As the capital of Gormouth, even deep into the night, Moldway's streets were still brightly lit, with the clamor of people unceasing.
At this moment, Haida was draped in an Abyssal Sea-style leather cloak, concealing the characteristics of a Burial Attendant. The power sword "Nirvana" was also covered with a layer of black gauze to make it less conspicuous.
She walked seemingly carelessly along a commercial pedestrian street, her gaze imperceptibly sweeping over every passerby.
Very strange, a small portion of play eople in the crowd had an "aura" different from others.
It wasn't the filth of evil spawn, nor the repulsive aura of rotten flesh or blood; it was just an extremely subtle difference. What was even more peculiar was that before this, Haida couldn't perceive this difference.
She was able to capture this vague sense of "incongruity" through her talent for spiritual empathy and profiling, and that was only after hearing the song of the Sands of Slumber Bell Tower through the memories of an Ant-Scale Door acolyte... But she couldn't precisely express what kind of feeling it actually was.
It was like having a few pieces of crystal quartz mixed in with a pile of ordinary glass. Unless you picked out each piece and carefully examined them under light, it was nearly impossible to tell them apart directly.
Was it some special spiritual element? But spiritual sight revealed nothing at all.
However, this special aura wasn't unpleasant. It just inexplicably reminded her of the ethereal, serene song of the Sands of Slumber Bell Tower.
Just as Haida was trying to deepen her impression of this wisp of special aura, Vivian emerged from the shadows of the alleyway. She had just been scouting the surroundings from the perspective of a Calling Bird and hadn't found anything unusual either.
Moldway was, after all, the political lifeline of the entire Abyssal Sea nation, home to the Gailethson Royal Court.
Even though most of the country had fallen into territory that was literally lawless, this place still maintained a fairly high level of public order. Therefore, in the vast majority of circumstances, no fanatical cultists would dare appear openly; that would be equivalent to a direct provocation against the royal family.
"Sister Haida, did you find the source of that strange feeling?"
Vivian leaned close to Haida's ear and whispered her query.
Originally, after seeing that the public order here was even better than in Foy Port, she hadn't been too worried about encountering dangerous emergencies. But later, hearing Haida mention that a small number of people carried a strange aura made her nerves, which had just begun to relax, tense up again.
Could it be some kind of subtle, gradual infiltration? Like the "Shapeshifters" mentioned in some secret histories, capable of nearly perfectly mimicking humans and blending into social groups...
Just thinking of this possibility sent a chill down Vivian's spine. That's why, even when scouting, she didn't want to be too far from Haida.
After a year of interaction, she had gained a relatively deep understanding of this sister. When facing such elusive, bizarre events, Haida's intuition was frighteningly accurate...
"No."
Haida shook her head gently, her grey-chestnut eyes calm and deep.
"As of now, those people with the special aura are no different from anyone else. Whether in voice, behavior, appearance, or 'human spirituality.' At least, my experience can't detect any anomalies."
If Dr. Fran were here, perhaps she could glimpse some clues...
Whenever this thought surfaced in her mind, Haida forcefully stopped her train of thought.
She really had developed some dependence on her, to the point that sometimes she instinctively wanted to seek answers from her...
But at the same time, Haida also cautiously followed Fran's warning. She didn't rashly attempt to profile and empathize with her thought patterns again, to prevent possible contamination of her own personality.
Just then, Vivian, through the overhead view of her raven Munin, noticed something slightly unusual about the crowd ahead.
"Sister Haida, the pedestrians ahead... seem to be deliberately avoiding an old woman."
"Oh?"
Haida felt a flicker of interest and turned her gaze forward.
It was a hunched old woman, her robes tattered and worn, her skin dark, seemingly from excessive sun exposure.
Beyond that, her expression was dazed and haggard, and her behavior seemed unusual. From time to time, she would approach a pedestrian to ask a question, and the person accosted would immediately make a face and hurry away.
As Haida and Vivian drew closer, they could hear the old woman's murmur with a thick Gormouth accent.
"Sir, have you seen my child? He's 11 this year, about this tall, quite thin, not very fluent in the common tongue..."
