it would have been useful if you remembered anything from French in school, though, instead of just studying to the test."

"But then what would I need a husband for?"

"Companionship?"

"Mm… I guess so..." Tugging on the strings in his hands, the menace tightened the knot on the back of his spouse's head and let go, placing his hands on the man's shoulders instead. He smiled at Ciel's reflection in the mirror before stepping away to pick up the jacket resting on the chair next to the vanity and holding it up for Ciel to slip his arms into.

After straightening his jacket on his shoulders, Ciel turned around and pinched his husban's stomach, forcing him to jump back a bit. "Shall we head out, then, associate of mine?"

"No, no, no, you are my associate. You defer to me now."

"Right, right. You're in charge. After all, you have the experience… from working under me."

"I remember. You were so cute back then."

"And now?"

"Passable." the blonde stated. The pair continued to banter all the way out the door, choosing to keep their jokes to a minimum in the car as they discussed how the day would go. The jokes came to a screeching halt once they reached the maze of abandoned buildings that hid the supernatural town of Gehenna.

The streets were not well looked after, with pot holes strewn about and the lines between each lanes completely faded. The buildings were in a serious state of disrepair—unusable for supernaturals to live in without some serious renovation. While it was ordinary for the Phantomhives, when the three ministers were driven in, they began to dread whatever it was they may find, as what they have seen thus far left the impression that they were being driven into some sort of war zone. Then, just as the trio of humans arrived at their destination, they were greeted by a massive gate with armed guards positioned at it. They knew what was supposed to lie beyond this gate. They knew that the supernaturals here were supposedly hospitable. Their immediate surroundings, though, made them wonder as to exactly how much of that information was correct.

"Are we sure that this is the right place?" questioned Sabine Devreaux, the minister of research. She spoke to her compatriots in their mother tongue, keeping their conversation practically secret from the guards. "This isn't at all what they described..."

"I can't see anything through the gate." Quincampoix replied, squinting as he tried his best to sneak a peek inside. "I don't feel good about this..."

"It looks like a prison." observed minister Munier. "Perhaps they don't want the supernaturals to get back out. I suppose that makes sense, given how difficult it must be to keep tabs on each supernatural at all times."

"They said it's a town, but if it's laid out like one, does that mean that we'll be walking through them freely?" Devreaux asked, seeming a bit shaken. "If they're that dangerous, then is this a really good idea?"

"Surely, they won't let us get hurt." stated Mister Quincampoix. "It would be horrible for international relations. I'm sure they have some safety measures in place."

"Regardless, the person giving the tour is a supernatural as well—a demon, at that." Miss Munier kept fluctuating between being skeptical of the practises of HELLSING, and curious as to what was going to happen. She had seen and heard what their own organisation was up to and how the supernaturals within it are getting on, so witnessing one of the most fearsome supernaturals known to humankind in person was going to be interesting.

While the group had not heard of some supernaturals that lived beyond the wall in front of them and were realising that they were ignorant to the true nature of others more and more each day, they knew the stories of demons. They were ugly, inhuman, abominations that led human beings astray. They devoured souls, dragged them to hell, or gathered them up for whatever nefarious purpose Satan had for them. They were masters of lies and were incapable of deriving joy from anything but suffering and cruelty. To deal with demons was more than foolishness. It was unwise in ways beyond description. It wasn't merely loss of life that one was risking, but eternal damnation! Naturally, the ministers were on edge, already feeling as though they had been tricked.

Then, what should drive up to them but a pitch black, well-polished, Mercedes Benz and who should step out of it? The engine switched off and a blonde man stepped out of the driver's side door. He was pale with icy blue eyes and a cat-like face. The way he moved matched his somewhat feline appearance, as his movements were graceful like a dancer, but he didn't seem at all delicate. He was sturdy—almost immovable. The blonde man seemed contradictory. While he was indeed beautiful in both his appearance and his mannerisms, he still had a roughness to him. Regal, but plebeian. Soft, but strong. Slightly feminine, but with masculine features. He seemed well-rounded on his own, but compared to the man who exited the car after him, he seemed more one way in comparison.

