Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

"If it's a bizarre case, can't we just hand it over to the local police?"

“At first, I also thought it was an ordinary case, but as the investigation progressed, I found that it was not like that at all.” The mayor shook his head, his face somewhat serious. “The bodies in the house that caught fire were not found to have spontaneously combusted from the inside out, while the missing persons disappeared in the downtown area in full view of everyone.”

"Are you suggesting that these things might be related to the Phantom Book?"

“That’s right.” The mayor nodded. “The existence of mysterious phenomena like the Phantom Book is the dark side of this world, and it cannot be openly discussed. Therefore, I ordered them to stop searching and not to mention this matter publicly anymore.”

"But you still came to me now."

“Some things are better left unsaid, but there must be an explanation. I did arrange for people to investigate secretly, but there were no results… I think it’s a waste of your talents to have an alchemist like you come to investigate things in town, but… no one else would be suitable.”

"Please rest assured, I am here for my own purposes."

"That's good."

The mayor said happily.

"Then I'll leave the investigation of the town to you. I'll arrange the best hotel for you. Please feel free to ask me anything."

"Well, tell me first, what do you want me to investigate?"

"What I want you to investigate is... who is hiding in the town providing people with the illusionary book."

"How can you be sure they're still in this town? And how can you be sure the illusion book was given to them by someone and that they didn't just find it by accident?"

"To be honest, apart from the two things I mentioned in my appeal, strange things have been happening in the town for fifty years, which I heard from my grandfather."

"I see……"

From the brief exchange, Isaac could probably draw some conclusions.

Someone has been hiding in this town for fifty years, providing the townspeople with magical books. This person must have a considerable number of magical books in their possession.

And there is...

The things happening here are most likely unrelated to your textbook.

"Tsk, what a wasted trip."

"Your Mightiness?"

"It's nothing. Leave this to me to investigate, but there's no guarantee of results."

"It would be my greatest honor if you were willing to help me."

"Alright then, I'll start the investigation tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll have someone arrange for you to go to a hotel."

After Isaac left, the mayor sat in the chair at his desk, his pupils radiating an aura of 'conspiracy'.

Chapter 1000: The Ghost of the Clock Tower

"Spontaneous human combustion a year and a half ago, and the disappearance of people three months ago—were there also mysterious events fifty years ago?"

Isaac also did some research on the things the mayor mentioned.

Regarding the spontaneous combustion incident, he consulted some local departments with case records and obtained some photos to review. He found that, as the mayor had stated, the fire did indeed start from the inside.

When Isaac was in Amestris, he was immediately drawn into the Ishvalan annihilation campaign shortly after being transferred to Eastern City. During that period, Isaac dissected many corpses, including some of those burned to death by Roy.

It's easy to tell whether the body was burned on the outside; at least on this point, the mayor wasn't lying to himself.

He tossed the photo aside and asked several detectives from the town behind him, "Who was in charge of this case back then?"

"This one……"

"what happened?"

“Sir Isaac, the officer in charge of this case passed away six months after the incident,” one of the junior officers said.

"died?"

"Yes, it was raining that day. The officer was traveling to another place in a horse-drawn carriage when a landslide occurred, and the carriage fell off the cliff."

Does he have any relatives?

“The police officer has always lived alone and has no relatives.”

"I see... Are there any police officers or anything to assist with the investigation?"

"Yes, but I don't think they know much about it."

One of the veteran detectives spoke up.

"Oh why?"

"Because just a few days after the incident, the mayor ordered that no one was allowed to interfere in the case, and only Jeff continued to investigate secretly, so those junior officers probably didn't know the details of the case."

"Jeff? Is that the detective's name?"

“Yes, Jeff Morin, a very experienced detective. He solved several cases in this small town over the past decade. If he hadn’t died, he probably could have been transferred from the town to the city,” the old detective sighed.

Isaac understood why the mayor ordered the case to be sealed off; the matter of the Phantom Book was absolutely not to be revealed to outsiders, so it was understandable to keep the news under wraps.

