In the movies and games Li Wei had seen, this scenario came up all the time: a group of people knew a house was haunted, yet insisted on going inside to find the ghosts. After a whole bunch of people died, the surviving protagonists decided to burn the house down and destroy it for good.
Whenever Li Wei saw a plot like that, he always wondered: couldn't they skip all those boring steps in the middle and just burn the house down straightaway?
Unfortunately...
"We can't do that."
The old butler looked at Li Wei, speechless.
"Why not? That house doesn't have an owner now, does it? And we've got enough evidence to prove it's dangerous. Can't we just set it on fire, then say it was an accident and be done with it?"
Li Wei took a sip of tea and spoke calmly. Incidentally, Katie had gone home to rest. Tonight's experience had clearly dealt a serious blow to the young lady's mental state-well, Li Wei could understand that. In his opinion, if she were transported into the world of Resident Evil, she might well be able to take on a Tyrant in the ring.
But if she were sent into Sadako's world, she would probably just tremble in front of the television.
Truth be told, Li Wei felt a little unnerved himself. Like Katie, he wasn't concerned about any problem he could solve through physical force.
But anything physical force couldn't solve was another matter entirely.
So Li Wei wasn't the least bit afraid of serial killers or vampires.
Curses and ghosts, though... well, Li Wei felt that sometimes it was best to listen to his inner coward.
He wasn't some lonely bachelor with no one to rely on. He had the state behind him, an official post, and an organization. Why should he still solve problems by grinding mobs on his own?
"At present, that house still belongs to a certain family. They simply have no intention of living there. Although we certainly have the authority to do this, and we have grounds for doing it, we clearly cannot do it."
The old butler talked in circles, but Li Wei understood what he meant.
In short, no dice.
"Then I'd like you to assign a squad to accompany me."
Since he belonged to an organization now, Li Wei intended to follow the principle of letting others take the fall rather than himself. In any case, he wasn't going alone. A few more people meant a few more chances of surviving, didn't it?
For gathering intelligence, Li Wei preferred working alone or with Katie.
But this had already gone beyond a simple investigation. They were heading into a dungeon to fight a boss, which meant Li Wei needed to call in people and form a party.
"No problem."
"Also, I think we should standardize the procedures these investigation teams follow."
"Standardize them?"
"Exactly."
This investigation had shown Li Wei that their fledgling department had plenty of problems. For instance, no one knew what they ought to do. Everyone relied entirely on their own experience and did whatever they pleased. Of course, if their opponents were gangs or foreign spies, giving them some autonomy might have been a good thing. But clearly, the enemies they faced now weren't all opponents they could deal with using guns and artillery alone.
So Li Wei had given it some thought and revised the procedures on his way here. Now he took out his notebook and handed it to the old butler, who accepted it and began reading carefully.
"...First, gather rumors and determine whether the target merits investigation. Then submit a report, let the central department assess the target's danger level, and only then take action..."
"That's right."
Li Wei nodded.
"From what we've seen so far, the way these supernatural phenomena manifest is closely related to people's deep-seated impressions of them. That means gathering local rumors about supernatural incidents should let us roughly classify our targets by danger level. If no one has died and it's just a few pranks, the danger is low. But if there's sufficient evidence that people have died in connection with these incidents-and that many people have died-then we need to consider sending reinforcements or assigning a higher-level investigation team."
"So the more people have died, the greater the danger?"
"For now, we can provisionally draw that conclusion. That's why I think this incident might be more dangerous than the Courtesan Killer and the vampire. Not many people died in those two cases, after all. But as for the 'House of Death'... the officially recorded death toll alone is in double digits, and that doesn't even include the missing people."
"Indeed."
The old butler's expression grew serious as he carefully examined the official records, his face tense.
"Yes, quite. Because the deaths were spread over such a long period, they never drew much attention. But if we focus on this house alone... looking at it now, there is clearly something wrong with it."
"So can we just burn it down?"
"No, Mr. Li Wei."
Li Wei once again made his request with a smile, and the old butler once again refused with a smile.
"All of this is conjecture and deduction on your part. There is no evidence to prove it. That is why you need to investigate in person, preferably bringing back some evidence. It will help us persuade other departments to assist us with certain... large-scale destructive operations in the future."
"All right. Though I did expect as much."
Although the old butler had rejected his request again, Li Wei wasn't particularly discouraged. He knew perfectly well that the old butler wasn't making things difficult for him. That was simply how bureaucracy worked. This was especially true for an organization like Military Intelligence Section Seven, which had only just been established and wielded an excessive amount of authority. As the old butler had said, they needed some "solid evidence" to ensure that other departments were genuinely willing to cooperate.
They could simply use their authority to issue orders, of course, but... well, paying lip service while disobeying in practice, or dragging one's feet, were also among bureaucracy's failings.
Getting the people below them to work wholeheartedly wasn't as simple as outranking them.
"I understand."
The old butler thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Give me two days."
"Of course. No problem."
Li Wei was happy to enjoy another two days of leisure. This was like a final exam: the later it came, the better. Even one extra day was welcome.
But in the end, the final exam still had to come.
