The map

"Have you seen this map before?" He asked, waving the paper in front of Winston, who was bending over to arrange empty cups and bottles on the floor.

"Where did you get it?" Winston asked.

"In there, in the space between the table and the wall." Althur pointed to the messy cocktail minibar. The minibar seemed more comfortable when the mysterious liquid was sealed. Althur believed that if it was left any longer, it would cause the whole room to mutate.

He held the map, already a bit brittle from the sun and the alcohol in the air, with stains and red ink obscuring most details.

There are red circles and slashes on the map, places in the northern region that are only loosely represented on the map, and a few scattered places outside. No letters or strange symbols were on the map. It all seemed to be the result of a drunken person's spontaneity. Althur wondered what this map meant. He hoped that this associated helper would at least understand the meaning of the ink marks left behind. Is this somehow connected to the man's own death?

Recognizing the request, the man quickly approached, ignoring the messy pile of things he had just folded to take a closer look at the paper. Winsotn came over and examined the cheap map of Calico City.

"Looks like it's been there for a while," Winston said.

"We've been here a long time, and this place is easy to remember. I can't remember how long it's been since I touched a map like this."

"What about the marks?"

"Did you make any connections?" Althur asked.

"Has he done any research recently?"

"He only experiments with his drinks, as far as I know. But if the sanctum authorities found out he was using holy water in his mixtures, they would surely accuse him of blasphemy and imprison him without a fair trial."

Winston tried to remember but could barely conjure anything up. A few red dots marked the places he knew. Most of them were in the northern part of the city, and a picture formed in his mind, like a piece of a puzzle being put together.

"I heard that the exorcism area is usually in the northern region." Althur said as he tried to piece together the scant information on the map.

"There, and there," Winston pointed.

"Maybe these are the places where we usually do exorcisms." That was the first thing that came to mind when Winston said that.

"I remember those two areas. It was a place where there was a vengeful wraith. He was a miner who died of lung disease. His body was buried in the sewers, undiscovered until it was discovered. However, this stench is nothing compared to the terrible stench in the north.

"However, there are some sensitive people. As it happened, the man who worked with the ghost was possessed for a while while searching for his friend. We had to rush over to deal with the situation."

"We do this work out of compassion, not for compensation. We care for these people even though they have nothing to give us. We pray for peace and rest for the dead and hope for the living.

"'That man seems to be recovering well."

"It's been too long since I've been in a temple or church."

Winston sighed. "But after that, I had to listen to the bishop's sermons to calm myself down. At least I understood how Bishop Colby objected to people digging deeper into the ground."

"And what is the second place you recognize?"

Winston traced his finger from the chaotic neighborhood to the north, slightly to the west, and after stopping, said, "This place, if I'm not mistaken, is The Innocents Cemetery.

"It is The Innocents Cemetery. We've been there a few times."

"It's a pretty good place. At least in my memory. Everyone seems to be properly buried there. Lucky people."

"Is it bad? When it comes to treating people in that area?" Althur asked when he heard the above story.

Winston sighed. He mentioned the tragedy of this city.

"Come and see."

"You know the Cotton Belt, right?"

Althur nodded. The Cottonbelt was only one of the most important agricultural areas of Helioric. Located in the southeast of the Central Plains, it enjoys the open color of the rivers rising from the Penitas Plateau and the abundant water of the Five Great Lakes. It was also an important region because the Ayaleos were not far away on the other side.

"I come from a land of cotton and cloth, where workers toil in misery and despair. But this place is worse than any hell I've ever seen. There is no light here. The sun never shines on the hut of the miner, nor the stars on the fire of the smith."

"Back in my hometown, cotton lung disease was the white death. It crept up on us like a silent killer, only revealing itself when we were near the end. Here, it was the black death from the coal dust that poisoned our organs. Life was short and brutal in this hellish place."

"Many hang around police stations, hoping the body will be treated before they die, because they actually resemble humans."

"But unfortunately, the police don't care. They used to hang out in the south and leave the north to the watchmen. And those old men don't care how diabolical the place was."

"James often jokes that if you go in this area, you don't need to worry about your pocket. Because the poor will have no money and the rich will never set foot here."

"If that's the case, then the northern area must be chaotic and full of angry ghosts." Althur said.

"You could say that. That's most of what we do there. Besides going into the mines, That's up to James, because he's an extraordinary man. No, who knows what might happen?"

"So, you've never been in the tunnels before."

"That's right. The tunnels are only designed for children. There's no way someone like me could get through, let alone face the horrors inside."

Althur sighed. Silently, he drew conclusions from what had happened so far.

"There are other places on the map; do you recognize them?"

"Not really. I've never seen him work on this paper before."

"What about the earlier records?"

"Do you keep records of the exorcisms from the last few years?" Althur asked, thinking If it's related to James' story, he needs other sources of information to gather it. His power couldn't extract much information from a single sheet of paper.

"That's right. We've kept some records to report back to headquarters."

"I'll give them to you later. I left this note in the outer case. It also contains everything we need for the exorcism. As for the stuff in this room..."

Winston turned and focused his attention on the ground.

Althur said, "Except for that monstrous thing you're carrying. Most of this stuff has lost most of its usefulness. I think there's a way to deal with it. Anything that needs to be sent back to O.S.P.I.S., you can send it there first, along with a brief report of what happened here."

"It's not nice to have people from the church interfering in your affairs." Of course, if they were willing to help, he wouldn't hesitate.

"I'll take this map with me. To uncover more clues. And please, give me the address of the woman James exorcised the last time."

"Are you planning to open an office here?"

"I'm not. O.S.P.I.S. will have to decide. Even if they want to send someone, it might not be me. I'm just here to investigate." Althur said this without mentioning his relationship with O.S.P.I.S. when he was just a casual investigator.