Chapter 228
Agni and the Great Detective
Eivass hid his gun, changed into the same clothes as the last floor, and pushed the door open, only to see the couple from room 204 arguing again.
It was still the same strange posture—the woman had one foot in the room, holding the doorknob from the outside, her body twisted outwards.
Because he had prior experience, Eivass specifically paid attention to her center of gravity this time… and found that her weight was on the foot that was leaving the room.
There were two possibilities for a person standing at a doorway. Either they wanted to enter, or they wanted to leave.
This woman clearly wanted to leave.
But when she saw Eivass last time, she immediately went back inside. Not only that, but after entering, there was no sound at all… Besides her, even the “husband” inside the room had not spoken.
Why was that?
—He could find out now.
“…If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have ended up…”
The woman stopped mid-sentence, looked up, and saw Eivass approaching silently.
“Agni” smiled slightly at her, as was his habit showing a smile.
Although he hadn’t looked in a mirror, Agni’s face didn’t seem as friendly as Eivass’s own—though the smile should have been identical, the woman shivered in fear.
She immediately stopped talking, smoothly retracted her right foot that was about to step forward, and intended to return to the room.
There was genuine fear and apprehension in the woman’s eyes.
But at that moment, Agni took a step forward, blocking the door with his foot as it was about to close.
The fear on the woman’s face intensified. She subconsciously tried to close the door harder, but dared not hurt Agni.
“You recognize me?”
Agni asked with a smile.
Without waiting for her reply, Agni extended his thick, calloused palm: “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Agni, a teacher. I live right next door to you.”
“Oh, I’m Jane…”
The woman said timidly, reaching out her hand to lightly brush Agni’s fingertips before immediately pulling back as if shocked: “I’m… uh, a small merchant, I guess.”
“Oh?”
Agni maintained his smile and asked politely: “That’s great. Do you have any medicine for colds and fever? My daughter is sick and needs some medicine.”
The woman turned back, her eyes seeking the man in the room.
He was a thin man who had been pacing in the room. Upon seeing Agni enter, the man did not question why Agni entered so directly. Nor did he greet him or step forward. Instead, he stood frozen in place as if petrified.
Compared to the woman, who looked relatively young and plain, he was at least ten years older. At least in his forties.
The man’s face was flushed red, ugly like a monkey’s—not from shame or anger, but like some inflammation or allergic reaction. If Eivass hadn’t smelled any alcohol, he would have suspected he was drunk.
“Cold medicine… I should have some, let me look…”
Saying that, he rummaged through a backpack in the corner of the room.
He looked around, and hesitant, pulled out a bottle of pink alchemical potion.
“This… might work.”
The monkey-like thin man walked over, casting a fearful glance at Agni.
He looked somewhat nervous, but spoke quite fluently. The man skillfully introduced: “This is a ‘Slumber’ potion. After drinking it and sleeping, you can repair your body’s injuries and wake up refreshed!”
“Bring that too.”
Just then, Jane spoke up.
She reminded him: “It’s ‘that’.”
“Oh, I forgot!”
The man slapped his forehead as if suddenly remembering: “You must want this!”
Saying that, the man took out another small box from his backpack.
—A small round metal box, about the size of a wind oil essence bottle.
Seeing the familiar item, Agni’s gaze immediately sharpened.
“You must recognize this, Drunken Dream T. Just a lick will bring peaceful dreams. Often, the discomfort of a fever is due to poor sleep and tossing and turning with nightmares. A taste of this will fix it.”
“…This thing, it’s expensive, isn’t it?”
Eivass picked up the Drunken Dream T. A crescent moon with a human face etched on it was carved on it, with a small line of text below: “1811-01-022, Quicksilver Workshop.”
“…A batch from ten years ago, is this expired?”
Seeing the Drunken Dream T in the Dream Realm ritual made him feel a bit strange.
He hadn’t used Drunken Dream T in this ritual. Because the Silver and Tin Hall was quite safe, not to mention having Eivass’s ritualist teacher, Ibn, watching over him. He’d save the Drunken Dream T for the next Ascension.
For the next Ascension, he would most likely still be in Eagle Cape Village. In such a chaotic and unstable place to sleep, he would need Drunken Dream T to prevent himself from being disturbed.
“It’s okay, the date marked on it is fake. This thing hasn’t been out for two months, and if it wasn’t marked like this, no one would buy it…”
As if understanding Eivass’s hesitation, the man explained: “This is a counterfeit—its effect isn’t as strong as the genuine product, but it’s definitely useful. Don’t worry, it’s absolutely harmless to the body. Look, it’s a storm outside, and I can’t run away, can I?”
“Then thank you very much.”
Agni once again showed a friendly smile: “How much will it cost?”
“Please treat your daughter’s illness first. We can talk about the money later, there’s no rush.”
The middle-aged man said with a smile.
“Then thank you very much.”
Agni nodded politely in thanks.
Under their smiling gazes, he took half a step back and closed the door himself.
He strode away, his tall, heavy body making a thudding sound as he left.
But Agni stood by the stairs and waited for a moment with a blank expression. Then he quietly retreated and stood by the couple’s door.
“…You sold that thing to Agni, what if he finds out?”
The man’s suppressed, urgent voice came from inside the room: “He has a gun, do you want to die?”
