Inside Green Shade Town, Tivian North Suburb, No. 17, Dorothy sat on her sofa, looking at the graceful letters on the letter paper in her hand with a rather serious expression. She hadn't expected Miss Adele's information to arrive so quickly.
'They found something already? That's quite efficient. I thought I'd have to wait for a long time.'
Dorothy thought to herself. It had only been about two weeks since the last theatre incident, and Miss Adele already had news. This surprised Dorothy. Usually, it was normal for this kind of long-term investigation to yield no results for two or three months. Furthermore, compared to the Wolf Blood Society, Miss Adele's Crimson Heart was still the weaker party, and it was inherently more difficult for the weaker party to investigate the stronger party. Dorothy hadn't actually held much hope at the beginning that Miss Adele and her group would find anything.
'In any case, it's good that they found something. Miss Adele's teacher is one of the clues for me to continue exploring The Path of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment), and I can't easily miss it.'
Dorothy continued to ponder. Then she began to prepare to go to Soaring Theatre again tonight. As she was about to put away the letter paper in her hand, she focused her attention on the impressive scent on it.
"Although it's normal for a female star to spray some perfume on a letter, this woman, Miss Adele, wouldn't be planning to use this scent to find my true body, right... Well, just in case, I'll use Stone Wisdom Powder to remove the scent from my body later..."
Dorothy murmured like this. Although she and Miss Adele were currently in a cooperative relationship, the other party was still a Chalk Rank Extraordinary. To avoid being passive in some matters in the future, some necessary precautions still needed to be taken.
After speaking, Dorothy put away the letter, checked the time, and began preparing for the meeting later today.
...
At night, East Tivian.
On the dark streets, the evening wind was bleak, the leaves of the trees on both sides of the road were yellow and withered, and the road surface, which had just experienced a light rain, was still wet. Both pedestrians and carriages were rarely seen.
The entrance of Soaring Theatre was unusually deserted. Due to the lack of performances tonight and the light rain, the usually bustling street in front of the theatre was now cold and quiet, with only occasional pedestrians passing by the closed theatre doors.
The sound of hooves and wheels came from the distance down the street. A common Tivian taxi carriage stopped at the entrance of the theatre. The carriage door opened, and a man wearing a grey trench coat, a short top hat, with a thin face, deep-set eyes, and an aquiline nose stepped out of the carriage. After glancing around, he exhaled a puff of steam.
Getting out of the carriage, Ed used his leather-gloved hand to take out a few coins from his pocket and paid the carriage driver. The driver nodded slightly to him in greeting, then drove away.
After the carriage left, Ed adjusted his collar and walked towards the entrance of Soaring Theatre. Just as he was carefully examining the closed doors, a voice suddenly came from beside him.
"Mr. Ed, please come this way."
Hearing this, Ed turned his head to look. He saw a young man wearing a theatre attendant's uniform standing some distance to his right, bowing to him as he spoke. Through Ed's perspective, Dorothy recognized this attendant; he was Miss Adele's subordinate.
"Thank you for leading the way."
Ed said with a smile to the attendant. The attendant then nodded, turned and walked back, and Dorothy also had Ed follow promptly.
Following the attendant, Ed went around to the side of the theatre and entered through a hidden side door. Since there was no performance, many areas inside the theatre were not lit, making the interior very dim. In this dimness, Ed followed the attendant forward, turning left and right within the large theatre, eventually arriving in front of a room. The theatre attendant stood by the door, gesturing for Ed to enter, and Ed directly opened the door and went in.
Ed entered the room, and a faint scent of incense immediately greeted him. He looked closely and found it was a luxuriously decorated reception room, with expensive carpets, exquisite oil paintings on the walls, and charcoal fire burning in the fireplace. On the soft sofa, Miss Adele sat wearing a simple dark red dress, her long golden hair spread out behind her. Her face was free of the heavy stage makeup she usually wore, revealing a more natural beauty.
"Welcome, great Detective Ed. I've been waiting for you for a long time. Please have a seat."
