NOVPUBIn the dream space, the black hound mimicry of Gregor and the little fox sit together, watching the screen displaying the first-person perspective of Gregor’s body. They observe the self-proclaimed "detective," an Aka believer, using Gregor’s body to perform a series of operations in the train compartment. From the first-person view, they watch as the assassin’s flesh rapidly vaporizes into smoke, the flesh dissipating and the skeleton emerging. The gruesome scene seems to make the little fox uncomfortable.
"Ugh... is using this sigil always this disgusting?"
The little fox mutters, while the black hound mimicry of Gregor focuses intently on the screen, watching his own hands dismantle the assassin’s bones and carefully place them into a large suitcase. He can’t help but wonder what this detective is planning to do.
"Also... this guy who tried to kill you seems really poor. Aside from the Flesh-Dissolving Sigil, he doesn’t seem to have any other mystical items."
Continuing to watch the live feed, the little fox comments, and Gregor responds.
"It’s normal for him not to have any. Once I arrive in Tivian, I’ll be immediately taken to the headquarters for a basic inspection. That’s why I can’t carry any mystical items of unknown origin. They must have known this, which is why they didn’t bring more mystical items with them."
Gregor explains. Organizations like the Serenity Bureau must conduct basic inspections on new members, especially due to the limited resources of Lantern spirituality. While the inspection isn’t overly strict, personal items are definitely checked, at least under the Illuminating Beacon when separated from the body.
Gregor explains this to the little fox, while in reality, Dorothy, dressed in pajamas, sits on her bed remotely controlling Gregor’s body in the train compartment. Under her control, the assassin’s skeleton, reduced to bones by the Flesh-Dissolving Sigil, is carefully collected and placed into the suitcase. Soon, the entire skeleton is disassembled and packed away. Dorothy then has Gregor’s body stuff the remaining hair, clothes, and shoes into the suitcase before closing it. The compartment is now devoid of the assassin’s body, with only the sound of the wind whistling through the half-open window.
With the assassin’s remains packed away, Dorothy’s next task is to find the assassin’s accomplice still hidden on the train. For her, this is relatively simple.
Dorothy’s main body takes out her magic box, opens it, and retrieves a sigil—the Scent-Tracking Sigil. Back when she helped Adèle solve the theater murder case, Adèle gave her three of these sigils to track the murderer’s scent. Dorothy used one and still has two left.
Yes, Dorothy plans to use scent to find the assassin’s accomplice, and the scent sample is the large suitcase.
The plan was to dissolve Gregor’s body into bones, pack them into this suitcase, and have an accomplice disguised as a passenger take it off the train. Therefore, this suitcase, specifically designed to carry bones, was most likely brought onto the train by the accomplice disguised as a passenger.
After all, the assassin was disguised as a train attendant. The living space for train attendants on a steam train is very limited, with only a few restrooms shared among the attendants on rotating shifts. With limited personal space, there’s also limited storage space. Additionally, train attendants usually live at either the starting or terminal station of the train line. When they come to work on the train, they only bring essential items. They’re here to work, not travel, so there’s no need to carry large suitcases like this one.
Since the assassin disguised as a train attendant couldn’t easily carry such a large suitcase, it was likely brought onto the train by the accomplice disguised as a passenger. At some point, the suitcase was handed over to the assassin, who would then take it off the train. This would seem perfectly normal and wouldn’t raise any suspicions.
Therefore, Dorothy only needs to identify the scent on the suitcase and follow it to find the accomplice.
After spending 2 points of Chalice, Dorothy activates the Scent-Tracking Sigil and transfers its effect to Gregor’s body through the spiritual thread, giving him an extraordinary sense of smell.
After transferring the sigil’s effect to Gregor, Dorothy has his body crouch down and carefully sniff the suitcase. After identifying the scent, Gregor’s body stands up, puts on the coat lying on the sofa, picks up the suitcase containing the bones, and leaves the compartment.
Under Dorothy’s control, Gregor’s body walks out of the compartment and into the train corridor. He begins sniffing the air in both directions before heading toward the rear of the train.
"Hey, black dog, that detective just used your nose to sniff the suitcase. Are black dogs in real life also super sensitive to smells like dogs?"
In the dream space, the little fox asks Gregor curiously as they watch the screen. Gregor clicks his tongue and replies.
"Of course not. The detective must have done something to my body. Stop talking nonsense and focus..."
Gregor sternly replies to the little fox, then turns his attention back to the screen. He watches as his body walks along the train corridor, passing through the connecting section between carriages and entering the second-class carriage. Following some unseen trail, his body walks to the end of the carriage and stops in front of a compartment door. He then pulls out a set of keys, selects one, and begins to unlock the door.
