940 A Story (1/2)
After leaving the local Nighthawks's base which was disguised as a private detective office, Leonard glanced at Daly Simone who had suggested to team up with him.
”Where do we begin? Any suggestions?”
Dressed in a Spirit Medium black robe with her hood pulled over her head, Daly Simone, with an uncanny beauty and mature air, shot Leonard Mitchell a glance.
”This is when a gentleman's decisiveness and style should be showcased.”
Leonard looked at his left hand which was wearing a red glove. He deliberated and said, ”If we begin by following Captain Soest's arrangements, that might allow us to find some clues, but it's not necessarily useful. I suspect that Her Excellency Goddess's Eye knows that. She's only giving us something to do in order to confuse Ince Zangwill.”
”Why do you say that?” Daly wasn't joking as her expression wore a rare, solemn look.
Leonard glanced to his sides as he said in a heavy voice without realizing it, ”Based on what I know, 0-08 has the characteristic of 'once you know it, it will also know you.' We shouldn't be influenced while staying on the periphery of its perception since we aren't sure of its real name or powers, and only use the code name we gave it. But as Red Gloves who are pursuing the Numinous Episcopate's matters, and having discussed Ince Zangwill many times, I believe our situation has already been grasped by 0-08. This way, Ince Zangwill should know that his abnormal state has been exposed. From that, he will avoid us by creating coincidences.”
Daly recalled the information regarding Ince Zangwill and nodded.
”Soest had also mentioned this problem in the beginning. However, he didn't verbalize it as clearly as you did. It's still in the stage of backward inference from a result of failures.
”Therefore, Her Excellency Goddess's Eye has gotten us to investigate the situation of the nearby district's Hunter pathway Beyonders and ingredients, and pretending as though nothing is confirmed. In the meantime, Her Excellency is preparing the usage of some corresponding items to lay a trap for the moment when the evil spirit gains control over Ince Zangwill and thus appears?”
Leonard turned his body and spoke as he walked:
”That's probably the case, but I suspect that it's unlikely for 0-08 to not know of it…”
Daly followed diagonally behind as she said in thought, ”I believe there's still a chance for success. Don't forget that one of the honorific names of the Goddess is the Mother of Concealment.”
”That can counter 0-08? The Church has a high-ranking member or Sealed Artifact that can counter 0-08? It's no wonder 0-08 was once obtained by the Church and sealed under the Holy Cathedral…” Leonard's eyes lit up as he came to a realization.
Daly nodded very slightly as her expression turned soft.
A few seconds later, her pupils contracted as she blurted out, ”Do you think our discussion has caught the attention of 0-08?”
Leonard's expression fell, but he didn't dare confirm anything nor shake his head. He and Daly looked at each other, looking back and forth as they fell silent for a moment.
…
In a particular room, a slightly pale hand flipped a notebook to its very first page, then it flipped one page after another:
”…After leaving Bansy Harbor, Sauron Einhorn Medici, who had obtained a certain object, was no longer only stubborn or only capable of instinctively conspiring. After repeated struggles and resisting, Ince Zangwill and he had obtained a truce and had even decided on having a limited cooperative effort so as to achieve each other's goals.
”To an evil spirit of the Red Priest pathway, such a promise cannot be guaranteed to be effective, but Ince Zangwill no longer had any other choice.
”From his point of view, this series of matters had many coincidences, but fundamentally, this was inevitable. At the very least, Sauron Einhorn Medici was many times better at creating stories than him.
”…After confirming the destination to be the Southern Continent's East Balam, Ince Zangwill boarded a ship to the Berserk Sea… Every time, he would enter the Intis colonial islands, irrationally provoking the official Beyonders and hunting Beyonders from the Hunter pathway. Then, before danger arrived, he would quickly regain lucidity, cover his tracks, and flee far away.
”This might seem like a coincidence, but the problem is when it's the same coincidence every time, is it too much of a coincidence?
”From the perspective of logic and reason, too many coincidences imply that certain elements or rules were secretly in existence. The reason why Ince was able to do that was because he had written the words above. Using the Quill of Alzuhod, he naturally allowed himself to switch between the two states of 'being possessed by an evil spirit' and 'self-autonomy.' What a scheming fellow. This wasn't only directed at Ince Zangwill, but also at Sauron Einhorn Medici. They were clearly already coexisting in peace, but they acted out to be in conflict as though they were relying on an external force to achieve some semblance of balance.
”…Ince Zangwill's purchase of additional Bard and Warrior pathway Beyonder ingredients was very reasonable. This was because he was hiding the clues that the evil spirit was using him to seek out various items of the Hunter pathway, and to prevent others from realizing that all of this was under his tacit agreement, disguising it as his attempts to resist. In addition, the Bard and Warrior pathways had the ability to resist the dead and exorcise evil spirits. As long as a clever person were to think it over carefully, they would undoubtedly notice this and verify that Ince Zangwill was being possessed.
”…After numerous provocations, the Iron and Blood Cross Order's Tony Down finally locked onto Ince Zangwill and began pursuing him. During this process, this War Bishop, who had made his goal to become a Conqueror, showed off his powers without any restraint. When a storm happened to stop his pursuit, he appeared on a ship filled with ordinary people in an eyecatching manner before pulling out the fellow disguised as Ince Zangwill.
”This was a little coincidental, but it was nothing surprising. This was because the Iron and Blood Cross Order's belief is for the supernatural to be known to all, and to be placed above all ordinary people. And Tony Down's unbridled arrogance often used his own strength to shatter the doubts of others and had extremely great confidence. Therefore, the way he acted was without a problem.
”Likewise, he was overly confident, causing him to neglect the possibility that Ince Zangwill was also on the ship. This didn't match his intuition as a hunter, but in this world, anyone could make mistakes!
”When Ince Zangwill disembarked on Waypoint Island, he sensed someone observing him from a first-class cabin, but he didn't mind it. This was exactly the effect he wanted. It was the best development if someone among the passengers happened to know him! Yes, happened to…
”…It was neither too early or too late. Before Soest's Red Gloves took action, Ince Zangwill met with Hand of White Palenque Taciblius of the Numinous Episcopate's Artificial Death faction, hoping to obtain their help in exorcising the evil spirit…”
Traces of words scribbled away.
”…The development of things became a little odd. Before having a sufficient amount of clues, Leonard Mitchell and Daly Simone of the Soest's Red Gloves team seemed to come to a conclusion. It apparently came from a letter sent by Reinette Tinekerr…
”Where did the problem lie? Ince Zangwill was rather puzzled by this. From his point of view, unless one could directly capture Palenque Taciblius or other key personnel of the Numinous Episcopate, no one could come up with such a conclusion so quickly.
”This made his preparations a little hasty, but thankfully, this was an outcome he wanted.
”…The Red Gloves team led by Soest discovered Ince Zangwill's abnormalities from the feedback from various telegrams. Daly Simone used this opportunity to mention the assumption of an evil spirit's possession and had received a unanimous agreement.