227 Chasing Pravitatem

Valentine was woken up by the sound of his doorbell ringing. It was a Thursday morning with a cloudy sky, and the bustling street below was already filling the area with its noise. The detective opened his eyes and looked at the clock on the wall; it was seven in the morning, still very early.

"G, wake up!"

He got up and put on a simple t-shirt to cover his torso. After cleaning the dirt off his eyes and tidying his hair up a little, Valentine left his bedroom and entered his office.

After the initial ring, the person behind the door hadn't pressed the doorbell again. It meant that they were a patient individual. Judging from the presence, there were two people waiting for him. Valentine could already guess who they were without even seeing.

Creak...

The wooden door made a loud creak as he pulled it open. Through the gap, he could see the two people that met his expectation.

"Good morning," he greeted shortly.

"Good morning, Mr. Hymes," greeted the woman warmly and politely. It was Agatha van Nostrand.

Agatha was wearing a loose leaf-green dress that fell beautifully on her knees. A thick emerald-colored sweater covered her top and a floral hairpin kept her hair neatly up. She was wearing a pair of brown winter boots that perfected her overall look.

"Good morning, Mr. Hymes," greeted the man politely, but more distantly. It was Johann Bockhorst, the fellow detective who had requested his assistance in tracking down Pravitatem.

Compared to Agatha's dazzling appearance, Johann's was lackluster. The man was just wearing a simple leather jacket and a pair of disheveled denim pants. The shirt that he was wearing had some visible stains on it and his brown boots were all dirty. However, his face was still brimming with intelligence and sharpness.

With his hand, he gestured at the two to enter and wait at his office. He then walked out and knocked on his neighbor's door hard to wake the person up. Since it was the beginning of the mission, it would be stupid not to let Luuk hear the plan as well.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

There was no answer.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

After knocking several times, Valentine's sharp ears finally picked up the sound of faint footsteps from inside the apartment. His neighbor had woken up and was heading towards the door.

Creak...

"Yes?" he said, still half asleep.

Luuk's face looked exhausted; there were visible black circles around his red eyes. His hair was all messy; its curls tangled up against each other. His voice was still cracking and his yawn was wide.

"What happened to you?" asked Valentine, despite already getting an idea of his neighbor's condition.

"Yawn... I couldn't sleep last night because of something," the young man said wearily.

Valentine nodded.

Now it was Luuk's turn to nod. he did so slowly while rubbing his eyes.

"Okay. Just give me a minute,"

After that, the young man closed the door and his footsteps were heard going into his bedroom. Meanwhile, Valentine returned to his office, back to his guests.

"Luuk should be here soon. Now, let's talk about your plan," he said while walking towards his chair.

Johann and Agatha were both sitting on the sofa, so the chair across from him could be reserved for Luuk.

Johann sat up straight and began speaking.

"Just as I told you yesterday, I found traces of Pravitatem," he said seriously.

Before he could continue, Valentine made a gesture for the man to wait a second. Johann nodded and trusted the detective.

"I hereby declare the sounds coming from inside this room a secret!"

A thin yellowish mist descended upon the area, which marked Valentine's Concealment. However, there was something different this time. There were tiny, illusory snakes that slithered about in the mist. He didn't know what effect the snakes brought, so he just let them be.

Once the Concealment was in place, there was no way for people outside the room to eavesdrop on their conversation. The Anti-Divination that had been in place also prevented divinations from afar. With that, The Hymes' Detective Agency had basically been turned into a secure place.

Knock! Knock!

The door was knocked and Luuk entered after that. He still looked exhausted, but at least now his face had been washed clean and his hair was somewhat human-like.

"Good morning, Mr. van der Meer," greeted Agatha, standing up.

Johann smiled but remained seated.

"Good morning, Ms. van Nostrand," Luuk smiled back and then sat at the chair opposite the detective with light blue eyes.

"So, how did you manage to find traces of Pravitatem? The last time I used divination on them, I only got blurry images of seven people," Valentine asked the man seriously.

Johann's expression turned into pride mixed with bitterness and gloom.

"My Fiancée, their last victim, was just a normal human..." his tone was heavy, "But I had her wear an artifact for her own protection. This artifact was broken by her attacker, but one of its fragments managed to latch itself onto the culprit. Maybe as a last resort by the artifact to seek justice for her."

Valentine seemed to have understood what the man implied.

"So you're saying, although Pravitatem can't be divined, this artifact fragment can?"

Johann nodded.

"Yes, although you might not have enough information to go by to do so. As for me, I know everything about it, so my divination works."

The grieving detective opened the briefcase that he had placed next to him on the sofa and took out a small crystal ball the size of his palm. He then looked like he was focusing on the crystal ball and slowly, blood was sucked out of his palms that were in contact with the ball, creating an image that was somewhat clear.

In the bloody image, there was an abandoned house located on a quiet street that looked like Dorpstraat, where the abandoned chapel was. The image then shifted to the basement of the house, where stacks of crates and empty shelves were placed. There was an orange glow under the floor, which might indicate the location of the artifact fragment, but it looked to be very deep underground.

After that, the image disappeared and the crystal ball returned to normal.

"The fragment is buried deep underground, or there is a hidden passage under that house that we can't see," Agatha concluded.

Johann nodded, "That is also what I'm thinking. The Pravitatem killer must be hiding there or has left the fragment there. In any case, we need to check it out. I've divined the danger and it's very dangerous. That's why I need your help."

The detective passed a glance at everyone present in the room.

"What about the underground passage itself? Can't you use divination to find out more about it?" asked Luuk curiously.

