North Tivian, Church District.
Inside St. Yong Cathedral, the largest church in Tivian, countless citizens were gathered for New Year prayers. In a crowded corner of this church, Ed, a Corpse Puppet controlled by Dorothy, was holding a secret meeting with Misha, the leader of the An-Yin Main Bureau's Anti-Infiltration Team and a Royal Knight. The meeting had just begun when Dorothy learned about some of An Yin Bureau's current situation from the other party.
'An Yin Bureau has already locked onto the Eight-Pointed Nest as the mastermind. That saves a lot of trouble. Thinking about it, it makes sense. The guards of the Princess and the Duke weren't completely wiped out. There were quite a few survivors among the guards who were further from the scene or on other floors. Many of them had encountered the Vampire who attempted the close-range assassination. At the very least, they could provide An Yin Bureau with the crucial information that 'a Vampire attempted to sneak in and assassinate.' Just based on this, An Yin Bureau should be able to identify the mastermind.'
In a coffee shop far from the Church District, Dorothy thought to herself like this. Then, controlling Ed inside the distant church, she responded to Misha with a smile.
"Misha, you asking me such a question suggests you highly trust our level of infiltration into the Eight Point Nest, and you also trust the authenticity of our intelligence."
"There's no choice but to believe... As you know, as long as that mole isn't rooted out, we probably won't be able to investigate anything ourselves, or even if we do find information, it will likely be risky... Relying on your intelligence isn't without risk, but it will be less."
With a hint of helplessness in her tone, Misha said to Ed. Due to the presence of that major mole, the An-Yin Main Bureau's investigation into the Eight-Pointed Nest had been very passive, achieving almost nothing. Their biggest investigative success regarding the Eight-Pointed Nest recently was successfully removing the minor mole placed within the Anti-Infiltration Team, and this was achieved with the intelligence provided by Dorothy. Therefore, when faced with this major situation, Misha prioritized seeking relevant information about the Eight-Pointed Nest from Dorothy.
For Misha, collaborating with the mysterious third-party force represented by the 'Detective,' whose true identity was unknown, was inherently risky. However, with the major mole within the main bureau still unidentified, this was the only way to guarantee the confidentiality of the intelligence 100%. Ultimately, it was a necessary measure born out of helplessness.
"Thank you for your trust, Misha. Since you trust us so much, we are naturally very willing to share information with you. You are right, we do have a certain understanding of the Eight-Pointed Nest's assassination attempt this time. In fact... we even had someone at the scene on the night of the assassination."
Ed continued speaking to Misha with a smile. Hearing his words, Misha couldn't help but speak up, quite surprised.
"That party... you also had someone there at the time?"
"Yes, we received intelligence from our scouts that the Eight-Pointed Nest might make a big move at the New Year's party in Bishop Square. So, we sent people there to try and stop the Eight-Pointed Nest's actions. Although we made some efforts, unfortunately, they ultimately succeeded."
Ed answered slowly. After hearing this, Misha couldn't help but speak with a slight frown.
"Then why didn't you inform us at the time?"
"Because there wasn't enough time. By the time we got the intelligence, the party had already started. The people we sent to carry out the operation were even dispatched from nearby. Although our actions hindered those guys' original plan, unfortunately, their backup force was quite unexpected, so we couldn't prevent their final desperate assassination."
Ed continued speaking, and after hearing Ed's words, Misha couldn't help but mutter with a slight frown.
"Because of your obstruction... those guys' original plan was hindered? So... you were the ones who warned the Royal Family guards?"
"Hmm~ That's right. During our peripheral conflict with the Eight-Pointed Nest, we found the body of that poor replaced Royal Family guard. So, we used a Corpse Puppet item to manipulate him and make a scene, warning the other Royal Family guards. Although the Vampire assassin was driven away, we didn't expect them to have a backup plan."
"No wonder... the surviving guards said they encountered an emergency medical team at the entrance carrying someone identical to the guard the Vampire had impersonated, warning them that the guard upstairs was fake. Afterward, we went to the medical emergency point and asked the Sister on duty there, and she said there was no such person. So, all of this was arranged by you..."
Misha muttered understandingly, her expression showing that a confusion in her heart had been resolved. In the distance, Dorothy couldn't help but nod after seeing Misha's reaction. Her action just now had successfully provided cover for Vanya.
