Chapter 123 Sherlock the Detective, Expert at Finding People

~Rosewood Restaurant, Third floor~

Klein glanced at the man in the portrait. He seemed to be around 30 years old, looking somewhat listless and dispirited.

“Is this mission dangerous?” Klein asked.

“There is some danger,” Odis said, “However, you only need to locate him. There’s no need to do anything else, so the risk shouldn’t be too great.” He added, “As for the reward… finding the person himself pays 60 pounds. If you only provide key clues, it’s 20 pounds.”

“A very generous reward.” Klein smiled, “I accept this commission.”

He didn’t even divine whether the task held danger, because he had no intention of searching in person. Instead, he planned to find time to divine the man’s whereabouts above the gray fog.

Even with just a portrait and no hair, worn clothes, or personal items belonging to the target, the power of the space above the gray fog was enough to divine some vague clues.

Through divination, Klein could easily determine whether continuing the search in the real world would be dangerous.

If it wasn’t, he would go verify it himself. If it was, he would simply hand the clues over to Mr. Gale and take the 20-pound reward for key information.

Then Klein added, “But I can only start looking for him after my mission to protect Mike is over.”

Actually, it didn’t have to be so complicated; a simple trip to the washroom would suffice to complete a vital part of this mission.

However, doing so would mean staying inside for a prolonged period, which ran a serious risk of exposing his secret of using divination to solve cases, so he had no intention of doing so.

“That’s fine.” Odis nodded, “This mission isn’t particularly urgent.”

After exchanging a few more idle remarks with the two of them, he used his teleportation array to return to the herbal shop…

…

Odis had quite a lot on his plate for the coming week. First, he rented a townhouse using the name and identity of Gandalf.

He then began utilizing the intelligence network of the Rosewood Pavilion to spread word that the renowned Warlock, Gandalf, had arrived in Backlund.

The general gist of the rumor was that Gandalf was adept at solving all manner of bizarre, occult-related problems, and anyone with such needs could seek counsel from this ‘renowned’ Warlock.

Odis intended to spend the upcoming period finding as many opportunities as possible to act as a Warlock, keeping himself in prime condition while seeking a chance to digest his potion.

In the afternoon, he returned to the herbal shop and began pondering how to decorate the newly rented place.

First, the lighting had to be somewhat dim. The townhouse he had rented today naturally had poor lighting anyway, so an extensive renovation was hardly necessary. Swapping out the sofa cushions and brightly colored furniture for darker tones would be more than enough.

He could grow some herbs indoors to heighten the mystical ambiance, and above all, there simply had to be a cauldron over the fireplace.

According to popular belief, warlocks always brewed potions with such things. Odis had seen one before, and it looked rather unwieldy to use.

Still, to maintain the image of a warlock, he had no choice but to give it a try.

Having settled on a decorating style and seeing that he still had some time left, he headed to the library to look up books related to warlocks; such as novels featuring warlock characters, as well as depictions of warlocks found in horror stories.

It wasn’t until the library closed that Odis returned to the herbal shop. Rather than helping out in the front shop, however, he stayed in the backyard to research new witchcraft spells.

He mulled over whether he ought to write an actual Compendium of Warlock Sorceries. Having already invented over a dozen spells, he felt it was high time he recorded them somewhere…

…

All of Wednesday was thoroughly packed, and Thursday and Friday were spent in much the same manner.

Thanks to those two days of preparation, the newly rented townhouse at Unit 77 Rose Street was virtually fully furnished. Odis estimated he would be open for business by next week.

At the same time, thanks to his well-established intelligence network, the information he had seeded was already bearing fruit. Word was that a few wealthy merchants with peculiar needs were already inquiring after Gandalf’s address.

Furthermore, Odis resolved to write the Compendium of Warlock Sorceries. The outline for the book had already taken shape in his mind, thanks to his experience with the Outline of Combat.

The opening would still expound on warlocks and sorcery/witchcraft, weaving in his personal insights into digesting the potion. The second part would consist of the spells he had created, and the third part would detail their practical applications.

Naturally, this book could not be published openly like the Outline of Combat. Odis intended for it to exist in the same vein as the Book of Secrets.

It would circulate only among Beyonders, and aside from a few ‘authentic’ copies printed and issued by Odis himself, the rest would be handwritten transcripts.

He also made use of these few days to concoct various powders to complement his Spellcasting. Since Queen Mystic had foretold a trial over the weekend, he had to prepare proactively.

Apart from that, he kept an eye on the fighting arena and the developments surrounding the Lelouch incident…

By now, Lelouch had thoroughly become a hero who punished those who had escaped proper justice. This had even sparked a war of public opinion.

On Thursday, newspapers suddenly ran smear campaigns against Lelouch, but on Friday, other newspapers immediately fired back, praising Lelouch’s spirit and condemning those slanderous reports.

Odis did not involve himself in this media war; it was fundamentally a clash between the reformists and conservatives in Loen politics.

The conservatives were unwilling to see such a hero emerge, while the reformists hoped to use Lelouch as a weapon against them.

Thus, both sides plunged into a war of public opinion where the actual person involved was reduced to a mere bystander.