These keys were taken from the assassin disguised as a train attendant. He had a master key for the first-class compartments, specifically to unlock Gregor’s compartment. Now, Dorothy has put them to good use.
…
In the speeding train on this dark night, most first-class passengers have fallen into a deep sleep due to the drugs in the food served in the dining car. However, not everyone is asleep...
In one of the first-class compartments, a middle-aged man in a well-tailored suit sits on the sofa, holding a document. The document contains a series of text and a black-and-white photo of a young man—a passport-style photo. The text details the young man’s basic background.
"Gregorius Mayschoss... If everything went according to plan, he should be gone by now."
Adjusting his glasses, the man murmurs softly. At that moment, he hears the sound of a key turning in the compartment door. Startled, he quickly puts away the document and looks toward the door with a guarded expression, his hand reaching into the shadows to grip a weapon.
The compartment door opens, and he sees a familiar young man standing in the doorway—the same young man from the photo in the document. The young man smiles and holds a suitcase that the man recognizes even more.
Seeing the young man, the man’s heart tightens, and he almost draws his weapon. But when he sees the suitcase in the young man’s hand, he suppresses the impulse. He eyes the young man suspiciously and tentatively asks.
"Mr. Adelin?"
Hearing the man’s words, Dorothy, controlling Gregor, maintains her smile and steps into the compartment. After closing the door, she hands the suitcase to the man and says.
"It’s done. Take it."
Hearing "Mr. Adelin’s" words, the man quickly takes the suitcase from Gregor and places it on the table. He opens it slightly to inspect the contents and, upon seeing the bones inside, smiles.
"So he’s already in there? That was quick, Mr. Adelin. Your skills are as sharp as ever."
"Hmph... Killing an Apprentice who was in such a deep sleep he couldn’t resist isn’t much of a feat. It was just collecting the bones that took some time."
The man flatters Gregor, who responds indifferently. As he speaks, Gregor sits down on the sofa.
Then, Gregor turns to look at his faint reflection in the window, gently touching his face as if checking for something, and softly asks the man.
"Any issues?"
"Issues? Hmm... Are you talking about your disguise? No issues at all. It’s a perfect match to the photo in the documents! It’s like you’re the real deal!"
Seeing Gregor’s question, the man immediately responds, comparing the photo in the document to Gregor’s face. Hearing this, Gregor nods slightly.
"Good, no issues then..."
The man looks at Gregor with a complex expression, a mix of awe and suspicion. Driven by the suspicion, he hesitates for a moment before tentatively asking.
"Congratulations on completing the mission, Mr. Adelin. But when you came back just now, why didn’t you use the agreed-upon knock code? You just opened the door directly. That really startled me."
With a hint of curiosity in his eyes, the man asks the young man in front of him. Although all the previous actions suggest that this young man is his superior, Adelin, in disguise, the man still feels a sense of unease, a dissonance that makes him suspicious. One of the main sources of this suspicion is that "Mr. Adelin" didn’t use the specific knock code when entering the compartment.
Hearing the man’s question, Gregor’s expression hardens, and his gaze sharpens as he stares at the man. He speaks in a commanding tone.
"When I do things, I don’t need to consider the feelings of worker ants. As a worker ant, you just need to do your job..."
Gregor sternly reprimands the man, who immediately feels an overwhelming sense of authority from "Mr. Adelin." This feeling, though not profound, is familiar. In the organization, only true superiors can evoke such a feeling in him.
"My apologies, Mr. Adelin! I asked something I shouldn’t have! That was my mistake!"
Facing Gregor’s words, the man immediately bows and apologizes, all his doubts about "Mr. Adelin" instantly erased. He dares not harbor any further suspicions, all because of the authority he just felt.
Seeing the man’s reaction, Dorothy, sitting on her bed and remotely controlling Gregor, breathes a sigh of relief.
“Phew... The effects of The Queen’s Procession really work. These guys are indeed from the Eight-Spired Nest... Looks like I guessed right.”
Dorothy thinks to herself. After witnessing the assassin’s disguise ability and identifying him as a Shadow Facade, Dorothy immediately suspected that these people were sent by the Eight-Spired Nest.
Back when she dealt with the vampire at school, Dorothy had already seen the infiltration capabilities of the Shadow Facade path. She also knows that, among the Beyonder organizations in Pritt, the Eight-Spired Nest seems to be the only one that controls this path. Therefore, the likelihood that the assassination attempt on Gregor was organized by the Eight-Spired Nest is very high. Dorothy just confirmed this using The Queen’s Procession.
