The golden-eyed demigod from the Loen military nodded in agreement.
"Indeed. It's similar in style to certain fellows from the Intis intelligence agencies.
"However, just seconds after he took away the soil, the Tutanssess II mummy vanished. It's unlikely that he could complete a ritual in time."
The lady looked down at the crown of thorns that was embedded in her neck. Slightly slow to react, she said, "Perhaps he, or they, had already set up the other steps of the ritual. Once he teleported back, he immediately threw the soil onto the altar, completing the final step.
"Of course, it's not necessarily a ritual. It might also be a Sealed Artifact that achieves a certain effect with the help of bodily fluids. There are too many possibilities for this."
Although Sealed Artifacts' main effects and negative effects mostly adhered to the Sequence traits of the 22 pathways, allowing researchers to barely come up with a hypothesis, just like how everyone had different personalities, Sealed Artifacts were different. Perhaps due to fusing with an object, the environment when formed, the possible existence of a High-Level Sequence's aura, or a curse from the original owner, these resulted in all kinds of strange traits that made them not viable for testing. No one could imagine ahead of time the different permutations and list them all out.
The golden-eyed demigod pulled out a chair and sat.
"This is very difficult to investigate, so we can temporarily not consider it. However, you missed out on a direction for the investigation.
"Do you still remember that Hurricane? It swept up Tutanssess II's sarcophagus, causing the ritualistic items, which is also the bodily fluids to leak out, and it also caused the mummy to tumble out. This enabled the condition for zombifying it. In short, this established the foundation for the subsequent development, so it can be confirmed that this was done by the mysterious man or his helper."
The turbidness in the lady's eyes grew faint as she slowly removed the crown of thorns.
"Do you mean that, with the Church of Storms in control of the Sailor pathway and the High-Sequence formulas and Beyonder characteristics, there won't be many Beyonders or mystical items that can use Hurricane? Thus, this is a clue that we can follow to find their trail?"
The golden-eyed demigod nodded.
"Also, I remember that not long ago, there was a case in East Borough. The Aurora Order's Mr. X was assassinated at a gathering he convened himself. Lightning Storm and Hurricane had been used at the scene.
"This garnered a lot of attention from the Church of Storms, and they have been constantly looking for clues.
"To have two Hurricanes happen in the same area in a short period of time and not belong to official organizations—this can't be a coincidence. I believe it can be preliminarily determined that there is a connection. The group of people who killed Mr. X and stole the mummy might be one and the same. We need to join forces with the Church of Storms to investigate."
The lady lowered the crown of thorns and thought.
"That's a good angle.
"Also, from their goals and motives, we can figure out certain things. People who want to use a mummy as a zombie wouldn't take such a high risk by attempting a theft. I suspect that, to those people, the Tutanssess II mummy is something they attach additional importance to."
"Something that's key to a ritual?" The golden-eyed demigod deliberated as he said, "From the scene, the one who was carrying something special to attract the mummy was likely a Wraith or had the corresponding mystical item. Combining the goals and motive, I have a theory..."
The lady's heart stirred as she blurted out, "Members of the Temperance faction that escaped from the Rose School of Thought?"
"Yes." The golden-eyed demigod nodded. "Although the creation of mummies is influenced by aspects like the faith in Death and Sun worship, despite the Rose School of Thought occupying a ruling position in the Highlands, Valley, and other places, it hasn't forbidden such burial practices. This implies that mummies are of use to them. Perhaps it's the ritual requirement of one of the Sequences."
Upon saying this, he chuckled in a self-deprecating tone.
"There's another possibility. To show off and act.
"That bunch of people might not really want the mummy. It just happened to satisfy certain conditions, giving them the opportunity to steal. Hence, they did a grand act. To some Sequences of particular pathways, this is key to digesting the potion."
As a demigod, he was knowledgeable, so he naturally made many connections.
The lady deliberated and said in a heavy voice, "I suspect that it's not just one possibility but a potpourri of reasons.
"We shall use this as the foundation for our investigations."
...
Backlund, Cherwood Borough. In a building near the Tussock River.
The Silent One Mahmosi sat in front of a square table that had a tablecloth spread across it with golden nails placed on it. It said in a deep voice, "Zatwen, who do you think stole the Kadiev mummy?"
Not far behind him, a figure rapidly appeared on a piano bench.
This figure wore a black clergyman's robe with a black glove on his left hand. His face was thin, and his skin color was brown. His eyes were recessed like a dried corpse. His mustache hair was black at the root and white outwards. They extended from his mouth all the way to his ear. However, it wasn't thick and was rather short. It appeared rather sparse.
