Sensing the existence of the barrier, Gray relaxed considerably. He spoke immediately, "Mr. Emerson, we suspect you of tax evasion in the course of your business. Therefore, we need to conduct an investigation of your home. You won't have any objections, will you?"
Ossie's eyes widened. "How could I possibly do such a thing? There must be some misunderstanding... You are free to investigate; I have a clear conscience."
"That's good then." Gray turned to Ronan and Olivia. "You two go and check things out. I'll continue asking Mr. Emerson a few more questions."
Olivia nodded, stood up, and walked out.
Although she could see that Ossie was problematic, how was she supposed to tell Gray or Ronan about the issues she had detected?
In their eyes, she was supposed to be an Arbiter; she shouldn't possess the ability to sense pain energy.
Walking out into the hallway and seeing Ronan follow her, Olivia whispered, "Deacon Ronan, I think there's something wrong with this man. His words just now contained lies; I felt it."
"You felt it? How?" Ronan asked, puzzled.
"Intuition?" Olivia replied.
"Intuition?" Ronan's expression turned subtle. "Hmm, regarding a woman's intuition, I've seen it mentioned in newspapers before. It's often described as something miraculous, as if it truly possesses some special effect. However, we are already transcendents; there's no need to believe in theories that lack actual proof."
Olivia smiled wryly. She didn't know how else to explain it.
She could only say, "In any case, I think we should just arrest him and take him to the church for a proper interrogation."
"Let's search his house first." Ronan felt that if the man truly was a heretic, he should have left some traces in his home.
"Alright," Olivia could only nod.
...
In the living room.
Ossie's expression was slightly tense. After answering a few more of Gray's questions, he couldn't help but say, "Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom."
Gray smiled. "That is a freedom everyone should have. Go ahead."
Ossie quickly stood up and headed toward the bathroom. However, after a few steps, he noticed Gray was following him, which made him look back.
Gray still wore a smile. "I'll wait for you at the bathroom door."
Ossie said helplessly, "You're treating me entirely like a criminal. But I really haven't committed tax evasion... Forget it. Once you've finished your investigation, you'll naturally be able to clear my name."
He said no more and hurried to the bathroom, opening the door and stepping inside.
The moment he closed the door and isolated himself from Gray, the helpless expression on his face vanished completely. His face darkened, looking as grim as a thundercloud, his eyes filled with confusion.
'Strange. I haven't caused any transcendent incidents for a full six months. How did the church people target me? Regardless, I have to run. If they see the things in the bedroom, it'll be too late.'
Thinking this, Ossie quietly moved toward a secret door he had in the bathroom.
...
In the bedroom.
Olivia walked in, scanned the surroundings casually, and pulled open the drawer of the desk by the window. Inside, she saw several letters.
She opened one nonchalantly and glanced at it. Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she almost thought she had misread it.
"No... no way?"
The contents of the letter were simple, yet they delivered a massive shock, leaving her momentarily dazed.
She quickly picked up the other letters and looked through them. The content of every single letter made the corners of her mouth twitch uncontrollably.
Did this world love playing jokes on her this much?
Just as she was feeling speechless...
Thud!
A violent impact sound suddenly erupted from outside the room, the intense commotion echoing throughout the area covered by the barrier.
Olivia sighed softly. After putting the letters away, she jumped straight out of the window and looked toward the source of the sound.
When she reached the back door of the house, she witnessed a battle.
The several clergymen who had come with Gray were fighting Ossie. However, even though the clergymen had the advantage in numbers, they were being suppressed by Ossie alone.
At this moment, Ossie held a one-handed sword. With a flick of his wrist, flourishes of his blade bloomed like brilliant, eye-catching flowers. Every slash and thrust was perfectly executed.
"A Swordsman!"
Olivia whispered, recognizing the other's transcendent path.
The Swordsman path was arguably the most common, yet Olivia realized that in all her time since arriving here, this was the first time she had seen a Swordsman in action.
Those who followed this transcendent path possessed a natural affinity for swords. They could learn various sword techniques instantly; as long as they held a blade, they possessed formidable combat strength, making the class very popular.
Although Ossie was suppressing the clergymen, his expression was filled with anxiety.
There were more than just these few clergymen. He knew there were others, and once they heard the commotion and arrived, he likely wouldn't be their match.
More importantly, a barrier had been set up here. To leave, he would first have to deactivate the barrier, which was undoubtedly an extremely difficult task.
Before Ossie could figure out what to do, a shooing sound rang out. A card flew out from a very tricky angle, aimed directly at Ossie's heel.
Ossie noticed the card just in time and moved his foot, only to find the card curving to follow him. This forced him to turn around and stab down fiercely with his sword, pinning the flying card to the ground.
Just as he finished this move, Ossie's expression changed. He saw even more cards flying toward him from the front. The angles were different, the sequence was varied, but their lethality was undoubtedly high. His spiritual sense instinctively warned him of approaching danger.
Behind the swarm of cards, the figures of Gray and Ronan quickly appeared, sprinting toward him.
Everything was already decided.
By the time Ossie finished his wild dance of the blade, knocking down all the cards, the two Sensates and numerous Pilgrims had already formed a circle around him.
"Damn it."
The sight made Ossie's expression turn extremely ugly.
"I never thought Sister Olivia would be so accurate," Gray remarked with great emotion. "The very first suspect turned out to be the right target. Well, that saves us some trouble. Ossie Emerson, you probably didn't expect this, did you? When you used that forbidden artifact to make us suffer before, you didn't think you'd fall into our hands so soon, right?"
The indignant Ossie froze upon hearing this and couldn't help but ask, "What forbidden artifact? When did I ever use a forbidden artifact?"
"Still refusing to admit it even now? Is there any point?" Gray snorted coldly.
Rate on N.U.
