“First, we need to clarify how the other party stole the item,” Lynch said, rapping on the case thoughtfully. “Earlier, you mentioned that this evil god’s authorities include teleportation?”
“Yes, but I was holding the case the entire time—it never left my person. For someone to use an ability on the case would be equivalent to using it on me; it would have had to overcome my resistance first, and there is no way I wouldn't have noticed.”
“I see. Yet it did happen. Did it truly never leave your side? Not even for a single moment?”
“Hm? Please do not question my loyalty to the Goddess!”
Knight Rick’s expression grew solemn.
“I swear upon my devotion to the Lord that I would never lie to shirk responsibility. I followed the escort protocol to the letter throughout the entire journey and never let go of the cargo.”
“You misunderstand, Sir Knight. I am not doubting your word. In truth, I only became a Soul Severer five days ago and know very little about the occult world, so there is no basis for me to question you. I am merely analyzing this according to basic logic.” Looking at the large ship moored beside the pier, Lynch continued, “My method of investigation is to single out all the irrational details, uncover the reason behind each one, and finally string all those reasons together to find the ultimate answer. For instance, right now I am considering the attack that just took place.”
Knight Rick frowned, looking at Lynch with a questioning gaze.
“The likelihood of two separate factions targeting this ship at the exact same time isn't very high. In theory, the attack just now and the theft of the cargo are almost certainly part of the same incident. But if their plan was to steal the item silently, there was no need to make such a commotion. Mobilizing dozens of seabirds and three river porpoises—not to mention the dynamite alone—was far from cheap. Even crazy cultists wouldn't recklessly waste hard Lande pounds. Therefore, that attack should never have taken place unless...”
“...Unless it was indispensable?”
Knight Rick examined Lynch with astonishment, realizing that in just a few sentences, the man had straightened out his train of thought.
“Exactly. That is my assessment. The next step is to retrace our recent experience step by step and see where the issue lies. Unfortunately, I know nothing about naval assaults, river pirates, or escort logistics, so I probably won't be able to pinpoint the key factor for you. Have you two... Hm? What did you just think of?”
Lynch noticed that Rick’s face had suddenly turned pale as iron, his breathing turning rapid and shallow.
“I... I failed the Goddess's trust. I truly did let go of the transport case.”
Rick clenched his fists and hung his head, his voice trembling in a low tone.
“When I concealed the ship, because we were transporting a holy memory with an extraordinarily high level of mystery, integrating myself with the holy memory would have inevitably disrupted my ability, preventing it from taking effect at all. Thus, I had no choice but to release the case, sever my connection to the holy memory, and use a roundabout method to integrate everything with the ship to hide it. During that time, the cargo remained right by my feet, but... but for those few seconds, I indeed let go of it.”
It seemed they had hit the mark. Lynch and the Archbishop exchanged a glance, nodding to each other.
“That should be the answer to our first question. The enemy investigated you and understood your abilities, using repeated fire attacks to force you to activate your power so they could seize the chance to steal the cargo. That brings us to the next question: how did they seize those few seconds of opportunity...”
“No, it wasn't a few seconds,” Knight Rick said with certainty. “Once my ability took effect, it would have been impossible for them to locate the target from the outside. So if they wanted to make a move, it could only have been during the window between when I put down the case and when the ability activated.”
“Roughly how long was that?”
Knight Rick thought for a moment, then suddenly lifted the empty case, dropped to one knee, set it down, and slapped his palm against the ground.
“Just like that—less than a second.”
“Earlier, you said that if someone attempted to teleport the cargo while you had hold of it, you would definitely sense it. So their timing had to be impeccably precise; they couldn't initiate the action in advance, or you would have noticed, correct?” Seeing Knight Rick confirm this, Lynch pursed his lips, recalling the driver's theory test from his previous life. “There is a physiological limit to how fast human vision registers in consciousness and triggers a physical reaction. Under a second exceeds that limit. Even if someone were staring intently from the side, they couldn't possibly react in time. I'm not well-versed in this—could such precision be achieved through something like a prophecy ability?”
“Impossible. Perhaps someone out there could raise their prophecy accuracy to one hundred percent, but achieving second-level precision is utterly out of the question. Too many interfering factors affect specific moments in time, making an exact calculation impossible. Even divine revelations can only be accurate down to the hour.”
Lynch knitted his brows, stroking his chin in contemplation. “If prophecy is out of the question, is there any other way to calculate the timing so accurately? Down to the second...”
“Wait, there is another way!” Rick's eyes widened, nearly shouting. “Once the ability activates, the target ceases to exist from the perspective of the outside world, but the ship is an exception! To the people aboard the ship, aside from the surroundings turning somewhat illusory, everything remains normal, and the target is still there!”
“I see. While a few seconds is still very short, it's vastly longer than under a second. Furthermore, the culprit would know precisely when it began and when it ended without worrying about alerting you by acting prematurely.” Lynch tapped his palm with a finger, his eyes narrowing as a gleam crossed his gaze. “So when the incident occurred, there was at least one mole aboard the ship—though it's also possible someone was teleported onto it at that moment.”
Rick’s face sank. After hesitating for a moment, he shook his head. “I would rather believe someone was teleported aboard.”
“Hm?”
“The escorts are all veteran priests, and the sailors participating in the transport are devout believers. Their faith has been tested; it cannot be faked,” Rick explained. “Besides, during the incident, the sailors were all on deck preparing to dock. You must have seen them as well; they couldn't have had the time to do anything else, I... Wait, no.”
As if remembering something, Rick’s expression abruptly shifted. He called over the officer who had been shouting orders during the docking and questioned him in a low voice. The officer's expression grew tense as well. Immediately picking out a few sailors, the group sprinted toward the long gangway bridge.
Lynch knew something was amiss. Seeing Archbishop Trinlais gesture for him to follow while Trinlais guarded the cargo with the remaining men, Lynch hurried after them with ease of mind.
“Did you discover something, Sir Knight?” Lynch sprinted all-out, barely keeping pace with Rick and the sailors.
“Not everyone was on deck,” Rick said without looking back as he ran up the gangway and onto the deck. “Two men were in the infirmary.”
“Hm?”
“Last night, two sailors came down with unexplained diarrhea and eventually fell unconscious. The captain placed them in the medical cabin to rest, planning to ask the priests from the Hall of Suffering to help diagnose them once we docked. So they didn't take part in the battle just now. If anyone on board was carrying out sabotage from the shadows, it could only be those two—especially during the fighting, when no one had time to pay attention to them.”
The group quickly descended the stairs beneath the deck, where the door to the infirmary sat right at the landing. The officer kicked the cabin door open, and several of them breathed a sigh of relief.
The two patients had already sat up, looking at the intruders in surprise.
“You two...”
Just as the officer moved to step forward, his arm was grabbed simultaneously by Lynch and Rick. In the next instant, the heads of the two sailors burst open like water melons, blood spraying wildly across the infirmary like geysers.
Rate on N.U.
