223 Graham and Luuk's Quality Time

"So where are we actually going?"

Luuk was sitting inside a public motor carriage at the passenger's seat with Graham next to him on the opposite side. The metal vehicle was speeding towards the west, being forced to slow down once it entered the busy roads of Westeinde.

"We're going to a village in Westelijk Bos. That's where Dybbuks can be found," Graham replied nonchalantly while looking out the window, his voice was low enough so that only Luuk could hear him.

It was almost sunset, so a lot of people were out in the streets, especially those who had just finished work and were on their way home. The honking and sounds of engines filled the air, while the smoke from the exhaust pipes painted the sky gray. Sloten was not as industrious as Hoorn, but it was indeed busier, albeit smaller.

"And what is a Dybbuk anyway?" he lowered his voice to match that of Graham's.

The detective turned around.

"They're malicious spirits, akin to lingering spirits and wraiths. The difference is that they don't just linger around, but actually possess living humans, forcing their victims to do their biddings obediently. Since they're malicious, they usually make their victims commit atrocious crimes."

Luuk raised his eyebrows while listening intently. There was an expression of surprise on his face, as well as genuine interest.

"Then how are we going to deal with them? Kill the victim along with them?"

Graham chuckled and smiled proudly.

"If it was the old me, then maybe that would be our only option. But now, I have my own means of forcing them out of the victim's body," he replied confidently.

"Hmm... Order?" asked Luuk.

He seemed to have hit the bull's eye as Graham laughed in approval.

"Indeed! Now I'm stronger, so my Orders will be effective against them,"

All the while, they were keeping their voices low, almost to that of a whisper. The driver was too occupied with overtaking other, slower drivers on the road while avoiding being hit by those faster than him. The traffic was in chaos that afternoon, while the descending sun painted the sky orange, setting a contrasting background to the mayhem.

Honk! Honk!

"Get a move on, grandpa, or just get out of the road!!"

Someone was honking and yelling incessantly at the motor carriage ahead of him. However, nothing could be done since the number of vehicles caused the traffic to be congested.

"Do you have any ability to solve this problem?" Luuk turned his attention back to Graham and whispered.

"I don't think so. I can use Order to force them to move, but there is just no space for them to move to. As for the other solutions... let's say things won't end well if I use them. We're not in a hurry anyway. Dybbuks will come out at night," he shrugged and then leaned back on the seat somewhat comfortably.

The lack of leg space made his long legs sit in an awkward position, but there was nothing he could do. Luuk was also in a similar situation, although his legs were a little shorter than Graham's, so the young medical student could sit a little more comfortably.

"I see. Then we're not actually in a hurry, right? Anyway, what's the name of that village we're going to?"

"It's called Pompoen. A cute name, isn't it? Apparently, it's called that because they're famous for their giant pumpkins. We might be lucky enough to see carved pumpkin lanterns later since it will be dark already," Graham explained excitedly. He now understood how the tour guide lady could be that cheerful in explaining about Hoorn to the passengers.

"That sounds fun," replied Luuk, pretending to sound interested, "Anyway, you're going to pay me for helping you, won't you?"

Graham frowned and then answered, "Yes. Or you can just take any other loots besides the essence of those Dybbuks."

"Deal!"

The sun finally set as the motor carriage that they were in left the busy street of Grafstraat and entered western Sloten Ring. After crossing the intersection, they would be out of Sloten the city and entered Sloten the region which included the village and the nameless city in Oostelijk Bos.

The city view was quickly replaced by endless woodlands as far as their eyes could see. The street lights gave adequate illumination, but the dark forest remained shaded.

After driving for twenty minutes out of Sloten, the driver finally turned left and entered a smaller street with a sign saying 'To Pompoen' which had an arrow pointing to the left. Ahead of them, lights began shining again as they got closer to the village. The driver then pulled over in front of a building that had quite a few people inside.

"We're here, Sirs. I'll be heading back now. If you need a public motor carriage, you can use one of the payphones here to call one. The city is not too far away, after all," the driver explained.

