West Mennork, at the Wraithcrow headquarters.
Sebastian Blackwood found himself in Captain Gustaf's office along with Cleo.
Gustaf sat on the single sofa, resting his hands on the woody brownish desk as he stared at Sebastian and Cleo. The office was dimly lit by the bronzed chandelier of candles that hung from the ceiling.
Cleo placed the goatskin sheets on the desk. "Captain Gustaf, here is the investigation report."
Gustaf took the report and began flipping through the pages, his expression becoming serious with each page.
He had long curly brown hair that reached his neck. His brown eyes and short beard gave him a much more serious and adult look, while the black hat and black vest he wore gave him a professional look.
"So Mr. Coy committed suicide in the shed on May 11th… what a fatality." Gustaf murmured, his voice was deep.
Sebastian sat down calmly on the single sofa, and answered in a serious tone. "Exactly, he shot himself after being possessed by an evil entity. His corpse then turned into a zombie, but we managed to neutralize it. The weapon he used to kill himself was a webley revolver."
"Not the kind of weapon you found in Steatha's armories… who knows where he got it." Gustaf muttered to himself.
He rapped the knuckles of his right hand on the desk, looking at the report he had with his left.
"According to the information we've obtained, it's possible that Coy purchased the weapon either in Creria Empire, or in the archipelagos of the Western Continent." Cleo's voice was hoarse, sitting down on the single sofa next to Sebastian with his legs crossed.
"He sits with his legs crossed… very odd behavior on his part." Sebastian looked at Cleo stunned by his composure.
Knitting his brows, he remembered Cleo telling him on many occasions how much he hated sitting that way, because he thought only people who were unsure of themselves sat that way.
However, in Captain Gustaf's office, Cleo sat with his legs crossed. The contradiction was seared in his mind, fueling his suspicions of Cleo.
Sebastian looked away, staring at Gustaf, he said. "Unfortunately, it will be some time before we find out where Mr. Coy got it."
"Yea, I understand…" Gustaf murmured, pursing his lips as he was lost in thought.
An ethereal silence fell in the office, reigning supreme. Sebastian looked at the red sky from the window behind Gustaf as Cleo changed his leg posture.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
At that moment, Sebastian heard someone knock the door which it creaked open. Turning, he saw a slender man with sandy blonde hair and light red eyes wearing a hat and a brown suit enter the office, breaking the silence that had been created.
"Captain! We managed to find the corpse of the accomplice!" The man bowed his head.
Hearing what the man said, Sebastian looked at his colleague with satisfaction. He could finally conclude the investigation relating to the theft against Mr. Sammer.
Captain Gustaf looked at the man with a serious look. "Great timing Russell, where is he?"
Russell raised his head, and replied in a loud voice. "At North Mennork! Just after the bridge!"
"What a queer coincidence, right in the area where Madam Hall lives." Thoughts flashed through Sebastian's mind as he looked at Russell.
"There's not a minute to waste, go!" Gustaf got up from the sofa, taking the long black coat that was hanging on the coat rack to his right.
Sebastian and Cleo nodded, rising from the sofas as they bowed respectfully.
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North Mennork, at Jewel Street.
Sebastian and Cleo got out of the black carriage, reaching an apartment complex close to the Ancient Path Bridge.
The street was dimly lit by gas lamps, their glow was widespread by a light fog which was spread around the lamps, terraced buildings and houses like a veil. The chilled air made the horses neigh as they stamped their hooves on the stone road.
The biting cold air made Sebastian shiver as he rubbed his hands together, searching for warmth in his frozen hands. He heard the ringing of a bell, and turning to his right, he saw a clock tower with black lancets pointing towards 9:00 pm lit by the crimson moon behind it.
The crimson moon in contrast with the tower gave a fascinating and eerie touch to the atmosphere at the same time.
Sebastian hastily entered the apartment complex, climbing the stairs as he holded his brown cane with his left hand.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
After walking down the long, dimly lit corridor with brown walls, he saw the door of a room wide open, and a familiar man came out of the room as if waiting for him.
The man had short crew cut hair and thin features. His brown eyes and gold-rimmed glasses that were on the bridge of his nose gave him a much younger look. He was wearing a long beige coat that reached his knees. He had a pipe in his right hand, while in his left he had a brown cane.
The man put the pipe to his lips, exhaling the white smoke from his mouth, he said. "Oh, here you are finally, I've been waiting for you for more than half an hour. Where's Captain Gustaf?"
"He remained in the office reading the suicide report." Sebastian replied, looking the man in the eyes as he smiled.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Sebastian heard the sound of footsteps reverberated in the corridor, growing louder by the second. Tilting his head, he saw Cleo and Russell walking elegantly towards him.
