“The first floor is the living room. Your room is to the left of the living room. Over there is the bathroom. Then there’s the kitchen and the dining room…” Selene showed Richter around her detective office. Her house now was much larger than the small apartment in her previous life. The area was more than ten times larger, and she’d paid for it all in one go. Even in her dreams in her previous life, she wouldn’t have dared to be this extravagant.

“… The second floor is where Louise and I sleep. The room closest to the living room is my study. Knock before you enter. I keep files on all my clients in there. If you need anything, you can go look.”

While Selene was showing Richter around, the faint blue light that had been absent since morning slowly floated down from the second floor. It didn’t attempt to hide at all.

“Ah, this is my pet…”

Knowing that this kind of “spirit” was very rare in the Divine Construct, and that most of them were undead, Selene closed her eyes and spoke. She didn’t know how to explain that this little spirit was very gentle, acted more like a cat, had never hurt anyone, and hated potatoes.

But Richter, after seeing it, merely paused for a moment and asked,

“That’s a spirit?”

“I think so?”

“It’s always here?”

“At least it has been since I moved in.”

In a sense, the little spirit had saved her some money. If there were problems in the house that couldn’t be explained physically, then the rent would have to be lowered. Selene had only paid less than fifty gold coins for the house, a real bargain. Though she still owed Louise some money, she’d be able to pay her back soon.

“Okay, that’s fine,” Richter calmly nodded, saying nothing more.

People from Mittal were really different.

Selene hadn’t had much contact with people from Mittal, but she had heard some opinions about them from various adventurers and merchants. They were proud and confident, seemingly not afraid of anyone except the gods. They dared to openly discuss nobles, emperors, and politics. They were incredibly respectful of their Empress…

There were some other stereotypes, like that people from Mittal knew how to repair magical devices. That wasn’t very convincing.

It seems that the things they’re not afraid of also include spirits.

Selene showed Richter around, letting him familiarize himself with the workspace, and casually probed him about his purposes, but only received vague answers… He did promise that he wouldn’t cause her trouble.

Cheap promises. This guy clearly had a lot of secrets, but Selene didn’t care, as long as she got paid on time.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

...

Just as the newcomer was getting familiar with his workspace, it was noon. Selene and Louise, both hungry, were discussing whether or not to go out to find a restaurant, when they heard another knock on the door.

Selene, her expression a mix of annoyance and weariness, braced herself for her third visitor.

It was that familiar middle-aged guard.

“….?” Selene looked up and down at the middle-aged man in his uniform, hesitantly saying, “I don’t think you’re married. Did you also come to me to find out about cheating?"

“…”

The guard was silent for a second. He didn’t know why this woman thought anyone who came to her door was here for that. He didn’t bother thinking about it and glanced at the two strangers.

“The station manager has found some information and wants to talk to you,” he said politely.

Ah, trouble.

Selene rubbed her forehead. Her rewards and fees were still with Duquesne, so she couldn’t refuse. She slowly stood up and went upstairs to change her clothes.

The middle-aged guard chatted with the two downstairs. He was surprised to learn that Miss Nitya, who was so stingy that she’d commit crimes just to get a free meal, had actually hired two assistants. That would cost money.

He sighed, commenting that the sun seemed to be rising from the west today, and waited for Selene to change her coat and deerstalker hat. As she came downstairs, she said,

“Does the station provide meals?”

...

“Could you please swallow what’s in your mouth before you speak… Damn it, can’t you be a little more ladylike?”

Duquesne looked at Selene with a headache. She was sitting in front of his desk, gobbling down some beef in soy sauce like a starving ghost.

Behind her, the handsome magician sat upright, listening to him. His gaze was fixed on the documents on the desk. Louise quietly moved her chair a little further away from the desk and elegantly ate some sautéed mushrooms.

Richter quickly scanned the documents on Duquesne’s desk, getting a general understanding of the situation. He pondered for a moment and looked at the list of visitors to the cemetery from the two Church Patrols, saying,

“Lately, the number of visitors to the cemetery has increased significantly, but the number of deaths hasn’t changed. The death dates over the years haven’t coincided with the autumn and winter seasons. So this increase in visitors is a bit suspicious.”

Duquesne was a little surprised, but not entirely.

He glanced at Selene, who was burying her head in her food. He knew that although she was a detective, she wasn’t particularly good at deduction. Most of her successful infidelity cases were completed by brute force and superhuman abilities. Even then, she still got caught sometimes, so…

Duquesne immediately began discussing this with Richter.

“Yes. The two churches’ management personnel searched the crime scene and the cemetery records after the cemetery attack. They found these noteworthy anomalies. The crime scene investigation was completed thanks to the cooperation of the graveyard keeper…

“The results were shocking and puzzling—six hundred tombs and graves had been marked. The dates ranged from a year ago to half a month ago, seemingly without any pattern. Damage was also found on the fence near the Loki Mountains. The alarm and defensive formations hadn’t been triggered…

“Some of the intact bodies were dug up by the graveyard keeper, and they showed varying signs of undead transformation, such as unnatural magical energy accumulating, or changes in the body’s posture…”

As Duquesne spoke, Richter’s expression shifted repeatedly, finally frowning.

“Forgive me for being blunt, but for the cemetery anomaly to have reached this stage before being discovered, the graveyard keeper and the Church Patrol are seriously derelict in their duties.”

“That’s the problem, Mr. Assistant.” Duquesne sighed and chuckled wryly. “As you can see, the records are very thorough. The Church Patrol and the graveyard keeper did their jobs. The priests from the main cathedral also investigated them, and found no traitors… But these things appeared anyway, bypassing all the cemetery’s security measures.

“We discovered this before the problem escalated. That’s all that matters.”