The man in the passenger seat struck the ministers as immediately frightening. Dark hair, a deep blue eye, and a visible facial abnormality. There was a stigma to the eyepatch, Ciel knew it all too well, but with the stern, almost menacing expression he wore, that was where the ministers' minds went. He seemed brutal—vicious, even, like a large dog on a chain. With a larger stature than the blonde's, he seemed particularly nasty, but with his nice suit, there was a sort of class to him. Ciel was polished, implying that he wasn't merely the muscle. There was a much more frightening quality to his appearance, however. Eugenie Munier, the minister of defense, recognised him.

The only problem was, he was supposed to be in Paris and he didn't wear an eyepatch. Her blood went cold at the thought. He very well could have called her from London and been lying to her this whole time, but she checked the IP address. He was exactly where he should have been, unless he drove from Paris to London during the night. Even if he was up to something, however, what could it be? She had no idea. If he was trying to fool her, why put himself out in the open now?

"Hello~!" Jim greeted, holding out a hand to shake. "You must be 'Le Trois Ministres!' Am I saying that right? I'm Sir Jim Phantomhive. I'll be showing you around today!"

"Le Trois Ministeres, yes." Mister Quincampoix replied, correcting the blonde's accent before very tentatively shaking his hand. Shaking hands with a demon was very seldom a good thing, but no promises or anything that could be taken as such had been presented and social convention required it, so Urbain went ahead. "I'm Urbain Quincampoix, the Minister of Foreign Affairs."

Moving down the line, Jim offered his hand to Missus Devreaux. "Sabine Devereaux. Minister of Research." the woman stated as he carried on down the line. Miss Munier seemed out of it, but eventually came back to reality.

"Oh, uh, Eugenie. Eugenie Munier. Minister of Defense." she said.

"Pleased to meet all of you!" Jim politely stated before gesturing to the intimidating man with him. "This is Lord Ciel Phantomhive, my husband. He works with the agency on missions from time to time like I do. He isn't with Supernatural Relations, but he speaks French, so it was decided it would be best for him to tag along so nothing accidentally gets lost in translation!"

Keeping up appearances, the bluenette offered his own hand as well. The group was surprisingly slightly less hesitant to take it, despite his fearsome appearance, as they had shaken Jim's hand previously and were less afraid of possibly going to hell for touching him. Ciel, however, did not greet them in English. "Hello, It's good to meet you." His pronunciation was smooth—almost native, without any trace of hesitancy in his delivery.

It wasn't at all like Johnathan. It surprised Eugenie Munier. When she heard the man she knew as "Emil Stark" speak, he spoke with a distinct British accent and oftentimes searched for words mid-sentence. There was none of that in this man, however. His speech, his mannerisms, and the way he carried himself in general was different from Johnathan. It made the woman increasingly confused, but even more suspicious.

"You look like someone I know." she said. "You wouldn't happen to know an 'Emil Stark,' would you?" It was a casual thing to drop into conversation. It could be completely innocent. While Ciel picked up on her anxiety, making him suspicious in kind, he pushed it aside, trying to consider the "more probable" ordinary explanation.

"No, I'm afraid not." he replied. "I'd be surprised, if I'm honest, especially if he has the same hair colour as me. The only other person I have ever seen with it is my father!"

That was only a small footnote in the meeting, but to Eugenie, it was far more. The possibility of two people looking exactly alike was slim, so the fact that this man is indeed a different person is a cause for concern. "Emil" was British as well, so it could be that they were twins, yet Ciel did not mention him. He only mentioned a father. While that didn't mean that there were no siblings, it didn't seem likely. The way Ciel answered phrased that seemed far too exclusive. Perhaps he was hiding his sibling for whatever reason? That could make sense, but if that was the case, then why? Why did he need to hide his relation to "Emil."

Was there something wrong with him? It was strange that this demon, who was well-established in the HELLSING Organisation would be able to hide this detail, making it seem improbable. From what Eugenie had garnered from the brief snippets of information she was able to find in passing during lectures or conversation around the base, his family had been a well-respected noble family for generations. They had close ties with the crown, so it seemed less and less likely that there could be a secret brother by the second. If this were correct, however, it would make sense as to why she was unable to find any information on Mister Stark dating prior to his appearance in Namara. His name wasn't "Stark," it should be "Phantomhive," but why hide it? Wouldn't the reputation that the name carried be beneficial to him in his place at ORSAP?

