After finishing his inspection of the box, Shade looked as if he wanted to say something, but Mr. Cameron was quite pleased
"Detective, you found a hidden compartment in the box, didn't you? I once suspected it was a scam, but I am certain there is no hidden compartment. This truly is technology that transcends the era."
He looked quite smug
"I suspect your client bought a fake Victor Box. Someone likely heard of this special technology and tried to create a forgery to deceive people. Detective, you should start your investigation from that angle, rather than doubting the authenticity of the technology itself."
That heartfelt conviction stood in stark contrast to the box sitting on the table.
Shade pursed his lips and nodded. He reached into his pocket for the Soul Crystal ring; while sliding it onto his finger behind his back, he turned to look out the window at the fog-shrouded city
"Hmm? What is that?"
Shade spoke suddenly. Mr. Cameron turned toward the window in confusion, but saw nothing. When he turned back to look at Shade, he happened to catch the detective's eyes. In that instant, Shade's eyes seemed to possess a magical power, making Mr. Cameron feel as if he had been punched square in the face.
His vision went black for a moment
"Oh!"
He leaned back heavily into the sofa, but he didn't lose consciousness. Instead, as he heard Shade say, "Oh, it's just fog; the pollution has been getting worse lately," he felt as if he had suddenly realized something.
The factory owner sat up straight, looking at the box on the table in astonishment, then scratched his head, shrinking his neck
"I was cheated?"
The effect of the奇术 (Oddity/Wonder) [Mind Blast] was to vibrate the spirit and detonate the soul. At its lowest efficiency, it posed little danger to ordinary people, causing at most a few days of headaches. However, such an attack could also break certain mental control effects; Shade's attempt had clearly succeeded.
Dorothy and Princess Margaret were both somewhat surprised, as they hadn't noticed anything wrong with the box.
"Yes, I'm afraid you really were fooled."
Shade reached into his pocket and produced a dagger in a sheath—a gift he had taken from a gift box during the autumn.
Drawing the dagger, he stabbed violently at the box, the sharp blade piercing straight through.
Shade withdrew the dagger and let Mr. Cameron look at the puncture hole against the light
"You see, there are no printing mechanisms inside, not even gears or pistons. If you still believe this box possesses technology that transcends the era, I can only attribute it to occult technology. Perhaps the Church would be very willing to explain its principles to you."
Mr. Cameron opened his mouth, watching the light pass through the hole. There truly was nothing inside the box. He scratched his hair again and then lowered his head in dejection
"God, how could I believe in such a thing?"
"Everyone gets deceived at some point, and those who are fooled are often unable to understand their situation until they wake up. Fortunately, your loss isn't too great."
Shade spoke with a hint of regret, then proposed
"I'll buy it for 2 pounds to use as a lead for the investigation. However, you must tell me who sold this to you and where they are now."
This time, Mr. Jimmy Cameron did not refuse. He stared blankly at the floor, still unable to comprehend why he had fallen for such a ridiculous scam
"Could it be that my life has become too decadent, and my mind is failing?"
He scratched his hair once more, revealing a rather dangerous hairline; the gentleman was likely to be dazed for a while.
Having obtained the address of the merchant who peddled the Victor Box, Shade carried the box and left the textile factory with the two ladies. They didn't take a carriage to the destination immediately; instead, they found a nearby inn. Under the strange gaze of the innkeeper, Shade requested a room for himself and the two ladies.
"There's something wrong with this thing. A very slight elemental reaction."
Once the door was closed, Shade spoke his discovery. The room was very small; although there was no peculiar smell, the floor looked as if it were covered in a layer of dust that could never be wiped clean.
He placed the box on the small table. Dorothy waved her hand to draw the curtains; neither she nor Princess Margaret had noticed anything unusual
"Shade, what did you perceive?"
"I don't know exactly what it is, but it's definitely not normal. We can try to examine it."
As he spoke, he fished a small bottle containing white powder from his pocket
"Revealing Powder. It can make invisible objects visible."
Shade had bought this from Priest Augustus. It was a potent revealing powder created using knowledge and the fusion of more angel remains, but after the powder was sprinkled, nothing appeared.
He then took a hair accessory handed to him by Dorothy. This was an alchemical item Dorothy had bought from Old John, which could make certain special items glow if they weren't currently active.
Still, no phenomenon occurred.
Princess Margaret also searched her handbag and produced a black eyeshadow case. She asked Shade to carefully shake the powder from the bottom right of the case into the box
"This is an alchemical powder made by one of my teachers; it's very effective against special items."
Still, nothing happened.
Shade thought for a moment and finally took out a bottle of Grade 4 Holy Water, splashing it onto the box.
"Oh! Get back!"
With a *sizzle*, foul-smelling black smoke billowed from the box. Shade leaped back, deploying a Silence Charm while urging the two princesses to move away from the table with him, watching the box spontaneously combust in black flames.