Sitting on the sofa, Miss Adele looked at Ed as he entered and said with a smile. Seeing this, Ed didn't stand on ceremony. After closing the door behind him, he walked forward and sat opposite Miss Adele. After seeing Ed seated, Miss Adele picked up a bottle of red wine from the coffee table, poured it into two stemmed glasses, handed one to Ed, and then picked up the other and began to taste it directly. Ed looked at the red wine but didn't pick it up to drink immediately.
"Hmm? Not drinking? Detective Ed, are you afraid I poisoned the wine? I just drank it first, you know~"
With her usual teasing tone, Miss Adele spoke to Ed, and Ed replied with a smile.
"No, Miss Adele, you've misunderstood. As a Detective, it's very important to always maintain a clear mind, so I'm unwilling to let even a tiny bit of alcohol numb my senses."
"Hehe... Is that so? It seems Mr. Ed is truly a disciplined person. I admire that." Miss Adele responded with a simple smile, and after drinking a little more of the red wine in her hand, she placed the glass on the table.
"Miss Adele, I think we can get straight to the point. In your letter to me, you said you had a clue about your teacher?"
Dorothy controlled Ed to ask directly, and Miss Adele nodded after putting down her glass, responding.
"Detective is really anxious... Clearly, we have plenty of time, and we can take our time with any topic... But since Detective is in a hurry, let's get straight to the point."
Miss Adele said this, then her expression became slightly serious, and she continued to speak.
"I do have some clues about my teacher here, and in fact, Detective, you might already know something about this clue."
Miss Adele said frankly. Hearing Miss Adele's words, Ed spoke with some doubt.
"I already know something?"
"Yes, as a Detective, I think Mr. Ed, you must pay close attention to the news..." Miss Adele said, then took out a newspaper from under the coffee table and placed it on top. Using Ed's vision, Dorothy immediately saw the headline information published in the newspaper.
It was exactly what she had seen at Beverly's house at noon today: the news of consecutive on-the-spot street murders in Sitivian! This made her pause slightly, and also caused Ed to read the newspaper for a moment before speaking with a frown.
"The consecutive on-the-spot murders in Sitivian? I have indeed seen this news... Four consecutive spontaneous street murders in the Coal Ash District of Sitivian within two weeks... I thought it was quite strange when I saw it. Could this be related to the clue you mentioned?"
Ed asked Miss Adele, and Miss Adele responded with a solemn nod.
"There must be something strange behind every abnormality. Unreasonable abnormal events in the mundane world often have the interference of hidden powers behind them... This time is no different." Miss Adele said to Ed, her expression becoming serious as she spoke.
"Detective, to be honest, these four sudden, spontaneous murder cases in the news give me a strong sense of déjà vu. I carefully read the newspaper's description of these four people's behavior; it's as if their desires were suddenly manipulated and amplified."
Miss Adele said seriously to Ed. Listening to her words, Dorothy's heart tightened. She immediately thought of Byron, the beast-transformed person who couldn't resist his desires being manipulated by Miss Adele and transformed to fight his companions in this theatre more than half a month ago. As a Desire Dancer, Miss Adele possessed the ability to suddenly intensify a person's inner desires and guide the direction of their release.
Thinking carefully, the people in the news who suddenly lost control of their emotions and committed crimes and murder did indeed have many similarities with Byron, the beast-transformed person from that day.
"Desires being manipulated? Do you mean there's a Desire Dancer like you using their ability on them? Besides you, are there any other organizations or Extraordinary on this Path?"
Realizing the key point of the matter, Dorothy had Ed continue to ask Miss Adele, and Miss Adele quickly answered.
"Extraordinary who assist 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) are extremely rare existences in the entire hidden world. In my impression, only the Joyful Dance Assembly, which I once belonged to, is an organization of The Path of Depravity. And in the Joyful Dance Assembly, there were actually only two Extraordinary above the Black Rank: my teacher and I. I am the only one among the disciples taught by my teacher who truly embarked on this branch of the Path."
Miss Adele said this to Ed. Listening to her words, Dorothy realized that the other party was also from a rare profession.
"So, on this world, you and your teacher are the only two Extraordinary on The Path of Depravity?"
"It's hard to say about the whole world. After all, the hidden world is too vast, and there are many organizations. It's possible that there are Extraordinary on the same branch of the Path as me in distant places I don't know about. But within the entire Preet Kingdom, I can be sure that the only two Extraordinary who have embarked on The Path of Depravity are my teacher and I."
