Xio's Investigation Results

When Ebner woke up again, it was already late at night. Although he had "slept" for more than six hours, he still felt a throbbing pain in his head. Clearly, his dried spirituality had yet to recover.

"What exactly happened to you? Why is your spirituality so completely drained? Do you know that when you were sent back by the police officer, I nearly thought that you would lose control and become a monster on the spot! I've never seen anyone's spirituality dry up to such a state… No, even a dead person wouldn't have no spirituality left!" Detective Isengard, who had been guarding by the bed, couldn't help but feel alarmed when he saw that he had woken up.

Everything in this world had spirits, and everything was evolved from the original Creator. Therefore, even dead objects had spirituality! Beyonders would lose control once their spirituality dropped to a certain level.

Ebner now understood this knowledge as well. He knew that his state just now definitely didn't make sense, so he thought to himself, "Did the pure white eye protect my spirit from losing control? Or did the God of Knowledge favor me again? It doesn't seem like it… Mental bodies aren't like the body. It's very difficult to resolve the loss of control caused by the depletion of spirituality from the outside… Wait, everything was evolved from the original Creator, and all the madness and corruption came from Him… But I'm not… My soul must have come from an alternate universe or even a higher dimensional universe. So… my soul doesn't have the foundation to lose control? But that's not right. If there's really no initial influence, then where did my spirituality come from? Hmm, this is a possibility. I need to verify it in the future."

Despite his thoughts, Ebner feigned a look of lingering fear and said, "When I was using a Beyonder item to observe something, I suddenly suffered a backlash… That item might be related to existence with a very high level."

"How dare you look at something like that? Why didn't you turn into a monster on the spot?" Detective Isengard snapped. He had expected better from his student who was good at courting death.

I didn't want to analyze such a dangerous thing either… Ebner felt very wronged. He really didn't want to do this. As for why his body didn't mutate, this was probably due to the protection of the pure white eye. After all, his body was different from his soul. It was the original product of this world.

Seeing that Ebner was still in low spirits, Detective Isengard left after cursing him a few times so that he could have a better rest.

"Teacher must have guessed that I have some secrets… But if he doesn't ask, I'll just play dumb!" Ebner sighed inwardly and closed his glasses again.

However, he was having a headache and couldn't fall asleep. After tossing and turning for a while, he sat up again and recalled the gray fog he saw before he fainted.

Some of the essences of that doll is actually related to the gray fog… What a scam! Now, the almighty ruler above the gray fog isn't the gentle and kind Klein. Then, what was I analyzing previously? Sefirah Castle? Or even the Celestial Venerable? Thinking of this, Ebner couldn't help but break out in cold sweat. Just as his teacher had said, he was blessed by the gods for not dying on the spot.

"I remember Miss Justice's mirror, Mr. Hanged Man's glass bottle, and Ma'am Hermit's celestial globe are all items related to Sefirah Castle. They represent the red stars in the gray fog… That doll should be something similar. Heh heh, my rash analysis wasn't completely fruitless. At the very least, I know what the essence of this connection is! Sss…" Due to the pain in his body, Ebner let out a twisted laugh, but he finally felt his spirituality recover a little.

"Since I know the essence of this connection, I can design a ritual to give certain items special attributes, allowing them to be connected to the gray fog and become a red star. Of course, this connection is only one-sided. Only by The Fool's response can we truly establish a connection. In essence, it's similar to using ancient Hermes to recite The Fool's honorific name."

Therefore, this harvest is actually useless? Hmm… That's not entirely true. At the very least, it will provide a new path for me to join the Tarot Club in the future. To join the Tarot Club, directly interacting with Klein in real life is the worst choice. There are too many great existences watching him, and it's easy to fall into their trap if I get close to him. In the future, even if I want to exchange information with him, I have to pass through Sefirah Castle! And reciting honorific names might not necessarily achieve my goal. With Klein's cautiousness, he wouldn't dare respond to strangers reciting his name! Isn't he afraid that it's sent by the True Creator or Amon? Instead, it's like Ma'am Hermit or Little Sun, using items related to Sefirah Castle to pray for things that interest him. That's the most likely way to achieve his goal of being pulled above the gray fog…

As Ebner thought about it, his sleepiness finally overpowered the pain, and his eyelids began to fail to lift. He yawned and lay back on the bed. Within moments he was asleep.

…

At the same time, in a dark alley in East Borough, Xio wore a black cloak and hid behind a short wall. She stole a glance at a pale man loading the corpse of a tramp that had fallen in the trash onto a cart. At that moment, there were two dirty and thin corpses on the cart.

