Chapter 571: Chapter 571 Pure Justice_1
Aiden held his teacup and quietly watched as Deborah flipped through the pages. To discuss the content in "The Hound Cavalier" with Deborah, he had specifically brought along several serialized magazines.
"This Daisy character really does feel like me," Deborah said, nodding vigorously, then chuckled, "Mr. Aiden, do you think I should ask the author for a share of the royalties?"
"Is that all you think?" Aiden was taken aback, "You donât feel... that the content of this book overlaps with reality a bit too much? Weâre here investigating this double identity murder case, and in the recent issues of the magazine, the character based on you is investigating the same case, only the partner has changed from the Hound Cavalier to me."
"But the âIllusionistâ is an old acquaintance of my motherâsâheâs always been in touch with my mother for inspiration. My investigation of the double identity murder case must have also been mentioned to him by my mother, right?" Deborah didnât seem to pay much attention.
"The Northern Continent can only communicate with the Southern Continent by sea mail. Think about it, how long would it take for a letter to travel from the Empire to the frontier?" Aiden reminded.
"That..." Deborah understood Aidenâs point and began to ponder, "It would indeed take a considerable amount of time."
"If he drew inspiration from your mother, a round trip for a letter would take at least a month and a half, perhaps even longer. The news should be quite delayed, and that doesnât even include the time needed for writing itself. Even if he were inspired by your experiences, his story should be lagging behind reality. But this magazine has been serializing the plot of âyouâ investigating the double identity murder case with the protagonist long before now, and the story has already reached the mid-point." Aiden took out a magazine and showed Deborah the issue number.
"But the story canât possibly follow reality exactly, like this plot about âDaisy being the witchâs child,â itâs completely unrelated to reality," Deborah said as she reminisced, "Why are you so concerned about the plot of the novel?"
"To be honest, I think this âIllusionistâ might be related to the events weâre experiencing," Aiden said, pointing to the open page, "He might know something about this double identity murder case."
Deborah blinked twice, "Mr. Aiden, that seems a bit far-fetched. I have encountered this case a long time ago, I even sought help from my mother, he would have known about the existence of this case quite early on."
Aiden thought for a moment and suddenly realized that from Deborahâs perspective, his thoughts were indeed far-fetched.
He speculated that the real-world double identity murder case was related to the "Illusionist" based on three points: first, he believed that the goddess of conspiracy was arranging the events, and to him, both this Deborah and the case itself seemed staged. But the specific style of arrangement obviously didnât seem like Melissaâs, but rather that of a scriptwriter.
Second, the Illusionist had just happened to find out the true identity of the "Watcher" not long after Deborah appeared and even made proactive contact.
Third, the mysterious person connected to the Hound Duboman that Abigail had mentioned.
And these were all pieces that Deborah was missing. This reality was actually arranged by someone behind the scenes according to the novelâwithout any other prerequisites, it would be quite far-fetched to consider in such a direction with ordinary thinking.
"Regardless, Iâm still very concerned about how closely the content serialized in this magazine matches reality," Aiden said, "Could you contact your mother and inquire about some intelligence on this âIllusionistâ?"
"I could, but given the distance... As you just said, the time it takes to send a letter from the Southern Continent to the frontier... by the time a reply comes back, we might have already resolved the case," Deborah said.
"Youâre quite confident, arenât you?" Aiden couldnât help but laugh.
"Of course, because this time Iâm working with you," Deborah said, gazing at Aiden with a tender look.
"Having such high expectations of me puts a lot of pressure on me," Aiden said with a wry smile, "But do you think this murderer will definitely strike on the night of the next full moon?"
"Itâs not certain; he doesnât kill every month. However, since coming to the Southern Continent, his frequency of killing has indeed increased," Deborah said, becoming serious again, "I think the chances of him acting are quite high."
"Then letâs reach out to your mother after all. Iâm very interested in this âIllusionist.â Consider it a request from me, okay?" Aiden said.
"Of course, no problem at all. How could I refuse the request of my beloved?" Deborah said, tapping her lips with her finger.
"Thereâs no need to be so formal," Aiden felt a bit overwhelmed by her enthusiasm and steered the conversation back to the case, "Iâve been studying the double identity murder case these past few days."
"Oh? Did you find anything new?" Deborah asked.
"There arenât any particularly striking findings, much the same as what youâve said and whatâs been reported. This serial killer targets young women on the night of the full moon, transforms into their likeness beforehand, and his acts of transforming the corpses into the undead using necromancy actually make no sense, raising the risk of being discovered instead. Judging by his behavior patterns, he is an undisguised hedonistic criminal."
"Exactly, the worst kind. Pure evil, letting such a person live another day is a waste of air," Deborah nodded vigorously, "I really want to catch him as soon as possible."
Aiden could see that Deborah had a strong aversion to this murderer.
"Have you tried divination in these past few days?" Aiden asked.
"I divinate almost daily, but these past few days Iâve basically drawn no results; my appearance doesnât change at all after the divine words," Deborah shook her head.
"His true face has not been known to others, so he doesnât need to use a âsubstituteâ to hide his tracks in daily life," Aiden nodded, "Maybe we really can only find his chosen target before he prepares to kill. If we canât prevent it, another life will be lost."
"That wonât happen. Evil will surely be punished, and justice will prevail!" Deborah declared confidently, puffing out her chest.
"You donât feel embarrassed at all when saying such childlike words?" Aiden was surprised that Deborah could utter such a sentiment without embarrassment.
"Is there anything wrong with that?" Deborah blinked at Aiden, puzzled.
"No, youâre right," Aiden said with a mild smile.
Deborahâs pursuit of justice was pure, akin to a childâs longing for heroic tales, utterly opposite to the pure malevolence of the double identity murderer.
If Deborahâs account of her past was true, what kind of educational methods had the Duboman couple used to cause such a profound transformation in her?