Backlund, Hilston District, inside a somewhat dim house.
Isengard Stanton finished his day's work and came to the fireplace.
This renowned detective with graying hair slowly settled his body into the rocking chair, letting out a comfortable sigh.
October in Backlund was cold and damp, which was indeed rather difficult for someone of his age to endure.
Fortunately, he still had a warm fireplace to ward off the cold. By the firelight, he filled his beloved pipe with tobacco, preparing to enjoy a few minutes of tranquility.
"Buzz!"
Just as Isengard was about to relax, the space in the living room suddenly distorted.
An illusory, blurred door abruptly formed, and then two figures tumbled out from within!
"Who's there!"
Isengard leaped up with an agility unbefitting a middle-aged man.
He swiftly drew his revolver, his other hand reaching toward his vest pocket, seemingly grasping something inside.
The entire set of movements was quick and powerful, in no way inferior to a well-trained combatant.
Only after making battle preparations did he have the leisure to look at the uninvited guests who had broken into his home.
"...It's you two?"
When he saw the faces of these two people clearly, Isengard couldn't help but freeze.
As it turned out, these two were clients he had previously served: Miss Fors Wall and Miss Xio Derecha.
At this moment, these two ladies were in a somewhat disheveled state, as if they had just escaped from a pursuit.
Especially Xio. Her shoulder was covered by a vicious wound, her eyes tightly closed, already fallen into unconsciousness.
The appearance of that wound was extremely terrible, not simply an injury.
On the exposed flesh, new granulation tissue was pushing out. As the flesh writhed and deformed, it also emanated an extremely evil cursed aura.
This aura affected the unconscious Xio, making her complexion turn iron-gray, as if filled with pain and madness, already at the edge of losing control.
"Detective Isengard!"
Fors struggled to support Xio with her frail body, kneeling on the ground. Her brown curls were disheveled in disarray, looking panicked and helpless.
When she saw the other party was someone she knew, her eyes immediately ignited with the light of hope. "Please help me!"
With the help of Isengard's young assistant, the unconscious Xio was carried to the bed.
The wound on her shoulder rapidly spread in a short time, the flesh stirring restlessly, constantly absorbing Xio's life force, as if wanting to devour her from the inside.
At this time, the gray-templed Isengard reached into his vest pocket and pulled out an exquisitely crafted ring.
The ring was set with countless tiny crushed diamonds, constantly refracting specks of glimmering light.
These crushed diamonds surrounded a central emerald gemstone, round and regular, vaguely shaped like an eyeball.
Fors only looked at it once and felt her head swell, unable to look directly at it.
Isengard solemnly placed the ring on his right middle finger, then closed his eyes.
"Swish!"
That emerald ring quickly turned golden yellow and burst forth with dazzling radiance, warm and pure like sunlight, filling the entire room.
The originally rampaging deformed flesh seemed to shrink back when illuminated by the light.
"Expel!"
The golden light condensed on the ring, becoming increasingly pure and powerful.
Isengard pointed his ring-wearing finger at Xio's wound and solemnly declared.
"Sizzle!"
The light shot out, falling on Xio's wound. The deforming, writhing flesh rapidly receded, turning to ash like cotton ignited by flame.
Xio's complexion gradually improved significantly.
However, deep within that flesh, the black aura of the curse still existed.
No matter how much the light shone, it remained locked deep in the flesh, unable to be cleared.
When Isengard stopped, that curse became active again, beginning to affect the flesh at the wound.
At this rate, in another period of time, new deformations would likely appear again.
Isengard quickly removed the ring, slight sweat beading on his forehead.
"Hmm..."
When he saw the flesh beginning to mutate again, he couldn't help but furrow his brow and turn to look at Fors.
"The aura of the True Creator... So that Lanevus you were investigating really was possessed by an evil god?"
Back then, Xio and Fors had given Lanevus's information to Isengard, hoping to have this detective analyze his behavioral patterns for them.
"How do you know... Oh, yes."
Fors was first confused, then honestly answered under his direct gaze.
She never expected this detective was also a learned and powerful Beyonder.
When she initially gave him the information, although she had modified the content involving Beyonder factors, since he was a Beyonder and a great detective with extremely high reasoning ability, he had surely discovered the anomalies within.
So it wasn't impossible for Isengard to guess that Lanevus carried divinity.
But since Lanevus's curse carried divinity, relying solely on some collectibles in his possession couldn't eliminate it.
After pondering for a moment, he faced the deeply worried Fors.
"Do you want to save your companion?"
"Of course!"
Fors answered without hesitation.
Just now, when they encountered Lanevus, it was Xio who first overcame her fear and charged toward that powerful and terrifying enemy, providing Fors with an opportunity to create an escape route.
After that, Xio was injured, and Fors used the remaining gems on her bracelet to open a "door" and escape with her, which is how they ended up at Isengard's house.
"Then, are you willing to pay a dangerous price for this?"
Isengard asked seriously.
"...I am."
After hesitating for a second, Fors answered earnestly. If not for Xio, they both would have died together.
If she could save her, paying some dangerous price was only natural.
After receiving her affirmative answer, Isengard used that ring again to establish a "contract" for the two of them.
Through this contract, Fors shared a portion of the curse, allowing Xio's erosion to be alleviated.
"These are prepared 'Sun Holy Water.' Drink a bottle at regular intervals to suppress the curse."
Isengard handed several vials of liquid to Fors.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Isengard... I had no idea before that you were also a Beyonder."
Due to the curse, Fors had become somewhat weak. She took the holy water.
"My treatment isn't free... Additionally, these can only temporarily alleviate the symptoms, not cure them."
Isengard shook his head.
"If you truly want to completely resolve this, you need to find a Sequence 6 'Rose Bishops' from the Secrets Suppliant pathway who specializes in flesh magic, or a Sequence 5 from the 'Sun' pathway.
However, Rose Bishops are all madmen who worship the True Creator, and the Sun pathway comes from Intis, which is hostile to Loen. Finding either of these two sequences is extremely difficult..."
"...I understand. I'll find a way."
Hearing him say this, Fors's heart, which had lightened somewhat, became heavy again.
I'll go find Miss Audrey first. She might have a solution...
***
At the same time, somewhere in the East Borough.
Silas picked up his pen, looking at the blank letter paper and pondering.
What kind of content should he write to that detective Sherlock?