Chapter 1495

"Sir, the flower seller you mentioned is very special. Although humans of the Sixth Era regard her as Keeper-level, and humans of the Fifth Era did not consider her to have high danger, if a real fight were to break out, even we in our prime as relics could not defeat her. That is a quite ancient existence, very ancient, and can even be traced back to the era when the Old Gods had not yet departed. However, she helped us during the Fifth Era."

Grace said, and then offered a suggestion:

"My sister and I, after all, only possessed power in the Fifth Era, so we are not familiar with those ancient pieces of knowledge. Sir, the flower seller reminded us; if you want to explore the source of your bloodline, I think those more ancient existences should be able to help you. Your lineage must be very noble, just as your character is noble."

Xia De was a bit embarrassed:

"Don't say that about me, but I think the issue of my lineage should indeed be taken seriously. If there is an opportunity, I will ask others."

For example, "Desire."

Although he still had some doubts that the peculiarity of his own flesh came from the divinity in his soul affecting the materialized body, since Grace and Helen, who had seen many different gods, did not raise this possibility, Xia De became increasingly suspicious of whether the first half of the life of this body—which, according to the Academy's background investigation, came from a village in southern Delarion and came to Tobesk because of fleeing—was really as normal as he had previously thought.

"No, it's fully confirmed now; there is definitely something wrong with this body."

Xia De had nothing to do until nightfall, so he dedicated this afternoon to spending time with Helen and Grace.

He asked the Red Butterfly girls if they wanted to stay in Midhillburg or go to other places like Tobesk or Randall Valley. They could record landmarks by touching statues of Old Gods, and plus Xia De could summon them using the "Butterfly Calling Flute," so theoretically, Helen and Grace could go anywhere with Xia De.

It was clear that the twin sisters had long since made plans for a "date," and the location they chose was Tobesk, which they had visited with Xia De before.

It was also the Outsider's first time experiencing early spring in Tobesk, so after returning home with Helen and Grace, he first checked on Little Mia, who had finished her cat food and was napping, and who gave him a displeased swipe of her claws when he petted her. Afterward, he prepared to go out with the sisters, who had put on beige sun hats adorned with fake flowers.

But as it happened, a client who hadn't appeared for a long time knocked on the door downstairs this afternoon, just before Xia De was about to leave. Xia De originally wanted to turn down the job, but the twin sisters felt that being a "detective" with Xia De for once would also be interesting:

"Instead of wandering around the city without a purpose, it's better to find something to do."

Grace, wearing a white dress, suggested.

Thus, Xia De listened to the commission explanation regarding the "Tom's Alley Prank Knocking Incident in the North City" in the second-floor living room. This matter was not complicated; Tom's Alley in the North City was the kind of narrow alley common in the city, but it was also the location of the back doors of warehouses and transport company buildings for bulk cargo trading in the North City.

Since last week, the iron doors in the alley, which often didn't open for weeks at a time, were frequently knocked on from inside the alley, but whenever people opened the doors to look, they couldn't see anyone knocking. The people who were annoyed to death had once asked the police to investigate, but the police at Reichenbach Field didn't care at all about such trivial matters where no one died and no major property was lost.

Therefore, the building owners who had back doors in Tom's Alley pooled their money together and sent a representative to find the city's "famous detective Hamilton," hoping that Xia De could help with the investigation.

There were no issues with the details of the commission. After signing the contract and sending off the lawyer who acted as the intermediary and client, Xia De began today's work with the twin sisters.

They looked very excited, discussing the details of the case with Xia De in the carriage heading to the scene. After the three of them got off at the entrance of the alley, which emitted a strange stench as if it were being used as a trash alley, they complained about the smell here and then pushed Xia De to walk in together.

In fact, this case was quite simple. Because not long after they entered the alley, they saw a vengeful spirit that only had its upper body appearing by the wall in the broad daylight.

As the powerful vengeful spirit appeared, white fog instantly dispersed. While the long-drawn-out wailing echoed in their ears, an unknown cold wind blew through the alley, the light suddenly dimmed, and everything around seemed to melt into this fog.

In a trance, Xia De thought he had returned to Midhillburg.

"Blurred boundary between life and death! It's the edge of life and death again."

The undead crawled toward the three of them, so the fifteen or sixteen-year-old girls, who seemed a bit afraid of ghosts, screamed and hid behind Xia De, laughing while tugging at his clothes, looking forward from his side:

"Oh, sir, it's a ghost!"

Helen even said this, which reminded Xia De of her performance by the brightly lit stream when he reunited with her in the Sikar Mountains.

"Don't worry, I will protect you."

