In Saint Chant Church in the Church District of North Tivian, beneath the tall dome supported by rows of thick pillars, Misha, dressed in ordinary winter clothes, stood there, scrutinizing the man who was smiling and extending his hand towards her. There was nothing outwardly unusual about him. After a slight hesitation, Misha extended her hand and shook his.
"Your pattern magic is impressive... Detective. This is the first time I've seen these Extraordinary effect texts that only appear in my vision. It's quite an eye-opener."
Misha asked Ed, clearly curious about the effect of the Common Sense Text, and Ed, controlled by Dorothy, replied with a smile.
"It's nothing, just an Extraordinary item I obtained by chance. It can secretly transmit some information to a designated person, but unfortunately, it's not very useful otherwise."
Dorothy had Ed answer like this. This wasn't modesty; it was simply that this was pretty much all Dorothy could do with the Common Sense Text quill.
Dorothy had already experimented with the Common Sense Text quill. She found that this pen allowed her to write Common Sense Text, not master it. At least, the Common Sense Text written with this pen had limitations, meaning the more precise the encryption conditions set, the less Spirituality was consumed, and vice versa; the broader the encryption conditions set for the Common Sense Text, the greater the consumption.
Currently, the Common Sense Text written by Dorothy using this quill could only be precisely set to be seen by a specific person or a few specific people, and temporarily couldn't be set like those in the ruins, where people meeting certain conditions could see it, because setting such broad conditions consumed several times, or even dozens of times, more Spirituality than setting precise individuals. Even using the "enlightenment" Spirituality, which was the least important to Dorothy, couldn't withstand the Spirituality consumption of the quill under broad conditions. Therefore, currently, Dorothy could only use the Common Sense Text quill to set private messages for individuals.
And this should be a problem with the quill item, not the Common Sense Text itself. Dorothy thought that if she truly mastered the Common Sense Text, the Spirituality consumption would definitely be much better.
"You are very punctual, Detective."
"Of course. It would be ungallant to keep a Madam waiting for me. Madam Misha, it is a great honor for me that you trust me enough to come to this appointment." With an unchanging smile, Ed continued to speak politely to Misha, who then scanned her surroundings before speaking.
"To dispel my concerns, you chose a meeting place like this. This level of sincerity is not worth wasting, so I came."
Looking at the surroundings, Misha released her hand and then continued to ask Ed.
"So, shall we talk here?"
"Of course. Not many people are praying today, and this church is so large. This corner is enough. On the Church's territory, we don't need to be too wary of those guys."
As Ed spoke to Misha, he walked towards the back row of seats in an unoccupied corner of the church and sat down. Seeing this, Misha followed and sat down not far from Ed.
"What kind of organization are you exactly? Why are you hostile to the Eight Point Nest? How much do you know about the Eight-Pointed Nest?"
Looking sideways at Ed beside her, Misha asked directly and straightforwardly, while he spread his hands and replied with a smile.
"You're asking a bit too eagerly, Madam Misha. I am here to trade information with you this time, not to report to you. Information outside the scope of the transaction, I'm afraid I cannot disclose."
Listening to Ed's words, Misha's expression sank. After staring at Ed for a few seconds, she spoke again.
"Then, what can you tell me?"
"Haven't I already written what I can tell you in the letter? There's an informant within your investigation team, and that informant has seen all the information within your team clearly. It's impossible for you to rely on an investigation team with a small informant to find the big informant. And because we have a spy within the Eight-Pointed Nest, we happen to know the identity of that small informant. That's what I can tell you today, Madam."
With a light tone, Ed said this to Misha, who continued to question him in return.
"Since you have a spy within the Eight-Pointed Nest, do you only know the identity of the small informant? You don't know anything about the big informant?"
"Information about that big informant is also a top-secret level secret within the Eight-Pointed Nest. Although we have infiltrated the Eight-Pointed Nest, with the current level of infiltration, we cannot yet reach there. If we obtain relevant information someday, perhaps we can have another transaction, but this transaction does not include that."
Speaking in an explanatory tone, Ed continued to say to Misha. Listening to Ed's words, Misha was silent for a while, and after a pause, she spoke.
"Then... what do I need to pay to get the information about that small informant?"
"Information for information. I have some questions I want to ask you. If I get valuable answers, I will truthfully provide the information."
Looking into Misha's eyes, Ed continued to speak. Upon hearing this, Misha couldn't help but sneer in response.
"Heh... valuable answers. If I answer, isn't it still up to you to judge whether the answer is valuable? What if I answer but you go back on your word?"
Misha questioned Ed, who straightened his collar and answered solemnly.
