Chapter 34: Teacher

“You know, Mrs. Denise is a very good cook.”

“I really like going to her family’s restaurant.”

“It’s very close to where I live; I don’t need to take a carriage, I can walk there in ten minutes.”

The man in the painting, his oil-painted mouth opening and closing, was sharing anecdotes with his ‘friend’.

Harvey Michelson nodded, his face showing no sign of abnormality, even communicating with this ‘Cursed Object’ about preferences.

“I prefer cream stew, how about you?”

“Cream stew, that’s pretty good too, but I prefer…”

Knock, knock.

A knock at the door interrupted the conversation between the man and the painting.

“Come in.”

“Manager.”

Mullen Reed walked into the room; he wasn’t alone, Hannah Carter, handcuffed, stood beside him.

The baron’s daughter was pale at this moment, her eyes somewhat unfocused—a side effect of being hit by the ‘Slumber’ Occult Artifact, unable to sleep for seventy-two hours, and occasionally hearing hallucinations.

The moment the two entered the room, the talkative figure in the painting fell silent.

Now, it began emitting some incomprehensible syllables, and the room’s temperature seemed to drop a few degrees, giving off a chillingly damp sensation.

“Mullen, you go out first; you’ll take my place later.”

“Understood.”

Mullen led Hannah to the table to sit down and then left the room.

“…I prefer pan-fried lamb chops, served with roasted vegetables, preferably cherry tomatoes.”

Harry returned to normal, resuming his monologue.

Harvey turned around, positioned the portrait, facing it towards Hannah Carter with his back to it.

The man in the painting fell silent again, the colors of his eyes becoming richer, staring unblinkingly at the woman before him.

Harvey sat back down in his chair and opened the record book on the table.

“Hannah Carter.”

“The eldest daughter of Newman Carter, a wealthy merchant in Glenn City.”

“Her father, Newman Carter, is a believer in the Church of Truth’s Lord of All Souls.”

“Her mother, Helena Carter, is a follower of the Church of Harvest and Agriculture.”

“Her elder brother, Brooke Carter, is also a believer of the Church of Truth.”

“The family has no prior criminal record, nor any signs of contact with evil god worship.”

“Hannah Carter, where did you acquire this knowledge, and what is your Covenanter Path?”

Hannah lowered her gaze, and after a long while, she spoke, “My Covenanter Path is ‘Pugilist’.”

“Liar…”

Harry first muttered quietly, then began to repeat it, faster and faster, his voice growing sharper.

“Liar, liar, liar, liar!!!”

Harvey tapped the table with the pen in his hand and said, “Miss Carter, you are currently suspected of involvement in a ritual concerning an evil god, and it has already caused extremely adverse effects. We hope you will cooperate actively with us.”

Hannah suddenly laughed, her tone mocking, “Cooperate with you?”

“If I cooperate with you, will I be acquitted?”

“At least you can die as a person, instead of being treated as experimental material for testing ‘Relics’.”

Just like the portrait behind him, the ability tests and sealing methods of every ‘Relic’ were built upon cold, lifeless bodies, most of whom were wild Covenanters accommodated by the Church.

Harvey’s words were cold and direct.

“…I am an ‘Archaeologist’.”

Seeing that Harry did not interrupt, Harvey continued to ask:

“‘Archaeologist,’ what Sequence are you?”

“Sequence 9. Everything orchestrated in the castle was the covenant ritual required for me to become a ‘Forbidden Scholar’.”

“To make those tainted with desires like impurity, disloyalty, greed, and jealousy die amidst suspicion and betrayal.”

“The more people who die, and the more tragic their deaths, the better the effect of the covenant ritual.”

‘Is the advancement ritual for Sequence 8 that complex?’

Harvey frowned, comparing it to his own ritual when advancing to Sequence 8 ‘Revealer.’

He suppressed the doubt in his heart and continued, “Who provided you with the covenant ritual to become an ‘Archaeologist’ and the advancement ritual for ‘Forbidden Scholar’?”

“My teacher, Rudolph Harrison, provided them.”

Hannah Carter showed no hesitation in selling out her teacher.

In fact, this was very common in Covenanter circles, especially among those who worshipped evil gods.

After all, each advancement involved completing a covenant ritual. Regardless of a person’s initial personality, once they embarked on an evil god’s path, as the covenant rituals became increasingly cruel, bloody, and without bottom lines, a person’s personality and worldview would slowly be reshaped by their actions.

Rudolph Harrison, Harvey recorded the name, and continued to question.

“What kind of person is he, what is his profession, and how did you meet him?”

“Teacher is an old gentleman nearing sixty; I do not know his profession.”

“I met Teacher through an introduction from Rosie Moulton.”

Harvey’s pen paused, and he looked up, confirming, “Rosie Moulton?”

“She introduced you to Rudolph Harrison?”

Mentioning her former close friend, a shadow of gloom, stemming from betrayal, crossed Hannah’s face.

“Rosie Moulton has always been very interested in the occult.”

“Last year, she invited me to an occult gathering hosted by Rudolph Harrison.”

“After witnessing various extraordinary abilities, she introduced me to become the teacher’s student.”

“This time’s plan, from the selection of the sacrificial candidates to leading them into the mirror, was all decided by her; my role was the ‘guidance’ part within the mirror.”

The more Harvey Michelson listened, the more alarmed he became.

‘So, everything before was Rosie Moulton’s acting?’

‘How did she pass the faith examination?’

“Then how do you usually contact Rudolph Harrison, and where does he live?”

Harvey decided that after asking this question, he would immediately notify the Church to arrest Rosie Moulton.

“We don’t have a fixed meeting place.”

“Usually, I contact an intermediary through a token, and then the intermediary conveys the teacher’s letter.”

“A token?”

“Yes.”

Hannah nodded, her handcuffed hand reaching for her neck.

Harvey did not stop her actions; Hannah Carter had already been examined with an identifying ‘Relic’ before being brought into the B2 floor of the Glenn Historical Site Preservation Society.

Other than that bracelet, no other items with extraordinary power were found.

And she herself was also prevented from circulating her spirituality by handcuffs with ‘binding’ capabilities, unable to use Covenanter-related abilities.

“Each time, I would go to a clock shop to repair a pocket watch, and while retrieving the pocket watch, I would also receive a letter left by the teacher.”

Hannah Carter said as she took the hanging token from her neck.

It was a golden pocket watch, common in style, so ordinary that Harvey Michelson was unusually familiar with it.

It was the golden pocket watch he had seen every day for the past few years when he disembarked from the public carriage.

It was the pocket watch that unknown old gentleman had always worn!

Click—

Just like every morning, the pocket watch was opened in front of Harvey.