Things about the female knight in black stockings

Vincent was furious about this, and his arrogance led him to make the wrong choice.

He believed that since the Sun Goddess could stop vampires from drinking human blood and succubi from drinking male essence, she could also stop Anathel from eating the brains of young beauties.

To this end, Vincent subjected Anesse to all sorts of cruel and abusive treatments and transformations. For example, he would show him pictures of beautiful women to arouse his physical reaction while simultaneously using magic to cause him pain, so that his brain would gradually associate the physical reaction with the pain, thus gradually eroding his desires.

Theoretically speaking, Vincent's method was not problematic; humans have used similar methods when taming most monsters.

However, Anesse's talent exceeded Vincent's expectations. He actually seized an opportunity when Vincent returned to the Sage's Tower to attend a meeting, broke through to the Radiant Rank in one go, killed the guards of the laboratory, escaped the territory of the Sage's Council, and hid in America.

After learning about this, Vincent personally led a search party to America. However, aside from his physiological urges, Anesse was exactly the same as an ordinary human. He also had mind control abilities similar to those of mind flayers. As long as he did not expose himself, he would be very difficult to find once he hid.

After repeatedly leading his men into America to search for Anesse without success, Vincent had no choice but to abandon the incomplete test subject, seal away the information and the truth, and pretend that nothing had happened.

However, this experiment lasted for more than 20 years, and many other members of the Sage Tower participated in the experiment during that time. Even if Vincent could keep the news from the outside, he couldn't keep it a secret from the inside.

The Sage Tower's database contains the cause and effect of this incident. Although it is a confidentiality level that Sage Apprentices like Tia are not authorized to view, the forty-something-year-old Sage who owes Ereshkigal a favor can see it.

Now Valensa and Ellie know too.

"It seems that the psychopathic killer who has been wreaking havoc in Mosantina for more than nine years must be Anesse, who has the bloodline of a brain-eating monster."

After reviewing all the materials, Valensa summarized:

"Anese has the aesthetic sense of a normal human male, and likes beautiful women who wear stockings and short skirts, but his desire for beautiful women is not to have close contact with them, but to eat their brains."

He never kept the upper body remains of the victims, probably to hide this fact. After all, the fact that the brain was eaten was too obvious and would easily attract Vincent's attention. Having finally escaped from Vincent's laboratory, they certainly didn't want to be caught again.

Even his deliberate abandonment of the victim's legs could be a smokescreen, designed to make investigators believe he was a perverted stocking and leg fetishist, while ignoring the fact that his true physiological need was to eat the victim's brain.

The fact that the killer would wash the victim's stockings every time can also be explained... Just like how vampires bring intense pleasure to their victims when they drink blood, the brain-eating monster may also have a similar ability when it drinks human brains, causing the victim's body to react involuntarily and soil the stockings.

While Anesse may be attracted to beautiful human women, his impulses manifest differently. He cannot harm or violate a victim's legs like a real human male would, which could make the marks on the victim's stockings suspicious.

After all, monsters that prey on humans to provide them with immense physical pleasure have existed since ancient times. Moreover, Vincent must have known about Anese's characteristic, and Anese was worried that Vincent would suspect him because of this detail, which is why he cleaned the stockings of each victim.

"Anesser certainly didn't assault the victim in the way a normal human would assault a woman. So, when you, Ellie and the others, found no residue on the victim's legs and stockings, you didn't think much of it; you only considered that the killer was a pervert who derives satisfaction from murder."

"That should be it."

Aileen nodded in agreement, affirming Valensa's speculation and conclusion.

Her expression was complicated, and she gave Valensa several strange looks:

"I never imagined that the clue I've been searching for for nine years would ultimately be found by you, Valensa, from the fact that the stockings were washed—a detail that no normal person would even notice..."

"Hmm... This proves I have keen insight and am a born detective!"

Valensa puffed out her chest, seemingly unconcerned, and even smiled smugly.

"No, this shows that you, Valencia, understand the killer's mind very well."

Ai Lei rolled her eyes and retorted mercilessly:

"Only a pervert could understand the thoughts of a pervert so well... The useful clues that I couldn't find in all these years were found by you, Valensa, so quickly. It can only mean that you are a pervert too!"

"I just like stockings and know a lot about them, how is that perverted? I just like black stockings, so what?"

As Valensa spoke, she lifted her skirt with one hand and raised one leg in front of Irene's eyes:

"Sister Ailei~~ Is it pretty?"

"Beautiful, beautiful, your black stockings legs are the most beautiful, okay?"