After his passengers paid through the gap in the glass separator, he drove away, back to the city.

Graham and Luuk were standing in front of a convenience store that had carved pumpkins at the front. The pumpkins were almost the size of the exercise ball that Graham always used for his fireball. They were worthy of being called giant pumpkins.

"You want anything to drink or some snacks, maybe?" he asked.

Luuk looked inside the convenience store and noticed that the villagers were looking at them curiously.

"Are you paying?" Luuk sounded rather interested in what sounded like an offer.

"Of course not. Just asking," replied Graham quickly.

"Then no. I'm good."

Since Luuk had said he didn't want to buy anything, Graham entered the convenience store alone, leaving the man with the black sweater behind. The detective went straight for the sweets aisle and picked up a bar of Dolcebambini, which was fortunately sold there as well. However, they only had the regular milk chocolate one and not Graham's favorite-- the one with jelly beans and dried fruit inside.

After paying, he returned to the stupefied Luuk and gestured at the young medical student who was on the verge of having to repeat the year to follow.

"Why do you need money so badly anyway?" asked Graham curiously.

Luuk hesitated for a moment.

"My rent is due next month. And I've just spent all the money on something," he finally replied, guiltily for some reason.

The rent at the Vakbond apartment was paid yearly, and it was twenty guilders per year for Graham, and probably Luuk as well. It was a little expensive despite the condition of the building, but it was already cheaper than some. Sloten's rate of rent was infamously high, after all.

"Why don't you sell more embedded weapons to make money? And what did you spend your money on anyway?" Graham was curious.

The young man scratched the back of his head.

"Actually, I've used up almost all of the gemstones to buy the thing. You'll see later," he said both proudly and guiltily, "Where are we going now?"

The two of them had been walking in the same direction for a while. There were a lot of carved pumpkin lanterns with various designs everywhere they looked, decorating the small foresty village beautifully. The smiling flames inside the giant pumpkins made them feel like they were in some kind of mysterious spooky village out of a fairy tale.

"We need to find somewhere quiet first. I wasn't able to divine those Dybbuks' exact location before because I was too far away,"

He looked around to find a secluded spot in the village, which was somewhat difficult. There were a lot of people currently out in the street, chatting and wasting time with their neighbors. Village life was definitely different from city life, as they could currently see.

"This way," Graham said decisively.

They walked the cobblestone path down towards the river that divided the village into two.

The river, whose water was flowing gently, was also decorated with carved pumpkin lanterns on both sides, giving it a mysterious yet magnificent look. It was like they were staring at the pathway to a faraway land.

There were still several people sitting by the riverside, enjoying the serene view. Graham walked to the right and turned right to a secluded alley where trash was dumped. Rotten pumpkins were a big part of piles of trash occupying the dark alley, as well as rats and cats that were running around.

"I can't believe this is still Sloten. This village is beautiful," said Luuk. His mind changed after actually seeing the village with his own eyes.

Graham only smiled. He then conjured an illusory flame with his thought and began his divination.

'Where can I find Dybbuks?'

The illusory flame burned brighter while an image slowly appeared. It showed him an aerial view of the village with several glowing red dots. One indicated Graham's location while the rest were the Dybbuks. He could see that there were two near his location, one to the north while the other was to the west, and eight others at the edge of the village, in the periphery of the forest.

Most of the red dots were not stationary as the Dybbuks were on the move. Graham memorized their locations and then quickly ended his divination. He gestured at Luuk and the two of them ran towards the one closest to them.

Graham got rid of the illusory flame once he left the alley and headed towards the bridge, crossing while running. The two men quickly got the attention of the villagers, but they didn't care all that much. Graham had also divined the danger involved in his current mission and his divination had told him it was relatively safe.

In the northern part of the village, the two men were standing outside an old-looking stone house with two floors. The first Dybbuk should be inside somewhere.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

With his cane, he knocked on the door but there was no answer. Meanwhile, Luuk had taken out something that looked like a severed corpse's right hand with sharp nails that was stuck in a 'clawing' position. There was a piece of thin rope tied to the severed hand while the other end was tied to Luuk's left wrist. The hand emitted a somewhat ominous feeling when Graham looked at it.

