Underground, Gale Fortress, Northwest Suburbs of Tivian.
Inside the headquarters of the Serenity Bureau, in a vast underground hall, people come and go. Beneath the towering flag of Pritt, a massive statue of the Mirror Moon Goddess stands. Her indistinct features, impossible to discern clearly, gaze down upon the bustling crowd below.
Gregor, who had just finished his response, stands before the colossal statue, looking up at the figure of the goddess holding a round mirror. In his eyes, a trace of confusion and unease flickers.
“Every time I see this... I feel a sense of familiarity... How strange. Where does this feeling come from? I’ve never seen anything like this before... What’s the source of this familiarity?”
Scratching his head, Gregor stares at the statue, lost in thought. Having been at the headquarters for some time, this isn’t the first time he’s seen the statue. Yet, each time, a strange sense of familiarity washes over him, despite having no memory of encountering anything similar before.
“It’s a shame. Even the people here don’t know much about the origins of this statue. If I could gather more information, maybe I could recall something.”
Gregor ponders this in his heart. This inexplicable sense of familiarity has been bothering him, so he’s spent the past few days trying to figure out its source, wondering if he’s seen a similar statue before. However, he still hasn’t uncovered the reason for this feeling.
After gazing at the statue for a few more moments, Gregor sighs quietly and turns to leave. Just then, a familiar male voice echoes in his mind.
“This is... Detective’s response!”
Hearing the voice in his mind, Gregor’s expression hardens. He listens carefully to the whispered message, and after fully understanding its contents, he strokes his chin thoughtfully. “Detective wants me to recall information about those people and pray to convey it to him, especially their appearances. So, praying to Aka can transmit images too? What does Detective want their appearances for?”
Gregor feels puzzled, but despite his confusion, he follows Detective’s instructions. He quickly leaves the hall, finds a quiet spot, sits down, closes his eyes, and begins to pray to Aka while recalling the appearances and details of the colleagues he recently met.
…
Green Shade Town No. 17, North Suburbs of Tivian.
In the living room, the embers in the fireplace crackle and burn. Not far from the fire, Dorothy, dressed in casual home clothes, sits on the sofa. She slowly opens her eyes, a thoughtful gleam in them.
“Finally... more detailed information...”
Muttering to herself, Dorothy sits up straight and picks up a piece of paper and a pencil from the coffee table. She writes down the names, paths, and origins of the five individuals. After scanning the list, she focuses on two names in particular.
One is Leo Cardo, who claims to be from Noyce in North Sampson County. The other is Vihan Valder, from Coxet in South Lime County.
Both of them follow the Blood Shade Path, also known as the Shadow Facade Path, which grants them the ability to disguise themselves. Based on Gregor’s experience, the method these infiltrators use to plant moles in the investigation team is to intercept and replace the original members halfway, killing them and using their abilities to impersonate them. Since this group was sent to headquarters for promotions, a Shadow Facade disguised as an Apprentice would face problems if they chose to advance as Aeromancer. Their only option is the Blood Shade Path, which, in the eyes of the Serenity Bureau, would mean “advancing” to their original pathway.
Therefore, these two individuals following the Blood Shade Path are the most suspicious. It’s almost certain that the mole is among them—either one or both.
However, no matter how much she speculates, Dorothy knows she needs concrete evidence to confirm who the mole is. To identify the mole among them, Dorothy decides to use her old method: divination.
“Among these five individuals, each of them has anti-divination protection. The regular team members have anti-divination provided by the Serenity Bureau Headquarters. After their promotions, they are officially integrated into the bureau’s anti-divination protection system. As for the mole, it’s even more likely that they have dual anti-divination protection from both the Serenity Bureau and the Eight-Spired Nest.”
Dorothy understands that these large Beyonder organizations have robust anti-divination systems. Their anti-divination frameworks usually revolve around a high-ranking individual or object as the core, using special methods to extend protection to other members. The high-ranking entity accumulates large amounts of Revelation and Shadow as anti-divination resources.
Once a person is integrated into an anti-divination system, any divination targeting them is treated as targeting the high-ranking core of the system. Divining a higher-ranking entity from a lower rank incurs severe penalties, and the resources expended are vastly disproportionate to what the high-ranking entity spends.
Therefore, if Dorothy were to directly divine these individuals now, she would fail no matter what. She needs to find another way to perform the divination.
Examining the information about Vihan on the paper, Dorothy focuses intently. She visualizes Vihan’s face in her mind, committing it to memory. Then, she takes out a coin from her pocket and recites the divination phrase.
“Is Vihan Valder, from Coset in South Lime County, already dead?”
After reciting the phrase, Dorothy tosses the coin. As it spins in the air and lands, she slaps it onto the back of her hand. Feeling the drain on her spirituality, she lifts her hand and sees the coin’s face-up side, indicating that her divination statement is correct.
“So... Vihan Valder, the man from South Lime County, is already dead. The person who attended the meeting with Gregor was an imposter...”
Looking at the coin on her hand, Dorothy murmurs. Vihan’s identity as a mole is now confirmed in her mind.
That’s right—this is Dorothy’s method of divination. Since the mole is protected by anti-divination and cannot be divined directly, she divines the person they killed and impersonated—the unfortunate victim who was replaced midway.
Vihan Valder, a Hunter from Coset who was on his way to Tivian for his assignment, encountered the same situation as Gregor. Due to leaks within the headquarters, he was targeted by the Eight-Spired Nest. Unlike Gregor, he wasn’t as lucky and was killed and replaced.
Although the Serenity Bureau has branches throughout Pritt, the intensity of Beyonder conflicts in most areas is low. Divination is extremely rare, and many small societies can’t afford to use Revelation. As a result, local branches often lack anti-divination protection, and the original Vihan was no exception.
