Ian moved the painting that had been left in the corner of the room to the study.
It was covered in a cloth, making it difficult to see its overall form, but the artistic style that peeked through seemed close to watercolor.
Perhaps having some authority in art, Holmes produced his pipe, placed it between his teeth, and tilted his head.
["It is quite a high-level painting. The skill is truly remarkable."]
“Really?”
["Yes. One can tell the brushstrokes were made with extreme care. Of course, what is revealed is but an extremely small part, but even this makes inference easy. Ah, and here, an additional layer has been applied with a thin brush."]
Holmes stroked the painting with a gloved hand. Ian left him be and put his gas mask back on. Alisa also took out a mask that covered her entire face. Amelia put on a handmade mask roughly cut from paper.
With this, there was no need to worry about their faces being exposed to the painting and triggering magic. The three people looked at each other, nodded, and slowly removed the cloth covering the painting.
The painting thus revealed was truly a sight to behold.
“Hah.”
Alisa let out a hollow laugh.
“She really is a crazy bitch.”
Ian inwardly agreed with her words.
A canvas about the size of a human torso.
Painted upon it were what appeared to be clergy praying. However, the object of their prayer was not God, but Jesus hanging upside down, his entrails spilling out in streams.
“…….”
From the hole pierced through his side, intestines poured out like water. Jesus’s face was twisted in agony, and large nails were driven into his ankles and wrists. He was not nailed to a cross; instead, he was taxidermied to the wall in the shape of an inverted cross. The crown of thorns, turned upside down on his head, had long since dug into his scalp, soaked in blood.
Wounds that should have killed him long ago. Yet Jesus was still breathing.
Kneeling on either side of him, a young boy and girl devoutly ate the streaming entrails. Paying no heed to their mouths being full, they chewed the flesh with gusto.
The believers watched their display, all offering prayers in the same posture. Clergymen who had shaved their heads cleanly—to the point of having the backs of their heads cleanly opened—stood with hands clasped and heads deeply bowed.
["There is more than one or two part depicting blasphemy."]
Holmes said.
["Had this been discovered in the Vatican, they would have rampaged about calling for a Crusade or whatnot. It's obvious even without looking."]
“Crusade?”
["Just think of it as a war started under the Pope’s leadership. Of course, these days they wouldn't start a war openly, but they wouldn't just let it slide, either. Blasphemy is treated as an extremely serious matter in the Vatican, both in the past and present."]
“For a monster, you sure know a lot.”
["It's basic common sense for a detective. I've had clergymen among my clients."]
Ian left behind Holmes, who was talking nonsense, and stretched out wide. Then he spoke.
“The painting doesn't really matter. Let's prepare the magic.”
The preparations for the tracking magic were quickly finished. It was because it was a type of common magic, not an Outer God's magic, so everyone here knew the structure of the magic. Of course, Holmes was the exception. He just stood there blankly and diligently brought whatever he was told to bring.
Ian pushed the table in the center of the study to the side for a moment and quickly drew a magic circle on the floor. It was quite a large-scale magic circle, one that would take some time to draw alone.
“Ah, I'll help you. I've seen this magic circle before too.”
“I'll help too.”
Fortunately, with Amelia and Alisa's help, they could complete it quickly. Ian roughly wiped the ink off his hands and tossed Irene's painting into the center of the magic circle. He sprinkled salt around it and dropped the blood of a mage neutralized with holy water, one drop at a time, onto the triangles of the magic circle.
The offering was replaced with Holmes's arm. Originally, the organ of a mysterious entity or beast was required, but rather than pointlessly using some leftover item lying around, it was wiser to make use of the monster standing right beside him, so he hurriedly tore off an arm.
["Damned mages……"]
Ignoring the muttering coming from beside him, Ian gently placed the offering on top of the painting, then turned to Amelia and flashed her a bright smile.
“This is the second time I'm demonstrating magic. Watch closely.”
“Yes!”
Amelia nodded vigorously. Ian stroked her light purple hair and placed his hand over the magic circle, moving his lips.
“As blood flows, so shall all its traces be revealed.”
Gurgle……!
Holmes's arm melted into the painting. At the same time, the ether contained within the painting separated and pooled at the top of the magic circle.
Dark crimson ether, with a color close to blood. Ian carefully collected the pooled ether in a transparent glass bottle and sprinkled sugar and pepper over it. Then the ether turned white and changed into something like viscous slime.
“Done.”
The magic was successfully completed. Ian shook the bottle a few times, then opened the stopper and poured it over his wrist. The viscous liquid hardened in less than a second, forming a bracelet.
The bracelet, resembling a wristwatch, rotated a needle along the directions divided into north, south, east, and west instead of telling time. Amelia scurried up beside him and peeked her head in.
“Is this the result of the tracking magic?”
