"Move these things... and swap their positions? Why?"
In the dark warehouse, Kapak scratched his head in confusion as he listened to the words of the living marionette Tom. Dorothy, controlling Tom’s body, continued to speak directly.
"Just do as I say. I’ll explain why once we’re out of danger. For now, just know that this is the only way to save Black Hoof and those spirits. Hurry up while the buff I gave you is still active!"
Dorothy urged through Tom. Moving so many items would be impossible without the effects of Devouring Sigil, and since Kapak had just knocked Tom unconscious earlier, the Devouring Sigil effect Dorothy had applied to him was still active. If they waited until the effect wore off, Dorothy would have to waste another Devouring Sigil.
"Ah... understood, Detective..."
Although Kapak was still confused about what a "buff" was, he didn’t dare delay and immediately started moving the boxes. Dorothy also slapped a Devouring Sigil on Tom’s body to enhance his physical strength, and the two began moving the boxes.
And so, in the dimly lit port warehouse, two figures quietly and busily moved back and forth. There were two piles of cargo, totaling over eighty coffin-sized boxes. Although the distance between the piles was only a few steps, moving them was no easy task. With so many heavy boxes, even an average adult wouldn’t be able to finish moving them by morning. Fortunately, Dorothy had applied Devouring Sigil to both Tom and Kapak, so their efficiency wasn’t too low.
Following Dorothy’s instructions, they moved the boxes carefully, making as little noise as possible. After about ten minutes, they had moved more than half of the boxes. At this point, a larger wooden box among the pile containing the spirits caught Kapak and Dorothy’s attention. Kapak’s eyes lit up as he spoke.
"This... this spiritual sensation... Detective, I can feel something coming from this box. It’s Black Hoof! Black Hoof’s spirit is very strong. Even through the seal, I can vaguely hear its voice!"
Hearing Kapak’s words, Dorothy didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she picked up a tool, pried open a corner of the large wooden box, and shone a gas lamp inside. What she saw was a black iron coffin. “The coffin material is different. This iron coffin’s restraining power is clearly stronger. But even so, Black Hoof can still leak some of its influence. As expected of a Wild Spirit.”
Looking at the iron coffin inside the wooden box, Dorothy thought to herself. Then, using Tom, she asked Kapak.
"You said you can hear Black Hoof’s voice. What is it saying now?"
"Well... it’s very faint. I can’t make out exactly what it’s saying, but I can catch a few words. It sounds angry, struggling but to no avail. It... it seems to be cursing the invaders, cursing the… despicable cursemongers..."
Kapak pressed his ear against the box, using his Spirit Medium abilities to listen to the faint sounds coming from the iron coffin. From the chaotic murmurs, he pieced together the meaning and relayed it to Tom. Dorothy, hearing this, couldn’t help but stroke her chin in thought.
“Cursing the invaders and cursemongers? Is Black Hoof under some kind of curse? Is cursing one of the Nether Coffin Order’s Beyonder abilities? It seems the undead from North Ufiga could also use curses. It looks like one of the branches of the Silence path specializes in curses... And the Nether Coffin Order Beyonder who suppressed and sealed Black Hoof must be from this branch.”
After finishing her thoughts, Dorothy brought her focus back to the task at hand. She had Tom close the corner of the box and then spoke to Kapak, who clearly wanted to release Black Hoof right away.
"Alright, we absolutely cannot release them now. Keep moving the boxes. This is the only way to save them."
Hearing Tom’s words, Kapak paused for a moment, looking at the box containing Black Hoof’s spirit. Then he nodded, stood up, and continued moving boxes with Tom.
Finally, after another ten minutes, all eighty or so boxes had been moved. The pile originally containing tobacco and the pile containing the spirits and Black Hoof had completely swapped places. From the outside, the two piles looked almost identical, with the only difference being the labels on the black cloth covering them.
One pile’s label read "Animal Specimens," set to be shipped to Dankt at 6 AM, but the boxes underneath actually contained tobacco. The other pile’s label read "Tobacco," set to be shipped to Tivian at 4 AM, but the boxes underneath actually contained the spirits.
" Huff... huff... huff... Will this really save Black Hoof and the others?"
