North Tivian, Church District.
In a corner of the bustling St. Yong Cathedral, the Corpse Puppet Ed, controlled by Dorothy, smiled and proposed conditions to the Royal Knight before him. Misha, having dealt with this Detective before, was not surprised by his proposal.
"Payment... Alright, what do you want this time?"
Looking at Ed, Misha spoke directly, and Ed replied seriously.
"At least four secret transmissions, preferably all 'Cup', but if that's not enough, a mix of'Shi' (Stone) and'Shadow' is also acceptable. Additionally, we need seven'Shadow' storages. If you have any information about the Xing Shu Xiu Shu Hui (Star Numerology Scripture Society), we can reduce the price appropriately."
Shaking a finger, Ed stated his price to Misha. After a slight pause upon hearing it, Misha continued.
"Seven'Shadow' storages, and secret transmissions... That's a bit expensive. Unfortunately, the most valuable information we have about the Xing Shu Xiu Shu Hui (Star Numerology Scripture Society) is the ruins under Crown University, which you should have already explored, so we don't have any valuable information for you."
"However... Since we are both enemies of the Eight Point Nest, for the sake of our common enemy, can't you reduce the price a little?"
Misha said to Ed, as if bargaining. Listening to her words, Ed still maintained his smile and replied.
"Enemies are enemies, business is business. Begging your pardon, Madam Misha, although our relationship with the Eight-Pointed Nest is a bit strained, with occasional small conflicts, the fundamental contradiction is not significant, at least much smaller than yours. As of now... we have no obligation to fight the Eight-Pointed Nest to the end."
Dorothy had Ed say this. Hearing Ed's words, Misha's expression couldn't help but sink slightly. After a moment of silence, she sighed softly and spoke.
"Hmph... Alright, I agree to your terms. After I return to the Bureau, I will send the things you need through the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild."
"Excellent, a pleasure doing business, Madam Misha." Ed continued to smile and say to Misha, while Misha was thinking about the purpose of this mysterious society wanting these items.
'Even if a typical society needs secret transmissions, they would need a specific one related to their Spirituality. But this society wants such a variety. Last time they asked for 'Light' and'Shadow', this time they want 'Cup' and'Stone'... and a bunch of storages. What exactly do they want to do?'
Misha wondered curiously in her mind, while Dorothy, who was in the carriage, controlled Ed to continue speaking.
"Oh, Madam, there is one more thing I need to remind you of. Given that the big nail in your Bureau has not been pulled out yet, please do not disclose any content of our transaction to anyone in your Bureau. You had best open a private account at the Craftsmen's Guild, and the materials we give you later will be sent to that account. After you receive them, it is best to study and keep them by yourself, and not tell anyone, not even your most trusted colleague... or even your most trusted superior."
With a tone of warning, Ed said this to Misha. After hearing Ed's words, Misha narrowed her eyes, then continued to respond.
"You are essentially asking me to investigate the Eight-Pointed Nest by myself."
"Otherwise? Before the identity of that major mole is clear, this is the safest method. Your function is specifically to investigate moles, and working within the Bureau, even if you are secretive and aloof, will not arouse suspicion."
"The Eight Point Nest planned such a large operation to destroy Duke Barret's research, using so many resources. This precisely proves that Duke Barret's research is crucial, and likely points to the root of the Eight-Pointed Nest's series of conspiracies. If you truly want to bring down the Eight-Pointed Nest, then this research must be continued, continued by you without the Eight-Pointed Nest knowing."
"Now, in the eyes of the Eight-Pointed Nest, this research has been successfully interrupted by them. As long as you continue the research in absolute secrecy, they will not know. We anticipate that only when this research has made further progress will you truly be able to uncover the Eight-Pointed Nest's secrets and reverse the passive situation."
Ed said seriously to Misha. After pondering for a moment upon hearing this, Misha nodded understandingly and replied.
"What you said makes some sense. Duke Barret's research is indeed very important. I will consider your suggestion."
"Very well, then we will also send you the information we have very soon. Please keep an eye out for it."
Ed replied to Misha, then took a small booklet from his pocket and handed it to Misha, saying.
"This is an extraordinary item that can be used to contact us. You can contact us by writing on it, which is safer and more timely than going through the Craftsmen's Guild. Keep it."
Saying so, Ed handed the small booklet to Misha. After taking it and examining it for a few moments, Misha put it into her pocket.
"Different large societies often have different extraordinary means of contact. This is the first time I've seen one like yours... What is your purpose? Why are you expanding your influence in Tivian? Why are you in conflict with the Eight-Pointed Nest? What is your name?"