As the black smoke continued to rise into the air, the burning wooden box produced a green acidic liquid. The acid melted the table instantly and even burned a depression into the floor, though fortunately, it didn't penetrate to the floor below.
Within the black mist, a terrifying face seemed to emerge from the twisting smoke. All three people in the room heard whispers in their ears—voices that seemed to emanate from the deepest part of their hearts, tempting them to reveal their desires.
Shade was completely unaffected. Dorothy, due to her special connection with Lacia and the mental resistance provided by the Red Butterfly pendant, barely resisted the voice in her heart. Only Princess Margaret gasped for air. In the moment of their hesitation, the black mist transformed into a humanoid figure consisting only of an upper body
"Mortals, show me your desires."
The black mist produced by the combustion continued to expand, and various illusions appeared within it, seeming as if they would cover the entire room. The mist bypassed Shade and swept directly toward Princess Margaret. The latter touched the ring on her right hand and pushed forward; under a soft white light, the black mist slowly stagnated.
"Don't come closer, I'll handle it. Close your eyes!"
Shade shouted loudly, shielding the two ladies. The princess was bewildered, but Dorothy, who had already learned her lesson from the "Pleasure's Dream Pen" incident, immediately raised her right hand to cover her eyes and closed them.
Shade extended his finger
"Silver Moon!"
In an instant, brilliant moonlight erupted within the small room, piercing through the black mist. The light flashed for less than a second, but the entire room seemed to be dyed in a layer of silvery-white moonlight.
"This light..."
Even though Dorothy had covered her eyes in time, Margaret of Anjou still felt her vision go white. When she could clearly see her surroundings again, she felt as if she were standing inside a cathedral
"What Oddity is this?"
"Light spell. Don't worry, that was just an illusion; the thing was very weak."
Shade looked at the box and spoke softly, still keeping one hand shielding the girls.
The box was still burning, but the resulting black mist was now just ordinary smoke. It was completely burned away within half a minute. With a muffled *thump*, the table collapsed due to the corrosion of the green acid, and the acid dripping onto the floor corroded the ground until it became a pile of white-green foam.
"Light spell?"
The princess was stunned, once again doubting Shade's level. Until now, no one had mentioned Shade's level to her, and Shade had never released a Life Ring in her presence.
"Miss Mary, don't worry, Shade is a professional when it comes to dealing with things like this."
The writer lady was quite relaxed
"Shade, what liquid did you use?"
She asked while covering her nose and mouth with her right hand, using her left hand to summon wind to imprison the black smoke, compressing it into a small black sphere on the floor to prevent too much smoke from drifting through the door cracks and attracting attention.
"Grade 4 Holy Water," Shade said softly. He looked at Dorothy; the blonde girl nodded and took the somewhat dazed Princess Margaret's hand to turn her around, then smilingly turned her back before the latter could ask a question.
By now, everything in the room had miraculously returned to normal. There were no traces of corrosion on the floor, the table was restored, and even the soot-blackened walls had returned to their original state.
Only the "Victor Box" that had burned due to the Holy Water was gone. Shade's [Breath of Time] was naturally ineffective on supernatural items, and he didn't want that box to reappear anyway.
Reaching into his pocket, he took out a twig prepared for the spell [Elf's Detoxification], poked through the pile of foam on the floor a few times to confirm the box had burned completely, and noted that the foam was evaporating quickly. Soon, no trace would remain.
"It's not a relic. I don't know exactly what it is, only that it can trigger inner desires. It seems this investigation won't be simple. I didn't expect that after a long time without a commission, the first one to appear would involve something like this."
Shade sighed
"The opponent seems afraid of being caught by the Church; the self-destruct function is quite cautious. Do you still want to investigate with me?"
"Of course," Dorothy nodded immediately; she was in high spirits today. Princess Margaret hesitated for a moment, then also nodded
"Yes, I can move about the city at least until evening. Mr. Hamilton, do you always experience things like this? When I was in Wheelendale, I rarely encountered supernatural events triggered by ordinary occurrences."
"That's a specialty of this city starting from this year," Dorothy introduced with a smile. "But I think it'll be an interesting day, won't it?"
The princess with pale gold long hair nodded and looked at Shade's back. She found this handsome detective increasingly difficult to read.
Since the box rotted and burned under Grade 4 Holy Water, it indicated that the creator used forbidden knowledge that should not have been used. The power and elemental properties inherent in Holy Water were specifically targeted only at a few forces, such as necromancy, demons, and relics.
Therefore, if the mastermind behind this wasn't Dr. Bill Schneider, they were almost certainly not a good person. Good people might use evil powers, but they would absolutely not create such an item.
Shade didn't understand the construction method of the box, but he understood that it absorbed human desire to grant wishes. Rather than a "money copying machine," it was more of a wishing machine. Such alchemical items cannot be made by ordinary means; the first-year alchemy course at St. Birens emphasized the danger of such items multiple times.
(End of Chapter)