Though Witches had access to magic-mirror and wand divination, neither was very discreet to use openly. Ais had no objection to learning other methods — she might need them in a pinch.
Leel nodded readily:
"Sure."
I love working with people who don't make things complicated. Leaning against the second-floor railing, Ais answered cheerfully:
"Then it's settled. Although — my method of dealing with spiritual entities isn't like the solar domain: it doesn't take effect instantly. So if you want to divine, Leel, you can wait a bit."
Leel mirrored her posture and leaned on the railing beside her:
"Understood. Detective Ais, do you think the problem is resolved?"
To avoid waking Leel's parents, both of them kept their voices close and low. At first Ais hadn't thought anything of it, but glancing at Leel right beside her, she found it mildly awkward. Still, when she saw that his gaze instinctively rested on the sitting room floor below, she hesitated — and decided not to create distance.
Nothing to be worried about. She told herself, and analyzed:
"Probably not. Based on their behavior, these entities were almost certainly being directed by an Extraordinary. Without finding that person, the problem isn't truly resolved. Of course, that Extraordinary is being cautious, so simply abandoning this might also be a possibility. The church's crackdown is in full force right now, and their only investment here may have been those two entities."
Leel thought carefully:
"Then what are they after?"
"It could be related to your parents — trying to pull your family into a cult isn't out of the question." Ais paused, then opened a slight joke: "Though it could also be someone looking for a teacher."
This actually earned a faintly disgruntled response from Leel:
"Detective Ais, I'm not naive. Setting everything else aside — if that were the only goal, would it really need to be approached this indirectly?"
Not slow at all. Ais suppressed the urge to ruffle his hair from her height advantage and changed the subject:
"By the way, Leel — can the gesture for quickly activating and deactivating Aura Vision be changed?"
"Detective Ais, how do you not know that?" Leel was genuinely startled.
"I don't. It came to me when I drank the potion. I don't even know how to teach someone else how to activate Aura Vision." Ais shrugged.
They exchanged quiet words for a while like this. Once Leel had divined and confirmed the two black entities were dead, Ais sent him back to bed. She herself, holding to a sense of responsibility toward the 50 pounds she'd already received, settled down on the sitting room sofa to keep watch through the night.
"The spiritual aura of an animated corpse is also deep black — but those two things definitely weren't corpses. What were they?"
Ais turned it over while she thought, and inevitably found herself recalling the creature she'd encountered near Burkef City when clearing the Instigator potion — the one that could merge with shadows. But that creature had no ability to flee quickly, and these two entities clearly weren't mindless the way that creature had been.
Probably unrelated. After a long period of thought, Ais decided that rather than speculating on her own, it would be better to find time to ask the church.
With that decided, Ais settled into the sitting room sofa — coat and shoes still on — and began meditating. A Witch's combat style had shifted to that of a caster, so even if there was another encounter tonight, these house slippers wouldn't slow her down. Meditation both concentrated her attention and sharpened her Witch's intuition — it wasn't like sleep, it wouldn't cause her to miss anything. An excellent way to pass idle time.
When the sky began to lighten, Ais returned to her guest room. The constitution of a Sequence 7 Extraordinary, combined with meditation serving as a partial substitute for rest, meant that a sleepless night left her looking far less worn than one might expect. After lying down for a short while, she was able to get up, change into day clothes, and join the Femi family for breakfast. Over the meal, she briefed the couple on the previous night's events and summarized:
"In short, Mr. Owen — I have a way to deal with whatever is causing trouble in your house, but catching them is a different matter. Without another key lead, catching the person behind this would require them to make a mistake on their own."
She said it while biting into a perfectly crisp strip of bacon.
Since Leel was beside them, Ais had to refer to Owen Femi by name.
Owen, still in his black work clothes and preparing to leave for the day, looked at Ais with a noticeably more normal expression than the previous evening. After thinking for a moment, he spoke:
"Detective Fal, you have my thanks for last night. I'd like to offer 10 pounds a day for the rest of this week to prevent further incidents — would that suit you?"
Today must be Thursday. Ais nodded with a smile:
"I have no reason to decline, Mr. Owen. Though the condition is that whatever trouble follows is as manageable as last night's."
"Naturally, Detective Fal. I understand that a person who can handle ghosts as you can is rare, so the payment will reflect that." Owen replied evenly.
"Then I'll look forward to a productive partnership, Mr. Owen." Ais said, and then thought of something and added:
"By the way, Mr. Owen — Leel mentioned you know of a gathering point for Extraordinaries?"
Owen paused briefly before answering:
"Yes, it's near the border between the Queen's District and the West District. Though, Detective Ais, if you're planning to attend, please be careful not to get into a conflict with whoever organizes the gathering. I'm not certain of his specific strength, but every mention of him among the participants comes with a note of fear."
Queen's District and West District border — and male. That should be manageable. Ais nodded:
"I'll remember that, Mr. Owen. Could you tell me the specific location?"
"The exact location and password change each time. Let me write down the relevant rules for you."
After breakfast, Ais received everything from Owen: every possible location and the corresponding passwords.
"This doesn't seem very complicated. Attending doesn't even require a referral?" Ais asked with some puzzlement.
The "rules" were simply a matter of using two straightforward formulas to determine the specific location and password for any given date. The locations totaled only four, all near the Queen's District–West District border. The passwords were four different rhythms of knocking. The interval between gatherings was a fixed four days.
Owen replied with genuine puzzlement:
"Quite a few of the participants have had the same reaction, especially about the no-referral requirement. But the organizer has never changed it — as if he has no fear of the church finding him. His gathering has been running for close to two years without the church ever showing up."
Owen said nothing more, said his goodbyes to Ais and his family early, and left in the carriage. He worked in the Southgate District to the southeast — quite a distance from the West District. Once the center of the Steam Church's missionary activity in the city, that area was now home to many large factories.
Ais was growing suspicious that the gathering might be official bait. The church's willingness to trade with unaffiliated Extraordinaries had already shown her how flexible their standards were. They were entirely capable of running something like an entrapment operation.
"Ais, my father seemed worried about something during your conversation?" Leel asked quietly as soon as Mrs. Dalton stepped out to see her husband off.
"He was probably worried I'd quote him too high. But given the two of us, how could I do something that heartless?" Ais explained with complete conviction.
Besides, I've already taken enough advantage. She added the thought privately.
Author's Note (this chapter):"Detective Ais, how do you not know that?"
That's how hard it is to be an unaffiliated Extraordinary without proper training. ·