Mystery: The Ultimate Tarot

Chapter 44 The People After the War

In a small town in northern Backlund, nestled at the foot of the Balchis Mountains, is a town primarily focused on tourism.

To the west of the town lies the lush forest of the Balchis Mountains... the same forest where Raphael transformed yesterday, except that the town is at the northern end of the forest, far from where the battle took place yesterday.

There are many hotels in the town. In one of the hotel rooms, a young man wearing a silver necklace is fast asleep on the bed.

A woman who looked somewhat frail was writing a letter at her desk.

This is the same sickly woman and her brother Jonathan that Raphael encountered last night.

She thought for a moment before picking up her round-bellied fountain pen and writing on the letter paper:

Dear Father:

Last night, Jonathan and I were hunted down by the "Hedonists." Someone exposed our whereabouts; I suspect it was Old Cohen, the only person from within the organization we've had contact with recently.

If I could, I'd love to hang him with his small intestine.

Fortunately, the forests in western Backlund were quite lively last night, with not only members of the "Hedonistic Faction" but also what seemed to be another group.

The key point is that there is actually a werewolf who can remain completely rational!

Unfortunately, I was too weak at the time to grab him and question or interrogate him in a way that would allow me to remain rational.

However, since he was there, he must be a werewolf living in Backlund, and not a member of the "Hedonists".

"We'll rest for two days and then meet up with Miss Sharon and Mr. Maritch; perhaps they'll know something about this special werewolf..."

As she wrote this, the sickly woman took a sip of red tea and glanced at the forest outside the window.

Her and Jonathan's father is currently the leader of the Temperance faction, and a few days ago their father received a letter from Sharon.

In her letter, Sharon said that with the help of friends, she and Marich severely damaged the power of the Hedonists in Backlund and obtained a "Wraith" item.

Sharon also said she had a way to shatter this trait, which would be perfect for Jonathan and his sister to get promoted, but they would have to work at Backlund for two years.

This Miss Sharon was a student of the former leader of the "Temperance Faction" and was very prestigious within the organization. Jonathan's father should seriously consider her "suggestion".

Moreover, the Jonathan siblings could use the characteristics of that "vengeful spirit" to advance their ranks, which was a tangible benefit. So, the siblings were sent to Backlund to reunite with Sharon.

……

At the edge of the forest, three carriages bearing the "Mechanical Holy Symbol" were slowly making their way back to Backlund along a road strewn with fallen leaves.

This was Zeder, Ikonser, and others in the carriage; overall, everyone was in a rather pleasant mood.

Although several people were injured, they had a considerable haul yesterday, killing three werewolves and wounding a demon.

In the first carriage, Zedd and Ikonser looked rather serious.

After a moment of silence, Zeder spoke up: "That werewolf probably never imagined that his unique anti-divination ability would become the key to finding him... or rather, finding him..."

On the way back, Ikonser used the sealed artifact "Arodes' Mirror" to divine where the seemingly rational werewolf had escaped to.

Unexpectedly, rolling gray mist appeared on the surface of the "magic mirror".

This immediately reminded the two of their previous investigation into the internal strife within the "Rose School," a battle that involved at least two demigods, and they also found traces of a fight between a werewolf and a "living corpse."

When the werewolf was divined, this was the scene of rolling gray mist.

It was precisely to investigate that they came to the forest to hunt, but to their surprise, the forest was so lively last night!

Thinking of this, Zeder glanced at Ikonser, and the two of them gave each other a wry smile.

Because they suddenly discovered that the divination result could only confirm that the werewolf was in Backlund, but could not confirm any information about the werewolf.

……

On a long-distance public carriage bound for Backlund, there was a pale-faced man in his thirties staring gloomily out the window.

Horse-drawn carriages were another common mode of transportation besides trains.

Although slower, this mode of public transport was more flexible in its routes and cheaper in terms of tickets, so it continued to exist even when trains were already widely used.

However, at this moment, there was only this pale-faced man in the carriage.

This was the demon who had chased Raphael. Although he escaped from Ikonser's pursuit, he had been shot twice.

These two bullets were clearly very special; even with the demon's powerful regenerative abilities, the two wounds still hadn't healed.

More than his injuries, he was worried about being punished when he returned to Backlund.

The demon has now basically confirmed that the werewolf who lured it into the trap yesterday is his uncle, the person the "Apostle of Desire" is looking for.

He knew he would get a severe beating when he got back, but he just hoped his uncle wouldn't lock him up in the dungeon and torture him.

If he didn't need to rely on his uncle's connections to continue his career advancement, he would have left Backlund long ago and ventured out on his own.

These troubles drove him to a ferocious rage, and he killed everyone riding in the long-distance public carriage.

Upon approaching Backlund, the coachman also met his end and was killed.

……

Deep in the forests of the Balchis Mountains, in a hunter's thatched hut.

At this moment, the hunter, his wife, and their teenage children, all turned into living corpses, stood silently in a corner of the room.

The "living corpse" who fought Raphael yesterday stood in the center of the room, barely daring to breathe.

On the glass lampshade of the only kerosene lamp in the room, there was a man with facial features from the Southern Continent who looked somewhat tired. This was the "vengeful spirit" who had fought with Zeder, the senior butler of "Mechanical Heart," the night before.

He gave a cold laugh and said, "So, you let Jonathan go?"

The "living corpse" was reporting on the battle with Jonathan and Raphael the previous night. When he reported that he was ambushed by a werewolf that seemed to have a mind of its own and was very difficult to deal with, which allowed Jonathan to escape, he was very uneasy, afraid that this "vengeful spirit" would not believe him.

To his surprise, the "vengeful spirit" merely snorted and ordered, "Find the werewolf you mentioned. Search for Jonathan's trail."

"Yes!" The "living corpse" understood after a moment's thought. It seemed that the "vengeful spirit" had also encountered that special werewolf last night.

He guessed correctly; yesterday, the "Wraith" witnessed the werewolf lead a demon into the ambush set by the "Mechanical Heart."

The "vengeful spirit" was also very surprised at the time. He even suspected that the werewolf might have been "possessed" by another "vengeful spirit".