“The reason the Non-existent City… is a legend, is because countless people have pursued this rumor in the past, only to disappear forever.”
Alfonso Carte insisted on walking Siles back to Lamifa University, so they walked back together, discussing this matter along the way.
“So,” Siles weighed his words carefully, “Isherwood is one of them?”
“One of the extremely crazy ones,” Alfonso said.
Siles felt a subtle sensation in his heart.
Just a short while ago, Alfonso was madly talking to him about the concept of the “Prophet” from that mysterious tribe, and now, he was seriously talking to Siles about the madness of others.
The Ashless Land seemed to be an incredibly bizarre place.
Siles didn’t reveal his various thoughts. He simply asked, “Then, were there already… signs of his disappearance long before?”
Alfonso gave Siles a subtle, complex look, making Siles freeze for a moment. Then, Alfonso said, “Yes. From a long time ago, I suspected this man would be swallowed by the fog of the Ashless Land.”
Siles listened silently.
“Oh, right, being swallowed by the fog of the Ashless Land is a… ‘saying’.” Alfonso explained, “For us, and anyone else who madly chases after the secrets of the Ashless Land, we will all eventually be swallowed by the fog.
“Because all secrets are hidden within the fog.”
He spoke with a sigh.
Afterward, he finally began to talk seriously about Isherwood.
Isherwood was Emmanuel’s older brother, about ten years his senior. When Emmanuel was still young, his brother had already followed an archaeological team to the Ashless Land to look for ruins.
Therefore, Emmanuel’s obsession with the Ashless Land initially came from his brother.
However, he did not follow in his brother’s footsteps to engage in the extremely dangerous career of archaeology, but turned instead to studying the somewhat safer folklore. This once made Isherwood extremely dissatisfied.
“In his view, Emmanuel seemed born to dedicate himself to the field of archaeology,” Alfonso said. “But Emmanuel just preferred studying different customs and habits, and the traces of different civilizations; Isherwood didn’t get a say in this matter.”
Thus, a rift formed between the two brothers, Isherwood and Emmanuel, at that time.
Originally, Emmanuel could have followed Isherwood’s expedition team, but because of such conflicts, Emmanuel embarked on the journey to the Ashless Land alone, and thereby met Alfonso and others.
“I don’t think this can be called a bad thing,” Alfonso said with some belated relief. “After all, his brother wasn’t exactly a… good person. Isherwood’s infamous reputation is known to everyone in the Ashless Land.”
“Infamous reputation?” Siles was slightly interested in this matter.
“Uh… it’s…” Alfonso stuttered, “It’s, his power. He always enters and exits dangerous places, and people are extremely terrified of this.”
Siles thought to himself, Does this refer to the power of a Revelator?
But Alfonso’s meaning seemed to go beyond that.
…Is it saying that Isherwood obtained powerful strength from a certain Patron? And that path brings an extremely strong deterrent effect? Or perhaps, makes people feel fear?
Siles pondered in his heart.
“There are very many brutal and fierce people in the Ashless Land,” Alfonso said. “Isherwood is just one of them. He is just an archaeologist, and there are many, many more powerful explorers.
“Some of them travel in groups, some alone. Some have disappeared for an unknown number of years, while some have just recently risen to fame in the past few years. Those are all matters of the Ashless Land. A place like Lamifa City has no room for such people.
“However, many of them have been swallowed by the fog.”
Siles listened, slightly dazed.
His impression of the Ashless Land was slightly refreshed. He had originally thought the Ashless Land was like a wasteland, ruins, a treasure ground where people explored, discovered, and seized wealth; but now, there seemed to be an added layer of bloody stench tempered by steel and fire.
The shadow of death. He thought. That is the eternal and imperishable background color of the Ashless Land.
Alfonso also sighed for a while and then brought the topic back to the two brothers, Isherwood and Emmanuel.
Alfonso said, “Isherwood disappeared ten years ago. At that time, Emmanuel had also been in the Ashless Land for almost ten years and had met a group of friends, including me.
“Emmanuel occasionally corresponded with his brother, exchanging their current situations. In one of the letters, Isherwood said he found clues related to the ‘Non-existent City’, and so decided to go explore.
“Emmanuel felt this wasn’t very reliable and wrote a letter advising his brother to give up, but Isherwood, at the time, had already made up his mind, and in his reply, angrily rebuked Emmanuel for being a coward without courage.