"What in the world is that?" he asked in puzzlement at the sight of the bizarre thing.

With a cheeky and proud smile, Luuk replied, "Hehe... this is my own enhanced weapon that I bought with all of my savings. It's called The Hand of Lauriere. It has a Thief's Theft ability."

Luuk noticed Graham's eyebrow rising and knew what the man was thinking about. Before the detective could say anything, he continued his explanation, "But hear me out, since I'm also a Thief with the same ability, it upgrades my ability instead! So if I use Theft with this hand, I will use an upgraded version of it, for a maximum of fifteen times per day."

Graham nodded.

"But that's not all! Since it upgrades my Theft ability, that means when I get stronger, the upgraded version will get even stronger. So this enhanced weapon will grow alongside me," he said proudly.

"What's the negative effect?" asked Graham finally after the young man finished talking.

"I just have to make sure I steal at least three things per day from other people or this weapon will steal my precious belongings. I forgot to do so three days ago after I bought it, and my remaining money was all gone, along with the embedded dagger that I planned to sell. And also my expensive medical coursebook. That's why I'm poor now," there was regret in Luuk's voice.

"Understandable. Then would you please take care of the door?" Graham gestured at the locked wooden door.

Luuk nodded and made a swiping motion with his right hand. He didn't seem to need the weapon for something that simple.

"Your lock is mine!"

The door's lock then appeared in Luuk's hand, which he quickly discarded. Graham opened the door carefully and entered the house.

The old stone house was dark. There weren't any electric lights nor carved pumpkin lanterns illuminated the inside. Luuk's night vision was activated while Graham used his illusory flame to help him see.

The light from his flame cast away the shadow, revealing the messy room that had no signs of life. However, there was a thick stench of blood coming from upstairs, which made the two men look at each other and quickly went for the wooden stairs.

On the second floor, inside a bedroom, Graham and Luuk found the source of the bloody smell. It was a man who was repeatedly stabbing his knife into the chest of a lifeless woman under him. The woman, who looked like she had been stabbed to death in her sleep, had an expression of horror and shock at the last moment of her life.

"I order you to stop moving!"

The man's arms were frozen in the air and he couldn't move a single muscle. Graham gestured at Luuk and the latter nodded.

"Your knife is mine!" he made a swiping motion and the knife in the man's hands disappeared, only to reappeared in Luuk's hand.

The man had an expression of extreme anger reflected in his eyes and on his face. His bloodshot eyes were looking at the two intruders with hatred.

Luuk swung the severed hand and threw it at the possessed man.

"Your anger is mine!"

The severed hand looked like it could move on its own and aimed for the man's head. It then held on to the head and after that, Luuk promptly pulled it back. There was now something glowing in the severed hand.

The man, having his anger stolen, now looked docile and calm.

"Great job. It makes it easier for me to remove the malicious spirit," said Graham calmly.

Graham concentrated on the illusory flame in front of him and used his divination to see the true form of the creature. The flame then showed an image of something that looked like an old, boney man with rotting skin and gray hair. The old man's eyes and mouth were hollow, appearing as an endless abyss.

Once he could see the creature's true form, Graham focused on the creature and shouted his Order.

"I order you to leave the man's body!"

His words sounded like thunder to both the Dybbuk and the man. The man began shaking violently and blood started coming out of his eyes and mouth. Shortly after, something that was almost invisible came out of the man and quickly charged at Graham.

"I ask that you burn this creature into ashes!"

Woosh!

He had taken out his lighter and used Fire Manipulation to shoot it at the Dybbuk. The flame quickly engulfed the unsuspecting creature and burned its very spirit.

"Shriek!!"

A loud shriek came out of the creature's hollow mouth as it was turning into smoke. Not long after, the Dybbuk was no more, and in its place, there was a green pearl that emitted a sinister aura.