After putting away the booklet, Misha looked at Ed with a serious expression and asked, while Ed chuckled lightly and replied.
"Heh... I'm afraid I cannot answer all your questions for now, Madam Misha. You just need to remember... our purpose is not harmful to the Kingdom you are protecting..."
"Now, I can only answer your last question... Regarding our society, you can call it the Rose Cross. I am a member with the code name 'Detective'."
Ed said this to Misha, and at the end of his words, he gave her a slight bow. Looking at Ed before her, Misha couldn't help but murmur thoughtfully.
"Rose... Cross?"
...
Soon, Ed and Misha's meeting ended. The distant Dorothy, after controlling Ed to leave the Church, took some effort to safely retrieve the Corpse Puppet, and then returned to Tivian North Suburb by carriage.
After a few hours of travel, Dorothy returned to her home in Green Shade Town. After rubbing her cold hands together, she went to the fireplace in the living room. After kneeling down and adding enough firewood and kindling to the fireplace, a tiny electric spark flashed on her fingertips, igniting the fire in the fireplace.
Then, Dorothy found a pen and paper and began to copy some of the information she had seen in Duke Barret's secret room by the fireplace. According to the transaction, she would give all this information to Misha.
'Overall, although I am very unhappy with those people from the Eight-Pointed Nest, I don't have a fundamental conflict with them, so there's no need to fight them to the death. Therefore, it's better to leave the direct confrontation with the Eight-Pointed Nest to the official authorities. I'll just provide support occasionally and reap some benefits.'
While copying, Dorothy thought this in her heart. Although she was also curious about the Eight-Pointed Nest's conspiracy, and who that so-called Nightmare was, she didn't want to bother investigating these secrets herself. Let the internal disputes of these'Shadow' forces handle themselves. At most, she would help the An Yin Bureau a little. Dorothy's focus was still on the research of the mysteries of "enlightenment" and her own advancement.
With this in mind, Dorothy quickly copied all the research materials she had seen in Duke Barret's secret room. After putting them into an envelope, she attached a note warning of the need for careful Spirit Sight, and then went to Beverly's house to send them all to Misha.
Next, Dorothy rested peacefully at home for a day, and early the next morning, a clockwork person in slippers, drinking machine oil, swayed to Dorothy's doorstep and stuffed a package into the mailbox.
Dorothy, having received the reply, did not idle. She immediately took the package home to open it, taking out four different secret transmissions and seven silver coins stamped with moon patterns. These were "Shadow's" stored items.
Dorothy took so many stored items to recharge her family heirloom ring. Just controlling the Corpse Puppet to enter and exit Saint Chant Church cost her 2 points of "Shadow". Her "Shadow" was running low and needed to be replenished quickly. "Shadow", these anti-detection Spirituality habits, were very important to Dorothy, who was used to being a behind-the-scenes person. Therefore, Dorothy planned to stock up on more "Shadow" in one go.
Among the other four secret transmissions, two were of "Cup", one was of "Stone", and one was of "Shadow". Dorothy immediately read them after getting her hands on them, and quickly finished reading all four secret transmissions.
...
The first "Cup" secret transmission was titled "Cocoon Breaking Diary", a diary-themed secret transmission that described the author's long-standing strong sense of being bound, and the experience of constantly struggling and seeking transformation and liberation within that suffocating sense of being bound.
At the end of the diary, the author used scissors to peel his skin bit by bit. After breaking free from the constraints of his skin, he felt an unprecedented sense of exhilaration and freedom with his bloody flesh.
The process of peeling himself was written in great detail. Dorothy read it and felt that she had simulated the feasibility in her mind, finding that it actually made some sense. She thought that if someone could endure the pain, this might be a rather good self-peeling tutorial.
From this tutorial, Dorothy obtained 3 points of "Cup" and 1 point of "enlightenment".
...
The second "Cup" secret transmission was titled "Record of the Bewildering Sea", a rather bizarre and absurd Encyclopedia secret transmission that recorded some giant sea monsters in the ocean, as well as some peculiar marine landscapes, and also many island tribal people with non-human postures and customs.
Dorothy looked at the descriptions and abstract illustrations of those giant sea monsters, wondering if these things were related to the Ebergrass Church.
Finally, Dorothy obtained 4 points of "Cup" and 2 points of "enlightenment" Spirituality from this not-so-thin secret transmission.
...