As she spoke, she would also take out a much-folded and crumpled portrait to show passersby.
The portrait depicted a frail boy. He had a round face originally, but his facial skin seemed somewhat sunken from long-term malnutrition. He wore simple cloth garments, the style commonly worn by coastal fishermen.
"Haven't seen him, haven't seen him!"
The accosted passerby gave an impatient brush-off before hastily leaving.
Most importantly, the old woman's body... also carried that faint, elusive special aura.
Haida stood by the street, maintaining a cautious distance, not rushing forward to ask questions. There were too many pedestrians here, making any action conspicuous. It was better to wait until she reached a quieter place before making a move.
Vivian, meanwhile, walked over to a small shop selling trinkets by the street. After browsing, she bought a small, delicate bracelet of seashell pearls.
While paying, she gave an extra Gormouth silver coin, then asked casually with an expression of curiosity.
"Shopkeeper, does that old lady often appear here? Why does everyone seem to deliberately ignore her?"
Her tone carried just the right amount of bewilderment, mixed with a slight Foy Port accent. She sounded like a young woman visiting Moldway for the first time, finding everything new and curious.
The shopkeeper of the jewelry store was a middle-aged woman nearing forty, wearing heavy makeup. Seeing the extra silver coin, she couldn't suppress a wide smile.
Since there were no other customers at the moment, she took the silver coin and began explaining knowledgeably.
"That old woman is a refugee from the fallen city 'Morien.' Probably suffered a shock during that calamity. Whenever she sees someone, she asks them about her child. But given the state of that city... the chances are slim. Initially, the enforcers also searched among the refugees, but found nothing."
"Now she's been wandering our street for several years. Usually lives in a ragged nest of cloth in a dark alley. Her madness has gotten worse over time, survives by scavenging through garbage and food given by kind-hearted people to avoid starvation."
After getting her answer, Vivian, like any naive young woman, naturally showed pity in her eyes.
"That's so tragic..."
"Ah." The shopkeeper also sighed in seeming agreement.
"But there's nothing anyone can do to help her. And her constant wandering on the street does affect our business somewhat. Most passersby have seen her many times, so it's normal for them to get annoyed."
Their casual chat ended soon after. Vivian, wearing the seashell pearl bracelet, returned to Haida's side.
Although her methods weren't as direct and efficient as Fran's, collecting intelligence was, after all, a Confidential Division agent's main line of work, and she handled it with practiced ease.
"She's a refugee from the fallen city, said by people in the surrounding shops to have gone mad," she said in a low voice.
"I understand."
Haida gave a slight nod of acknowledgment.
"I have some questions for her. Let's wait until she goes somewhere less crowded first."
Mingling with the crowd, the two followed the old woman at a distance, not too close, not too far, until she returned to the deserted dark alley she called home. It was filled with the smells of dampness and human grease, dirty and crude.
The dark alley was already remote, and after nightfall, it became even more devoid of passersby.
After Munin circled the area and confirmed there were indeed no observers, Haida approached the old woman.
"Madam, you came from the fallen city?"
Faced with her question, the old woman just looked up dully. Her gaze was vacant and hollow, like a corpse without a soul.
But upon seeing Haida's face, she suddenly became agitated without warning. Turbid tears welled up in her eyes, and her voice became choked with intense emotional turmoil.
"You, you... it's you! I recognize you!"
This was an unexpected reaction. Haida narrowed her eyes slightly, thought for a moment, and then followed up on her words.
"Madam, when did you see me?"
"That day the tsunami swept away my child, that day monsters crawled into the city streets... that day, the day... wuu... I recognize your eyes! It was you, who cut off that thing's head in the city..."
"You know, Thump! Its head just fell to the ground, a loud thud, then turned to ash, a huge pile of ash."
"I recognize, I recognize those grey, cold eyes of yours..."
The old woman uttered confused, fragmented delirious speech, her expression reverent yet sorrowful.
Haida's expression grew serious.
The description was far too specific. Grey-chestnut eyes were a trait of the Meredith family. And the only Meredith with that kind of strength now... could only be her father.
