Chapter 301

Chapter 274: Seeking Rest

Inside the large venue of the Feiteng Theatre, the performance was still ongoing. Under the host’s transitions, programs alternated in succession—drama, magic, dance, singing… Exciting acts took turns on stage, earning waves of applause from the audience.

While the performances on stage were certainly captivating, the enthusiasm of the spectators in the audience was steadily waning. Applause did not rise to new heights again; this was not because the acts were lacking in appeal, but rather because the theme seemed to have gone off track.

This performance was centered around the renowned dancer Adele, yet aside from the opening and the fourth act where she danced, she had not appeared again. Following the fourth dance, Adele’s presence was absent from the subsequent acts, which left many audience members dissatisfied, particularly those who had come specifically to see her. Whispers of discontent occasionally echoed through the venue.

“Strange… It’s been several programs now… Why hasn’t Miss Adele appeared yet?”

In a front-row seat, Nephnis murmured as she watched the performances on stage, then turned to her companion Dorothy. “Miss Dorothy, it’s been so long since Miss Adele has shown up. Is there something wrong?”

“Something wrong? Maybe… But the performance isn’t over yet. We can wait and see,” Dorothy replied simply, her gaze remaining fixed on the stage, where the performance continued. Observing Dorothy’s distant expression, Nephnis thought to herself.

‘It seems Miss Dorothy is somewhat distracted. Does she also find the current acts uninteresting? I hope Miss Adele returns to the stage soon…’

As Nephnis pondered this, Dorothy’s mind was actually elsewhere, not focused on the stage, but on the backstage living area of the theatre, specifically in Maria’s room. At this moment, she was using Ed’s vision, staring at four letters on the table, which she had just discovered, one of which contained a note regarding the true culprit behind Maria’s m*rder.

‘What method can I use to divine the culprit with the least cost?’

Looking at the four envelopes before her through Ed’s eyes, Dorothy thought about how if she didn’t come up with a suitable divination method and instead tried each letter one by one, it would likely result in a guaranteed loss.

“The lamp” was still a precious resource. Dorothy hadn’t reached a point where she could afford to squander it freely.

‘Perhaps I could divide them into two groups… Perform divination on both, and for the one with issues, I could perform divination again. This way, I could stabilize my usage of divination to address the problem… However, two divinations would still consume at least two points of the ‘lamp.’ Is there a way to use less than that?’

Dorothy considered her first plan, but it would unavoidably consume two points of the “lamp.” She believed she could further reduce that consumption.

‘Let me think again; it seems I can minimize the cost even more if there’s a more suitable method…

‘For instance, could I directly divine ‘which of the senders of these letters harbors ill intent towards Maria’…? No, that would directly involve those individuals and could result in a failed divination due to counter-divination protections.’

Dorothy thought to herself. Under counter-divination protection, any divination target related to the protected object would lead to failure; asking which of the four senders held malicious intent meant targeting the protected culprit, resulting in no outcome.

The reason she could locate the hidden letters earlier with her staff was that the divination target was the letters themselves, not the senders.

‘As long as the divination involves the culprit, the divination will inevitably fail… So… could I reverse the interrogation, divining which letters were not written by the culprit?’

With this line of thought, Dorothy suddenly had an idea.

‘I’ve got it… What if I do this…’

With that thought, she instructed Ed to pick up some paper and a pen from the table; she first guided Ed to write consecutive numbers on the four envelopes, labeling them as 1, 2, 3, and 4. Then she started arranging these numbers on a piece of paper in combinations, three at a time.

Next, Dorothy obtained the combinations: 123, 124, 134, and 234.

Then, she instructed Ed to cut these combinations out from a piece of paper, resulting in four small slips, each containing a three-number combination.

Once the slips were prepared, under Dorothy’s control, Ed crumpled the four slips into small balls and placed them all into a pen holder. He then retrieved a piece of paper with the magical array drawn on it, set the pen holder containing the slips on the array, and placed a coin on top as a cost.

This was all part of the preparation for the divination.

Once everything was ready, Dorothy began the divination, silently reciting the divination phrase in her mind.

‘Among the authors of the four letters labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4, who holds no ill intent towards Maria Dokana is…’

After reciting the phrase, Dorothy commenced controlling Ed to draw a slip. Ed reached into the pen holder and pulled out a small ball of paper; simultaneously, the coin atop the magical array dimmed.

Ed held the drawn slip in his hand and unfolded it into a flat strip. Through Ed’s vision, Dorothy saw the number combination written on the slip: “124.”

According to the divination phrase she had used previously, writers 1, 2, and 4 held no ill intent towards Maria, leaving only the sender of letter number 3 as the one with malicious intent.

Since the divination only activated when targeting the protected object, this divination would remain effective. The phrase focused on identifying the senders who bore no malevolence and did not directly target the protected culprit themselves, thus succeeding. Of course, this method of divination wasn’t universally applicable; the more direct the divination, the better. A complicated procedure might destabilize the ritual and lead to its failure. Fortunately, there were only four letters this time; if there were more letters, increasing combinations might complicate the ritual too much for it to function properly.

Using the method of numbering, arranging combinations, and drawing lots, Dorothy managed to determine three senders who bore no ill intent, confirming that letter number 3’s author was the culprit, and through all this operation, she required only one divination, using up one storage item of “lamp.”

‘Finally, I’ve found you…’

Dorothy had Ed retrieve the envelope she had numbered as 3 from the table, thinking this to herself before she proceeded to open it without hesitation and examine the letter inside.

Through Ed’s sight, after skimming over a pile of affectionate words within the letter, Dorothy focused on the signature, where she found it bore not a real name, but just the letter “B.”

‘No real name used to contact Maria? That’s fine; as long as I have the object in hand, everything can be negotiated.’

Thinking this, Dorothy had Ed gather all the letters signed by B and quickly tidied up the area before leaving Maria’s room.

Emerging from the living area, Dorothy directed Ed to find Adele. When Ed entered Adele’s room after knocking, he found her sitting on the sofa, sipping red wine. Upon seeing Ed, her gaze immediately shifted to him.

“Ah, Mr. Detective, you’re back so soon! From the look on your face, I take it you’ve made some discoveries?”

Adele said to Ed, who nodded in response.

“Yes, quite a good haul. I found the letter from the troublesome patron of Maria…”

With that, Ed walked over to Adele and placed a stack of letters on the coffee table before her. After casually picking one up and inspecting it, Adele addressed Ed.