Chapter 564: Chapter 564 Substitute Divination_1
"Divination?" Aiden paused for a moment upon hearing the term, "Hasn’t it already been lost?"
Divination had indeed existed in history but, objectively speaking, it wasn’t a highly efficient form of magic. Only women could use divination, and the chances of successfully invoking it were quite low. Even on the rare occasion of success, it would only yield a very vague image to the caster.
What was worse, in any era, there were far more charlatan fortune-tellers than genuine ones, and due to the inefficiency of divination, slick deceptions often carried more conviction than the real thing.
In Aiden’s understanding of black magic, those knowledgeable in divination had long since vanished.
"It has been lost in the Southern Continent, but there are still people in the Northern Continent who understand divination. My mother learned this art from a true fortune-teller and then she taught it to me," Deborah said.
"But what can you do with divination? If it were capable of pursuing a murderer, it wouldn’t have been lost in the Southern Continent," Aiden said.
"Ordinary divination is useless, but it’s different when combined with the power of authority," Deborah raised a finger, "When he tried to kill me, a dagger was snatched away by me, which can be used as a tool for divination. By using a ’stand-in’ on the subject during divination, one can create the appearance of the person in question."
"Does this actually work?" Aiden was skeptical.
The precondition for the "stand-in" authority to be effective is that the user has sufficient observational information on the intended subject, but even successful divination only yields vague images.
Moreover, as far as Aiden knew, the authority associated with divination was most likely the "Omniscience" power of the "Wisdom" authority.
But Deborah replied with conviction, "I’ve tried it several times already, it works! I’ve successfully predicted the target of the murderer through divination."
Aiden thought for a moment, "Right, that murderer only kills on the night of the full moon."
"He transforms into the appearance of his target and wanders around the city the day before the full moon, until he commits murder the following night," Deborah said, "So as long as I perform the divination at that time..."
"We can know the appearance of the person he plans to kill," Aiden nodded, "But even if we know the appearance, it would be difficult to find his target within two days."
"Yes, even if I know the appearance of the person he wants to murder, I still can’t manage to stop him; it’s happened several times already..." A hint of frustration showed on Deborah’s face, "So, I really do need your help, Mr. Aiden!"
"But I don’t have that extensive an intelligence network to be searching for a person all over the world just like that," Aiden expressed his difficulty, "If it was just limited to this city, I could maybe utilize some connections."
"That’s exactly right, the autonomous state of Silvertown is very likely to be the next hunting ground for that guy. Please take a close look at the cities where the previous incidents took place," Deborah picked up the newspaper clippings to show Aiden.
Aiden glanced at them and understood, "I see, they’re all major cities along the same railway line."
"Exactly, I suspect he’s moving along this route to commit his crimes," Deborah said seriously, "According to the pattern, the next city is either Silvertown or Black Iron City further down the line, with Silvertown being the more likely bet!"
"Knowing the next possible place of crime, we really shouldn’t just sit by and do nothing," Aiden also became serious.
"So, Mr. Aiden, you are agreeing?" Deborah’s eyes lit up.
"I promise you, I’ll try to stop him," Aiden nodded.
"That’s great!" Deborah clapped her hands, "Today is truly a day to celebrate, let’s order a bottle of dinner wine!"
"I don’t like drinking..." Aiden chose to decline, "If we’re to do it, we must do it seriously. The next full moon, we’ll have to wait until the 15th of next month, and there is still a long time to go. We can’t waste this period; we should collect as much relevant information as possible."
"Sorry, I got too excited," Deborah calmed down, a bit embarrassed, and lowered her head, "But other than the divination when he’s preparing to murder, I don’t have many clues to use."
"Does your divination work on him on a regular basis?" Aiden asked.
Deborah shook her head, "No use, the authority of divination can’t make it happen. It seems that I can only create his appearance used at the time when he employs his authority to prepare for a murder."
"In that case, we can only start by examining the cases he’s committed in the Northern Continent. There don’t seem to have been similar cases in the Southern Continent in the past, so it’s unlikely that he’s a fugitive from the Southern Continent who has fled to the frontier," Aiden said.
"He started his crimes in the Northern Continent, but for some reason, he suddenly ran to the Southern Continent," Deborah confirmed, "Maybe it was because he learned about my father’s news in the Northern Continent?"
"Your father is indeed famous, but he shouldn’t be intimidating to that extent," Aiden chuckled.
He didn’t voice his speculation—that instead of the scenario described by Deborah, he thought it more likely that the conspiracy goddess was behind this scheme.
So, dealing with this doppelganger murderer was probably the right direction.
"Can you tell me about his cases in the Northern Continent?" Aiden asked.
"I need to sort through some material," Deborah pondered, "How about I bring it to you the next time we meet?"
"Alright," Aiden smiled wryly, the other party had already started to plan for their next meeting.
"Now, let’s hurry up and eat, we’ve talked so much, the food is getting cold!" Deborah shifted her gaze to the meals on the table.
But Aiden raised his hand, "Miss Deborah, I actually have one more question to ask you."
"Please, go ahead."
"Do you know ’The Fantasist’? The one who adapted Mr. Duboman’s story into a novel," Aiden inquired, "Is he an acquaintance of Mr. Duboman?"
Not long after interacting with Deborah, ’The Fantasist’ somehow mysteriously found out the true identity of "The Watcher" and even sent him a letter. Aiden felt that if this was coincidence, it was too much of a coincidence.
Moreover, the mysterious person assisting Duboman that Abigail mentioned was also of concern to him.
So he decided to directly ask Deborah.
"I haven’t met this person, but I know him..." Deborah recalled as she spoke, "Actually, he isn’t my father’s friend but my mother’s."
"Liv’s friend?" Aiden was astonished.
"Yes, he seems to have corresponded with my mother. As for the material on my father, he got it from her," Deborah nodded.
