20 Brass Talisman

Investigate Mr. Grant's lover? Was this the legendary adultery commission? Who would have thought that Mr. Grant, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, had such a playboy…

Abner looked at Jane, whose face was full of frustration, and sighed. "Tell me what happened from the beginning. Maybe you misunderstood something."

"Really, Ebner?" Jane's face lit up with anticipation. She'd been living happily ever since she was a child, and she didn't want her present life to be ruined in the slightest. Her feelings for her father were extremely conflicted at the moment. She wanted to expose him for what he really was, but she didn't want him to really betray his family.

"Tell me about it!" Ebner was very patient with this energetic young lady.

"Let me think… I have to start from last Sunday. That day, I didn't sleep because I was reading a novel late at night. Around 11 pm, I suddenly heard the sound of the shop door opening… I thought that a thief had entered, so I secretly took the shotgun that was used to defend my house and went to the shop to check… Who knew that I would see my father sneakily opening the door and going out in a long robe… That day, I didn't sleep for the entire night and only found out that he was back at 4 am…"

Ebner frowned when he heard that. He felt that something was not right. According to the experience from the television series in his previous life, shouldn't a man find an excuse to go out openly even if he was having an affair? This sneaking around… Could it be because he wasn't familiar with it? Furthermore, lady, you actually went to catch a thief with a gun? That's a little silly.

"In the next few days, I pretended to sleep early and observed in secret. In the end, I found that he secretly went out every day at that time!" Jane was a little angry when she said this. She was obviously complaining about her father.

"What about your mother? Did she really not notice anything?" Ebner asked.

"My mother's sleep quality has been very good recently. She only wakes up at dawn… And I don't know exactly what my father went out to do, so I never dared to tell her…" Jane couldn't bear to think of her mother's increasingly good complexion these days.

The quality of her sleep had been good recently… Was it so coincidental?

Ebner had a vague feeling that Mr. Grant might have some other secret. It might not be as Jane thought…

After pondering for a moment, he asked again, "Then, has Mr. Grant been acting strangely recently?"

Jane thought carefully before answering, "Every time he comes back at three or four in the morning, he will take a long shower. He didn't have this habit before… Also, he seems very tired after coming back. His complexion is also very bad. He usually takes a break until noon to recover a little."

This sounded like an affair…

After listening to Jane's description, Ebner weighed the pros and cons in his heart and decided to help her investigate. Firstly, Jane was a good friend of the Host, and she had helped the Host when she was at her lowest. After receiving everything from the Host, he had to help her. Secondly, the little girl's naive and innocent smile had relieved Ebner's suppressed heart since he transmigrated. He couldn't bear to see a worried look on her clean and cute face.

Seeing that Ebner agreed to the request, Jane smiled brightly. She took out 15 soli notes from her pocket and said, "This is my pocket money. It's all for your investigation!"

Ebner wasn't willing to accept her money, but Jane firmly stuffed the money into his hands and said, "Ebner, you just paid four weeks in advance. It must be very difficult now. This kind of private investigation can't be reimbursed by Detective Isengard, so don't decline!" At this point, she half turned around and gathered her blond hair that was draped over her shoulders, then continued, "I know that you've always been grateful for the help I gave you when your family was in trouble… Actually, you don't have to do this. That's not a lot of money. You took care of business in my shop twice after that, so you've long returned the money."

Listening to the other party clumsily trying to find an excuse for him to collect the money, Ebner couldn't help but laugh. However, he felt very warm in his heart and became even more interested in the original owner's friend. She was no longer just a 'good friend' in his memories or a 'happy young lady'.

After Jane left, Detective Isengard looked at Ebner, who had returned after sending her out, and said with a smile, "Logically speaking, as your assistant, I should get a commission from you in my office… But seeing that Miss Grant is so cute and makes an old man like me happy, I won't argue with you."

Ebner knew that he could not hide the conversation from his teacher, so he ignored his obvious teasing and asked, "What do you think Mr. Grant is like?"

"It can't be an affair! As for what happened, how would I know without investigating?" Detective Isengard first pointed out before sizing up Ebner and teasing him again. "You are indeed a handsome young man. No wonder you are so popular with girls. Last time, there was Miss Xio, and now there's Miss Grant."

"Teacher, stop joking!" Ebner protested helplessly. He really did not have those thoughts. After The Fool's arrival at the end of the month, this world would be one big event after another. Even the apocalypse would not be far away! He was now focused on improving his strength and surviving.

"I just wanted you to relax! When you came back, your face was full of anxiety and unwillingness. What triggered you?" The detective had sharp eyes and immediately noticed that his student's mentality was not right.

