Chương 324: Fool You Once...

The giant was felled… Defeating this creature took far less time than finding the many pieces of his body that were scattered in the explosion of the oversized 'Faraday Box'. Binibelle wanted as much of its remains as possible before using her spell and once again trying to obtain true information that the field of disturbance, or rather, the bird of disturbance, wouldn't be able to hide beneath a veil of alternate truth.

She had already obtained valuable hints as to how to solve the mysterious cypher, and she hoped to get enough clues using this possessed automaton's massive body to finally be able to reach an answer that made sense. An answer that would allow her to solve this meaningless case. An answer that would allow her to finally understand what made Mara Maeve Maya Nebulo tick.

"Mara Nebulo… What are you really made of?" Eventually, all of the rogue pieces were gathered. It was unclear if they were truly all here, but no more were being discovered, even with the help of Jupo using his handy spell to view the area from above. Thus, Binibelle began making her preparations. She first drew a circle into the soil, encompassing all of the pieces left behind by the monster.

She then retrieved a variety of items ranging from mana crystals to seemingly miscellaneous items, turning the magic circle into an array. She repeated this action until she was left with what she personally liked to call a 'threefold array'. Then she added another magic circle drawn into the ground. Although many mages treated those like mere starting points for the more powerful array, there was a reason why magic circles of this kind were considered a separate way to use magic.

Arrays were great and powerful, but the materials used to create them meant that most arrays were somewhat unstable. Especially since few mages could pretend to be meticulous enough to claim that there were no slight mistakes in the way they made their arrays. A magic circle, meanwhile, was much more stable, especially when you knew in detail what you were doing. As such, Binibelle liked to stabilise her arrays using a magic circle–It worked like a charm. It was especially needed this time.

While the strength of her spellcasting had pretty much been at its maximum last time, to handle the dire amounts of steel and such the monster had left, she had no choice but to upgrade her methods. Although this all increased the odds of something going wrong or a mistake being made, the halfling couldn't help but feel her heart beating wildly in excitement. If she succeeded…

She might just solve the case today, and it made her feel like she was young again, tackling her first case with investigative spells of dubious effectiveness. Thinking about the past, she realised how much had changed over the years. She used to be a bright-eyed mage eager to prove herself to make the people of her small village proud.

Then she became an expert even monarchs respected, following her uncovering of conspiracies, her clearing the names of unjustly accused people of influence, and dismantling criminal empires by simply using a few spells. It was funny to think about, but she was the one who had ended her own golden era by simply solving everything she could solve.

If large spans of the continent were so safe today, it was because Binibelle had taken apart the underground world and instilled a profound fear in all criminals–How could one feel at ease at any time, when a single spell cast amidst a yawn could be enough to expose all of your misdeeds and reveal your precise location? Indeed, a mere halfling had brutal, ruthless murderers, assassins, and the like trembling like leaves caught in a hurricane.

She might even be the one who could be thanked for many countries suddenly gaining stable rulers. Even tyrants and lazy kings were afraid of her exposing them to their people, and there was nothing that these kinds of rulers feared more than a mob made up of their own subjects… … Nowadays, there wasn't much for her to do, so it was probably why she had latched onto this old mystery that she had never heard of prior to being exposed to it.

Perhaps it was her pride that prevented her from just throwing her hands in the air and giving up, but not only was her desire to know the truth strong, but she truly believed that finding out the truth could somehow give enough insight into who Mara Nebulo truly was to defeat her. Binibelle wasn't much of a fighter, but who knows… Perhaps someone else would be able to use the truth to great effect.

The detective sat down on the ground just outside the edge of the magic circles before activating her spells, lighting the circle and arrays up with a bright, mana-blue light. The glow was so great that Binibelle's allies had to look away from it. The halfling let herself be immersed in the light and soon found herself transported to a familiar place.

"Wait… I have way more mana this time. This isn't my mind?" Previously, she had been trapped between the Mind-All and Mara Nebulo's mind, where she was confronted by the monstrous, somewhat crow-like creature that represented Mara's field of interference. It seemed like the bird was indeed aware all the time, as it had very clearly been preparing a welcoming party for Binibelle.

"It can not be healthy to have a bird's nest inside one's body" Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Binibelle joked, but she felt quite nervous. Turns out that there was more than a single horrific feathered creature to be encountered when dealing with Mara Nebulo. The halfling couldn't help but mutter her shock under her breath as she took a good look at each of these creatures that would fuel the nightmares of many for weeks with just a glance.