“This tone enraged Emmanuel, making him stop caring about Isherwood’s situation entirely. It wasn’t until a few months later, when Emmanuel hadn’t received any more letters from Isherwood, that he realized something might have happened, and decided to go look for Isherwood’s whereabouts.
“We went together at that time.”
Alfonso stopped at this point.
“Did something happen?” Siles asked at the right moment.
“Something happened…” Alfonso was silent for a moment. “Emmanuel lost his usual rationality, and we accidentally stumbled into an extremely dangerous place. We couldn’t find Isherwood. In the end, only Emmanuel and I managed to escape.”
Siles suddenly fell silent. After a while, he said, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing, it’s in the past,” Alfonso shook his head. “Exploring in the Ashless Land always requires such mental preparation. So, later we also planned to leave the Ashless Land and return to the civilized world.”
Hearing this, Siles had a subtle association. “That dangerous place… is it the tribal ruin you discovered?”
Alfonso looked at Siles in amazement. “How… how could you know?”
Siles: “…”
He thought, This is just normal logical deduction!
After that incident happened, Alfonso planned to leave the Ashless Land, but having lost this grand ambition, it was naturally impossible for him to venture alone into some undiscovered tribal ruin after that point in time; it didn’t align with his mindset back then.
But if Alfonso did indeed enjoy such a reputation, then wouldn’t it be obvious that the last place he entered might just be the tribe he discovered?
Of course, this was actually Siles’s guess. But he happened to guess right, and it seemed to have deepened Alfonso’s misunderstanding of him.
Siles couldn’t explain himself even if he had a hundred mouths.
Alfonso marveled for a while, then said, “This truly is your gift. Yes, that was indeed the ruin of that tribe. The newspapers rumor that I discovered it alone, which is of course impossible.
“It’s just that the other companions who entered there had all died, and Emmanuel didn’t want this blood-stained honor. I still wanted to announce the existence of this tribe to the world, so I announced the matter alone.
“I know many people doubt me. Of course, I would rather we never entered that place. But… I also don’t want them to have sacrificed in vain.”
“Then you should have announced the existence of the others as well,” Siles said objectively.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to…” Alfonso laughed bitterly. “Emmanuel didn’t agree to this. The condition for him allowing me to announce that tribal ruin was that I could only say I discovered it alone, and that it had nothing to do with Emmanuel or the other companions.
“Furthermore, he even asked me to wait several years before announcing it. For this reason, I even specifically returned to the Ashless Land a few years ago, disappearing from others’ sight for a period of time, to prove that I was indeed in the Ashless Land during that time.
“Because… to be precise… we actually found a Non-existent City.”
Siles was a bit surprised. He said, “You were worried others would misunderstand?”
Alfonso nodded and also shook his head. “Ten years ago, many people knew what Emmanuel and I were doing. We were looking for Isherwood. So, if the matter of the tribal ruin was announced at that point in time, people would jump to conclusions.
“The thing is, we were indeed aiming for the ‘Non-existent City’ back then, and we did eventually find a city that didn’t exist on the map, but these two are not equivalent.
“Emmanuel believed that if the whole sequence of events was completely announced, then others would think the mystery of the ‘Non-existent City’ had been solved, and they would no longer have the mind to pursue this secret, and he would… never find Isherwood.”
Siles was slightly shaken and couldn’t help but say, “He is extremely obsessed with Isherwood’s whereabouts.”
Even to the point of using other explorers for it.
“He feels it’s his fault, so he has to find the truth,” Alfonso said simply. “He killed his brother, and also killed our other companions. This matter weighs on his heart day and night. Ten years have passed, and it’s still the same.”
Siles thought to himself, Shouldn’t the danger of the “Non-existent City” be announced then? Why let others continue to pursue and be fanatic about the existence of this secret?
Ultimately, Emmanuel had his own selfish motives and thoughts.
Siles couldn’t judge such behavior, and could only say, “I don’t know if the appearance of that travelogue is a good thing or a bad thing.”
Alfonso said, “This matter actually has nothing to do with you.” He comforted him, “I will try to persuade Emmanuel.”
Siles nodded.
By this time, they had also arrived at Lamifa University. Siles bid farewell to Alfonso, then returned to the third-floor bedroom at 6 Hayward Street, opened his pocket watch to check the time, and found it was already nearly four o’clock.
