Chapter 2251: Pseudo-Curse Relic

Chapter 2251: Chapter 2251: Pseudo-Curse Relic

Shard returned to his home in Tobesk City after dinner that day, and shortly after arriving home, he welcomed the doctor who visited him once again.

"The time is set, Sunday morning at eight o’clock, we’ll gather at your place and head to Moon Bay to eliminate that demon."

Shard naturally mentioned to the doctor that the demon had already manifested a clone today, but this was also part of the plan, so Dr. Schneider simply reminded Shard to be careful, having great faith in him.

Today is Friday, and the new Time Key is already usable. But considering the urgency of the demon issue, Shard still plans to delay using the key until Sunday to prevent distractions from handling too many matters at once.

As for the Tobesk address given to him by "Desire," Shard didn’t visit it on Friday night, but instead set off early Saturday morning after breakfast.

The address was in Tomson Alley in the Northern District of Tobesk City. The sides of this alley are all rental apartments leased to outsiders. Of course, the Northern District is a slum, so the outsiders who come to live here are generally not wealthy.

"Number 6, Tomson Alley."

After disembarking from the carriage at the alley entrance, Shard quickly found his destination by counting the door numbers. A three-story rental apartment, if internally divided with wooden panels, could probably be rented to over a dozen families. Shard tried knocking on the downstairs door, only to find it wasn’t closed.

The stairway and corridor inside the house seemed extraordinarily chaotic due to being piled high with various miscellaneous items but also thus had a very lively atmosphere. Shard made his way up to the third floor and found the third door to the left from the staircase entrance. This door was closed, so he politely knocked, and almost next moment, a very familiar voice from inside the door asked:

"Who is it?"

"Hmm? Priest Augustus?"

Shard was shocked, turning to look around to make sure he hadn’t been suddenly spatially shifted elsewhere, only then speaking into the door:

"Detective Shard Hamilton, I’ve been hired to investigate some matters."

The sound of footsteps approached, and standing at the open door was indeed Priest Augustus.

Today the old cleric wasn’t wearing his ritual robe but his casual attire. He was equally surprised by Shard’s presence, inviting him inside, then curiously asking:

"Did you also hear there was an issue here, and came to investigate?"

Shard couldn’t mention "Desire," so he merely nodded vaguely:

"It’s said there is a relic nearby. What’s the current situation?"

"It’s indeed a relic, not very dangerous but quite tricky. The person we’re looking for is not home now, but I can roughly guess where he went, join me and I’ll explain the situation on the way."

Priest Augustus appeared here due to hearing the news from believers visiting the Dawn Chapel. Specifically, the person Shard and Priest Augustus were looking for today was Mr. Vincent Taylor, who lived on the third floor, and was a student who had come from outside to Tobesk City to study.

Starting about two weeks ago, he began displaying some strange behaviors. For example, when reading the newspaper, he would loudly complain that outsiders were encroaching on Tobesk locals’ living space and city benefits. Or, when seeing strangers with Carsonrickian features on the street, he would always spit and then mutter a few complaints.

"Wait, does this sound strange?"

Walking together in the alley, Shard curiously asked:

"Since the border conflict in the Green Lake Region, aren’t such people quite common? Especially in taverns at night, it’s easy to find drunkards claiming to cleanse all foreigners, let alone just being hostile to them. Although Mr. Taylor sounds quite uncivilized, it’s not overly strange, right?"

"Listen to me, this is just his early behavior."

The cleric continued explaining:

"If it were just a couple of complaints or spitting on the street, it would merely be uncivilized, but then Vincent Taylor’s behavior became increasingly vile. First, he started yelling insults at the boys living downstairs, merely believing these kids grown up in the slums would surely become societal pests, likely turning into murderers or thieves and robbers. Then, he pointed fingers at passing girls on the street, thinking that in this cold summer, they were surely engaged in flesh-trade."

If it were just this, although this person clearly has character issues, Mr. Vincent Taylor would at most be viewed as mentally ill and soon sent to the local hospital for treatment. But Priest Augustus learned more from his longtime acquaintance, the landlord of Mr. Vincent Taylor:

"He started speaking with a very inciting tone, originally mild-mannered individuals began agreeing with his peculiar ideas after listening to him. Old Lady Louise told me that Mr. Taylor was not skilled at making speeches, yet he seemed to have gained the ability to read people’s inner thoughts and spread his prejudice through negative statements.