Ereshkigal clearly realized how thick-skinned Valencia was and didn't want to argue with her anymore. She gave a few perfunctory compliments, then pressed Valencia's black-stockinged legs back down and asked seriously:

"Now that we've identified Anesse, what are your plans for the investigation? It's a pity that there's no video footage of Anesse in the Sage's Tower's records, so we don't know what he looks like... How about we contact that Sage Vincent?"

No! Please don't!

Valensa quickly refused.

Seeing the puzzled look in Ellie's eyes, Valensa couldn't say that she always felt Vincent had ill intentions towards her and wanted to seduce her.

Although Valensa's intuition told her that Vincent was probably not a good person, it was just intuition and speculation, without any evidence.

Discussing it privately with Tia is fine, but casually mentioning it could easily lead to misunderstandings or even alert Vincent.

Therefore, other reasons must be used to explain it.

Valensa's mind raced for two seconds before she suddenly lowered her voice and gently bumped Irene's shoulder:

"Sister Aileen, have you forgotten? Catching the psychopathic killer within 10 days is a task personally assigned to us by Her Majesty the Goddess. But Anesse is Vincent's test subject. Once Vincent finds out about this, he might use diplomatic means to take over the case completely and prevent us from continuing the investigation... How are we supposed to explain this to Her Majesty the Goddess then?"

Even if Her Majesty the Goddess doesn't mind these things, what about the other brothers and sisters in the church? Failing to complete the tasks assigned by Her Majesty the Goddess is the most shameful thing!

Moreover, Sister Ailei, you've been investigating that psychopathic killer for so many years, and now you're about to make progress. Are you willing to just give up like this?

"I am, after all, a paladin of Fran. My investigation of this psychopathic killer is purely out of interest and a sense of duty; I have no intention of stealing any credit from you, Ellie. Once that psychopathic killer is defeated, the glory will largely belong to you, Ellie!"

"..."

Humans are inherently selfish, and paladins are no exception.

As a paladin of the Sun Goddess, Ereshkigal does not care about worldly power and wealth, but she does care a great deal about the prestige and honor within the church and the favor from the goddess.

The vast majority of paladins care about these things very much... even more so than merchants pursuing wealth or politicians pursuing power.

"Okay, then we won't inform Vincent about this."

After only a dozen seconds of silence, Ai Lei made a decisive decision and asked again:

"But if we don't inform Vincent, how are we going to find Anese? I heard from my subordinates that you visited almost all the clothing factories and hosiery workshops in Mosantina today, but you didn't get any valuable clues. Are you going to continue visiting them?"

“Continuing to visit those places was necessary, but…”

Valensa nodded at first, then hesitated for a moment:

"I have another bold guess."

"Tell me."

Eresh raised her eyebrows, expressing her anticipation for Valensa's bold guess.

"Sister Aileen must still remember Ms. Dina, right?"

Valensa first asked a question, then continued before Irene could nod:

"The period when the killer committed the most crimes was during the time when Ms. Dana's various stockings and lingerie works were bestsellers in America. The victims were almost all Ms. Dana's clients, and they were wearing various stockings made by Ms. Dana herself when they were murdered."

Previously, we all thought the murderer was particularly fond of the stockings made by Ms. Dana, because Ms. Dana's stockings were indeed superb... I'm not sure how popular these stockings were in America back then, but in less than two years after she went to the capital of France, her work had captivated almost all the noble ladies and young women.

"America was pretty much the same back then."

Ellie interjected:

"Ms. Diana's work is highly sought after in high society. Many chambers of commerce that operate in the clothing industry have offered her various favorable conditions to cooperate with her, but she has refused them all."

At the height of her success, a pair of stockings she made herself could be resold for almost two to three times the price.

However, Ms. Diana herself strongly dislikes people reselling her work, because many of her pieces are custom-made for clients. Clients found guilty of reselling her work will be blacklisted and permanently barred from buying her work again.

"Yes, it's because Ms. Dana's stockings are really amazing that I didn't initially think anything of it. I assumed the perpetrator attacked her client simply because he liked her work, but..."

Valensa tucked her long brown hair, which had accidentally fallen in front of her, behind her ear and continued:

"When I learned that the killer was most likely this half-brain-eating monster, Anesse, I suddenly had a new guess."

According to the Sage's Tower's information, Vincent raised Anesse using normal human values ​​and morals. If it weren't for his brain-eating monster bloodline forcing Anesse to eat human brains to satisfy his physical needs, he likely wouldn't have become a criminal.

In other words, although Anether has very dangerous physical needs, he will most likely fall in love with someone, just like a normal human being.

"...Does Valensa mean that Anather is fond of Ms. Dina?"

Irene immediately understood and, following the train of thought, directly stated Valensa's guess:

"Anesse likes Ms. Dina and has physical urges towards her, but he also knows that his physical needs are dangerous, and the outcome of his successful courtship is that he will kill his lover."

