Inside the room, Bishop Eliza Linton stared at the question displayed on the silver mirror. Her expression shifted several times before she finally exhaled and admitted:
"…It was me."
"Very honest," new words formed on the mirror's surface.
…As expected, restoring my memories in time and avoiding touching this mirror was the right choice… This so-called Q&A game is just public execution! Ebner thought to himself. Compared to this, my own 'Magic Mirror' is much more well-behaved…
He had the urge to cover his face with his hand but held back, instead lightly tapping the pocket where he kept his inconspicuous, palm-sized Magic Mirror.
Sensing its master's indirect praise through the contract, the Magic Mirror quickly sent back a happy message. Then, as if trying to prove its usefulness, it attempted to show off its contributions…
Unfortunately, all of these messages were intercepted by the Pure White Eye, preventing the Magic Mirror from receiving a response.
Ebner was aware of the Magic Mirror's reaction, but with so many Machinery Hivemind members present, he couldn't just activate the Pure White Eye to check. Instead, he tapped the mirror's surface once again, signaling for it to behave.
At that moment, Detective Isengard cleared his throat, breaking the slightly awkward atmosphere in the room. He skipped over the part regarding the orchestrated transfers of his two friends and instead analyzed:
"In the ancient Fourth Epoch, human factions that worshipped demons formed a loose alliance known as the 'Cult of Blood Worship.'
"Within this organization, three major demon families—Nois, Andariel, and Beria—stood as an unshakable triad. Their ancestors had all received gifts from the Abyss. They revered an evil god called the 'Dark Side of the Universe,' believing it to be the ruler of the Abyss, the inevitable corruptor and devourer of reality and the entire vast cosmos.
"Recently, a major incident occurred on Sonia Island—one where a high-ranking demon attempted to summon the 'Dark Side of the Universe' into reality by sacrificing a demigod from the Church of the God of Combat… Fortunately, their scheme was ultimately thwarted…
"Now, the demon identified by '2-111' was 'Jason Beria'… This suggests that the Beria family is once again active!"
However, Ikonse shook his head and countered, "Beria has long declined. Decades ago, they became vassals of the still-powerful Nois family… As for the Andariel family, they too were in decline, but over a hundred years ago, they received the support of a high-ranking demon and managed to regain some influence within the 'Cult of Blood Worship.' This even led to a war between the factions.
"The high-ranking demon who backed Andariel was none other than the mastermind behind the Sonia Island incident. He and Nois, along with Beria, are actual enemies—irreconcilable ones. I don't think these two events should be connected."
According to the intel provided by Closfia from the Psychological Alchemy Society's Supreme Council, the demon responsible for orchestrating the 'Sonia Island Sacrifice Incident' was none other than Roselle's adopted son, the 'Whisperer'—'Duke of Terror' Yaldabaoth!
So he was the one who propped up Andariel? He prevented their family from falling completely under Nois' control and becoming mere servants of the 'Mother Tree of Desire'?
Now that I think about it, this adopted son—hatched from an 'egg' Roselle brought back from the Abyss—is an immense wildcard. His impact might not be any less than that of the transmigrators I've discovered so far…
If he weren't still alive, and if the timing of his emergence didn't nearly coincide with the 'Calamity Seal,' I might have suspected that he was another transmigrator brought here by the Pure White Eye…
But where exactly did this 'butterfly' come from? Could he be the descendant of a transmigrator who had remained in the Abyss?
That doesn't seem plausible. More likely, a transmigrator at some point had dealings with the 'Dark Side of the Universe,' and the latter had prepared this contingency plan in advance…
While Ebner's mind wandered, jumping between hypotheses, the Machinery Hivemind members were discussing their next course of action with Detective Isengard.
Eventually, they decided to split into two teams. One team, led by Isengard, would act as bait, attempting to lure out the demon while the rest of Machinery Hivemind lay in ambush to capture him.
As for how to bypass the demon's danger intuition ability, Isengard had already formed a rough plan.
The second team would investigate based on the details of the room they had seen earlier and the name Jason Beria.
After all, aside from their danger intuition, demons weren't particularly skilled in divination or foresight…
This meant that if Jason Beria, the Desire Apostle, wanted to trace back who had originally organized the detectives' analysis of the Hellhound's traits, he would have to actively gather information himself…
And as Emperor Roselle once said:
"Wherever one walks, they leave traces behind."