Is he… collecting the corpses of the homeless who starve to death and freeze to death in East Borough? I remember that this person is the owner of a clothing store. Why would he do such a thankless task? Xio's beautiful eyes were filled with confusion, but she quickly recalled the "acting method" that Ebner had mentioned. As she had already determined that the "acting method" was effective after a week of experimentation, she couldn't help but have a thought. "This person is… acting? He's a Corpse Collector?!"

I heard that the Corpse Collector pathway is in the hands of the Church of Evernight and the Numinous Episcopate… Ebner once said that the Church's low-level Beyonders don't know the "acting method," so he's very likely a member of the Numinous Episcopate? Yes, I have to remind Ebner to be careful when investigating him.

Just as Xio thought of this, the man who was collecting the corpse suddenly turned around. Clearly, he had discovered her hiding behind the wall.

Hugh was instantly alarmed. She had no idea how she had been exposed, but her good sense of battle made her respond quickly. Not only did she take the triangular blade with the unknown poison, but she also retrieved the brass charm Ebner had given her.

Then, she saw the man opposite her take out a brass charm. It was identical to the one in her hand…

The atmosphere became awkward.

The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds. The man who collected the corpse was the first to lose his patience. He lowered his voice and asked, "Who are you? Why are you spying on me?"

Xio obviously couldn't expose Ebner, so after a moment of silence, she replied, "I'm East Borough's bounty hunter, Arbiter. Someone entrusted me to investigate why you smuggled the corpse." Although she wasn't good at lying, it didn't mean that she wouldn't. Besides, her words were essentially the truth.

"Are you an official Beyonder?" the man asked in a panic.

"Heh, it looks like you seldom come to East Borough. You don't even know about the Arbiter." Xio pursed her lips, a little bothered by the fact that her name didn't have any effect.

Although Xio didn't answer directly, the man roughly understood that the lady in front of him was also a wild Beyonder like him. Therefore, he relaxed his guard slightly and explained, "I'm not smuggling corpses. I just want to bury them!"

"If you aren't the undertaker of the cemetery, why did you do it?" Xio asked directly.

"I'm sorry, I have my reasons… I can only guarantee that I didn't steal the corpse, nor am I doing anything bad!" The man hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'll host the Soul Pacifying Ceremony later. You can watch from the side!"

This person doesn't seem to be wary of other Beyonders… He's a standard rookie! Just like me back then… If I hadn't met Fors… Xio sighed, knowing that this person had probably taken his daily habits as an ordinary person into the world of Beyonders. How dangerous was ritualistic magic? Typically, only people who were absolutely trusted would be allowed to watch from the sidelines. Otherwise, if they were tampered with, the outcome would be tragic.

"Then let's go!" Xio felt a rare sense of compassion. She planned on helping this person take care of him tonight and subtly remind him after the ritual ended.

…

On the morning of the rotation, Ebner slept until eight o'clock before opening his eyes. He concentrated and meditated for a while, then heaved a sigh of relief when he realized that his spirituality had completely recovered.

"As long as there are no side effects!"

With that in mind, he walked out of the bedroom and learned through the servants that Detective Isengard had gone out to investigate the case. Only then did he remember that they had taken on the job of investigating the eleven missing cases entrusted to them by Sivellaus Yard the day before.

It looks like I won't have time to read in the public library today. After meeting Xio, I'll have to report to the police department in Cherwood Borough. There's still one of the two cases my teacher handed me that haven't been solved.

After adjusting his plan, Ebner immediately rushed to East Borough and successfully met Miss Xio in that small restaurant.

"You don't look too good! Are you sick?" Xio looked at the obviously dispirited Ebner and asked with concern.

"It's just a backlash from an extraordinary item…" Ebner didn't wish to talk too much about it as he asked, "Did you obtain anything from your end?"

Xio thought for a moment before asking tactfully, "Isn't your classmate's father a little silly?"

Ebner was stunned. He recalled how Mr. Grant was polite to people and asked, "Why do you ask?"

"His mysticism knowledge is rather rich, but he's very naive in many areas!" Xio recounted the entire story of her encounter with him last night to Ebner in detail.

"He has my brass charm?" Ebner was first puzzled by the news, but he immediately recalled the "newcomer" who had bought his last charm at the Beyonder gathering the day before.

"That person should be Mr. Grant! No wonder I found his figure familiar when I followed him…"