By now, Shade and Priest Augustus had a general understanding of the basic characteristics of the relic oil painting.
The model house within the painting matched the real house, and when people inside the house came into direct contact with the painting, a corresponding puppet of the contact would appear within the painting.
The puppets possessed an instinctive intelligence and would actively avoid the killer inside the model house. The movement of a puppet depended on the location of the real person. If the real person was inside the house, the puppet could only move within the corresponding room of the building; if the real person was not in the house, the puppet most likely moved randomly.
The Bandaged Killer puppet would continuously hunt other puppets within the painting, and injuries sustained by a puppet would be directly reflected on the real people, eventually leading to the death of the real person. It was likely that the truth behind Mr. Freeman's death by falling from the building was that his corresponding puppet in the painting was finally killed by the Bandaged puppet after a pursuit lasting half a month.
Ordinary people would forget everything about the painting after touching it, but would occasionally see phantoms of the Bandaged puppet in reality or suffer mental torture in their dreams, leading to psychological instability.
The only known possible method of containment was to remove the painting itself from the house, something the ordinary Mrs. Freeman had once achieved.
After Mr. Freeman died, with no corresponding puppet remaining in the model house, the painting could be taken out of the actual building. Once removed from the building, the conditions for touching the painting inside the building—and thus manifesting a puppet in the model house—could no longer be met.
However, it was impossible for Shade or the Freeman boy to commit suicide now, so this method could not be attempted.
Shade actually had another idea: tearing down the house in reality so that the painting would lose its corresponding building. But Shade was unsure if this would cause other eerie changes in the relic, such as the Bandaged puppet breaking through the restrictions of the model house. Therefore, this idea was kept as a last resort.
The five of them rushing out onto the street together had already attracted the attention of passing pedestrians. After Shade, Mrs. Freeman, and little Freeman returned to the house and confirmed that the Bandaged puppet was still some distance away from the first floor in the painting, Shade spoke to the priest outside the door
"Priest Augustus, take the girl to Dr. Schneider's clinic and let the doctor look after her for a while. If Dr. Schneider has time, ask him to come over as well. Although I have some ideas, safety comes first; one can never be too cautious when dealing with something like this."
Mrs. Freeman also agreed to let her daughter go to a safe place for the time being. While the priest was away, Shade asked the two ordinary people to stand further back. With his back to them, he tried various methods in the foyer to destroy the painting. But since this was a relic, it naturally would not be so easily destroyed. Whether it was gunfire, the slash of Silver Moon, or even the Moonlight Greatsword, nothing could leave a mark on the painting.
In fact, Shade's attacks actually caused the Bandaged puppet's movement speed in the painting to increase significantly. It seemed the painting knew someone was trying to destroy it and thus accelerated its progress in attacking Shade.
However, this thing was rated at most [Document Grade], and most likely [Poet Grade], the kind of thing that belonged to urban legends spoken of everywhere. Its killing efficiency was truly slow, and even when facing ordinary people, it tried to deal with only one person at a time.
For a Ring Wielder, although it would be quite troublesome to handle once unfortunately embroiled, it wasn't as if there were no other ways.
Priest Augustus returned quickly, but Dr. Schneider did not follow behind him. The doctor was fortunately out on a house call and was not currently at the clinic, meaning he would not be dragged into this matter.
Priest Augustus looked somewhat worried. Upon learning that Shade had tried to destroy the painting without success, the wrinkles on his brow deepened. He lowered his aged voice and asked Shade in the foyer
"Before I left, you said you had other methods."
"Yes. Before Mr. Freeman died, he became obsessed with woodcarving; this shouldn't have been a mere change in hobbies. Although he forgot about the painting and didn't know exactly what was happening to him, he definitely had an idea. At least in the week before his death, he vaguely realized what he needed to do. The inspiration of this painter is truly impressive; he must have thought of a way while contacting the painting in his dreams."
Shade asked Priest Augustus for Mr. Freeman's relic—the crudely made woodcarving—and then carefully placed the carving onto the painting.
The boy, held by Mrs. Freeman, stood to the side behind the stairs; only the two Ring Wielders looked directly at the painting. Under their gaze, the small wooden carving of a man actually melted into the surface of the painting like cream.
Subsequently, inside the model house in the painting, a new puppet actually appeared. It appeared at the entrance of the model. As a streak of gray light sank into the puppet from the depths of the painting's scene, the new puppet joined the one large and one small puppet representing the detective and the boy.
The puppets showed no expression, but the three clearly saw Mr. Freeman's puppet approach the smaller puppet. It had "come alive"; Mr. Freeman's soul was actually inside the painting.
Then, George, the boy being held by his mother, suddenly widened his eyes and looked around
"Father? Oh, is it you? Father!"
Although the middle-aged woman could not see what the detective and the priest were doing, she seemed to understand. Sobbing softly, she knelt down and hugged her son.
Shade whispered to the priest
"It seems this idea was correct. The carver of the puppet was killed by this painting, so he can enter the painting to help us. But what use would a puppet carved by a living person be? Could we get more puppets, such as a puppet of a priest, a puppet of a soldier, or even a god—"
"Only puppets personally crafted by those affected by this relic are useful. Detective, remember? Mr. Freeman went to the church before he died and received a Prayer Festival commemorative puppet, yet he still died. Therefore, I believe only personally crafted puppets are useful. Otherwise, wouldn't the solution to this relic be too easy? How could it be that simple?"
Priest Augustus deduced, then looked at Shade
"Although I don't know what use a puppet I carve would have if put in, Detective, do you know how to carve puppets?"
"Of course not, but I have another way," Shade said. He took out the revolver issued by MI6 from his waist, and then took out a handkerchief.
He covered the gun with the handkerchief, and when he removed it, a small toy gun puppet appeared in his palm
"A puppet gun I crafted with my own hands," Shade said with a smile.
"You certainly have your ways," Priest Augustus also smiled.
PS: [God's Gift Box] cannot solve this painting because the box is for "containing and suppressing out-of-control relics." Currently, the painting is exhibiting its normal negative characteristics; it is not out of control. [God's Gift Box] shields relics in an out-of-control state, such as an out-of-control Merman Scale or an out-of-control Dream Pen. Shade put the coin in the box initially because he didn't know how to contain it and worried it might suddenly go out of control.
The box cannot shield the normal characteristics of a relic, whether positive or negative.
(End of Chapter)