Vihan was killed and replaced before officially joining the headquarters, so he had no anti-divination protection. Dorothy can divine his status. To accurately divine him and not someone else with the same name, Dorothy specifically asked Gregor for the appearances of these individuals. To successfully impersonate the victim, the mole perfectly replicated the victim’s appearance.
With the name, address, and appearance, Dorothy can divine the person’s status. The result is that the person is already dead, so the one standing there with the dead man’s face is undoubtedly the imposter.
After confirming that Vihan is a definite mole, Dorothy proceeds to divine Leo. Since she no longer has any coin-shaped Lantern storage items, she uses ordinary coins for these divinations, paying the Lantern cost from her accumulated spirituality.
The result is a failed divination. Leo Caldo is currently under anti-divination protection, meaning the Leo who attended the meeting with Gregor is undoubtedly the real one. He successfully arrived in Tivian and received the Serenity Bureau Headquarters’ anti-divination protection. Choosing to advance along the Blood Shade Path was his own decision.
In other words, the Eight-Spired Nest only planned to replace two members of the investigation team: Gregor and Vihan. Gregor’s replacement failed, and Vihan has now been exposed.
“Now... I have the information on the mole within the investigation team. When it comes time to negotiate with Miss Misha... I’ll have another card to play.”
Dorothy thinks to herself. Now, she’s just waiting for the invitation letter for Detective.
…
Time flies, and two days pass quickly. Knowing that a letter would arrive, Dorothy hasn’t left the house during this time, instead waiting quietly at home.
As expected, on the morning of the third day, while reading in her study, Dorothy hears the sound of a bell downstairs. She opens the window and looks out to see Beverly, dressed in a men’s vest and trousers, riding a bicycle and stopping in front of her house. She rings the bell and waves an envelope in her hand.
“Hey~ Detective lady upstairs, there’s a letter for you~”
Beverly calls out in a drawn-out voice. Dorothy frowns, puts on her slippers, and quickly runs downstairs. She opens the door and, in a low but stern voice, scolds Beverly, who is still on her bicycle.
“Can’t you keep it down, you automaton woman? What if someone on the street hears you? Is this how you address your clients? Where’s your sense of confidentiality?”
“Relax~ Detective lady, I’ve checked. There’s no one around. Most of the people renting houses here are rich kids from Royal Crown University who don’t like living on campus. They’re all in class right now, so there’s hardly anyone around. You’re the only one in the entire King’s Campus who completely ignores class schedules.”
Beverly says this as she hands the envelope to Dorothy. Hearing her words, Dorothy wants to say something but ultimately bites her lip and takes the envelope.
“The letter’s delivered. I should get going. If you have a reply, just bring it to my house when you’re done.”
After handing over the envelope, Beverly pedals away on her bicycle. Dorothy watches her retreating figure for a moment, then returns inside.
Back in the living room, Dorothy places the letter on the table. She uses Stone Powder to remove any lingering scents from the letter and checks it with the Illuminating Beacon for any spiritual traces. After confirming there’s nothing unusual, she opens the letter and sits on the sofa to read it.
As expected, the letter is from the Serenity Bureau, addressed to Detective.
The letter is lengthy, but in summary, the Serenity Bureau expresses gratitude for Detective’s help in returning the confidential documents and apologizes for the delay in contacting them. They formally invite Detective to a face-to-face meeting to discuss the reward for returning the documents.
Since Dorothy already knew Misha’s intentions, the contents of the letter were no surprise. Dorothy naturally plans to have Detective meet with Miss Misha, but she doesn’t want this meeting to happen under the mole’s watchful eyes.
Dorothy wants the detective to communicate directly with Misha without alerting the mole, allowing them to discuss the mole situation more effectively and avoid tipping them off. In short, because the investigation team has too many moles, Dorothy wants to communicate directly with Misha, not the investigation team.
Now, Dorothy needs to write a reply, but she wants this reply to reach only Misha, bypassing the investigation team for direct communication. If Dorothy communicates with the entire investigation team, any information could be leaked by the Eight-Spired Nest mole.
If Dorothy directly exposes the mole in the letter, not only might it be seen as a ploy to sow discord, but it would also undermine her plan to use the mole’s information as a bargaining chip in negotiations.
“The key is... if I write a reply, I can’t guarantee that the letter will immediately and exclusively reach Misha. I can’t ensure that only she will see it. So, I need some information in the letter to be visible only to Misha.”
Dorothy ponders this, and an idea comes to her. She first goes upstairs to her study and types a conventional reply on her typewriter. The letter states that Detective is willing to meet with the Serenity Bureau, but the time and location of the meeting need further discussion.
After typing the letter, Dorothy takes an envelope from the drawer and seals the letter inside. She places the envelope on the table and takes out a feather pen from her magic box.
This is a feather pen Dorothy found in the Star Numerology Scriptorium ruins beneath Royal Crown University. It can consume Revelation spirituality to write Universal Language.
Universal Language can be read by anyone, but the writer can encrypt the content so that only specific types of people can see it. The Universal Language script in the Star Numerology Scriptorium ruins was set so that only Revelation Beyonders could read it.
“This text can only be seen by Misha Deblanca...”
Holding the feather pen, Dorothy murmurs as she sets the encryption. Then, she begins to write on the blank envelope.
“Respected Miss Deblanca, I apologize for contacting you in this manner. However, due to the presence of prying eyes around you and the Serenity Bureau being under constant surveillance, I must ensure that only you can see this content. The letter inside the envelope is merely a facade. The true message I wish to convey is written here on the envelope...”