The outskirts of Tingen City.
The morning sun was bright, shining on the house with a dark red chimney. The lawn in front of the house appeared lovely and verdant under the sunlight, full of vitality. The window of the bedroom on the second floor was open, and sunlight streamed in, casting a golden glow on the desk by the window. A notebook spread open on the desk was illuminated, its text clearly visible.
The notebook read:
"Sirius Arepis and Hanass Vanster, members of the Aurora Order residing in Tingen City, following the orders of Ms. M, a high-ranking member of the Aurora Order, successfully located a semi-Lunatic young man named Caesar Cardini. He seemed to carry the aura of the True Creator. The two, as commanded, lured and temporarily controlled him and his sister, awaiting further instructions from Ms. M."
"However, Ms. M underestimated Caesar's danger. As Sirius spent day and night with Caesar, the aura on Caesar quickly affected Sirius, who was a Secrets Suppliant. His perception became increasingly distorted, eventually leading to complete madness. He decided to kill Caesar, using him as a blood sacrifice to pray for the True Creator's descent. How Lunatic, but all of this is logical."
"Sirius successfully killed Caesar, but his ritual will fail. He will completely lose control until he is killed by the Nighthawks team that arrives, and Dunn Smith, who leads the team, will be subtly polluted by the out-of-control Sirius."
(The next few lines of text were crossed out. Below them were a few lines written in haste.)
"Incredible! Illogical! Caesar Cardini was not killed by Sirius. On the contrary, he killed the other party and consumed the Beyonder characteristic that precipitated, becoming a Sequence 9 Secrets Suppliant."
"But the situation has not yet reached an irreversible point! The letter Sirius wrote containing Caesar's secret was accidentally burned. Dunn does not know Caesar's danger. The police station has informants from the Aurora Order, and one of them happened to learn about Sirius's death and immediately informed Hanass that very night."
"Cornered, Hanass went all out, deciding to perform a Lunatic blood sacrifice ritual. This was forbidden knowledge previously bestowed by Ms. M as a reward, but due to its extremely low success rate, Hanass had never used it. But tonight, his ritual will fortunately succeed."
"After the ritual succeeded, Hanass went to Blackthorn Security Company according to the information provided by the mole in the police station. He just happened to avoid the Nighthawks team heading to his house because the routes they chose were different, and it was very reasonable that they wouldn't meet."
"Hanass invaded when the Nighthawks' defenses were weakest. He will devour Caesar, creating a huge chaos…"
(Again, large sections of text were scribbled out. Beneath the text, a classical-style quill pen floated above the notebook, writing freely despite not being dipped in ink.)
"That abominable Caesar Cardini! He has survived against all logic once again! The evil god's ravings actually have no effect on him. He carries a deeper secret."
"He is just like that annoying Klein Moretti, constantly disrupting Ince Zangwill's plans…"
Just then, a slightly pale hand grasped the quill pen, and with solemnity, started a new line, writing:
"But it doesn't matter, Ince Zangwill still has many opportunities."
——
The next morning, in the lounge of Blackthorn Security Company.
The rustling sound of things being moved woke Caesar. He sat up and saw his sister Cecilia with her back to him, organizing a tattered suitcase. Outside, in the main hall, there was constant noise, a jumble of voices, and the sounds of furniture being moved.
Oh, right, so much happened last night.
As his consciousness slowly cleared, Caesar recalled yesterday's encounters. Accidental death, transmigration, his sister, cultists, evil gods, and also the Nighthawks, a Lunatic ritual… After Hanass died, his remains slowly precipitated a small black ball. Upon seeing it, Caesar immediately recognized it as the very thing Sirius had forced him to eat—the so-called Secrets Suppliant Sequence Beyonder characteristics . After this, Dunn arranged for him to return to the lounge to sleep while Dunn himself continued to investigate the case.
Speaking of which, I killed two people last night.
Caesar lowered his head, looking at his palms. His palms were fair and slender, completely different from how they looked stained with blood last night.
Hanass 's roar yesterday had injured his nose and ears, but upon waking up, neither place felt uncomfortable, nor was there any more bleeding. This made him a little suspicious of his own physique.
To his surprise, he felt no guilt or discomfort. Was it because the Secrets Suppliant Potion had twisted his perception and made him cold-hearted?
No, Caesar recalled, his original personality was somewhat unpleasant, extremely petty, and vengeful. Besides, there was nothing to be emotional about; the other party was trying to kill him, so their death was purely deserved. Instead of caring about the lives of those Lunatic cultists, it was more important to focus on his convenient sister.
He turned his gaze back to his sister.
Cecilia hadn't noticed Caesar was awake. She was still tidying the suitcase. Inside were a few clean but simple clothes, socks, some scraps of cloth and needles, a few clay bowls, wooden spoons, a small amount of pence coins, a few pills wrapped in paper, and some miscellaneous items... This was all the siblings currently owned.
This suitcase had been left at Sirius's house. Due to the need to preserve the crime scene, it wasn't allowed to be taken at the time. For this, Cecilia had thrown a big tantrum. It was only after Hanass had also been subdued and the incident concluded that Caesar proactively mentioned it to Dunn and retrieved it from the police.
The police officer who came to deliver the suitcase overnight was very displeased because there was nothing valuable inside. He couldn't understand why Cecilia insisted on getting a broken suitcase back immediately and was very annoyed about having to run an errand late at night. He threw down the suitcase and left.
The police couldn't understand, but Caesar could somewhat comprehend his sister's thoughts.
—It was merely the obsession of the poor, after all, this was all their family's possessions. For the poor, perhaps wearing one less piece of clothing or missing a few meals could lead to death. To survive, they had to desperately hold onto everything they possessed.
"It's still here, that's great!"
Caesar heard Cecilia's joyful voice. He looked up and saw her find a small brush from the crevice of the suitcase.
Ah, I think I've seen that before.
Related memories automatically surfaced in his mind, and Caesar remembered. That was a tool his sister used for work.
Ever since their parents died, the siblings had lost their livelihood. The meager pension wasn't enough to support both of them, so young Cecilia had to take on the heavy responsibility of earning money.
But in such an era, there weren't many ways for a frail girl to earn money, especially since Caesar, who often went Lunatic, needed constant care. Finally, Cecilia chose to do outsourced work for a match factory, gluing matchboxes at home every day. Gluing a basket full of matchboxes earned a little over two pence. She could glue about two or three baskets a day, and with the pension, the siblings barely managed to survive for a few years.
So, the former Caesar, whenever he was lucid, would often see such a scene: his sister sitting by his bed, her adorable little face tense, skillfully gluing matchboxes with that small brush. When she discovered Caesar was awake, she would put down what she was doing and flash him a happy smile, bustling about for him.
"Caesar, you're awake!"
Just as Caesar was enveloped by past memories, Cecilia finally noticed he was awake and turned to smile at him.
Caesar saw that brilliant smile, and a feeling of warmth and guilt suddenly surged in his heart. He suddenly understood why the past Caesar could grit his teeth and persevere for so many years in the Lunatic illusions of the evil god—perhaps it was to wake up again and return to reality, to see that lovely miling face waiting for him.