Original Story and Invitation

1-025 once appeared here?

The owner of this place had obtained the Sealed Artifact and was distorted by the negative effects. That was why he committed such atrocities?

Hmm… It's also possible that he was completely controlled by 1-025!

As his thoughts raced, Ebner did not hesitate and directly simulated his "flying" ability to soar into the sky. To him, he had no obligation to investigate the matter. The reason he came was first because the enemy's strength was average, and secondly, out of sympathy for the kidnapped girl. If he could save her, he would have saved her.

However, if a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact could appear here, the situation would be completely different. If he didn't leave now, would he, a Sequence 7, stay behind to have supper with a suspected "cursed object"?

Ebner flew far away at full speed until he was almost in Hillston Borough. Only then did he slow down and heave a sigh of relief.

After returning to Detective Isengard's office, Ebner realized that he had returned a little earlier than Xio… He couldn't help but laugh. He felt that he was really timid. The first thought he had when he encountered a situation that he might not be able to handle was to escape.

If he hadn't noticed anything abnormal, he might not have stopped in Hillston Borough and flown to the Harvest Church.

Standing in the doorway of her teacher's house, Ebner let his mind wander as he waited for Xio to arrive.

At this moment, it was completely silent. The night was dark, and most of the people had already fallen asleep. He was the only one nearby, breathing in the cool air mixed with fragrances, creating some sizzling sounds.

Everything was peaceful and serene.

About ten minutes later, the arrival of a carriage broke the silence.

Xio had just jumped off the carriage when she saw Ebner waiting at the door. She couldn't help but exclaim, "So fast?"

"There was an accident…" As the carriage driver was still around, Ebner didn't talk much. Instead, he asked curiously, "You can hire a rental carriage at this late hour?"

"Bujolem is a friend of mine. He usually serves a merchant and also lives near Williams Street… Shoko hasn't woken up just now, so I had to trouble him," Xio casually explained before introducing the driver named Bujolem to Ebner.

"It's an honor to meet you, our 'hero detective.'" Bujolem smiled and greeted Ebner before continuing. "I'm glad I could help you, Miss Xio."

While Ebner was exchanging pleasantries with the coachman, Shoko, whose poison had not yet fully cleared from his body, struggled to get out of the carriage. When he saw Ebner, his face was full of gratitude and he kept thanking him.

Ebner had something else to ask him, so after saying goodbye to the coachman, he helped him into his room, and Xio joined him.

He turned on the gas lamp and heated up the Feysac cuisine that he had packed from Shewell Restaurant before placing it on a small table in the room. He made the two of them sit around the table and eat something.

Ebner then poured himself a cup of Sonia blood wine and asked Shoko, "Can you tell me how you discovered that Williams Street family was abducting girls?"

Xio glanced at a piece of cake smeared with cream in front of her. Without bothering to be polite to Ebner, she raised her hand and grabbed it.

Shoko, on the other hand, was more reserved. Although he was already very hungry, he deliberated for a moment before asking, "Detective Bryan, do you know Ma'am Leena?"

"Witch Leena? She's still in Backlund? Did you get your Assassin potion from her?" Ebner frowned. According to the news he had received, Leena had probably gone far away because of her father and brother's murder.

That news was sent to the Forsaken Land from Prince Edessak… In that case, Lina and His Highness might not have really fallen out.

As Ebner was thinking this, he heard Shoko praise him with mixed emotions.

As expected of a Hero Detective. He managed to deduce my situation with just a few words…

Anyone who knew a little about the Demoness pathway could guess it, right? This level of flattery wasn't enough.

While complaining in his heart, Ebner asked thoughtfully, "You're working for her… So, Leena instructed you to do this?"

"That's right." Shoko nodded and continued.

"Because I recently assassinated some scum from East Borough, Miss Lina was worried that I would be ambushed, so she gave me a mission to retrieve something from her at 16 Williams Street.

"Yes, 16 Williams Street was originally Lieutenant Berner's property, but a few weeks ago, the lieutenant mortgaged the house to the bank and took a large sum of money.

"Later, as you know, after the news of Lieutenant Berner's death spread, the bank immediately auctioned off the property and soon had a buyer.

"It was a gentleman who returned from East Balam with a large sum of cash in hand. He happened to buy the house.

Heh heh, I habitually gather this information. It looks very normal… But the night before I planned on taking action, I happened to discover this scum from East Balam hiring gang members to forcefully abduct a girl who was alone…

"And I recognize one of the girls… she's the fiancée of Inspector Wayne's youngest son, Miss Jennifer."

Ebner looked at the officer who had dared to make a scene at Inspector Wayne's funeral and immediately understood his motive. "So you just snuck in to save him?" he asked.

"I heard that that person would be going out to socialize tonight, and the bodyguards he hired would also be accompanying him, so… who would have thought that there would be such a ferocious beast in his house!" At this point, Shoko's expression turned ugly. It was obvious that his emotional fluctuation had affected his injuries. After a while, he asked again, "When you went to that villa previously, did you save the girl who was abducted?"

Ebner shook his head and sighed. "I didn't find anyone alive in that mansion..." It was the truth. He'd been running as fast as he could, but he really hadn't noticed the presence of a living person there.

Shoko deflated at that. "I don't know how sad Bruce will be… He's liked Jennifer since he was a kid…"

The three of them fell silent for a moment. Ebner arranged for Shoko, who was clearly in low spirits, to rest in the guest room. Then, he said to Xio, "Go and report to MI9 now. Tell them that there might be a Rose School of Thought werewolf in that villa."

"Didn't you say that…" Xio was puzzled at first, but she quickly reacted and said in enlightenment, "That's to attract MI9's attention?"

As he couldn't provide any evidence, it was impossible for Ebner to say anything about 1-025. Therefore, he could only use the Rose School of Thought as an excuse to report the case to the officials. And the Rose School of Thought had previously dispatched a demigod during the war in the northwest suburbs. It was unlikely that the military would take this matter lightly.

"That's right." Ebner nodded slightly. Although the Sealed Artifact appeared to be rather intelligent and might not reap much from the official operation, he had to give it a try.

"Alright, I'll go now." Xio had clearly thought of this as well. She immediately stood up and took another honey biscuit before leaving.

Ebner smiled and shook his head. After cleaning up the leftovers, he washed up and fell asleep on the bed.

The next morning, Ebner arrived at the garden villa in Cherwood Borough as usual.

Seeing him enter, Mrs. Skade quickly came up to him and said with a smile, "The renovation is complete, and the new furniture is ready… Yes, the books you bought over the past two days are also on the bookshelf."

"Very good." A smile appeared on Ebner's face upon hearing that. It was clear that the books he had bought at the last minute were used as cover for the Feast of Blood. Now that everything was ready, he could only wait for the actors to enter.

With that in mind, Ebner took out a pen and paper, wrote a list, and handed it to Mrs. Skade. "I'm going to hold a party here tomorrow night," he instructed. "I hope you and Mr. Skade are ready… and send the invitation to the address on this list."

Mrs. Skade nodded her assent at first, but when she took the list and looked at it, her expression became rather strange, for apart from Mr. Mac, Mr. Stanton, and a few other men at the top, it was all:

"Miss Xio Derecha,

Miss Fors Wall;

Miss Susan Ravenwood;

Miss Roman Brandon;

Daly Miss Simone.

…

"…"

Would there really be no problem? Mrs. Skade hesitated for a moment before asking tentatively, "Does… does everyone on this list really have to send an invitation?"