At dusk, the two got back in the carriage and left the southern city's suburbs.
The critically injured Lucio was left behind by the two. Veronica was very unhappy about the mustachioed hunter's earlier words and actions, but David still kindly helped him use a healing potion.
Lucio's bones seemed to have been broken by the giant's strike. He was still lying on the ground when David left.
But the way he looked at David had already changed—he couldn't believe David was a first-tier hunter still "interning."
...
On the carriage, David reclined in the comfortable leather seat.
For the first time after battle, he felt so relaxed. Those evil spirits couldn't go crazy under the suppression of the Goddess's Blessing, and mobilizing psychic energy wouldn't cause their backlash.
This made him couldn't help but praise the greatness of the Sun Goddess in his heart.
As he thought this, he felt that pair of cracked light wings inside his body slowly flapping, as if releasing more heartwarming power.
Across from him, Veronica organized her thoughts and began explaining her analysis to David.
"Some of the enhancement potions from that crate of alchemical potions are missing. I estimate those potions all went into Dick's stomach.
Ordinary people don't have the protection of divine ritual power. Recklessly using those potions results in turning into monsters... Besides that, there's the master alchemist's most precious 'Liquid Thunder,' and that weird bottle of 'Roaring Juice of Garrolon Grass.'"
"What's that stuff?"
David wasn't that familiar with these complex alchemical potions. This was also one of the courses he needed to study in the future.
"As far as I know, Garrolon Grass juice has the effect of stimulating psychic energy, but its duration is very short... I'm guessing it's very suitable for providing ordinary people without psychic energy temporary psychic power."
Veronica said softly, "...That way, they can use forbidden objects."
David raised an eyebrow. "You're saying Dick used the Twin Demon Mirror?"
"No, your earlier guess was right. The person who used the Twin Demon Mirror was Dick's teacher, Master Alchemist Julius."
...
At night, David and Veronica returned to the docks. This time they quietly stole a small boat without attracting anyone's attention.
The two rowed the small boat quietly back to the ship where Julius was. The deck was now silent, there was no movement from the alchemy workshop in the cabin, and even the steam engine at the stern had been shut off.
The ship just floated in the middle of the river channel like a lonely island.
Veronica was a bit nervous. According to her speculation, tonight was the key to the mission...
David looked completely relaxed. He was fearless to begin with. With his health, even if all the explosives on this ship detonated together, they couldn't blow him up.
Uh, probably couldn't kill him...
Thinking of the Liquid Thunder that master alchemist had created, he suddenly wasn't so confident.
Just then, some sounds suddenly came from behind the cabin. David and Veronica made eye contact and immediately rushed to the stern.
Bang!
The cabin door leading to the stern was knocked open. An old man with a head full of messy white hair staggered in—it was Julius.
The old man's face looked extremely pained, his features twisted together. After rushing into the cabin, his body tilted and he crashed into the wall, then collapsed powerlessly to the ground, mouth constantly muttering something.
"Impossible, I'm the real one... I am... How is this possible... The person who invented it was me! It should be me!!!"
David and Veronica stood at the other end of the cabin. Neither acted rashly.
A strange scene appeared. Another person suddenly walked in through the back cabin door. This person wore a proper dark red suit, also had white hair, and had exactly the same appearance as Julius.
Or rather, he was another Julius.
This elegantly composed Julius held a mirror in his hands. That was precisely David and Veronica's target—the fourth-tier forbidden object, Twin Demon Mirror.
"Oh?"
The Julius holding the mirror saw the two people in the cabin and seemed somewhat surprised.
But his movements didn't stop. He walked straight toward the other master alchemist kneeling dazed on the ground.
"Stop."
Veronica quickly drew her gun and pointed it at the Julius holding the mirror, narrowing her eyes. "Both... Mr. Julius, I think I deserve an explanation."
"There's nothing to explain." The Julius holding the mirror stopped under the gun's threat, but he showed no sign of panic. "Besides, young hunters, please note—there's only one Julius here..."
"No... I'm Julius! I am!"
The old man on the ground suddenly struggled and shouted. He tried to get up, but after seeing the mirror in the other "him's" hands, his movements froze again.
"Since there's only one Julius, then I'll just turn you two into one person."
David also drew his gun, sneering as he pointed it at the master alchemist holding the mirror.
That Julius saw the two hunters looked ready to shoot the next moment and could only sigh and step back.
"Sigh, what a hassle... What exactly do you want explained?"
"Perhaps you could first explain why there are two of you?" David asked.
The old alchemist rolled his eyes and pointed at the other him on the ground. "He's a duplicate I created using the mirror. It's that simple."
"The Twin Demon Mirror shouldn't have that kind of ability." Veronica refuted.
"That's your ignorance. This mirror was sealed by the Kingsley family for over a hundred years. No one understands the mirror's power better than them."
The Julius holding the mirror tapped his own forehead. "Besides, I'm better at using my brain than you idiots."
"You just experimented on your apprentice Dick, that's all."
David lowered his gun and paced forward. "So, why did you do this? Stealing the Earl's forbidden object and using it without permission—do you know this crime is enough to make you lose everything?"
"It could also make me gain everything..."
Julius answered without changing expression. "I didn't experiment on my apprentice. I just had him keep that mirror for me.
That guy got curious, created his own mirror image himself, then turned himself into a monster. Hmph, ridiculous curiosity."
"As for why I used the mirror..." The old man paused, a kind of fanatical light slowly rising in his eyes. "That's because I needed a second brain as smart as mine."
David suddenly noticed that this Julius's face was also full of exhaustion, just like the Julius collapsed on the ground. The difference was, his face also showed relief and excitement.
"I bet right. My duplicate didn't disappoint me. He successfully refined 'Liquid Thunder.' This is a very critical project that I didn't have time to research myself. To beat the..."
Julius sighed and changed the subject. "But telling you all this is useless. Anyway, you just need to know he's a duplicate I temporarily created, and his invention of Liquid Thunder is enough for the imperial family to pardon all my crimes.
Now, he's completed his task. If you don't mind, I must recover this duplicate that shouldn't exist."
"Wait..."
David walked in front of the two Juliuses, his expression strange as he asked, "How do I know which of you and him is the real Julius? Can you prove it?"
"Are you blind?" Julius asked back expressionlessly. "The one holding the mirror is me, the one lying on the ground is him. What more proof do you need? Want me to shoot myself and see if I turn into glass shards and disappear?"
Actually, David really wanted to do just that.
This Julius who suddenly appeared looked very suspicious, and that duplicate who'd been created also seemed to have no awareness he was a "duplicate."
In this situation, David was more inclined to believe the person lying on the ground was the real Julius.
But Julius quickly used actions to dispel his doubts.
He held up that ancient-looking mirror to reflect the old man on the ground. David immediately noticed the mirror didn't reflect the Julius on the ground.
"See? He has no soul..."
...
When David and Veronica got back ashore, their minds were still echoing with the strange phenomenon they'd just witnessed.
That duplicate created by the forbidden object suddenly turned into crystalline fragments when approaching the mirror, and was directly sucked into the mirror amid a burst of twisted light and unwilling shouts.
After doing all this, Julius very cooperatively tossed them the mirror.
"It's no use to me anymore. You take it..."
Now, the mirror had fallen into Veronica's hands.
There was just one thing David still couldn't figure out. That Julius was theoretically just an ordinary person who hadn't stepped onto the supernatural path, and he hadn't used the potion at that time... How exactly did he control the mirror?
After thinking for a while, David gave up struggling. Now, he had more important questions to ponder.
He looked at the mirror in Veronica's hands.
This mirror might be very useful to him...