A Bountiful Harvest

After repeatedly checking Lynch's mental state and even using her abilities, Miss Valente finally discovered that there was still something wrong with his physical condition.

A very serious problem, one that might even be life-threatening.

He was hungry.

He hadn't eaten all night and was starving to the point of crying out.

Of his stomach growling, of course.

Miss Valente tapped her chin with her index finger, her eyes rolling around a few times before she suddenly revealed a sly smile. She waved at Lynch and led him as they quietly slipped out of the room.

The night was deep.

The empty corridor was completely silent, with only a row of gas lamps casting a warm yellow light to illuminate the surroundings.

Hiss, does your family not turn off the lights in the middle of the night? The world of the filthy rich is truly hard to understand.

"Shh."

The noble girl turned her head to wink playfully, making a shushing gesture. She lifted her skirt and stealthily led Lynch through the corridor, going all the way down to the first floor.

What was this girl doing? Why did she look like a thief in her own home? Not only was she highly skilled at it, but she also had an excited look on her face.

She must have done this quite often in the past.

I knew why the old butler looked at me like I was a thief. It must be because this girl frequently played the thief at home, causing the old butler to misunderstand me.

Yes, it had to be that.

To save some face for the shotgun in the noble girl's hands, Lynch didn't dare speak his thoughts aloud. He stealthily cooperated with Miss Valente's movements, and together they made a dash into the first-floor kitchen.

There was still a burnt smell in the kitchen, but it was already very faint—a lingering remnant of the arson attempt from the afternoon.

The situation from the afternoon had already been cleared up. It wasn't a room fire; rather, someone had hidden Rabbit Tears inside the fireplace flue within the wall. That was an ordinary plant with excellent smoke-producing effects, often used on the grasslands to smoke out rabbits.

Using some unknown method, the perpetrator had sent these plants into the flue and ignited them. After driving everyone out of the mansion, they had set up the high-temperature trap in the library.

They clearly did not want to hurt anyone, which was also why Miss Valente was relatively certain of the perpetrator's official identity. Thanks to the fact that they hadn't actually set a fire, the rest of the mansion was completely fine.

This, of course, included the kitchen.

"Come on, hurry."

Peering cautiously into the kitchen, Miss Valente skillfully turned on the kitchen's gas lamp and pulled Lynch inside before giggling and slightly raising her voice.

"Let's steal some food, hehe. When I was a child, I often got hungry at night, and my tutor was very strict and wouldn't let me eat at night, so I would often sneak into the kitchen to steal food. I suspect our family cook purposely makes everyone's meals taste bad, because every time I steal food in the kitchen, I find it much more delicious than the food on the dining table."

No, young lady, that's just because stolen food always tastes exceptionally good.

Pushed down into a chair, Lynch watched the girl skillfully play the thief—no, skillfully open the cabinets and pull out a large chunk of bacon and several eggs. Her practiced movements made Lynch unable to suppress a smile.

"When you sneak food, do you prepare it yourself without calling the cook? I recall that the cooks in many wealthy households are on call twenty-four hours a day."

Like that detestable Princess Chloe.

"I could wake her, but it's already so late. Unless absolutely necessary, I don't like to disturb their rest. After all, she isn't a dedicated night-shift cook. We can just make something simple to fill our stomachs."

"We? You didn't eat dinner either?"

"Hehe, please sit for a moment. I'll bring it over to you once it's ready."

Looking at the busy back of the noble girl, Lynch felt warm from body to soul. Well... mystery solved. It must be because she had turned on the stove.

【Hehe.】

There is a fundamental difference between admiring the scenery and peeping, neighbor.

Withdrawing his gaze from the busy back of the little cook, Lynch sat at the table with his chin resting on his hand and once again opened the ancient parchment book he had brought down.

He had actually already read a portion of this book earlier before Miss Valente woke up. Only after receiving official certification from Lady Red Moon that the Swelling Daughter hadn't tampered with it and that he could withstand it did Lynch begin to read.

It was said that with this kind of mysterious book, one had to read it in its entirety to know what could be gained from it. It was indeed possible to obtain some interesting things, but of course, it could also be forbidden knowledge that humans shouldn't understand, and no one would be held responsible for whatever happened during the process.

Lighting a pipe of ordinary soul-calming grass, Lynch stroked the ancient book. This book was indeed quite old; the parchment had turned pitch-black, dry, and brittle, yet it remained completely intact, which was rather eerie.

《Goddess of the Black Fan》

The title was actually just some shapes that Lynch didn't recognize, looking somewhat like the reflection of a railway map or the patterns on that stone tablet in the other world. However, the moment he saw the title, Lynch automatically understood its meaning.

The book wasn't thick, only a dozen or so pages. As for the contents inside, they were written in the script of the Fourth Age's Emma Dynasty, which was a common script in archaeology and happened to be one of the five languages Lynch had learned.

“Treading upon endless bones, the Lord walks out from death.”

“Crossing the domains of death and rebirth, reaching directly to the eternal kingdom, right in this crevice between life and death, right within this sacred grand cemetery, the Lord's will spreads to this world and the other side.”

“Transcending time and space, transcending darkness and light, the shadow of the Lord blankets eternity, transcending the everlasting.”

