Chapter 230: Interrogation

Empress Borough. In an unremarkable house.

Xio and Fors took a seat at random and examined the writing on the

blackboard. Like always, Mr. A was sitting quietly, alone on the sofa at

the front in his hooded robe, looking down at the crowd from a high

vantage point.

Sequence 8 Sheriff potion formula. 450 pounds... Xio silently

read the familiar content as she inwardly let out of sigh of relief.

The situation she feared the most was the lack of a seller when she had

finally amassed the money with great difficulty!

*I received 400 pounds from the split, plus my original savings of 150

pounds, that's enough... However, I'd definitely need a huge sum of

money for the main ingredient... Ah right, maybe I can change circles

and see if there are any Beyonders who are interested in this

formula...* Xio suddenly felt invigorated, and she realized that

she had found a way to make a fortune.

Frankly speaking, there was no way she would leak the formula if she

wasn't in desperate need for money to buy the materials to concoct the

potion. On the one hand, most people always hoped that there were fewer

Beyonders in their own Sequences, and on the other hand, the price of

the corresponding ingredients would be raised significantly if there

were many competitors who bid up the prices of the ingredients. It was

the same with the subsequent potions.

After some serious thought, Xio slowly became nervous again, because it

was normal for a recipe to be placed on sale for a long time without

being sold.

Moreover, the Arbiter pathway belonged to the royal family and the

military. All aspects were strictly controlled, and the leaked ones came

from a small number of destitute nobles. There were hardly any complete

formulas for the low to mid Sequences. Often, only one or two of them

were complete and compounded with the knowledge that the main

ingredients were controlled and difficult to obtain. Beyonders who chose

this Sequence were rather rare.

Xio had been in some mysticism circles in Backlund for a long period of

time, but she hadn't found an Arbiter apart from herself. On the one

hand, the others might have concealed it well, but on the other hand,

that might also explain the problems faced in this Sequence pathway.

*Phew, but compared to Fors, I'm lucky enough. She hasn't encountered

any of the subsequent recipes for Apprentice all this time...*

Xio saw Mr. A's attendant approaching and wrote a note saying that she

was purchasing the Sheriff's recipe.

Before long, she was led to the study on the first floor. Before

entering, she took a hooded robe from the attendant and covered herself

with it.

The seller in the study was dressed in the same way, so they couldn't

see each other's faces clearly.

"This is the formula to the Sheriff potion. Where's my money?" the

seller asked with a hoarse voice as he pressed a piece of paper on the

desk.

Xio pulled out the cash that she had long counted numerous times and

pushed it to the seller.

After checking the authenticity of the notes and the total sum, the

seller finally released the potion formula he held.

Xio immediately took one step forward and grabbed the note.

Her eyes swept straight to the main ingredients as they were of great

importance.

"A pair of Terror Demon Worm's eyes. Silver War Bear's right palm."

*Beyonder items I know of, but I've never seen them being

sold...* Xio sighed and walked out of the study and took off her

robe.

Back in the living room, she sat beside Fors. Having fulfilled her wish,

she slowly began to worry about the unknown honorary name and the evil

spirit that might be haunting her.

*10, no, 20, no, 30 to request for someone skilled in exorcism to do a

purification ritual for me.* Xio made up her mind, and after

exchanging a few whispered words with Fors, she beckoned for Mr. A's

attendant.

After the end of the free communication break, she saw her request

appear as an additional entry on the blackboard.

"Suspected haunting of evil spirits. Requesting the help of friends who

specialize in exorcism. 30 pounds."

After a while, Mr. A's attendant came to the two of them and quietly

invited them to the living room on the first floor.

There was a man wearing a white mask inside. He looked at the two people

who were wearing loose robes that concealed their genders and chuckled.

"Let me introduce myself first, so that you won't doubt my ability."

"No, no, we trust Mr. A," Xio, with her hood over her face, said before

Fors could open her mouth.

She deliberately suppressed her voice to prevent her childish voice from

revealing her identity.

The man with the white mask spread his hands and laughed.

"This is my habit, I am a believer of the Sun. As you know, this is not

common in Backlund, or in the entire kingdom.

"It is only through moments like this that I can live as my true self."

Due to the great conflict between the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun

and the Church of Storms, the former had never been able to obtain the

right to proselytize in the Loen Kingdom.

"A believer of the Sun?" Fors's languid look instantly vanished. "This

is the first time I'm seeing a living believer of the Sun! Eh... It's

not like I can meet diplomats of higher standing."

"Then, should I feel honored?" The man in the white mask spread his arms

wide and held them up in a gesture of praise for the Sun.

Instead of answering his question, Fors smiled and said, "In terms of

exorcism and purification, the attendant of the Sun is a professional.

Our hearts are at rest, so we can begin."

The man who claimed to be a believer of the Sun didn't drone on. He took

out a badge with the symbol of the "Sun" on it and placed it on the

round table in the center. Then, he used a dualistic ritual method to

light up two candles.

After finishing the preparatory steps one step at a time, he chanted

with a loud and abnormally pious tone.

"The Sun that is Eternal,

"You are an Inextinguishable Light.

"You are the Embodiment of Order

"I pray to you,

"Please bestow me with your cleansing glow.

"Please repel the evils spirits in this body."

Amid the echoing Hermes incantation, Xio and Fors saw bright light burst

out from the Sun's emblem, bursting in a pure and warm manner.

