Chapter Nine: Suspected Transcendence

"Very well, since the direction and timing are both suitable, I shall follow him. If I lose him, I'll just head straight to the church. In any case, I cannot afford to go hungry on the first day in a new world... I shouldn't think like that, or I'll start feeling sorry for myself."

With such "simple" thoughts in mind, Shade gathered his belongings and set off, walking along the low wall by the street to follow the man.

To avoid being discovered—and although the evening fog was thickening throughout the city—Shade dared not follow too closely. He possessed enough self-awareness to know he lacked the skills required for tailing someone.

Thus, it was only natural that ten minutes later, when they turned past the rear wall of a milk delivery company and ducked into an alley, Shade completely lost track of the man.

"Ha! I suppose I should say, 'as expected, I lost him.'"

Standing in the alley, looking around blankly and confirming he had truly lost his target, he shook his head and gave up the search. He did not dwell on the matter; since he had lost the trail, he would simply head off to claim his "relief rations." However—

"Where am I?"

In a completely unfamiliar city, preoccupied with tracking someone while trying not to be spotted, Shade had not kept track of his route. He only knew he was currently in a narrow alley that smelled quite foul.

To his left was the outer wall of the milk delivery company, and to his right, the side wall of a three-story apartment building. Along the walls, besides rusted pipes that snaked in various directions, were layers of filthy words and graffiti, while the base of the walls was littered with garbage and excrement.

Only near the alley entrance were two or three large-caliber, rusted steam pipes piled up, abandoned by some unknown person.

"I'll check the name of the milk delivery company, then find my current location on the map."

Having made up his mind, Shade stopped worrying about the man he had intended to follow.

He turned and retraced his steps, carefully avoiding the unspeakable filth on the ground. As he was about to step out of the alley, he cautiously pulled back, as a squad of officers in police uniforms rushed past on the street in front of him.

The tall, middle-aged man with stubble at the end of the line cast a glance at Shade. Shade met his gaze with an innocent look, and the officer ignored him.

"Did something happen over there?"

Shade stood at the alley entrance, peering toward the direction the police had run. Since he did not know which street this was, he had no way of identifying what lay in that direction.

"None of my business."

He whispered to himself, clutching his notebook as he walked toward the entrance of the milk delivery company. This was not a factory, but merely the administrative office for the delivery department. The courtyard enclosed a small, two-story yellow building, and a rather elderly dog was lying by the gate.

The dog glanced at Shade as he approached, but seeing that he stopped at the gate and did not enter, it lazily stood up and moved to a spot where the setting sun could reach it, lying back down.

The name of the milk delivery company was "Silver Parrot"—a strange name, but it was indeed on the map. The previous detective had even noted that a murder had occurred there three years ago.

The murder, naturally, had nothing to do with Shade. He walked forward while unfolding his map to a quarter of its size, constantly checking to ensure he was heading in the right direction.

There were not many pedestrians on the street, and walking with his head down meant he wouldn't bump into anyone. Before he knew it, amidst the sunset glow and the thick fog, he had followed the pipes—which were venting white steam along the walls—to the end of the street. Ahead lay a five-way intersection. According to the map, taking the road that slanted to the left, which housed a dessert shop, would likely be a shorter route.

However, the intersection was already nearly blocked by a dense crowd. Near the mailbox on the east side was a silverware shop; its sign had been scrubbed clean, but something seemed to have occurred there. The squad of police Shade had seen earlier was maintaining order, preventing people from getting closer.

As he paused to observe, more horse-drawn carriages arrived from behind him and from other streets. Within a few minutes, even more police appeared. There were even a few individuals who looked like scholars from the academy stepping out of carriages, though it was unclear what they were there for.

Shade had not intended to join the crowd; his priority was the relief rations. But because there were so many onlookers, while attempting to pass through the intersection, he was unwittingly pushed to the front of the crowd.

He tried to step back, but the people behind him wouldn't budge. The police at the front kept shouting for the crowd to disperse, insisting there was nothing worth seeing.

Perhaps noticing that Shade, who had been pushed to the front, had no intention of crowding closer, a young officer with a pen in his breast pocket kindly warned him to watch out for pickpockets.

This made Shade nervous, and he instinctively reached for the ten-pence note in his pocket. Confirming it was still there, he caught a glimpse of another squad of armed police escorting three men in plain clothes into the silverware shop.

