Chương 290: Knowledge Of A Dark Pursuer

"Anyway… Do you have any information you can share? Or will you just be mysterious and do mysterious nonsense?" I can share information. I have followed and observed her for a very long time. In my understanding, Mara has a wide array of abilities at her disposal. Binibelle pulled out a notebook and a quill.

"Go on…" First of all, she is some sort of strange hybrid. She can not be accurately classified. She is half spirit, half curse. Both halves are bound to the steel of her body, which makes her a machine as well.

"I see. That explains a lot, though I struggle to imagine how it was possible for her to turn into such a being in the first place when she simply used to be human" I was not present when it happened. Back then, I was merely a wisp, but at the moment of her transformation, I felt a powerful whirlwind that pulled in all nearby spirits into it. The spectres that had been haunting Harvey's Diner were all swallowed within moments.

"Wait, there were ghosts haunting the place? Like… Five ghosts, perhaps?" I never got close enough to count them, but I know what you mean. It is indeed probable that this is how Mara came to have the five spirits of the girls in her possession. Soul snatching is only something she became capable of after her transformation, so this moment was the earliest possible instance of it happening.

"Very interesting, yet it somehow gives no particular credence to either of my theories" Why so obsessed with what happened at this diner? I am held to silence, but I can tell you that it really does not matter. What matters is stopping Mara now. She is nought but a devil who has been allowed to roam free for far too long. Her place is in the embrace of the flames of Hell.

"I am a detective, Mister Dark Spectre. It is my whole shtick to solve mysteries… I now know that the steel monster is Mara Nebulo and that she is linked to the black and white clown, but in my research, I discovered that she was a very peculiar person. I must figure out what she is all about. I must understand her. I need to know what truly drives her, and I feel that understanding what happened at Harvey's Diner is the key to all of this" I assure you, there is nothing worth understanding about her.

She is a monster. She always was a monster. She was born this way, and nothing could have led her down another path. Mara Nebulo is simply not a person who can be understood. She's a creature who happens to have been born human.

"I think you misunderstand, but let's move on… What else do you know, Spectre Boy?" The ghostly entity stayed silent for a few moments, as if wanting to continue his rant about Mara's lack of humanity, but eventually shifted the subject as asked. She very clearly has the ability to not only capture souls, but change them somehow. As you might have noticed back in Aesther. The ghost she unleashed on you was abnormal.

"That's true. Do you think she has many of those?" She potentially has as many wraiths serving her as the number of people she has killed, perhaps even more than that, but more importantly, there are a few spirits for whom she cares for. At least seven of them, I believe. She considers them to be her little sisters, and they are certainly the most powerful ghosts in her arsenal.

The shadowy spirit gave brief descriptions of each of them, quickly making it apparent that amongst those 'little sisters', there were the five lost girls. Curiously enough, by the way they were described, it seemed like they now looked quite a lot older than they had been at the moment of their deaths. Binibelle asked for further clarification about them and eventually got the spectre to mention that they had changed appearance over time.

The first time he had spotted them, they had seemed like rotten corpses, and more importantly, they had only looked different in the sense that it had seemed as though their bodies had been elongated in weird ways. More recently, they not only seemed to no longer be rotten. They could actually seem like living people at a glance, and furthermore, they had indeed changed.

It genuinely seemed like they had grown and aged, resulting in most of them looking like young women now, with only the demon girl still appearing to be a little girl, but it might just be due to her being short. The ghost didn't seem to think that it mattered much, but it actually said a lot, not just about the girls themselves, but about Mara as well.

The manner in which they had progressed clearly showed that they were very closely looked after, that they had been provided with what they needed for their growth and needs, and considering how dramatic the changes were, it had clearly been a big focus. It definitely lent credence to the idea that Mara really cared about these girls. Why else be so thoughtful and refer to them as her younger sisters otherwise?

Somehow, receiving information that was a pretty direct confirmation of past pieces of intel only brought on more questions. Especially since Mara hadn't stopped with just those five, according to the dark wraith, she had taken in two more spirits that she also considered to be her little sisters. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. A little blonde of unknown origins, and apparently a living curse that took the form of a small girl…

Clearly, this was a pattern of behaviour. Despite being supposedly antisocial and a violent person, Mara very obviously had a knack for finding girls that she was willing to protect and nurture. Both things didn't necessarily have to be exclusive, as it could be explained as her having a soft spot, but it was nonetheless odd… Either way, Binibelle kept on listening to what the spirit had to say as he moved on from Mara's ghostly aides to another member of her bizarre troop.

