A Serious Discussion

"What is that, Mr. Hymes?" Johann looked with intrigue at the note on the wooden desk.

There was only one word written on it: 'Cherub'.

Johann understood the detective's intention of writing down the name instead of saying it. It must be an entity whose name they shouldn't say out loud, just like their Deities. However, it was something he had never seen nor heard before, and the name strangely evoked a certain inexplicable emotion within him.

Graham moved his illusory flame to the middle of the desk with his thought. He was wearing a solemn expression although his body was relaxed.

"I'll just show you. Just make sure you don't say any of what you see out loud, just to be safe," he reminded them weightily. He didn't mention that he had said the names out loud before, although fortunately, nothing had happened to him back then.

Hearing the seriousness in the detective's tone, everyone nodded.

Graham then focused on the mural that he had seen back then with Luuk inside the cave-- the mural that depicted a scene of a battle. Concentrating on the flame in front of him, he asked the same question he had done back then about it.

An image gradually appeared in the flame, showing the relief that was hidden inside a ruin that no longer existed. It portrayed an old, bearded man leading an army of horned beings. The thin, boney old man was riding a horse and carrying a pitchfork that he raised up high as if signalling at his followers to charge.

On the opposite side was a bizarre, eight-winged figure with hooves instead of feet. The figure's four heads belonged to four different creatures all growing from the same body that was covered by a pair of wings. The winged figure was also leading an army of winged beings, thirst for blood filled their rocky eyes.

Below the relief carved on the wall, there was a writing in an unknown language, that after all this time was still unknown to Graham. His divination then created an illusory text above the original, in a language that they all understood.

'Knight Furcas valiantly leading twenty legions of spirits against a damned Cherub with his degenerate army of angels'

After that, Graham stopped the divination and turned his attention to the three people in front of him. They were all wearing a different expression. Johann was intrigued, Agatha was concerned, and Luuk was indifferent since it wasn't his first time seeing it.

"Where did you find such a thing?" asked Johann curiously. He seemed to be more concerned about the fact that such secrets actually existed and were waiting to be discovered by people just like him.

"That was inside an ancient ruin inside a cave. However, the ruin has disappeared now-- or to be precise, someone powerful has made it disappear," he explained.

Johann looked rather disappointed, but he quickly hid his emotion.

Agatha seemed to be thinking seriously about something, and after a while, she finally spoke.

"That being is the one we saw in the book that belongs to Pravitatem, is it not? If my conjecture is correct, does it meant that they are trying to summon that being onto this world?" she said gravely.

There was genuine concern in her tone, although she didn't know precisely what the being the enemy tried to summon was. She only had a feeling that it must be a powerful entity.

Luuk was looking at the other three people in the room and thought to himself, this is like a gathering of smart people. What am I doing here?

Responding to Agatha's statement, Graham nodded.

"That's also what I think. It seems that their actions are all aimed at realizing that purpose. We should definitely tell the Police somehow, although they might still be busy dealing with the aftermath of the Pale Society," the detective added his own thought.

"What are those beings anyway? Have you learned of something else that we don't know?" Johann asked with a little bit of suspicion.

Graham smiled bitterly. He then took a deep breath and relaxed his muscles.

"The other figure that you saw just now is the Deity of Fire Divination. It should explain to you what kind of being He is fighting. For Him to bring an entire army of those horned figures, the being must be very powerful," he spoke without mentioning the names.

"Your Deity?!" Johann sounded surprised, "So that being is at a Deity level?!"

Graham nodded.

"Have you ever heard of a being called 'Angel'? I have a feeling that what my Deity was fighting is a kind of Angel, a high-ranked one at that," he added.

"So my suspicion was right," Agatha chimed in, "I have heard of the beings called Angels from my mentor; that was before he disappeared. He told me that Angels were powerful, terrible beings that can challenge the Deities themselves. They bring forth destructions and pain in their wake, reducing everything into rubble and ashes. There are several ranks of Angels, and the being we just saw is most likely one of the highest-ranking ones, although I do not know the detail. My mentor just said that the more wings they have, the higher their rank is."

Surprise surfaced on everyone's faces, including Graham's. The Cherub that they saw had eight wings!

"Then that's the more reason for telling the Police about all this. However, summoning such a strong being can't be that easy. There must be a lot of preparations and sacrifices needed, so we might safely assume that Pravitatem's plan is nowhere near fruition yet. Although, we can't rest too easy either. But at least it will give us time to prepare ourselves," Graham concluded.

Agatha, Johann, and Luuk nodded.

"It is just too unfortunate that I have not seen the whole ritual yet. You divinators might have been able to interpret more than just the name of the being they are trying to summon," she added with slight regret.

"It is fine. This much is enough. If you have read more, that woman from before might have killed us all..." Graham paused, and then added, "easily."

"This is something that is a too high level for someone like me," Luuk complained. However, there was a mix of excitement in his dejected voice for some reason.

Graham, picking up the subtle joy in his neighbor's voice, looked at him and raised his eyebrow.

"Why did you sound excited? Is it because it means you have another reason to skip classes?" he accused straightforwardly.

Graham's words seemed to have hit the bull's eye. Luuk couldn't respond and could only smile bitterly.

"I take it there is nothing we can do now but to inform the Police?" Agatha asked.

Both Johann and Graham nodded.

"That's the best we can do. I didn't expect things to involve such high-level entities," Johann clenched his fist, "I still want my revenge, but I don't think I am strong enough to do that right now."