He sat down on the sofa and breathed a sigh of relief, feeling his head slightly swelling.
He had obtained a lot of information this afternoon, mainly regarding the Ashless Land.
Siles had a subtle premonition; he felt he would sooner or later go to the Ashless Land. Many secrets of this world were hidden there, and if he wanted to explore this world and return to Earth, then he would sooner or later face the oldest secrets of this world.
He thought, The Non-existent City. And the tribal ruin Alfonso mentioned they found later.
They were both non-existent cities, so what was the difference? Why was Alfonso so certain that these two places weren’t the same thing? What exactly did they encounter there?
Why were only Alfonso and Emmanuel able to escape? And why were the two of them able to escape?
Siles thought for a moment, and couldn’t help but shake his head.
Despite Alfonso’s frankness, he had actually more or less concealed a lot of information, such as their encounter in that ruin, and more information about the “Non-existent City”. Siles could understand this.
Moreover, in Alfonso’s eyes, Siles was not a Revelator. He might even think Siles was just an ordinary university professor, too weak to even truss a chicken.
Yet Siles felt that the world was slowly becoming chaotic.
Emmanuel obtained that travelogue… what would he do? To find his brother, he had already forsaken his companions, and even chosen to exploit the ambitions of those explorers.
With things having developed to this stage, would Emmanuel do something crazy again?
Siles couldn’t deny the existence of this possibility.
He thought for a moment, then sighed, sweeping these thoughts from his mind completely. He didn’t have that much power to stop Emmanuel right now; he could only count on Alfonso.
He made a mental note of this matter, planning to keep an eye on its development in the future.
Siles sat in his room and rested for a while, then got up, went downstairs, and went to the cafeteria to eat dinner. He happened to bump into his roommate, Lorenzo, there. The two of them sat together.
Lorenzo complained to him about club matters. He was Professor Dunlop’s teaching assistant, and that professor was an extremely famous professor in the archaeology major. There were many students in the club, but Professor Dunlop had no interest in managing it, so he handed most of it over to Lorenzo.
Therefore, Lorenzo now had to prepare the content for the club.
Listening to the courses Lorenzo prepared for the club, Siles suddenly felt ashamed in his heart. Compared to Lorenzo, he felt he was truly being too perfunctory towards the fifteen students in his club.
Siles thought absentmindedly, Perhaps I could be more serious? Add some interesting, fun things into it.
He pondered so.
But then he remembered that the club was a matter for September, so he readily tossed it to the back of his mind.
Right now, at least for these two days, the focus of his life was the soon-to-conclude Revelator introductory course, and the upcoming journey to the Research Department.
On Friday night, Siles finished eating dinner with Lorenzo in the cafeteria, and then they returned to the dormitory together. Siles went back to the third floor, finished showering and washing his clothes, and then sat behind his desk feeling relaxed.
He pondered what to do this evening.
He wrote a bit of his novel. But because of tomorrow afternoon’s outing, he couldn’t settle his mind.
At this moment, he suddenly remembered the two books Carol had given him before—graduation gifts, according to Carol.
After getting those two books, Siles went to the trading fair, got busy with classes, researched information on the wandering bards of the Sardinian Empire, met with Alfonso, and so on, and hadn’t yet carefully checked the contents of those two books.
Now, Siles took those two books from the shelf, taking out along with them the book he had purchased at the trading fair, depicting some legends and urban myths of Lamifa City, The Ghost of Lamifa City.
He planned to use these three books to pass the time tonight.
Of the two books gifted by Carol, one was a history book, and the other was a literature book; both were works from the Mist Era. It seemed Revelators were very careful in this aspect and wouldn’t casually gift Time Traces.
The history book was an academic monograph, discussing the interference and influence of the former gods on human empires during the Empire Era, titled Shadows Over the Empire: The Driven Emperors and Nobles.
This book immediately caught Siles’s attention.
A long time ago, he had once read in a book that before the gods fell, they would intervene and interfere in the political situations of human empires. This resulted in the sudden surge of “human” literature starting from the Age of Silence, after the gods fell.
At the time, he was very interested in the symbolic meaning of this matter, but hadn’t had much opportunity to look for related books since. He didn’t expect Carol to hand a book on this topic right to him.
Upon opening this book, a thought suddenly arose in Siles’s mind: Could it be that I still haven’t cleared the suspicion of being an Old God follower, so Carol specifically gave me this book, hoping I could sober up? Or perhaps, as a preventative measure?
