In the Hymn Cathedral of the Cathedral District in North Tivian, beneath the towering dome supported by rows of thick columns, Misha stood in her ordinary winter clothes, scrutinizing the man before her who extended his hand with a smile. On the surface, there was nothing unusual about him. After a moment of hesitation, Misha reached out and shook his hand.
"Your pattern spell is quite impressive... Detective. It’s my first time witnessing such mystical effects that only appear in my eyes. It’s quite an eye-opener."
Misha addressed Ed, clearly curious about the effects of the Universal script. Under Dorothy’s control, Ed smiled and replied.
"It’s nothing special, just a mystical item I stumbled upon. It allows me to secretly convey messages to specific individuals. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have much use beyond that."
Dorothy had Ed respond this way, not out of modesty but because the Universal Quill was indeed limited in its capabilities.
Dorothy had conducted experiments with the quill and discovered that it allowed her to write in Universal script rather than master it. At least, the Universal script written with this quill had limitations: the more precise the encryption conditions, the less spirituality it consumed, and vice versa. The broader the encryption conditions, the greater the consumption.
For now, the Universal script Dorothy could write with the quill could only be precisely set for specific individuals or a small group. She couldn’t yet set conditions like those in the ruins, where anyone meeting certain criteria could read it. This was because setting such broad conditions consumed several times—or even dozens of times—more spirituality than setting precise conditions. Even though Dorothy used Revelation, the least important spirituality to her, the quill’s spirituality consumption under broad conditions was too high. Therefore, for now, Dorothy could only use the quill to write messages for specific individuals.
This was likely a limitation of the quill itself, not the Universal Language script. Dorothy believed that if she truly mastered Universal Language, the spiritual consumption would be much more manageable.
"You’re very punctual, Detective."
"Of course. It would be ungentlemanly to keep a lady waiting. Miss Misha, your trust in coming here to meet me is a great honor."With an unchanging smile, Ed continued to speak politely to Misha, who glanced around before saying.
"To ease my concerns, you chose this location for our meeting. Such sincerity shouldn’t be wasted, so I came."
Looking around, Misha released Ed’s hand and then asked.
"So, are we talking here?"
"Of course. There aren’t many people praying today, and this corner of the church is spacious enough. On church grounds, we don’t need to be too wary of those people."
As Ed spoke, he walked over to the last row of seats in the empty corner of the church and sat down. Misha followed and sat nearby.
"What kind of organization are you? Why are you opposed to the Eight-Spired Nest? How much do you know about them?"
Misha asked directly, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Ed, who spread his hands and smiled in response.
"You’re asking too many questions at once, Miss Misha. I’m here to trade information with you, not to report to you. Information outside the scope of our transaction is something I can’t disclose."
Hearing Ed’s words, Misha’s expression darkened. She stared at him for a few seconds before continuing.
"Then, what can you tell me?"
"What I can tell you was already written in the letter. There’s a mole in your investigation team. That mole has seen all the information within your team. Relying on a team with a mole to find a bigger mole is impossible. Because we have a spy within the Eight-Spired Nest, we happen to know the identity of that small mole. That’s what I can tell you today, Miss."
Ed spoke lightly, and Misha pressed further.
"If you have a spy within the Eight-Spired Nest, do you only know the identity of the small mole? Do you know nothing about the bigger mole?"
"Information about the bigger mole is classified as top-secret within the Eight-Spired Nest. Although we’ve infiltrated them, our current level of infiltration isn’t deep enough to reach that level. If we ever obtain relevant information, perhaps we can have another transaction. But this time, our deal doesn’t include that."
Ed explained patiently, and after a moment of silence, Misha spoke.
"Then... what do I need to give in exchange for the information about the small mole?"
"Information for information. I have some questions for you. If I receive valuable answers, I’ll provide the information truthfully."
Ed looked into Misha’s eyes as he spoke. Misha let out a cold laugh.
"Hah... valuable answers. If I answer, it’s up to you to decide if the answer is valuable. What if I answer, but you go back on your word?"
Misha questioned Ed, who straightened his collar and replied seriously.
"Miss Misha, I think the fact that we’re both here means we have a basic level of trust in each other. There’s no need for you to doubt me at this point. If you can’t even give me that much trust, this transaction won’t go anywhere."
