Face-to-Face Encounter (1)

"What happened now?" Viscount Paul pinched the bridge of his nose and questioned Steward Laurence, who had come in to report.

"My lord, the vagrant's body has disappeared, and... Xilatia, who lived with Ginny Will, is dead." Steward Laurence swallowed. As an old man without supernatural powers but with extraordinary wisdom and experience, he deeply understood what all this meant. A mysterious and unfathomable weirdness had already invaded Wilson Castle.

Viscount Paul fell silent for a full two minutes. "It seems Ginny Will is the key to this matter. Lock her up first! As soon as dawn breaks, invite people from the Anomalies Bureau over."

However, before dawn arrived, two male servants who had accompanied Ginny Will during the day were found dead in their room on the castle's three-story servant quarters. Immediately afterward, in the castle basement, the person guarding Ginny Will suddenly went mad and forcibly shoved his head between the iron bars, crushing himself to death in a bloody mess...

By the time Green returned, everyone in Wilson Castle was already living in fear. Some servants who could no longer bear the pressure had begun planning to flee this noble castle where they had worked for many years and received remarkably generous treatment.

After hearing Vincent's account, Green's expression grew solemn as well. This was a typical case of weirdness at work, and someone had died. The situation was rather serious.

Green thought for a moment before asking, "Where is the maid named Ginny? Take me to see her first."

Vincent nodded. People from the Anomalies Bureau had come to inspect the place that morning, but they had found nothing and could only wave their hands repeatedly. Viscount Paul had no choice but to personally seek help from the Mages Association. At present, Vincent was in charge of everything inside the castle. The two of them went straight down to the lowest level and entered the dungeon where prisoners were held.

Although it was called a dungeon, the castle basement was neither damp nor dark. Gas lamps had been installed, illuminating the entire basement brightly. The so-called dungeon was merely a stone chamber left behind when the foundation was built. It had been converted into a simple prison to facilitate the punishment of servants who broke the rules or enemies who invaded the castle.

At that moment, Ginny Will sat disheveled in the corner of the cell. Her lips moved nonstop, though no one could tell what she was saying. Her mental state was clearly abnormal.

Through the thick iron bars, Green saw the maid who had still been graceful and charming not long ago. Now she looked haggard, as if she had aged more than a decade. Her hair was dry and disordered, and she clawed viciously at the floor, completely unaware that she had torn her fingertips open and made them bleed.

"She's finished." Green shook his head. The moment he had entered, he had used Death Spirit Sight and seen dense black energy coiling around Ginny Will's body. It contained an intensely ominous aura, as if the God of Plagues had descended, bringing ceaseless misfortune, illness, and gloom.

"What a vicious curse!" Green clicked his tongue inwardly. From these circumstances, it was not difficult to see that Ginny Will had been afflicted by some sort of vicious curse. Generally speaking, using a curse to harm someone came with a corresponding price; it was not something that could be used casually. Using such a method against a maid was truly like firing a cannon at a mosquito. Clearly, the true target this time was not the maid, but the Wilson Family and Viscount Paul.

Half an hour later, Viscount Paul returned from outside with a grim expression. Clearly, his trip to the Mages Association had not produced a satisfactory result.

Inside the castle study, Green and Vincent sat across the desk from Viscount Paul.

Viscount Paul loosened his cravat and let out a long breath. "Green, I'm relieved that you were able to return. In these troubled times, people's hearts are unstable. With something like this happening in the castle, even many old servants who have worked here for decades are considering their next step. I'm only afraid that after a few more days, even if the weirdness stops appearing, the authority the Wilson Family has built over all these years will slowly be exhausted."

Green nodded. While walking through the castle earlier, he had seen people whispering to one another more than once, their faces carrying weary, terrified expressions. After being tormented for most of the night, no one had slept well. Everyone was trembling with fear, their hearts pounding in dread.

Thus, when Viscount Paul spoke with a sigh of "authority slowly being exhausted," he could no longer conceal the helplessness and unwillingness in his heart.

This was the reality of this world. In this world, even nobles, officials who held power over an entire region, and capitalists with immense wealth all seemed so powerless when faced with weirdness. It also gave Green a clearer understanding that supernatural power was the foundation of all authority and wealth.

Take the Wilson Family, for example. What a lofty existence it was in Landon City—authority, wealth, status! Yet a single instance of weirdness had driven it into a humiliating mess, leaving chaos in its wake and rendering it completely helpless.

Just then, after a hurried knock, Steward Laurence pushed open the door with an unpleasant expression.

Viscount Paul frowned and asked, "What is it? What happened this time?"

Steward Laurence did his best to remain calm. "My lord, the gardener Gilmore just died."

"Damn it!" When Vincent heard that someone else had died, he cursed angrily and helplessly.

Viscount Paul remained relatively calm. He turned his gaze toward Green, a questioning look in his eyes.

The strongest combat power in the castle now was Green. The Anomalies Bureau and the Mages Association were either too busy looking after themselves or had received hints from above to mind their own business, unwilling to interfere in the Wilson Family's affairs. The only person the Wilson Family could rely on now was Green. The strength Green had displayed by repeatedly saving Lillisa and Penny was enough to earn Viscount Paul's respect. In fact, in Viscount Paul's eyes, Green was more reliable than Wilkins. At the very least, Green still bore the Wilson surname.

At this point, Green no longer put on airs. He rose to his feet of his own accord. "I'll go take a look."

Seeing Green volunteer, Viscount Paul and Vincent both secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Earlier, when Baron Lonanks had been killed by the weirdness, they had not felt much about it. But now that the situation had fallen upon them, the pressure of death made it even harder for them to summon the courage to face the weirdness head-on.

This was not because Viscount Paul and Vincent lacked courage. As noble officers who had once served in the Kingdom Knights Order, even though they had retired many years ago, grown soft around the middle, and suffered a considerable decline in their battle aura, Viscount Paul's courage and decisiveness were beyond doubt. Vincent, too, was an exceptionally capable young noble. But the reason weirdness was called weirdness was precisely because it was impossible to predict. Its countless strange and incomprehensible phenomena stirred the imagination, thereby producing even greater fear.

Green, on the other hand, was a mage. The magical power he himself wielded was an ability beyond the understanding of ordinary people. Moreover, all the signs indicated that the weirdness invading Wilson Castle was very likely a ghost or a spiritual entity similar to one.

This gave Green even more confidence. Ghost Eye was precisely the nemesis of this kind of weirdness, and it could even capture one and transform it into a new ghost.

Green was raring to go. He left Viscount Paul's study and followed Steward Laurence toward the gardener Gilmore's bedroom...