Miss Adele said to Ed with a rather serious expression. After hearing her words, Dorothy realized what Miss Adele's so-called clue might be. She had Ed speak to Miss Adele in a calm voice.
"You said that the only Extraordinary on The Path of Depravity in the entire Prit Kingdom are you and your teacher, and you also said earlier that the series of sudden, spontaneous murder cases in Sitivian are very likely due to the interference of Extraordinary abilities from The Path of Depravity. If the events in Sitivian have nothing to do with you, then the one interfering in Sitivian is..."
"It's very likely my teacher." Miss Adele said, continuing Ed's words. At the same time, a strange light flickered in her eyes. This was the first time Dorothy had seen Miss Adele's expression so solemn. Even when she was previously framed, the faint hint of frivolity on her face had never changed.
"Your teacher? Are you sure, Miss Adele? Didn't you say your teacher had died at the hands of the Wolf Blood Society?" Ed continued to say solemnly, and Miss Adele replied.
"That was just my guess. In fact, I didn't personally see my teacher killed by the Wolf Blood Society. Back then, when the Joyful Dance Assembly was attacked by the Wolf Blood Society, my teacher had me and the other sisters leave first to cover our retreat. After escaping, I was never able to see my teacher again. After the Wolf Blood Society withdrew, I returned to the original base of the Joyful Dance Assembly, but I didn't find my teacher's body. So at that time, I thought my teacher must have been taken back by those guys to be devoured."
Miss Adele said with sorrow, while Ed glanced at the newspaper on the coffee table and continued to speak.
"So... after seeing these cases in Sitivian, you think your teacher might not be dead?"
"Yes! I now believe it's possible that my teacher is still alive. She might not have died at that time, but was instead taken back and imprisoned by the Wolf Blood Society, and recently she managed to escape! Due to possibly being abused by those wolf cubs from the Wolf Blood Society, my teacher's current condition isn't very good, which is why there's a problem with her Extraordinary ability being out of control, affecting the ordinary people nearby.
"I specifically sent people to investigate the Coal Ash District in Sitivian. Not only did those four on-the-spot murder cases occur there, but the current security situation there is very poor, and the number of various criminal incidents is increasing. The desires in the hearts of the people there have been stimulated by Extraordinary power. This phenomenon is very likely a manifestation of a Desire Dancer's ability being out of control.
"If my guess is true, then I need to quickly go to the Coal Ash District in Sitivian to find my teacher, because the Wolf Blood Society will definitely go looking for her after seeing the situation there. I need to rescue my teacher before the Wolf Blood Society does."
Miss Adele's expression swept away the previous sorrow, and she said with a clear raise of her eyebrows. It was evident that upon sensing that her teacher might still be alive, even she, who was skilled at adjusting her emotions, couldn't help but suppress the excitement in her heart for a moment. Ed, after listening to Miss Adele's words, responded silently.
"That's possible, but have you considered the possibility that the Wolf Blood Society is controlling your teacher through some means, making her use her ability to create these incidents, and then lure you there to target you?"
Listening to Ed's words, Miss Adele was silent for a moment, then spoke after taking another sip of red wine.
"What you said makes some sense... I haven't not considered that this might be a trap, but no matter the situation... I cannot abandon my teacher. So... I must go to Sitivian. At least I need to confirm whether the reason for the abnormal manifestations there is indeed caused by my teacher."
Saying this, Miss Adele turned her head to look at Ed and spoke in a solemn tone.
"The Coal Ash District in Sitivian is very large, and it won't be easy to find my teacher's whereabouts there. In addition, there might be interference from the Wolf Blood Society or even other forces, making the situation there very complicated. Therefore... I need to hire an excellent Detective to assist me in finding her.
"Mr. Ed, you are the most excellent Detective I have ever met. Are you willing to accept my employment? Of course, I think you will also be interested in the secrets about 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) that my teacher knows."
Miss Adele stood up, extended her hand to Ed, and spoke. Ed sat in his seat for a moment, then slowly stood up, leaned forward, took Miss Adele's hand, performed a kiss on the hand, and then said politely.
"Willing to serve you, Madam."