Reflection

After Ivy left, Ethan moved a small chair to the pile of sundries in the living room to sort through Roxanne's belongings. Miss Chloe found a corner, curled into a ball, and buried her head in the feathers of her wings to take a nap.

The pile of sundries consisted mainly of old furniture. Ethan placed the detector by his feet and searched for half an hour without any success.

Finding nothing, he dragged a hard plank bed back to the bedroom, lay down on it, and stared blankly at the beams above. He placed the detector next to his head and drifted off to sleep in a daze.

He slept until past midnight, when Miss Chloe woke him up.

A faint "coo" sound came from the living room. Ethan listened carefully from the bed. The sound was gentle, like he was conversing with someone.

His gaze shifted to the detector by the bed. The needle pointed to yellow and occasionally emitted static, like a TV screen with snow.

Before dawn, the haunted house finally showed a faint energy wave, meaning Mr. Roxanne might have returned home.

When Ethan walked out of the bedroom, he saw Miss Chloe tilting her head, curiously standing behind a semi-transparent figure. She tried to get the figure's attention with "coo" sounds, but the man, sitting in mid-air in a seated posture, seemed completely unaware of her presence.

Miss Chloe tiptoed and tried to nudge the man's back with her head, but she passed straight through his body.

"Coo?"

She was even more confused.

Although the man wore a clown mask and a circus uniform, she recognized him. Mr. Roxanne was a kind person who occasionally went to the chicken coop to feed her breadcrumbs and candy. In her list of favorites, Roxanne ranked just below Ethan.

"Don't disturb Mr. Roxanne, he's busy."

Hearing Ethan's call, Miss Chloe nodded blankly and retreated to a corner of the room, looking back step by step.

Mr. Roxanne looked strange today. She didn't like this feeling.

Ethan sighed. Miss Chloe would probably have a hard time understanding what was happening. Why would someone return to their home after dying?

A Guide to 100 Dark Creatures had similar records. Demon Hunter August, while passing through a small mountain village, encountered a similar existence to a Ghost. The client was an elderly couple from the village whose daughter had left home a few days prior and never returned. Since then, strange things had been happening in their home.

August named this phenomenon "Reflection." After investigation and research, he determined they were not Ghosts but a type of supernatural image. These images had no independent thought, could not communicate with people, and did not attack living beings. Their only behavior was to repeat certain actions from their lives.

Reflections did not last long, usually dissipating in three to five days, which would be the last trace the deceased left in the world.

August believed that the appearance of Reflections indicated that the deceased had unfinished business at the time of their death.

Ethan found a table in the pile of sundries and pushed it in front of the Reflection. Then, he placed a chair for it to sit on. This way, he could roughly gauge Roxanne's behavior.

Roxanne was looking through an object, occasionally picking up a pen to add a few words. Although the clown mask hid his face, his actions of flipping through pages and writing made it clear that his mood was becoming increasingly anxious.

This meant he did this every day.

Returning home late at night with a tired body, he immediately sat down at the table without taking off his mask or changing out of his costume, flipping through something.

Roxanne took ten minutes. He slammed the object shut heavily, tossed the pen aside carelessly, and slumped back in his chair, gazing at the apartment ceiling for a long time. Then, Roxanne seemed to pull himself together, patted his face forcefully, and appeared to say something.

Next, he picked up the object from the table and walked into the bedroom.

It was directly opposite the hard plank bed, only two steps away from where Marshall contracted the mad laughter disease. He placed the object inside.

Ethan was quite sure that the object Roxanne placed was not in the pile of sundries. There was nothing like a book in it.

That left only one other possibility.

When the Imperial Federation cleaned up Roxanne's apartment, they only took the book and the container it was in. This might be the direct cause of Marshall's mad laughter disease.

Marshall was not honest.

Even though he was affected by the Cursed Object and sent a plea for help to the Containment Bureau in Gear City, he didn't tell the truth in his letter. He never mentioned the book in Roxanne's apartment. Ethan suddenly remembered the target Ivy had mentioned—she had come to a remote town like Brookwood Town, a place where birds wouldn't even shit, to find a Magic Book.

Could Roxanne have accidentally obtained this Magic Book?

Ethan stopped thinking. He didn't intend to waste brain cells on wild speculation. As long as it was confirmed that Marshall had concealed something from the Containment Bureau, the rest would be up to Ivy. He believed that even if Marshall was unwilling to cooperate, Ivy would find a way to make him talk.

Ivy collected many magic scrolls and potions. Ethan had heard of a potion called Truth Serum. Just a tiny drop in water could make Marshall reveal his darkest secrets. It was much more effective than any lie detector in the 21st century.

"Miss Chloe, let's go. We're going to report to the Leader!"

Upon receiving the order, Miss Chloe glanced back at the bedroom one last time. She happened to see Roxanne's shadow growing fainter until it vanished into thin air before her eyes.

Her eyes widened in surprise, and she walked out the door, looking back step by step.

Miss Chloe had a keen sense of smell and was very strong. Even carrying someone, she could run very fast. However, this time, she didn't head straight for Ivy's luxurious apartment. Instead, she ran towards the bar on this street. A "Closed" sign hung at the entrance, but a faint light emanated from within.

"Madam Rose, we—"

Ethan pushed the door open, but the scene inside the bar choked off his words.

He found Ivy in the bar, but it wasn't a good time.

Ivy was currently holding a gun in both hands, pointing it at the bar owner. The owner had his hands raised in terror above his head. Ethan's entrance broke the stalemate, and both their gazes turned to him at the door.

"Miss Chloe."

Ethan whispered sternly, "Go stand guard at the door. Don't let anyone in."

Miss Chloe obeyed and stood guard at the entrance like a proud guardian.

Ethan quickly walked to the bar counter. Under their watchful eyes, he put on leather gloves to avoid leaving any fingerprints. Then, he opened the cash drawer under the counter, took out the Gold Lion and Silver Antelope inside, and scattered them on the counter.

"...What are you doing?"

Ivy's eyelids twitched violently.

"Staging the scene," Ethan said, tugging at his gloves like a true professional. "Make it look like a robbery and murder."

"You stand on the opposite side too."

The dark muzzle turned to Ethan. Ivy bit her lower lip until it bled. "Hands over your head!"

Thanks to Yang Guang, the cheerful big boy, for the reward of 100 Qidian coins!

Thanks to Low-key Outburst for the reward of 200 Qidian coins!

Thanks to Jia Ming, who passed by, for the reward of 100 Qidian coins!

Thanks to the cow that lives on the 13th floor for the reward of 100 Qidian coins!

Thanks to Xuan Dian Kong Sui for the reward of 100 Qidian coins!

Thanks to Oath Decay for the reward of 100 Qidian coins!

Thank you all for your monthly passes and continued readership~