Russell scratched his neck. "Sorry Duncan, it took us so long as the street was crowded."
Duncan ignored Russell's words as if he didn't care about what he said, putting his pipe on his lips, he stepped into the open room with a stern look on his face.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The atmosphere became eerily silent as Sebastian entered in room number 22 accompanied by Cleo and Russell. The dark room was illuminated by the moon, its glow painting the room crimson mixing with black.
The hallway, living room, and the kitchen, was carpeted in soft, raven-colored carpet.
Reaching the end of the short hallway that had two doors on the right and one on the left, Sebastian looked at the thing by the window and closed his eyes.
The pungent putrid smell aired in the room which blended with that of the gunpowder, the traces of a macabre outcome that chilled even him.
Everyone present looked on the spot at the thing illuminated by the red sky.
The corpse of an overweight man lay slumped on the wall with a hole in his head.
The man's eyes and mouth were wide open as if he was screaming in terror. Saliva came out of his mouth, staining his white shirt, while the right side of his face was stained with dried blood coming out of his temple. In his left hand he held a black revolver, which suggested that he had taken his life off.
"Blimey, what an incredible disgrace." Cleo murmured, covering his mouth with his left hand.
"He looks disgusted… how can he be disgusted by the corpse if he killed a zombie in the forest this afternoon?" Sebastian's mind was racing as his suspicions about Cleo grew stronger.
Not many hours ago, Cleo not only examined the rotting corpse after cutting it in half, but was remorselessly taunting Mr. Coy while he was in the carriage. Seeing him feel disgusted by a corpse in better shape than Coy fueled his suspicions even more.
As their eyes met, Cleo looked away, coughing a couple of times as if to clear his throat.
Duncan banged his cane on the floor, the sound breaking the dull atmosphere like glass as Sebastian, Cleo and Russell looked at him.
In a deep, serious voice, Duncan said. "Well, here we come. The victim was Harlan Nevil, he was 30 years old, and he worked at the bar nearby. He was found by the neighbor about 2 hours ago. From the rigidity of the body and the coagulated blood it's plausible that he died between 4 and 5 in the morning."
"At first glance it looks like he shot himself." Cleo expressed, licking his lips.
Duncan lowered his bushy eyebrows. "Yes, it seems to be a suicide akin to that of Mr. Coy, but it's too early to establish it."
Russell put his right hand in the pocket of his trousers. "We found the grimoire in his room with some pages torn out. Heh, there's no doubt that Mr. Harlan killed himself after being possessed by an evil entity. We can say that the case is closed."
"Hmm... sadly, I'm not that convinced of your thesis." Sebastian was deep in thought, unconvinced by Russell's deduction.
"Let's reconstruct the dynamics of the case." Sebastian placed his index finger on his temple. "On the night of May 10th, Mr. Coy and Mr. Harlan broke into Mr. Sammer's shop in West Mennork and stole the grimoires after the closing time."
"After that, in order not to be traced, they decide to split up. Mr. Coy died on May 11th in the cemetery by committing suicide, while Mr. Harlan died 7 days later for the same reason." Cleo advocated Sebastian's point as he crossed his arms.
"This is exactly where I'm not convinced." A thought flashed through Sebastian's mind as he asked Duncan and Russell. "Do you know if he attended church?"
"From the testimonies of the neighbors it seems that he usually went to the Cathedral of the God of Storms." Duncan replied.
"If he was baptized by the church, then the hypothesis of suicide doesn't hold up… hah, I didn't want to do it, but I'm forced to use the Sixth Sense." Sebastian closed his eyes, rubbing his eyelids gently.
Reopening them, the moon, the floor, the room, his companions and everything around him became completely black and white.
Turning around, he saw gray and red fluorescent footprints, giving off fluorescent flames which could be distinguished with his grayish vision.
"These must be Duncan, Cleo, and Russell's footsteps." Sebastian saw bright fluorescent lights scattered all over the room.
However, knitting his forehead, he noticed something that put him off guard, something that could confirm his suspicions.
Transparent white footprints, which were differentiated with the red and gray footprints, were leading from the front door to the end of the hallway. The footprints were hard to see, and the only thing he could notice was the fluorescent aura it gave off as if it was made so as not to be noticed.
"The footsteps go to the next room. So the killer is a Daredevil, huh… let's see if I can find useful clues in that room." Sebastian ignored the stares of Duncan, Cleo, and Russell, and entered the first room on the right, leaving his cane leaning against the wall.
