42 · Preparing for the Ritual (Heavily Revised)

Tin City, South River District, inside a detached villa far from the residential areas.

Sacia and Malcolm sat quietly on a sofa in a reception room, the air thick with the scent of a strange incense.

The wait was nerve-racking. Malcolm kept flipping a one-Fenso coin over in his hand, while Sacia gripped the sides of her long skirt with both hands.

At last, the reception room's ornately carved wooden door opened from the outside.

A middle-aged man in a dark gray priest's robe stepped out, his eyes as deep and still as an ancient well. He held the now-blank notebook and its translated manuscript.

"The High Priest has finished reviewing them." The priest's voice was low. Looking at the two people waiting across from him, he continued, "The High Priest said that the contents disappearing from the notebook confirms its nature as a sacred vessel. This notebook could not have been forged by human hands, so there is nothing wrong with the notebook itself.

"As for this translation..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Sacia and Malcolm with clear approval. "The structure of the ritual is rigorous, and the title 'Holy True Lord' it invokes embodies a breadth and sanctity far beyond anything in the Church's previous records."

The priest let the approval fade from his voice and continued gravely, "The High Priest has ruled that we may conduct a small, cautious sacrificial ritual to verify its authenticity. If it succeeds, we should try to establish an initial connection with the Holy True Lord.

"We devoutly worship all sacred, vast, great, and unknown transcendent beings."

A hint of barely suppressed excitement flashed in Sacia's eyes. She nodded slightly. "We shall obey the High Priest's will."

Malcolm also breathed a sigh of relief. He put the coin he had been playing with into his pocket.

The priest's gaze finally settled on Malcolm, and his tone softened slightly. "Brother Malcolm, your actions this time have been invaluable. The Church will remember your devotion, and the High Priest is deeply pleased with your performance."

Malcolm immediately stood and bowed slightly in humility.

This showed that his relationship with Sacia was more than a simple partnership: he was also a member of the secret religious order represented by the priest before them.

"The ritual will take place here tomorrow at noon," the priest instructed. "The other things required for the ritual have already been assigned to others to prepare tonight. We must ensure that everything goes flawlessly tomorrow."

He concluded, "You two will stay here tonight. Tomorrow, you may observe the ritual from the side."

"Understood," Sacia and Malcolm replied in unison.

The priest turned to return to his study, but paused in the doorway. With his back to them, he added in a calm voice, "Once the ritual is confirmed to work, that boy named Gallo... knows too much, and contact with the notebook may have made him somewhat unusual.

"We must find a way to deal with him and ensure our actions remain secret. Clovin must not catch so much as a whiff of what we're doing.

"Don't feel sorry for him just because he's clever. Once we establish communication with a great being, abilities like his will seem insignificant and worthless.

"After we've dealt with him, all of us must evacuate immediately!"

Malcolm's eyes narrowed. He nodded. "I'll take care of it."

In the early hours of the morning, at Clovin's headquarters, Lepest.

An elderly couple, both around sixty, were crudely brought into one of the underground cells beneath the castle complex.

The terrified couple, trembling like leaves, were locked up separately. The old man was roughly forced into a freezing metal chair, his hands secured to either side with specially made handcuffs.

"Please, sir, take pity on my wife. She's very timid. She doesn't know anything." The old man's plea earned him a hard slap across the face.

A stern-looking Clovin investigator sat down at the interrogation table opposite him. Beneath a specially made lampshade shaped like a conical hat, the tungsten bulb overhead trapped the suspect beneath its beam.

The stark contrast of light and shadow made the interrogator's face impossible to see. He seemed to be lurking in the darkness.

The Clovin agent who had just struck the old man immediately abandoned the idea of hitting him again. He worried that the elderly man might not withstand another heavy punch. He also regretted acting so rashly just now; it had been nothing more than an instinctive response after working for too long.

His fist had moved faster than his brain.

"South River District, 35 Elysée Avenue. That detached villa is your property," the Clovin investigator at the interrogation table said.

"Yes, it's mine." The old man felt a searing heat across the side of his face that had just been struck. He could barely see out of the eye on that side.

By the time he and his wife had been brought here, he had already prepared himself mentally. He would answer anything Clovin asked honestly. After all, no one could stand against Clovin.

He owned several properties, and 35 Elysée Avenue in South River District was just one of them.

He was considered wealthy in Tin City, but in Lepest, all his wealth and social standing meant nothing. He was left with nothing but fear of Clovin.

"According to our investigation, you rented this property to a Mr. Elliott six months ago, on a two-year lease." The interrogator's voice came steadily from the shadows, betraying no emotion but carrying the pressure of someone who held all the cards.

"Y-yes, sir." The old man tried to swallow. The burning pain in his cheek distorted his voice.