To facilitate control over their subordinates, the Eight-Spired Nest makes all members read a special mystical text called The Queen’s Procession. This text is divided into several chapters, from the lowest Worker Ant Chapter to the highest Queen Chapter. Those who have read a lower chapter will feel reverence for those who have read a higher chapter and be unable to resist their authority.
Back then, Thorn Velvet, a Black Earth-rank Shadow Facade, had read the Soldier Ant Chapter and made the students of the Scholarly Society of Mystical Knowledge read the Worker Ant Chapter, using the text’s effects to mentally control the society.
After Dorothy completely eradicated the Eight-Spired Nest’s influence in King’s Campus, she found a detailed annotated version of The Queen’s Procession on the White Ash-rank Vampire. To annotate a text, one must first quote the original. This annotated version explained the effects of The Queen’s Procession series of mystical texts and contained large portions of the original text, including the Worker Ant Chapter, Soldier Ant Chapter, and parts of the General Ant Chapter. After reading the annotations, Dorothy had essentially read these chapters.
At this moment, although the man is speaking to Gregor’s body, he is actually facing Dorothy. Dorothy can use the spiritual thread to transfer the state of having read the Soldier Ant Chapter to Gregor.
For this assassination attempt on Gregor, the Eight-Spired Nest sent one Black Earth-rank operative, while the other accomplice, who was only there to help carry the suitcase, is clearly below Black Earth rank.
The Eight-Spired Nest is a sizable organization, but Black Earth-rank Beyonders are not exactly plentiful for them. After Dorothy killed three Black Earth-rank operatives and one White Ash-rank operative in the series of events at King’s Campus, their manpower in Tivian must be stretched thin. Therefore, they wouldn’t send too many operatives for this mission. One Black Earth-rank operative and one Apprentice-rank should be more than enough to handle Gregor, who is only an Apprentice-rank.
When Dorothy saw the assassin’s accomplice, she judged from his tone and reactions that his rank was lower than the assassin’s—likely an Apprentice-rank. In the Eight-Spired Nest, Black Earth-rank operatives like Thorn Velvet read the Soldier Ant Chapter, so this Apprentice-rank must have read the Worker Ant Chapter.
Therefore, after Dorothy transferred the Soldier Ant Chapter buff to Gregor, the man, who had read the Worker Ant Chapter, immediately felt reverence for Gregor.
Although the man found "Mr. Adelin’s" actions suspicious, once Gregor displayed the effects of the higher chapter, the man’s doubts were immediately dispelled, and he no longer questioned "Mr. Adelin."
"Alright, alright. Just remember for next time."
Hearing the man’s apology, Dorothy controls Gregor to wave his hand dismissively. The man breathes a sigh of relief.
"Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Adelin..."
The man thanks Gregor, who then leans back on the sofa and changes the subject.
"Now, let’s talk business. Although things went smoothly on my end, there were some unexpected developments. After killing this black dog, I went through his documents and found a problem..."
"A problem?"
"According to the documents he was carrying, once I arrive in Tivian under the identity of this black dog, Gregor, I’ll be taken directly to the black dogs’ headquarters for an inspection. This inspection will apparently take longer than we anticipated."
With a meaningful look, Dorothy, controlling Gregor as Adelin, speaks to the man, who frowns.
"The inspection will take longer? So... Mr. Adelin, you’ll have less free time than we thought... In that case, should we change the time for our next meeting?"
The man frowns as he speaks, and hearing his words, Dorothy’s eyes light up. She has Gregor respond immediately.
"Yes, we need to change it. And since we’re changing the time, let’s change the location too. How about we meet at Harren’s Restaurant at the Stone Bridge intersection in the East District at 5 PM on the 25th?"
Gregor directly proposes this to the man, who nods in agreement.
"On the 25th, in the East District? Understood... After we get off the train, I’ll relay your message. The black dogs’ inspections have become stricter this time, so please be extra careful.”
"When the 25th comes, barring any unexpected issues, I’ll be the one to meet you. At that time, I’ll bring you the tools to directly contact the organization. Until then, please proceed with caution."
The man speaks solemnly to Gregor, who nods in response. Meanwhile, Dorothy, far away, smiles.
"Success... With the contact method secured, Gregor can successfully infiltrate the Eight-Spired Nest."
Sitting on her bed, Dorothy murmurs with a smile. Through her manipulations, she has successfully turned Gregor into a double agent.
Faced with this opportunity, Dorothy doesn’t expect to extract any valuable information from this low-level operative. But if she can have Gregor replace Adelin’s identity and become a spy within the Eight-Spired Nest, the intelligence he could gather in the future would be immensely valuable.
