(This book is a fundamentalist fanfiction. If you don't know what that means, go read the related works section. Those who want to see re-creations in the same worldview or stories unrelated to the original protagonist can stop reading here.)
In the early morning, within an elegantly decorated room, a handsome man sat quietly by the window, holding a beautifully bound creation myth, reading it carefully. He looked like a beautiful oil painting.
Sunlight streamed through the window and fell upon him, adding a touch of sacred feeling to this elegance and beauty.
But in the next moment, a cold and sinister aura suddenly spread out. The originally warm and elegant room suddenly lost its color, and grayish-white tones crawled into every corner. A pale monster emerged from the floor.
It vaguely had a humanoid shape, its limbs twisted in an unnatural, spring-like contorted state. A vertical mouth full of sharp teeth stretched from the top of its head down to its chest, with bloody saliva constantly forming thin threads as the large mouth opened and closed.
However, the elegant and beautiful man showed no negative emotions at the appearance of this monster. He still held the creation myth, as if he had seen nothing.
No, he had seen it, because the monster was respectfully raising its twisted arms, presenting a notebook that looked somewhat aged, along with an envelope.
The handsome man reached out to take the two items, and the monster disappeared from the room. The cold and pale environment once again returned to its original state.
The man placed the notebook on the table and casually tore open the envelope, shaking out a small stack of letter paper from inside—
"Respected Mr. A:"
"Please allow me to make a defense regarding the matter of killing my colleagues."
"Hanass Vincent and Sirius Arapis are both complete idiots, their stupidity could even make baboons laugh!"
"Hanass Vincent stupidly wrote the secret incantation in his notebook."
"His apprentice secretly read the incantation and brazenly performed mirror divination under the watchful eyes of the Nighthawks!"
"I believe you can imagine what happened next, so I won't elaborate further."
"To protect our other lambs in Tingen City, I killed him first. I believe this was the correct choice."
"Sirius Arapis's stupidity went even further than Hanass Vincent's. Even knowing that the Nighthawks had begun investigating the Antigonus family notebook, he still swaggered to the library to borrow related periodicals. Such reckless behavior continued for over two months before being discovered—it was truly the Lord's blessing!"
"To avoid implicating more people, I killed him after the Nighthawks tracked down the library. This was a reasonable choice."
"Additionally, during the battle between the Nighthawks and the Secret Order, I retrieved that Fourth Epoch notebook. According to Hanass Vincent, it very likely contains treasures left by the Antigonus family."
"I dedicate this notebook to the Lord, hoping to atone for the sin of killing the Lord's Secrets Supplicant."
"Finally, Sirius Arapis seems to have once taught the Lord's descent ritual to a Swindler of unknown origins. Do I need to provide assistance?"
"The Lord's loyal servant, Snow von Penredax."
"Heh..." The handsome man's fingers moved slightly, and the letter paper in his hand was suddenly torn into pieces by a swirling gust of wind. He reached out and opened the notebook. As word after word came into his eyes, a slightly sinister smile appeared on that beautiful face.
...Tingen City...
"Captain, is this the last suspect's residence?" Leonard looked through the carriage window at the inn outside, then lowered his head to pull out a pocket watch from inside his police uniform and glanced at it. "It's still quite early, looks like it won't delay Klein's joining mission."
"Don't be careless." The gray-eyed middle-aged man sitting beside him frowned. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were obvious, and light brown hair could be seen at the edge of his hat.
He was currently holding a piece of paper covered with words, speaking in a voice that wasn't too loud but was very clear:
"Snow von Penredax, from Backlund, veterinarian. Half a month ago, he went to the Divination Club to have Hanass Vincent perform a divination for him, and since then has been staying in the hotel without going out. According to intelligence provided by Backlund, he previously had relations with a certain gang leader's mistress, and the reason for leaving Backlund should be to avoid pursuit."
"Sounds quite suspicious indeed." Leonard listened to Dunn's account and whistled frivolously, then turned to look at Klein.
Without waiting for him to speak, Klein nodded understandingly, pulled out a piece of paper from his bag, wrote a line of text on it, then just like before investigating other suspects, removed the pendulum from his wrist, closed his eyes and silently chanted:
"Investigating Snow von Penredax is dangerous, investigating Snow von Penredax is dangerous, investigating..."
After silently chanting seven times, Klein opened his eyes. The topaz pendulum was rotating counterclockwise at a slow speed.
He breathed a slight sigh of relief, then said:
"Captain, there should be no danger, but considering the other party might possess anti-divination abilities, we should still be careful."
"Mm, you stay in the carriage. Leonard, you come with me." Dunn nodded lightly, pushed open the carriage door and stepped down, walking toward the inn.
...
In a room on the second floor of the Fragrant Tree Inn, a young man wearing a white shirt and black vest was playing with a black loen shorthair cat that appeared to be less than a year old. He was precisely the target Klein and Dunn had come to investigate—that young veterinarian named Snow von Penredax.
The moment the pendulum divination in the carriage began, Snow's spirituality sensed it, but he didn't stop waving the cat toy. He just adjusted his mood and waited quietly.
Then...
Feeling a bit drowsy?
As soon as this thought arose, Snow's entire body shivered, and immediately after, he heard somewhat urgent knocking at the door.
"Who is it?"
Snow picked up the black kitten and placed it on his shoulder, then walked to the door. From outside the door came a steady and powerful male voice:
"Me, Dunn Smith."
"As expected, it's you." Snow sighed inwardly, reached out to open the door, and a middle-aged police officer with profound gray eyes appeared before him.
"Officer, what is this about..." Snow frowned slightly, a hint of suspicion flashing in his eyes. Dunn didn't waste words, pulled out his credentials and showed them briefly, then said directly:
"We suspect you're connected to a murder case and hope you can assist with the investigation."
"Murder case?" Snow was slightly stunned, then suddenly became agitated: "I haven't left my room for half a month! The people at the inn can testify for me!"
"I know, this is just routine procedure." Dunn spoke to calm him down, then looked into the room and said:
"Won't you invite me in to sit?"
"Alright, please come in." Snow nodded and made way for the entrance, then spread his hands and said:
"This is just an inn, there's no proper tea service."
"No matter, I'll leave after asking my questions." Dunn found a place to sit down, pulled out a stack of documents and said:
"Do you know Hanass Vincent?"
"I know him. Half a month ago when I went to the Divination Club, I had him perform a divination for me. His divination told me it wasn't suitable to go out recently, so I haven't left the inn for more than half a month." Snow nodded without hesitation, seemingly having a deep impression of this fortune teller.
"Why would you trust the word of a fortune-teller you'd only met once so completely?" Dunn's gray eyes stared intently at the young man's eyes. Snow sighed and said helplessly:
"If someone could determine your life story through simple divination, I believe you would also choose to listen to his advice, especially when it concerns life and death."
"Life and death?" Dunn's gaze became sharp. Snow immediately realized he had said the wrong thing, and a bitter smile appeared on his face...
(End of Chapter)