"Mr. Elliott paid a full year's rent in advance, along with a deposit of 150 Nalang. He was very generous with his money.

"We... only met him twice. The first time, he came to see the house. The second was when we signed the lease. After that, we never saw him again."

The old man felt a little relief. It sounded as if this was about his tenant, but more than anything, he resented the man. If not for him, how could he and his wife have ended up in Lepest?

In the eyes of the Empire's citizens, Lepest was more terrifying than hell.

"Describe this Mr. Elliott and anyone else you know of who lived there."

The old man didn't dare hide anything. He described the man haltingly. "He was a middle-aged gentleman, elegant in manner and well dressed. He said he came from the south, but his accent was more like someone from the Imperial Capital.

"I don't know whether anyone else lived in the house, but because of his work, some wealthy people might have come and gone.

"He was an investment broker, but he only worked for one major client..."

The interrogator tapped his index finger rhythmically against the table, seemingly urging the old man to offer more useful information.

"He... once told me during a casual conversation that people in his line of work had to keep their clients' information confidential... But he hinted that his client was a noble from the days of the Faruon Kingdom. He himself had once been a senior male servant in the client's family..."

The client was a noble from the days of the Faruon Kingdom, and the man's accent was more like someone from around Tin City. It was quite possible that the kingdom's nobles who had fled abroad twenty years ago had started returning to the Empire a year earlier.

According to the policy issued by the head of state, nobles exiled during the kingdom's era could return and retain their property. However, when entering the Empire or its colonies, they had to pay a hefty property import tax. The records of property import taxes paid by nobles from the kingdom's era upon entering the country a year ago could be checked to determine the identity of the tenant's client.

Meanwhile, in the interrogation room next door, the old man's wife was undergoing similar questioning.

Fear had made the elderly couple's statements highly consistent. They had only met their tenant, a man named Elliott, twice. Moreover, the couple didn't usually live in South River District; they lived in central Tin City. They knew very little about their tenant and had never looked into his background.

Once all the testimony had been compiled, the report began making its way up the chain.

In a conference room in the upper levels of Lepest, within the Special Affairs Bureau under the Ninth Bureau, clues handed over by the Third Bureau lay scattered like pieces of a puzzle. Four senior investigators from the Ninth Bureau were arranging and analyzing them.

One of the four senior investigators was the female supervisor, Damon Marco, who had appeared at the scene of Jeffrey Gito's apartment earlier. All four were now focused on the intelligence before them.

"Let's start with the Third Bureau's counterfeit-document case." A senior investigator with graying hair and hawk-like eyes spoke first, pointing to the report concerning Malcolm.

"According to the thief's statement, the false documents were stolen near Lubo Lane from a young man wearing a brown trench coat.

"The Third Bureau followed up and identified this young man named Malcolm as a suspect in possession of the fake documents.

"He and two accomplices have been renting rooms long-term at the Youth Hostel on Lubo Lane. Their purpose appears to be surveillance."

He paused, then continued, "They were watching the perimeter of the Moonlight Cafe. The target might be a person, or it might be something else... If it was a person, we don't know exactly who, but we could narrow down the possibilities by tracking the flow of people outside the cafe.

"But that's not the main point!"

"The thief's statement alone isn't enough. There's no direct evidence that Malcolm possessed Clovin's fake documents. He's only a suspect in the counterfeit-document case. But, by coincidence, he's connected to another case," another senior investigator added. He was relatively young, but his gaze was sharp.

"The death at Jeffrey Gito's apartment!" he continued. "We thoroughly investigated his social connections and recent activities.

"We discovered that he had recently returned from an expedition to the Southern Continent. The expedition was funded by an overseas fund established by the Taylor Family.

"Moreover, among the students who went along was one named Sacia Taylor, a History Department student at the Imperial Industrial University who enrolled a year ago."

He went on, "The key point is that the Third Bureau's surveillance confirmed that Malcolm had direct contact with Sacia Taylor.

"That links people from the two cases, but the picture still isn't complete."

The female investigator, Damon, nodded. She slid Sacia Taylor's file toward the center of the table.

"Third!" She continued, pointing to a report concerning the teaching assistant Allen and Professor Vanason.

"The first person to report the incident at Jeffrey's apartment was Allen, a teaching assistant in the History Department at the Imperial Industrial University. He went to Jeffrey's apartment to look for Professor Vanason Joel, who had been missing for several days.

"This authoritative professor in the History Department at the Imperial Industrial University went missing three days ago without notifying the school or requesting leave. Even his teaching assistant didn't know where he had gone.

"So this professor suspected Vanason might be at Professor Jeffrey's home, since Jeffrey had just returned from an expedition to the Southern Continent and the two were close colleagues in the History Department..."

She continued, "Although Allen was the first person to report the incident, he wasn't the first to discover Jeffrey's body.

