About ten minutes later, the door opened from the inside. Courtney looked at the two in surprise, then glanced inside the room, not noticing anything out of place. She asked dubiously,

“The other guards spent much longer…”

“Though I don’t agree with their conclusions, their investigation was thorough.” Selene smiled, casually rubbing her fingers together. “Besides the body, there wasn’t anything unusual, so we didn’t spend much time… I wanted to ask, did he usually paint on the third floor?”

“Usually in the late afternoon or early morning,” Courtney recalled, a complex expression of sweetness and pain appearing on her face, “There’s a large floor-to-ceiling window on the third floor. He liked to sit there, looking at the Loki Mountains, and paint. Ariane and I would prepare breakfast and dinner during that time…”

Selene waited for her to finish her description of the daily routine before nodding.

“We need to go to the third floor.”

“No problem. I hope you can find something,” Courtney sighed and glanced at the two of them, noticing a silver ring with a blood-red gem on Selene’s left pinky finger. It was a striking design.

…Was she wearing that ring before?

She didn’t dwell on it and led the two to the staircase. There was a small, locked door at the top.

Courtney pulled out her key and opened the door, revealing the scene within. The first thing they saw was a large floor-to-ceiling window on the left, almost covering the entire wall. Through the glass, they could see the endless mountains in the distance. A blurry, red tide seemed to be surging at the foot of the mountains, and between them, they could see a faint, enormous silhouette. It belonged to Nymph Fu, a city nestled between the eastern forests and the western coast.

Next to the window were an easel, paints, brushes, and other scattered items Selene didn’t recognize, specific tools belonging to Jose, perhaps unique to artists in the Divine Construct. Next to this “workspace,” to the right, was a simple bed, and a small table with tea and snacks.

Besides these, there was nothing else on the third floor.

Courtney said nothing, as if saddened by the familiar scene. After bringing the two upstairs, she closed the door, staying on the second floor.

Selene shifted her gaze and saw many of Jose’s paintings hanging on the walls. Some of them depicted the Loki Mountains, the Punishing Strait, Nymph Fu, the fog fortress, and the Rhine River, famous landscapes of the Divine Construct. There were also some portraits and religious paintings, including ones of Courtney and Ariane.

She didn’t find any signs of “heresy” in the religious paintings. The symbolic objects and holy signs were all used professionally and correctly, and Jose’s understanding of religious allusions was also evident in his work, giving her a vague feeling of “enlightenment,” a new understanding of things like “rituals” and “prayers.”

…He seemed like a devout believer?

But then why was Jose expelled?

Selene looked at Richter, a clear question in her eyes.

In their brief previous conversation, they had come to the same conclusion—Jose wasn’t actually dead.

A superhuman Grandmaster, whose profession didn’t have direct offensive abilities, but had excellent survival skills, there was no easy way for Jose to kill himself… Dying from a large dose of hallucinogens was even more ridiculous. What kind of drug could kill a superhuman?

Based on this, it could be deduced that Jose must have faked his death for some other purpose. And following this line of reasoning, they could arrive at the conclusion that “Louise discovered something and met with an accident”… She probably also knew Jose, and might have initially thought it was just a coincidence when she saw the name at the station, but after arriving here and seeing the paintings, she would have recognized him.

Jose, who was hiding somewhere—it was unknown where, but he couldn’t have been unaware of the guards at the door—would definitely take measures to prevent this information from spreading after his fake death was discovered.

“So, is Courtney lying?” Selene wondered, feeling a bit irritated. “If Louise had actually left this room, she would have made a scene to attract attention. But if she never left this room, then Courtney’s words don’t match reality…”

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This complicated situation was truly beyond her expectations and capabilities. Though she had just chatted with a Evil god last night, this was completely different. The “Scholar of Sin” was an Old God in the process of reviving. He couldn’t exert his power in the material world and could only act in the dream world. But Jose, though just a mortal, could kill her with a flick of his wrist…

It was like the difference between the richest person in the world and a desperate, immoral criminal. You might feel pressured by the former, but you wouldn’t be too worried… But if you were walking alone at night and ran into a beggar with a bloody dagger, whose clothes were tattered and who had a murderous look in their eyes, you’d run without hesitation.

She didn’t think Jose would try to make a deal with her like the “Scholar of Sin.”