Back during the New Year's Eve on the square, due to the time constraint, Dorothy had the Corpse Puppet impersonate Vanya's subordinate, carrying the disguised Grego to warn the Royal Family guards to be wary of the Vampire beside the Duke. In reality, Vanya's emergency point did not have such a severely wounded Royal Family guard, so Vanya definitely couldn't acknowledge this. And the innocent disappearance of that injured Royal Family guard also needed a reason; now Dorothy had given that reason to Misha.
"You just said... the backup force the Eight Point Nest arranged at the time was very powerful, so powerful that even you couldn't stop them. So, what exactly was that backup force? Who was the person who ultimately killed the Duke?"
With a serious attitude, Misha asked Ed. Ed, after letting out a breath, gazed at the magnificent dome painting on the church ceiling. The painting depicted the religious legend of Arthur receiving the Stone Sword from the Saint Child. After looking at the majestic Saint Child and the devout Arthur for two or three seconds, Ed spoke to Misha.
"The one who ultimately killed Barret... is someone you are very familiar with. We don't know his name, but probably few people in all of Tivian don't know his title. In the newspaper news, he is referred to as—Nightmare."
Hearing Ed's words, Misha's brows immediately furrowed, and a look of astonishment appeared on her face. After maintaining this shocked expression for a while, she spoke incredulously.
"Nightmare... is actually one of the Eight-Pointed Nest's people... No wonder, no wonder... If the killer was Nightmare, everything makes sense..."
"Makes sense? Did you discover something during your investigation?"
Hearing Misha's words, Ed also spoke with slight confusion. Misha paused for a moment before answering.
"The assassination scene suffered extensive damage from Wind Extraordinary power. Multiple Royal Knight guards who were present, including Duke Barret, died simultaneously. We suspect that at the time of the incident, the Duke and the guards had a brief confrontation with the killer, and they might have seen the killer's true appearance. Therefore, afterward, we immediately attempted to summon the souls of the deceased at the scene to reconstruct the truth of what happened. However, without exception, both the Duke and the guards' soul summoning failed. Our'Silence' Extraordinary claimed that his soul summoning was obstructed."
"This situation is very similar to the phenomena when Nightmare commits crimes. In the past, after Nightmare killed someone, the victims' souls also couldn't be summoned. Therefore, we all believe that Nightmare possesses some means to obstruct soul summoning. If the person who killed Duke Barret and the other attendants was Nightmare, then the reason for the failed soul summoning makes sense."
"I didn't expect that the killer who ultimately acted was Nightmare... So, it seems there's some connection between the series of cases he created before and this major assassination case. But what exactly is this connection?"
Still with a look of surprise, Misha muttered thoughtfully. After hearing her words, Dorothy in the distance also nodded understandingly, thinking to herself.
'Nightmare possesses some means to obstruct soul summoning... This is one of the important factors why he has committed multiple crimes but has never been caught. It's clear that he also used this method in this assassination...'
It's still unclear what this method of sealing the soul from being summoned is, but it's confirmed that once this method is used, even the Eight-Pointed Nest themselves won't be able to summon the soul. That's why they specifically didn't have the Nightmare seal Barret's soul, because the Eight-Pointed Nest needed to summon Barret themselves to get the exact location of the research secret room from his mouth... However, it is precisely because of this that we were able to seize Barret's soul with the power of the Great Shaman.
Dorothy thought this to herself. It seemed that the Nightmare was either a "Silent" Extraordinary or possessed some kind of "Silent" Extraordinary item, using the Extraordinary power of "Silence" to seal the soul.
"Do you know the specific identity of that Nightmare?"
At this time, Misha asked Ed again, and Ed responded with a shake of his head.
"I don't know. Regarding the true identity of that Tivian killer who is famous throughout the Royal Capital, it is a top-secret within the Eight-Pointed Nest. Although our informant in the Eight-Pointed Nest holds a relatively high position, they are not at the level to access that kind of intelligence. So, unfortunately, we also don't know the truth about that killer."
"But listening to your description just now, this Nightmare can seal souls through some means, so could he be on the path of'Silence'?"
Thinking this, Dorothy let Ed speak slowly, while Misha continued to answer.
"It's possible, but not very likely. According to many cases the Nightmare has committed in the past, his methods are highly skillful, swift, covert, and deceptive. He is a truly powerful assassin... These are characteristics of seasoned Extraordinaries on the path of'Shadow'. I've always leaned towards him possessing some powerful'Silence' Extraordinary item; he uses an Extraordinary item to achieve the purpose of sealing souls."
"He's on the path of'Shadow'...".
Hearing Misha's words, Ed couldn't help but mutter in thought. After pondering for a moment, he continued to look at Misha and spoke seriously.
