"Describe the distribution of the colors you see," Carlo said.
Isaac focused his attention on the colors, observing their overall distribution.
"The colors are all mixed together," he said. "The main color is pale red. It's a little yellow around the liver, and there's a mass of cyan covering the head, mixed in with the mist. It hasn't spread to the torso, but it seems to be spreading a little."
"Pale red is normal. A healthy spirit body is generally that color. The yellowing indicates an organ problem. There may be a minor chronic issue with the liver, but it's nothing serious. Cyan is a sign of outside contamination. Whether it's a disease or a curse, it shows up as cyan on the spirit body."
"Then Mr. Harper's condition..."
"The cyan has already invaded his head. The reason he can smell that stench only he can smell is that the curse has already interfered with his sense of smell. And the cyan is spreading, which means the curse is gradually permeating his body."
Although Harper couldn't see the colors of his spirit body, he could tell from their words that his situation wasn't very promising. "Sir, then what about me..."
"The fact that you can still stand here and talk means you're a long way from being done for," Carlo said. "But you said earlier that you'd gotten used to the smell, right?"
The shopkeeper nodded.
"That's not a good thing. Getting used to the strange smell only means your spirit body has been contaminated to a certain degree, and your sensory system has already been numbed. Many victims of curses miss the best time to deal with them during the 'already used to it' stage."
"Then what now...?" Isaac asked.
"Now, leave Spirit Vision. Just open your eyes."
"I don't need to look at the third layer?" Isaac remembered there was a soul layer beyond the spirit body.
"The soul is even harder to see through, and it's far too complicated. It's the informational essence of a person's existence, carrying all their memories, personality, and causal connections. It's the sum of all information accumulated since birth. Never mind whether you can see it or not-even if you could, you wouldn't understand it right away. It would just be a waste of time."
All right, if he says so... Isaac opened his eyes. His Spirit Vision faded, and the normal sight of the shop returned. The shopkeeper stood a few steps away, looking apprehensive.
He blinked. Traces of light and shadow lingered in his vision, only fading completely after a few seconds. He felt disoriented, as if he had surfaced from underwater.
The shopkeeper looked uneasy. "Sir, just now..."
"I was checking your physical condition," Isaac said. "The curse is attached to you, but it hasn't caused any substantial harm yet. There's still time to deal with it."
The shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good... Gentlemen, what happens next?"
"Ask him." Carlo tilted his chin toward Isaac.
Isaac took a deep breath and sorted through the information he had.
The curse had come from that garment. The garment had been burned, but the curse hadn't disappeared and had established a connection with the shopkeeper. That meant the source wasn't the garment itself; the curse had merely been transmitted through it as a medium.
In other words, the person who returned it might be the source. No, even that person might just be one link in the curse's spread. Tracing it back to its source would clearly be a major undertaking.
They didn't have enough information to track that person down, so they could only start with the curse itself. If he could sever the connection and dispel the aura of the curse attached to the shopkeeper, the problem should be solved.
But the problem was that he had no knowledge or experience in this area...
No, it wasn't quite true that he had no knowledge.
Isaac recalled some of the texts he had read in the past. Although they weren't proper occult works-after all, occult books were banned from circulation in Palmer-they at least recorded some church rituals.
"Perhaps... I can perform an exorcism ritual to help." Isaac hesitated.
"Sir, you're going to perform the exorcism ritual yourself?" The shopkeeper was somewhat surprised. As he understood it, weren't such rituals usually conducted by clergy?
Isaac nodded. "I've learned a little about it, but I'll need some time to prepare. Sorry for the trouble, but please get me a mirror large enough to reflect a person's whole body, and a quiet room."
The shopkeeper led them up the stairs at the back of the shop. The second floor was a residential area, with several closed doors on either side. He opened one of them, revealing what looked like a former tailor's workshop. Several wooden mannequins were piled against the wall, and a sewing table stood in the corner.
The shopkeeper brought over a full-length mirror that had been standing against the wall. "Will this mirror do?"
"That will do. Mr. Harper, sorry for the trouble, but please get three white candles and some refined salt as well."
The shopkeeper left the room, and Carlo leaned against the doorway. "You know how to perform an exorcism ritual too? Did Lessing teach you? Hmm, I doubt that guy Lessing knows how to perform rituals either."
Isaac shook his head. "I read about some in books. They described exorcism rituals used by the church, including their principles and steps."
"Oh, you're going to use the mirror as a substitute?"
Isaac wasn't surprised that Carlo had guessed which kind of exorcism ritual he intended to use. "Yes, a substitute exorcism ritual."
A substitute exorcism ritual worked by transferring the curse attached to the cursed person onto a medium, then purifying the medium. Compared with a purification ritual performed directly on the cursed person, this method was gentler and placed less strain on them.
Of course, that was assuming the curse itself wasn't too active. If the curse was alive and had a will of its own, or was closely controlled by the person who cast it, it would resist the transfer and might even turn on the person performing the purification.
Carlo glanced at the mirror and offered his assessment. "A curse with a will of its own will usually cause significant harm in a short time. It wouldn't drag on for half a month with the victim doing nothing but smelling a stench. This curse isn't very active. It's more like a lazy dog slowly wearing someone down than a hunter that actively attacks."
Isaac breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Carlo thought his choice was sound.
"But church exorcism rituals generally require the power of the gods' blessings, don't they?"
"...Boss, haven't you already seen that?"
Carlo shrugged. "True."
Isaac finished checking the mirror and confirmed that it was undamaged. Soon, the shopkeeper returned with the white candles and a jar of refined salt.
Isaac picked up the jar of refined salt and poured a line on the floor, outlining an equilateral triangle and making each side as even as possible. He then drew a circle with another line of salt, enclosing the triangle at its center and leaving an equal gap between the circle and each of the triangle's three points.
Next, Isaac placed the three white candles at the three points of the triangle.
The shopkeeper did as instructed and walked over, stopping behind the candles. His hands were clasped together, and he looked somewhat ill at ease.
Isaac pushed the full-length mirror directly opposite the shopkeeper and adjusted its angle so that it reflected his entire body.