âThe first floor is the living room. Your room is to the left of the living room. Over there is the bathroom. Then thereâs the kitchen and the dining roomâ¦â Selene showed Richter around her detective office. Her house now was much larger than the small apartment in her previous life. The area was more than ten times larger, and sheâd paid for it all in one go. Even in her dreams in her previous life, she wouldnât have dared to be this extravagant.
â⦠The second floor is where Louise and I sleep. The room closest to the living room is my study. Knock before you enter. I keep files on all my clients in there. If you need anything, you can go look.â
While Selene was showing Richter around, the faint blue light that had been absent since morning slowly floated down from the second floor. It didnât attempt to hide at all.
âAh, this is my petâ¦â
Knowing that this kind of âspiritâ was very rare in the Divine Construct, and that most of them were undead, Selene closed her eyes and spoke. She didnât know how to explain that this little spirit was very gentle, acted more like a cat, had never hurt anyone, and hated potatoes.
But Richter, after seeing it, merely paused for a moment and asked,
âThatâs a spirit?â
âI think so?â
âItâs always here?â
âAt least it has been since I moved in.â
In a sense, the little spirit had saved her some money. If there were problems in the house that couldnât be explained physically, then the rent would have to be lowered. Selene had only paid less than fifty gold coins for the house, a real bargain. Though she still owed Louise some money, sheâd be able to pay her back soon.
âOkay, thatâs fine,â Richter calmly nodded, saying nothing more.
People from Mittal were really different.
Selene hadnât had much contact with people from Mittal, but she had heard some opinions about them from various adventurers and merchants. They were proud and confident, seemingly not afraid of anyone except the gods. They dared to openly discuss nobles, emperors, and politics. They were incredibly respectful of their Empressâ¦
There were some other stereotypes, like that people from Mittal knew how to repair magical devices. That wasnât very convincing.
It seems that the things theyâre not afraid of also include spirits.
Selene showed Richter around, letting him familiarize himself with the workspace, and casually probed him about his purposes, but only received vague answers⦠He did promise that he wouldnât cause her trouble.
Cheap promises. This guy clearly had a lot of secrets, but Selene didnât care, as long as she got paid on time.
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...
Just as the newcomer was getting familiar with his workspace, it was noon. Selene and Louise, both hungry, were discussing whether or not to go out to find a restaurant, when they heard another knock on the door.
Selene, her expression a mix of annoyance and weariness, braced herself for her third visitor.
It was that familiar middle-aged guard.
ââ¦.?â Selene looked up and down at the middle-aged man in his uniform, hesitantly saying, âI donât think youâre married. Did you also come to me to find out about cheating?"
ââ¦â
The guard was silent for a second. He didnât know why this woman thought anyone who came to her door was here for that. He didnât bother thinking about it and glanced at the two strangers.
âThe station manager has found some information and wants to talk to you,â he said politely.
Ah, trouble.
Selene rubbed her forehead. Her rewards and fees were still with Duquesne, so she couldnât refuse. She slowly stood up and went upstairs to change her clothes.
The middle-aged guard chatted with the two downstairs. He was surprised to learn that Miss Nitya, who was so stingy that sheâd commit crimes just to get a free meal, had actually hired two assistants. That would cost money.
He sighed, commenting that the sun seemed to be rising from the west today, and waited for Selene to change her coat and deerstalker hat. As she came downstairs, she said,
âDoes the station provide meals?â
...
âCould you please swallow whatâs in your mouth before you speak⦠Damn it, canât you be a little more ladylike?â
Duquesne looked at Selene with a headache. She was sitting in front of his desk, gobbling down some beef in soy sauce like a starving ghost.
Behind her, the handsome magician sat upright, listening to him. His gaze was fixed on the documents on the desk. Louise quietly moved her chair a little further away from the desk and elegantly ate some sautéed mushrooms.
Richter quickly scanned the documents on Duquesneâs desk, getting a general understanding of the situation. He pondered for a moment and looked at the list of visitors to the cemetery from the two Church Patrols, saying,
âLately, the number of visitors to the cemetery has increased significantly, but the number of deaths hasnât changed. The death dates over the years havenât coincided with the autumn and winter seasons. So this increase in visitors is a bit suspicious.â
Duquesne was a little surprised, but not entirely.
He glanced at Selene, who was burying her head in her food. He knew that although she was a detective, she wasnât particularly good at deduction. Most of her successful infidelity cases were completed by brute force and superhuman abilities. Even then, she still got caught sometimes, soâ¦
Duquesne immediately began discussing this with Richter.
âYes. The two churchesâ management personnel searched the crime scene and the cemetery records after the cemetery attack. They found these noteworthy anomalies. The crime scene investigation was completed thanks to the cooperation of the graveyard keeperâ¦
âThe results were shocking and puzzlingâsix hundred tombs and graves had been marked. The dates ranged from a year ago to half a month ago, seemingly without any pattern. Damage was also found on the fence near the Loki Mountains. The alarm and defensive formations hadnât been triggeredâ¦
âSome of the intact bodies were dug up by the graveyard keeper, and they showed varying signs of undead transformation, such as unnatural magical energy accumulating, or changes in the bodyâs postureâ¦â
As Duquesne spoke, Richterâs expression shifted repeatedly, finally frowning.
âForgive me for being blunt, but for the cemetery anomaly to have reached this stage before being discovered, the graveyard keeper and the Church Patrol are seriously derelict in their duties.â
âThatâs the problem, Mr. Assistant.â Duquesne sighed and chuckled wryly. âAs you can see, the records are very thorough. The Church Patrol and the graveyard keeper did their jobs. The priests from the main cathedral also investigated them, and found no traitors⦠But these things appeared anyway, bypassing all the cemeteryâs security measures.
âWe discovered this before the problem escalated. Thatâs all that matters.â