Chapter 193: Chapter 114: Familiar Origin, Familiar...
Wei’en looked at Marco and raised an eyebrow. ’So, you went home and told your family?’
’I haven’t had the chance. I was with Lydia last night...’ Marco’s eyes conveyed, followed by a quick glance toward Lydia.
Lydia looked suspiciously at the two of them. "What’s with the silent act?"
Wei’en and Marco shook their heads in unison. "Nothing."
"..."
Captain Lisi slammed her hand on the table and glared at them. "I shouldn’t have to spell out how important this investigation is, should I? This is no time to be messing around. Get serious!"
The group straightened up obediently. "Understood."
"Marco, you and Lydia will stay behind at the Secret Investigation Department."
"Huh?" Marco’s face fell. He had just been thinking about tagging along to see the City-State Array.
"Lydia isn’t familiar with how the Secret Investigation Department operates yet. You wouldn’t want her to die on her first investigation, would you?"
"I understand, Captain Lisi."
Lydia asked, confused, "First what?"
Marco sighed helplessly and led her back to her desk, preparing to give her a brief explanation about the "first test" new Investigators face.
Ignoring the pair, Lisi briefly explained the situation with the City-State Array. "That Array was built by Klande over a hundred years ago, right after Shetland was founded."
"As I recall, it’s never had any issues. It was even activated during that incident with the out-of-control taboo item. The only reason the higher-ups approved our investigation is that they also want to use this as an opportunity to inspect the Array."
"Inspect?"
Wei’en glanced around before speaking up, a hint of resignation in his voice. "Captain, we’re not familiar with that Array. What kind of inspection are we supposed to conduct?"
Kali was clearly still in a daze, even less familiar with investigative procedures than he was.
And Tina... ’She operates without a concept of ’understanding’ or ’not understanding.’ She just does what she’s told, and if she can’t, she says so outright.’
"We’ll have a specialist assisting us," Lisi said with a mysterious smile. "Our main mission is to determine if someone tampered with the Array as part of this parasite case."
’A specialist...’
Wei’en nodded thoughtfully. ’Is it a Wizard, or some other Extraordinary who specializes in Rune Arrays?’
Lisi didn’t elaborate, instead issuing a stern warning. "The City-State Array is located at the very core of Caster. There is absolutely no room for error."
"So once we get there, I want all of you on high alert. Be meticulous with the investigation. The Council and the Noble Committee will not give us a second chance. Understand?"
"Understood."
"Alright, get ready. Yegor will be here soon to take us there."
After giving out the assignments, Lisi began to check her gear and the various Magic Potions prepared in her case.
Wei’en returned to his seat. He didn’t have much to prepare; he’d already checked all his equipment before leaving the house that morning.
His attention turned to the knowledge of runology in his mind.
’A Rune Array...’
Rune Arrays are an important branch of runology. Their study involves not just individual runes, but also their combinations, the arrangement of nodes and pathways, the fusion of runic effects, and more.
A Rune Array powerful enough to be deployed in a large city-state usually possesses three basic capabilities: detection, offense, and defense.
The main purpose of detection is to monitor for large-scale calamities, such as Bone-Eating Worm infestations or widespread contamination.
The offensive capability, it goes without saying, is a formidable power that can deliver a fatal blow to powerful calamities or aberrations at critical moments.
The detection function alone includes monitoring runes designed to sense Abyssal Creatures, aberrations, and high levels of contamination.
It can almost instantly and accurately pinpoint aberrations that have been transformed by contamination.
This was why Wei’en often saw the City Guard transporting the corpses of aberrations in the morning; they had been discovered by the City-State Array and dealt with by the Extraordinaries on night duty.
If his theory from yesterday was correct, it meant some of the runes in the City-State Array responsible for detecting Abyssal Creatures were either malfunctioning or had been tampered with...
KNOCK. KNOCK KNOCK.
Just then, a knock came at the office door.
Wei’en’s Spirit Perception was already feeding him details about the person on the other side of the door.
’Female. Five-foot-two, roughly 95 pounds. Round face, glasses, short hair. Wearing a long dress... hmm, a rather baggy one.’
’33-23-35... Damn.’
"Come in."
"Captain Lisi, I’m not late, am I?" A girl with glasses peeked her head in.
Wei’en looked her over. Just as his perception had indicated, she had a fantastic figure, but she was dressed very plainly.
She had short brown hair, large eyes, a small nose and mouth, and fair, delicate skin.
"Alicia, your timing is perfect." Lisi stood and invited her to sit nearby. "That bastard Yegor isn’t here yet, so we’ll have to wait a bit."
"Oh, good," Alicia said, patting her chest with a sigh of relief. "I was worried I was going to be late. Lydia, Marco, we meet again."
"Alicia. Long time no see."
’Alicia?’
The name didn’t ring a bell for Wei’en. ’She must be the specialist in Rune Arrays who’s here to assist with the investigation.’
’Judging by her appearance, she doesn’t seem like a Wizard...’
Marco and the others obviously knew Alicia, but judging by their interaction, they weren’t close—just acquaintances who would greet each other in passing.
’Is she a noble, too?’
With that thought, he went back to studying the information on Rune Arrays in his mind, hoping it would be useful during the upcoming investigation.
’At the very, very least... I should be able to understand most of the runes, right?’
"Ready to go?"
Not long after, Yegor pushed the door open and strode in, dressed in the crisp uniform of the Investigation Department’s Director and with a cigar clamped between his teeth.