"According to the information provided by our inside source in the Eight-Pointed Nest, the central area of the assassination scene that night wasn't completely devoid of survivors, right?"
"Yes, your information is correct. Although Princess Isabel was severely injured, fortunately, the healing Sisters from the Church arrived in time, so Princess Isabel miraculously survived. She is currently still in a coma and shows no signs of waking up."
Misha responded directly. After hearing Misha's words, Ed changed the subject and began to ask again.
"Then have you carefully checked the personal belongings of Princess Isabel? Did you find anything unusual?"
"Checking Princess Isabel... Heh, hearing your words, you're not suspecting Princess Isabel is the Nightmare, are you? I admit, Princess Isabel is the only survivor at the scene, and the damage at the scene was almost entirely caused by Wind Extraordinary power. At first glance, she seems highly suspicious, but Princess Isabel absolutely cannot be the Nightmare."
Listening to Ed's words, Misha chuckled in response, while Ed asked back solemnly.
"Are you that sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. Princess Isabel is inherently gentle and kind, with strong empathy. Since she was a child, she couldn't even bear to step on an ant, let alone kill someone. In the past, when she was asked to go hunting, she not only couldn't bear to shoot the prey, but she also always persuaded the other members of the Royal Family to give up hunting, to the point where no one wanted to take her on hunting trips anymore."
Misha said this; she was a Royal Knight serving the Royal Family, so she knew quite a bit about matters within the Royal Family.
"Princess Isabel's kindness is well-known. You can get a sense of it just by looking at the Princess's charity activities in the newspapers. Her kind disposition is innate and has been this way since childhood. Furthermore, although Princess Isabel has received Royal Family Extraordinary education since childhood and is an Extraordinary, her rank is only a Black Rank Wind Art User. Judging by the Nightmare's performance, his rank is at least above Chalk."
"In addition, the powerful killer qualities the Nightmare possesses cannot be achieved without long-term training, and Princess Isabel has been under formal Royal Family education since childhood, making it impossible for her to receive this kind of highly professional killer training. Finally, we have checked Princess Isabel's personal belongings, and there is nothing suspicious inside."
Misha said this to Ed, her expression certain that Princess Isabel could not be the Nightmare. Dorothy also nodded in thought after hearing her words.
'Kind-hearted since childhood... always under formal Royal Family education... is only a Wind Art User even now... no suspicious Extraordinary items found on her... If what this Knight says is true, the possibility of that Princess being the Nightmare is indeed very low...'.
Dorothy was deep in thought, and in the Church, Misha spoke to Ed again.
"We've dealt with the Nightmare many times; he is very cautious and cunning. It's extremely difficult to directly find his true identity, so this time I want to start by investigating the motive behind the Eight-Pointed Nest's assassination of the Duke and Princess. Please tell me, does your informant know the motive for their actions this time?"
"Motive... According to our informant, this operation was directly planned by their higher-ups, at least at the Scarlet Tier. Those below are just the execution layer, so our informant doesn't know much about this aspect either. What we can know now is that this is likely related to Duke Barret's ongoing research on the mirror moon statue. On the night of the incident, a small team from the Eight-Pointed Nest went to Barret's research site in the southwestern suburbs of the city to completely destroy the research results."
Dorothy had Ed answer. Listening to Ed's words, Misha couldn't help but sigh.
"Haa... As expected, it's related to that research? We went to the villa Duke Barret used as a research site yesterday morning. By the time our people got there, it was already burning fiercely, and everyone inside was dead. Unfortunately, we didn't find anything valuable in the wreckage; the research data was probably burned up."
Misha sighed like this. After not getting more useful information about the Eight-Pointed Nest's motive from Ed, she seemed a little disappointed. Just then, Ed continued with a smile.
"Not everything was burned. In order to understand how far Barret's research had progressed, the Eight-Pointed Nest didn't destroy all the data. Instead, they took back a portion to decipher. Our inside source in the Eight-Pointed Nest risked exposure to these materials and managed to copy a portion through certain means, successfully getting it to us."
"What? You have part of the Duke's research data?"
Listening to Ed's words, Misha's eyes lit up, and Ed continued to respond.
"Yes, although it's not complete, I think it's enough for Madam Misha to partially understand the progress of Duke Barret's research. It involves in-depth research into Prit's history and culture. To be honest, although we have some Prit people here, not many people research this kind of knowledge. These materials would likely be more useful if given to you than if they stayed with us."
Ed said this to Misha, then his brow slightly raised as he continued.
"We are willing to hand over this batch of important data to Madam Misha, as long as Madam can pay the corresponding reward..."