It was endless, like the tide, as the light surged towards the two of

them, engulfing them simultaneously.

Nearly a minute later, everything was restored to normal. All Xio and

Fors felt was warmth, finding the warmth very comfortable and relieving.

It was like soaking in a hot spring, or having gone sunbathing.

Cherwood Borough. Rice Police Station.

Klein was sitting on a low bench with a group of thieves and drunkards.

It looked very disgraceful.

Suddenly, he felt warmth on the back of his hand as the coldness of the

Backlund night was dispelled quite significantly.

Lowering his head, Klein realized that the four black dots representing

the mysterious space above the gray fog didn't appear.

*Who's being so kind? To know that I was feeling a little cold just

now...* he mumbled half jokingly and half-curious.

As a former inspector, he looked at the thief on the left who was

handcuffed to the pipe, then at the drunkard on the right who could

vomit at any moment but kept yelling about hitting people. He sighed at

his present predicament and wasn't sure when he would be free from this.

*There should be another test after this and then I'll be fine once I

pass it... I hope the police will have their attention on the ambassador

and the Zmanger gang, and ignore my origins as a puny detective. In

theory, there's a high chance for that. As long as Mrs. Sammer, Mr.

Jurgen, and the others don't say anything of interest to the police...

Yes, they have only just met me so it's impossible for them to know too

much...*

*Meursault's Beyonder characteristic was taken away by me and was hidden

above the gray fog. He didn't leave behind anything strange, so no one

would able to discover that he used to be a Beyonder and have questions

about my strength... Hmm... More than an hour has passed...*

In his self-encouragement, Klein saw the officer with the short

brownish-yellow beard walking towards him.

"Sherlock Moriarty, come with me to the interrogation room," the

sergeant said without further explanation.

Here it comes... Klein stood up and followed.

After going around a corner, the sergeant stopped in front of an iron

door and gestured for Klein to enter.

Klein took a deep breath before exhaling. He yanked the handle and

opened the door.

It was a small room with thick walls and a small table in the middle.

There were chairs on both sides of the table.

Under the elegant gas lamp's illumination, Klein identified the

interrogator as a man who wore a black shirt, a rather uncommon sight.

He didn't wear a vest but wore a black coat that wasn't part of the

usual formal attire. He had thin eyebrows and cold blue eyes. His face

was cut, looking rigid while lacking any gentleness.

The man pointed the chair opposite him and said in a deep voice, "I ask,

you answer."

Before he finished his sentence, Klein felt an unimaginable suppressive

force on him. He felt that an electric current was tearing through his

mind that lashed at his soul with a barbed whip.

This "feeling" was painful and numbing, as though it stemmed from deep

within the brain. It was barely resistible, and all he could do was

tremble and have his knees buckle.

Klein nearly fell to the ground as he hurriedly held onto the table and

sat down. His temples felt a throbbing pain.

This... this is the result of Beyonder powers... Ordinary

people might've thought of it as a psychological problem caused by

nervousness and the authority of the interrogator opposite them, but

Klein had clearly identified that this was a result of Beyonder powers,

powers that could directly attack the mind of others!

He quickly recalled the information he had seen before and quickly

confirmed the target of his suspicion.

Arbiter pathway, Sequence 7: Interrogator!

*Has the matter been transferred to a special department of the

military?* Klein thought with some relief.

As long as it isn't the Nighthawks, everything's fine.

"Identify the ambassador who met Meursault from these photographs." The

cold and unyielding man in black spread out eight black-and-white photos

on the small table.

Klein felt as if the electric whip in his mind was being lifted high,

and the warning of extreme pain made it so he didn't dare to lie.

Of course, there was no need for Klein to lie. After a moment of

identification, he pushed a photo in the direction of the interrogator.

It was a middle-aged gentleman who wore ostentatious clothing and looked

rather charming.

The interrogator glanced at it, but didn't make any response. He once

again asked, "Were your previous statements the truth?"

Klein felt like he was being forced into a dream. He kept his mind clear

and rational, and he didn't yield to the "whip" in his mind as he

sincerely replied, "Nothing but the truth."

The interrogator leaned forward with his hands on the small table and

said, "When was the last time you met Ian Wright?"

"Yesterday, yesterday morning," Klein said with great difficulty, "I

tailed Meursault and found the body of Detective Zreal. As I didn't want

to deal with the police, I took Ian to identify the body and told him to

call the police. Zreal's body was located at the sewer entrance at the

bottom of Iron Carbon Street in East Borough."

After a brief silence, the interrogator finally nodded his head. Klein

immediately felt the enormous pressure disappear along with the "whip"

in his mind.

"You may leave now," he said without a trace of emotion in his voice.

Klein stood up and opened the door, not masking the frailty in his gait.

He found it more tiring than fighting Meursault. If he made the

slightest mistake, his spirit would've been completely crushed, and he

would obediently answer any question that the other party asked.

*No, if it wasn't for the fact that my spirit is special and how it's

been subjected to the test of raving and screaming for a long period of

time, allowing me to maintain my calm and rationality under certain

circumstances, I would've most likely had a mental breakdown just

now...* Klein walked back down the corridor, his back feeling

cold.

At this moment, the sergeant from before came over and said, "Come with

me to fill out some forms. Lawyer Jurgen is waiting to bail you out."

Phew... Klein secretly exhaled and completely relaxed.

He knew that the danger was over.