The Machinery Hivemind could follow these traces to track the demon's movements.
Ebner didn't join their discussion or planning. Firstly, he was currently playing the role of his teacher's servant, making it inappropriate for him to speak. Secondly, there was simply no need for him to intervene.
His primary goal in returning to Backlund after sealing away certain memories was to save his teacher—ensuring that the changes in the timeline, caused by his own butterfly effect, wouldn't endanger his teacher's life.
Though things didn't go exactly as planned—he had failed to leave the Desire Apostle at his teacher's home—the situation had still returned to its proper course. From this point forward, he didn't need to do anything else. The likelihood of his teacher encountering life-threatening danger was now minimal, so why interfere any further?
At most, after Jason Beria assassinates Duke Negan, I'll quietly follow the Hero Bandit 'Black Emperor' and make sure the Desire Apostle is truly dead.
As for tomorrow night, when my teacher and Klein confront the Desire Apostle… Leaving aside whether Jason will even dare to show up, even if he does, with Mr. 'Fool' present, there's no way he could harm my teacher.
And as for the fact that the Desire Apostle's real target was actually Duke Negan?
Ebner had no personal connection with the man, so he certainly wouldn't take the risk of warning him.
After all, once that unspeakable organization set its sights on someone, Duke Negan was doomed. Even if he survived this attempt, there would be another assassination later.
A warning would be meaningless.
...
In a detached house in Cherwood Borough, Xio suddenly woke up from her sleep. She sat in a daze for a moment before pulling the blanket over her head and murmuring to herself, "Why would I have a dream like that…?"
Tossing and turning for a while, she finally gave up on sleep and decided to take a shower to clear her mind.
But just as she reached the bathroom door, she heard the sound of running water—someone was already using the bathtub.
"Fors?" Xio asked in surprise.
As far as she knew, Fors never took showers in the middle of the night except on full moon nights.
"Huh?!" Fors, startled by Xio's voice, sounded flustered. After a few seconds, she managed to regain her composure and asked, "Xio, why are you up? Do you have a mission?"
By the God of Steam… this situation feels just like in my dream…
Xio frowned. She took out her Golden Mask, put it on, and used its enhanced sensing abilities to scan the area. Then, after taking off the mask, she muttered to herself with a strange expression, "No traces of evil… Was that really just my own desire? A natural biological reaction?"
What Xio didn't know was that, on this very night, she and Fors weren't the only ones in Backlund who woke up from a strange dream and went to take a bath.
...
On Wednesday morning, during his routine feeding of the Magic Mirror with Divine Light, Ebner finally received the information it had been trying to send him. That was when he learned what it had done the previous night…
After questioning it to confirm exactly how many people had been affected, Ebner let out a breath of relief. Fortunately, the number was small, and they were all people he was familiar with, so it wouldn't raise too much suspicion…
If half of Backlund had experienced that kind of dream last night, the "Hero Detective" might just become synonymous with "Devil"… and not the respectable kind.
"I literally just praised you for not being as troublesome as Arrodes, and now you pull this kind of stunt?"
"I don't need this kind of flattery… Got it?!"
After scolding the mirror, Ebner once again found himself feeling that artifacts with souls had far too much freedom. Even if he could mitigate their negative effects, they still brought no shortage of trouble.
Of course, this could also be considered a negative effect in itself!
This only solidified his decision—not to unlock the Magic Mirror's next layer of seals anytime soon…
It was already a handful in its not-so-intelligent state. If it became truly sentient, it might be even more of a menace than Arrodes!
That said, the Magic Mirror's 'Devil's Shepherd' ability is surprisingly useful. It can infiltrate dreams, stir up desires and emotions… and its influence even spans across multiple boroughs…
'Heart Demon' truly is an apt name for it.
...
Early in the morning, in Saint George Borough, Sachi Street, Klein and his lawyer, Jurgen, stepped out of the house of the inventor, Leopold.
They had just signed an agreement with Franmi Ketch, the steam-powered vehicle tycoon, officially selling Klein's bicycle company shares. Klein now held a check for 1,300 gold pounds.
After paying Jurgen his 50-pound fee, Klein bid him farewell and headed toward the East Borough to meet with his informant, Old Kohler.
But just then, he suddenly heard layers upon layers of illusory prayers echoing in his ears.
A woman's voice? Miss Xio? Hmm, I actually have something to tell her as well…
(End of Chapter)