"What exactly did you find?" Ronald asked, staring unflinchingly into the detective’s serious and tense eyes before continuing.
"I’ve told you before, this matter is very dangerous."
"Moreover, I did indeed see Mil’s body on Black Mountain; there’s no doubt about that."
Faced with Ronald’s response, Swift fell silent.
He stood rooted to the spot for several seconds before he finally sighed and shook his head, then turned and led the way upstairs.
"Let’s go upstairs first."
"There’s a spell guard I had someone create in the second-floor living room, to at least prevent eavesdropping. Although I haven’t exposed anything myself, we must still take the necessary precautions."
Nodding in agreement, Ronald followed Swift upstairs.
It was the same living room as before. After they both sat down, Swift poured a cup of hot tea for Ronald and then spoke with some emotion,
"Mil, raised by Bach, might be a summoning, a spell derivative, or even a creature from another world. I can’t determine the exact type, but that ’Mil’ is definitely not human!"
"My school of spell specializes in sensing and human behavior, and in my observations over the last two days, that guy definitely does not exhibit human characteristics."
Hearing Swift’s explanation, Ronald nodded noncommittally.
This was actually within his earlier hypotheses.
After all, the events on Black Mountain had confirmed many things, though as Swift said, now they just didn’t know what Mil was exactly.
Meanwhile, Swift’s explanations continued.
Adjusting his posture on the sofa, Mr. Detective still spoke in a serious and earnest tone:
"In fact, I’ve discovered more than this."
"While I was tailing him these past two days, I sneaked into the warden’s manor and found something even more surprising."
"That Mil, there’s always a man following him, right?"
Swift took a breath to compose himself and then continued,
"That guy who looks like a butler is actually a Primordial Codex holder!"
Ronald’s hand trembled, almost spilling his tea:
"Are you certain about this?"
Honestly, this news was beyond his expectations.
At the gala hosted by the Investigation Bureau, although Ronald knew that the butler was there to guard Mil closely,
he never imagined him to be a Primordial Codex holder!
Had things in Berengridge gotten that severe?
Even for the warden, with his social standing and position, having a Primordial Codex holder as a butler was too absurd.
"I’m absolutely certain he is."
Watching Ronald’s dumbfounded expression, Swift quite understood his astonishment.
After a few seconds, he continued with even more explosive information.
"Actually, that guy is more than a Primordial Codex holder."
"Even that sacred energy surge two months ago in Berengridge, I suspect it’s linked to the Primordial Codex in that man’s hands."
"After all, when I was trailing him, in the fast-dispersing remnants of his magical power, I felt the same type of magical nature as that mysterious event, nearly identical."
It was yet another thing he hadn’t anticipated.
The main culprit causing the mysterious fluctuations in Berenwich turned out to be the original text controller?
— An unimaginable situation.
But at the same time, it also seemed to match what he had encountered recently.
After all, since the warden was a traitor, it made sense that he would harbor a dangerous person in his own home.
After a pause, Ronald spoke again,
"What about the people from the church?"
"They are the two clergymen I mentioned who entered the warden’s home."
Upon hearing this word, Swift’s eyes flickered with a touch of melancholy.
But he quickly suppressed his emotions and continued to explain to Ronald,
"The situation at the church is very peculiar, they’ve shown almost no reaction to what’s happening here as if they’ve already written off the two clergymen."
"To ensure the accuracy of the information, I did some investigation. Those two are indeed officially registered priests, and indeed they haven’t appeared in Berenwich these last few days."
Ronald, wanting to know if Swift had any other thoughts, asked further,
"So what do you think has happened to them now?"
Swift replied immediately,
"They are undoubtedly in the prison warden’s house."
"But as for now, whether they are in the dungeon or in the graveyard, that I’m not quite sure."
After finishing, both fell into a brief silence.
After simultaneously finishing their teas, Swift was the first to break the silence,
"Ronald, what are you thinking now?"
Ronald pointed at himself,
"Yes, your thoughts." Swift nodded affirmatively and then continued, "Are you planning to report this to the Investigation Bureau, or are you planning to pretend it didn’t happen and keep it hidden?"
"From a friend’s perspective, I would advise you to choose the latter."
"This kind of situation, once they emerge from your side, no matter the final outcome, you probably won’t be able to avoid getting yourself into trouble."
"This is a big matter; we shouldn’t get involved."
"This is my advice to you as a detective, and as your employer."
Seeing Swift’s earnest expression, Ronald nodded.
The detective’s advice was undoubtedly given out of good intentions.
From the perspective of a normal person, no matter from which angle, he shouldn’t continue to get involved; leaving immediately was the right choice.
Unfortunately, Ronald still had "Divine Comedy."
He had some very subjective things that he couldn’t let go of in his heart.
So, he didn’t plan to escape.
From his coat pocket, Ronald took out the fee for this job and slowly placed it in front of Swift:
"Then, let’s consider this commission concluded for now."
"I sincerely thank you, Swift."
However, facing Ronald’s action, Swift showed a markedly different reaction.
"This commission can hardly be considered complete."
Pushing the fee back towards Ronald, the detective shook his head:
"We can continue with further investigations."
"This is my suggestion as a detective, to a friend."