So Xia De also said, and while raising his palm, a rotating light wheel with spikes already appeared. But he hesitated for a moment, and in the end, he threw out the silver ring of 【Light of Imprisonment】.

What happened afterward was much simpler. No matter how special the opponent was, under the thaumaturgy of Xia De, who was now at the Sixth Ring, its actions were completely imprisoned.

The twin girls stuck to Xia De's back, appearing very frightened, and then followed Xia De toward the undead.

"Moonlight Slash!"

Xia De did not use his full strength, only severely wounding the enemy in front of him. Afterward, he reached out his right hand toward the weak soul:

"Guide to Death."

Because of the direct touch, while the vengeful spirit's resentment was resolved, the story of this incomplete soul also surfaced in Xia De's mind.

Simply put, he had been dismembered and buried in the alley and inside a building adjacent to the alley. The daily knocking was just because the soul had revived after the agitation at the edge of life and death, and instinctively wanted to retrieve its severed lower body.

Originally, this soul had no ability to attack humans at all and could only barely knock on the door to make a sound, but it had suddenly been enhanced this afternoon.

This looked like the "edge of life and death" hidden here had changed in the afternoon, but Xia De understood that the characteristics of Helen and Grace as the "Calamity Twins" had not actually disappeared completely.

Xia De was just an ordinary detective, so he certainly couldn't tell the client that it was haunted here, and it was even more impossible to report the matter here directly to the Church. According to his investigation habits, the next step was to find the remaining half of the corpse and then tell the police about the discovery of the two parts of the corpse.

It had been at least ten years since the vengeful spirit died, so it was impossible to rely on 【Blood Echo】 to find clues. This wasn't a basement that no one had stepped into for years; those traces had long since disappeared. As for the undead itself, it didn't know where its remaining corpse was, otherwise it wouldn't have gone from door to door knocking.

The most foolish method was to go to the police station to ask about missing persons cases in the vicinity over the past decade or so, but the "timid" girls provided other methods:

"Souls have gravity, especially separated souls. This kind of gravity will attract them to aggregate with each other; the farthest distance cannot hinder their meeting."

Helen said while grabbing Xia De's arm, while Grace was on Xia De's other side. She stretched out her empty left hand, and a transparent red butterfly flew out from her palm, then landed on the incomplete soul.

After the red butterfly touched the soul, it seemed to become a bit more solid. It led the three of them away from the edge of life and death. Afterward, it fluttered into one of the doors in the alley, and Xia De opened the door and slipped in with Helen and Grace.

Thus, on this ordinary and peaceful afternoon, they solved the "Ursula Warehouse Murder Case" together. The murder itself happened about 17 years ago; two accountants at the warehouse had a dispute due to a disagreement in accounting, one of them died as a result, and the corpse broke into two pieces when it fell from upstairs and hit a sharp object.

One part was buried in the alley that stank all year round, and the other part was buried in the corner of the warehouse wall on the spot because it was too fragmented to be handled easily.

Now, 17 years later, the murderer from back then had long since disappeared, but at least the corpse was found and the case was discovered, which could be considered as handling a missing persons case from many years ago.

Of course, words like "haunted" were absolutely impossible to come out of the mouth of the famous detective Xia De Hamilton, who valued reasoning and wisdom. He just went to the police station to report the discovery of the corpse that afternoon, and when he brought the police back, he also found the lawyer who acted as the intermediary for the commission and explained the course of events clearly.

The other side of this alley was the busiest commercial street in the North City's lower district. The Church priest soon heard the news and then had the police completely seal off the alley. Xia De did not directly reveal the haunting to the merchants, but the actions of the police and the priest confirmed the suspicions of the superstitious people of this era.

In short, Xia De successfully received his commission reward and obtained gratitude:

"But the guy knocking on the door hasn't been truly caught yet. I don't really believe in the speculation about haunting, but if there are any more knockers in the future, you can come to me, and I will handle it for free."

But those merchants who surrounded the priest and the police, desperately longing for a reassuring answer, couldn't care about him now. Whether Xia De believed in haunting was not important at all, because Xia De didn't live here, nor did he work here, but most of their assets were nearby.

"Sir, is your work always this interesting?"

On the way home, Helen asked Xia De with a smile, her hands behind her back.

"Actually, most of my commissions are finding cats and dogs. And most of the cases that detectives take on are related to infidelity. Cases like today's are the minority."

In fact, the twin girls didn't care about any cases at all; having more shared memories with Xia De was the point. They didn't take a carriage back but walked home. When passing by Anthem Square in the North District, Xia De even took them to the Three Cats Inn to sit for a while, listening to the bard singing ballads about heroes and love.

By the time they dawdled all the way back home, it was already dusk. The sun was setting, and the dim, yellow sunset had already sunk below the horizon.