Half a month ago, after Lilith was taken to the asylum,
She had already spread her unique network of informants throughout the city.
These small bats are highly stealthy and don’t attract much attention.
Everything recorded in their sight eventually converges on a central entity, then returns to the source.
However, even she… just like the nuns who patrol all night…
Couldn’t find anything unusual about this city.
This, in fact, was the most unusual thing…
After she was taken to the asylum, the vampire committing crimes in the city continued its wicked deeds.
And it came and went without a trace.
Lilith’s eyes had arrived at the scene several times immediately… but all that was left were desiccated corpses.
And Lilith discovered that when Selunia found her… she hadn’t made a mistake.
Because her unique aura remained at the scene…
All along, the perpetrator had been using her aura as a disguise to commit crimes.
Lilith’s eyes turned incredibly cold.
After closing the window, she sat at her desk, legs crossed, deep in thought.
Actually, the fact that it came and went without a trace was also easy to explain.
She and the combat personnel who could only patrol in open areas… had limited vision.
That vampire… simply slipped into an alternate dimension sealed by a certain faction, or a stronghold protected by a powerful barrier.
The forces in this city are complex.
The seals on some anomalous alternate dimensions are maintained and governed by specific factions alone… As long as that vampire obtained the authority to unlock the seal, it could escape into the alternate dimension anytime after committing the crime, then close the seal again.
People from other factions would have no way to pursue it into an alternate dimension not under their jurisdiction.
No faction would allow others to search a stronghold protected by a barrier either.
And there aren’t just hundreds, but at least a thousand strange spaces within the city!
It would be a miracle to find any clues by leaping between those alternate dimensions, which are like mazes.
And unless she forcibly broke through the barriers or seals, she couldn’t send her informants into those places.
Other places weren’t like this monastery.
Here, Lilith almost had full access to the divine barrier.
That’s why she could be so reckless.
As for why… Lilith didn’t quite remember, perhaps there was some backdoor left long ago.
Very troublesome…
If she forcefully broke and tore those seals, it would definitely trigger an alarm and tip off the vampire, letting it know it shouldn’t go out anytime soon.
But fortunately, this confirmed that the accomplice… must be a faction that seals and shelters a large number of alternate dimensions…
The Coven? The Night Watch… or the Royal Palace…
But this brings up another question…
Was the act of harboring the vampire… done by a small number of people within those factions, or by the collective?
If it were the act of a small number of people or individuals, then it would be difficult to directly attack them without sufficient evidence.
There must be enough evidence…
Otherwise, it would lead to those within the collective being protected by the collective…
Easily escalating into a direct armed conflict between several factions.
That would cause far more innocent casualties than the vampire’s stealthy killings.
Perhaps the culprit just wants to see the factions within the city attack each other?
So what is the vampire’s motive for killing?
Indiscriminate killing is impossible.
Do the victims have anything in common?
How did that vampire fake her aura?
Are these incidents related to those fanatical idealists?
So, has any faction colluded with those madmen?
Is it related to the increase in anomalous phenomena that Veil has been investigating in recent years…?
“Tsk, this is too hard on an old lady! And it’s really hard to be a good person! I feel like I have a gun pointed at my head!”
Do good people deserve to have a gun pointed at them?!
Lilith sighed, and with a flick of her hands, a goblet and a bottle of red wine appeared in her grasp.
Actually, for Lilith, simply waiting and seeing was the best option.
Because she didn’t know if her intervention would make the situation worse, causing more casualties.
She wasn’t cut out to be a great detective or a secret investigator.
If she didn’t interfere, there would be no psychological burden.
But interfering, and the changes it might bring, the casualties that might occur, would all become pressure on the one who made the choice.
This had always been her usual style.
She would wait for the mastermind to think they had achieved their goal…
To leap out and cackle with delight, and then she would make a dazzling entrance and tear them apart.
At least in terms of combat… Lilith hadn’t encountered many who could fight her in this world.
Sigh, being so constrained really wasn’t her style.
But for her beloved Saintess, she had to endure for now and play the role of a detective.
The goal this time was to minimize the impact.
Lilith had a hunch that if those fanatics were behind these events,
Then ultimately, everything… would be aimed at the Eastern Church.
Whether it’s public opinion or physical destruction… in this era of global unity against the ideal kingdom, shaking the foundation of the Eastern Church… would be a very bad situation.
And how could her hard-won backyard have problems?!
Just for the sake of the Saintess who was currently supporting her!
Lilith had to strike hard!
And in the worst case… it would just mean she had to kill more people.
But if she could reduce casualties, she wouldn’t choose the most extreme method.
She still had a lot of patience to spare.
She hoped the situation… wouldn’t degenerate to the point where she had to commit a massacre…
These past few nights, the Inquisitor nuns were patrolling outside, along with forces from various factions guarding the church.
However, such high-intensity patrols wouldn’t last long.
Other factions, after confirming the church had no other intentions, would definitely relax their patrols…
Such nighttime vigilance, relying solely on the Inquisition’s manpower, couldn’t comprehensively cover the entire city.
She had to clarify all the circumstances during the time the vampire wasn’t out.
At least find a direction to start with.
Lilith sipped her red wine, the crimson liquid seeming to brew the coming storm of blood and gore in the city.
She carefully flipped through the documents she had obtained from Seraphiel.
After a long time…
She suddenly thought of something.
Many local students in the academy included children of powerful figures from various factions within the city.
Why not just use her best method then!
By building connections with those students! And then having them introduce her to the internal workings of the various factions!
Investigating this way! It would be much more efficient than the two sides communicating and signing search agreements!
Now she was a student! Who would be wary of a seemingly kind and innocent girl like her?
Once she infiltrated the enemy’s ranks! Wouldn’t she be able to see whatever she wanted?!
It was like seeing the light after the clouds parted!
From shallow to deep!
Lilith felt like a genius!
That’s more like it! This wasn’t some mystery-solving film set!
Hmm! Time to check the student archives for types she liked!
“Hahahahahaha!”
Oh! Right, she almost forgot to tidy up the room first.
Otherwise, when Selunia returned and saw no changes, she’d probably start nagging again.
“…”
Selunia, wearing a nightgown, stood blankly at her bedroom door.
A water droplet dripped from her not-yet-dry black hair, falling onto the floor…
She looked down at the ground.
From the gap under the door frame, an ethereal pink glow emanated.
Her room’s light…
It should be warm white, right…
Looking at that ambiguously pink light, Selunia suddenly felt a little afraid to open the door.
Her once cozy little room… seemed to have completely transformed into a vampire’s lair.
As if once she stepped inside…
There would be no turning back.