Feeling somewhat subtle, Siles dwelled on this thought for a moment, and then buried himself in the book.
The content of this book was not boring, at least for Siles. Rather than an academic book specifically recounting the conspiracies and tricks between empires and gods, it was more of a history book recounting the changing winds and clouds, and historical transitions of the Empire Era.
The Empire Era lasted for nearly five thousand years in total. Over these five thousand years, human empires rose and fell, united and divided. Different gods and different empires had all occupied the leading role in some of those eras.
The god with the most intimate relationship with empires was Amois, the God of Warriors and Pirates, the Umbrella of War and Conquest.
This god, possessing the incarnate image of a human male, seemed to have an extremely close relationship with humans Himself. He sheltered war and power, and the nation named Maar under His shelter also enjoyed prominence for a long time.
However, the militaristic Maar Empire ultimately perished in civil strife that made life impossible for the people.
After that, Amois no longer became the symbol and patron god of any single nation. However, He was welcomed and worshipped in the armies and among the soldiers of various countries, especially in the navy.
Many, many soldiers believed Amois would protect them from harm and the invasion of death in war.
However, Amois Himself was the symbol of war, conquest, slaughter, and blood. Faith in Him did not seem to be a good thing.
Besides Amois, another god who was extremely close to human empires was the one who had once made Siles break out in a cold sweat: the God of Stars and Light, the Bright Beacon Flickering High in the Sky Lusmi.
Lusmi’s nation—yes, it truly had to be described this way—was named the Bright Light Empire, and was Lusmi’s divine kingdom. This phrasing was because the people of this entire nation were fanatical believers of Lusmi.
They madly pursued the universe, believing in the light and heat of the stars, convinced that Lusmi would bring hope, light, and infinite future to the world. This allowed the Bright Light Empire to stand tall and unyielding for a very long time.
But ultimately, it collapsed with a crash. The reasons for the collapse were always hard to fully summarize. This matter was explained very clearly in the academic monographs of the Bright Light Empire; in this book, it was merely glossed over.
“The power of the gods is high above, and humans always follow behind them, obsessed with that magnificent, bright light, and thus, easily fail to see the road beneath their own feet clearly.”
This was the author’s evaluation of the Bright Light Empire—the author’s name looked quite familiar to Siles, seemingly a certain professor from the College of Literature and History at Lamifa University. Perhaps he had even attended his classes.
The annihilation of the Bright Light Empire could be summarized by a very simple reason: the subjects of the empire were indulging in faith and worship all day long, not engaging in production, not working, and so the empire’s economic system gradually failed over a long period of time, ultimately leading to national bankruptcy and disintegration.
This matter brought about an extremely interesting rumor. Some people believed the ultimate demise of the Bright Light Empire was inextricably linked to Menavaca, the God of Commerce and Oaths.
Menavaka was a god who never became the faith of any single empire, but his believers were spread all over the world, and even to this day, there were still merchants who maintained their faith in him. It was unknown how much of such faith was sincere.
In short, Menavaka was suspected of secretly manipulating the collapse of the Bright Light Empire.
This matter had happened too long ago; no one could tell clearly whether there really was a connection between the two. However, at least after that, the believers of Lusmi were constantly at odds with those merchants.
In some later times, Lusmi’s believers even did not tolerate engaging in commerce-related affairs.
But probably also precisely because of this, they gradually became destitute, to the point of finally vanishing without a trace in history. For almost the entirety of the Shadow Era, Lusmi’s believers had never appeared overtly—at least that was how it was in Siles’s memory.
However, his understanding of the history of the Shadow Era wasn’t extremely profound either.
From another perspective, the annihilation of Lusmi’s nation was, to a certain extent, deserved. After the establishment of the Bright Light Empire, Lusmi’s believers built countless wondrous structures for Him, and at one point even wanted to explore the universe.
…Wonders misguide a nation, Siles thought.
Time passed bit by bit with the reading process. Siles would occasionally casually jot down some information he deemed important or interesting in his notebook for later thought and organization.
Around nearly eleven o’clock, Siles suddenly snapped back to reality, then went to the bathroom to wash up, and went to bed early.
At seven o’clock the next morning, he woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. He simply went to the cafeteria to eat breakfast, then returned to the dormitory, wrote a bit of his novel, and organized the outline for his thesis.
