Chapter 60: On the Eve of Another Tarot Gathering

Another morning dawned.

In the St. Wind Cathedral of the Jowood District, an elderly man with a stern face and a black soft hat asked the executor in front of him, "Did you find anything?"

"Archbishop," the executor placed his right hand over his chest and spoke softly, "I'm sorry, but all the spirits within carpine and the others have disappeared. Even the residual spirits in the villa have been completely dealt with. We have no way of knowing what exactly happened last night."

"Well prepared, it seems?" The old man frowned slightly but then quickly relaxed. No clues themselves were the biggest clue. This meant the perpetrator had planned the assassination of carpine for a long time, not on a whim. Considering how the perpetrator could efficiently erase all traces of spirits after the murder and even provocatively hang the bodies of carpine and his men on the streetlights without fear of being discovered, it was clear they were a mid-sequence Beyonder with great confidence in their abilities.

But why would such a person target a human trafficker like carpine? It couldn't be just a case of heroically punishing evil. That was unlikely. This suggested that carpine must have been hiding a much bigger secret.

A glint of light flashed in the old man's silver eyes, clearly confident in his judgment and speculation. "Investigate. It doesn't matter if you can't find the killer; find out the secret carpine was hiding. Once we know that, we can understand the motive for the murder."

"Yes, Archbishop," the executor bowed respectfully, showing no dissatisfaction with the command.

This old man was none other than Ace Snake, the Song of God and Archbishop of the Storm Church in the Backlund diocese.

In a luxurious villa in the West End, two figures stood facing each other.

"Selt, what's going on here?" asked a man with a rectangular face, white wig, and upturned mustache, whose thick eyebrows resembled the figure on a playing card. He wore a formal suit, a cloak, and long-pointed shoes, dressed as if from the last century. If someone recognized these two men, they would be shocked to find he was Prince Grove Augustus of Sonia, a man who should have died a century ago.

In front of him stood a handsome middle-aged man in a neat suit with a pale face, Selt Augustus, undoubtedly a member of the royal family.

"A werewolf and two Wraiths killed carpine," Selt said quietly. "The werewolf took the items from the vault, but fortunately, carpine didn't know much. Though I can't tell how much he knew, it must have been limited. Additionally, the spirits within carpine and the others vanished. However, the killer didn't clean up the nearby spirits, which were left as if to taunt us. Although these spirits can't provide much information, they at least let us know what happened."

"I erased all the spirits on site afterward. Those executors won't find anything."

"A werewolf and Wraiths? The Rose School?" Grove Augustus murmured.

"A Sequence 7 werewolf and two Sequence 5 Wraiths? With such strength, they could easily deal with carpine and his guards."

"No!" Selt said sternly. "The werewolf was a person in a werewolf disguise, with strength at least Sequence 5 or higher. However, the opponent never showed any ability that would clearly indicate their sequence. I can't determine their pathway."

"What happened to you?" Grove Augustus suddenly frowned.

"I..." Selt lifted his sleeve, revealing a hidden wound. Scarlet, spore-like substances spread from the wound. "Who injured you?" Grove Augustus' expression changed.

"A wild dog turned ghost," Selt said bitterly. "I was careless. The dog carried a curse that even my decree couldn't stop. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked for help."

"How could you be so careless?" Grove reprimanded but with a hint of deep concern in his eyes. After all, this was his most outstanding son.

In the luxurious Hall family villa in Queen's District, Backlund, Earl Hall spoke with emotion in the study, "It's a tragedy that women, even after redeeming themselves, are targeted and harassed, sometimes even becoming victims of serial killers. It's a sad reflection of our country."

Ashes sat opposite Earl Hall, not showing any reaction or opinion, just calmly saying, "Earl Hall, now that the killer's target is clear, I think Miss Audrey no longer needs my protection."

The killer's targets were clearly women who had sold their bodies but had since reformed. Audrey obviously wasn't among them, meaning she wasn't a target, so she no longer needed protection. Earl Hall had no reason to continue paying him a high salary. Instead of waiting to be dismissed, Ashes took the initiative.

"No," Earl Hall shook his head. "Audrey is now a Beyonder. She will inevitably get involved in the mysterious world. Even without this serial killing case, she still needs protection."

After a pause, Earl Hall smiled, "Of course, besides protection, I hope you can teach Audrey some knowledge and intelligence about the mysterious side. Her mother and I can't help her with this."

Earl Hall knew this young man didn't want to take money for nothing, but he wasn't planning to dismiss Ashes. He wasn't short of money, after all. One hundred pounds a week amounted to 5,200 pounds a year. More importantly, as Audrey stepped into the mysterious world, she would inevitably get caught in dangerous situations and need someone's help. She also needed someone to teach her about the mysterious side to avoid such troubles. In Earl Hall's mind, there was no one more suitable than Ashes for this role.

"Alright," Ashes thought for a moment and nodded. "If Miss Audrey doesn't mind."

(End of the chapter)

For this week 75 power stones for next extra chapter.