"Madam Misha, I think since we have already come here, it means we have a basic trust in each other, right? You don't need to doubt me in a place like this. If you are unwilling to give me even this much trust, this transaction cannot proceed."
Listening to Ed's words, Misha's expression became serious. After thinking for a while, she took a breath. Unwilling to give up this opportunity to obtain information about the Eight-Pointed Nest, she spoke.
"Alright, ask whatever you want to know."
"Very well... Madam Misha, what we want to know is some information about the deities in the'Shadow' domain. Does your An Yin Bureau have any research or even faith concerning the deities in the'Shadow' domain?"
Ed asked Misha. Hearing Ed's question, Misha was stunned. She seemed not to have expected his question to be like this.
"It's actually... information about foreign gods? Heh... if you ask me these questions, you're probably going to be disappointed. The An Yin Bureau is an official Extraordinary organization under the Kingdom government, and there is no foreign god worship within it.
"We do not worship foreign gods, and researching foreign gods is very likely to lead to worshipping foreign gods and breeding unstable factors within the bureau, so our research on foreign gods is also very superficial and will not go in depth."
Misha said this to Ed. Hearing her words, Ed was startled, then frowned slightly and continued to speak.
"Then... have you researched the pure color gods in the'Shadow' domain?"
"The'Shadow' pure color gods? Are you referring to the core beliefs within a Spirituality domain, like the King of the Underworld to Silence, or the Cup Mother to "Cup"? I'm sorry, due to the lower activity level of pure color belief organizations compared to others, only the King of the Underworld and the Cup Mother have a little influence within the Corpse Coffin Society and the Fetal Garment Cult. As for the other pure color gods, except for the Radiant Savior, I haven't even heard of them, so our understanding of them is very limited, because actively seeking knowledge that isn't necessary for work is both energy-consuming and risky."
Misha explained to Ed like this. Dorothy, sensing through Ed, couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in her heart upon hearing Misha's words. A sense of foreboding emerged from the bottom of her heart.
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'No way, does this An Yin Bureau not have even a bit of information about the'Shadow' main god? Are you guys still a'Shadow' Extraordinary organization?!'
Inside the carriage on the street corner in the distance, Dorothy, sitting in her seat, complained inwardly like this. She had originally planned to use the informant's information to exchange for information about the'Shadow' main god or even the Holy Emblem from the An Yin Bureau, but listening to Misha's words, they had absolutely no information about the'Shadow' main god! They hadn't even heard the name, which made Dorothy feel very depressed for a while.
Although Dorothy knew that these pure-color gods had a very low sense of presence in the Fourth Epoch, it shouldn't be this low. Although the Radiant Savior was marginalized, He was still known to everyone, and everyone knew that His status was above the Three Saints.
As Strange God outside the Shining Light Church, the Cup Mother and the King of the Underworld, although not widely known, were at least somewhat famous within the societies in their own Spirituality domains. They still held a nominal revered status; at the very least, those who believed in the Gluttonous Wolf still had to refer to the Cup Mother as their god's mother when mentioning Her.
But when it came to the Stone Prince, it was miserable. His reputation within His own Spirituality domain was quite low, and almost no one believed in Him. He was only treated as a subject for archaeological research. The order construct core had too much influence in the'Shi' (Stone) domain, and besides that, there was only dark gold.
Originally, Dorothy thought that the main god here for "Shadow" was in a similar situation to the Stone Prince, but she didn't expect that this "Shadow" main god, whose name she didn't even know, was even more miserable. Even the society within its own Spirituality domain didn't know its title. It's estimated that up until now, it doesn't even have a society. The "enlightenment" main god, whose entire lineage is completely broken, must be even more miserable than It.
Dorothy thought gloomily to herself. Misha not knowing the information about the "Shadow" pure-color god disrupted her plan somewhat. Getting the holy emblem of the "Shadow" pure-color god from Misha became impossible, which left her without a temporary source for her promotion ritual preparations, making her feel a bit anxious for a moment.
'There's no other way. Now I can only see if I can find some related clues.'
With a solemn expression, Dorothy thought this in her heart, and then she manipulated Ed in the distant church to speak to Misha.
"If you don't know information about the pure-color gods... how much do you know about the mirror moon statue?"
"Mirror moon statue?"
"It's the statue of the goddess under Crown University whose head was replaced. You've taken over the ruins under Crown University and must have seen that thing. As far as we know, people from the Eight Point Nest are searching all over Prit for similar statues to conduct some kind of desecration ritual. There are also such desecrated statues in the Razor Mountain area of Alster. You should know something about this, right..."
In the church, Ed said to Misha with a solemn tone. Misha understood immediately upon hearing this and spoke.
