In the northwest suburbs of Tivian during winter, light snow fell, with specks of white slowly descending from the sky, and the heavily guarded Gale Fortress stood among the woods with bare branches.
Due to the further drop in temperature, the soldiers patrolling on the fortress walls were also wearing thicker winter uniforms. Holding firearms, they stomped their feet, exhaled white mist as they looked at the vast white sky, and longed for the warmth of the fireplace indoors.
Underground in the massive fortress, within the An-Yin Main Bureau, countless staff members were still moving through the various corridors of the subterranean space. Along one of these corridors, Misha, the head of the special investigation team, was walking quickly forward, her footsteps echoing continuously in the corridor.
With a focused expression, Misha, dressed in a hunter's uniform, quickly walked all the way down the corridor. At the end of the corridor was a door with a sign that read "Appraisal Department". After reaching the door, Misha glanced at the sign, opened it directly, and walked inside.
Stepping inside, she saw a spacious room filled with many tables and cabinets. Against the walls were many stacked, locked iron cabinets. The tables were covered with all sorts of jumbled, strange gadgets and tools, and many people sat at the tables, seemingly researching something.
Just after entering the room, Misha saw a familiar figure gathered near a doorway. It was her subordinate, Mike. Upon seeing Misha arrive, he immediately stepped forward to greet her.
"Madam Misha, you're finally here."
"Mm... take me over there..."
Listening to her subordinate's words, Misha nodded in response. Then Mike led her towards one side of the spacious room. On that wall was a row of doors. Mike walked up to one of them, opened it, and went inside, with Misha following closely behind.
After entering the door, they arrived in a dimly lit small cubicle. Here, Misha saw her other two subordinates, Grego and Weihan. They were currently at a small table in the cubicle, seemingly researching something. Upon hearing someone enter, they quickly turned around and respectfully spoke upon seeing Misha.
"Madam."
"I received a notification that there was a reply from over there, but it was sent to the appraisal room. What's wrong? Is there something wrong with that letter?"
Misha spoke to the two people in front of her, while Mike closed the door behind her. After hearing Misha's words, Grego nodded in response.
"Yes, Madam, the Detective's reply arrived a short while ago. However, after performing our routine check on it, we discovered residual traces of extraordinary phenomena on it, so we didn't open it immediately. Instead, we sent it to the Appraisal Department and notified you."
Grego said this to Misha. After hearing these words, Misha's eyebrows raised slightly, and then she continued to speak.
"There are extraordinary traces in the Detective's reply? Heh... we are sincerely trying to contact him... what tricks is he trying to pull now? What kind of Spirituality is that trace? What specific effect does it have?"
Misha asked with a stern tone, and Weihan immediately replied.
"According to the Hui Jian Lamp's detection, the extraordinary trace on that letter belongs to 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment). This is extremely rare. Currently, we don't know what kind of extraordinary effect caused this trace? What are the risks of forcibly opening the letter? So, we haven't opened the letter and instead notified you to come."
"It's actually 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment)..."
Listening to Weihan's words, Misha felt a surge of surprise. As Harold, the head of the An-Yin Main Bureau's knight, she had been working in the An Yin Bureau for over ten years, encountering at least a hundred extraordinary incidents, yet those related to """enlightenment""" were almost negligible.
"Most extraordinary incidents related to 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) are conflicts between organizations caused by vying for """enlightenment""" reserves. I didn't expect there to be a direct extraordinary effect of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) here?...Where is that letter now? I want to see..."
Misha asked her subordinates in front of her, and Grego immediately replied.
"It's here, Madam. We were preparing to ask the Appraisal Department staff to study what effect this extraordinary trace will produce. To avoid risks, it's best not to open this letter until the specific situation is clear."
Saying this, Grego stepped aside, revealing the table he had been blocking. On the table was a glass case, and inside the case was an envelope. The wax seal on the envelope had not been touched, and the white paper surface of the envelope had exquisite patterns that seemed to have been drawn by hand.
Taking two steps forward, Misha walked up to the table. She carefully and intently looked at the seemingly ordinary envelope in the glass case. And during this scrutiny, a strange scene unfolded before Misha's eyes.
In Misha's eyes, the patterns on the surface of the envelope began to change abnormally. The strokes that were originally drawn as exquisite lace seemed to swim like snakes, twisting and deforming on the cover, continuously transforming into Prit letters, combining and arranging themselves on the white paper.
Seeing this scene, Misha's eyes widened slightly, and she took a step back. Fortunately, thanks to her many years of experience working in the An Yin Bureau, she didn't show any panic. She had originally intended to speak out, but after seeing the moving letters quickly assemble into words and sentences she could understand, she closed her slightly opened mouth again.
At this moment, Misha saw a letter. On the envelope paper, she saw a letter that only she could see. And upon seeing the first sentence of this letter, her heart couldn't help but tremble.
"Esteemed Madam De Blanca, I take the liberty of communicating with you in this manner because there are prying eyes around you, and the entire An Yin Bureau is under constant surveillance. I must ensure that only you can see this content. The content inside the envelope is merely superficial; the content on the envelope itself is what I want to tell you. Please remain calm when you see this text. If there are others beside you, it's best not to show any excessive reaction. Remember, only you can see the text on this."
Looking at the text written specifically for her on the envelope in front of her, Misha's expression was serious. Her inner emotions, after a turmoil, quickly calmed down again.
'Content that only I can see... So this is the extraordinary effect attached to the letter... This Detective... is really good at playing tricks...'
Misha thought this to herself, but what she was most concerned about at this moment was not the extraordinary effect that allowed only her to understand the text, but that the other party actually knew her name.
'This Detective actually knows my last name! He knows that I am coordinating the communication and contact with him! The letter I sent before didn't reveal any relevant information at all, how did he know!'