Kapak, panting heavily and sitting on the floor, looked at the two piles of cargo with confusion. Meanwhile, Dorothy, who couldn’t feel the fatigue since it wasn’t her body, had Tom stand and respond.
"Of course, but not immediately. This wild spirit and its spirits will have to go on a long journey first. It might be a while before they can return."
"A while? Detective, wild spirits are tied to the land. If they’re away from their habitat for too long, they’ll grow weaker. wild spirits are important protectors of our land. When you say ’a while,’ how long do you mean?"
Kapak asked with a hint of urgency, and Tom, under Dorothy’s control, calmly replied.
"Fifteen days. Within fifteen days, I guarantee that Black Hoof and the other spirits will be freed from their restraints. But after they’re freed, I’m not sure if these wild spirits and spirits can cross the ocean and return on their own. If I have to keep them sealed and transport them back, it might take longer, but I can guarantee it’ll be within a month."
"Fifteen days? If Black Hoof can be freed within fifteen days, that’s fine! If Black Hoof can be freed from that iron coffin, I can ask Teacher Uta to perform a summoning ritual at its shrine. With Teacher Uta’s power, as long as there’s a strong enough medium, he can summon Black Hoof’s spirit back instantly, no matter how far away it is."
Hearing Dorothy’s response, Kapak’s eyebrows raised as he replied. Dorothy, hearing this, felt a slight surprise.
"A summoning ritual... that can call spirits regardless of distance? Is this the power of a Shaman?"
"Yes, this is an ability Teacher Uta has demonstrated to me. It’s something only a Shaman of his level can do. Although this ability is powerful, if the spirit is under too strong a restraint, even Teacher Uta might not be able to summon it. From Black Hoof’s reaction earlier, I can tell that the seal on the iron coffin is very strong. Unless it’s broken, even Teacher Uta might not be able to summon it.”
"But once Black Hoof is summoned back, things will be much easier. The other spirits are all long-term companions of Black Hoof. If Black Hoof returns, it can easily summon these spirits back to its side."
With a hint of pride, Kapak explained to Tom. Hearing this, Dorothy, still sitting by the fireplace, nodded slightly.
"So that’s how it is... It seems the Shaman path is quite interesting..."
Just as Dorothy was marveling at the Shaman’s abilities, she suddenly thought of something and clapped her hands.
"Wait... If Kapak’s explanation is accurate, maybe I can use these spirits to gain some additional benefits..."
Sitting by her fireplace, Dorothy began to formulate some ideas. As she pondered, Tom in the distant warehouse froze, causing Kapak to curiously ask.
"Hey, Detective, is something wrong?"
"Ah... it’s nothing. I just thought of something."
With that, Dorothy, regaining her focus, had Tom walk around the warehouse, scanning the area. After a brief search, she found a cargo logbook hanging on a wall, complete with a pen. Dorothy had Tom pick up the logbook, flip to a blank page, and start writing. After finishing, she tore out the page.
Then, Dorothy had Tom take the torn page to the pile labeled "Animal Specimens" (which actually contained tobacco), lift the cover, and stick the written page onto one of the inner boxes. After doing this, she walked over to the confused Kapak and instructed him.
"Kid, we’re almost done here. It’s time to leave. But there might be spies from those guys outside the warehouse, so you can’t just walk out openly. Here’s what you do: find a place to hide, and when the port gets busier in the morning, blend in with the crowd and leave. Got it?"
"I’ll follow your instructions, Detective."
Kapak replied to Tom. Dorothy then had Tom find a worker’s uniform in the warehouse for Kapak to change into, helped him find a hiding spot, and gave him all the mystical items and the pistol from Tom’s body. Kapak promised to stay hidden.
After hiding Kapak, Dorothy had to deal with Tom’s aftermath. She had Tom, still in his role as the security captain, walk out and chat with the other night-shift guards and workers before leaving alone.
Under Dorothy’s control, the Nether Coffin Order apprentice Tom casually walked to the port’s seaside, tied a rope and a rock to himself, and, unnoticed, jumped into the dark sea.
…
Time passed quickly. Kapak, dressed in the worker’s uniform, hid in the warehouse’s shadows, waiting. As the minutes ticked by, he heard the noise outside the warehouse grow louder. Although it wasn’t yet dawn, more and more people began to move about, and the sounds of activity increased. In the distance, the occasional whistle of a ship could be heard.