A demon was training her troops. A liar was running her organisation. She needed to warn the others immediately and get a message to anyone at home who could do something about it, but with a French-speaking demon following them around all day, it would be impossible. She supposed that she could be up front with HELLSING about it, but to have such a problem right away? That was embarrassing. It could damage their perception of her competence and jeopardise their willingness to cooperate.

As Munier's mind raced, however, the group began walking toward the front gate, with the blonde demon stopping at the counter of the guard post. "Morning, Aaron. D-1 and D-3 with the ministers from France. All human. No glamour."

"Let me check you real quick..." the guard in the station said, prompting Jim to take a step back. Around his neck was a chord with a stone with a hole in the center on the end. Holding the stone between his index finger and thumb, he held it up to his eye and peered at the menace through it. "You're clear, Sir. I still need to check your husband and the others, though."

"That's fine." the blonde nodded before reaching out and gesturing toward his beau. "Ciel. Your turn."

He stepped out of the way, allowing for Ciel to undergo the same process, taking the pause to explain to their guests what the procedure was. "So, in order for us to make sure that everyone is who they say they are, ordinarily, we would have residents to enter an I.D. code into a pinpad at the counter. The code would pull up an image of the person on the computer, and the front gate guard will look at the person through the stone around his neck. That stone is a tool called an 'Adder's Stone,' and it can see through any illusion a supernatural may put up in order to make sure that they are who they say they are. Since we're well known officials, however, we don't usually put in the code. The guard will just enter in that we were here."

"Are there supernaturals who break the rules?" questioned Missus Devreaux.

"Rules about the gate? Sometimes. Usually, it's just to see through a glamour spell—a spell that changes a persons' appearances. They're used mostly by people who work out in London and can't pass for human." the demon explained. "There's been talk of introducing other steps, though. We've been hoping to get elves out here to clarify in cases where a supernatural is unregistered, but wants to do so or apply for residency."

"If you would walk up to the counter one at a time and say your name, please." Ciel chimed in, gesturing to where the group needed to go.

Sabine went first, finding herself pleasantly surprised by how she didn't even feel the magical object working. The man at the counter was polite, but had difficulty spelling each minister's name without asking how. Very quickly, they were each confirmed to be themselves to a satisfactory degree and did not run into any problems with the armed guards waiting nearby, but Munier hesitated. She watched the guard inside of the booth carefully as he stared at her through the stone. Rather, she watched the stone. She realised that this was the thing that she needed. She needed to somehow obtain an "Adder's Stone" and she needed to look at "Emil Stark" through it with her own eyes. She supposed that it wouldn't work over the computer, however. That posed a problem. Yet, one thing that she felt that she could count on was that Ciel was Ciel. As to whether or not he was telling the truth about everything else, she had yet to decide. Since he was a demon, however, she leaned toward "no" being the answer.

With a loud cry, the gates opened, revealing the supernatural city just beyond it. They anticipated run-down buildings with hellish features, so their surprise was perfectly warranted when they saw the brightly coloured buildings, decorated with the occasional mural. There were benches and boxes with flowers in them, and people walking the streets to get to wherever it was they needed to go, with some stopping to catch up and chat with one another. Surprisingly, it seemed pleasant, despite the fact that the trio still was not very used to seeing supernaturals out in the open. They looked human, but also not, which unsettled them, but they were assured that they would get used to it if given time.

"Well, let's get going." Jim stated while looking over his shoulder with a smile. "There is a lot to see!"

"Wait, we're walking?" asked Miss Munier.

"Of course! You can't get the most out of it by riding in a car!" the menace declared. Admittedly, he had no idea how walking long distances would affect them, given that he hadn't been human in a while, but he was confident that this way was the best one. "You're wearing comfortable shoes like you were asked to, right? It'll be fine. Supernaturals really aren't scary at all. In fact, there's a few humans who live here, too!"

Leaning over, his beau made his own commentary as he whispered into the blonde's ear. "Jim… You didn't have to work while on vacation..."

"I did if I wanted to get this arranged. Don't worry, though, I'm not upset about it."

He was annoyed and the ministers could somehow tell despite how cheerfully he was smiling. They didn't have a lot of confidence in regards to how this day would turn out. They had only stepped just inside the gate and they already wanted to step right back out of it.

