"Since that’s the case, let’s organize the information again."
Faced with Swift’s response .
It was impossible for Ronald to be completely unmoved.
After all, the decision the detective had just made involved facing the danger of the unknown together with himself.
Especially since it pertained to the matter of the original text controller!
Twirling the empty teacup with his fingers, Ronald recalled his previous experiences while also recounting some details he had not mentioned last time.
This time he went into great detail about most things.
His own magical effects, his speculations about Lumiel and the ’butler’s’ identity, as well as the possibility of the warden’s betrayal...
Such information was listed one by one.
He shared the most complete intelligence with Swift, as best as he could.
The detective, for his part, also detailed his prior work during the subsequent discussion.
Indeed, the honorific of Great Detective Swift was not for nothing.
Compared to Ronald’s five days of dead-duty tactics, detective’s mere two days of surveillance had yielded a great deal of information.
— The layout of the rooms in the warden’s manor;
— The location of Lumiel’s residence in the estate;
— And the day-to-day tracking of the guy disguised as a butler, who in fact was the original text controller.
Though not every single detail was extensively probed to the end.
But a general understanding was there nonetheless.
From this, Ronald guessed what Swift might be thinking.
The detective’s heart was probably hotter than he let on.
If he wasn’t inclined to take action,
Then there would be no need for the detective to put so much effort into his surveillance commission.
Ronald even suspected that.
Had he chosen to back down earlier, Swift might have gone on his own to take action and investigate the matter more thoroughly.
Almost a quarter of an hour later, the two had roughly summed it all up.
The information they could surmise was that when Ronald had left Black Mountain, Lumiel too had departed from another direction of Black Mountain.
Unlike Ronald’s group who snuck into the forest to jump on a train.
Lumiel was presumably headed directly towards Berlingrie with a clear purpose, and after about ten days or so, she successfully arrived in this city and also made contact with the warden.
And during the half month following that time point.
Lumiel and the warden managed to persuade another original text controller, bending him to pose as a butler, then to guard Lumiel twenty-four hours a day.
During this period when the two were nearly inseparable, an accident occurred in the ’butler’s’ research of his original text, which ultimately caused the outbreak of divine energy in Berlingrie over a month ago.
Even the movements of the cult magicians were detected by investigators from the Investigation Bureau.
Finally, the bureau initiated an eradication operation, which then triggered a series of events.
At the center of all these events,
Was still that night atop Black Mountain.
At the time, Ronald had obtained the Hell Chapter of the "Divine Comedy."
He could boldly speculate that the Purgatory and the Heavenly Chapters of the "Divine Comedy" were also on Black Mountain at that time.
While he and Arlida were hiding in the garden to heal, Lumiel had met someone Ronald hadn’t seen, then took the other two parts of the original text and killed Thomson before leaving Black Mountain.
After all, Ronald still vaguely remembered.
Listening to the voice in the black fog on Black Mountain, the howling in the wind spoke not only of the sufferings of Hell.
But also of the open lamentations of "Purgatory’s" agony!
Then the interesting part came.
The warden had been active in Berlingrie for some time and could be ruled out.
Then, regarding Lumille and the "servant," is it possible that they each control the Heavenly Chapter and the Purgatory, respectively?
After all sorts of coincidences came together.
The probability of certain events, even if originally small, could still become quite significant.
They would have to face none other than three Book of Origin Controllers!
Just thinking about it was enough to give one a headache.
The two of them discussed up to this point and took a brief pause in their conversation.
A little over a minute later, while pouring more hot tea to refresh themselves, Swift finally spoke up:
"Ronald, what are you thinking now?"
"Like the main direction for our next move."
"Thinking..." Facing Swift’s enquiry, Ronald pondered for a moment before analyzing and stating, "If it’s just the two of us, a pure battle of force is absolutely not advisable."
"But if we rashly go to the Inquiry Office to report the jailer’s issue, that’s equally unrealistic. Not to mention dispatching someone to arrest him; we might even be the first suspects the Inquiry Office doubts."
"As for the Church, given their current attitude, direct contact would also place us in a very dangerous position, indeed making it impossible to request their assistance."
As Swift sipped his tea, he nodded in agreement:
"As it stands, Berlingwich’s only reliable entity is ourselves, yet the two of us alone would find it quite difficult to deal with the jailer’s master."
At this point, the detective set down his teacup and sighed:
"Bach’s accumulated social power is indeed not easy to handle."
"A Book of Origin Controller who’s made quite a name for himself should not have gotten involved in such matters."
Watching Swift’s face filled with regret, Ronald also took a sip of his tea.
Then, he continued along the previous topic:
"We’ll set aside what those big shots might be thinking for now; the main issue is how we should proceed."
"Just the fact that there are two Book of Origin Controllers in the Bach estate makes it incredibly difficult for us to win by force. To really succeed in handling this matter, we must rely on the help of others."
Looking at Ronald, Swift shook his head:
"If we want to bring down the jailer in Berlingwich."
"I must speak frankly, there are only three forces capable of doing this."
"First is the military, which we don’t even need to consider; as civilians, we simply cannot command them."
"The remaining two are the Inquiry Office and the Church."
"We must find a friend who might be willing to help us from these two options."
Hearing this, Ronald shared his thoughts:
"I think the Inquiry Office is more reliable; after all, they have the inherent duty to protect Berlingwich. As long as we can find decisive evidence to ensure that after we report this matter, the Inquiry Office will definitely stand by us."
"They are likely to take action."
"In fact, with the help of the Inquiry Office, the jailer might even become easier to deal with."
"As for the evidence, it can only be in Bach’s estate."
Listening to Ronald’s analysis, Swift nodded and said:
"From what I’ve investigated these past few days, I’ve got to know quite a bit about that manor, and there’s fully no problem with the parts above ground. If there’s any hidden evidence, it must be in the dungeons below the jailer’s house."
At this point, Swift halted, his expression growing somber.
Ronald filled in what he was trying to express.
"However, to get in there."
"It’s just too dangerous."