After finishing their business, Odis and Bernadette chatted casually, and the more they talked, the more they clicked. It wasn't until after 5 a.m. that Bernadette, having eaten and drunk her fill, took her leave.
Odis spent the morning catching up on sleep, only getting up in the afternoon. He then used the "Ahona Crystal" he had previously recovered to set up a new "teleportation array" in the basement.
One magic circle leads to a room on the third floor of the "Nanmu Ballroom," and the other leads to a laboratory in the suburbs.
With these two escape formations in place, Odis felt safe enough to stay there.
After that, he continued to study witchcraft and continued to write the "Compendium of Wizardry," and whenever he had time, he continued to think about his plan to escape Backlund.
He wasn't too worried about MI9's arrest, because they could only trace it back to Odysseus at most, and wouldn't be able to find Gandalf the Wizard anytime soon.
...
51 Henry Street.
A team of MI9 agents stormed into the herbal shop and quickly subdued the Kayner siblings, as well as a customer who was sitting in the reception area drinking tea.
At the same time, they rushed to the backyard and took complete control of the herbal shop.
At this moment, Corraymond strolled in unhurriedly. Just as he was about to use his extraordinary abilities to interrogate Kaina, the "customer" in the reception area suddenly questioned, "Is 'MI9' planning to use the capture of Odis to arrest members of 'Mechanical Heart'?"
Upon hearing this, Corraymond knew something was wrong and quickly said, "Let him go."
The "customer" coldly produced the land deed and business license for the herbal medicine shop, which Corremond glanced at and sighed helplessly.
These documents prove that the herbal shop was the property of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, and by convention, no one other than the Church of Steam had the right to dispose of such properties.
This is the theocratic system!
The authorities have no right to try anyone related to religion or confiscate any property related to the church.
Within religious groups, there are "religious courts" where religious figures who commit crimes are sent for interrogation. The government doesn't even have the power to detain them.
Fortunately, there are real gods in this world, and religions dare not go too far, otherwise a large number of social parasites and interest groups would surely emerge.
Upon seeing these documents, Corraymond immediately gave a wry smile and said, "I just have some questions for this young man named Kaina."
The investigation into this case has already given Corremond a major headache.
They finally got permission to conduct a special investigation into the "leader," but to their surprise, they failed to capture the "leader," and no matter what method they used, they were unable to obtain any information about the "leader" through divination.
At this time, Selt, the head of MI9 who supported Corraymond, was also under tremendous pressure from the Steam Church and repeatedly urged Corraymond to find and interrogate the "leader" as soon as possible.
Just when Corraymond was about to give up, he suddenly heard that Odis had used a special magic circle to block the arrival of the evil god.
Recalling the two unusual magic arrays that appeared in the basement of No. 199 Hairun Avenue, Corraymond believed that this must be a clue.
So he immediately led his men over, but it now seems that Odis and the Steam Church were already on guard.
The previous investigation into Odis had already completely offended "Mechanical Heart." If Kaina were to be interrogated now in front of the members of "Mechanical Heart" using his extraordinary abilities, it would likely escalate the conflict.
At this point, Corremond also had to consider his own escape route and politely discussed it with the people of "Mechanical Heart".
The member of "Mechanical Heart" said, "We have no obligation to cooperate with your investigation."
"I'll just ask a few simple questions," Corraymond continued with a smile. "I'll leave immediately after I'm done, and I won't bother you again."
Otherwise, he would send someone to secretly follow Kaina, and only after confirming that there were no members of "Mechanical Heart" protecting him, to quietly break into his house at night and interrogate the young man.
The members of "Mechanical Heart" considered for a moment before saying, "This is the last time we will cooperate with your investigation. You are only allowed to ask three questions."
"Thank you." After thanking him, Corraymond immediately asked Kenner, "Does Odis often publish GG on the second page of the Backlund Post?"
This question was very tricky. It seemed to have nothing to do with "leader" and was not detrimental to Odis. However, Kainer's answer could confirm whether Odis was "leader".
Because the occult research society convened by the "leader" announces the time of its meetings by publishing GG in the Backlund Post.
The inexperienced Kaina answered, "Yes."
Corraymond breathed a slight sigh of relief: "When was the last time Odis came to the herbalist's shop?"
"yesterday."
"Did he do anything unusual, or say anything important?"
Although Kainer had no experience in dealing with interrogations, he was not stupid. He replied vaguely, "Mr. Odis, tell me to run the pharmacy well, and that someone will come to help me."
Corraymond was slightly taken aback. His extraordinary abilities told him that the young man was not lying. Just as he was about to ask further questions, the member of "Mechanical Heart" said, "Alright, all three questions have been asked."
Corraymond wasn't too disappointed, because the investigation into the "leader" had yielded new leads.
Next, we must do our best to investigate Odis.
...
For the next two days, Odis lived as the wizard Gandalf.
These past two days, no clients have come to his door. He has been focusing on writing "The Complete Book of Witchcraft," which is now more than half finished. Only some witchcraft powder recipes and some witchcraft applications remain to be completed.
Odis intends to include all fifty-six spells he has invented in this book, but because he has not yet tested the effects of some spells in actual combat, the book can only be written up to this point for now.
After placing the unfinished "Complete Book of Wizardry" into the "Wilderness of Knowledge," Odis picked up a newspaper and began to read, intending to relax for the next few days, as he might not have time to rest next week.
Ding-a-ling~
Odis had just finished reading today's front page when the doorbell rang.
He sighed, picked up his staff, and went to open the door.
The newcomer was a man in his thirties. Although his clothes were not luxurious, they were still quite tasteful. When Odis saw the man's cross-eyed eyes, he remembered that this was the same infertile gentleman from before.