Hearing Ed’s words, Misha’s expression tightened. After a moment of thought, she took a deep breath. Unwilling to give up this opportunity to obtain information about the Eight-Spired Nest, she spoke.
"Fine, ask what you want to know."
"Good... Miss Misha, what we want to know is information about deities in the Shadow domain. Has the Serenity Bureau conducted any research or even worship of deities in the Shadow domain?"
Ed asked Misha, who was taken aback by the question. She hadn’t expected the question to be about this.
"Deities... from the Shadow domain? Hah... you’ll be disappointed if you’re asking me about this. The Serenity Bureau is an official Beyonder organization under the royal government. We don’t engage in the worship of foreign deities.”
"We don’t worship foreign deities, and researching them could lead to worship, creating instability within the bureau. So, our research on foreign deities is very superficial. We don’t delve deep."
Misha explained to Ed, who frowned and continued.
"Then... have you researched the Pure Color Deity in the Shadow domain?"
"Pure Color Deity in the Shadow domain? You mean core deities like the King of the Underworld for Silence or the Mother of Chalice for Chalice? I’m sorry, but the activity of core deity faith organizations is much lower compared to others. Only the King of the Underworld and the Mother of Chalice have some influence within the Nether Coffin Order and the Afterbirth Cult. Beyond them, aside from the Radiant Savior, I haven’t even heard of other Pure Color Deities. So, our understanding of them is very limited. Actively seeking out this unnecessary knowledge is both time-consuming and risky."
Misha’s explanation left Dorothy, who was observing through Ed’s senses, feeling uneasy. A sense of foreboding rose within her.
“You can’t be serious. Does the Serenity Bureau really have no information on the Shadow domain’s main deity? Aren’t you supposed to be a Shadow-related Beyonder organization?”
In the carriage parked on a distant street, Dorothy sat in her seat, inwardly complaining. She had originally planned to trade the mole’s information for details about the Shadow domain’s main deity and Their holy symbol. But according to Misha, they had no information on the Shadow domain’s main deity—not even Their name! This left Dorothy feeling extremely frustrated.
Dorothy knew that these Pure Color Deities had low presence in the Fourth Epoch, but she hadn’t expected it to be this bad. The Radiant Savior, though marginalized, was at least widely known, and everyone recognized Their status above the Three Saints.
The Mother of Chalice and the King of the Underworld, as foreign deities outside the Radiance Church, were not widely known, but They at least had some recognition within Their respective spirituality domains. They still held nominal reverence, at least among those who worshipped Gluttonous Wolf, who still referred to the Mother of Chalice as the mother of their deity.
But when it came to the Stone Prince, things were much worse. Their recognition within Their own spirituality domain was incredibly low, with almost no followers. They were treated more as a subject for archaeological research, overshadowed by the Core of Order in the Stone domain, with only Dark Gold Society having any significant influence.
Dorothy had initially thought the Shadow domain’s main deity was in a similar situation to the Stone Prince, but now it seemed this nameless Shadow deity was even worse off. Even within Their own spirituality domain, Their name was unknown. They likely had no organized following, and Their entire lineage had been completely severed, making Them even more obscure than the Revelation domain’s main deity, which had no organized following either.
Dorothy felt a pang of frustration. Misha’s lack of knowledge about the Shadow domain’s Pure Color Deity had thrown a wrench in her plans. Obtaining the holy symbol of the Shadow deity from Misha was now impossible, leaving her preparations for her advancement ritual in disarray. This made her anxious.
“There’s no other way. I’ll have to see if I can get some related clues.”
With a serious expression, Dorothy thought to herself. She then controlled Ed in the distant church to ask Misha.
"If you don’t know about the Pure Color Deities... how much do you know about the Mirror Moon Statue?"
"The Mirror Moon Statue?"
"Yes, the headless goddess statue in the underground ruins of Royal Crown University. You’ve taken over the ruins there, so you must have seen it. From what we know, the Eight-Spired Nest is searching all over Pritt for similar statues to perform some kind of blasphemous ritual. In the Razor Mountains of Ulster, there’s also a desecrated statue like this. You must know something about it..."
In the church, Ed spoke with a serious tone. Misha nodded in understanding.
"Oh, you mean the Moon Maiden Statue."
"The Moon Maiden Statue? Is that what you call it?"