After Jane's visit, Ebner had actually calmed down quite a bit. However, he still sighed and said, "Thank you for your concern, Teacher… I might have encountered a Sequence 5 today… So I feel that I'm too weak!"

Since it involved a Sequence 5 Beyonder, Detective Isengard turned serious. He didn't ask for the details and only patted his student's shoulder. "Knowledge is power! Since you think it's weak, I'll teach you a ritual knowledge that can increase your combat strength today."

"What ritual? Teacher?" Ebner asked in surprise. He had learned a lot of ritualistic magic in the past few days, but each of them required a long time of preparation. Unless it was an ambush, it was useless in a battle.

"A ritual to create charms! We, readers, lack means to deal with enemies in the Low-Sequence Beyonders, but charms can be quickly activated with simple incantations after being created!" Detective Isengard answered as he took out various ritual items.

A charm? I remember in the novel that Klein used the Flaring Sun Charm made from the divine blood of the Eternal Blazing Sun to interrupt the descent of the True Creator's son. It's indeed quite powerful… However, I'm probably overthinking things. After all, I don't have divine blood.

Just as Ebner was letting his imagination run wild, Detective Isengard said to him, "I remember that when you bought the main ingredient of the Reader, you bought an additional 10 grams of the Manjas monkey's brain slice? Take it out. I need to use it."

"How did you know?" Ebner reacted as soon as he asked the question. How could his teacher not know the Reader formula? And he had bought it at a gathering organized by his teacher.

As expected, Detective Isengard couldn't be bothered to answer his student's stupid question. After placing three candles, he found three charms made of brass that he had long prepared.

Ebner took a closer look and realized that the brass charm had the symbol of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom painted on both sides.

Right on the heels of that, Detective Isengard rummaged for a bottle of mercury and used his spirituality to guide the liquid inside to flow into the mark of the charm, filling up all the lines.

Finally, after repeating the procedure and completing all three charms, Detective Isengard placed them in front of the candle and took the manjas monkey brain slice from Ebner, placing two grams on each.

It was only then that Detective Isengard explained to Ebner, "The power and effect of the charm depends on the materials you sacrifice. The brain slices of the Manhas Monkey aren't of high quality, and the charms they make can only be of low quality. However, it's enough for you."

Ebner nodded. After putting away the remaining 4 grams of brain slices, he continued to watch the teacher hold the ceremony seriously.

After piously bowing to the Sacred Emblem, Detective Isengard took a step back and chanted in ancient Hermes with an experienced voice,

"I pray for the power of knowledge;

"I pray for the power of reason;

"I pray for the grace of the God of Wisdom."

"Please let the items on the altar form charms…"

…

Just as Detective Isengard's rhythmic and mysterious voice sounded, the altar in front of him immediately turned dark and deep, as though an indescribable godhood was emanating from the candle in the middle.

The candle flame suddenly expanded, but it failed to illuminate the surroundings. Instead, it dyed the three brass charms on the altar with countless complicated symbols and flowing numbers. They were either large or small, thick or dense.

But in the blink of an eye, the symbols and numbers disappeared.

Detective Isengard rubbed his dizzy head, then retracted his gaze and said in a deep voice,

"Thank you for your gift."

"Praise your existence."

After that, he didn't delay and immediately ended the ritual and removed the wall of spirituality.

"Alright, I just took a look. You should thank God for his blessings, allowing them to be effective for at least half a year! It's only normal for similar charms to last for a month or two." Detective Isengard played with the three charms before handing them to his student and said, "Since it's the Beyonder ingredients you provided, I'll give them all to you."

Ebner didn't stand ceremony. There was no need for him to stand on ceremony with his teacher. He happily received the brass charm and asked, "What is the use of this charm? And how should it be used?" He could actually use the White Eye to analyze its effects but facing his teacher at such a close distance, he was afraid of being exposed even with his glasses covering him.

"By chanting Blue Star in ancient Hermes, it can be triggered. As for its effects, it can cause the brain of a target to overload for 1 to 2 seconds. Of course, this is only for Low-Sequence Beyonders. It doesn't have much effect on the existences above Sequence 7. At most, they will be dazed for a moment." With that said, Isengard smiled and teased Ebner. "Actually, you even earned it. Charms with this ability are very popular. At my gathering, one can be sold for at least 30 pounds!"

Ebner's eyes lit up when he heard that, and he agreed with his teacher's words. Low-Sequence Beyonders had average defenses, and one or two seconds was enough to determine life and death. This charm was extremely effective as a trump card.

With that thought in mind, Ebner used his practice as an excuse to rub off on his teacher's ritual items. He planned to make all the remaining Manjas monkey brain slices into charms, so he might be able to sell one or two at the party that night.