In Hillston Borough, Detective Isengard Stanton had finished a day of hard work and was reading Stormwind Mountain Villa, which he had borrowed from his students, for some leisure.
When he read that an evil spirit wearing a pair of copper-framed glasses had appeared, he couldn't help but smile. He had thoughts of befriending Miss Xio's friend.
But at that moment, his spirituality was suddenly stirred.
Detective Isengard frowned and put down the novel. As he wore 2-081 on his finger, he activated his Spirit Vision.
Following that, he saw a silver-white illusory bird drop a letter on the table in front of him.
This bird was only the size of a sparrow, and its walnut-sized head had a pair of red moon-like eyes embedded in it. The silver illusory feathers on its body made it appear extremely long and slender, not as bloated as a sparrow.
After putting down the letter, the bird tilted its head and surveyed its surroundings. Then, it flapped its wings in disappointment and disappeared into the void.
"Messenger? Whose?" The experienced Detective Isengard already knew what the spirit world creature was here for.
He pouted his mouth and did not pick up the envelope on the table rashly. Instead, he rubbed the gemstone on the surface of 2-081 and used it to analyze the envelope.
Moments later, Detective Isengard, who didn't discover any problems, carefully picked up the envelope. Then, he saw that the name of the recipient was written on it.
A letter to Ebner? How did it get to me?
Detective Isengard was somewhat puzzled. Typically, messengers could accurately find the recipient unless they didn't record the recipient's aura.
…
In the Harvest Church, Bishop Utravsky was telling the three Forsaken Ones about the ambush, the perfume incident, and Ebner's guess regarding the Demoness's advancement ritual.
At this moment, the black-haired, crimson-eyed Cullen's heart stirred, and he stretched out his palm. Immediately after, a small silver illusory bird landed on his fair and tender finger.
The bird shook its wings, then turned its tiny head toward Cullen and chirped.
Cullen listened for a moment before chuckling. He stroked its head lovingly and took out some powder ground from spiritual materials and fed it.
"What is it saying?" Judy, the brown-haired girl, asked curiously in a low voice.
"She's complaining that the recipient is very stingy and refuses to give the hard-working messenger any supper," Cullen explained with a smile as he translated for Birdie.
"I really envy you for directly taming a spirit world creature… I still don't dare to easily attempt the ritual of summoning a messenger." Judy clearly had a good relationship with Cullen and didn't hide her envy at all.
"Silika was not a creature of the spirit world from the very beginning. About 500 years ago, she turned into a specter in a crisis, and only then did she have the ability to travel through the spirit world." Cullen's gaze was deep as if he was recalling an unpleasant past.
However, he quickly snapped to his senses and said to the two "giants" who had finished their discussion and were casting their gazes over,
"That Mr. Ebner Bryan isn't at the detective agency at the moment. The letter has been handed over to his teacher."
The captain of the Giant nodded and said to his two team members, "Since Mr. Bryan won't be here for a while, we will investigate before dawn."
"Yes, Captain," the two team members answered in unison. Then, the more lively Judy asked worriedly, "Captain, where should we investigate first? We aren't familiar with Backlund at all… Will we really not get lost without a guide?"
Captain Giant carried a wooden chest that was much larger than a normal coffin. He first nodded at Bishop Utravsky before saying to Judy, "Since the heretic's perfume was first discovered at the home of that deviant believer, we'll first go there to check on the situation." With that said, he looked at Cullen, who was still teasing the silver-feathered bird and continued, "As for the guide, I remember that Cullen said that he had lived in Backlund for a long time. Let him lead the way."
Upon hearing this, Cullen, who was chatting with the little bird Silika, suddenly raised his head and said in surprise,
"Captain, are you serious? The last time I came to Backlund, Emperor Roselle had just invented the steam engine!"
…
At 11 pm, Ebner handed Xio the pictures of the factory he had drawn and arranged a time and place for their next meeting before dragging his exhausted body back to his teacher's office.
As soon as he entered the lobby on the first floor, Ebner found Detective Isengard sitting on the sofa reading a book.
Teacher is usually resting at this time… Is he waiting for me?
Ebner thought so and asked the same question.
Detective Isengard put down the book, picked up an envelope from the coffee table beside him, and handed it to him. "Here's a letter from you."
"A letter? Who sent it? Is it Jane?" Ebner guessed smoothly as he took the letter. He had almost no friends in the Outlands except Jane. Only Mr. Gaston, Miss Gwen, and Beatrice were more familiar with each other, but the chances of them writing to him were slim.
