Hathaway set down her teacup, picked up the fire tongs, and prodded the charcoal in the fireplace. "That Hanging Shadow you ntioned, the one simulated with shadows, must be a special ability that very few mbers of the Witch's House are qualified to wield. We still don't know what this Hanging Shadow is—whether it's a god-like higher being or sothing else entirely. But since she was able to simulate a simple version of it, the person your friend killed must have at least seen the object of her worship with her own eyes... That Twin Demons must be at least level 6, right? Ordinary mortals can't look directly at sothing like that."
"Probably..."
He didn't dare et her eyes, pretending instead to look down at the cat. He had indeed felt so discomfort when facing the floating, upside-down woman earlier, but compared to the many strange things he had seen before, it was nothing.
"Speaking of which, the followers of these new gods all seem to be rather strange characters. I don't an to slander a true god, but whether it's the black-robed man who likes collecting Cursed Items or the madman-like Twin Demons, none of them seem to be of sound mind."
Jenkins couldn't respond to that and could only nod as Hathaway went on.
"So many things have happened this year. The Witch's House, the Eye Collector's Association, and those con artists who only recently vanished are all lurking in Nolan. I had thought that after the business with the demon was over, this place would finally see a brief period of peace, but it seems there's still so much going on."
In truth, Hathaway was still underestimating the danger Nolan City was facing. The Children of the Mist plan, connected to the deceased Wesley, and the Undying Man project were both still in motion. The latter was even very likely connected to the chaotic Evil God Scion incident in New Truman City. But there was no need to voice these things; it would only cause more worry.
Seeing Jenkins furrow his brow, Hathaway laughed softly:
"Don't worry. The Orthodox Churches will handle these matters. Let's just be like little mice hiding in a corner. As long as we don't go looking for trouble, we'll be fine."
"I wasn't worried about that... Alright, I was worried about that."
The girl covered her mouth and laughed elegantly again.
"You haven't had dinner yet, have you? Shall I have the maid prepare sothing?"
"I won't say no to that."
Jenkins gave a bashful smile, unsure if his response was socially appropriate. He then rembered sothing else and added:
"Could you get so milk, too? Chocolate hasn't had his dinner either."
The cat, which had been lying on Jenkins's lap with its eyes closed, imdiately squinted, its amber gaze turning toward the kitchen.
anwhile, on the banks of the Rona River, at the ruins of a squat building.
The Night Watchn from the Church of the Unlit Moon had arrived at the scene. Police had cordoned off the area to maintain order. A man in a black robe stood in the center of the ruins, head bowed, toying with the poison vial Jenkins had left behind. It bore the unique insignia of the Witch's House, which essentially confird the identities of the three people here.
"Steyr, what were the results of the divination?"
The man asked his pale-faced companion standing in the corner. This man was on the younger side, but he looked as if he had just survived a grave illness, so frail that a strong gust of wind seed enough to finish him.
"Captain Pheos, it's no good. I saw an inverted black shadow, and it nearly killed . But that shadow looked very similar to the descriptions in the Witch's House files. It has to be them. Oh, and there was the shadow of an explosion... that thing was deadly too. Goddess, if I hadn't been wearing that ring from last ti—it pulled out of the divination state just in ti—I think I would have gone to join poor Barnard."
Despite his words, the color was visibly returning to Steyr's face, and his companions inspecting the scene paid him no mind.
The man called "Captain Pheos" looked at the vial in his hand, hesitated for a mont, and then pulled out the cork. A plu of green mist imdiately drifted out. The man pointed with his left hand, and the mist froze in mid-air.
He traced a circle in the air with his index finger, and a tiny wisp of the green mist floated into his nose. The man's nose twitched a few tis, his face darkened slightly, but it returned to normal after a few seconds.
"A poison with supernatural properties. Without a special item or a targeted ability, it would be almost impossible to cure."
He made his conclusion, then turned to a companion who was crouching by a body. "In the second half of this year, I recall a special container that can turn water into poison appeared on the city's black market."
"Yes, Captain. It was a wooden bowl. We couldn't find any information on it in the archives, so it must be a recently created item or one that was lost in a much earlier epoch. As for its properties, it seems any liquid placed inside slowly turns into poison. The longer it's held, the stronger the toxin, but it takes at least a month to beco lethal. The Church intended to acquire it, but its owner was very cautious. The bowl's current whereabouts are unknown."
"A month? So if the Witch's House bought that bowl, they would have had just enough ti to create this poison?"
He tossed the vial in his hand.
"I don't know, we never had direct contact with the bowl. We could ask that division at the church; they might have so information. We could also activate our black market contacts. We might actually be able to trace the buyer."
Captain Pheos nodded, pocketed the vial, and then asked, "Anything else? Any abnormalities on the bodies? If not, let's transport them back and have the coroner's office take a look."
The man examining the body stood up and brushed so li dust from the hem of his clothes. "The one crushed by the stones appears to have been tortured before death. There are water stains on the body, bruises on the face from fingers pressing down, and a very strange expression."
He looked at his captain. Pheos nodded slowly, rubbing his hands together. "That settles it. It must be the 'Twin Demons'. Soone like that acts without restraint, doesn't care who they offend, and shows no rcy. Although he has helped us on two occasions, we can't just assu he's a good person. After all, his thods are anything but righteous. Sigh... This ti he just blew up an entire house. What kind of brutal person does sothing like that in the middle of the city? We'll have to explain it to the citizens as a gas lamp explosion."
"But a gas explosion shouldn't be this powerful."
The young man at his side pointed out.
"The underground pipes exploded too. It's not like the public will know the specifics."
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