A Midnight Visitor

In a room in Backlund, Hillston Borough,

As night deepened, Fors Woll finished a cigarette, removed the remaining bit from the wooden mouthpiece with its silver band, and tucked it into the overflowing ashtray beside him.

Cigarettes come with their own filters, but using a cigarette holder makes smoking more comfortable and can prevent nail polish from turning yellow. A good cigarette holder can make a woman look elegant and beautiful when smoking, and it was even popular in Backlund at one time. The materials used to make them ranged from high-end silver to inexpensive wood.

As for what she was holding, it was a birthday gift Hugh gave her after he made money last time.

After finishing his tobacco, Fors turned his attention back to a blank sheet of paper on his desk. There were a few lines written on it:

The target has a history of fraud and is likely to be cunning. They may alter their appearance, so it's advisable to add glasses, a hat, a beard, etc., to the existing portrait to increase the margin for error.

The targets specifically prey on streetwalkers, and the methods are extremely cruel. We can infer their motives by extracting information from the streetwalkers themselves.

The target is suspected of joining a cult; their mental state and behavior may differ from ordinary people. Living in a high-crime area would reduce the chances of being detected. They may be active in the East Borough, near Backlund Bridge Borough.

This is advice written on it by Detective Isengard Stanton.

The Detective's advice had been very helpful when they investigated Qilingus last time. So this time they simply asked him again to speculate on Lanevus's situation.

Upon hearing that the target might be Serial Murder Case, Isengard seemed very interested. He appeared to want to ask for more details, including who provided the information, but out of professional ethics, he refrained.

Tomorrow, she definitely wants me to go out with her... The East Borough is too far, I really don't want to go...

Fors was already feeling a bit overwhelmed at the thought of having to get up early tomorrow and conduct a long investigation across the city.

Forget it, that Lanevus guy is too dangerous, I'd better go with her. Otherwise, if her short legs aren't fast enough, she might get caught...

"Ugh!"

Just as she was mentally making excuses for herself and taking a jab at her friend, she suddenly froze, then her expression quickly turned ferocious, and she covered her ears with both hands.

The Crimson Moonlight, like flowing water, spread across the curtains and trickled down the floor through the gaps, casting a faint red glow inside the room. Unseen words seemed to surge into the room along with the Crimson Moonlight, echoing in Fors' ears and causing her indescribable pain.

Oh no, I forgot it's Full Moon today!

Fors thought to herself, her pain causing her to squeeze the wooden cigarette holder so tightly it creaked, her face Distortion as she rolled and struggled in the chair.

In the depths of her pained eyes, there seemed to be layers of strange light, as if reflecting the distant moonlight.

When she last encountered Qilingus, she used a strange gem to travel through space and escape her pursuers. However, the side effect of that item was that she would hear unknown and terrifying words during every Full Moon, words that brought her extremely intense pain.

"Stop!"

Fors screamed and tore at her hair, seemingly trying to relieve the pain in her head. Large clumps of brown curls were ripped out, but she seemed oblivious.

A few minutes later, she finally recovered, covered in cold sweat and panting heavily.

Looking at the large handfuls of hair and cigarette holder in his hand, Fors couldn't help but give a bitter smile.

"Luckily, the cigarette holder was of good quality and I didn't break it, otherwise I wouldn't know how to explain it to Hugh..."

She had tried to save herself, but various Ritual and prayers to the gods had no effect. The Word-Eating were getting louder and louder, and the situation was getting worse. She didn't know how many more times she could hold on.

With mixed feelings of helplessness, Fors gazed wistfully out the window.

That same night, in the East Borough, in the Apartment rented by Luther.

"This mainly tests your understanding of mathematical theorems. Just follow the formula and substitute the given conditions..."

At his desk, Luther quickly scribbled a few lines of numbers on a scrap of paper, then looked up at Emily. "See? It's solved!"

Emily glanced at the manuscript, then at him.

"You explained it even more clearly than our Teacher."

She said it from the bottom of her heart.

"It's just very simple math."

Luther chuckled. After all, he had spent his previous life navigating a sea of exam questions, so dealing with the high school exams of this era was no challenge for him.

Emily looked at the question he had analyzed so thoroughly, and after a moment, she suddenly looked puzzled.

"But don't you have a mental illness? So where did you learn math?"

She asked that question.

Luther's eyes narrowed. He noticed his younger sister across from him was also looking at the manuscript thoughtfully. Knowing something was wrong, he smiled and said, "I didn't go to school. I taught myself while working."

He almost forgot that Cecilia was very aware of her own academic situation; she knew she had never studied mathematics.

After chatting for a few more minutes, it was almost time, so Emily got up, said goodnight to the two of them, and went back to her bedroom.

"Elder brother.."

Sure enough, she spoke immediately First Grade Emily left.

It's okay, I can still cover it up.:. Luckily, I have some work experience, so I can say it was special training I received at work because it was required for the job...

Luther prepared his words, waiting for his sister to ask.

He then heard her look at him with concern and ask earnestly, "We should rest now. Have you taken your medicine?"

"Ah?"

Luther is the first witness.

My sister didn't ask me anything about math... Wait, isn't it better that she didn't ask? It saves me the trouble of making up an excuse.

"I haven't eaten yet, Cecilia, could you get me a glass of water?"

He nodded and said with a smile.

Mentioning the medicine, Luther instinctively reached into his chest pocket, where he found three glass test tubes. They were sedatives provided by the Fat Apothecary Darkwill. In addition to the sedatives, his payment included 10 pounds in cash and a clue to the Beyonder Gathering.

"The meeting will be held in a house on Iron Gate Street. To find out the exact time, check page 5 of the daily Backlund Morning Post. If it mentions Ernst Trading Company buying goods, it means there will be a meeting the following evening at 8 PM. The intensity and interval of your knocking are related to the price you're offering."

I'll have to remind Cecilia to subscribe to this newspaper next time.

Luther thought to himself that since it was the first gathering, he planned to test the waters first and not necessarily buy anything.

Wait, I wonder how much of Cecilia's "Assassin's " Potion she's used up. Maybe we could prepare some of the Main Ingredient "Instigator's " Potion for her in advance and try to buy them at the party...

"Knock knock knock!"

Just as he was pondering what to do at the party, there was a loud knocking on his Apartment door.