The room was completely messy. The bed was unmade, the desk and drawers were a disarray with yellowish sheets and clothes scattered around the room as if someone had nervously searched the room. The mirror hanging above the desk was shattered, the glittering fragments scattered around the desk.
"So, did you find something we missed?" Russell asked succinctly.
Sebastian ignored Russell's question, noticing something thin and long white glow faintly on the desk.
"It's a needle… if my guess is right, then that needle is meant to do what I'm thinking…" Sebastian gently picked up the needle from the desk.
Bending down, he carefully opened the drawer next to the desk, his breathing stopped the moment he noticed something in the woody surface at the bottom.
A thin hole, faintly boosting fluorescent white, was etched into the bottom of the drawer. The hole was so small that it could easily have been overlooked during the investigation, but its faint glow caught Sebastian's attention.
"Thanks to the Son I activated the Sixth Sense, otherwise I'd never noticed the needle and the hole in the bottom. I really struggle to see the white aura. I need to advance from Servant to Master as soon as possible if I want to improve my powers further." Sebastian looked at Cleo, and in a serious tone said. "Cleo, come right now, I need your help!"
"W-what do thou want to make me do?" Cleo entered the room, joining Sebastian.
"I suspect there is a false bottom in this drawer. Now I'm going to lift it up, and you are going to remove it completely." Sebastian carefully placed the slender needle into the hole.
"Eh, a double bottom? This is new to me." Russell gave a light chuckle as he entered the room with Duncan.
"What a big deal, if only you had looked more seriously, you could have noticed it too." Sebastian frowned at Russell as he pushed the needle deeper in the hole.
The fingers with which he held the needle trembled, making the process more arduous as beads of sweat dripped from his forehead.
With all the strength he had in his slippery fingers, he arduously tried to lift the false bottom, the matter for him was of vital importance in order to conclude the investigations.
"Here we go, take it off, now!" Sebastian exclaimed.
Cleo nodded, removing the false bottom, he threw it on the floor which made a deafening noise that resounded around the room.
Sebastian hastily stood up, and along with Russell and Duncan, he approached the drawer, seeing something that could bring him closer to the solution as he placed the needle on top of the drawer.
Some sheets completely crumpled with the bottoms torn were inside the bottom, giving off the fluorescent white. Sebastian closed his eyes, rubbing his eyelids and then reopening them. The yellowish ruined sheets, the room and everything around him became colorful again.
Whilst the room was half-lit by the red sky, Sebastian sparingly took the sheets, feeling the fabric, he briefly read the contents and froze on the spot.
His hand trembled with his body as he kept staring at the sheets in disbelief like he was afraid.
"What's wrong with you Mr. Genius? you seem afraid." Duncan glanced at Sebastian.
"Let's see what this filthy paper hides." Russell abruptly took the sheet from Sebastian's hand, his once curious expression turning to concern. "No… I can't believe it, it's impossible. What… why are there documents relating to the New Testament Century here!?"
"A New Testament document?" Cleo eyebrows furrowed upward, his lips trembled.
The New Testament Century was the century preceding the Genesis Testament Century, which began after the First Disaster that destroyed the Five Worlds. Although it had a rich history, it was incomplete with some periods shrouded in mystery, especially the Second Disaster which had a major impact on the worlds.
Sebastian was wondering why a piece of sheet containing forbidden information was in Mr. Harlan's hands.
Russell opened his mouth, his lips trembling "If… if those sheets are here, then this case is–"
"It's a full-blown murder case." Sebastian interrupted Russell, a faint smile forming on his lips. "The killer entered Mr. Harlan's apartment, coldly shot him, and then staged the suicide story to trow us off track. It was implausible that he would've committed suicide because of the ritual if he had been baptized."
"Huh… it actually makes sense. Being baptized it was unlikely that he'd die, unless he failed the Trials in the Doomed World, but then his body wouldn't be here. So, passing it off as a suicide would've led us to close the case like Mr. Coy." Duncan advocated Sebastian's guess.
"Now that you make me think about it, Mr. Harlan's boss mentioned that shortly before he died, he was paranoid like he was afraid." Russell looked at the yellowish sheet, pursing his lips.
"Yes, obviously Mr. Harlan was paranoid. Perhaps he discovered something he shouldn't have discovered, making him an inconvenient witness." Sebastian's voice was faint as he looked at Cleo.
"The killer was definitively stalking him, and at the perfect opportunity it off him." Cleo licked his lips. "But the question is, where did he get those documents?"
Sebastian's mind was slowly reconstructing the dynamics of the facts. Despite he understood that the case was a murder, and that Mr. Harlan was in possession of forbidden information, the question of Cleo only thickened both the case and his mind.
