Creak—
Elias reached out and pushed open the glass window that had been closed for a month.
Under Spirit Vision, that faint spirituality representing the deceased was like a dashed line, extending straight out.
Eventually, it disappeared completely into the gray evening sky of Hope County.
Elias's brow furrowed deeply.
“Old man...”
Elias spoke in his mind, his tone filled with a trace of uncertainty.
“Is there a possibility...”
“That this spiritual trail extending outward is actually some relic belonging to the deceased that the killer took when they left?”
This guess was like a seed, quickly taking root and sprouting in Elias's mind.
He immediately turned his head and used Spirit Vision to quickly scan the room once more.
The situation was clear at a glance.
In the entire crime scene room...
That negative spirituality belonging to the killer and the spirituality of the deceased, Martin, did not interweave or entangle in other areas.
However...
Only at the edge of this window facing the street!
These two distinct spiritualities showed a tight interweaving!
“Highly likely.”
Old Ed's voice carried a hint of approval.
The old man had clearly seen this abnormal spiritual residue as well.
“If we infer based on this guess...”
“This should be a tracking method the deceased placed on that item in advance while he was still alive.”
Hearing this, the clues in Elias's mind suddenly became clear.
All the irrational traces at the scene were perfectly explained under supernatural logic.
Why did the victim, Martin, die?
It must be because the killer didn't get what he wanted immediately!
It was the simplest logic.
But according to the current investigation by those detectives from the Old Palace Yard...
Because they were just ordinary people...
They had no idea that in this seemingly sealed room, an item belonging to the deceased had actually been taken away!
It was even more impossible for them to follow this spiritual trail to continue the investigation.
This was why the case had become an unsolved mystery in their eyes.
But in the eyes of a transcendent with Spirit Vision...
This was a faint clue Martin had unintentionally left behind!
Of course.
All of this was predicated on the Seventh Agency being able to identify this as a supernatural case from the start...
And sending someone in time to perform a spiritual trace on the scene.
Returning to the present.
As the only outsider who had discovered this clue at the scene...
Should he follow this damn clue and investigate?
Elias stood by the window, looking at the spiritual dashed line disappearing into the smog.
Hesitation flickered in his eyes.
Go?
Or not go?
If he were the protagonist of some hot blooded anime from his past life, he probably would have jumped out the window with a heart full of passion to pursue the truth by now.
But Elias wasn't.
This was a situation involving a powerful transcendent who could use a Freeze spell!
Looking at the state of that negative spirituality, it likely had something to do with the Mist Veil Society.
Elias couldn't help but think that from the moment he joined the Lighthouse, he was destined to be inseparable from this matter.
And he knew exactly how much he was worth.
As a Scale One, the monsters he encountered along the way were each more ridiculous than the last.
Go after a transcendent of this level?
Better not.
In his mind, Old Ed seemed to see the hesitation in Elias's heart.
The old man suddenly sighed.
“Kid.”
“If you really plan to be stubborn and follow this clue...”
“Take my advice and do me a favor.”
“Take off that bracelet on your wrist first.”
“Give it to someone reliable.”
“I think your sister would be a good choice.”
“Piss off!”
Elias cursed mercilessly in his mind.
He took a deep breath and abruptly turned his head.
He decisively withdrew his gaze from the spiritual trail outside the window.
Out of sight, out of mind.
He had made his decision.
If the mysterious killer who murdered Martin at the Golden Rose Hotel was truly powerful enough to be horrifying...
Then, indeed.
For him, who currently needed to lay low and grow, wading into these muddy waters was definitely not a good choice.
It could even be called extremely stupid.
And, reasonably speaking.
From beginning to end, his only connection to this matter...
Was simply whether John's motive for the commission at the Lighthouse was pure.
However, just as he was about to close the window...
“Help!”
A scream like a slaughtered pig erupted from the street below the Golden Rose Hotel!
Elias's hand on the window frame suddenly froze.
Because he was far too familiar with the owner of that scream!
“Who are you?!”
“Let me go!”
“This is illegal detention!”
“I am a senior detective from the Old Palace Yard's detective department!”
“My name is Brian!”
“I want to see your superior!”
It was Brian!
Elias leaned his upper body out of the window and looked down toward Knight Lane.
On the cobblestone street, Brian was being hauled away by two men in uniforms, one on each side.
Wait!
Two official investigators from the Seventh Agency?!
Why would they arrest Brian?
This was completely strange!
It made no sense at all!
In a flash...
Within Elias's rapidly working brain, countless scattered fragments of information began to reorganize.
First.
Recall back when he was at home.
Arthur said himself that this murder case had been forcibly transferred by the higher ups.
Who exactly was it transferred to?
Through Brian's reasoning and his own field investigation using Spirit Vision just now...
It could be confirmed that this was a supernatural case involving a Freeze spell.
The answer was clear.
And in Velen, the only department qualified and capable of taking over such a case...
Must be the Seventh Agency!
But!
Elias had scanned the entire room with Spirit Vision earlier.
There were no other spiritual traces belonging to official investigators.
What did this mean?
It meant that although the Seventh Agency had taken over the case, they hadn't officially sent anyone to investigate this crime scene room today.
Why was Brian precisely arrested shortly after he walked out the door?
The reason was simple!
Because as an ordinary person with no spirituality, he had not only trespassed on the scene of a transferred supernatural case...
But had also stayed here for an entire afternoon!
Wasn't that a suspect who had tampered with the scene?!
Then consider what happened this afternoon.
At the St. John's Cross intersection, Finn had unintentionally revealed some information.
Ms. Cecil had split up her people.
It was obvious!
Those two guys dragging Brian away below...
Were the peripheral investigators Cecil had assigned to guard the crime scene!
They had been secretly watching this place!
Wait!
The storm in his mind hadn't stopped.
A sudden flash of inspiration crossed Elias's mind.
“Old Ed.”
Elias's voice became more certain than ever before.
“All the blind spots in my reasoning have been filled.”
“Now I'm sure.”
“John is Martin.”
“Martin is John.”
“They are absolutely the same person!”
An amazing light sparkled in Elias's eyes.
“Do you remember?”
“John once told me on the island...”
“That he stole an important transport item from a Seventh Agency confidential carriage.”
Old Ed seemed to be convinced by Elias's certain tone.
“And then?”
“And then.”
Elias paused.
“On the day we returned to Hope County...”
“You asked John in the carriage if he had ever seen Ms. Cecil.”
“I think that happened,” Old Ed recalled.
“How did he answer then?”
“He said he had seen Cecil in Landon.”
Elias strode to the dust covered desk in the room.
He tore open the yellowed Map of the Kingdom of Velen lying on it.
“That sentence, on the surface, is an incomplete truth.”
“But it's precisely because of its incompleteness...”
“That it constitutes a clever lie!”
Elias extended his finger and pressed hard on the red circle representing Landon on the map.
Then his finger followed the railway line on the map, suddenly sliding toward the giant gear icon representing Hope County.
Finally, his finger stopped on a certain city between these two locations.
“He didn't just see Cecil in Landon.”
Elias pointed at that spot on the map.
“He also saw Cecil in Rockaway City.”
“It should be said that Cecil followed him all the way to Hope County!”
Rate on N.U.