"Oh, you mean the moon saintess statue."
"Moon saintess statue? Is that what you call that statue?"
"Yes, in the ruins within Preet Kingdom, such statues are occasionally unearthed. The internal term for this type of statue within our bureau is the moon saintess statue. It has been called this for a long time. We are not unfamiliar with this thing, but we cannot say we understand it."
Misha said this. Listening to her words, Ed couldn't help but glance slightly, looking at the Three Saints altar in the center of the church. The term saintess made Dorothy think of the Three Saints. Combined with Vanya's previous statement that the Mirror Moon Goddess's altar had a touch of the early Shining Light Church style, she wondered if there was any real connection between the Mirror Moon Goddess and the Shining Light Church.
"Since such statues are occasionally unearthed in Prit, as an official Extraordinary organization, don't you research them to try and figure out their origin?" Ed continued to ask Misha, who responded by waving her hand.
"It's not that we haven't researched it, but the result of the research is that the history of this statue is even longer than the entire Kingdom's history, possibly tracing back to the hidden history. Because information is extremely scarce, no one can figure out its true origin."
"Moreover, as I said before, we are an official Extraordinary organization that prevents secret cult societies, not secret cult societies ourselves, so we will not spend a lot of energy specializing in hidden idols. This will bring unknown risks and even pollution. Therefore, before discovering the Eight Point Nest's desecration rituals targeting moon saintess statues in various places, our research on the moon saintess statues was minimal. No one knew the origin of this statue?"
"You didn't research it much before discovering the desecration ritual... Does that mean you increased your research efforts after discovering it?" Noticing the detail in Misha's words, Ed asked her, and the other party also nodded in response.
"That's right. As early as August this year, we received a document from Alster from you. After that, we sent a small team to Alster to investigate the issues in the Razor Mountain area."
"Deep in the mountains, we discovered ruins that were once used as a stronghold but were later abandoned. This was also our first contact with a desecrated moon saintess statue. At that time, we already realized that the Eight Point Nest's purpose had a deep connection with this type of statue. Due to practical needs, we only started in-depth investigation of this familiar statue at this time."
Misha explained to Ed in detail. Ed listened to her words while speaking.
"So... have you gotten any results from your research?"
"We don't know that yet, because the one responsible for researching this is not someone from our bureau, but a third party we entrusted."
Misha replied like this, and Ed was surprised to hear Misha's words.
"Third party? You can even entrust research work?"
"Yes, after all, the An Yin Bureau is good at investigation and execution, not academics, so we entrusted trusted professionals to research the moon saintess statue and the desecration ritual. As of now, we have not received the research results from him, but it is said that significant progress has been made. If you want to know more about the moon saintess statue, you probably need to contact him directly." Misha said this to Ed. Listening to Misha's words, Ed immediately asked.
"You mentioned that third party... who is it?"
Listening to Dorothy's question, Misha paused slightly, then hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Strictly speaking, I shouldn't use the term 'third party,' which is somewhat exclusive. The entrusted party is essentially someone from the same camp as us. He is Duke Barret, one of the reputable members of the Tivian Royal Family."
Misha said this to Ed. Listening to Misha's words, Dorothy, who was in the distant carriage, was stunned, and then her mind recalled the relevant impression of this name. It was a name she had seen before.
Duke Barret Spandther, a resident member of the Tivian Royal Family, is a collector who often publishes acquisition advertisements. He is also an important historian, specializing in the history of Preet Kingdom. When Dorothy was at the Crown University library, she saw the third edition of "History of Preet Kingdom" which he presided over the revision of. He holds a very important position in the Preet historical community.
"Duke Barret is involved in the hidden?"
After listening to Misha's words, Ed blurted out in surprise, and the other party nodded in response.
"More than just involved in the hidden, like many members of the Royal Family, the Duke is a senior Extraordinary. As a famous historian, he has extensive research on the history of Prit, both on the surface and in the shadows. When our bureau encounters many historical issues, we consult him. He can be said to be one of our bureau's important consultants. Therefore, we entrusted him to help research matters related to the moon saintess statue and the desecration ritual, trying to figure out the purpose of the Eight Point Nest."
"If you really want to know about the moon saintess statue, then asking him is It can be said thatthe only option. It just so happens that the Duke occasionally attends some gatherings, so it's not impossible for you to meet him."
Misha said to Ed. After saying this, she changed the subject and continued.
"Alright, I think the information I have revealed to you is enough. The weight of this information is enough to trade for the information about that mole, right?"
After saying this, Misha looked at Ed in front of her with a serious expression. Ed stroked his chin and thought for a while, then nodded slightly.