The postman happened to come deliver mail in the morning, and Siles received a letter from Bertram Fenn. In the letter, Bertram said their family had already moved to the East City, and clearly listed the address.
Siles thought about it and wrote a reply, planning to find some time next week to pay a visit. He thought of the reason for Bertram’s move and the current situation in the West City, and couldn’t help but sigh a bit. No one knew where the torrent of the era was rushing towards.
Some were eager to try, some hesitated to move forward; some were left far behind.
At noon, Siles still went to the cafeteria to eat lunch, and then took a public carriage directly to the History Society.
He brought the brooch needed for the [The Silent Heart] ritual, as well as the leaves he picked up yesterday. Probably because of using the ritual, the three leaves he selected were still very fresh.
However, Siles did not take the potion. He knew that when they set out in the afternoon, Carol would definitely have them take the potion.
Although Grenfield hadn’t asked him to keep the existence of those potions a secret, Siles still consciously guarded this secret.
When he arrived at Room 666, it was one o’clock in the afternoon. He was surprised to find that everyone else had already arrived.
Mrs. Fuller and Angela had both changed into ordinary clothes similar to what they wore when going to the West City last time, looking plain and low-key; Darrell and Eric were also in casual clothes.
It seemed everyone was feeling anticipation and nervousness for the afternoon outing.
A few minutes after Siles stepped into the room, Carol arrived as well.
“Oh, you all are actually here so early,” Carol said with some surprise. “Good, I thought I’d have to wait here for you guys for a bit.”
“Good afternoon, Carol,” Darrell said impatiently. “Are we going out now?”
“No, no, no,” Carol shook his head. “I came so early because there’s some progress regarding Brewer’s matter, perhaps I can tell you about it.”
The atmosphere stagnated for a moment.
Darrell said with some confusion, “What was found?”
Mrs. Fuller pondered for a moment and said, “Brewer’s fiancée?”
“Yes,” Carol said again. “Of course, we actually didn’t find much.”
Facing everyone’s confused gazes, Carol said, “Brewer Darrow’s fiancée, Marina Kellan—by the way, have you guys ever heard of the Kellan family?”
Mrs. Fuller and Angela both shook their heads at the same time, followed by the others shaking their heads.
“Then that’s right. We checked the population records in Lamifa City; there is this surname, but they are clearly not the Kellan family the Darrow family wanted to form a marriage alliance with.”
Angela said confusedly, “You mean… the Darrow family was deceived?”
“Marina Kellan is obviously a fake name,” Carol said. “We didn’t find this name anywhere, except in the mouths of some who had heard of the Darrow family’s engagement.”
Someone gasped.
“Then what about those who met Marina Kellan?”
“We found some of the people who attended their engagement ceremony. They all said Marina Kellan was a young lady with a beautiful face and a graceful figure.”
“…That’s it?” Angela said, a bit confused.
Carol shook his head.
Darrell muttered, “Looks like this appearance is fake too.”
These words made the others look at this young boy with new eyes, causing Darrell to widen his eyes and glare at them fiercely.
Carol said, “We weren’t able to find more information, but this brings up some problems. If they can really conceal their names and change their faces, then this group of masterminds behind the scenes might still be hiding in Lamifa City, rather than having fled as we previously thought.”
“…That is not good news,” Eric murmured in a low voice.
Originally, they thought the murderers who committed such a massacre should have fled… but if this group of masterminds behind the scenes was still hiding in Lamifa City, then the true nature of this ferocity and composure really sent chills down the spines of them insiders.
Carol said, “So, you all have to pay attention to safety. It just so happens we are going out this time; you guys listen more, look more, speak less, and pay attention to observation.”
“What is the content of the outing?”
Carol smiled slightly. “Following the Second Corridor to solve a case.”
Before setting out, Carol handed the five of them a small rubber earplug each, along with a small bottle of potion, asking them to drink it.
Subsequently, he explained, “These earplugs are all Time Traces, and the name of this ritual is [Connected Ears]. Over here, I will use [Opened Mouth]. In short, the effect is that you can all hear my voice.”
Siles noticed the color of the potion Carol handed over was slightly darker than the 1% purity potion; it looked like 5% purity. In other words, this ritual they were currently using should be from a Patron.
What Patron’s ability would be like this?
Siles guessed in his heart, but couldn’t arrive at an answer.
