Lord of the Mysteries

A carriage passed by Böklund Street as Leonard Mitchell and two Red Gloves teammates discussed the target they were investigating this time—Dwayne Dantès.

“I still haven’t had any direct contact with this gentleman. I’ve only investigated his servants and neighbors,” Cindy, who had long wine-red hair, introduced her findings. “For now, it has been confirmed that Dwayne Dantès has acted the same since last night to this morning. He went to his bedroom to sleep at eleven and finished washing up at half-past seven in the morning. At times, he would have some supper and end the day after midnight. At times, he would wake up before seven and head out for a stroll, but that’s not the norm.”

Another Red Glove, Bob, nodded and said, “From this point of view, there’s nothing wrong with Dwayne Dantès.”

Leonard Mitchell, who sat in a seemingly casual manner, immediately said with a smile, “But the reverse can also be true.

“According to what we’ve currently gathered, the missing servant was likely replaced between 11:20 and 11:35 last night. The infiltrator entered Chanis Gate at six in the morning, and we discovered the problem at 7:20 a.m. without finding the target.

“It can thus be said that during the infiltration, Dwayne Dantès was sleeping and lacked an alibi.”

“What you say makes sense…” Cindy glanced at Leonard in surprise.

Her impression of this teammate of hers was one who often had a judgment or question that pointed at the core of the problem. However, he seldom described his logic in great detail. He was more like a desultory poet who occasionally had epiphanies.

Bob, who had a sharp chin, frowned as he shook his head.

“If that’s the case, everyone on this name list cannot be cleared of suspicion. They were sleeping with no one watching them. Even if they have wives or husbands, they would similarly be sleeping at such times.

“Also, I don’t believe an infiltrator would be so bold. He had already entered Chanis Gate and managed to successfully escape, completing an unimaginable feat; yet, he stays nearby and hasn’t abandoned his identity or gone far away. How is this possible?

“The risk involved cannot be predicted unless he’s also planning something else. Or he can’t bear to part with certain things, but what can compare with infiltrating Chanis Gate? What can compare with those Sealed Artifacts, ingredients, and formulas?”

If I didn’t know that Dwayne Dantès was problematic in the first place, I would’ve come to the same conclusion… Leonard had already thought of an explanation as he crossed his right leg.

“I’m just saying why we can’t so easily strike off Dwayne Dantès from the suspects.

“Besides, Captain Soest has said it. The infiltrator might have already died behind Chanis Gate. Even if Dwayne Dantès isn’t involved, he might very well be an accomplice.

“Hmm… Don’t you find it too much of a coincidence? He moved in for less than two months, and the Church encountered something that might never happen in centuries. Besides, he has been visiting Saint Samuel Cathedral too frequently. He had ample opportunities to figure out the corresponding situation.

“Also, during this period of time, there was a strange sewer explosion along Böklund Street.”

Cindy bunched up her long, wine-red hair and said, “You’ve convinced me. This should be a target that we put our focus on.”

Bob pulled at the ends of his left palm’s red glove and said, “There are indeed many coincidences.

“However, coincidences might not be equivalent to problems. Even if Dwayne Dantès goes to the cathedral daily and listens to the bishop’s preachings, all he could do is understand the layout and not obtain deeper information, such as when the Keepers will head to Chanis Gate and how the handover is done with the Nighthawks.”

“Therefore, he’s more likely to be one of the accomplices,” Leonard said with a shrug.

He similarly didn’t understand how Dwayne Dantès would understand the internal protocols of the Nighthawks so well.

Cindy echoed, “Regardless, we have to do a deeper investigation.

“Shall we wait till noon and directly enter Dwayne Dantès’s dream to question him? Hmm, he has the habit of taking afternoon naps.”

Leonard raised his right hand and waved it gently.

“There’s no need to be in such a hurry.

“It’s not like we’ve never done any routine inspections in the past or entered his dreams, but we didn’t discover anything wrong.

“If there really is nothing wrong with him, we wouldn’t gain anything from entering his dream again. If there’s a problem with him, the fact that he didn’t expose himself back then means he has the means to resist an inquiry during the dream. We will still be fooled by him if we enter his dream again.

“Therefore, we should monitor him and see what kind of people he interacts with, so as to prevent him from escaping while waiting for Desi’s response about this tycoon’s true identity. Once we discover any clues, we will request to use a higher-level investigation method than questioning him in dreams.”

Cindy was once again surprised as she couldn’t help but joke, “It’s rare to see you analyze the situation so seriously.”

Furthermore, his thought processes were extremely clear!

Leonard fell silent and gave a self-deprecating comment.

“Perhaps it’s because I’ve encountered something similar.”

Instantly, Cindy felt that Leonard’s green eyes had turned darker.

She didn’t speak further.