The tallest of them was exceptionally burly, while the young man in the middle possessed the air of a scholar. The last man looked familiar to Shade—it appeared to be the missionary who had handed him a flyer that afternoon.

"Do the missionaries in this world moonlight as police?"

Thinking of a conclusion he didn't even believe himself, he gripped the coins and pocket watch in his pocket, planning to leave immediately before he was late.

The moment he turned to push his way back, a strange warning resonated within his heart. Before he could understand the reason for this feeling, he heard a sound—

Boom!

The explosion caught everyone by surprise. A sound that nearly tore their eardrums apart erupted, triggering screams among the crowd. Although no flames were visible, the glass storefront of the silverware shop shattered instantly, and the walls seemed to buckle, causing the metal pipes on them to emit a harsh, screeching sound of twisting metal.

Fortunately, the police had not let the crowd gather right at the shop entrance, so despite the panicked shouting, no one was injured.

The crowd dispersed like a floodgate opening. Shade, standing at the front, remained calm and also wanted to leave, but he saw a middle-aged man with brown hair rushing toward the entrance of the silverware shop.

"I'm a reporter! I'm a reporter! What happened here?"

Holding a notebook in one hand and waving his credentials in the other, he rushed toward the scene with more excitement than anyone else, only to be deftly restrained by the young officer.

"Gas pipe explosion, sir. Please stay back."

Shade, hearing this conclusion, did not believe it at all. How could a gas pipe explosion...

Boom!

Another explosion, one that made his heart nearly stop, sounded from within the silverware shop. The shockwave of the air almost possessed enough force to push the people back.

This time, even the glass on the second floor of the silverware shop shattered. The falling shards of glass forced the police maintaining order to retreat temporarily. As Shade backed away, he caught a glimpse through the windows: on the exploded second floor, two figures were fighting amidst a white mist, and one of them seemed to have light emanating from their fist.

The distance was too great, and the fog arriving with the sunset was obscuring his vision, so Shade could not see clearly.

"Is this the supernatural?"

He thought to himself.

[Yes.]

The woman's voice startled Shade, but knowing she would not offer further explanation, he did not ask, instead making a quick exit.

"The three men from earlier were definitely from the church, and this happened right after they entered... As I thought, the churches in this world are likely supernatural powers themselves, and they seem closely tied to the kingdom's order. This greatly increases the chance that the orthodox churches can be trusted. I wonder if I might have the opportunity to use the church's channels..."

Now he had two options. Not only the psychiatrist, but the five churches in the city also offered him a chance to encounter the supernatural and figure out the voice in his head.

"But, why was it such a coincidence that I ran into this?"

He walked along with the dispersing crowd toward his original destination, and the woman's voice in his head repeated the sentence she had said before:

[Observe his ring.]

Though he still did not know who the woman in his head was, Shade at least knew she had no clear malice. He immediately obeyed the voice and looked around—and to his surprise, he saw the young man with the pebble ring and the briefcase walking not far ahead of him.

"What a coincidence... but I know it can't be that simple. Wait, that explosion earlier—could it have been related to him? Why would I have such a thought? I have no evidence."

With this thought, Shade suddenly felt reluctant to follow. If the other person was capable of creating explosions with his bare hands like the two in the silverware shop, following him would be akin to repeating the tragic end of the previous detective.

"No, no."

Shade slowed his pace, wanting to let the man naturally disappear from his field of vision. However, the young man also stopped, took out a map to check it just as Shade had done earlier, and then carried his suitcase into a side alley.

"Follow or not?"

The woman's voice in his head had prompted him about that ring three times; it couldn't just be out of boredom. But Shade, knowing almost nothing about this world, had to maintain necessary caution.

He continued walking according to his original plan. As he passed the mouth of the alley the young man had turned into, he naturally glanced inside and saw the man turn a corner and disappear.

"Follow or not?"

He asked himself again, suddenly realizing that his next decision would affect his life for a long time to come.

"Follow or not?"

He asked the woman in his head, and he heard laughter, followed by a whispered response:

[The path of fate unfolds before you, visitor from afar. Are you content with the ordinary, or do you crave the immortal? The world is like an ocean; do you have the courage to explore the terrors beyond the safe islands? The path of fate unfolds before you: one leads to the supernatural, the other...]

"Follow!"

Shade gritted his teeth and pressed against the wall as he entered the alley.