Remnants of an Old God

Having obtained information unrelated to himself under perfectly safe circumstances, Shade was satisfied and prepared to leave, planning to tell Doctor Schneider about what he had seen and heard today.

But then, the woman's elegant whisper sounded by his ear again:

You have come into contact with "Enlightenment."

He stopped and frowned. Enlightenment Elements were related to civilization, but dense traces of Thaumaturgy and curses could also lead to their appearance. But here...

Standing in the narrow space between the pipe and the wall, Shade found that, being a blind spot, it had relatively little trash. There was, however, quite a bit more animal excrement.

Shade carefully examined the wall before him. It was almost entirely covered in filthy phrases and drawings representing private organs, scrawled in chalk and paint. Beyond that were many strange marks he did not want to imagine the meaning of.

Neither of his two Spirit Runes currently enhanced his eyesight, but what truly set him apart from ordinary people was his ability to interpret almost all writing.

Below a sentence insulting the gods, at a height above Shade's waist, the young Detective's eyes caught sight of some strange patterns. He regarded them as writing and indeed received both their meaning and pronunciation:

"Appeared."

That ancient language required a full six syllables to express such a simple meaning.

Amid the thin mist, a white glow flickered before Shade. He took a step back but kept himself within the gap between the pipe and the wall.

The curious Cat was startled awake by the white light, and the person holding it saw a dilapidated stone statue slowly rise from the ground.

Its base was square, while the statue itself stood only half as tall as Shade. It depicted a nobleman with bat wings and a cloak.

Shade closed his eyes, allowing bloody tears to spill from beneath his eyelids. He covered the Cat's eyes and quickly turned around. Then he heard the whisper by his ear—a joyous whisper, reciting a story never before told:

You have come into contact with remnants of the Old God "Vampire Duke Lawell."

An ancient deity born from the original foul blood, craving blood and driven mad by blood. In the Twilight of old, He developed His kin through the curse of blood, had His mind clouded by the curse of blood, and roared within the depths of castles on dark nights.

You have listened to the story of the Old God "Vampire Duke Lawell." You have learned of one of the miracles of the Old God "Vampire Duke Lawell."

"Can I inscribe a Spirit Rune?"

After confirming moments later that this was all the information there was, Shade emerged from his surprise and asked eagerly. Even the headache caused by being so close to the Old God's statue eased because of it.

Then, Shade heard the woman in his heart chuckle:

You have obtained the curse, Blood Echo. You have not yet obtained enough of this deity's story, Outsider. Miracles are not so easily acquired.

The whisper in his heart fell silent, and the Old God's statue transmitted new power to Shade. The Destiny Ring hidden behind his soul began to turn, drawing in traces of golden Elements. Golden specks stained the brass ring as it condensed Spirit belonging solely to his soul.

Shade's right eye abruptly turned blood-red, and he gained the power to see faint traces of blood that were difficult to notice.

After fully understanding what had just happened, Shade did not inspect his newly acquired power first. Instead, he first checked the Cat in his arms.

Although the Cat had witnessed the entire process of the Old God's statue appearing alongside Shade, fortunately, its attention had been drawn to the scattered white light at the time. It had therefore not, like Shade, seen the Old God's statue in its entirety at First Time. Thus, aside from seeming somewhat listless, Little Mia had not suffered the same mental shock as Shade.

Put simply, the power Shade had acquired allowed his right eye, when the curse was actively activated, to see faint bloodstains left in the air and on the surfaces of objects.

This was something that could also be achieved in Shade's world through certain technological methods. But when he used the curse, he needed no instruments, only to open his eye. Moreover, as long as even the slightest trace of blood remained, he could see it.

Though it was not an especially powerful ability, it unexpectedly suited Shade's profession as a Detective very well.

Shade had never heard the name of the Old God "Vampire Duke Lawell." In fact, aside from "Father of Infinite Tree," he had never heard the name of any Old God.

The story of this Old God made Him sound unlike a Good God. That judgment was entirely correct. Thus, after gaining the curse and the story, the voice in his mind also informed Shade that he was coming into contact with the silver Element of Blasphemy, an Element possessed only by evil gods.

But whether because he himself had not sensed much Blasphemy from this Old God, or because the power of this stone statue with its base leaned more toward miracles, Shade gained nothing from the Blasphemy.

Still, gaining a curse was quite good. Thaumaturgy required corresponding Spirit Runes to be used, while curses did not need Spirit Runes and were a mystical ability common to all Ring Arcanists. Because they were "common," curses were often less effective than Thaumaturgy, though some curses also had usage restrictions.

And according to the Doctor's notes, curses acquired through contact with remnants of Old Gods usually could not be learned through other methods.

Therefore, Shade had essentially gained a rare curse for free. Unfortunately, its effect was not particularly obvious.

Since he had already gained something, the next step was naturally to leave immediately.

Shade could not take this Old God statue with him. He did not even dare touch it directly with his skin. The existence of the stone statue was clearly connected to Lassoya, and an Old God statue could not have naturally existed in the city. She must have brought it into this alley and hidden it there.

Bringing a statue of an evil god into the city like this was a serious crime. Thus, Shade finally determined that Lassoya was not a good person.

He then read the six syllables of the Ancient Writings meaning "Appeared" in reverse order, causing the evil god's statue to slowly sink back underground.

Only then did he cautiously slip away from the mouth of the alley. He did not even care about saving money, boarding a carriage at the next intersection and, without any hesitation, setting off with the Cat for Doctor Schneider's psychiatric clinic in the East District of Tobesk City.

But quite unfortunately, Doctor Bill Schneider was not at the clinic.

The people at the clinic still recognized Shade, whom the Doctor had invited over as a guest yesterday. Therefore, Doctor Clay, who received him, told him where Doctor Schneider had gone.

The wife and daughter of an unnamed Count in the city had recently developed binge-eating disorder. The Count's personal Doctor believed it was a psychological problem and had specially invited Doctor Schneider to diagnose and treat them. Doctor Schneider Would Be staying overnight at the Count's manor Outside the City and would not return today, at the very least.

As for the manor's address and the Count's surname, they could not be revealed to Shade in order to protect the patients' privacy.

"But Mr. Hamilton, you can leave a note for Bill. He'll see it when he returns."

Doctor Clay said this kindly, yet firmly refused to disclose the location of Countess Manor.