"What exactly was the calamity in Morien? And what is that 'thing' you mentioned?"
She posed a new question.
But this time, the old woman seemed to have lost that brief moment of clarity again, falling back into unconscious sobbing.
"Wuu, Paddy, my child... the winter clothes I just knitted for you, you didn't even get to wear them... You were always stubborn, wouldn't wear more clothes, prone to illness since childhood. Tell me, is the sea very cold?"
Her state was too unstable. Haida had to try a different angle for conversation.
"Madam, how did Paddy disappear that day?"
Hearing Haida's words, the old woman lowered her head and fell silent for a moment. Then, she carefully took out from an inner cloth pouch that much-folded, but unsoiled portrait.
"Miss with the grey eyes, have you seen my child? He's 11 this year, about this tall, quite thin, not very fluent in the common tongue..."
Almost identical to what she said to passersby earlier. But soon, she began speaking in more detail.
"Paddy isn't dead, he really isn't dead! But no one believes me... I saw with my own eyes, he walked into the sea. Those monsters didn't approach him."
"But why didn't he heed my calls? And why did he so resolutely throw himself into the Abyssal Sea?"
After saying this, the old woman returned to a deathly silence.
Only the still-wet tear tracks by her eyes proved that she had, just moments ago, exhibited intense emotion like a normal person.
"Let's go."
After confirming she would no longer respond to any external stimuli, Haida left the dark alley with Vivian.
Although her words were chaotic and illogical, they still revealed many quite important pieces of information. The Chief Hunter had appeared in the fallen city several years ago... And according to Secrets-Hunter records, during that period, he should have been assassinating Crown Prince Murphy.
That meant the "thing" the old woman mentioned was most likely the Crown Prince after turning into an Evil Spawn.
But shouldn't the Crown Prince have been hiding in the capital, Moldway? Why would he appear in the fallen city?
Most importantly, the old woman also mentioned where the missing children went. Those children who ultimately vanished were probably like her child Paddy, voluntarily swallowed by the Abyssal Sea. Perhaps... lured by the song of the Sands of Slumber Bell Tower?
As her thoughts flowed, the door of an empty shop plastered with "For Transfer" signs suddenly swung open without warning before Haida, and wisps of misty curtain poured out.
The next moment, Fran stepped out from within.
She straightened her collar, brushed off the pale grey mist clinging to her, then looked at Haida.
"Dear Sister Haida, good evening. Hmm... Judging by that grave expression of yours, you must have found something important? A proper smile can reduce the risk of facial paralysis, don't be like Ahern, okay?"
In response to her teasing, Haida simply gave a slight nod of acknowledgment, then began recounting her discovery.
"There were indeed some findings, Dr. Fran. According to the account of a calamity survivor, my father once appeared in the fallen city Morien. The timing was around when the Crown Prince was assassinated."
Fran showed no surprise at this news, even able to offer a supplement.
After all, she had just read through all the record scrolls in Marquis Jude's private study.
"Mhm~ Actually, Ahern went to Morien precisely to assassinate Crown Prince Murphy. The Crown Prince in the capital was that fellow's double. He himself wanted to sacrifice an entire city's populace through the calamity to complete his own ascension ritual."
"...I see."
Haida's gaze lowered slightly, and the scattered pieces of intelligence in her mind were quickly connected into a coherent whole.
Thinking of this, she asked the question that currently concerned her most.
"There's one more thing, Dr. Fran."
"Ever since I heard the song in the Ant-Scale Door acolyte's mind, I've been able to sense a special aura from some people. No, calling it an aura might not be accurate. It's more of just a 'feeling.'"
Faced with Haida's description, Fran slightly narrowed her eyes, pondered for a moment before responding.
"Actually, I don't have a definitive answer either. The uniqueness of those people is very subtle, and I haven't yet taken them apart for in-depth examination, so it's not appropriate to draw a direct conclusion."
"However... we'll know very soon."
As she said this, her lips curved slightly, a soft smile appearing at the corners of her moist lips.
"Since tonight's moonlight is just right, let's take a trip to Moldway's Sands of Slumber Bell Tower. This time, I'll take you inside."
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