Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 38 Investigation
"The Assassin's Path, also known as the Witch's Path, is an 'Assassin' at Sequence 9, an 'Instigator' at Sequence 8, and then... a 'Witch' who can transform men into women!"

"It's not that the Witch Cult's leaders chose women, it's that they had no choice..."

After drinking the potion, everyone becomes a good sister!
Claire admitted that she couldn't suppress her vengeful desires and dark thoughts towards that woman...

That stems from the characteristics of the "witch" path. The "witch sect" composed of these good sisters is simply a gathering place for lunatics.

And in a place like this where crazy people gather, it's impossible for a female witch to have a good ending... Claire didn't mention this speculation.

Listening to Claire's story, Dunn's previous confusion regarding the cases involving the assassin's path was now answered.

Dunn's deep grey eyes fell quietly on Claire:

"Tai Poslan, the Tai Poslan we couldn't find any trace of, also became a 'witch'? A woman?"

Seeing that Claire didn't respond, Dunn raised a new question:

"Is it possible that Tai Perslan is the guide for Ermo and Jie Shi?"

"Impossible." Claire shook her head firmly and confirmed, "Even if Tai... Tai Purslan became a witch, she couldn't have been the one who led Ermo and Jessie to extraordinary heights. The age and time don't match."

"Compared to Tai Perslan, I prefer that there is a witch hiding in Tingen."

Dunn leaned back in his chair. "It's possible that the witch who symbolizes disaster is staying in Tingen... You should talk to, talk to Leonard first... I almost forgot Leonard is handling a kidnapping case, and Xijia is also busy... The rest of you don't have enough experience."

Dunn rubbed his temples, trying to make him look more awake, then said, "You should ask Old Neil to come with you to do some preliminary research and be more proactive in contacting the Mechanical Heart. I'll report this information to the Holy Temple."

Dunn's prudent approach made Claire feel a little relieved.

The "Antigonus Family Notes" that Klein was involved in have not been found yet, and this has led to the emergence of hidden organizations such as the Gnosis Society and even the Witch Cult, which are keen on creating bloody incidents.

Being a night watchman is indeed quite stressful.

I am afraid that an ignored clue will eventually lead to a serious incident.

After receiving the mission from Dunn, Claire ran into Old Neil who was happily coming out of the accounting office.

"Yours." Old Neil stuffed a stack of bills into his hand.

The total is 155 pounds.

After collecting her share, Claire didn't want to ruin Old Neil's good mood, but she quickly relayed Dunn's instructions to him.
"The captain asked us to follow the clues provided by Jie Shi and Er Mo and check for any suspicious female Beyonders."

"That Dunn brat!" As expected, the semi-retired senior night watchman who wanted to take a break was like an old cat with its fur standing on end, muttering about how much dirty work he had done for Dunn in the fifteen years since he knew him.

"I once saved his life! Although he saved me many times as well... but I've retired. Where's Leonard? Where's Xiga?"

Claire spread her hands and said, "The captain said they are all out on a mission."

Old Neil chuckled:
"Xiga is honestly really busy. Leonard's just been slacking off! I just heard from Roshan that he and Klein took on a kidnapping case involving no Beyonders. How could a Sequence 8 'Midnight Poet' like him be involved in such a matter?"

"And why is our investigation focusing on female Beyonders?"

Old Neil, who was venting his emotions in a rambling manner, stared at Claire in confusion. With his rich experience as a senior night watchman, he felt that there was something wrong.

Claire explained, "The captain and I both suspect that there might be a member of the Witch Church hiding behind Jesse and Ermo."

Old Neil sighed softly upon hearing this. He understood why Dunn had assigned him to this task. With Leonard and Siga both unable to assist, he was the only one with enough experience to lead a newcomer like Claire to investigate such a potentially dangerous incident.

Luo Yao and Kenli were both newcomers, especially Kenli, who had become a Beyonder only a few days earlier than Claire, and was so careless that he couldn't even take care of himself.

Frye spent more time on duty at Chanis Gate.

After lining up in a long line, it seems that only a retired old man like him can be pulled out to lead the team.

"Okay, that's the case report you're holding in your arms, right? Show it to me."

Since they had decided to team up to handle the case, Claire not only handed the incident report to Old Neil, but also repeated her and Dunn's conjectures to him.

Old Neil was stunned when he heard this. "Goddess! I've lived for most of my life and I can still open my eyes to new things!"

Then, Old Neil stroked his chin and said thoughtfully, "When I was training in the Holy Temple, I heard that the wild Beyonders in the Intis Republic were mostly 'assassins'! Now that I think about it...tsk tsk!"

Claire scolded him with a smile, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "Don't be disrespectful to your elders. Do you have any idea where to start investigating the case?"

Old Neil flipped through the documents and sorted out his thoughts, and asked:

"From the looks of it, you have your own ideas, right? Although Dunn chose me to cooperate because of my rich experience, since Dunn has handed this case to you, you are the main person."

"This is also a conscious effort to train you. You need to be cautious when it comes to advancement within the sequence, but when it comes to analyzing and handling cases, you newcomers really need to grow quickly."

"Not only to protect others, but also to save your own life."

Seeing Old Neil's attitude, Claire stopped being polite and said:
"Ermo's interrogation hasn't yielded any new leads. I plan to wait for the Mechanical Heart's investigation before deciding. For now, I want to investigate Jesse's lead first."

After pushing the door open and returning to her office next door, Claire spread a piece of white paper on the table and wrote Jesse Moody's name in the middle with a pen.

Old Neil sat down, flipped the file to the page about Jie Shi, and asked, "Choose to investigate the dead first?"

Claire nodded. "Well, in my opinion, there are more suspicious points about the dead man Jie Shi than Er Mo."

Claire continued writing on the paper, explaining as she went on, "There are some obvious suspicious points about Jie Shi."

"Let me first talk about the connection between Jie Shi and Er Mo."

"According to the investigation, these two people had no previous interactions in Tingen, except that Jie Shi sold the 'Instigator' formula to Ermo before his death."

"But in this transaction, both our interrogation of Ermo and the Mechanical Heart's investigation of Jesse can reach a conclusion."

"The transaction was initiated by Jie Shi."

Claire wrote down Ermo next to it, marking Jesse's name as active and Ermo's name as passive.

"Lying in wait at the underground trading venue, and then revealing that he had the Instigator formula after Ermo showed up, these actions couldn't be explained by coincidence... It's clear that Jie Shi knows Ermo well."

"But Ermo doesn't know Jieshi."

"So this transaction was a deliberate act planned by 'Apprentice' Jie Shi."

"But this contradicts Jieshi's previous behavior of deliberately avoiding extraordinary events."

(End of this chapter)