Behind him was a man in his twenties, wearing a silk top hat, a tailcoat, and carrying an ebony cane—a typical gentleman's attire.
Odis thought to herself: Could it be that this man is also struggling with infertility?
Some of the cross-eyed men took off their hats and said politely, "Wizard, thank you very much for the potion you provided."
Odis was taken aback: "Your wife got pregnant so quickly?"
"Yes." The cross-eyed man wasn't embarrassed at all: "I know a great OB-GYN, and it was confirmed a couple of days ago that my wife is indeed pregnant."
Odis said "Oh," indicating that she must have gotten pregnant after drinking the "fat pharmacist's" potion. If the timing was right, it should have been noticed around that time.
At the same time, he realized that the person behind him must be a good friend of the cross-eyed man, who knew about his past struggles with infertility; otherwise, the cross-eyed man's answer just now would not have been so frank.
He smiled and said, "Wizard, my friend is also troubled... Oh, his troubles are different from mine, but there is one thing he has not been able to solve, so I brought him here in the hope that you can find a solution."
Odis glanced at the seemingly shy young man, then nodded: "Come in."
The three sat down on the sofa, and Odis casually raised her hand, sending two teacups flying in front of them: "I just boiled some hot water, so you can drink it without worry."
Then the kettle on the fireplace suddenly adjusted its position by itself, and a stream of hot water suddenly sprayed out of the spout, pouring precisely into the two people's cups, filling them exactly to the brim, no more and no less.
Odis's move surprised both guests. After a few seconds, the cross-eyed man seemed to breathe a sigh of relief: "Thank you for your hospitality."
"Your witchcraft is truly amazing."
Odis said nothing, but simply said to the young man, "Whatever your question is, just say it."
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
"You have given me hope, wizard." After recovering from his surprise, the young man introduced himself: "My name is Dylan Edmund, and I currently help my father run his fabric shop."
He said, "My parents loved my sister and me very much, and our family was relatively well-off. I had a very happy childhood and adolescence."
"My grandfather has a small villa by the lake. It's very cool there in the summer, and we go there every summer to escape the heat."
"My sister and I spent many happy summers there catching fish and climbing mountains."
"We still see my uncle occasionally, but he is a very cold person and doesn't seem to like my sister and me very much."
Odis did not point out that he was missing the point, but listened attentively.
At this point, Dylan's smile suddenly vanished: "Starting about seven or eight years ago, my family members began to get sick one after another and passed away."
"My maternal grandfather was the first to pass away. We didn't think anything was wrong at first, since he was already quite old."
"Later, my mother passed away, which made me realize something was wrong, because she had always been very healthy, but it only took three or four days from when she fell ill to when she died. The doctor didn't even have time to diagnose what disease she had."
"Later I noticed that they all passed away three years apart. My mother passed away three years after my grandfather, and my sister passed away three years after my mother!"
Odis suddenly asked, "Where is your father? Is he still healthy?"
"After my mother and sister passed away, my father became taciturn. Although he lost a lot of weight, he was still relatively healthy," Dylan replied.
"My father knew some of the inside story, but not much."
"A year after our mother passed away, one day my sister suddenly told our father in a panic that someone had been following her."
"My father and sister talked alone for an afternoon. The next day, my sister moved to my grandfather's villa in the suburbs. When I went to visit her, she refused to see me."
"I found this later, after my sister passed away, when I was sorting through her belongings."
As he spoke, he took out a photograph from his pocket. The photograph showed a woman who looked somewhat like Dylan. Although the woman was the main subject of the photograph, there seemed to be a dark figure standing in the distance behind her.
The face of the black figure was not visible, but it was clear that he was quietly staring at Dylan's sister.
The figure made the photo very eerie. Photos from this era could only be taken in photo studios, and the backgrounds were all white with no other scenery.
Logically speaking, Dylan's sister was not far from the background wall when the photo was taken, so there was no space to capture the person in the distance. However, the figure in the distance still exists in the photo.
Odis pondered for a moment and then suddenly looked up: "You didn't see that dark figure either, did you?"
"Yes." Dylan wasn't particularly afraid, but looked puzzled: "When I picked up this photo from the photo studio, there was no picture of this person in it, but why is there one now?"
"Also, what exactly is that figure? Why can I see it too?"
Odis asked, "Where is that figure?"
Dylan casually pointed outside: "It's right outside on the street."
Odis looked out the window, where there were normal pedestrians, when suddenly a black figure appeared in his field of vision.
Odis immediately turned his head away; in that brief moment, he seemed to have seen evil and depravity.
Moreover, even with eyesight enhanced by the potion, I still couldn't make out the person's face.
All I know is that there's someone there, and they don't seem like a good person. I'm not even sure if they're even human.
Odis looked at Dylan again: "These are the people your sister was talking about, the ones who followed her?"
"I think so." Dylan smiled helplessly. "At first, I was also very flustered and even tried to get away from him by train or ship."
"But it was no use. Even though he didn't move his legs at all, he was able to catch up with the speeding train."
"And he could stand motionless on the sea, moving forward with the ship."
Odis was stunned; he had never heard of such a situation before.
After thinking for a moment, he asked again, "Didn't you talk to your father?"
"When Father heard this, he turned pale and burst into tears," Dylan replied. "Father said it was a curse from Mother's family. Mother had said that she had heard from her uncle that as long as the family didn't point out the location of the figure, the other family members wouldn't be able to see it."
"So they wouldn't be affected by the curse, which is why my grandfather didn't tell my mother about this figure before he died. My mother only told my father, who wouldn't be affected by the curse."
"When my sister mentioned that someone was following her, my father was very surprised. So he talked to her about the issue seriously and moved to the suburbs to avoid affecting me."
"But what I didn't expect was that I didn't know that the figure existed, but now I can still see him."