The man shook his head, "I've tried, but they've placed a strong Anti-Divination there. It even shattered the previous crystal ball that I created myself."

"So they have a Demise or someone with similar abilities," Valentine concluded.

"Serpents and Death? Then we have to be extra careful. Don't let the enemies even take any part of our body or we'll fall under their curse," Johann added.

The discussion ended, and Valentine and Luuk got ready right away. Valentine put on Graham's trench coat because although it wasn't as comfortable, it contained many more pockets than his favorite leather jacket. He needed those pockets to carry materials that might be useful for the cursing rituals.

He packed his dagger and cane but left the gun holster and bullet pouch behind since his gone had been stolen anyway. Just in case, he also packed the book and placed it inside the pocket in front of his heart. It could at least offer protection even though he didn't plan to use it for its effect; the ritual needed to satisfy the book was too deprived even for him.

Purloin and Gloom's Redress still accompanied him, the latter making his wrist too cold, so he took it off for now. Gemini's mask was also safely stuffed inside one of his pockets along with the supernatural materials.

Once he was ready, the three people left the detective office and waited for Luuk to come out of his apartment. The young medical student came out not long after, wearing a black sweater and a beanie. On his back was his backpack that still looked rather empty.

"Shall we go now?" asked Agatha.

The three men nodded at the same time and walked down the apartment building. They headed towards the black parked motor carriage that belonged to the rich woman and got in. Agatha started driving right away with Dorpstraat as her destination.

Honk! Honk!

She kept on honking to get people out of her way while speeding maniacally. Strangely enough, none of the men inside seemed to be affected by her driving. They all were looking calmly outside the window at the people who were almost hit by Agatha.

Not even five minutes later, they had arrived at their destination. The rich woman pulled over and parked her motor carriage parallel to the street skillfully, after which everyone got out.

"The house should be this way," said Johann.

The man must have divined the exact location of the house beforehand; that was why he knew. The other three followed the detective walking down the quiet street. At a small intersection, they turned left and walked on the cobblestone street several meters before they finally arrived at a residential area.

There were only a couple of people outside on that cloudy morning. They looked at the four strangers curiously for a second, but then returned to minding their own business. Judging from their reaction, it seemed that strangers were common around that part.

"It's this one," said Johann.

He stopped in front of an old, dilapidated house that stuck like an eyesore in that neighborhood. Its second floor was in a much worse condition than its front floor, which looked like it might collapse at any time. The fact that the house was easy to spot made Valentine and the rest more guarded since that meant the people who left it that way might have also left some traps for intruders.

"Do you know any Contractbounds who are good at laying traps?" Valentine asked.

Johann shook his head. His extensive knowledge was more about artifacts and enhanced equipment, not Contractbounds.

"I know that an evolved Demise can place curses on objects, basically making them work like traps. That is all I know, however," Agatha said.

"Then we've got to be extra careful. Don't touch anything inside the house unless we're sure it's safe," Valentine reminded.

The four tried to get around the house, looking for the back entrance. However, there was none and the front door was the only way in. If he were alone, Valentine could climb all the way up the second floor, but Agatha didn't look like the agile type. She appeared to be the brute force type, preferring to destroy her way in.

At least, they could find a secluded alley where they could get ready for the mission. Valentine placed Concealment on all four of their presence, making them unnoticeable. He also concealed the sounds that they were making.

Meanwhile, Agatha was busy preparing her blood weapons, which were flying chakrams. She had prepared pouches of blood inside her purse and used them to create the weapons. It took her almost five minutes to complete her two chakrams, which fell under the Concealment as well as long as they didn't leave her body. The blood chakrams were spinning with her in the middle, protecting her from harm.

Johann was busy summoning his familiar while Agatha was making her weapon. After he was successful, a giant spider burrowed itself out of the cobblestone road, leaving no trace behind as if it had come from a different dimension. The spider was all black and on its back, there was a red marking that looked like a rose. On its body, there was something that looked like armor made out of gemstones that didn't look to be a part of its body. It was standing at least one meter tall and its legs had sharp stingers on each end.

After the familiar came out, Valentine placed Concealment on it as well. After concealing nine things at once, Valentine only had one Concealment left, which he saved for an emergency.

The illusory snakes that he had seen before suddenly intertwined, connecting the mist covering everybody in a strange, chain-like form. After that, everyone was suddenly able to feel the presence of each other again despite not being the caster of the ability. They could also hear Valentine's voice although he had concealed it.

"So that's what the snakes do. Let's see now," he concentrated on the snake connecting Luuk and Agatha and severed it.

The snake separated, making the two of them forget about each other's existence once more because of the mist's memory erasion effect. He then relinked their mists and their memory returned to normal.

"The snakes are linking us together, so we can still see and feel each other. Outsiders shouldn't be able to perceive us, but we can still communicate this way," he said.

After that, Valentine activated his Illusion Substitutes and was now ready.

Luuk was the only one who didn't need to prepare anything. He was only standing there confusedly before the snakes were linked.

"Let's go," he said.

The four of them walked back to the front of the house, thin yellowish mist covering them and concealing their presence. There were chains of illusory snakes linking the four people together.

They stopped in front of the main entrance and Valentine gestured at Luuk to do his thing.

"I hereby declare the door's lock mine!"

His right hand made a swiping motion and something made of metal appeared there. Thanks to his enhanced equipment, The Hand of Lauriere, his Theft ability had basically been upgraded and he no longer needed to chant it, as long as he still had charges left inside the severed hand.

Valentine opened the door slowly and the mist covering him extended to the door, concealing the creaking noise it created. In complete silence, the four people and one giant spider entered the abandoned house carefully.