"Yes, in the ruins within Pritt, such statues are occasionally unearthed. Our bureau’s internal name for them is the Moon Maiden Statue. We’ve called them that for a long time. These statues aren’t unfamiliar to us, but we don’t know much about them."
Misha explained, and as she spoke, Ed’s eyes shifted slightly toward the Three Saints’ Altar at the center of the church. The term "maiden" made Dorothy think of the Three Saints, and recalling that Vania had once mentioned the Mirror Moon Goddess’ Altar had a slight early Radiance Church style, Dorothy wondered if the Mirror Moon Goddess had any connection to the Radiance Church.
"Since such statues are occasionally unearthed in Pritt, wouldn’t your official Beyonder organization research them to figure out their origins?"
Ed continued to ask, and Misha waved her hand in response.
"We have researched them, but the results show that these statues predate the entire history of the kingdom, possibly dating back to the Mystic History. Due to the lack of information, no one can determine their true origins. Moreover, as I mentioned earlier, we are an official Beyonder organization tasked with preventing secret cults, not a secret cult ourselves. So, we won’t spend significant resources studying hidden figures, as it could lead to unknown risks or contamination. Before discovering that the Eight-Spired Nest was performing blasphemous rituals on these Moon Maiden Statues, our research on them was minimal. No one knows their true origins."
"If you didn’t research them much before discovering the blasphemous rituals... does that mean you’ve increased your research efforts since then?"
Noticing the detail in Misha’s words, Ed asked, and she nodded in response.
"Correct. As early as August this year, we received documents from you about Ulster. After that, we sent a team to investigate the Razor Mountains. In the depths of the mountains, we discovered ruins that had been used as a base but were later abandoned. This was our first encounter with a desecrated Moon Maiden Statue. At that time, we realized that the Eight-Spired Nest’s goals were deeply connected to these statues. Due to practical needs, we began to conduct in-depth research on these statues, which we had previously only been familiar with."
Misha explained in detail, and Ed listened carefully before asking.
"So... have your research efforts yielded any results?"
"We don’t know yet, because the research isn’t being conducted by our bureau. We’ve entrusted it to a third party."
Misha’s response surprised Ed.
"A third party? You can outsource research?"
"Yes. After all, the Serenity Bureau specializes in investigation and execution, not academic research. So, we’ve entrusted the research on the Moon Maiden Statues and the blasphemous rituals to a trusted expert. So far, we haven’t received any results from him, but it’s said that significant progress has been made. If you want to learn more about the Moon Maiden Statues, you’ll likely need to contact him directly."
Misha explained, and Ed immediately asked.
"Who is this third party?"
Hearing Dorothy’s question, Misha paused for a moment, then, after some hesitation, spoke.
"Strictly speaking, I shouldn’t use the term ’third party,’ as it implies exclusion. The person we’ve entrusted is essentially an ally. He is Duke Barrett, one of the most respected members of the Tivian Royal Family."
Misha’s words caused Dorothy, sitting in the distant carriage, to freeze. The name triggered a memory—she had seen it before.
Barrett Despenser, Duke of Barrett, a permanent resident of Tivian and a member of the royal family. He was a collector who frequently placed advertisements seeking rare items and was also a prominent historian specializing in Pritt’s history. Dorothy had seen the third edition of "The History of the Pritt Kingdom," which he had overseen, during her time at Royal Crown University’s library. He held a significant position in Pritt’s historical academia.
"Duke Barrett is involved in the mysticism world?"
Ed blurted out in surprise, and Misha nodded in response.
"More than just involved. Like many members of the royal family, Duke Barrett is a seasoned Beyonder. As a renowned historian, he has extensive knowledge of Pritt’s history, both public and hidden. When our bureau encounters historical issues, we often consult him. He is one of our bureau’s key advisors. So, regarding the Moon Maiden Statues and the blasphemous rituals, we’ve entrusted him to conduct the research and help us understand the Eight-Spired Nest’s goals.”
"If you truly want to learn more about the Moon Maiden Statues, contacting him is your best option. Fortunately, Duke Barrett occasionally attends gatherings, so it’s not impossible for you to meet him."
After saying this, Misha changed the subject.
"Alright, I think I’ve given you enough information. The value of this information should be sufficient to trade for the mole’s identity."
With a serious expression, Misha looked at Ed, who stroked his chin in thought before nodding slightly.
T/N: Despencer > Despenser