Blinking lazily, she saw the dim room and the crimson moonlight outside the window.
Under the moonlight, a figure sat leaning against the headboard, motionless.
Where am I?
Miss Valente blinked and shook her head blankly, finally recalling everything that had just happened.
Oh, the detective's posture had changed. He must have woken up.
The detective was fine! Even mystery documents with a danger level close to the annihilation grade couldn't harm him. He was truly amazing; she really hadn't misjudged him.
The heart she had kept in her throat all night finally settled. Joy instantly filled her chest, and Miss Valente even felt her eyes grow a bit hot. Overjoyed, she reached out and pulled down the lever on the wall.
With a soft hiss, orange flames erupted from the nozzle, and warm light illuminated the dim bedroom.
With a reserved joy on her face, Miss Valente turned her gaze to the figure at the head of the bed.
“Mr. Lynch, you're finally awake, I... Who are you?”
The smile froze on her face. The young noblewoman's expression shifted drastically, and she took two steps back, her folding fan already raised and pointed at the figure on the bed.
It was a woman wearing a strange, fancy dress. Her long golden hair was pinned up on her head, making her look quite capable. Her beautiful face was rather young, and there was a lingering sense of familiarity and warmth about her. A strange round fan covered her face, and a pair of clear eyes peeked out from above it, blinking at her.
“Speak! Who are you, and what did you do to Mr. Lynch?”
Miss Valente's heart clenched. Forcing down her anxiety, her barrel was almost pressed against the other person's forehead, her lips trembling slightly.
“Regrettably,” the other party's voice was slightly deep with a somewhat androgynous quality, “he intruded into a world he shouldn't have, and is now in a very troublesome situation. As for me... I am another soul sleeping within his body. When he cannot appear, I act in his stead.”
“Another soul?” Miss Valente was somewhat at a loss, seriously considering whether she should shoot first and ask questions later. “Are you questioning the understanding of an occultist? Don't be ridiculous. Even if there really were another soul, it's impossible for even the physical body to turn female. Even my mystery relics can't do that.”
“Arrogant human, conceitedly denying everything you cannot understand. How much do you actually know about the occult world?”
Instead of panicking at being called out, the woman smiled calmly and said mockingly:
“In the distant Mythological Era, there was a saying that circulated for a long time: when your inner spirit reaches a certain level, it will inevitably manifest in your outward appearance. The humans of today's world can often only foolishly see the surface, believing that the physical form determines the image of the soul. However, you cannot comprehend that in the occult world, it is actually the exact opposite. The soul is what matters most, and its influence on the outward manifestation of the physical form will often exceed your imagination. So you see, when my soul switches, the physical form you see naturally changes as well.”
That seemed to make some sense, yet something still felt off. Was her knowledge of occultism simply insufficient? The woman's deadpan attitude made Miss Valente a little unsure.
“Of course it makes sense, because this is the truth—it is merely beyond your cognition.” The woman shook her head gently with a helpless expression. “Actually, I don't want to remain awake for long either. It does his soul no good. But the current situation is very troublesome. If we want him to wake up, we must start from the soul.”
“What needs to be done?”
“Prepare some materials as quickly as possible: two hundred grams of soul-returning grass, fifty satiety capsules, fifty Torches of Light, ten hemostatic potions, ten bottles of... Wait, what are you doing? Don't suddenly cock your gun, that's dangerous! Calm down first.”
“Mr. Lynch! This is not funny at all! Not funny!”
“I'm telling the truth. I'm not Lynch, I'm his sister Zelda. As long as you prepare these materials, Lynch's soul will awaken immediately.”
“He can wake up even without those prepared! If I shoot you, you'll wake up instantly!” Miss Valente gritted her teeth, waving her small clenched fists in the air. “You're lying again! Even if the physical appearance changes with the soul, what about the clothes? Do clothes change with the soul too? That wouldn't be mystery; that would be a miracle!”
“Uh... I forgot about that. I'll make sure to refine it next time. Hiss, I told you cocking the gun is dangerous. Wait, even if you don't cock it, you can't hit people! Ow, what are you doing? Okay, okay, okay, I was wrong, I was wrong.”
Lynch suddenly felt he was quite something, managing to anger a gentle noble young lady to the point of hitting him on the spot. He took several solid punches to the shoulder. Miss Valente was currently like a puffed-up little quail, her mouth puckered as she glared at him fiercely:
“You went too far! Playing a prank the moment you woke up, when you knew how much I was worr—”
I only played the prank because I was afraid you'd be like this. Look, aren't you happy now? That means I did the right thing.
【Hehe.】
Tsk, alright, alright, I get it.
