Back inside Marvin’s private office, the atmosphere was strangely, completely calm.
Marvin sat quietly behind his heavy mahogany desk, his fingers laced together.
Jean sat directly beside him, her posture relaxed.
And Diana…
Diana had somehow found an old, leather-bound adventure novel from one of the office bookshelves and was currently slouched in her chair, reading it.
She was completely, utterly absorbed in the pages.
Marvin cleared his throat loudly, trying to break the silence.
“Miss Diana.”
“Hm?” Diana didn’t look up, smoothly turning a page.
“Shouldn’t we be actively discussing the coordination of the human attacks?”
“We are,” Diana murmured, her eyes scanning the text.
“You haven’t looked up from that book a single time since the lawyer left.”
“I can multitask.
It’s a professional skill.”
Marvin looked completely unconvinced, running a hand through his hair.
Jean decided to try her luck, leaning forward.
“Are you at least listening to what we’re saying, Diana?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, what did I just say a moment ago?” Jean challenged mildly.
“You said you’re deeply worried about your husband’s long-term safety, and you wonder if the security grid can hold,” Diana answered flawlessly, her finger tracing down the edge of the paper.
Jean blinked in sheer surprise, looking at Marvin.
“…She’s actually listening.”
Diana turned another page with a soft rustle.
“Of course I’m listening.
I’m a professional.”
Neither Marvin nor Jean knew exactly how to continue the conversation after that.
The office fell right back into a slightly awkward, heavy silence, the only sound being the ticking of the grandfather clock.
Then—
BANG!
The heavy office doors flew open, bouncing off the rubber wall stops.
Garin rushed inside, chest heaving as she breathed heavily, her hair slightly disheveled from the sprint.
“M-Miss Diana!”
Diana calmly turned another page of her novel.
“Welcome back to base, kid.
Watch the doors.”
“I found something!
A real clue!” Garin gasped out, clutching her notebook.
That got Marvin’s undivided attention instantly.
He straightened up.
“What is it?
What did you find?”
Garin pointed a trembling hand back toward the hallway.
“T-There was a dead mouse hidden deep inside the kitchen wall baseboard!”
Jean looked entirely confused, her brow arching.
“A…
a mouse?”
Garin nodded rapidly, her words spilling out.
“It wasn’t a normal death!
It didn’t eat poison!”
Now, Diana finally, slowly looked up from her book, her crimson eyes locking onto the girl.
Garin continued, gaining confidence.
“I-It was actively killed!
By an anomaly!”
Marvin frowned, leaning over his desk.
“Killed?”
“There was a demon inside the wall structure!” Garin announced.
Jean immediately stood up from her chair, her face draining of color.
“A demon?!”
Marvin’s face paled significantly, his hands gripping the edge of the wood.
“It was inside the actual mansion?
Moving through the walls?”
Garin nodded aggressively.
“Y-Yes!
The mouse probably attacked it to defend its space, and the demon killed it with a residual miasma burn!”
Jean looked absolutely horrified, her eyes darting toward the corners of the office ceiling.
Marvin looked equally concerned, his breath catching in his throat.
Meanwhile…
Diana calmly, smoothly closed her book with a soft *thud*.
“Relax,” Diana said, her voice entirely level, cutting through the panic in the room.
The office fell into a sudden, stunned silence.
Jean stared at her.
“Relax?
Diana, did you not hear what she just said?”
Marvin spiked an agitated finger toward Garin.
“She just told us there was a live demon crawling inside my walls!”
Diana nodded simply, resting her hands on the book cover.
“There was.”
Garin blinked, her momentum halting.
“W-Was?”
Diana placed the novel neatly onto the corner of the mahogany desk.
“The demon is already gone, kid.”
Marvin stared.
Jean stared.
Even Garin looked completely, utterly confused, her notebook lowering slightly.
Marvin was the first to find his voice.
“What?”
Diana stretched lazily in her leather chair, her shoulders popping slightly.
“It left.
It cleared out.”
“You…
you knew about it?” Marvin stammered.
“Yes.”
“You KNEW there was a literal demon inside my walls, and you didn’t say anything?” Marvin asked, his voice rising in disbelief.
Diana nodded without a hint of guilt.
Marvin looked like he might actually collapse from sheer exhaustion.
Diana pointed a gloved finger directly at him.
“Remember our little chat downstairs in the vault earlier?”
Marvin’s brow furrowed.
“What conversation?”
“You told me that ever since these coordinated attacks started across the city…” Diana leaned back, crossing her legs comfortably.
“…you constantly felt this heavy, creepy sensation like somebody was watching your every move.”
Marvin’s eyes widened in sudden realization.
The memories rushed back.
Diana continued, her tone dropping into a cool, analytical register.
“And I told you downstairs that your survival instincts were entirely correct.”
The room became completely silent.
Jean slowly sat back down in her chair, her eyes wide.
“You mean…”
Diana nodded once.
“You were being watched.
Constantly.”
Garin listened intently, her pen hovering over her notebook page.
Marvin swallowed hard, a cold sweat forming on his brow.
“By…
by that specific demon?”
“Most likely,” Diana murmured.
“Small.
Weak.
Extremely good at hiding in dark, tight spaces.
Absolutely perfect for long-term spying operations.”
Jean looked around the elegant office uneasily, a shiver running through her.
“So it was really inside the mansion this whole time…”
“For quite some time, yeah.
Gathering data,” Diana confirmed.
Marvin rubbed his forehead, trying to process the security breach.
“And now it’s completely gone?”
Diana smiled, a sharp, confident flash of teeth.
“Yep.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Diana simply pointed a thumb directly at her own chest.
The answer was immediate.