“Let’s take turns to monitor Dwayne Dantès. I’ll go first.”

“Alright.” Leonard nodded and turned to Bob. “Get the case files on the sewer explosion. Let’s see if we can discover any problems. I’ll head back to read through the corresponding dossiers and see if there are any other abnormalities on this street.”

After splitting the work, the three Red Gloves began their work. Leonard returned to Saint Samuel Cathedral’s basement and obtained the information involving Böklund Street and the cases that the Aurora Order had actively or passively involved themselves in for the past three years.

The latter was something that sparked off the clue provided by the Parasite in him. It gave him an idea.

“Since The Fool’s existence and the corresponding honorific name initially came from the Aurora Order, it means that the Aurora Order was involved in something or had suffered some setbacks. It might be related to the organization that believes in The Fool!”

After returning to the office, Leonard held back his desultory attitude as he very seriously read through the thick dossiers.

In the dossiers related to the Aurora Order, there was the Lanevus case he was most familiar with. This True Creator’s descent had failed terribly because of some baffling report. A mysterious person had appeared to kill the main criminal. He was suspected to be related to Hero Bandit Black Emperor. As he targeted evil criminals, he would scatter tarot cards over the target’s corpse. That person wasn’t able to do it for Desire Apostle Jason Beria only because Leonard had rushed over too quickly.

Similarly, Leonard once again saw the name, “Sherlock Moriarty,” appear in the periphery of the case.

Aurora Order’s Mr. X was assassinated at the gathering he convened. There were traces of powers at the demigod level left at the scene… At this point in time, Dwayne Dantès had already arrived in Backlund. It matches perfectly…

Aurora Order’s Mr. A and the Demoness Sect cooperated to create the Great Smog of Backlund. This person vanished as a result…

Aurora Order’s Mr. A had assassinated the Intis ambassador…

…

Leonard read case after case, but he didn’t find anything of use.

He rubbed his temples and decided to attack it from a different angle. He began from the cases related to Hero Bandit Black Emperor.

Lanevus case… First murder scene with the tarot cards thrown as a ritual… And The Fool is the beginning of the tarot cards…

Capim’s case… From the strength and level showcased by Hero Bandit Black Emperor, he won’t and wouldn’t mimic others… He similarly scattered tarot cards on the corpse…

Desire Apostle Jason Beria… I saw Hero Bandit Black Emperor with my own eyes, preventing him from scattering the cards in time…

Apart from major events and evil criminals, what other connection do these three cases have? Leonard had previously considered the relevant questions and was certain that Detective Sherlock Moriarty had been partially involved in the Lanevus and Capim cases.

Then what about the Desire Apostle case?

Leonard found the addendum and began leafing through them. Finally, he spotted a line in an inconspicuous spot:

…People attacked involved Isengard Stanton, Sherlock Moriarty…

Leonard’s expression slowly turned excited as though he had discovered a breakthrough.

He flipped through the Aurora Order dossier and didn’t miss out any of the names involved. He kept expanding his search and requested for all the dossiers that involved every name.

“Aurora Order’s Mr. A assassinated the Intis ambassador… The Intis ambassador was in charge of the conflict over the difference engine manuscripts… The clues to the manuscripts came from a spy who usually acted as a private detective…

“It is reported that another private detective was embroiled in this matter and had nearly been killed by a gang member under the command of the Intis ambassador… Another private detective…” Leonard suddenly stood up as he left Saint Samuel Cathedral and headed for the police station that handled the case back then.

Although most of the dossiers had been taken away by MI9, Leonard still found the name of the person who had made the police report: “Sherlock Moriarty!”

I now have reason to believe that this great detective was also involved in the Great Smog of Backlund. Among the various people who are involved, his name appears, right at the periphery of the matter! He and Dwayne Dantès all belong to a secret organization that believes in The Fool? Leonard thought as the corners of his lips curled up. He decided to immediately search for more information to verify his conjecture.

…

160 Böklund Street, inside the master bedroom.

Klein didn’t have any Nighthawks enter his dream during his afternoon nap, but he once again “returned” to the foggy town. He saw Demoness of Despair Panatiya with her smile showcasing blood-colored flesh in between the gaps of her teeth. He saw her slowly being hung up as her eyes rolled back in despair before her head drooped down.

The hung corpses, the horrifying gigantic mushroom, the cluster of countless translucent maggots kept appearing one after another, waking Klein up from his dream.

As he rubbed his temples, Klein found that his mind was in a terrible condition. And this wasn’t a problem that could be resolved by the gray fog.

He fell into deep thought and entered his bathroom and arrived above the gray fog. He conjured Gehrman and made him pray:

“…Please pass on my question to Miss Justice about when she will be free. I wish to receive some psychotherapy.”