Lynch sighed and tossed away the round fan. The moment it left his hand, his appearance reverted to his original male form. He hopped off the bed, straightened his clothes, and bowed deeply to the noble lady. “My apologies, Diana, for making you worry. In any case, I have returned, my lady.”
“Yes!” Miss Valente wiped the corners of her eyes. Her angry expression had long since vanished, replaced by a slight upward curve of her lips. She said softly, “Welcome back in triumph. I am proud of you, my champion.”
With that, her gaze turned to the round fan and the parchment book on the bed, and she said thoughtfully, “It seems you had quite a fascinating experience.”
Smiling, Lynch nodded and recounted his experience tonight in detail. When she heard of how Lynch had almost stepped into traps several times, the noble girl held her breath. Only after hearing the end of the tale did Miss Valente bite her lip and say softly, “Thank the holy spirits for bringing you back here. It seems your brush with danger was not in vain; you ultimately grasped her psychological weakness and convinced that evil god. How much does she know about that mirror?”
“She spoke in great detail, but based on my previous interactions with her, we cannot completely disbelieve her, yet we must remain constantly vigilant. There's no telling where she might have laid a trap. Entities of that sort will never pass up an opportunity to toy with human hearts.”
Lynch frowned, sharing all the information he had just gathered from the Swelling Daughter with Miss Valente.
“The mirror is actually in her hands. She used it to create that space, which then fused with that very space. It can be retrieved without affecting the operation of her world, but when doing so, the replica generated by the mirror must be used to draw the mirror out. That is how the replica gem is used.”
Miss Valente asked uneasily, “Can it only be drawn out from within the evil god's world?”
“No, it requires synchronized drawing from both inside and outside, and it is a highly troublesome ritual.”
“I see.”
“The mirror has been in her hands since the end of the Third Age, and no one except the twelve major gods should have known about it. But a few years ago, just as we speculated, they relied on a project involving the national fortune like the railway engineering, using the route planning to create mystery documents that could connect to that world, and then sought help from the evil god. To please her, they told her all of their goals. The evil god thought it was indeed a highly amusing source of entertainment, so she agreed to cooperate—or at least, she agreed to cooperate on the surface. The information regarding the replica gem was found by the evil god using the power of the mirror.”
“We were right about most of it; Prince William is indeed the one driving this. But what we didn't know is that his greatest supporter is a court arcanist from the royal capital.”
“Hiss... Master Moliere, a rank eight authority Soul Severer.” Miss Valente's expression stiffened slightly. “He is said to specialize in combat and arcana, and his combat strength is incredibly formidable.”
Lynch was also somewhat tongue-tied, but he continued to explain, “Although the evil god didn't go into too much detail about what they specifically plan to do, it is certain that they intend to use it during the investiture ceremony on July 28th. I still believe he wants to use the mirror against Emperor Rudolph II and Princess Sophia. It seems only such a dramatic spectacle of kin slaying kin could capture the evil god's interest enough to make her willingly contribute that mirror.”
“We must stop them,” Miss Valente said solemnly. “The danger of a manifestation grade mystery relic is far too great. It is impossible for an ordinary person like William to control it. If the mirror falls into his hands, it will inevitably go out of control and result in a bloodbath. Furthermore, even if it doesn't go out of control and he succeeds, it will plunge the entirety of Lande into long-term instability, causing harm to the people no less severe than a mystery relic. The Valente family will not tolerate anyone doing such a thing, even if the other party is the next Crown Prince. So... Mr. Detective, are you still willing to fight alongside our family?”
“Heh, of course. I don't like abandoning my friends at critical moments.” Lynch smiled. “Though it will be quite difficult.”
“Yes, today is June 12th, and there are still forty-seven days until the investiture ceremony on July 28th. During these forty-seven days, they will try to seize the gem like madmen. Since they were previously able to locate the gem through the evil god, I suspect they might ask her again, which would put us in a very passive position.”
“Actually, the biggest problem isn't the tight schedule, but the fact that we are accusing a future Crown Prince of treason, and we have absolutely no evidence.” Lynch mused, “Before they take action, on what grounds can we stop them?”
Miss Valente thought for a moment and said uncertainly, “Perhaps only by obtaining solid evidence will we have a chance to completely stop their conspiracy.”
“Hmm... Actually, not necessarily. If we catch them red-handed in their conspiracy, we won't need evidence anymore.”
“Oh?”
“Heh, and for that, we can just set a trap... No, give them a helping hand. Come here, I have another idea.”
Lynch beckoned with his finger and whispered in Miss Valente's ear for a moment. The two of them exchanged a glance, nodding to each other with highly peculiar smiles.
Rate on N.U.