Meanwhile, the reformists’ offensive against Viscount Verde officially commenced. For the whole week, Backlund was rife with scandalous headlines…

…

On Saturday morning, Odis ate breakfast at the herbal shop while reading the newspaper.

Today’s headline announced that the King had decreed the demotion of Viscount Verde’s noble title to Baron.

Odis smiled faintly at that. It was clear the reformists had gained a significant advantage.

This was hardly surprising; after all, Viscount Verde’s son had caused such a massive scandal. Demoting Verde’s title was merely the King’s way of preventing the reformists from pressing their victory too aggressively after a total rout.

Presumably, Verde no longer had the heart to seek vengeance for his son, so Mike was now entirely safe. Even so, Odis still intended to wait until next week before mailing the manuscript of Outline of Combat to the latter.

During the morning, Odis received a report from Mandy that reporter Mike and Detective Sherlock had left the Rosewood Pavilion. That meant crucial clues regarding Bernie would likely surface soon.

Sure enough, his pocket watch lit up again in the afternoon. It was a signal sent by Mandy.

Odis immediately went to the basement to change into Mr. Gale’s attire and rushed to the Rosewood Pavilion. Sure enough, he saw the returned Detective Sherlock.

“I’ve found the man in the portrait for you,” Klein said grimly, “More accurately, I’ve found his corpse. I’ve already gone to confirm it. That body is indeed the man from the portrait.”

Odis had long anticipated this outcome, so he replied, “Please take me to see it.”

The two boarded a carriage provided by the Rosewood Pavilion and arrived at a rather secluded street in North Borough, where they hopped over a wall into a derelict courtyard.

Klein led the way and opened the door leading to the basement, where a musty odor mixed with the faint stench of decay wafted out. Stepping down into the cellar, they were greeted by the sight of Bernie’s corpse.

Odis’s spirituality confirmed that this person was indeed the one who had previously visited Gale’s Herbal Shop to purchase the sunflower.

At that moment, Bernie sat slumped against the corner of the wall, his eyes staring lifelessly ahead. His face, the backs of his hands, and several other exposed areas bore gnaw marks from rats. His cheeks in particular were chewed away, baring several teeth and giving him a grotesque appearance.

“Can you deduce the cause of death? And roughly how long he’s been dead?” Odis asked.

Klein replied, “The time of death should be sometime last week…”

“Last week?” Odis looked at the corpse again, confirming that there were no signs of widespread decomposition.

Klein noticed Mr. Gale’s skepticism and said, “When I first arrived, there was crushed ice around here. The ice was likely used to delay the body’s decay.”

In truth, he had divined the time of death, and there had never been any ice in the basement. Oddly enough, even though about a week had passed, the corpse showed remarkably little sign of rot.

Klein suspected this was an incidental effect of some Beyonder powers, but having no clue what specific ability it could be, he made up the excuse about the ice.

After all, while both him and Mr. Gale knew the other was a Beyonder, neither had yet pierced that thin veil of pretense.

Odis had a rough grasp of what Klein meant. He guessed that Bernie had likely died shortly after buying the Gold-Rimmed Sun Flower from the herbal shop.

“He looks like he died of massive blood loss,” Klein continued, “But I haven’t found a single wound.”

Odis examined the body carefully and found no clues either, so the two men left the basement together.

As they were walking up the stairs, behind them, the eyes of Bernie’s corpse leaning against the wall suddenly rolled, fixing their gaze on the departing pair.

Both Odis’s and Klein’s spiritualities twitched in response, and they turned their heads in unison, but the corpse’s eyes had already settled back to their original angle.

The two exchanged glances, both realizing that something was deeply wrong with this body.

However, Klein had no desire to pursue the investigation any further, while Odis intended to pass this intelligence along to the Machinery Hivemind, leaving it to the official Beyonders to handle.

So the two men tacitly looked away, acted as though nothing had happened, and swiftly left the place.

Once aboard the carriage, Odis counted out 60 pounds in cash while saying, “You’re a very capable detective.”

Klein accepted the money and subtly verified its authenticity before responding, “It was just good luck. My informant happened to stumble upon a lead.”

“I have two more commissions,” Odis continued, “First, find this man’s residence. Second, do your best to investigate who he met with while he was alive. These commissions might carry some danger, but the pay will increase accordingly. The first commission is 30 pounds, the second commission is 30 pounds for each person you uncover, and 100 pounds if you can find the mastermind hiding behind Bernie.”

“I accept the commission.” Klein nodded with a smile.

He accepted the commission without performing divination again because he only intended to complete the first task, which carried virtually no danger.

The second task sounded hazardous, so when the time came, he could simply claim that his abilities fell short and that he couldn’t find anyone Bernie had met before dying.

Furthermore, refraining from divining right in front of Mr. Gale prevented him from exposing his divination abilities.

The carriage dropped Klein off first. After Odis returned to the herbal shop, he immediately went to write a letter to the Machinery Hivemind.

Halfway through the letter, his shop assistant, Kain, came to the backyard to report that a medicine buyer had an important matter and wished to see Odis.

Odis didn’t think much of it and followed him out, and when he entered the shop, he saw that the customer was none other than… Bernie!