So two days later, Li Wei had no choice but to return to Military Intelligence Section Seven to see the old butler. This time, however, there were several more people beside him.
Katie... well, Li Wei knew her, so there was no need for introductions. Her eyes lit up when she saw him, and she waved in greeting. It seemed the psychological shadow that night had cast over the young lady had already faded. Of course, she might simply have been that carefree.
"Hello, Mr. Li Wei."
The next person to greet Li Wei was a blond, blue-eyed young man who looked slightly younger than him. His clothes were fashionable and flashy, and he was fairly handsome-though naturally, he still fell short of Li Wei.
"I've heard so much about you. I'm Anthony Blount, and I'll be joining you on this investigation."
"Hello, Mr. Anthony."
Li Wei looked at the young man before him and shook his hand. Anthony smiled slightly, then stepped aside. Next, a tall, powerfully built middle-aged man in military uniform appeared before Li Wei.
"Hello. I'm Henry Custer, with the Royal Army's special operations forces."
"A true soldier. I'm very glad to have you aboard, Mr. Henry."
Li Wei was quite pleased with Henry. This was exactly the sort of big, aggro-drawing main tank he needed.
And the last member...
"H-hello, sir."
A woman in a nun's habit quietly stepped forward and bowed to Li Wei, holding the All-Seeing Eye.
"I'm Elizabeth Delaney... from the Pure Rite Sect..."
"...Hello, Miss Elizabeth."
Li Wei paused at her introduction. Since coming to this world, he had read quite a few books about the Empire and become very familiar with its history.
That naturally included its religious history.
Most people in this world followed the Holy Lord Church. Yet with the passage of time, divisions of all kinds inevitably arose within any religion, and the Pure Rite Sect was one of them.
To explain it all, one had to start with the Holy Lord Church itself.
Originally, this world had followed the doctrine of the divine right of kings. Just like the earlier legend of salvation, every king's coronation had to receive the recognition of the Holy Lord Church's pope.
But as mentioned before, the Empire had gone through a long decline, while the Kingdom of Francis seized the opportunity to rise. The Holy Lord Church's scheming had played a part in that.
The Holy Lord Church's headquarters stood in a separate territory that constituted a neutral state. Previously, whenever a king or queen of the Empire ascended the throne, the pope had attended the coronation in person. During the Empire's decline, however, he had missed several coronations on the pretext of ill health, sending only an Archbishop instead. Meanwhile, he had personally attended the coronation in the Kingdom of Francis. Inevitably, this gave the public the impression that the gods had abandoned the Empire and that the Kingdom of Francis was the one favored by destiny.
It was hard to say that this had played no part in the subsequent fragmentation of the Empire's territory.
Naturally, it was impossible for the Empire to bear no resentment toward the Holy Lord Church. Especially now, with the arrival of the industrial revolution brought about by the steam engine and the Difference Engine, the Empire was aggressively attempting to reclaim its former position. It certainly wasn't going to leave old grudges unsettled. And so the Empire chose to undermine the Holy Lord Church from within.
They selected the Pure Rite Sect.
Strictly speaking, the Pure Rite Sect was more like an ascetic sect. Its followers believed that since the Holy Lord had created this world from his own flesh and blood, everyone was his child and shared a spiritual connection with him. There was no need for the Church to overstep its role and issue fraudulent divine decrees in his name. Thus, the Pure Rite Sect advocated abolishing the episcopal hierarchy and reducing religious holidays. It also held that everyone could pray freely, with no need whatsoever to go to church.
As the saying went, cutting off someone's income was like murdering their parents. The Pure Rite Sect's teachings naturally enraged the Holy Lord Church. If everyone listened to the Pure Rite Sect and stopped coming to church, whom could they ask for money? Where would the Holy Lord Church's authority be?
Under the Holy Lord Church's suppression, the Pure Rite Sect had originally all but vanished. At that point, however, the Empire intervened and gave it support.
As a result, the Empire had now become the Pure Rite Sect's stronghold, with roughly two-thirds of its citizens following the sect. The reason was simple: no one needed to waste time going to church. They only had to pray before the All-Seeing Eye in their own homes. Moreover, the Pure Rite Sect's arguments were well-reasoned and convincing, leaving people with the impression that not going to church was perfectly fine...
So there were now very few churches within the Empire. Only certain places retained them as a symbolic gesture, while some large cities had even converted churches into stations and other public facilities...
This infuriated the Holy Lord Church, but it could do nothing about the Empire. The current empress was no softhearted little girl who liked playing with dolls, but an iron-fisted ruler. The Holy Lord Church had tried inciting its followers to resist such sacrilegious acts, but the bishops involved had either disappeared or died in accidents, and the Church's protests had ultimately failed.
Once again, she proved that her title of Iron-Blooded Queen wasn't mere hype.
This nun's presence here meant... uh, forget it. What did it have to do with him?
Li Wei quietly pushed those thoughts aside.
Life was short; he should enjoy it while he could. Matters like these were for Her Majesty and other important figures to worry about. As a detective, he only needed to do his own job.
At that moment, Li Wei also understood why the old butler had needed two days to prepare.
This was a joint operation between departments. They were assembling quite a force!
Before you continue