As a matter of fact, the thing that made Rob feel the most awkward in the entire investigation process was the time.
From Hobson to Foreman, to the time when he reappeared not long ago, the interval was as long as sixty-eight years. Considering that the guardian of the secret couldn't leave Siamos, the scope was reduced to a very small one. The number of people who stayed in the school for sixty-eight years could be counted on one hand, but the future supreme magus Your Honor knew very well that with the opponent's cunning, it was impossible for him to leave such an obvious flaw.
And the truth was indeed so. The suspicions of the old people in the school were quickly eliminated one after another, so Rob finally shifted his gaze to another group of very special people.
Students. They were the most mobile group of people in Siamos. If they mingled in the school as a student, they could return to Siamos as long as they changed their identity every time they graduated. Through this method, they could live here forever like an invisible person without leaving any traces.
But this still couldn't explain the problem of time. Although the school didn't have a strict age limit for new students, those who came to register were mostly youngsters. Very few were over twenty, and those above thirty were even rarer. Admittedly, a person could continue to study in the school by constantly changing their identity, but if they entered Siamos as a student after they got older, it would be too conspicuous.
On the other hand, Rob didn't believe that the guardian of the secret would change frequently because it could easily lead to problems in loyalty. At the same time, it could also lead to a situation where several guardians were in the world at the same time. It seemed like an increase in manpower, but in reality, it increased the risk of secrets being leaked.
And what really made Rob suspicious was the black golem. It was a golem with intelligence. Its appearance meant that a magus had already touched the forbidden area. The future supreme magus Your Honor vaguely sensed something from it.
Later, when Rob heard the word 'devil' from Isabelle, the female magus from the Court of Heresy obviously mistook him for someone else when she first saw him. The fear in her eyes didn't seem to be faked, so Rob later went to Saint Repose Church to search for clues related to the devil. Before he left, Father Weald told him another story.
Eight hundred years ago, a monster appeared in the area of Gudilesi. It could disguise itself as a human and live among humans. On weekdays, it was no different from others. It would only show its true appearance after nightfall. It would hook up with young single women in dark and secluded alleys, trick them into coming back to its house, have sex with them, and then kill them before dawn and dig out their hearts for dinner the next day. The residents of Gudilesi gave it a name, the Heart Devourer.
The Dark Night Armed Forces had also paid attention to this monster called the Heart Devourer, but after investigation, they found that it was just a fabricated folk horror legend. In the past ten years, there had been no large-scale disappearance of young women in Gudilesi, and none of the young women who were killed had their hearts dug out. Therefore, the Dark Night Armed Forces did not continue to investigate. However, according to the rules, the people who investigated this matter still recorded the results of the investigation.
Strictly speaking, this was just a rumor. Therefore, when Rob asked Father Weld for the first time, the priest did not remember it. Similar things happened several times a year in Gudilesi. Many of them were monsters made up by adults to scare their children and force them to go home before dinner.
Folk legends like this were usually not made out of nothing. They often had an original version, based on which, after a lot of exaggerated processing and word of mouth, they formed the final version. In the story told by Father Weld, Rob was interested in two points. First, why did the Heart Devourer only kill young women? Second, why did the Heart Devourer dig out their hearts?
The first point was relatively easy to guess. It indirectly reflected that the protagonist in the original version was a man, and probably a young man. The second point was more interesting. The heart had many meanings. In many religions, the heart was considered the source of life. Some cults even believed that eating other people's hearts could prolong one's life.
Coupled with the situation of the little golem, Luo Bu realized that the opponent they encountered this time was likely to be a guy who had obtained immortality through some means.
He finally associated it with the story told by his teacher Donatio because of Isabelle's horrified expression at that time. The female sorcerer came from the Court of Heresy. As a dark institution hidden in the shadows of the temple, it was reasonable to say that she should have seen too many bloody and dark things. It was almost impossible for ordinary monsters to make her so terrified.
Unless she realized that the person she was dealing with this time was the ancestor of sorcerers.
However, it was not easy to investigate about Merlin. No one even remembered his name. He was like a ghost hidden in history, leaving almost no trace except for this school that kept changing its name. On the contrary, he would appear in some folk legends from time to time. Rob collected all the old legends related to Gudilesi in the Library of Raphael, trying to piece together more clues from them.
However, this was not an easy task. In the past 900 years, there were too many folklore in Gudilesi City, and it was even more difficult to distinguish which folklore was related to the other party. In addition, he had to find the connection between these folklore and extract the valuable parts, which was a big project even for Luo Bu.
Therefore, it was not until the freshman competition began that Your Honor, the future Supreme Magus, completed this task. After that, he got further confirmation from Xavier.
"Wait, you said that he is from Roland's era? But how can a human have such a long life? " Luo Luo had a look of disbelief on her face. Even a giant dragon only had a lifespan of 750 years, not to mention that this fellow in front of her didn't look old at all. His bare hands were slender and elegant, definitely not the hands of a nine-hundred-year-old man.
"Why not? The so-called gods are just human beings with eternal life, "Merlin said disapprovingly. Merlin pursed his lips and said disapprovingly. The fact that this fellow could say such arrogant words proved why he was always at the top of the Heresy Trial's Wanted List.
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