"The Third Bureau found Professor Vanason Joel in his hometown, Delan County. The reason he had gone to Delan County and hidden himself in an inn was... Clovin's agents had told him to..."

The others looked at her in confusion. She pulled out the report on the original Clovin counterfeit-document case.

"During the Third Bureau's questioning, Professor Vanason said he had gone to Jeffrey's apartment three days ago and found Jeffrey's body, as well as something 'strange' in the study. After that, Clovin's agents threatened and warned him not to tell anyone what had happened there.

"They told him he'd better stay home quietly for a few days, and that Clovin would get in touch with the school.

"Then, terrified, Vanason blindly fled to his hometown in Delan County to hide."

"Hmph! That's completely unlike Clovin's usual methods." The gray-haired senior investigator scoffed. Clovin had only two ways of silencing people: lock them up or kill them outright.

She continued, "The Third Bureau showed Vanason a sketch of Malcolm. He immediately identified Malcolm as the Clovin agent who had appeared at Jeffrey's apartment that day—the fake Clovin agent!"

Damon set three reports on the table: Malcolm, a suspect in the counterfeit-document case; Sacia Taylor, a person linked to Jeffrey's death; and Malcolm, a suspect in Vanason's disappearance.

"Looking at these three cases alone, we can already connect them and close the loop. But... there's another report, dictated by Kalieqin, a senior investigator with the Third Bureau's Special Affairs Group. Kalieqin still hasn't regained consciousness."

She placed the report, marked "Malignant Psionic Loss of Control," on the table.

"The malignant psionic loss-of-control incident is inextricably linked to all three cases above. It was the direct cause of Jeffrey Gito's death.

"First, Jeffrey Gito died during a severe psionic loss-of-control incident, according to what Clovin's agents learned from Professor Vanason.

"During the expedition to the Southern Continent, Professor Jeffrey fell into a deluded and increasingly unhinged state of mind. The events involved the annihilation of an ancient dynasty on the Southern Continent, so I'll limit myself to my assessment as a senior investigator after reviewing Professor Vanason's testimony."

She took a deep breath and suppressed her still-turbulent emotions. "Jeffrey Gito was clearly influenced and beguiled by a physical entity from the Spirit Realm. He had been on the verge of losing control for some time before his death."

She continued, "The fact that Jeffrey received funding from the Taylor Family's overseas fund in the first place was clearly the result of deliberate planning. And one of the students he led was also a member of the Taylor Family, Sacia Taylor."

The gray-haired senior investigator gave a cold snort. "It seems this young lady from the Taylor Family still longs for the ancient glory of the Faruon Kingdom. She was even willing to get involved with such dangerous things."

Another senior investigator shook his head. "How ignorant! Did she think this sort of thing could be controlled and used to threaten the Empire?"

She placed a brief surveillance report on top of the others. "This is what ties all the clues together. While tracking Malcolm, our Third Bureau agents discovered that he and Sacia Taylor both ended up at 35 Elysée Avenue in South River District."

Then she placed a newly arrived report on top of the pile. "This is the information obtained from questioning the owner of 35 Elysée Avenue, along with records of property import taxes paid by nobles from the kingdom's era a year ago.

"I'll give you the conclusion directly. The person who rented 35 Elysée Avenue was an investment broker named Elliott. He mainly served one major client, who was a high-ranking noble from the kingdom's era. Elliott had once been a senior male servant in that noble's household.

"The property import tax records from a year ago contained the name 'Muzov Taylor,' who is Sacia Taylor's father.

"And Sacia and Malcolm are currently at 35 Elysée Avenue."

A senior investigator nodded. "So this is a conspiracy by a noble who fled during the kingdom's era. They want to gain some power from the Spirit Realm to threaten the Empire."

Damon said, "According to Professor Vanason's testimony, Malcolm had also asked him to translate the contents of a notebook. Vanason declined because he wasn't well versed in ancient hieroglyphics.

"Combined with the malignant psionic loss-of-control incident, we can conclude that they already have important materials that could help them communicate with a physical entity from the Spirit Realm.

"But in Kalieqin's account, another powerful psionic was also present at the scene. That person's connection lies with the teaching assistant Allen, so we won't merge those cases for now."

She paused, then added, "Based on Vanason's testimony and the residual fluctuations at Jeffrey's apartment described by Kalieqin, Sacia and Malcolm may already be conducting or preparing some kind of high-risk ritual.

"But we don't know whether other forces are infiltrating the situation behind them.

"So our operation must be swift and decisive. We absolutely cannot let them complete it."

The four senior investigators reached the same conclusion. Damon gave the order:

"Target: 35 Elysée Avenue, South River District.

"Keep it under close surveillance and confirm the locations of the primary targets.

"Once they're identified, move in immediately. Use lethal force if necessary."