It was almost noon. Selene got out of bed, having slept for four hours, as if on schedule. The first thing she noticed when she pulled the covers back was the small blue light at the foot of the bed.

Selene was startled for a moment. Then she cautiously reached out and poked it. Immediately, a feeling of cold and icy chills spread from her fingertip to her entire body, making her shiver.

The blue light lazily shook itself, paying no attention to her.

“Why do I feel like I’m raising a cat?” Selene rubbed her arm, not wanting to pay any more attention to it. The little thing couldn’t get out the door, so it could only wander around the room. It wasn’t like it could cause any trouble, anyway.

In a sense, this soul, which could silently and unobtrusively see into other people’s memories, minds, and emotions, was also a way of defending her home. It was one of the reasons she felt safe at home—if anyone got close, the blue light would definitely let her know first.

Selene went downstairs to the bathroom to wash her face. Once again, she lamented the loss of those valuable mirrors. Then she went back upstairs and began to follow her plan of action.

First, she brought out the ritual materials and began to divine to find the attacker.

“Huh? Almost out? Strange… I remember having plenty left yesterday.” Selene was a little surprised as she shook the “Night dew forming” bottle. Then she flipped through the clay chest, and finally managed to retrieve the weight needed for the ritual.

Well, it’s probably just her memory playing tricks on her. Selene then brought out a sheet of white paper. On it, she quickly drew a circle to represent the shape of the continent of Divine Construction Land. Then she drew the circle, the hexagram, and the square on the floor of the living room. She moved the objects, one by one, into place under the sunlight.

She brought out the blood-stained rock and closed her eyes.

“The founders and the protectors of the world… Please hear my call…

“I want to know, where is the owner of this blood now?”

As the words fell, she saw the boundless, endless dark space again. The four tall towers and ten pointed spires appeared once more before her eyes. They were as magnificent as before, still radiating a radiant glow that no one could turn their gaze away from.

Selene had been here before, not once, not twice. She was already familiar with it. So when she saw this scenery, she began to wait. And, as before, the towers that symbolized the ten deities gave their response.

The ten pointed spires formed a circle. One of them, which looked like an hourglass, also looked like a clock hand or a sword. The spire’s peak released tens of thousands of rays of light, instantly filling her entire field of vision. But this scene, which in Selene’s experience represented the end of the divination, didn’t return her to reality, because another spire, which looked like a scepter and a tree branch, simultaneously emitted light.

A pure, clean light, a warm orange.

The two lights shone at the same time. The two types of light didn’t merge. Instead, it was like they were battling each other in the air.

The two lights each occupied half of the sky, distinct and opposed. A few seconds later, the bright, clean light from the hourglass, clock hand, and sword spire seemed to take a step back and disappeared. The warm orange light enveloped Selene’s eyes.

After a brief moment of daze, she saw her familiar living room once again.

The divination was over. And the answer was… an image that appeared in Selene’s mind.

It was a somewhat cluttered street, with people in commoner clothes occupying the main part of the image. Suddenly, a person wearing a cloak and a nightcap walked by. On the side of the street were shops, one after another, selling dried bread, clothing, meat… The image was incredibly vivid, as if taken directly from the world. Selene could even vaguely smell the scent of the bread and the gamy smell of the meat.

She carefully recalled the details, finally recognizing the image—it was Thel Street in the town… Because the symbol of the Adventurer Guild appeared in the corner of the image, and she was very familiar with that.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Thel Street,” Selene murmured softly.

It was a place of both good and bad. The Adventurer Guild was located there, attracting those “unstable elements,” the adventurers, who often hung around the area. Many restaurants, taverns, and inns also attracted a lot of outsiders who chose to make that their home. Thugs and the underworld also liked to collect protection fees there. As a result, the station had to assign three patrol squads to the area… In short, everyone could find their place there.

Makes sense.

Having gotten a clear answer, she quickly cleaned up the ritual site, then proceeded to the next step—setting up a protective measure before she went out, just in case.

First, she went to the bathroom and filled a basin with water. Then she began to put on makeup in the water.