It was also clear that they weren't just monsters that were formed as defensive measures… They were living representations of certain things, just like how the bird she had previously met had been the living embodiment of Mara's mysterious innate ability. Anyone with knowledge of energies would be able to tell. A shoebill-looking, abnormally tall bird was actually made of nearly nothing but mind energy. This one was clearly the living embodiment of her mind. Another one looked a lot like a stork.

A stork with too many heads to count, and which was clearly the embodiment of Mara's soul. Then, there was a foul vulture with a beak full of eyes embodying her spirit… There were many more, but whether they represented more niche non-corporeal aspects, unknown ones, or were instead like the one she had encountered previously, and instead represented an ability or something similar… Binibelle couldn't tell.

All that she knew was that there were many of them, and they all took on the form of horrific, distorted, and monstrous birds. Some look more 'normal' than others, but quickly showed that their monstrous aspects were simply better hidden… Whilst others were simply horrors that were hard to comprehend without analysing them intently. Although there were many different kinds of birds, they all had incredibly dark, crow-like feathers.

"We've been waiting for you, Miss Binibelle""I can see that… But is it really necessary to bring all of your friends to deal with little old me? My legs are short, and my build is as adapted for physical activities as an anvil is to swimming""You must not be allowed any further""Don't I just need to throw myself off the edge again?

This is the same scenario as last time, only with more obstacles, and it seems like you are inviting the soul, spirit, and whatever fellows made it so I manifested as a combination of all of these attributes as well, so I don't just have the mana stocked in my mind this time around… Would be really nice if there was a bird representing the body, so that I could have all of my mana""None of us represent the body""... Thanks for telling me, I guess… Come on, is it really necessary to stop me?

I just want to know what happened at this diner! What if Mara did or didn't kill those five girls? Big deal, she turned orphanages into ghost houses and is in the process of giving the most prolific killers in history a run for their money!"

"I assure you, whether or not she killed five girls more than twenty years ago will not change anything. You guys must be acting as her subconscious, right? Then… Why is she so pressed to keep this particular matter a secret? Is she ashamed that she couldn't stop them from being killed? Is she ashamed that she killed them? Does she regret something?"

"You talk too much" The halfling rubbed her temples.

"You guys can't kill me anyway. I have failsafes this time around. Even if you peck me into a pulp, I will be fine, and there are plenty more possessed automatons running around. What if I gathered as many of them as possible and cast my spells then? Would you even be capable of stopping me?" The crow stayed silent, but another bird, one that Binibelle hadn't even noticed, spoke up.

"We wouldn't, but would you be quick enough in this endeavour?" There was no elaboration, but the detective understood that the implication was that something big was going to happen… Or perhaps she was being blatantly deceived, but detecting lies from monster birds that are representations of someone's non-corporeal pieces is quite difficult. She turned to look at the bird that had spoken.

"... A hen?" This one wasn't even standing ready to attack. It was just lying down as if sitting on eggs. It was also one of the birds that seemed perfectly normal beyond the black feathers and large size.

"... Well anyway… I think you guys are the ones that speak too much, frankly. Were you trying to stall me and make me back down on my own? It could have worked, to be honest. If this damned case wasn't so interesting! Unfortunately…" Binibelle mustered the biggest, most annoying smug smile she could muster.

"... I was already expecting tightened security" Several of the birds lunged forth, and one even dived down from above, some sort of hawk that looked like a rotten corpse, but it was too late. Binibelle seemed to phase through the thin ground of the platform and fell into the void. Several of the birds tried to catch up to her, including an absolutely massive one, but as fast as some of them may be, the halfling had too much head start, and she was soon transported into a room.

Binibelle wiped the sweat off her forehead and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thank the gods it actually worked…" Well before entering and being greeted by the cabal of feathered atrocities, Binibelle had hidden a spell inside of her own mind. She hadn't known if it would be carried along or if it would even work as intended once inside, but she had nonetheless done her best to be prepared. The spell wasn't even one she could cast herself. She had had to get help from several other people. Thankfully, Lunovis had actually helped her find said people before he was visited by Gilepre.

Hiding spells in this manner was also quite dangerous. She wasn't feeling it yet, but Binibelle would definitely feel like her mind had been beaten up eventually, and she would need at least two full weeks of rest to recover from the damage, but it was worth it.

"Alright, where is the good stuff? Also, where am I?" The location this time wasn't as obvious, as she had only seen a dilapidated and much emptier version of this place a measly handful of times.

"... Is this Mara Nebulo's bedroom? When did it use to look like this, exactly?" Binibelle wondered for a moment, but shook her head. Although it might not be a clue in itself, getting to take a look around this place might tell her a bit more about Mara.

"Alright, when I was a small gal, where would I hide stuff from my parents?"