Chapter 49

"Why would you need those?"

Shinso asked, peeking an eyebrow. A tiny, secular emotion surfaced in Demetrius's expression.

"You don't need to know that, also a book on sealed relics?"

Shinso nodded slowly, his brows furrowing slightly as he turned away, his eyes scanning the sea of bookshelves in hopes of finding Demetruis's books.

He quietly walked down an alley of books, the gas lamp in his hand providing ample light in his search. His eyes wandered over the spines of books, and he could watch the gradual shift in the titles. 

It went from fantasy books, to scholarly novels, to nonfiction, with layers of thick dust covering the spines of the books, making them hard to decipher.

He quietly walked down an alley of books, the gas lamp in his hand providing ample light in his search. His eyes wandered over the spines of books, and he could watch the gradual change in the titles. 

The books eventually turned into thick, research books regarding a variety of different subjects, and it didn't take long until he found the books regarding Sorcery and Sealed Relics.

He slowly reached his hand into the bookshelf, wiping away cobwebs and dust to reveal a book with gold lettering on its spine; "Sealed Relics Index."

Shinso lips curled up as he grabbed the book off the shelf, along with a few others books from the shelves and left the maze of bookshelves and back to Demetrius.

"Here you go."

Shinso mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he handed Demetrius the requested documents and books.

"Thanks, kid."

He thanked Shinso with a smile, before licking his pointer finger and opening the Sealed Relic Index. His eyes scanned the numerous pages of labeled artifacts and their intentions, some coming from neatly printed reports, while others from scribbled down, frantic pools of information. 

Demetrius could determine which relics were the most and least dangerous based on the handwriting of the given reports, but a question surfaced in his mind.

"Why is the handwriting of some reports so shabby? Shouldn't they observe the relic and document their findings in a secluded and safe location?"

He bit his lip as he scanned the index, before laying his finger on Sealed Relic number 0-83, the Nullifying Bullets.

"These bullets are very elusive, and come in many different forms and possess many different abilities."

"Some can make people explode, while others can just penetrate a given mystical defense, but in commonality these relics are dangerous and must be kept in a sealed location."

The handwriting was erratic and messy, some words even had letters missing, left up for outside speculation on what the word could be.

"These bullets are made from the blood of one's self, and the blood of a fellow user of the same Routeway, and metal from the core of the Cardigon Mountains, tainted with ancient runes and symbols embedded for a given purpose."

Below the description and reports was another section of the page which was folded in the bottom of the book, and had a red ribbon folding it up, Demetrius unfolded the red cloth and let the page fall.

 The page had words going down in bullets, and Demetrius's eyes widened when he read it. It was a recipe for Nullifying Bullets?

"Why would they have the recipe in this book, shouldn't it be secluded somewhere safe, whoever made this book must have a medical exam or something."

He flipped the book over and looked at the bottom of the cover. The book wasn't made by a person but by an organization, "The Church of Saints."

Back in the previous era, the Church of Saints emerged from the extinction event, and quickly gained followers. Eventually they were able to grow to the extent of making an empire, one that still stands to this day beyond the western isles.

"I didn't know The Church of Saints were into such subjects, but knowing their influence over the continent, they're bound to know a lot."

He continues to flip through the index long until the night, until the first bits of sun shone through the window, illuminating the room in a dim hue of yellowish orange. 

Demetrius noticed the dust particles flying in the air, which was a testament to how old the library was, and the fact that he finally needed some rest, for he'd been awake for over 10 hours at this point.

He looked up to bid Shinso farewell, but he couldn't find him, in fact he probably left about 4 hours ago to get some possible rest. Letting out a small chuckle, he closed the book, using the ribbon holding the recipe for the bullets as a makeshift bookmark, before folding it in his arms and heading out the library.

The headquarters was eerily quiet, quieter than most nights. He figured everyone was really tuckered out from last night's experience, so he made sure his steps were calculated and slow, in order not to wake anyone up.

Upon entering the kitchen to make a meal, he nearly had a heart attack when he saw Officer Palau in the kitchen cooking some eggs on the stove.

"Morning."

Demetrius smiled and smiled back to Palau, before sitting at the table and putting the book over the tablecloth.

"Did you sleep tonight, you look tired kid."

Palau's voice was hushed and filled with concern as he grabbed the eggs off the pan and put them on a plate before heading over to the table.

"No, I was too busy with my studies."

Demetrius replied, yawning as light shown through the window.

"I'll be off to work shortly, being a police officer and a secret organization shooting investigator really tolls down my body."

Palau said as he shoved an egg into his mouth, unfolding the newspaper situated on the table; "The Presley Times."

The Presley Times was the most popular newspaper in Seraphis Kingdom, due to the council's love for catching up with the world, they had it imported every other week when it was released.

"Well, I spent all night researching the bullets used to shoot down Oboro a few days ago, and speculated he got them from the dark market."

Palau nodded, sipping his dark coffee as he gazed at Demetrius with a curious expression.

"Finding the Nighshades will be hard, but finding the dark market is damn near impossible." 

He stated, raising his head from his mug, Demetrius nodded slowly, a little concern started to etch on his face, making his wrinkles become more prominent, even if he was only about 21 years old.

"Good luck with that."

He sarcastically remarked, reopening his book and scanning through the catalog of sealed artifacts.

"You were in the library, huh."

Palau looked at the book, turning it towards him to get a better view.

"Sealed relics, I suppose you were looking for some tools to help us?"

He chuckled, showing his teeth which were yellow, but not rotten, at least not yet.

"Kinda, I was hoping to know more about the bullets, but another idea popped into my mind."

Palau leaned in, raising an eyebrow, causing his brown mustache to slightly move upwards.

"What is it?"

"Apparently Isaiah Walls worked at the same place that Oboro worked at." 

Demetrius flipped a few pages in the index until he pulled out the newspapers he stocked inside.

Palau grabbed the newspapers and narrowed his eyes as he grabbed his reading glasses to read the small, black lettering.

"He was arrested last year for stealing a sealed relic, which could allow him to transform."

"He originally worked at Countince's Carpentry and Craftsmanship, and worked with another patron, Oboro Shirakumo."

After he read the words he pushed away the newspaper and sighed.

"After work could you mind dipping down to the craftsmen's shop and looking for possible witnesses?" 

Palau's face suddenly turned into a gaze of uncertainty.

"Most shops on Sundays are closed due to it being worship day, I'll have to check tomorrow."

Demetrius nodded, looking down at the table, until he perked up suddenly.

"Some shops reopen in the afternoon after the morning services, maybe the craftsmen's shop is open?"

Palau nodded slowly at Demetrius's guess, sipping his coffee again.

"Perhaps…"