Richter didn’t answer her. He walked over to the paintings and admired the Grandmaster's work, his brow furrowing slightly.

He sniffed the air, then, as if compelled, he leaned forward, wanting to touch the paint, but Selene grabbed his hand and placed a piece of paper she’d picked up from the floor in front of his nose and mouth.

“?”

“Hold your breath,” Selene explained briefly, also looking at the paintings. “The frames aren’t sealed. If you breathe on them, they’ll change color.”

Then she carefully examined the paintings hanging quietly on the walls and gradually fell silent.

Those with some talent in a particular field like to bury their heads and keep moving forward. But when those who have truly honed their skills look up, they not only marvel at their achievements, but also despair at the talent of true masters—a despair that outsiders can’t understand, a despair that can only be grasped after immersing oneself in the field, a despair that is truly insurmountable.

Selene didn’t consider herself a painter, but she’d dabbled in it in both her previous life and this one, enough to recognize and understand the feeling of helplessness and shock… She clearly recognized that she’d probably never reach Jose’s level, not just in skill, but also in artistry.

In other words, if she changed her profession to “Painter,” she’d never become a “Grandmaster.” This intuitive feeling was now firmly imprinted in her mind.

…That being said, she had never had any intention of pursuing the path of art. But if Louise, who was planning to become a “Painter,” saw these paintings, she might give up on her dream…

Selene, after admiring the master's skill, turned her gaze to Richter.

“What did you notice?”

“…A few things,” Richter took a few steps back. “These aren’t ‘Grandmaster’ paintings. They don’t have any superhuman power. But the paint they use… you should recognize it. It’s ‘Heart’s Hue.’”

“The paint that can express the colors of the heart?” Selene was startled. “I heard it’s incredibly rare and expensive. Even second-hand Heart’s Hue can sell for ten gold coins a gram.”

“That’s the problem. How did Jose… expelled, disgraced, and penniless… how did he afford it?” Richter paused for a moment, then gave his conclusion, “Someone’s been helping him, at least for the past year.”

“That’s not really that strange. He was very famous. It’s normal for people to support him… Wait, you’re saying all these paintings were done with Heart’s Hue?” Selene said, then realized something was wrong.

Her gaze swept across all the paintings in the room, big and small. She mentally estimated how much it would cost if they were all done with Heart’s Hue… It was a number she’d only seen in newspapers.

Even a wealthy factory owner in Mittal would go bankrupt trying to afford this, and end up with several times more debt than assets. If it were a high-ranking official, it would take at least ten years to embezzle this kind of money, and it would also risk the attention of the police department. Even the most respected emperors of the Divine Construct, like Emperor Evans of Lanstier or Empress Orantes of Mittal, would need to prepare a formal document to mobilize this kind of sum…

Selene was silent for a few seconds.

“This isn’t even a sum that Jose could have afforded before he was expelled,” Richter continued. “There’s an organization, a huge, incredibly secretive organization, that’s been collecting Heart’s Hue and sending it here through unknown channels…”

A suspicion arose in his mind. He remembered the major incident that had happened half a month ago when he was passing through Nymph Fu—a major smuggling case.

That incident had even involved “vampires,” who had been hidden in the shadows for more than a thousand years… Another organization?

While he was thinking about how these things might be connected, Selene curiously opened a wooden box near the easel. Richter had touched the paintings, and nothing had happened, so a simple wooden box shouldn’t be a problem.

The flimsy wooden planks were lifted, revealing the contents—a mountain range, a river, a lush forest, and a caravan moving along the path.

Selene’s gaze lingered on the contents.

Richter, having come to a conclusion, turned around, intending to share his suspicions and offer a suggestion, but discovered that he was alone in the room.

“…Selene?”

He was silent for a moment, his gaze falling on the wooden planks that had suddenly lost their support, and the box that seemed to have shifted slightly.

...

Courtney, bored, sat on the stairs. A strange creaking sound startled her.

She stood up and turned around, seeing Selene and Richter emerging from the room. Their voices overlapped as they spoke.

“Sorry, we didn’t find anything… We’ll leave it at that for today.”

Courtney blinked, slightly puzzled and disappointed, and walked them to the door, watching as they left with the guard who had been drinking tea on the first floor. She sat down on the sofa, muttering to herself, slightly suspicious,

“Their speech and actions were so synchronized… And… why is that detective’s ring gone?”