They each took the potion, and then, according to Carol’s instructions, stuffed the earplugs into their left ears.
In the next second, they all felt a subtle sense of division, as if their left ears were listening to sounds from one direction, while their right ears were listening to completely different sounds.
Carol cleared his throat, said something silently, and a moderately loud voice came through their left ears: “Can you hear me?”
They all nodded.
Carol also nodded in satisfaction. “Then, we can set out.”
They met the several Revelators from the Second Corridor who were traveling with them this time. Carol handled all the negotiations, while Siles and the others stood silently to the side as Carol had instructed.
They waited in the lobby of the behind-the-door space for a while until Carol and the other Revelators appeared, and then they left together. There were ten people in the group in total; four were from the Second Corridor, among whom was Clarissa Bernie, whom Siles had met before.
Along the way, the four Revelators from the Second Corridor were conversing in low voices about something, but their voices were very light. And Carol was also describing the destination of this mission to them through [Connected Ears].
Their investigation target was a retired museum watchman. About three days ago, a private museum reported to the police that an item in their collection was lost, and subsequently, the police locked their target onto that retired watchman.
The watchman and his granddaughter depended on each other for survival, having no other relatives. His granddaughter had recently fallen seriously ill, but seeing a doctor in Lamifa City was not a cheap or inexpensive matter. His neighbors all said he had been frantically borrowing money everywhere recently because of this.
Thus, the police suspected this watchman had secretly stolen the museum’s collection item to sell it and make money.
If it really was according to the police’s deduction, then arresting the watchman and finding the collection item would mean the matter was pretty much over. As for whether the watchman’s granddaughter could receive treatment, that was a problem no one wanted to face.
However, when the police brought the watchman to the police station for interrogation, although the watchman confessed to his stealing behavior without hesitation, his appearance was mad and crazy, as if… he had been “polluted”.
Furthermore, his granddaughter and that stolen collection item had both vanished without a trace.
Now, the History Society’s task was to go investigate the truth behind this matter.
After listening to this description, Siles felt some confusion. He wondered, What illness exactly did the watchman’s granddaughter get? And what was the stolen museum collection item? A Time Trace? Is this a case of spiritual devitalization?
But the disappearance of the granddaughter along with the collection item cast a layer of mystery and eeriness over this incident.
Carol didn’t explain much further, just asked them all to board the carriages. The ten people split into two carriages, bumping along as they hurried toward their destination.
Upon realizing their destination was the West City, the ominous premonition in Siles’s heart grew increasingly intense.
He exchanged a glance with Eric, both spontaneously understanding the worry in each other’s hearts. Carol was in the other carriage, so they couldn’t tell him these things.
But Siles still spoke up and said, “Our destination is the Old City.”
Mrs. Fuller looked out the window thoughtfully, while Angela and Darrell widened their eyes, looking bewildered.
Siles glanced at Eric, then said, “Remember what we encountered at the trading fair? Someone… is robbing Revelators, including the potions and Time Traces in their hands.”
He didn’t directly say it was the underground gangs. Whether it was the underground gangs or not didn’t matter; the point was the existence of this group of people.
Angela immediately understood. “You suspect this matter is related to… those guys who killed people at the trading fair?”
“I just think it’s too much of a coincidence,” Siles said in a low voice.
The police were called three days ago. That was precisely Wednesday, the exact time the trading fair was taking place.
Finally, Siles shook his head and said, “Please pay attention to your safety, everyone.”
Based on this psychology, when they finally arrived at their destination and stepped down from the carriages, the expressions of the five of them were more grave and serious than those of the four Revelators from the Second Corridor.
Carol gave them a surprised look and nodded, indicating that this was good.
The home of the museum watchman was in a place a bit south of the center of the West City. It wasn’t too far from Logan Market; generally speaking, it was still considered a relatively bustling area in the West City.
They lived in a slightly dilapidated apartment building. The apartment building had four floors in total. The wooden stairs creaked, making one feel that with every step, the next second might lead to stepping on empty air.
Dust and cobwebs were everywhere. The light was dim and quiet, allowing one to see clearly every speck of dust in the air. The moment they walked in, they felt a burst of muggy heat, the oppressive atmosphere making people feel extremely uncomfortable.
The watchman’s home was a shady room on the third floor. There were already police officers waiting for them here. Not everyone walked in immediately; Carol assigned their tasks.