"If I may say so, it isn't lost on us as to just how frightening supernaturals can be to humans who haven't encountered them all that much before." Ciel stated, trying to sympathise with the group. "We assure you, you will be completely safe. Supernaturals are just people, you see. They may look different and have different needs, but they're people all the same and if you leave them alone and let them go about their business while here, you'll be treated as you would be anywhere else."

"If you say so..." Mister Quincampoix cleared his throat before stepping forward. "Lead us on, then."

The trio huddled together somewhat as they ventured forward, with Quincampoix putting on his best pokerface, acting as though everything is normal in order to not offend his hosts, while the other two were a bit more visibly distressed. They walked down Main Street, past a few of the houses toward the gate and into the area with shops and such. People passed them by, saying "hello" to the demons with great enthusiasm, and giving a somewhat more reserved, yet very polite and somewhat warm greeting to the humans as well. A few folks stared at them from their upper floor apartment windows. The one that stood out to them the most was a man with a bull's head, leaning out the window with a cigarette in his mouth. They remembered him because when he put it out, his horns bumped against the walls of the window.

They were showed the Town Welfare Center and were surprised that there was such an official-looking government building in the middle of this place, seemingly run by supernaturals. The woman at the front desk was light purple and had horns. She and the man next to her greeted them and gave them the short spiel about the sort of things they do there. At first, the ministers wondered if this was one of the humans that lived in this town, only to find out that the man was in fact a warlock. The humans were in the offices down the hall. They met one—Daniel Westley, who was clearly and very painfully human, with a very tacky football-themed necktie.

They were showed the craft shop, the tailor's/clothes shop, the bakery, and the like, meeting more and more interesting supernaturals as they carried on. Kristopherson Miles was big and muscular like one would expect of a stereotypical werewolf, but he was a very flamboyant man as well, wearing designer heels as he passionately showed the ministers around his shop and explained exactly what it was that he did there and why it was important. Police Chief Sybil gave them a brief tour of the police station and they ate bread at the bakery. It wasn't as good as the bread back at home, but it was still impressive that it was able to exist there at all.

The trio even met an architect of all things!-A blue fellow by the name of Logan. He was guiding a few construction workers through a renovation of a building. Men and women with goat legs, pointed ears, horns, or skin of practically every hue was at work, there, all wearing proper equipment, more or less. Sadly, it was difficult to find hardhats of certain sizes and impossible to get some that accommodated for horns.

"Right now, we're turning this big building into a theatre." Logan said as he pointed to the blueprints on the makeshift table in front of him, showing the ministers. "The stage is going to be right here and we're going to start installing some seating after we get the floor all fixed up."

"Are supernaturals partial to plays?" questioned Mister Qincampoix, believing the man wholeheartedly, but mostly worrying about the expense that replicating such a place would cause.

"Not just plays, but movies, too." the incubus replied, pointing above the stage and then behind them. "We're going to install a projector and a projector screen, too. Basically, here in Gehenna, the idea is to make more jobs and more things for people to spend money on to keep money circulating. At least, that's how Jim explained it."

"Right, the idea is to keep there from being a massive wealth disparity in the city." Jim replied. "If no one spends money, it just kind of collects and never circulates. In addition, while jobs are growing in Gehenna, there's still a good portion of the population that remains unemployed and if things stay that way, there will be a massive gap between 'rich' and 'poor' in the city. So, in an effort to keep things level, we've put money into starting local businesses in order to kill two birds with one stone. Encouraging arts and entertainment is one way to do that! Basically, the more self sufficient we can make the place, the cheaper it will be in the long run."

So the demons were economically-minded as well. At this point, the group had grown tired of being surprised and instead merely accepted that fact. It was logical, after all. There was no way that Jim could put together an entire city without worrying about finances, after all and the prospect of not having to pay millions to maintain a city indefinitely was very appealing to the ministers.

The entire town was pleasing, for that matter. It wasn't at all the cesspool of murder and degeneracy that one might immediately assume, had one gone into exploring the place after consuming a steady diet of media in which supernatural beings are all murderous monsters. The people were kind, courteous, and well-behaved. Even the demons were. They were suspiciously well-behaved. After everything they've seen, however, Mister Quincampoix and Missus Devreaux were willing to relent somewhat and trust HELLSING—but only just. Demons are very serious business, after all. Meddling with them too closely was never a good idea, still. Their suspicions did make the Phantomhives a bit uncomfortable, as they knew that they were dangerous, but only in certain aspects of their professional lives. The rest of the time, they were essentially ordinary people. Ciel, in particular, was uncomfortable, as he he could actually feel Miss Munier staring at him when she mistakenly thought that he wouldn't notice.