As the noise grew louder, the warehouse doors opened. Even before dawn, workers entered the warehouse and began moving cargo outside. The flow of people in the warehouse increased, and they started transporting the cargo based on the labels on the black cloth covers. Hidden in the shadows, Kapak watched as the pile labeled "Tobacco" (which actually contained Black Hoof and the spirits) was wheeled out of the warehouse by ordinary dockworkers.
Seizing the opportunity, Kapak blended into the crowd of workers and escaped. The pile of spirits, mistaken for tobacco, was successfully loaded onto the ship and set sail for Tivian. Meanwhile, the actual tobacco remained in the warehouse, labeled as "Animal Specimens," waiting to be shipped to Dankt later.
"Finally... it’s over for now. Time to sleep..."
By the distant fireplace, after seeing Kapak safely leave, Dorothy yawned, extinguished the fire in the fireplace, and went upstairs to change and sleep. In bed, Dorothy glanced at the gradually brightening sky, pulled the blanket over her head, and murmured as she fell asleep.
"Now... when will those guys contact me?"
…
Night turned to day, and the moon gave way to the sun.
In the morning, on the vast ocean between the main continent and the new continent, the bright sunlight shone on the water, creating sparkling waves.
Princess Jenna, a passenger-cargo steamship, chugged along, spewing black smoke and leaving a long white trail in its wake. On the deck, passengers strolled about, enjoying the sunny weather. For many, the pleasant weather lifted their spirits.
Of course, not everyone felt this way. At this moment, some passengers were deeply troubled.
In the cargo hold of Princess Jenna, seven or eight people stood together. They were a mix of men and women, some dressed as ordinary passengers and others as crew members. All of them wore heavy expressions, their heads bowed. In front of them was a large pile of opened wooden crates, filled with high-quality tobacco from colonial plantations. Two people were busy opening more crates.
In the middle of this group stood Larena, dressed as a noblewoman. Her eyes were fixed on the crates of tobacco, her face dark and menacing. Around her, invisible wraiths howled, making the temperature in the room feel several degrees colder.
At this moment, all the Nether Coffin Order members on Princess Jenna had gathered. The lackeys stood before Larena, not daring to make a sound.
"When... were these swapped?"
Facing the crates of tobacco, Larena spoke coldly. Beside her, one of the men answered nervously.
"Lady Larena, it wasn’t on the ship... We discovered the switch as soon as we boarded! It must have happened at the port, while the cargo was stored there!"
"The port... Didn’t we have people there? How could someone have swapped the cargo without us noticing?! What were you idiots doing?! If your spirits are useless, I might as well extract them and turn them into spirituality!"
Suppressing her anger, Larena scolded harshly. The lackey continued to explain.
"We... we don’t know! We can’t reach the main person in charge at the port. We suspect he might be dead. We’re planning to have someone on shore perform a summoning ritual to call his spirit..."
As the lackey spoke in fear, Larena was about to say something when the two men rummaging through the tobacco crates suddenly called out.
"Lady Larena! Look what we found!"
One of the men ran over to Larena and handed her a piece of paper they had found in the tobacco. Larena took it and frowned as she read it.
The torn page was scrawled with the following message in Pritt Common.
…
"To the esteemed members of the Nether Coffin Order,
By the time you read this note, you must be quite troubled by the loss of some items. But don’t worry, since you’ve found this note, there’s still hope.
To be honest, due to certain circumstances, I came across your belongings. The items you’ve lost are now in my possession. Rest assured, I’ve kept them safe, and none of the contents have escaped.
To be frank, I’m not one to forcibly take others’ property. Your cargo... isn’t of much use to me. If you can offer a reasonable price, I will return your belongings to you intact, of course. As for the specific details of the transaction, we’ll need to discuss further.
If you wish to retrieve these items, please contact me within seven days through the White Craftsmen’s Guild’s newly established confidential mail service. Simply address your message to ’Thief K’... I eagerly await your reply."
…
"Thief..."
In the cargo hold of Princess Jenna, Larena muttered as she read the note. After a moment, she clenched her fist, crumpling the paper, her expression growing even darker.