What information did the documents contain? How did Harlan get it? Who killed him? What connection did Harlan have to all this?
"The central characters are written in the ancient language of Talem. We must deliver it to our organizations! If we're foolish and deciphered it, then something horrible could happen to us!" Duncan forcibly took the ruined paper from Russell's hands. "Let's go to the headquarters now!"
Sebastian narrowed his eyes as he heard Duncan's words.
Cleo crossed his arms, pursing his lips. "Sorry, buy w-wouldn't it be better if we first went to the Cathedral of the Son of Nature to receive a blessing from the archbishops? A-after all, we are now at risk of death, and we might also turn into demons."
"You are right. Quick Russel, bring me the suitcase now!" Duncan exclaimed.
"Oh alright, I will go immediately, Duncan!" Russell shrugged respectfully at Duncan and hastily left the room.
"It's not good! We don't even know what the killer looked like. Gee, I have to go on a Dream Journey." Sebastian's mind was clouded with thoughts as he left the room and headed down the hallway.
"Hey Mr. Genius, do you seriously want to do this at such a time?" Duncan placed the pipe in the inside pocket of his coat, looking at Sebastian with a serious look.
As the air grew heavier with each second as if to suffocate, and the moon cast terrifying shadows near Mr. Harlan's corpse, Sebastian sat primly on the floor, holding his cane in his hand.
He looked at Duncan straight in the eye, and laughed faintly. "I have no other choice, if we want to close the case, I must see the killer's face, that way we'd have ways to track him down. Am I the best detective in the Republic or not?"
"Alright, but hurry up, you know perfectly the side effects." Duncan sighed, surrendering to Sebastian's decision.
Sebastian slowly closed his eyes, completely relaxing all the limbs of his body, he exuded a blue and white aura from his body. He breathed in and out constantly, letting the aura wash over him, and then–
Sebastian's mind left the world of reality.
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Sebastian was in Mr.Harland's apartment.
He saw Harlan huddled down the hall, crying and sobbing like a baby. As he continued to sob, he occasionally muttered words.
"I still can't hear people talking when I do dream journeys, but I'm sure I will hear them as soon as I advance! For now I can only read lips." Thoughts flashed through Sebastian's mind as he approached Harlan.
He narrowed his eyes, focusing on Harlan's lips as he continued to murmur.
"I found out too much! I found out too much! They'll kill me! I'm dead! I'm dead… So he actually read the documents. How did he get them, and why did he have them with him?" Sebastian looked at him carefully.
As Harlan continued to say "they're going to kill me" and "I found out too much" over and over again, Sebastian turned his head back to him, seeing something that made him shudder.
A gloomy silence fell in the apartment, the air became stagnant, the tension became increasingly high. Sebastian looked at the main door with a serious look.
A slender young person with thin features, wearing a long coat that brought a dead silence to the hallway and a golden mask covering the upper part of its face, walked through the door of the apartment, walking towards Harlan with a black revolver in his right hand.
"The revolver was its. It must be very strong if I could barely see its footsteps with my Sixth Sense. It passed through the door… its definitely a Sage Rank or Master of the path of Ophiuchus Class." Sebastian pulled his pocket watch out of his vest pocket. "It's 4:30 in the morning, so that's when he gets killed."
Sebastian watched Mr. Harlan screamed continuously as the golden-masked killer closed the distance, bending down, it coldly shot him in the temple, ending the heart-rending screams while it carefully placed the revolver in his left hand.
Whilst the moon bathed the apartment in crimson, Sebastian continued to watch the killer calmly enter the first room on the right as if it was in no hurry.
"I'm sure that as expected, it'll ransack the room in order to mislead us from its real intentions, while in reality it's looking for the documents." Sebastian followed the killer into the room, keeping his concentration high.
As he entered the room, he saw something that confirmed his theory.
The slender killer with the golden mask and a long coat opened the false bottom of the drawer, taking the documents inside, while the room, which was supposed to be completely messed up, was perfectly clean and tidy.
"I knew it! The messy room was simply a trick. It probably did it because it knew that Mr. Harlan stole the grimoire from Mr. Sammer's shop, and it used the opportunity to fake the suicide caused by evil entities like Mr. Coy." A satisfying smile formed on Sebastian's lips.
Around the dimly lit room, the masked killer tilted its head upwards, a sinister smile forming on its exposed lips as it leisurely held the documents in its hand.
Crash!
Without thinking twice, it punched the ornate glass with its left hand, shattering it into many glittering pieces that fell onto the drawer and the floor.
"I've seen too much. I better go back, I can only use this power for a few minutes." The final scenario of the story settled in Sebastian's mind as he left the room.