So that's why Anesse specifically targeted Ms. Dina's clients, treating the girls wearing her designs as substitutes for her?

"Yes, that's my idea."

Valensa nodded in agreement:

"Just like many teenage boys steal their crush's clothes and personal items to secretly satisfy their own physiological needs, Anesse's constant attacks on Ms. Diana's clients are probably based on the same principle."

According to the information provided by the Sage Tower, during the period when the murderer committed the most crimes, Anesse was probably in his twenties, which is exactly the time when a man's energy is at its peak.

The killer's crime rate has decreased recently, and besides the fact that Ms. Diana has passed away, the killer's increasing age is likely another reason.

"Makes sense!"

Aileen's eyes lit up.

As a skilled paladin who had once captured two revelers, Ereshkigal reacted quickly, immediately thinking of Valensa's conjecture as a new avenue for investigation:

"You mean the murderer had contact with Ms. Diana, and even spent a considerable amount of time around her?"

As Aileen spoke, she frowned again:

"But I investigated the men around Ms. Dana repeatedly back then, especially her close friends and suitors. I investigated each one several times, and even put the unsuccessful suitors on lie detector tests, but I didn't find anything."

"Um……"

Valensa seemed to have anticipated this, and she chuckled softly as she asked:

"So, Sister Ai Lei, how many men did you investigate back then?"

There are close to twenty.

After thinking for a moment, Ai Lei replied:

“Ms. Diana was very charming back then. She had suitors from all walks of life, including not only the men I investigated, but also quite a few women.”

"This is normal."

Valensa shrugged:

"Even though Ms. Dana is now over thirty and still a charming woman, it is easy to imagine how attractive she must have been at her most spirited before she was attacked by the psychopathic killer."

Fewer than twenty male suitors? That's far too few. These are probably just those who openly pursued Ms. Dana; the number of those who secretly admired her is at least double that.

"Yes, I agree with that, but..."

Ai Lei gave a wry smile as she spoke:

"When it comes to unrequited love, unless the person says it out loud, we have no way of knowing, right? We can't just take every man who has ever been in contact with Ms. Diana to a lie detector test, can we?"

"We definitely won't arrest everyone, but we can use this to screen and investigate."

Valensa thought for a moment and said:

"The murderer first committed the crime 9 years ago. We can go back about 2 years further and check what Ms. Diana was doing at that time and the men who were often around her."

I don't really believe in love at first sight. To put it bluntly, it's just a physical urge to see someone's body. If Anesse had fallen in love with Ms. Dina at first sight, she would have been brainwashed long ago.

Therefore, I believe that Annesser must have had contact with Ms. Dina for some time, and gradually fell in love with her during their interactions.

The fact that Anatheus has been able to restrain himself from attacking Ms. Dina shows that his feelings for her are deep and genuine. Such feelings cannot be formed in a short time; he and Ms. Dina have been in contact for at least several months, and such a long period of contact could not have gone unnoticed.

As for why you missed him during your investigation, Ellie, it's probably because Anesse deliberately kept his distance from Ms. Dina to control his urge to devour her brain. To outsiders, their relationship might not have seemed close at all, even quite cold, which is why you overlooked him when investigating Ms. Dina's suitors.

"understood."

Aileen took a deep breath, her eyes gleaming:

“This is not difficult to trace… In order to find the real culprit, I have never lost contact with those involved in the case back then, including Ms. Diana herself. I will contact Ms. Diana and her friends who are still in Mosantina to inquire about what happened back then.”

Chapters 106-108: The Reformed Girls' School

Eresh quickly contacted several of Ms. Dina's friends who remained in Mosantina City, and Valensa also used divine communication to contact Fran, asking Fran to help her get information from Ms. Dina.

The news was quickly found out.

Nine years ago, when the psychopathic killer first started committing his crimes, Ms. Dana had just graduated from school.

Ms. Diana is not a rich second-generation and does not have the capital to open her own shop right after graduation. She started by setting up a street stall, which was an illegal street stall with incomplete procedures. At that time, she had to fight wits with the law enforcement team of the Commercial Federation.

Fortunately, Ms. Diana's outstanding talent could not be hidden. Her works were of high quality, and even though they were much more expensive than other street vendors, she still had no trouble selling them. In fact, in most cases, her production could not meet the demand. In just one year, she saved enough money to open her own shop.

Afterwards, Ms. Diana chose to pursue a high-end product strategy, which was actually out of necessity... Her works were so popular that she had to keep raising prices, otherwise her production capacity would not be able to keep up.

It was precisely after adopting a high-end approach that Ms. Dana's works became wildly popular in high society, receiving enthusiastic support from wealthy young ladies and wives of America.

"Hmm... something's not quite right, Valensa."