See No Evil (Please Keep Reading)

Chapter 20: See No Evil (Please Keep Reading~)

He borrowed 35 Gold Lions from Ivy. Of that, 25 Gold Lions went toward buying the Simple Process for Making Magic Scrolls, published by the June Flower Printing House in the Imperial Capital, and 10 Gold Lions went toward buying 20 sheets of Energy-Storing Parchment for making scrolls.

After subtracting the savings he had put away over the past two years, and the 50 Silver Antelopes he had just fleeced from the Minotaur gentleman, he still owed Ivy a total of 4 Gold Lions and 50 Silver Antelopes.

Of course, Ethan told Ivy he was buying a textbook on playwriting. His dream had always been to become the Imperial Capital Opera House's resident playwright. Once he was transferred to the central bureau, he planned to spend his free time writing stage plays.

Fortunately, Ivy, who usually liked to get to the bottom of everything, seemed preoccupied. After lending him the money, she simply waited for him on deck and didn't care what he bought with it.

So he really had let his wicked thoughts take root after all.

Holding the bag, Ethan suddenly realized there was a serious problem.

Before they set out, Ivy had claimed that Old Mu the Treant was a dangerous person, and that one careless mistake could send him tumbling into an abyss of no return. But after spending some time with him, the most dangerous thing Old Mu had done was point the nozzle of his Dark Creature Repellent 3.0 spray at Ethan. Other than that, he hadn't shown any intention of swindling him out of his money.

But when Ivy offered to lend him money without charging interest, a door to a whole new world opened before Ethan.

Once a person's greed and wicked impulses had been stirred up, they were hard to resist.

Ethan criticized himself inwardly.

But the path of an Elemental Shaper was long and arduous. Besides recording beginner elemental spells, Fireball Ice Arrow Magic Mechanics also briefly discussed the principles behind how magic power was formed.

Every Extraordinary Path had its own unique way of advancing. For an Elemental Shaper, broadening one's horizons, deepening one's understanding of the occult, and strengthening one's connection with the natural elements were all ways of honing one's magic power.

In Ethan's own words, he needed to raise his Intelligence.

The stronger his magic power, the more potent his spells would be.

But after crossing into this world, he couldn't see his status panel. His only cheat was the ability to check his own skill proficiencies, so he could only judge his current magic strength by comparison.

Conservatively speaking, he was probably just a little stronger than the Witch who had attacked the town a while ago.

So how should he raise his Intelligence?

The answer was to read more books related to the occult. That was what Ethan had learned over the past two years.

He had already read every work on the occult in the Brookwood Town library. Without even realizing it, he had become the town residents' resident Occultism Expert. He didn't think it was anything worth bragging about; all the books he could access were public resources open to everyone.

It was just that hardly anyone in town was willing to read. They preferred to come ask Ethan whenever they ran into a problem, and listen to the knowledge he had distilled and summarized.

In Ethan's view, there were roughly two ways to learn more about the occult.

First, through his job.

As long as he was transferred to the Containment Bureau's central office, he would have free access to all the occult books in the Imperial Capital's archives. And since office work was relatively relaxed, he would have plenty of time to read. His career goal was simple: retire once he had read every occult work in the Imperial Capital's archives.

Second, through money.

As long as he earned enough, he could buy plenty of occult books in a place like Fireplace Bay, including Magic Books related to skills.

The first goal was beginning to take shape, but he couldn't neglect the second. That was why Ethan had gritted his teeth and bought The Simple Process for Making Magic Scrolls. If he could master the process, he could turn Fireball Spell and Ice Arrow into magic scrolls and sell them to others in Fireplace Bay.

If everything went well, that would make him money much faster than his salary.

His trip to Fireplace Bay had made him realize that its emphasis on privacy and free trade suited him perfectly.

Thinking of this, he involuntarily tightened his grip on the bag. He couldn't help feeling nervous. In his previous life, he had been nothing more than a diligent wage earner, with no business experience at all. He would have to start from scratch.

But no matter what, Old Sen Magic Scroll Shop had officially set sail!

Ethan and Ivy each had their own thoughts. The trip back went smoothly, and there were no more accidents like Ethan sneezing and causing Ivy to be teleported into someone else's home or a sewer.

Ethan stacked the shopping bags on the box. When he returned to the foot of Ivy's apartment building, Miss Chloe was already waiting at the entrance with her neck craned. The moment she saw them, she bounced over to them excitedly. She offered her head to lift the box and carried the Brookwood Town Containment Bureau outpost's basic equipment inside.

As soon as they got home, Ivy peeled off her damp trench coat and hurried into her room. Before long, the sound of running water came from inside.

Ethan opened the box and checked the inventory.

The equipment inside really was "basic." There were only four types of items, and he finally found out what the ominous, thick black liquid in the bottle was.

One Sip and You're Good to Go Mental Blocker 2.0. It was a blocker made from the secretions of SI-0321, and could effectively prevent the mental effects of most low-level curses from affecting investigators.

A few words in the description made Ethan's scalp tingle.

"Oral solution."

This stuff was meant to be drunk.

He tried holding the bottle up to Miss Chloe. She immediately let out a startled "coo," flapped her wings, and hid under the table.

See? Even Miss Chloe wouldn't drink it.

The remaining items were several handbooks, all titled Specialized Glossary of Curses and Contained Objects. Ethan really needed these. Contained objects all had these encrypted code names. For example, SI-0321—without the glossary, he had no idea what on earth it was.

But Ethan soon regretted it.

When he curiously looked up SI-0321 using the handbook's index, what met his eyes was an object whose main body looked like a red balloon. Several tentacles dangled from beneath it. The balloon seemed to be both its head and its body, and five palm-sized eyeballs covered the front of the monster. A protruding, trumpet-shaped mouth sat in the center of the eyes.

"Side-Eye."

That was the name the Containment Bureau had given this bizarre creature. The handbook's most prominent warning said it had first been spotted after a noble's party, where it had caused seven deaths, including the Duke's younger son. The victims had no visible injuries; the cause of death was asphyxiation.

The handbook then printed in red: "All investigators must avoid making eye contact with 'Side-Eye' for more than three seconds."

Studies had shown that anyone who looked Side-Eye in the eyes for three seconds would fall into an illusion. Since every subject who had experienced the illusion had died, the Containment Bureau still had no way of knowing what the illusory world looked like.

The "SI" designation referred to contained objects that displayed intense hostility toward investigators and were capable of killing them.

As for the secretion from SI-0321, it was mucus extracted by researchers from Side-Eye's eyeballs. They had accidentally discovered that it could block mental effects.

Ethan's stomach churned. In that moment, he understood why people said that ignorance could be bliss.

Drinking this stuff was, more or less, like sucking on Side-Eye's eyeball.

He didn't know what other people thought, but there was no way he could bring himself to drink it.

The bedroom gradually fell quiet. Before long, the sound of the door opening rescued Ethan from this nightmare. Ivy stepped out wearing a loose white silk robe, steam still rising from her. Her short, golden hair was simply tied back in a ponytail, and the characteristic tuft of Golden Hair on top of her head was temporarily nowhere to be seen.

A faint, pleasant fragrance filled the air.

Ethan raised the handbook and said, "I was studying what I'll be doing at work, but I have a question before the job officially begins."

"Go ahead."

"You said earlier that we'd be staying in Brookwood Town for a while. I want to know what our real objective is."

"Find a Magic Book."