Sitting composedly not far from Mr. Harlan's lifeless body, Sebastian closed his eyes, ignoring everything else as he relaxed his entire body.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Sebastian's eyelids were gradually opening, his consciousness awakening.
He saw a crew cut man with glasses on shaking his body, his vision was blurry. His mind was heavy, like a mysterious force that was crushing him at all cost as heard shrilling sounds and a voice ringing in his ears.
Sebastian closed his eyes, reopening them after a couple of seconds, he saw Duncan touching his forehead with his hand.
"You don't seem to have a fever, luckily for you. So, anything interesting?" Duncan pulled his pipe out of his pocket, placing it in his lips.
"I have a couple of useful pieces of information. Mr. Harlan died at 4:30 this morning at the hands of a young person. Sadly I couldn't see its face, but I can assure you that it's very young." Sebastian fumbled to his feet. "The killer wore a red coat and a golden mask, and was 1.75 cm tall. It entered through the door, shot him dead with the gun Mr. Harlan was holding, and then it turned the next room upside down."
Sebastian delicately straightened the wrinkled parts of his gray coat. "The killer must be of Master or Sage Rank of the Ophiuchus Class, and is also–"
"Before you run wild with your deduction, I have two questions. First, why didn't the killer get rid of the documents? Second, where did that mask come from?" Duncan interrupted Sebastian, looking at the overweight man's corpse.
"Hah... I was going to say that I still don't know why it didn't get rid of those documents, maybe it has something in mind, I don't really know. As for the mask, well, it's rare to see it in Steatha, so I suspect that it got it in the Kingdom of Aetheria." Sebastian walked towards the living room. "By the way, where are Cleo and Russell?"
Duncan lit his pipe. "They went to the headquarters to deliver the documents to Captain Gustaf. It's lucky we didn't turn into daemons."
"We should head there too, right?" A feeble smile was formed in Sebastian's lips.
He had the general picture of the case, and how things had really happened. Despite the limitations of the Dream Journey, he managed to obtain much information about the killer's height and physical appearance, the precise time of the murder, and a glimpse of the killer's powers.
But there were some things that he thought deeply about. From Duncan's question, he couldn't understand why the killer left some important documents at the crime scene. Maybe he forgot—perhaps did it on purpose.
"And the mysteries don't end there. My suspicions about Cleo only increased, first he not only licked his lips several times, but he also crossed his arms as if he was nervous. I've known him for years, but this is the first time he's acted like this." Thoughts raced through Sebastian's mind as he thought back to Cleo's behavior.
As he was deep in thought between the murder and Cleo's ambiguous behavior, he felt someone touching his right shoulder, easily breaking his chain of thoughts. Turning behind, he saw Duncan smile as he closed his right eye.
"Mr. Genius, you did a great job as usual. Now we have enough information to investigate, and I'd say the ladies shall definitely come after you." Duncan chuckled as if he was proud of Sebastian.
Sebastian gently removed Duncan's rough hand from his shoulder. Duncan looked at him with one eye as he smoked his pipe, keeping his gaze serious.
While looking at Duncan, Sebastian narrowed his eyes, a smile forming on his lips as the living room was dimly lit by the crimson moon.
Sebastian formed a gun with his index finger and thumb, aiming it at his temple. "You're very wrong, Duncan. It's not me who's smart, it's the people around me who are fools."
That was the truth he thought, that he was sure of, denying all compliments and praise from the person in front of him.
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West Mennork, at the Wraithcrow headquarters.
Luvenia Sherry entered the underground prison, lantern in her hand. She closed the rusty black gate behind her.
The prison was dimly lit by the torches that were placed in each cell. The smooth floor was set in brown stone, and debris fell from the arched ceiling, creating a grotesque and suffocating atmosphere. The air was thick with the sharp smell of dampness and putridity.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Walking between the closed cells, Luvenia reached cell number 6, seeing a man sitting in a corner of the closed cell.
He had brown skin that gave him the appearance of being from the Duskfall Kingdom or the Western Continent, and his face and much of his body was completely covered by a dark robe.
"You've finally arrived, I was bored here locked in the cell waiting for you." The man was writing on a goatskin sheet with a quill.
Luvenia giggled, and in a dirty voice she said. "I beg your pardon, my dear Mr. N, but thou know, I had to make sure that Mr. Gustaf didn't follow me."
"I see you're enjoying working with them. So, how are the plans going?" Mr. N replied, tilting his head.
As goosebumps ran down her spine, a twisted smile curved across Luvenia's black lips.
"Everything is going as you expected." Luvenia advocated, her voice barely above the high-pitched whistle, echoing in the empty prison.