"The best that we can do right now is to power up and to inform the authority. Agatha, I believe you have a way of anonymously contacting the Police? Or maybe you don't even have to do it anonymously," Graham turned his attention to the beautiful woman.

She smiled and nodded.

"Leave informing the Police to me. I will also try to gather more information about the organization that we are dealing with. Let us hope that we can all work together and prevent the worst from happening."

Finally, Luuk spoke, "So, Mr. Bockhorst, what about our payment?"

Johann laughed amusedly and then tapped Luuk's shoulder.

"Mr. van der Meer, I almost forgot about it! Hahaha! Of course, I will still pay you. This much information is very valuable. Do you know how much I can sell it to the right person?"

Graham's eyes opened wide.

"Hahaha! It seems that even Mr. Hymes is interested. I cannot tell you the detail, since it's a trade secret, but I can assure you, it's a lot! But anyway, I will still pay you for your service," he said merrily as if already forgetting the seriousness of the things they had just talked about.

Johann grabbed the briefcase in his hand and took out an envelope before handing it to Luuk. He also got a long needle out of the brown briefcase that was attached to an invisible string and placed it on the desk.

"That is your monetary incentive," he looked at Luuk and then turned to Graham, "While this needle artifact is yours, Mr. Hymes."

Luuk received the envelope and counted the money inside. His eyes were glimmering as he counted the amount, which seemed to be exceeding his expectation.

Meanwhile, Graham was examining the artifact that was called the Needle of Sutekh. His heart was filled with excitement. It was the offensive weapon that he so needed since his gun had been stolen. The needle had the ability to copy and enhance the property of the surface it was dipped in, so he could dip the needle in a paralyzing solution to create a paralysis needle that required no ammunition. He could also make it act like a blood bullet, although he didn't know what kind of blood he had to dip it in for it to work.

Looking at the detective, he asked, "Thanks for this artifact, but is this really alright? This must be worth a lot of money, so is there a catch?"

Johann smiled.

"Besides the negative effect, there really is nothing else. I just can't handle that artifact anymore since, as you all have seen, I don't have the best self control at times," he said bitterly.

Graham nodded. It was indeed true that for someone with an explosive tendency, the artifact can easily corrupt them, making them tread the path of bloodshed. Graham and Valentine were confident in their own self-control, and besides, the former could implant thoughts in their own head to negate the downside of the artifact.

"Then I'll gladly take it off your hand," Graham said. He would use divination later to make sure it was a hundred percent safe for him to use the artifact.

"If there is nothing else, I think I will excuse myself, Mr. Hymes," Agatha said, smiling politely at Graham, then turned her attention to the man next to her, "Mr. Bockhorst, would you like me to give you a ride?"

"If you don't mind, Ms. van Nostrand," the detective replied.

"So what is your plan now?" Graham asked the two before they left.

"I'm going to focus on pleasing my second Deity first. It will take a long while," Johann replied nonchalantly.

"I am still trying to please my Deity, Mr. Hymes. I am impressed by how fast you could do yours," she complimented.

Graham wasn't surprised that she knew he had pleased his since he and Valentine had displayed different President rank abilities back then.

"What about you, Mr. Hymes?" she then asked.

Rubbing his chin and leaning back on his chair, Graham replied, "I think I'm going out of town again. I need to gather more materials."

Luuk, who had finished counting the money, look at his detective neighbor. He seemed surprised to hear that the man was leaving town again after just coming back.

"Where are you going this time, Mr. Hymes?" asked Luuk.

"I'm going to Rijssen. My divination told me that is where I can get one of my materials," Graham replied.

Johann and Agatha nodded while Luuk wore a complicated expression on his face.

"Then we'll take our leave now. Thank you so much for your help, Mr. Hymes, Mr. van der Meer," Johann offered a handshake.

Graham got up and shook the man's hand firmly. Agatha also got up and fixed her leaf-green dress a little elegantly before making her way towards the door, following the two men.

"Wish you the best of luck," Johann said as he exited the detective office.

"Leave the Police to me, Mr. Hymes. I wish you a pleasant trip to Rijssen," Agatha bid her goodbye.

The two guests walked down the creaky corridor and went downstairs, disappearing from their sight. There were now only Graham and Luuk left, the latter had sat down on the sofa with the envelope full of money in his hand.

"When are you going to Rijssen, Mr. Hymes?" the young medical student asked.

Walking back to his chair, Graham sat down leisurely, leaning against the backrest.

"Most likely tomorrow. There is really nothing I need to do here, so I'd rather leave as soon as I can," he replied.

"And how long are you going to stay there?"

"Probably a while. I will set up a business there to make money. I am in dire need of money right now. That Johann gave me a really good idea for a business. Why? Do you want to come with me?"

Having been read right through, Luuk looked rather embarrassed.

"Honestly, yes. I really need a vacation. You don't know how boring life has been for me. Since the world is in great danger anyway because of Pravitatem, I feel like I need to focus on saving it. I'm sure my professors will understand the reason for my skipping classes," he scratched the back of his head.

Looking over his shoulder, Graham muttered, "Val, look at what we have done to this poor university student. He is an adventure addict now, and has caught the hero syndrome."

Graham turned back to Luuk and said, "If that's your decision, I wouldn't mind. But I will be staying for a while, so if you come with me, you will miss a lot of classes."

"I've made up my mind. Besides, I can always go back ahead of you," Luuk replied quickly.

Graham nodded in approval.

"Then, let's get ready. Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, we'll depart to Rijssen."