The smile on the Red-haired Director's face froze slightly when she heard her best friend's question, and she rolled her eyes in annoyance. *Could you not bring up such a bothersome question when I'm enjoying myself? Besides, do you think I want to be last? Considering we only have two and a half people left in our bureau, managing to clean up all the anomalies within the Kingdom every year is already as hardworking as one can get, right?*
*What's more, our bureau's performance this year isn't bad at all. In the first half of the year, we wiped out over a dozen Bai Ye Sect hideouts and confiscated a large batch of anomalous objects. In the second half, we even took down a descending Holy Spirit.*
*With these achievements as a foundation, we should have been at least above average, if not at the top. Who knew so many issues would crop up at the end of the year?*
"Negligence! Sloth! Shame!"
While the Red-haired Director was exchanging glances with her best friend, the virtual image of the Director of the Purification Bureau at the center of the venue continued to harshly criticize the few branches at the bottom of the performance list, slapping each mark with dismay, "As the last barrier between humans and anomalies, you carry the safety of the entire race on your shoulders! Just look at these shameful review results; I'm ashamed on your behalf! Especially the Virgin Branch, you actually had the audacity to laugh just a moment ago!"
After giving a heavy slap on the "Dung Beetle Lady" emblem of the Virgin Branch, the Director of the Purification Bureau angrily rebuked, "I'll excuse the Little Dog Bureau and the Harp Bureau. The old director of Little Dog just retired, and the new director is unfamiliar with the work, needing a few more years to train. Harp Bureau's main team is still frozen in a glacier after dealing with a polar remnant attack two years ago; their poor performance is unavoidable."
"But Olivia, what do you have to say? In the first half of the year, during your joint siege with the Long Snake Bureau, you only caught five Bai Ye Sect followers, while you somehow knocked out over eighty colleagues from the Long Snake Bureau! What exactly is the Virgin Branch up to?"
"Director, that was just an accident, and it wasn't even a joint siege. Our actions just happened to coincide."
At this point, the Red-haired Director couldn't help but stand up and express her grievance, "I took the situation with the Bai Ye Sect very seriously. After the headquarters issued the siege order, I immediately sent Emma, the strongest in our bureau, intending to complete the task assigned by headquarters as fast as possible."
"Emma was already at the Bai Ye Sect's gathering location, preparing to execute with the Execution Platform, when it turned out people from the Long Snake Bureau were also ambushed nearby, and their sins outweighed those of the cultists doing the rituals, causing them to get injured accidentally."
Under the cannibalistic stare from the Long Snake Bureau director, the Red-haired Director continued her defense fervently, "You know, Emma's Execution Platform targets based on 'crimes,' and it doesn't distinguish between friend or foe. As soon as she raised the platform, the people from the Long Snake Bureau were already lying down, and their cries were worse than the other, forcing Emma to stop, allowing those cultists to flee into a Dream."
"Director, if you ask me, instead of blaming Emma for being heavy-handed, you should check those cleaners from the Long Snake Bureau, see what crimes their bureau's recruits have committed, to fall faster under the Execution Platform than cultists."
"Fine, let's chalk up the Bai Ye Sect incident as a misunderstanding then."
Unwilling to argue further with the Red-haired Director, the Director of the Purification Bureau pounded the Dung Beetle Lady emblem again, continuing to question angrily, "What about the few incidents at the end of the year? An anomaly attack occurred right under your nose, causing the deaths of hundreds of nobles despite cleaners being present, and paralyzing your Kingdom's logistics and military for almost two weeks. How do you explain this?"
"Well... the Ryan Family incident was purely accidental..."
After cursing Leon viciously in her heart, the Red-haired Director reluctantly defended, "Leon wasn't even officially admitted at the time, just a newcomer with less than a month in. The opponent was a near-god level Great Demon's heart... a sudden situation was beyond control."
"Moreover, the opponent locked the manor down, leaving him unable to seek support from the bureau. But in the end, not only did he ensure the safety of most people, he even successfully resolved the anomaly incident. I believe this can't be considered negligence, rather deserving commendation."
"Ha ha, you always have an excuse."
"Even not being able to clean up anomalies in time, causing over two hundred noble casualties, you spin it into averting disaster and ensuring the safety of most. The thickness of your skin is comparable to an anomalous object."
After a couple of sarcastic remarks, the Director of the Purification Bureau eased up a little, continuing, "Still, since that Leon is a newcomer and the situation was unique, the result is barely acceptable, just passing you through... but what's going on with the royal family?"
"According to our agreement with the royals from each nation, they must provide funding and supplies, and unconditionally support our Purification activities. The stationing branches are obliged to ensure the safety of the royal family, preventing harassment by anomalous objects to royal family members and significant nobles."
"Yet in your case, the Princess was attacked by an anomalous object, forgotten by the whole Kingdom, then a cleaner from the Virgin Branch visited, only to have a dispute with the Prince, boxing him in the reception room for a while... and from the King's complaints, this is apparently not the first time?"
"Well... this can also be explained."
After marking another black entry on Leon's record in her heart, the Red-haired Director, under the odd glances of over eighty colleagues, continued reluctantly, "Though Leon did indeed have a small quarrel with the Prince, the Princess had already agreed to marry him before, thus, aside from being a cleaner from the Virgin Branch, he is also a Prince of the Kingdom."
"Considering he didn't use any anomalous objects, and his few blows on his wife's brother due to a verbal dispute were light, this should be regarded as an internal royal family conflict, which is not within the scope of our Purification Bureau's jurisdiction."
"As for the Princess being attacked, though part of it is due to our bureau's lack of vigilance, the main cause was someone's design in the background, even leveraging part of the Illusion Can's effects. I suspect a director's involved behind the scenes and have already submitted an inquiry request to the bureau."
At this, the Director of the Purification Bureau couldn't help but pause slightly before frowning and asking, "You actually intend to question a director? Olivia, such an important matter, why wasn't I informed?"
Hearing this, the Red-haired Director said with some embarrassment, "You previously received a tip-off from the Watcher's Palace, hunting the Old King from the predecessors all these years, it's nearly been eight years since your last appearance, so we didn't expect you'd project back this year when we issued the inquiry to the directors..."
"Is it that you didn't expect me back, or didn't expect me alive?"
Upon hearing this, the virtual image of the Purification Bureau Director lowered his head, glanced at a few directors with embarrassed expressions on the directors' seats, and snorted coldly, "Rest assured, the time flow on the Old World's soil is only one-fiftieth of yours; even if you all age to death, I here would still live just fine!"
"Ha ha, I originally contacted you at the time of the annual review just to check on the bureau's situation. I didn't expect to even catch a director being questioned... So tell me, Olivia, which director did you catch red-handed?"