Misha thought with horror. If someone knew her name, it clearly meant there was an insider. Could it be that there wasn't only an insider from the Eight Point Nest within the An Yin Bureau, but also an insider from that Detective organization?!
Seeing the beginning of the letter, Misha suddenly felt a chill in her heart. However, the Detective seemed to have guessed her thoughts, and the subsequent content in the letter answered her inner doubts.
...
"Madam De Blanca, are you perhaps surprised now as to why I know your name? Are you suspecting that we have planted an insider within the An Yin Bureau? Regarding this, you can rest assured, we do not have informants on your side. The reason we know your information is because your information has been leaked by the mole from the Eight Point Nest planted by your side. We obtained intelligence about you from the Eight Point Nest side and learned that you were preparing to contact me.
Yes, it is exactly as you are thinking now. We have spies within the Eight Point Nest, and your investigation team also has spies from the Eight Point Nest within it. Information about you was revealed to the Eight Point Nest by a member of your team, and our informant within the Eight Point Nest then relayed this information to us after receiving it, which is how I came to know your name.
It is also precisely because your poor investigation team has a spy from the Eight-Pointed Nest that I am communicating with you in this manner. I do not want more information to be known by the people on the Eight-Pointed Nest side. I hope we can have a more secretive communication channel between us.
In your previous letter, you asked if we could meet in person to discuss the issue of the Eight Point Nest. My answer is yes, but given that there are informants from the Eight-Pointed Nest within your team, and the entire Main Bureau is also shrouded in the shadow of a powerful mole, I request that our meeting this time be one-on-one. This means neither of us should bring any attendants or subordinates. You should not reveal the content of this letter to anyone else within the Main Bureau, lest it attract the attention of the Eight-Pointed Nest.
During the meeting, I can inform you about the mole within your team. I have already obtained his information. However, this is not free. At that time, you will need to exchange something of equal value. I hope you will be mentally prepared then.
Of course, you might suspect this is a trap, that my asking you not to bring attendants is intended to harm you. But I can assure you that is not the case. To alleviate your doubts, I propose selecting St. Yong Cathedral in the Church District as the meeting location. Under the watchful eyes of the Church, you need not worry about me having any ill intentions towards you. Under the shroud of the Three Saints' Light, you can attend the meeting safely.
Alright, due to limited space, this is all I can say in this letter. For more detailed information, we can talk slowly after we meet.
Two o'clock in the afternoon on the nineteenth, inside St. Yong Cathedral in the Church District. I will wait for you on the leftmost, last bench for half an hour. Please make sure to come. Finally, I will remind you again here, to prevent information from being leaked to the Eight-Pointed Nest side, the content of this letter must absolutely not be revealed to anyone else, especially your subordinates, unless you deem it absolutely necessary."
...
Standing in front of the table, Misha's eyes were fixed intently on the envelope in the glass case. Her expression was filled with seriousness and solemnity. Her demeanor attracted the attention of her subordinates around her. They couldn't help but feel a little strange as to why Misha would react so solemnly to the envelope in front of her. Weihan, who was beside her, couldn't help but ask directly.
"Madam Misha, are you... have you seen anything special on this letter?"
Weihan said this. Listening to his words, Misha paused slightly, then shifted her gaze to him, speaking with a strange glint in her eyes.
"No... I didn't see anything special on this letter. I don't know how this extraordinary trace was created."
"I see..."
Listening to Misha's words, Weihan and the others couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. At this moment, Misha continued to speak.
"Since this letter has extraordinary traces, to be safe, don't rush to open it. Open it after it's appraised and confirmed to be without risk. You stay here and coordinate with the Appraisal Department. I have other matters, so I'll leave first."
Saying this, Misha turned around and left the small room. As she pushed the door open to leave, she inadvertently turned her head and glanced at the subordinates behind her. Deep within her expression, caution had already appeared.
For Misha, regardless of the facts... since that Detective knew about the existence of this investigation team, it was highly likely that there was already a problem within it. An investigation team painstakingly established to investigate an insider might already have an insider right after its formation. This was truly too ironic for Misha, and even for the entire An Yin Bureau.
'It seems... it is necessary to meet that Detective once...'
Thinking this, Misha quickly pushed the door open and walked out of the room.
...
Time flew by quickly, and a day and night passed in no time. The calendar in Tivian arrived at December 19th, nearing the end of the year.
In the Church District of North Tivian, the daytime sky had no light snow like yesterday, only a cold wind whistling over the Church spires. Under this cold wind, the number of people coming to the Church to pray and confess was significantly fewer.
Dressed in an ordinary thick brown-yellow trench coat, Misha walked quickly through the sparse crowd in front of the Church square, her steps firm and unceasing as she moved forward. After ascending the steps, she entered through the wide-open wooden doors of St. Yong Cathedral. What appeared before her then was the depth of the spacious interior, the Radiant Savior and the Three Saints altar beneath the tall stained glass. Behind the altar were rows of wooden benches extending backward, on which people who had come to pray and confess were scattered.
Upon arriving at this large Cathedral, Misha had no intention of praying. Instead, she quickly walked to the very end of the leftmost row of benches, looking for something there. However, at this time, there was not a single person on that row. Just as Misha's brows furrowed slightly, a male voice sounded not far behind her.
"Excuse me, are you... Madam Misha?"
Hearing this voice, Misha turned around and looked towards where the sound came from. She then saw a man wearing a short hat and a black trench coat, with a pale face, a hooked nose, and deep-set eyes. He was currently smiling as he looked at Misha in front of him.
"You are... the Detective?"
Looking at the man in front of her, Misha asked instinctively, and the man shrugged before extending his hand.
"Ed, my name is Ed... It's a pleasure to meet you, Madam."