“Darkness, bloatedness, distortion, madness, suffering, sin, calamity—praise the Lord, sing praises to the Lord...”

The eerie content made one's heart turn cold with every character. Through the text, one could feel the writer's madness and blindness. Lynch took puff after puff of the soul-calming grass, his slightly trembling hands carefully turning the parchment pages, finally finishing the last few pages.

The entire book was actually the scripture of the Swelling Daughter's church. This was a very niche church, mainly hiding within that small world. Only a very small number of Swelling Daughters were active in the mortal world, and they had actually been distorted into the monsters Lynch saw with his inspiration. They sustained themselves by feeding on human malice and desire, usually using a black fan to maintain their human forms.

As for the evil god they worshipped, the Swelling Daughter herself, she was mysterious and unpredictable, capricious, and keen on appreciating all suffering and calamity. Yet she always hid outside the gaze of history, just like how she always covered her face with a round fan, using only a pair of bizarre and distorted eyes to gaze upon endless sin.

"Phew..."

Letting out a long breath, Lynch recovered from the book, drenched in cold sweat. Looking up, he met Miss Valente's concerned eyes.

The simple food had already been served in front of him. The noble girl was leaning close to Lynch, her large eyes staring at him without blinking.

"How is it, Mr. Lynch? Are you alright? If you feel uncomfortable, take a break before reading more. There's no need to finish these scriptures all at once."

"I'm fine, I've already finished it, and it was a bountiful harvest."

"Oh? So fast? That's a rare speed indeed." A joyful light flashed in her large eyes. "Did you grasp a new ability?"

"More than one. I must admit, that evil god is truly generous. I've almost forgiven her."

Lynch smiled. Personal abilities were an extremely private topic, yet Lynch didn't hide them from Miss Valente at all, explaining quite casually:

"The first one is the most useless: Gaze of the Dead. Once used, I can see souls wandering within three meters of me. Unfortunately, it's limited to those departed spirits that haven't entered the netherworld for special reasons. They can't be seen in ordinary places. Ah, there's one right behind you."

Shaking her small fist, Miss Valente rolled her eyes at him. "Actually, it can be considered a very practical ability, especially for an outstanding detective like you."

"Yes, but it's far inferior compared to the other two."

Lynch suddenly raised his hand, gesturing with his thumb and index finger like a pistol. Subsequently, a miniature skull condensed from black mist floated at his fingertip like a black ball:

"Death Coil. A ranged attack and will traction ability. Its effect is determined by the energy I invest and my understanding of the death authority. Once my understanding deepens, an instant-death effect will also appear, though the probability is very low, and I don't have it right now."

"I've heard of that. Among the Soul Severers of the Church of the Black Night and the Church of the Earth who master the death authority, there are also those who have grasped this ability. Once the authority rank is high, the effect is extremely powerful, not even weaker than Starlight Burst. Well, maybe still slightly weaker, just a tiny bit. And I recall it has other functions."

Lynch smiled, suddenly turned the "barrel," and pressed the black ball into his own chest.

"It can also be used on oneself. Within five minutes, it can boost my physical fitness, temporarily increasing it by about twenty percent. However, if used continuously, the body won't be able to bear it and severe problems will occur."

"This is already very practical. The kind of damage you described can all be healed. It is simply too suitable for you, Mr. Detective. That evil god is indeed generous."

Miss Valente's face lit up with joy, and she subconsciously grabbed Lynch's wrist and shook it, appearing genuinely happy. However, after shaking it a few times, she suddenly realized what she was doing. Her face flushed red, and she dropped Lynch's wrist as if it were a hot potato, looking elsewhere as she said:

"There... there is still one more. According to your ranking method, it must be highly anticipated."

"Heh, yes." Lynch smiled oddly, deciding not to wash his wrist for half a month. "It is precisely because of this third ability that I feel I owe her a bit of a favor."

"What is it?" The girl had already forgotten her shyness, pressing him with great anticipation.

"Tsk, for this, you'll have to wait for the next chapter's paid read—"

Seriously, why did you bring a gun even when sneaking food in the kitchen? Is your kitchen a battlefield against Friedman? And do cliffhanger bastards have no human rights? We agreed on only sending razor blades, so why did you jump straight to firearms?

Lynch sighed, giving up his plan to tease the noble girl. "Death Veto."

"Hmm?"

"Automatically triggered, once a day, lasting for one minute: Death Veto." Lynch let out a breath. "To put it simply, within one minute after activation, no matter how severe the injury is, even if I am cut into pieces, I will not die."

Miss Valente even forgot to breathe. She stared blankly for a long while before pressing, "And after that one minute?"

"I will absolutely die."

"You..."

"Ahem, but if emergency treatment is administered in time before it expires, my life can still be saved."

"This, this, this..." Miss Valente stammered, unable to even speak a complete sentence. It took her quite a while to recover. "Doesn't that equate to having one more life than everyone else every single day?"

"It is only effective against physical damage; mental damage is ineffective. Fortunately, my willpower happens to be quite good."

Lynch narrowed his eyes, smiled reservedly, and said softly:

"Her gift is very timely. With these abilities, I am more confident in our next plan. Let us join forces and give those troublemakers a harsh lesson. Tomorrow, we will have Chloe spread the word, and then... hehe, in a certain nation during the Mythological Era, this is called inviting you into the jar.