Chapter 203: Clues from Souls

In a certain reception room on the second floor, Silas and Mir sat opposite each other.

Having just experienced that terrifying event, Silas's expression was still calm, as if nothing had happened.

"Those so-called soldiers and detectives are unreliable. This small-scale werewolf plague is just those lunatics testing the waters. Since I have to protect Her Majesty and cannot leave the imperial palace, I'll leave this matter to you," Mir said calmly, holding his coffee.

Mir already had enough trust in Silas.

It wasn't that their relationship was particularly good, but the deterrence from the potion just now was sufficient.

This experiment was partly a demonstration, but more so a threat.

Silas naturally understood the meaning – if you dare to play tricks, I will make you suffer more than him.

He nodded solemnly and then asked, "Regarding the situation in the city, I need to understand it first."

"The situation in the city looks quite complicated, but if you look closely, it's actually very simple."

Mir put down his cup and said casually, "The Duke of the Mountains has great ambitions. He not only wants the entire Kingdom of Guinness but also wants to conquer the surrounding countries. Therefore, he is cooperating with both the Jizhou Research Institute and the Death Cult."

"Another one, Marquis Raul, is cooperating with Prince Sako. The organization behind them is the Twin Alliance. Prince Sako's home country, the Highwind Kingdom, is itself a believer in the Black Blood Twins."

"Another faction is the Dragonflame believers from the Northwind Continent. They secretly support Marquis Sesus, but their goal is relatively simple: they want the flame stone mine controlled by the royal family."

"The remaining organizations are not significant. Although the Radiant Church and the Elven Order make a lot of noise, their threat is not great because their main bases are too far from here."

After hearing this, Silas immediately confirmed the general division of power in the city.

"The overt war in the capital city is now over. Continuing to fight is not good for anyone. The real war now is in the shadows. Whoever can gain the support of more nobles will grasp the absolute initiative," Mir analyzed very thoroughly, clearly explaining the complex situation that even Elaina couldn't articulate in just a few words.

After quickly digesting this intelligence, Silas nodded. "Alright, I roughly understand. Next, I just need to investigate this plague issue clearly, right?"

"Yes, I will score you based on your completion and report to Her Majesty, while also silencing those ministers."

Speaking of silencing, the unique coldness and indifference of a witcher finally appeared on Mir's face.

It was clear that he detested those ministers.

Silas picked up his staff and stood up. "I can handle the rest myself. I need you to be able to send me out of the imperial palace quietly."

"That's simple!" Mir stood up with a smile.

...

At ten o'clock in the morning, Silas, wearing a neat black suit, a smooth black silk top hat, and holding a staff in his left hand, stood in a ruin in the northern part of the outer city.

Just now, Mir's people had sent him to the site of the plague outbreak. Through his official identity, he had obtained certain permissions within the army to enter the scene.

The place where the plague broke out was an opera house.

Due to the outbreak of war, it had been occupied by a group of hooligans and became their den, housing a total of thirty-four people.

Last night, the plague suddenly broke out, and thirty-one of these thirty-four people turned into ferocious werewolves.

The remaining three poor souls were torn apart by the other werewolves at that time.

Patrolling soldiers, after discovering the werewolves, quickly surrounded and pursued them. For safety and security, this opera house was directly burned down by the military.

While eliminating future troubles, the fire could also burn away the remaining plague virus.

The fire at the opera house was extinguished in the morning. Now, it was still a ruin emitting black smoke and a scorched smell.

Silas stood at the edge, casually pushing aside some charred rubble with his staff, and saw a completely burnt hand underneath.

"This fire burned really well; all traces and clues have been burned away."

Thinking this, Silas's eyes scanned around and saw many people dressed similarly to himself.

These people were representatives and detectives sent by various nobles, using the pretext of helping the army solve the case to find relevant clues.

Of course, some also wanted to destroy any remaining clues.

For example, the two people representing the Duke of the Mountains.

Looking at these two people, a somewhat wicked smile appeared on Silas's lips.

Because he saw familiar faces.

One of these two was a middle-aged man with a stout build, while the other, a middle-aged man with a gloomy face and glasses, was actually Silas's introductory teacher in mysticism, the necromancer he had killed: John Ross.

"This world is really small!"

Due to Silas's significant changes in these few months, when John's eyes scanned the surroundings, they passed over Silas two or three times without recognizing this former student of his.

And Silas didn't plan to rashly go forward and greet him. He was here this time to investigate, not to alert the enemy.

After confirming that there were no clues here, Silas closed his eyes and released his spiritual energy.

Through the unique knowledge of a priest, Silas clearly perceived three souls wandering aimlessly on the ruins.

"These should be the three ordinary people killed by the werewolves."

Silas silently recited the priest's prayer. Accompanied by subtle fluctuations of spiritual energy, the three souls, feeling the warm attraction, quickly moved towards Silas.

After enveloping these three souls with gentle spiritual energy, Silas turned and quickly left.

"I need a safe place," Silas found Old Green, the one-eyed military man who was very familiar with Elaina.

Green didn't make things difficult for Silas. After nodding slightly, he allowed him to enter their temporary tent here.

It was a very ordinary sleeping tent. Now that the soldiers had all gone out, it was empty.

Silas sat down, closed his eyes, and gradually recited the prayer, comforting the three souls.

When the time was right, Silas asked in a gentle voice, "What happened to you, my children?"

At this moment, the three souls instinctively regarded Silas as their closest person.

One of the souls said, "Big brother, those crazy guys captured us. After tying us up, they wanted to inject us with a potion."

"Mom, they are all lunatics. They want to turn us all into those bloodthirsty monsters. I'm so scared!"

"Dad, it's too scary! Those guys not only turned them into monsters, but after they became monsters, they also wanted to pierce their backs with needles and draw a lot of blood. I'm so scared, I don't want to become a monster, I don't want my blood drawn."

Silas first noted down this information and then asked, "Where did they come from? How many people were there? What did they all look like?"

"They rushed in under the cover of darkness."

"There were more than ten people, carrying many weapons. Two of them were holding a strange book. After they read a few sentences, we fell asleep. When we woke up, we were already tied up."

"They said they needed to extract the aura of death as soon as possible, and also something about invading the imperial palace and letting the child be born."

...

The three spoke one after another, illogically. Silas listened quietly and noted everything down.

After communicating for about five minutes, the three began to become agitated. Silas knew their remaining spiritual energy could no longer maintain their sanity, so he directly guided the three to salvation, sending them to his divine kingdom.