The black and white clown is called Xlown, and instead of being considered a little sister, she is considered by Mara to be a daughter.

"Mmh…" Binibelle didn't make a comment aloud, but her mind was racing. She was starting to think that Mara was actively seeking to create some sort of weird family. Perhaps it was a response to not only losing her parents at a young age, but also no longer being able to interact with her brother? From what the halfling had learned, Mara definitely seemed to place a lot of value on the concept of family, so it didn't appear like a far-fetched idea.

"What about that automaton creature that was with the clown?" I haven't seen it many times, but it seems to have the ability to travel between shadows. I have no idea where it fits exactly, but it appears very subservient toward Mara.

"I see, I see. What do you know about the Nightmare Plague? If she's half curse, is it her innate curse, perhaps?" The spectre shook his head. The 'Nightmare Plague' is a curse, but also not really. The way it manifests within people is quite bizarre, as you surely are aware. The people infected with the Nightmare Plague weren't actively targeted. Mara didn't sling a curse at them specifically.

It is caused either by the presence of another curse that she did cast or simply occurs within people who have experienced negative emotions due to her actions. With the former of these options, it truly makes it act like a real plague from the perspective of a regular person. The spirit marked a pause. More importantly, I believe she has a strong connection to some sort of special system. I have observed her for a long time, and I am certain to have spotted her interacting with invisible things.

Which I suspect were system panels. I believe this special system allows her to modify herself and to acquire odd transformations. That's the only way in which I can explain what I have seen. He began explaining in detail a series of events in which he had seen her grow new parts, how she had suddenly gained a new 'ability' upon her body, and most of all, he explained how she actually had multiple forms she could rotate between on a whim. The talk about forms was especially interesting.

The idea had been inside Binibelle's mind ever since the maid accident and the confirmation that Mara and the Silent Knightess were the same person, but she couldn't be certain whether it was the result of genuine transformations or just a strange ability that allowed her to bend herself into these shapes. Now, she had the confirmation. She could genuinely just completely change what she looked like in the snap of a finger, and even acquire completely new abilities whilst using these forms.

It wasn't at all a mere cosmetic change. It was more akin to a lycanthrope transforming into their bestial form… If they had a whole list of different creatures they could pick from. Binibelle took detailed notes of what the spectre had to say about them. Of course, he couldn't know every detail of these forms, and some of his impressions may be wrong, but it was nonetheless important intel. The halfling also felt like Leton had known about this.

He had known that his sister was in Aesther back then, despite her being solely in her Silent Knightess form at the time, so it seemed likely that he had been aware of her multiple forms, but had chosen not to say anything.

"Say, what do you think of Leton Nebulo?" The spectre tilted his head to the side. I do not care about him.

"No hard feelings or whatever?" I only have a vendetta against Mara Nebulo, no one else. I will drag her to hell, and that's it. If not for my inability to challenge her, I would not wish to pull anyone else into this.

"Alright… Anyway, Mara works as a bodyguard for Leou Palf. Does she know all of this about Mara?" The dark spectre stayed silent and motioned as if he was scratching his neck. It would appear that she now knows everything.

"That pause was weird, Buddy""I stumbled upon a scene I would rather not have encountered, but due to it. I can say that it is quite likely that Leou Palf is completely in on it now""... What scene?" The scene that occurs when two people like each other a lot.

"Oh…" Binibelle rubbed her chin.

"... In which form, though?" Is it truly important?

"You can't just mention this without giving me the details" The ghost stared at Binibelle, and Binibelle stared at the spectre in complete silence for several dozens of seconds, until a few words finally manifested upon the wall behind the wraith. Maid form, but it looked like her human self. Happy?

"Very much so. Anyway, you mentioned that there was a human woman working with her?" Yes, a girl called Mari. She is some sort of mechanist and seems to provide assistance in upgrading the main form. Though I am uncertain how this works in relation to Mara's system. The spectre and halfling exchanged for a while longer. He proved himself to be a valuable ally as he knew far more about Mara than anyone else–Or at least, he was the only one who knew things who was willing to actually share his findings.

As much as he would like to continue watching Mara's every move, he was unable to do so effectively due to how tight the security in Leou's tower was. The walls were actually enchanted, and phasing through them was a lengthy affair.

"Well, how about you help me with proving that Leou, Sahhi, and Mara were all involved in Hullil's death and disappearance? We can strike at her indirectly like this" Sure, but I have no idea who half of these names belong to.

"Then, let me be the one to make the explanations now. Listen carefully…"