Chapter 67: Target Locked

Hearing the footsteps, Levi’s eyes instantly narrowed.

He quickly swept his gaze around, grabbed Katie, and immediately hid inside a freshly chiseled grave chamber not far away.

Although this place was a dead corner, Levi’s 【Investigation】 determined that hardly anyone would come here, and the location was concealed enough that they should not be discovered.

“Keep your voice down.”

Levi made a “shh” gesture at Katie, turned off the gas lamp, and the latter nodded in understanding, clearly realizing what Levi meant.

“Tap………tap………tap……….”

Along with the footsteps, flickering firelight emerged from another passage.

Before long, Levi and Katie saw four figures walk out from the tunnel.

Each of them held a torch aloft, clad head-to-toe in white robes—suspicious people who would be stopped by the police immediately if seen on the street.

Levi wanted very much to see their faces, but they all wore masks, making it clear that finding out their true identities this way was impossible.

The four of them came to the building model, standing at its four corners.

They raised their torches high and began chanting softly.

Katie tugged gently on Levi’s sleeve and whispered in his ear.

“This sounds like a church hymn.”

“Mm, a bit.”

Levi nodded.

Although he could not understand the words, the drowsy melody was indeed the same as the hymns sung in church.

The singers were not sleepy, but the listeners were.

After a while, they stopped, and one of them spoke.

“This node seems fine as well.”

“Can’t we do something?”

Another white-robed man’s voice was low and cold.

“Four nodes have already been destroyed, two of them core ones! If we don’t act, this one might also be ruined!”

“Now is not the time for rash moves.”

But soon, another voice rang out, filled with authority.

“The Royal Family already has eyes on us.

As long as this plan succeeds, then afterwards we can spare our hands to deal with that troublesome fellow.”

“But……………”

“The failures of past plans came from our negligence.

This time is different.

As long as we complete our mission, the Lord’s radiance shall once again shine upon this city.

By then, we shall receive His divine grace!”

“Eh?”

At that voice, Katie let out a small cry, but luckily she reacted quickly, clapping a hand over her mouth before drawing their attention.

Levi, meanwhile, fixed his eyes on the four robed men, trying to memorize their tones and features so that he could recognize them at once if they met again.

However, just as that robed man was delivering his fervent speech, he suddenly grunted and doubled over like a shrimp, torch in his left hand while his right hand clutched his waist, trembling violently—as if he had been stabbed.

But the other three were not surprised.

They stepped forward, and one produced a vial of medicine to hand over.

He took it, swallowed, and gradually calmed down, though his wheezing breaths like a broken bellows showed he had suffered considerably.

“Milord, are you all right?”

“Do I look all right to you?”

The panting robed man glared at the subordinate who had spoken without thinking.

“I was just worried. Your health has worsened recently, and if you really need—”

“I am not ill!”

The robed man’s roar thundered through the tomb like lightning.

“I told you, it was only an accident! I have no such perversions! Those damned policemen, how dare they issue such a wanted poster! If I ever find who did it, I will—ugh… ugh… By the Holy Lord above, that wicked, shameless, insidious fiend will meet retribution!”

Once again he raised a hand to clutch his masked face.

The other three hurried forward, taking out another vial of medicine.

Seeing this, Levi was nearly certain—this man was the mastermind.

Back when the wanted notice was issued, Levi had deliberately filled it with revolting details, including diseases painful enough to make one’s life a living hell.

The idea was: if he could not kill him, he would disgust him to death.

This robed man now walked with a limp, clutched his waist and face—exactly matching Levi’s fabricated description.

Even tooth decay had been on the list.

Given the medical level of this era… heh…

Seeing him suffer now proved Levi’s scheme had worked.

Truly, one reaps what one sows.

Levi sneered inwardly, then activated 【Soul Sight】.

In an instant, the surroundings turned black and white.

That did not matter—the key was that Levi saw a black thread fly from the ashes he carried on his chest, linking directly to that man’s soul.

Yes, as expected.

This man was the one who killed Madam Durex.

Levi withdrew his gaze, eyes darkening.

He had kept part of Madam Durex’s ashes in a cigarette case, opening 【Soul Sight】 whenever suspects appeared.

Now, at last, the culprit was found!

In other words, the murderer of Madam Durex and the one who had incited Betty were the same person!

This very man before him!

For a moment, Levi’s hand reached for his gun, but in the end he calmed himself.

He watched as the other three torchbearers supported the limping wretch out of the chamber.

Only after their figures disappeared did Levi breathe out and relight the gas lamp.

“Shouldn’t we catch them, Detective?”

Katie clenched her little fists, clearly eager for action.

“Not yet. Even if we did, there’s no way to prove anything.”

If caught red-handed at the crime scene, it would be best.

But in this situation, the four were merely singing around a model—no law in the world forbade that.

Although Levi’s 【Soul Sight】 revealed the connection between Madam Durex and the robed man, and confirmed that he was indeed the elusive Mysterious X, unfortunately Levi had no way to arrest them now.

After all, this was church territory.

As church members, conducting a ritual in the catacombs was not strange at all.

The only suspicious thing was the odd Imperial Bridge model.

But that, too, could not serve as evidence.

“But that man’s voice—I think I know him.”

“Oh? Do you?”

“Mm.”

Katie nodded.

“Bishop Raphael. It should be him.”

“You’re certain?”

“Yes.

His accent is funny.

Every time I hear it, I want to laugh.”

“That doesn’t sound like an Imperial name.”

“Bishop Raphael is Francisian.”

“Oh, I see.”

No wonder Katie laughed at his accent.

Imperial disdain for Francisians was all-encompassing, and accent was one of those aspects.

Given the hatred between the two nations, Katie’s reaction was not strange.

Then—could Bishop Raphael actually be that Professor Franz? In the police file, the latter too had come from abroad… As a bishop, would he need to disguise himself as a professor? If this had been planned from the beginning, then not only was the Holy Lord Church involved, but perhaps even the Francisian Republic.

The deeper he dug, the messier it became.

And still, he had no proof—only speculation.

“What exactly does Bishop Raphael do in the church?”

“I don’t know.”

Katie shook her head.

“I only saw him a few times beside the Archbishop.

His accent was so funny that I remembered him.

But he doesn’t seem to attend regular worship or events.”

“Do you know when he came to the Empire?”

“No… but I can ask. As far as I know, he’s the only Francisian bishop here.”

“Then I’ll trouble you with that.”

“Leave it to me.”

Katie puffed her chest proudly, then turned to look at the model on the altar.

“What about this model?”

“Mm……………”

Faced with her question, Levi fell into thought.

He recalled what the robed men had said: four nodes destroyed already, including two core ones.

He immediately linked those words with his past cases.

The Courtesan Killer, the Vampire, the Haunted House, the Ghost Knight.

His cases matched perfectly.

And in the Haunted House and Ghost Knight cases, the bosses’ foreheads had shown red dots.

Could those be the core nodes?

If so……………

Levi looked at the bridge model before him.

He had an idea.

He opened 【Soul Sight】 again, carefully scanning the model and the surroundings.

Other than the model itself glowing red, nothing else seemed unusual.

But unlike the concentrated red glow he had seen in the Doll and Ghost Knight cases, this one had not yet formed a solid core—just a hazy radiance.

Not enough time? Or insufficient energy?

Levi stepped forward and directly picked up the model.

Then he turned to Katie.

“Do you like this?”

“Mm, I do.”

“Then it’s yours.”

He handed the model to her.

“Take it home and play with it.”

These people looked capable.

Levi was curious to see if they were capable enough to go to Katie’s house and steal it back.

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