Marvin stared at her for a second, then let out a long, defeated sigh.
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” Diana chuckled.
Marvin shook his head.
“Of course.”
Diana grinned, leaning forward.
“The exact moment I walked through your front gates, its sensory core probably realized its remaining life expectancy had become very, very short.
It bolted the second it felt my signature.”
For the first time since entering the office, Garin’s face fell, a look of profound disappointment filling her eyes.
“B-But…
I wanted to track it down and catch it…”
Diana reached across the space between them and placed her hand firmly on top of Garin’s head, giving it a solid pat.
“Kid.”
Garin looked up, her eyes wide.
“You still did good,” Diana said softly.
The crushing wave of disappointment instantly vanished from Garin’s face.
“You found physical evidence of a hidden surveillance asset,” Diana smiled, her eyes crinkling slightly.
“That’s exactly what real investigators do.”
Garin’s cheeks immediately turned a bright, embarrassing shade of red, her chest swelling with a quiet sense of accomplishment.
Meanwhile, neither Marvin nor Jean noticed the brief, incredibly cold look that crossed Diana’s features a split second later.
The casual smile remained on her lips, but her eyes had become entirely thoughtful, tracking the dark floorboards.
*A spy demon.
Hidden deep inside the mansion infrastructure.
Watching Marvin.
Watching the vault access.
Watching the sword.*
Which meant somebody out there in the city was still actively gathering intelligence on the legacy.
And whoever that somebody was, they were likely much more intelligent—and much more dangerous—than the tiny, crawling creature that had been hiding inside the kitchen walls.
Diana looked down at Garin for a quiet moment.
Then, she raised her hand and curled her fingers in a summoning gesture.
“Anyways…”
Garin blinked.
“Come here,” Diana commanded gently.
The girl immediately walked over to the side of the leather chair.
Diana didn’t say another word.
Instead, she placed her large, warm hand squarely on top of Garin’s head.
*Pat.*
Then another.
*Pat.*
And a third, firm one.
“Good job, kid.
Seriously.”
Garin froze entirely under the touch.
In an instant, the chaotic mansion disappeared from her mind.
The bloody crime scene outside faded away.
Even the intense investigation vanished into thin air.
All she could focus on was the solid, reassuring warmth of the hand resting on her hair.
She had actually found something useful.
She had helped the agency.
She wasn’t a burden to carry around.
She wasn’t standing in the way of the professionals.
For perhaps the first time in a very, very long while, Garin felt genuinely useful.
Truly valued.
Her cheeks burned a deeper crimson.
“T-Thank you, Miss Diana…”
Diana smiled, pulling her hand back.
“Make sure to write everything down in the file.”
Garin immediately nodded, her pen ready.
“The mouse.
The wall cavity.
The residual scent metrics.
Everything,” Diana listed off.
She pointed a finger toward the open case file on the desk.
“In our line of work, the smallest details matter the most.”
Garin carefully took the file notes, hugging the notebook tightly against her chest like it was a priceless treasure.
“O-Okay!
I’ll index it right now!”
Satisfied, Diana leaned all the way back in her chair, interlocking her fingers behind her head.
Marvin watched the domestic exchange with a quiet respect before clearing his throat to bring them back to reality.
“Now what, Miss Diana?
What’s the next tactical move?”
Diana turned her head toward the massive office window.
Outside, the harsh afternoon sunlight was rapidly fading away.
Deep, rich orange and violet hues stretched across the sky as evening slowly approached the estate.
She stared outside at the shifting shadows for a few quiet seconds.
Then, she answered flatly.
“Let’s see how your household food is.”
Marvin blinked, his jaw stalling.
“…What?”
“And the status of your guest bedrooms,” Diana continued, entirely serious.
Marvin just stared at her.
Diana shrugged.
“If my team is going to be staying here to pull security over the next few days, those are two incredibly important logistical factors.”
Marvin slowly, deliberately placed his entire palm over his face, letting out a groaning sigh.
“That is absolutely not what I meant by tactical move.”
A soft, genuine laugh escaped Jean’s lips at her husband’s expense.
Garin tried her absolute best to bite her lip and not laugh along, but she failed miserably.
A tiny, high-pitched giggle slipped out from behind her notebook.
Diana looked back and forth between them, looking genuinely, completely confused.
“What?
What’s funny?”
Marvin pointed a stiff finger at her.
“We are currently discussing active assassination attempts against my life.”
“Yes.”
“Vicious demonic assaults on my property.”
“Yes.”
“A centuries-old mysterious sword locked in a vault.”
“Yes, I was there,” Diana countered.
Marvin gestured wildly at her.
“And your immediate, pressing tactical concern is dinner?”
Diana crossed her arms tightly over her chest, her expression narrowing.
“You say that now, Marvin.” She pointed a warning finger back at him.
“But if the dinner is bad, the security details suffer.
Morale drops.
Everybody suffers.”
Jean laughed even louder this time, leaning against her husband.
Even Garin couldn’t hold it in anymore, her shoulders shaking as she giggled freely into her sleeve.
Marvin looked around the room, realizing with absolute certainty that nobody was taking his side.
Not even a little bit.
With a long, entirely defeated sigh, he dropped heavily back into his executive chair.
“I have hired the single best private chef in the municipal district,” Marvin muttered under his breath.
Diana stood up from her chair instantly, her white coat billowing behind her as her eyes lit up.
“Now that is the exact kind of high-level intelligence data I was looking for.”
The office filled with lighthearted laughter as the legendary Devil Huntress marched toward the exit with all the fierce, unyielding urgency of a woman pursuing a highly dangerous, armed criminal.
Or perhaps, something far more important to her survival a damn good meal.