“That's right. It's not universal, and since it has conditions attached, it's not magic that mages use often, but as long as the conditions are met, its performance is more reliable.”
“By conditions, you mean magic where the ether remains intact, or a magic circle, right?”
Amelia continued in a slightly excited voice.
“Mages' magic mostly leaves traces, but it's rare for the ether to remain intact. In most cases, only residue remains.”
Ian nodded.
“That amount of ether isn't enough to activate the tracking magic I just used. You need enough ether to fully activate a spell and still have some left over. Fortunately, Irene's magic is a spell in the form of bestowing a magic circle on an object, so it meets the conditions.”
Ian checked the direction the bracelet was pointing on his phone map and took off his gas mask.
“Southeast Gyeonggi-do. Let's hurry before she gets farther away.”
*
Ian and his party drove without hesitation toward where the tracking magic pointed. A few minutes later, a mountain covered in fog revealed itself before them.
“What the hell……”
Alisa, gripping the steering wheel, frowned and looked up at the mountain.
In fact, a mountain covered in fog was not unusual. On humid days or after rain, thick fog often accumulated. He didn't know about overseas, but at least in Korea, it was more common than one might think.
However, the fact that everywhere else was perfectly fine while only the mountain was covered in fog was clearly a type of anomaly. There wasn't even room for doubt.
“Did something latch onto it? Shin Ian, are you sure the magic is pointing here?”
“……Let's just circle around the outer part of the mountain to verify.”
So they did. The party rode in the car Alisa was driving, slowly circling the dark road. But no matter which direction they went, the compass only kept pointing at the mountain.
“This is the place. Stop the car.”
Verification was complete. Ian commanded with a cigarette in his mouth, and Alisa stopped the car at the mountain's entrance.
The three people quickly readied themselves, got out of the car, and looked up at the fog-shrouded mountain. Holmes scratched his head with his hand and fiddled with the shutter button.
["……It's dark. Even if I continuously shine my lens light, I don't think visibility will be very good."]
“At best, around 5 to 10 meters. If you factor in the anxiety of not knowing what might jump out of the fog, it'll probably be even less.”
["Even if something jumps out, wouldn't it just be a mountain beast?"]
“There's no way to know. A monster in the fog. It's a cliché.”
The moment Ian spat that out and lit his cigarette, suddenly, rustling footsteps were heard from the entrance of the foggy mountain.
There were three sets of footsteps in total. They were too regular to be a beast's, and faint sounds of clothes brushing against each other were heard as well.
It was not the sound of leaves rustling in the wind. Not even close.
“…….”
Ian was not the only one who heard it. Holmes tapped his cane with his fingers, and Alisa spat out the cigar she was smoking and pulled out a sawed-off shotgun.
At that moment, three humans walked out through the mountain fog. Among them, an old man at the forefront spat out in awkward Korean pronunciation.
“I do not know why you have come to the mountain at this late hour, but this place is not in good condition right now. For now, I recommend withdrawing for the day.”
“……A priest?”
Alisa muttered.
As she said, the man was draped in loose priest's robes.
It was not cosplay. Wearing special priest's robes made by the Catholic Church, he bowed his head while holding rosary beads in his hand. Then, after confirming Ian and the rest of the party, he slightly furrowed his brow.
“……Oh my. You were not ordinary people. For what reason have those who have immersed their bodies in the mystical come to this place? And accompanied by a monster, at that.”
The priest sharpened his gaze and wrapped the rosary around his fist. Alisa tilted her head crookedly.
“We have no obligation to answer. Why are you coming out of there? Surely you weren't the ones who spread the fog over the mountain?”
“No. We have come to resolve this incident. We are inquisitors dispatched from the Vatican.”
The man firmly grasped his cross. The woman with orange hair standing behind him tilted the halberd in her hand with a nonchalant expression.
“You tell them everything. Senpai, stop talking and let's subdue them first? They reek of foul play at a glance. A mage accompanied by a monster? How is that normal?”
“Shut up, Frederica. Be quiet. We're in the middle of talking.”
The man snapped. The woman called Frederica pouted and whispered to the petite blonde girl standing beside her.
“Geez, senpai talks too much, it's a problem. You think so too, right, Cecilia?”
“…….”
“Cecilia? Ceciliaaa? Heyyyy.”
Frederica grabbed Cecilia's cheeks and shook them this way and that. Cecilia forcefully pushed her away and trotted over to Ian. Frederica, the priest, Alisa, and Holmes were all flustered by the sudden situation.
Ian was not flustered. He looked down at the approaching Cecilia with a bitter smile.
“What are you doing here?”
“……That's what I want to say, Ian.”
Cecilia blinked her eyes and lightly tapped Ian's stomach.
What was there to hide?
For some reason, the Catholic Church's inquisitors had arrived at the scene where Irene was.