The third "Stone" secret transmission was titled "Randova Manuscript", which was the engineering manuscript of an architect named Randova in the North Wu non-home desert, attempting to assemble and restore a broken large sculpture. As a result, less than half of the sculpture was restored when Randova and the workers involved in the project went mad from Spirit Sight.
From the sketches in this manuscript, Dorothy could vaguely see that the sculpture, which was about half restored, seemed to be a four-legged beast, but among the remaining unrecovered fragmented parts, there were parts carved very much like human ears.
Looking at this manuscript, Dorothy sighed that in this world, not only art, literature, and archaeology were dangerous professions.
From this manuscript, Dorothy extracted 4 points of "Stone" and 3 points of "enlightenment". The "enlightenment" was unexpectedly high.
...
The fourth "Shadow" secret transmission had no specific name. It was a lullaby used for sleeping. The lullaby mentioned that a fairy in the mirror would protect those who slept peacefully at night. Obviously, this mirror fairy was likely the same existence as the Lake Fairy. This was another ancient Prit folk song.
After seeing this lullaby, Dorothy generally understood that various folk images created based on the Mirror Moon Goddess were likely very numerous in Prit hundreds of years ago. Under the nose of the Shining Light Church, the Mirror Moon Goddess faith was once spread among the Prit folk after being folklorized.
From this lullaby, Dorothy obtained 2 points of "Shadow" and 1 point of "enlightenment".
...
Finally, after Dorothy finished reading all the secret transmissions, she summarized her own Spirituality situation.
8 Cup, 10 Stone, 5 Shadow, 2 Light, 14 Silence, 7 enlightenment.
In addition, there were seven "Shadow" storage items.
'Phew... The Spirituality crisis after the promotion has been initially resolved for now. This amount of Spirituality is at least enough to deal with emergencies... Thank you, An Yin Bureau Knight sister...'
After finishing reading all the secret transmissions and organizing all the Spirituality, Dorothy sighed deeply and lay on the sofa, thinking. Her biggest fear before was suddenly encountering an unexpected situation when her Spirituality was insufficient, making her unable to cope for a while.
But thankfully, with the An Yin Bureau sister around, after trading some Eight Point Nest information with her, Dorothy finally managed to urgently replenish her Spirituality.
Looking at her Spirituality, which although not much, was finally something, Dorothy's heart couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.
...
Since she had finally achieved her long-term short-term goal recently, the greatly relaxed Dorothy planned to rest for a few days to relax. So, for a period after the New Year, she stayed at home and started a leisurely life. However, she was not completely idle during this period, but paid attention to and helped her companions.
First was Kapak's problem of returning home. Although the truth of the Duke's assassination was not announced to the general public, the security precautions in Tivian and other areas began to become stricter, including customs. The sudden strictness of customs made it difficult for a group of suspicious New World natives to board the ship.
But fortunately, in the mundane world, the power of money could exert a stronger influence. After Dorothy gave Kapak two hundred pounds as a facilitation fee and used Adele's connections in the East District to find a local fixer to act as a go-between, Dorothy finally managed to put the dozen or so natives who had originally come to commit terrorist attacks on a ship bound for the New World, allowing Kapak to take them back to their hometown. During the two days he stayed in Tivian, Kapak also successfully purchased some things to take back.
On the other hand, Vanya was the first person to discover the scene of the Duke's assassination and the rescuer of the Princess, deeply involved in this major assassination case. Therefore, for a period after the New Year's party ended, she had been cooperating with various investigations by the An Yin Bureau. During the investigation, she also often prayed for Dorothy's help by silently praying in her heart, and Dorothy also secretly helped her deal with various interrogations.
As for Grego, what he faced was continuous overtime like a red start to the year. This major case can be said to have shocked the entire An-Yin Main Bureau. The entire bureau began to work non-stop, launching a comprehensive investigation into the Eight Point Nest.
The assassination of Duke Barret elevated the An Yin Bureau Main Bureau, and even the entire Preet Kingdom government's attention to the Eight Point Nest to the highest level.
According to the information Dorothy exchanged with Misha, this incident shocked the Royal Family. The current King Charles IV was furious in court, ordering a nationwide investigation and cleanup of the Eight Point Nest at all costs. Cardinal Francesco of the Church expressed the Church's sympathy and mourning for the Duke's assassination, stating that they would fully cooperate with the Kingdom government's actions.
The comprehensive cleanup of the Eight Point Nest by the Church and the Kingdom government has begun, and the final order given to Grego by the Eight Point Nest was...
Complete silence, wait for the storm to subside.