The stranger's voice was not loud, but it was clear, and he obviously did not have a local accent
"Madam, may I ask if this person is staying at your inn?"
He first produced a banknote, then took out a photograph and showed it to Madam Sanmei. Due to the angle, Shade could not see what was in the photo.
Shade rested his arm on the counter, sitting on the round stool in front of it and looking at Luvia. As she raised an eyebrow, he signaled her not to speak, and continuing their previous topic, complained to Luvia that the technician, Miss Mary, had not been truthful.
*Where did this high-circle caster come from? Has the Church already tracked things to here? Should I leave?*
These thoughts echoed in his mind.
【The opponent is at least a twelfth-circle, most likely a thirteenth-circle caster.】
*Thirteenth-circle?*
Shade was even more surprised, though his facial expression remained unchanged
*Currently, the thirteenth-circles of the Orthodox Churches in Tobesk are the 'Sun Greatsword' of the Church of the Sun and the 'Iron Right Hand' of the Church of Creation, but this man is clearly neither. The Church doesn't randomly deploy thirteenth-circle casters across dioceses, and even if they had a lead on Darkness, according to the operational protocols for Church casters I learned from Iluna, they wouldn't send a thirteenth-circle caster directly... Therefore, this stranger is not a thirteenth-circle from the Orthodox Church.*
While he pondered, the female innkeeper frowned at the photo and then shook her head decisively
"I know my guests very well. For at least the past three months, no one looking like this has stayed here."
Shade continued chatting with Luvia. Luvia had likely realized that the man speaking with the innkeeper was unusual, so she responded to Shade's words with great enthusiasm.
"Then, may I ask who the guests staying here for the past three days have been?"
The man in the dark red overcoat asked politely. Shade realized his accent sounded somewhat like that of the southern mountainous regions of Delarion; he had heard a similar accent when visiting the Veterans' Club with Captain Radis.
"Guest, I can't just tell you that."
Madam Sanmei shook her head
"No matter how much you pay. If I told people such things, no one would dare stay at my inn in the future."
"Yes, that is very reasonable."
The man nodded, then suddenly burst into a coughing fit.
He hurriedly took a white handkerchief from his breast pocket to cover his mouth, coughed a few times, and then put the handkerchief away. Out of the corner of his eye, Shade seemed to see a crimson stain on the white cloth
*A thirteenth-circle caster can still get sick? I recall that mid-circle casters are immune to most common diseases, and high-circle casters absolutely cannot fall ill.*
"How about this, please look at this."
The stranger in the dark red coat took an identification document from his pocket. After Madam Sanmei glanced at it, her eyes widened suddenly
"Very well, I understand."
She leaned over, took the ledger from under the counter, flipped through a few pages, and pushed it toward the man
"Everyone who has stayed here these past three days is listed here."
"Very good, thank you for your help."
The man said with a smile. Because he had seemingly coughed up blood, he looked even more frail.
He lowered his head to carefully examine the ledger. Business at the Three Cats Inn was quite good, so it took him a while to finish
"Very well, thank you again for your help."
Closing the ledger and pushing it back to Madam Sanmei, he placed his hat on his head and gave a polite nod to Shade beside him. Only then did the man turn and walk toward the stairs leading to the second floor.
Once the man disappeared around the corner of the stairs, Shade stopped his conversation with Luvia regarding the commission, shifted his seat, and sat back in front of Madam Sanmei
"Who was that person just now? You actually handed him the ledger?"
He asked in a flippant tone, wanting to make himself seem merely curious.
"I cannot say that."
The innkeeper shook her head, but her expression was somewhat dazed.
"Wait, Shade, her state isn't right."
Seeing this, Luvia suddenly reached out and tapped the woman's forehead. Madam Sanmei's movements slowly ceased, and she slowly slumped onto the counter as if she had fallen asleep.
"Her consciousness was influenced by someone just now. The identification she thought she saw might not actually exist."
Luvia said with a serious expression
"We were right beside them, yet we felt no trace of any elements. That man just now is absolutely incredibly powerful."
"Thirteenth-circle," Shade said. He pulled the ledger that Madam Sanmei was still clutching, quickly flipped to the last page, and then checked the contents moving backward.
"What? Ten—"
"Keep your voice down," Shade immediately reminded her. He took out the notebook he carried with him and transcribed the contents of the ledger
"Did you see that man coughing blood? That's truly strange. Could he be severely injured? To be out working while injured to that extent... it seems even thirteenth-circle casters don't have it easy."
"Thirteenth-circle, coughing blood?"
Luvia lowered her voice, looking toward the stairs in disbelief
"Oh? Could it be him... but how would he dare return to the Old Continent? Ever since thirty years ago..."