The old lady was a devout believer, who since her youth, went to church every week for worship on time. But even such a person, after hearing Vincent Taylor’s words, started to internally doubt that the church often misappropriates donations to let clerics and priests squander on luxuries."

Priest Augustus shook his head:

"She felt a sense of personal guilt due to these thoughts, and when she came to confess to me, it was the first I’d heard of it."

Shard pondered carefully and understood the meaning Priest Augustus wanted to convey:

"Prejudice and incitement? Has the Church discovered this matter?"

"Not at the moment, since no harmful incidents have occurred as of now. The Circle Sorcerer squads of the Church have more pressing matters to handle. But if this continues, I fear the problem that may erupt will be far more than just injuries."

Priest Augustus led the way ahead as they walked through the tangled alleys of the northern slums of the city. Boys with rolling iron hoops brushed past them, while women sitting at the mouth of the alleys doing laundry chuckled and discussed the strangers’ youthful good looks after they had walked away.

"Detective, I conducted some preliminary investigation before coming here. It’s basically confirmed what it is: the Poet-Level Relic - [Prejudice]."

"Only Poet-Level?"

"Only Poet-Level."

The priest nodded:

"It’s a type of cursed relic, manifesting as an individual spreading their prejudiced thoughts through speech and writing to more people. It’s subtle and hard to detect, but aside from being extremely inciting, it typically doesn’t exhibit any other supernatural powers, therefore, it’s merely Poet-Level. This relic can appear simultaneously in different places, and according to the Church’s statistics, it’s more common in areas with complex social situations, severe class conflicts, or discriminatory regional laws."

The Outlander thought for a moment:

"So... this relic has basically never disappeared from this world?"

"It seems your knowledge and insight level are even more impressive than I thought."

Priest Augustus unexpectedly turned to give him a glance, took a deep breath, and nodded heavily:

"Yes, since records began, [Prejudice] has hardly ever been absent for long periods in material world civilizations. Although it’s just Poet-Level, it’s among the few relics considered to have no possibility of being fully contained."

"Hmm... unless we eradicate all intelligent life?"

"Detective, that’s quite extreme. But you’re correct—the only way to completely eliminate prejudice is to completely eliminate ourselves. I don’t want to admit it, but from what we can see now, that’s the fact."

As for preventing the spread of [Prejudice], it’s actually easy. Once identifying the source of "prejudice" in the area, either persuade the person to abandon their extreme thoughts—which is rather difficult—or eliminate them physically. The second approach sounds much like the "Chain of Malicious Curse Letters" Shard helped Emilia deal with some time ago. When Shard mentioned this separately to Priest Augustus, the priest nodded:

"Prejudice is essentially similar to a curse. This categorization is accurate. But unfortunately, there’s no disenchantment method for prejudice."

Both let out deep sighs, and the priest continued leading the way through the alleys. As they turned a corner at a stack of wooden crates, Shard gradually recognized the familiar scenery:

"Speaking of which, are we heading to Three Cats Inn?"

"No, but close. On the street east of Three Cats Inn, there’s a yard frequently rented by ’Jasmine Opera Troupe’ performing shows the Lower District citizens are fond of—cough, cough, I mean legitimate performances. Do you know the place?"

"Certainly."

Shard nodded, as one of the main sponsors of Jasmine Opera House was Dorothy and Lecia, and Shard had accompanied them there:

"Is that Vincent Taylor from the opera troupe an actor? But isn’t he a student?"

The priest softly explained:

"Poor students from outside always need to find work to cover their expenses. You’ve seen his living conditions—he isn’t wealthy. But let’s agree first, we’ll observe Mr. Taylor’s demeanor later, and if persuasion proves difficult, we’ll find a way to deal with him... After all, we can’t let him keep speaking recklessly in the city."

Shard nodded in agreement.

Though the weekend system of this era is far from complete, Saturday morning is undoubtedly one of the busiest times of the week. You need to buy tickets in advance to watch the play, and when Shard and Priest Augustus entered, many early arrivals were already present.

The open-air stage was lined with rows of benches, half of which were occupied now. Although the performance hadn’t started yet, stage staff were making final arrangements, while the audience chatted and laughed among themselves.