In the argument between Field Marshall Jurgen and Lieutenant Otto, I remembered that the stolen item was a sigil with a powerful forbidden curse on it. Naturally, the specialty of curses belonged to the Rook series. But, this was not a regular case. It was apparently, as I had second-heard, an import from the Land Beyond Mag Mell, supposedly part of the Mana Of Holy One series.

Some notes were crossed out, and new notes were written over them, like each path of the maze being explored and rounding back to the start. The report outlined the cause of Oulanem’s awakening first, and it always seemed to link back to this cursed sigil incident. The import happened through a concerning method as well, and the mana traces found on it were discreetly found to be similar to Field Marshall Jurgen’s.

That was the obvious link. However, that was not all, not in its entirety whatsoever. Stefan’s report mentioned the exact cause of awakening as being the case of the sigil’s usage. It was puzzling how a mere sigil could lead to identity change, lest one of great power as Oulanem. 

That was enough proof that the spirits alone were not involved.

I seemed to have dozed off, and I was now in a strange dream with surroundings feeling larger than they should be. Frederich sat in front of me, and seemed to talk about the argument in the Eastern House. It was not one from my memory, that was for sure.

“Sir, I do not think the argument happened out of spite. Some rumors suggest that it happened because of the curse. What do you think of it? “

His voice seemed to come from the back, and it took time to let myself become focused on the movements of his lips in sync with his voice.

“Sir?”

Then, he came close to my ears and whispered.

“Can a curse really hold that much power to let one be estranged of their own identity?"

Then, I saw that I was walking down the hallway of the Eastern House, overhearing people’s talk.

“Did you hear? Jurgen apparently took the 1st investigatory unit under his command.”

“Sir?”

I was again sitting in front of Frederich, and pointed my gun at him. Then, I said in a tone I had heard before.

“Why did you betray me?”

I remembered Heinrich’s words in his last moments. While I did conclude before that it was a means for the spirits to test Oulanem, my mind now leaned to the idea that there was part of it that they said out of their own volition.

Now, I realized that both the spirits and the faction loyal to the Heavenly Lord intervened in this case for different reasons. While one tried to save themselves from oppression, the other, after knowing of his awakening, tried to stop his rebellion. Their motives at a first glance seemed unclear due to their simplicity. 

My breathing had grown heavier as the dream continued. I was in a room, and a person lay in front of me although I could only see his silhouette from behind the curtains. I felt a strange nostalgia at this as if this was one of my memories. A repulsive feeling grew onto me. I saw his cursed body as the curtain swayed from the wind.

“It is the devil’s doing.” The words came repeatedly to my mind.

“Why did you betray me, Hermann?”

I woke up. My breath was heavier than usual, and a headache came striking. I remembered now the speciality that Field Marshall Jurgen possessed: the Giestig series.

Now, the cases of psychological interference linked back to Jurgen, albeit Stefan did not conclude that. A smile had come on my face as I was reminded that I had missed the obvious detail which was hinted back when I first met Lieutenant Klaus, and Giestig was casted. The moment Lieutenant Klaus suggested that he was not the cause of it, and pinpointed it to the Halliday’s instead, it was quite clear that Jurgen left hints for me to find it. All the threads of the mystery were right in front of me, yet I failed to see them.

I postponed the remaining contents of the report for later. I could not spare an instant and let Jurgen have his free reign over the lives around me. I selected the members of my unit, submitting it to the Lieutenant. I did not discuss it with him firsthand, and when I mentioned it, he seemed to trust my judgement.

I returned back to each and every member to inform them about their potential assignment. When I met Stefan again, I discussed his line of inquiry with him which led him to the conclusions he made in the report, purely out of wonder and curiosity.

“Sir, the report contained all information that came up during my investigation at the repeated designations in the Eastern house. It was thanks to Lieutenant Klaus for assigning me there.”

Now that he had mentioned the Lieutenant, I could only fathom how he realized that there was an anomaly about the Eastern House. Despite this, I did not understand why he did not tell me about Stefan’s assignment. He also seemed to have realized that I had seen the sight with him holding the gun. The answer to how remained unknown to me.

As the links started to make sense, there were some aspects of the case which still remained a mystery, such as the link to all this to the mansion.

“Look at the hour, sir. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

While he was pouring into the cup, I asked him about the mention of the “mansion of rebellion,” which was there in the report, written on a sticky note.

“I had overheard this from the talks of Field Marshall Jurgen with his fellows, and he seemed to always mention it. I was not able to discern its meaning until later, when he slipped the address.”

There was not much to work from here, except that there might be a clue hidden in the mansion that would point to his motives, or his whereabouts. After the formation of his own investigatory unit, it was deemed ‘dangerous’ by the military due to them delving into forbidden magic, and Jurgen has been missing since. I was not aware of the exact details myself.

“They had apparently been experimenting with some of the original spirit magic. I think they are referred to as primordials.”

Now, it was as if I had read about it before, and I did, in the mansion’s library, where there were mentions of blasphemous rituals. The fact that it was imported, and magic under the name of Niamh was used, started to make some sense. It seemed the answers will truly be revealed after a revisit.