His behaviour was perfectly cordial. He mostly stayed quiet, however, allowing his husband to give the tour, only chiming in when he felt it was appropriate. It was somewhat ominous how he hung back off to the side, however, watching the group with a serious look on his face, but that could have just been the ministers' biases. The man's face softened when anyone called out to him or addressed him directly, so perhaps he was merely focusing on the conversation.

With his dark suit and eyepatch, however, he looked like a bouncer as he stood by the door to the bookstore with his hands folded together. The bookstore was one of Gehenna's crown jewels, as it contained perhaps the largest collection of books written by supernatural beings in the world. As the ministers browsed the shelves, they found poetry, mysteries, romances, how-to books, and even fantasy books written by bonafide elves. It was a place that always got visitors excited, as it was the discovery of a new world and a new culture. Missus Devreux very excitedly browsed the books and debated very seriously with herself while trying to decide which ones to bring home. Mister Quincampoix wasn't as excited as he was the craft shop, but he still decided it could be beneficial to pick out a few in order to understand supernaturals when negotiating. Jim pointed him out to a few important officers—in particular, Girasol Frescobaldi—and he seemed satisfied with that. Miss Munier quite frankly had trouble paying attention. She pretended to look at books, but her skin crawled as she felt Ciel watching her and her mind raced. She has matters of national security to worry about and was trying to figure out exactly what it was that she was up against. It was difficult to tell, however, as she knew very little about supernaturals and their affairs.

First thing's first: she needed information on Earl Ciel Phantomhive. She knew that was the Earl Phantomhive and that he had been since the late 1800s. He was somewhat of a legend at HELLSING, it seemed. The man's track record was understandably extensive, given how long he had served his country. But, as for the specifics of his origin and the people he associated with, she did not know and did not know who to ask. In fact, it may not be advisable for her to ask at all. Taking interest in a specific agent like this may cause suspicion. It could be passed off as an attempt to find out what it took to find agents like him, but if HELLSING discovered the copycat, relations between England and France could be in trouble. She needed to find out who this man was and why he was adopting the appearance of the Phantomhive. Then, she needed to find out how to get rid of him. But how? He trained her troops. He was in charge in her absence. Did her staff even know how to kill demons? Could demons even be killed? She didn't know, but time was of the essence.

Glazed, her eyes looked in the direction of the books as she plotted her next move, but as she delved deeper into thought, her motion stopped. Munier stood completely still, now, looking in the direction of a book. Her strange behaviour did not go unnoticed, however. With a whisper to Jim, Ciel directed the menace in her direction, prompting him to approach her.

"Supernatural Historia: The History of Supernaturals in Enland, huh?" Jim noted, reaching out and picking up the book in front of her. "'Volume one, First edition'… You know, Mister Westley's sister helped work on this. The rest of it was written by a renowned supernatural writer. It's good. If you want to know about supernaturals over here, this is a great place to start. And I'm not just saying that because there's a blurb on me in it, either!"

He smiled warmly, masking his suspicion in hopes of lowering her guard. It was sweet in the way that only Jim could achieve, yet anyone who knew him well could see through the farce. Ciel could tell that he was looking at her as a cat would a bird with a broken wing, just daring her to make some sort of mistake. The woman looked at him and then looked at the book, realising that it could be just where she needed to start.

"You're in here?" she asked, taking the book from the man's hand and flipping through it. If he was telling the truth, there could be information on his husband as well—maybe even about her own bluenette, too.

There was a surprising amount of history that was documented, although it didn't compare to that of humans. Sure enough, the menace was there, with a heavily abridged version of his personal history, omitting details that he would rather the general public not know at this time. Ciel, of course, got similar treatment, the woman found. There was information that he became Earl at the age of ten before his first encounter with the menace turned him into a demon. Miss Munier understood now as to why his French was so perfect. He lived there until the forties, only returning after realigning himself with Britain from time to time to aid resistance efforts. Since then, he had gone on many adventures—in total, far too many to count. His history, despite not being the favourite Phantomhive of Gehenna was more extensive. That pleased the minister, but she didn't have time to read it all on the spot. She was still under the watchful eyes of the Phantomhive family, after all. In the end, she decided to buy the book, and dwelled on its potential contents for the remainder of the trip. The Phantomhives themselves, however, were still suspicious of her.