"What could have happened to make that detective go out in the rain? What could have made him run out in such a heavy downpour?"

“That’s unclear. He didn’t tell anyone what he was going to do before he left,” the old detective said. “It’s said he was going to the city.”

"I understand now, thank you for the information."

"You're welcome. You are a distinguished guest of the mayor. We will inform you of any news as soon as possible," the old detective said.

"Then let me ask you one more thing. Besides the arson case, you should also know about the case of the person who suddenly disappeared three months ago, right?"

"Of course, I was in charge of that case."

The old detective's face turned serious as he spoke.

"There were four people in total, three children and an elderly person. They all disappeared suddenly on busy streets, and there were witnesses each time. The elderly person was the first to disappear, and then the three children disappeared together."

"Did the mayor also order this matter to be kept under wraps?"

“There’s no way to cover this up. Someone just suddenly disappears in front of everyone. It’s not that easy to suppress the news,” the old detective said. “However, the mayor has told us not to investigate. Just go through the motions… You should know the reason behind this, right?”

"I know, but I can't tell you."

"I think so too. Some things are better left to remain in darkness forever."

"Thank you for your reply. Could you tell me where the families of those missing persons are located?"

"Sure, I have the file here."

-

Having obtained the addresses of some missing persons' families from the veteran detective, Isaac began searching the town.

Both cases are related to the Phantom Book, but there is a year's gap between the events. As for the numerous bizarre cases that started more than fifty years ago, Isaac hasn't investigated them yet; he'll look into that later.

What can be confirmed is that the phantom book used in the case has no connection with his own teaching materials.

Isaac's alchemists can make a person burn from the inside out, but that hasn't been written into the textbooks yet. Making a person disappear into thin air? Vaporizing them with a charged particle cannon is possible, but completely eliminating them is very difficult.

Moreover, this wasn't included in the textbook.

Although this matter is very likely to be a waste of time, since we have promised someone and accepted the commission, the investigation must continue.

Thinking this, he happened to arrive at a large building.

He went up the stairs to the third floor and knocked on the door.

Knock knock knock!

"Who?"

A middle-aged woman with a somewhat haggard face opened the door and saw Isaac standing in front of her.

The black hair and black eyes of the Eastern face surprised her slightly.

"Hello, are you Ms. Eisen?"

"Yes, may I ask you...?"

"I'm here to investigate your son's disappearance. May I ask you a few questions?"

"Are you here to investigate Esso's case!?"

Upon hearing that Isaac had come to investigate her son, the middle-aged woman immediately stepped aside.

"Please come in!"

"Sorry to bother you."

Isaac walked into the room and saw the furnishings.

It was an ordinary family. The missing man's mother reportedly worked at a restaurant in the town, but quit her job because there was no progress in the investigation of her son's disappearance. She would post missing person notices whenever she had the chance.

There is also a photo of her, her husband, and her son in the living room. The boy in the photo is one of the missing children.

"Please have some tea."

"Thank you."

Isaac took the teacup, took a sip to moisten his throat, and then got down to business.

"This time, your town mayor commissioned me to come and investigate from out of town."

“That’s great! I thought the police had given up on the investigation.” The middle-aged woman was so happy that she cried. “My husband even went to another city to look for her because he thought Esso had been kidnapped.”

Isaac was too embarrassed to tell her that the police had indeed given up the investigation.

"Then I'll ask you this: where did your son, Esso Eisen, go before the accident?"

"He went out to play with his three friends in the afternoon. He said he would come back for dinner, but who knew..." At this point, the woman couldn't control her emotions and started crying again.

Her son's disappearance deeply saddened her.

Do you know where we're going to have fun?

"According to the parents of the other two children, they went to play at the clock tower on the commercial street."

"The clock tower?"

Isaac recalled that he had indeed glanced at the clock tower from afar when he entered the town. If this town had any landmark, it could only be that unremarkable clock tower.

Although it has no special features, it is old.

“Yes, it is the clock tower,” the woman said. “Because back then, the children wanted to go on an adventure, saying there was a ‘ghost of the clock tower’ there.”