Some people went to talk to the nearby neighbors, some went to stroll around the vicinity, and some entered the room.
Siles was not assigned the task of entering the room—Eric, this Revelator about to go to the Second Corridor, was. Eric nodded slightly nervously and accepted this task.
Siles thought for a moment, then reminded him, “Pay attention to those details that people might overlook.”
The room must have been carefully investigated by the police, but the search at that time might not have been that thorough. And now, reviewing the details from the perspective of a Revelator, Eric might be able to discover other clues.
Eric looked at him in surprise, then thanked him gratefully, and subsequently followed the other Revelators into the room.
Siles’s task was to look for clues inside the apartment building and its vicinity, and with him was Carol. Carol said to him, “You can try looking for clues yourself.”
Siles nodded.
He stood at the top of the stairs on the third floor, staring at the corner, thinking.
He actually hadn’t obtained any clues right now; the only things he knew were what Carol had summarized. An apartment building was placed in front of him; where should he start?
Siles pondered for a moment, and suddenly thought of a dubious point… or rather, a problem he couldn’t understand.
If the watchman stole that collection item to sell it and make money to treat his granddaughter’s illness, then why were they now facing a situation where the granddaughter and the collection item disappeared together, while the watchman readily chose to confess without hesitation?
The museum reported to the police three days ago, and the stealing behavior must have happened even earlier. Could the watchman not find a suitable buyer in just a few days?
The West City was a place where dragons and fishes mixed together; the pawnshops in Logan Market received an unknown number of items of unknown origin every day.
Since the watchman lived in the West City and had visibly lived there for not a short amount of time, could he not know the places to fence stolen goods? Knowing he would arouse suspicion, why did he still neither hide nor conceal himself?
The police said that after being arrested, the watchman was somewhat mad and crazy, as if he had been polluted by the Old Gods. But an ordinary person without the aptitude of a Revelator wouldn’t be easily polluted.
“What if the watchman is a Revelator, or, he knows a Revelator?” Siles suddenly said in a low voice.
They preconceive that stealing the collection item was to sell it for money. But what if it was for treating his granddaughter’s illness? A… ritual?
Carol listened from the side, couldn’t help but freeze for a moment, and asked, “You suspect he’s a Revelator? That he stole the collection item in order to perform a ritual?”
“I suspect so,” Siles said. “But we need to find a clue.”
Carol looked at him, waiting.
Siles pondered for a moment and asked, “[Trace Tracking]. Did you bring the Time Trace for this ritual?”
Carol thought about it, but still said, “I understand what you mean, and [Trace Tracking] would indeed be effective. But do you remember the principle of our outing this time?”
Listen more, look more, speak less.
Siles froze for a moment, and said in a low voice, “Sorry.”
“It’s nothing, I know you want to help,” Carol instead comforted him. “But, solving the case is not the key to our outing this time; broadening your horizons and understanding how Revelators do things is.
“Based on this principle, we can trust the Revelators of the Second Corridor, become their shadows, and observe their actions from the sidelines. But, newcomers must absolutely not put themselves in danger.”
Siles hesitated for a moment, then said, “In this kind of situation, what would the Second Corridor usually do?”
“Generally it’s divided into two situations. If there’s no deceased, use [Trace Tracking] or other similar rituals; if there is a deceased, use a ritual to make the dead speak.”
Siles thought to himself, So this is solving cases through metaphysics?
Carol laughed. “These two methods are enough for us to find the truth, at least most of the time. Of course, we also encounter some predicaments; at those times, we use some other methods.
“However, how they—solve cases, is just one of the aspects you need to learn. Especially for Revelators who don’t need to enter the Second Corridor, you have other areas that need attention.”
Siles noticed Carol was still using [Opened Mouth]. Firstly, because Siles could notice the blue radiance continuously flowing into Carol’s throat, and secondly, because his left ear could hear Carol’s words.
Therefore, these words were not just meant for Siles, but equally for those other Revelators.
Carol said, “The key is, how do we find evidence that others are Revelators, under the premise of hiding that we ourselves are Revelators?”
Siles looked at Carol with a hint of surprise.
Carol shrugged. “What else did you think? Just as you thought, the source of many problems and incidents lies exactly in that, although some people are Revelators, they did not safely and cautiously utilize their power.
“Many people are Revelators, but they act secretively and cause a lot of trouble. For example, this museum watchman who might be a Revelator.”