"I don't think so. This letter was sent by a messenger. That Miss Jian hasn't been a Beyonder for long, so she probably can't control a messenger," Detective Isengard said after lighting his pipe and taking a puff.
"Messenger?" Ebner's hand paused on the envelope.
"Don't worry. I've already checked. There aren't any traps or curses on this letter." Detective Isengard guessed his student's thoughts and smiled.
Ebner heaved a sigh of relief, but he still secretly opened the envelope after analyzing it with the Eye of Pure White.
The letter was in Bishop Utravsky's handwriting. The general content was to tell him that the Forsaken had arrived and to make a trip to the Harvest Church as soon as possible.
Ebner examined it a few times but did not find anything amiss. He decided to visit the Harvest Church the next morning.
When he looked up and saw his teacher's curious and probing gaze, Ebner thought for a moment and felt that there was nothing to hide. After all, he had previously told his teacher about sending a dangerous item to the Church of Earth Mother. Hence, he chose his words carefully and said,
"It's from Bishop Utravsky of the Harvest Church. He wishes for me to go over tomorrow."
Detective Isengard first nodded when he heard that before muttering to himself in puzzlement, "Since when did that giant bishop have the ability to summon a Messenger? People from the Warrior pathway shouldn't be good at this… Even Bishop Ural from the Planter pathway who worked before him doesn't have a Messenger."
Ebner was somewhat surprised when he heard that. He said in surprise, "Teacher, you even know the former bishop of the Church of Earth Mother in Backlund?" This makes a lot of friends. Apart from the Church of Storms, everyone else is your friend?
Detective Isengard smiled as he took a puff of his cigarette. His face was filled with pride as he said, "Of course I do. Otherwise, where do you think the healing powers in 2-081 came from?"
…
On Saturday morning, Ebner immediately took the subway to the Harvest Church on Blossom Street south of the Bridge after making a few short effects charms during the ceremony.
As soon as he stepped into the hall of the golden cathedral, he saw a girl in a blue dress complaining to the feminine man beside her in Feynapotter.
"Cullen, if it weren't for Silika leading the way last night, we would probably have lost our way to the Cathedral of Serenity and been imprisoned underground by the Nighthawks."
"That won't happen, Judy. Even without Silika, I… I can still divine…" Cullen replied in an unconfident tone.
Since Feynapotter and Loen were of the same origin and only differed in terms of individual words and grammar, Ebner could barely understand what they were saying.
However, in order to facilitate communication, he softly chanted Blue Star in ancient Hermes and activated the Language Proficiency charm he had just created.
Seeing Ebner enter, Bishop Utravsky, who had sparse eyebrows, light blue eyes, and a few obvious wrinkles, stood up and nodded at him with a smile. "Child, you came at the right time. The Forsaken have also just returned."
Just in time to come back… and combined with what the girl had just said, Ebner was sure they had gone out to investigate the night before, although the operation might not have been too successful…
"This is Mr. Ebner Bryan, a famous private detective. He was also the first to discover the evidence of Leonardo becoming a heretic." Bishop Utravsky first introduced Ebner to the three Forsaken Ones, then pointed to the girl who had just complained. He said to Ebner,
"This is Judy Loreto, a Sequence 6 Biologist."
Ebner was a little surprised when he heard that. He thought to himself, "Isn't the introduction usually just a name? Why does he even tell me the sequence? Does he trust me that much?"
On the other side, the brown-haired girl, Judy, saw that Ebner had a strange look on his face, but she misunderstood him. She was a natural friend, so she explained with a smile, "Are you frightened by the fact that I'm a Sequence 6 at such a young age? Actually, it's nothing. This is because my parents are saints of the Church. I was born a Sequence 7 Harvest Priest, and I only advanced to a Biologist after 18 years. I think it's very slow."
Speaking of her parents, she didn't seem to mind at all.
No, Ma'am, I'm not frightened by this. After all, with Klein being a demigod for a year, you can only be considered average.
While Ebner was grumbling in his heart, he exchanged a few words with Madam Judy. Then, he heard Bishop Utravsky point at a black-haired, red-eyed, handsome man beside Judy. "This is Cullen Tia, a Sanguine Viscount, a Sequence 5 Scarlet Scholar."
Sanguine… I wonder if he has any information about the Tree of Elders. I'll ask him when I'm familiar with it…
Having failed to find a suitable doll and had no excuse to come into contact with Emlyn, Ebner's heart stirred. He felt that he might be able to reach out to the Sanguine's treasure through this viscount… No, establish a friendly relationship with the Sanguine.