Chapter 47: A Gradually Complicating Conspiracy

The four people remained seated in their chairs. As Professor Garcia raised his hand, Miss Jones began recording the subsequent events with even greater speed.

A halo appeared in the hands of the professor, whose ears were somewhat pointed. As he whispered the incantation, Shard saw colorful patches of light continuously filling his gas-lit living room.

The entire living room was split in two. The eastern side, where the four were seated, remained normal, while the western side gradually blurred amidst the filling color patches, only to gradually become clear again.

However, the half of the living room that became clear had transformed into the appearance of a dim, low-ceilinged room.

The low room was similarly split in two, splicing with Shard's living room. The lighting inside the room was extremely dim. There sat a low bed covered in yellowish-stained sheets, a desk holding a rusty gear-toothed metal typewriter, and bookshelves filled with various other reagents.

Among those reagents were human eyeballs of various sizes soaking in liquid, and even a small, closed-eyed, curled-up corpse of a primate-like creature, which made Shard feel extremely uncomfortable.

The room was incredibly dark; the old gas lamp above the desk looked as if it might extinguish at any second.

A middle-aged man—slight of build, balding, wearing a brown coat, and hunched over his desk chair like a rat—turned his head in stunned silence, staring at the suddenly appearing strange living room and the four people.

His face was pitted and uneven, and his large red nose was covered in blackheads. His pupils shrank in terror, and the bottle in his left hand was currently pouring mercury onto the tabletop.

"What I am using is the Beyonder Power—Spatial Division and Spatial Splicing. It can only be learned at the eleventh sequence or higher," Professor Garcia from the History Academy said.

"Please tell the truth."

Professor Sanchez, looking solemn, reached out and pointed at the man in the low half of the room. An ambiguous pink light glowed on his finger.

"Who are you?" the professor asked loudly.

"[Mercury Blood]'s Little Rat, Peter."

Under the light from the professor's finger, the small man's eyes went vacant. His accent was very similar to Professor Garcia's, suggesting they were likely both from Carsonric. He dropped the mercury bottle onto the desk, completely unaware of his own actions.

"What are you doing?" the professor asked again, the ambiguous pink light between his fingers growing stronger.

"We lost an important item—the statue of the Old God 'Archduke Lowell.' We wanted to use a Keeper-level relic to retaliate against the person who stole it, but the opponent was too strong. So, I was tasked to use the Beyonder Power—[Rat Companion's Sense of Smell] to find clues.

The scent in that alley is very mixed, and there was a battle last night. I searched all day before discovering that one of the people who had been to the alley is currently performing a ritual, and their personal strength is very weak. I am currently attempting to kill him directly through the Beyonder Power—[Mercury Toxic Mist]."

Professor Sanchez nodded. Shard watched the pink light on the professor's finger and felt a slight sense of dizziness. Professor Garcia explained

"This is the Incantation—Human Charm. The effect wouldn't normally be this good; it is only through Professor Sanchez's Spirit Rune system and frequent practice that it can exhibit such characteristics... It is truly not easy to get the disobedient young students in the Academy to tell the truth about their assignments."

"Who else knows about Mr. Hamilton's matter?"

Professor Sanchez pointed his normal finger at Shard. "Little Rat" Peter answered in a daze, his voice becoming increasingly soft, as if speaking to a lover

"Only me. I haven't had time to report it yet; I wanted to claim the credit for myself. This move of mine has never failed; even the Silver-Eyed ones have praised my Beyonder Power."

"Have you killed anyone?" the professor asked.

"Yes, many. Many Beyonder Powers require fresh human organs as..."

"Very well then."

The pink light on Professor Sanchez's finger extinguished, and then a streak of black light flew from his fingertip, crossing the boundary between the two houses. Little Rat Peter's body hit the floor, falling into eternal sleep.

Shard's mouth hung slightly open, having gained a new understanding of the professor's decisiveness. It took several seconds before he remembered to say

"Professor Sanchez, Professor Garcia, thank you for your help."

This had effectively resolved the trouble caused by that Old God statue.

As for the dead man, Shard felt no pity. The man was a villain who had intended to harm him; he was even relieved that he didn't have to dirty his own hands.

"No need for thanks. If I hadn't come to see you today, he wouldn't have discovered your identity," Professor Sanchez said, then gestured for Shard to stand up.

"Go see if there are any important documents on his desk. Do not touch any objects. During the ritual, we cannot leave our seats on this side, otherwise the projection will be unilaterally interrupted."

Shard nodded and stood up. He heard the sound of Little Mia scratching at the door grow louder; a curious but timid cat, she likely wanted to know very much what was happening outside.

He left his seat and walked toward the other part of the split living room. As his body crossed the midline into the low room, a stench of long-unventilated rot and decay immediately hit him.

He had crossed from the second floor of No. 6 St. Theran Square to a narrow, cold rental apartment somewhere in Tobesk City. Instead of checking the row of reagent bottles on the bookshelf, he went straight to the desk.

On the desk, besides a puddle of mercury, were the casting materials required for the two Beyonder Powers used to search for clues and pour the mercury. The only document was the unfinished one in the typewriter. It was a letter written in Carsonric, with the ending left incomplete.

Most of it consisted of Little Rat Peter complaining about the troubles of his work, the dangers he encountered, and the foggy weather in Tobesk City.

The final paragraph only contained the beginning, mentioning their cooperation with the cultists of the Evil God [Lord of the Blood Feast], and how [Mercury Blood] attempted to obtain certain materials from the cultists. It also mentioned that another organization, the [Blood Spirit School], had promised to help them but seemed to be busy with something regarding maternity wards in the New World; thus, so far, they had only sent a Keeper-level relic as assistance, which had enraged the Silver-Eyed ones.

[Lord of the Blood Feast], [Mercury Blood], and the [Blood Spirit School]—this suddenly involved three organizations.

Shard noted this information down, returned to his living room, sat down, and reported everything verbatim. The two professors did not comment on it. Professor Garcia revoked the spatial anomaly, returning Shard's living room to normal.

Even the mercury mist vanished, as if the previous moment had been nothing but an illusion. This way, the cautious outsider did not have to worry about dying from mercury poisoning.

"In short, Mr. Hamilton, as a Sequence 9 Warlock, try to involve yourself as little as possible in such dangerous matters. Where were we?"

To the two professors, what had just happened was nothing more than a triviality. Shard was also glad that the hidden danger was gone. After noting down [Lord of the Blood Feast], the [Blood Spirit School], and his recent observations, he sat up straight in his chair and said

"We just mentioned two things. Professor Garcia said he intended to guide my time-travel practice tonight, after all matters are discussed. The second thing was that you wanted to talk about our five-person group."

Professor Garcia nodded to Shard, while Professor Sanchez tapped his head

"Oh, yes, the five-person group. Among your group, someone has a major problem. One of you, the 'Other Me,' is different from the normal condition, and the Academy considers that a major hidden danger."

Shard, who had just been feeling relieved, felt his heart skip a beat, and his expression changed drastically.