Although her encounter with the attacker was only a brief half a minute, it was still limited by the darkness of the night, and in theory, it would be impossible to remember someone’s face. But as a superhuman, her eyesight surpassed that of normal humans. The attacker was also a “Shadow Walker,” blessed by the darkness. She absolutely had to assume he remembered her face. So she had to disguise herself.

After applying a brief layer of makeup and incantations, her face was slightly stronger and more rugged than her original appearance. Her skin was a bit darker, and she added a few subtle scars. The color of her eyes had changed from light blue to a very normal brown. Although she was still extraordinary looking, she was less noticeable than before. She could blend into the crowd now.

Selene hesitated for a moment, then cut her long hair, which had always been by her shoulders, into a shorter style. Then she tied the rest of it up into a wolf tail, trying to create a drastic change from her original appearance.

After finishing her disguise, she looked herself over once more. After she was satisfied with her work, she changed into a set of ordinary clothes, making herself look like a relatively short, adult man. She packed her potions, magical materials, and melee daggers in a pouch by her side and opened the door to go out.

...

Just as the image showed, Thel Street was bustling with pedestrians at that time.

It seemed that because the strangely low temperature had a tendency to warm up, the people who didn’t have to work in the fields were finally willing to come out. And long-term restraint will definitely lead to a backlash. So as soon as they went out, they started to wander around the taverns, brothels, and other places of amusement. Thel Street had a good supply of all of those.

—Lanstier Empire outlawed prostitution. But it’s obvious, even if you think about it, that those kinds of things can’t completely disappear.

Previous station managers had attempted to completely outlaw prostitution. Duquesne had also thought about completely cleaning up Schwerdt Town after he came, but he tried several times. One after another, the crime rates actually went up. So he gave up and just left it alone, only setting up the necessary patrols.

Selene was now completely blended into the crowd. Even if the pedestrians noticed her, they just glanced at her and looked away, continuing on their way as if she were just another person. It was a far cry from when she was walking around with her real appearance.

She was quite pleased with herself. She went with the flow of people, stopping every now and then to look at the shop windows and practice bargaining skills with the shopkeepers. But no matter how low the price the shopkeepers finally gave her, she still expressed her dissatisfaction and left.

On the one hand, it was because it wasn’t a good idea to move with all the things she was carrying. On the other hand… she only had a few coins on her and was planning to eat a meal, so she couldn’t afford to buy anything.

She wandered around for a while, not noticing any suspicious characters. So she turned and went into a tavern. In those loud and lively places, there was always a lot of gossip. People from all over town would gather there to discuss the big and small events of their lives. Most of it was meaningless, but there was always a small portion of information that was useful.

The sounds of boisterous calls and low voices reached her ears. Selene found a plain, inconspicuous spot and sat down. She listened carefully to the various sounds in the tavern, not forgetting to look over the patrons who were drinking.

She silently summarized the new information she heard. Most of it she already knew, so she only paid attention to a small fraction.

In this world, there are always ways of getting information that are faster than newspapers.

“The foreign artist from Green street committed suicide. It seems to have been early yesterday morning… He wasn’t in bad shape financially. He hired two maids. They were the first to find the body. The station took over the investigation after that… Tsk, tsk, artists, no matter where in the world they are, artists always have a hard time, eh?”

“The Pope of the Divine Glory Church has announced that Alice, the presumptive Saintess, has received the blessings of the Lord of Glory. She is taking over from the deceased Saintess. She has become the second Saintess in the 300 years of the Divine Glory Church, taking possession of the holy relic, ‘The Long Night is Coming’…”

“A few people are talking quietly about the station. They feel like the atmosphere there is kind of tense… How can the news travel to the commoners so quickly? Duquesne’s work on keeping things confidential doesn’t seem to be very good. But then again, it’s hard to keep this a secret. After all, there’s going to be a large group of ‘temporary observers’ going on patrol in a few days…”

A skinny little girl with clothes that were dirty and stained with mud crept up. She saw that Selene wasn’t drinking wine, and she didn’t have a companion to chat with. She hesitated for a moment before she said,

“Mister… Are you looking to buy some flowers?”