"Thirty years ago... coughing blood, suspected of searching for Darkness... The Blood-Weeper?"
Shade stopped writing and looked up sharply at Luvia
"A few days ago, I heard the Witch mention that the [Blood Spirit School] seemed to have sent a high-circle caster from the New Continent to hunt down the traitor, Darkness."
"Yes, I believe so."
The purple-eyed diviner's expression grew solemn
"The 78-year-old thirteenth-circle caster 'The Blood-Weeper' Hermons, the actual controller of the school. Thirty years ago, for his thirteenth-circle advancement ritual, he conspired with criminals to obtain the blood of infants, committing a crime that affected half a kingdom. However, he was ambushed by the Orthodox Church during his advancement and severely injured. Consequently, he led the Blood Spirit School to migrate to the New Continent and has not dared to set foot in the Old Continent for thirty years."
"He actually dared to come back for the second Chosen?"
As he spoke, Shade resumed transcribing the information. Once finished, he stuffed the notebook back into his pocket and returned the ledger to Madam Sanmei's hand.
He nodded to Luvia, and Luvia lightly tapped Madam Sanmei's head again.
The latter let out a loud mumble in her sleep and then slowly woke up
"Why did I fall asleep? It seems I really haven't rested well these past few days."
The dazed innkeeper was still unable to immediately recover her usual shrewdness. Shade didn't say anything more to her; after ordering more drinks and food, he and Luvia returned to the table beside the female poet playing the lute.
It was already noon, so Shade and Luvia had lunch there. With a powerful thirteenth-circle caster appearing at the Three Cats Inn, neither of them dared to take any rash action.
Thus, they simply treated it as a leisure trip, eating while discussing the interesting places throughout the Lower City.
Luvia even knew of a relic trading post in a nearby alley similar to [Old John's Pawnshop], though its security was completely incomparable to the pawnshop.
When the time reached 11:15 AM, Shade was sharing his experience from Tuesday of helping a client find a cat when the short, frail man in the dark red overcoat walked downstairs, accompanied by a tall man Shade had not seen before.
The two first went to the counter; judging by the action of handing over the keys, they were checking out of their room, and then they left the Three Cats Inn together.
Shade did not stand up immediately. He waited a full five minutes before signaling to Luvia that it was safe.
He disturbed Madam Sanmei once more and requested an empty room on the fifth floor.
After climbing the stairs with Luvia and entering the room marked with the number 7, Shade took the notebook from his pocket
"Darkness and the Blood-Weeper should be gone. Luvia, try to divine which of these rooms was the one Darkness stayed in."
Shade pointed out the room numbers he had recorded; these rooms were the most likely. Now that the effect of [Blood Echo] had ended, their search had become much more difficult.
The female diviner frowned and looked at them
"One out of four? Because a thirteenth-circle caster is involved, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the divination."
"It's fine. Two on the fifth floor, two on the fourth. Divine as best as you can; I'll check through the door crack to see if the cleaning maid passes by immediately."
Accordingly, Luvia borrowed the Rhode cards from Shade. She spread all 54 cards evenly across the bed and attempted to flip three of them. After pondering for a while, she flipped three more, continuing until all the cards were revealed.
During this time, Shade indeed observed through the door crack the plump maid of the inn. Pushing a small cart welded from discarded gas pipes and humming the little tune the female poet was singing downstairs, she passed by the room. The cart held buckets, rags, brooms, and mops, and the metal wheels made a loud noise as they rolled over the wooden floor.
Ten minutes later, the plump maid passed the door again, heading toward the broom closet by the stairs. After the door to the closet opened and closed, her footsteps disappeared down the stairs
"She's cleaning the rooms now. It seems it really is a room on the fifth floor. Now it's down to two."
Shade judged cautiously from the doorway. Luvia was currently standing by the bed collecting the cards
"If it is indeed the fifth floor, then I believe it is the furthest room on the fifth floor, Room 1."
"Alright, let's go check Room 1."
Shade nodded, pushed open the door and looked left and right. Seeing no one in the corridor, he led Luvia out of the room. Unlocking Room 1, the two quickly entered and then locked the door behind them.
"Detective, I'm very glad you didn't become a professional thief, otherwise no one would be able to stop you. The奇术 (Strange Art) that Old God gave you is simply too useful."
While teasing him, Luvia didn't forget to cast a silence charm by the door.
Shade shook his head without further comment. Instead, he cautiously pulled back the curtains to look behind, opened the wardrobe to look inside, and finally lay flat to check beneath the wooden bed covered in white sheets.