Zatwen's eyes were close to his skin color. Despite having the bearing of a priest, he gave off a cold and terrifying feeling. He appeared to be someone who would transform amidst silence. Thinking, he said, "There are only a handful of people who yearn for a Kadiev mummy and would be willing to take the risk to battle demigods. And here in Backlund, there's only Sharron.
"She has likely received Reinette Tinekerr's help; otherwise, it's impossible for her to succeed."
Mahmosi picked up a golden nail covered in dense patterns. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "Who was the one who teleported?
"It doesn't resemble Gehrman Sparrow... Another helper Sharron hired?"
"Perhaps." Zatwen coughed as his pale face flushed blue. "I believe we need to think of a way to pray to Mother Tree. We should be able to receive a revelation."
Mahmosi nodded gently and stabbed the golden nail through his bottom lip.
Upon seeing this, Zatwen covered his mouth and slowly got up. He staggered down to the first floor in preparation to leave and return to his hideout.
On the first floor, he saw a dark environment with shimmering candlelight. The fragrance of food wafted from different directions, filling the air. The residential buildings in the nearby area were terraces. Facing the street on the first floor were shops. The contact point of the Rose School of Thought was in a restaurant which mainly served Southern Continent cuisine.
As he had suffered quite serious injuries in the operation, Zatwen didn't wish to maintain his state as an evil spirit. It was too great a burden on the injured him; therefore, he had changed into a black clergyman's robe as he hobbled to the entrance.
At this moment, a customer walked into the restaurant.
This customer wore a black formal suit with black pants and leather shoes. He had a pair of black eyes and a thin face.
He had a slightly broad forehead as he wore a monocle and a very tall top hat. As he casually glanced around, his gaze landed on Zatwen.
Upon seeing the black glove Zatwen was wearing on his left hand, the ends of the customer's mouth curled slightly. He shook his head with a smile, seemingly a little disappointed.
Then, he entered the restaurant, brushing past Zatwen who had stared back with a maleficent look.
Zatwen didn't pay too much attention as he walked out and reached the streets.
Under the illumination of the streetlamps, the night's cool breeze blew at him, causing the Rose School of Thought demigod to suddenly tremble.
Zatwen knew that this was a result of his spiritual perception being triggered. With his heart tightening, he immediately looked down at his hands, surprised to realize that the black glove on his left hand was gone.
Gone!
As a demigod, Zatwen didn't know when the Sealed Artifact on his hand disappeared!
He quickly turned around and looked into the restaurant as the image of the man from before suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Soon, he locked onto the target's aura and found that he was still inside the restaurant. The man had even called out to the waiter to bring him a menu.
Zatwen originally had thoughts of using Mirror Blink to possess the man. But for some unknown reason, his hands shook involuntarily. In an indescribable manner, he believed that a dangerous and terrifying enemy hid in his surroundings!
Just as this thought flashed past his mind, Zatwen subconsciously took a step to the side, walking to the end of the street as though nothing had happened.
...
In an apartment in Cherwood Borough.
Fors was reading the latest issue of Ladies Aesthetic when she suddenly heard a key turn and the sound of the door opening.
"Why are you so late today?" She looked towards the door where Xio stood.
Xio ruffled her short blonde hair and said, "When I was almost home, I saw a meetup mark from MI9. It was urgent."
"What happened this time?" With piqued interest, Fors lowered the magazine in her hand.
"A continuation of Mr. X's assassination," Xio bent down to switch to her home slippers and said in passing.
The look on Fors's face froze as her eyes darted about slightly.
"Any clues?"
"Not really. Uh, back then, a Hurricane at the demigod-level appeared. It's not common outside the Church of Storms, and just earlier tonight, there was a small-scale Hurricane attack at the dock at Pritz Harbor. A Pharaoh mummy was stolen away in the chaos," Xio explained simply. "MI9 suspect that the two cases were done by the same group of people, so they are pressing informants like us to work harder at gathering intel and finding clues."
...My Leymano's Travels still has a Hurricane... Mr. Gehrman Sparrow? Why is he stealing a Pharaoh mummy... Fors forced a smile.
"Perhaps it was done by the Church of Storms?"
Xio rolled her eyes at her and quickly walked into the kitchen in search of food.
...
Early morning, 160 Böklund Street.
Moments after Klein finished washing up, and before he could open the door to let Richardson in, his spiritual perception was triggered. He saw Miss Messenger's headless body walk out of the void with four heads in hand.
One of them was biting down on a rather thick envelope. Opening its mouth, a large pile of gold coins was spat out.
I can finally repay my debt... Klein glanced at Reinette Tinekerr's four neckless heads and said in relief, "I remember still owing you 3,413 gold coins. You can take the last installment away."
Meanwhile, he had the baffling feeling that the pile of gold coins looked familiar. However, he didn't think too much about it because all the gold coins looked familiar to him.