“You don’t know a damn thing,” the woman’s vulgar voice replied, “Do you really think that’s his daughter? He must have recognized us, so he came to get some medicine to quiet the little one down…”
Just then, two gunshots were heard from downstairs.
Agni was standing right at the door this time. He could finally confirm… with the soundproofing of this inn, everyone must have heard the gunshots.
He still stood quietly at the door, listening to the commotion inside.
The woman screamed in instinctive fear, but as soon as she screamed, her mouth was immediately covered.
“Don’t make noise, do you want to die?!”
The man’s voice turned fierce: “Just pretend you heard nothing, understand?”
“…Is that Agni? That perverted murderer…”
The woman’s voice trembled.
“—Don’t guess wildly, don’t speak!”
The man was so vigilant he was almost neurotic, completely different from his friendly demeanor earlier: “Maybe someone is listening outside right now!”
Agni’s lips curled upward; this time he truly left quietly.
He walked through the stairs and found the reporter playing “Jacob” in the first-floor hall.
Unlike last time—this time, in addition to the reporter and the corpse of the receptionist, there was an old man wearing a vest armor inlaid with iron plates.
The old man had skin as dark as charcoal and blue pupils. He eyed the reporter warily, his right hand resting on the hilt of the elven short sword at his waist. He was clearly an old supervisor.
The two were currently in a standoff, not speaking. Or perhaps they had said all they needed to say and were waiting for something.
They noticed Agni’s appearance almost simultaneously. The reporter visibly relaxed and let out a sigh of relief.
The old man also shifted some of his wary gaze towards Agni. But he didn’t seem to have much offensive intent, just stood there watching, silent.
The reporter greeted Eivass: “You’re finally here—you’re too late this time, aren’t you?”
“I came down as soon as I revived, I think the time flow might be different.”
Agni said in a deep voice. He was lying right off the bat.
The reporter merely nodded, as if agreeing with something.
He turned to the old man: “Can you believe me now? I’m the Detective, and that burly guy is the Fox.”
The old supervisor shook his head, saying sternly: “To be precise, we can only confirm that at least one of you two is not Merlin.”
“You’re Pure White, aren’t you.”
Agni suddenly spoke, his tone very certain.
The old man slowly turned his head, looking at Agni with some surprise: “I only said one sentence… How did you figure that out?”
“I guessed.”
Agni said with a smile.
His expression, coupled with this smile, seemed somewhat terrifying: “There are only seven people in total. Excluding me, excluding the Detective, excluding Lulu, and excluding Wisteria. You’re definitely not Topas. That leaves only Pure White and Quicksilver.
“It’s a choice between two. No matter how you answer, I’ll determine who exactly you are based on your reaction.”
How he guessed was not important. What was important was the subject’s reaction.
“As expected of ‘the Fox’.”
The old supervisor praised him, but did not loosen his hand from the short sword at his waist: “But I still cannot exclude the possibility that one of you is Merlin.”
“Oh, no need to be like that. He is the Detective.”
Eivass said with a smile, looking at the reporter: “Right?”
“Did you confirm each other’s identities through some means?”
“You could say that.”
The smile on Eivass’s face faded slightly, becoming a semblance of a smile yet not a smile: “His way of responding to me was undoubtedly the way ‘Detective’ responds to ‘Fox’.
“If that’s the case, two have arrived on your side. Two have arrived on our side. The identities of four people are now locked down, leaving three remaining.”
“—Lulu, Quicksilver, Topas.”
The reporter continued: “Among the remaining roles, there’s your daughter, the husband from that couple, and that dancer.”
“Why couldn’t it be the doorman?”
The old supervisor, dressed as Pure White, retorted: “It’s possible that the Fox’s daughter is the extra person, and the remaining are the man, the dancer, and the receptionist.”
“Let me state this upfront,” Eivass said, not even looking at the reporter, but at the old supervisor, “My mission requires me to protect my ‘daughter’. Therefore, I will not allow you to act against her.
“Unless there is irrefutable evidence that she is Merlin, I will not act against a little girl rashly. Even if it’s just in a dream.”
Pure White answered without hesitation.
Hearing this, Eivass smiled slightly: “That’s really good. After participating in so many Ascension Rituals, we’ve finally met a group of normal teammates.”
He said, looking at the reporter: “Don’t you agree, Detective?”
“Indeed, normal teammates are very hard to find.”
The reporter nodded in agreement: “They only think about how to betray you, with no morality whatsoever.”
“I wonder how Lulu is doing…”
Eivass sighed: “I’m a bit worried about her. It seems she’s either at the bottom or the top floor… If she’s at the bottom, she might accidentally die. If she’s at the top, she might be terrified.”
“Don’t worry too much,” the reporter sincerely comforted Eivass, “You have to let her become strong on her own, don’t you? She can’t rely on you forever. Growing up in a dream is better than in reality; ordinary people don’t even have this opportunity. Instead of pointless worry, let’s go see the remaining few people.
“Now that the three of us are together, we can at least confirm that two of them are not Merlin. With multiple witnesses present, evidence collection at this time is meaningful.”
“…Indeed.”
Eivass showed a smile, looked at the reporter, and nodded with a smile, saying meaningfully: “Then I’ll listen to you first…
“My great detective.”