Eventually, their time together came to a close. There were no incidents and everyone seemed alright with the way things turned out. As far as Jim was concerned, the mission was a success and since he was satisfied with the results, so was his husband. But as the demons sat in their car, watching as the ministers were boarding their own vehicle to be taken back to their lodgings, they discussed their thoughts on Miss Munier. Something was off about her, but they couldn't tell what. She had been on edge ever since the duo arrived—it was expected, to some extent, given the fact that she was human in a strange, supernatural land, but ordinarily, those who went on tour around the city eventually relaxed. She, however, did not. She seemed cautious of the demons and of Ciel, in particular. Her posture was stiff and she seemed to have something weighing heavily on her mind. Basically, she had a guilty look about her that neither of the demons liked and they wanted to know why.

"Think she's up to no good?" Jim questioned, leaning back in his seat.

"Hard to say… I can think of about thirty different reasons as to what that could be about." Ciel replied. "How did she react when you addressed her in the bookshop?"

"Dodgy. Like she wanted me gone. She did buy that book, though. She immediately found the page with information about me on it after I told her I was in it. She did it right in front of me, too. If you want to snoop because you're suspicious of me, at least have the decency to do it in private."

"Do you think she's interested in you in some capacity?"

"No. She turned the page after scanning it a bit before trying to find yours. Could be both of us."

"Let's run the fact that we're suspicious by Integra. Intuition doesn't count as evidence, but it would be a mistake to ignore it."

"Agreed. We can go now, if you want."

"Lets."

Munier, however, had her own things to do. On the ride back to her hotel room, she had to make an important choice and she had to make it quickly. If she didn't, her reputation would be at stake. Missus Devreaux and Mister Quincampoix were in the car with her. They were easily within reach and she doubted that the driver spoke French. She could have told them right then and there what she knew—that a demon was in their midst and that he bore uncanny resemblance to the Earl Phantomhive. What exactly that meant, she didn't know, but because the Earl didn't mention siblings in that very brief moment that he mentioned family, she didn't think that they were related in that way. Furthermore, she highly doubted that HELLSING would allow one of their demons to travel the world and tag along with random militias. Either they didn't know, or they didn't want ORSAP to know. Munier was determined to find out.

She chose not to tell her compatriots about the situation right then. She wanted to read the relevant passages of the book in her hands first in order to check if any relations were mentioned. Thus, when she returned to her room, she removed the shoes that she had walked in all day and sat on her bed with the tome, cracking it open and peering inside. She was able to read much more than she was at the store.

The Phantomhive family once consisted of four, it seemed: One father, one mother, a son, and a dog. There was mention of a dog, but no brother. That was all she needed to confirm that the situation was indeed suspicious, but she read on. She read about how there was a fire and how Ciel summoned a demon and became Earl at the age of ten. She read about his encounter with the menace and how he became a demon. She read about the war. She read about Gehenna. She read about a few noteworthy missions. She read it all. The most scandalous bit in there was about how he was particularly vicious before resurrecting Jim and eventually settling down. He was vicious as a demon and cold as a human being. And yet, no mention of "Emil Stark," "Emil Phantomhive," or even references to a sibling. The man running her operation was a man of mystery and she needed to solve things fast.

While she was refraining from alerting the others until she had more to work with, she didn't just sit there. Naturally, she got on the phone with people until she found the right person to do what she needed to do, all while being obtuse as to what exactly she needed. Johnathan was high ranking in their organisation, after all. She couldn't let him know that she was on to him.

She held her phone against her ear and listened to it ring. It was still a bit early, so it took a moment for anyone to pick up. The operative in question was only active at night. Eventually, however, she received a very tired "hello" from the other end of the line.

"Hello, is this Mister Chaput?" she questioned. "I have a mission for you."

A/N: Hello~! Sorry, I'm late with this! My teachers, for whatever reason, felt that it was appropriate to smack me in the face with two tests in the third week of school. Anyway, I lived, so here's the new chapter.

very thank for ur patience god bless uwu

anyway, i don't have a lot else to say?

until the next chapter, my duckies~!