The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 641: Rope of Descent

Anna returned to the cliff with news of the Ghost Prison.

The Evil Spirit, the warden, the Rope of Descent.

Anna had done the right thing by not immediately trusting a stranger's words. But time was indeed running out.

Lu Li opened the small wooden box containing the Luring Meat. No foul odor escaped it; the contents seemed more like an Anomaly, one that attracted the messenger.

Perhaps because Belfast was now in ruins, the Black Crow took longer than usual to arrive.

"Summon the Trader," Lu Li told the crow.

The entire shelter was reflected in the bird's black eyes. It pecked at the meat and flew out of the cave.

Twenty minutes later, the Trader entered and stood silently before Lu Li, waiting for the transaction to begin.

"Tell me about the warden of the Ghost Prison."

"One thousand investigator points," a low voice rumbled from beneath a tattered brown scarf.The price was higher than he had expected. Was it because this Evil Spirit was a warden?

"We already know a little about the Evil Spirit called the Rope of Descent," Anna said, moving closer to Lu Li. "For instance, we know its true form is a rope."

The Trader fell silent for a moment. "Seven hundred investigator points."

The price was still high, but they wouldn't be able to haggle it down any further. Lu Li nodded. "Please, tell us."

The Trader took off his frayed backpack. Lu Li tilted his head slightly, watching as the figure pulled a rolled parchment from the darkness within.

Had it been lying there all along, or did it only materialize after they agreed to the deal?

The Trader gave Lu Li no time to ponder. He slung the backpack over his shoulder and held out the parchment.

The deal was done. The Trader departed, and Lu Li, taking an Oil Lamp, returned to the table and unrolled the parchment.

[Rope of Descent]

[Ritual: Victims become playthings of fate. Any contrived, illogical, or theatrical events can occur. The victims are like puppets on a stage, mercilessly manipulated.]

[Method of Avoidance: It does not harm humans.]

It reminded Lu Li of the Shadow Puppeteer. The difference was that this spirit, by all appearances, bore no ill will toward humans, which matched the whispers Anna had heard.

But could an Evil Spirit, completely consumed by the In-Between, retain its self-awareness?

The parchment was almost completely covered in writing. What followed was the history of the Rope of Descent.

Miklos Blayvins was the oldest employee of the Rustani Theater.

One could say he had watched the theater's owner, Ofra Rustani, since the day he was born. He saw him learn to walk and talk, master his manners, saw the first fuzz appear on his upper lip, watched him fall in love for the first time, and witnessed his transformation from a youth into a mature man with a family and a business of his own.

Although Ofra Rustani no longer called him "Uncle Miklos" as he had in childhood, he still held a deep respect for the man who had seen him grow up. When a factory owner fired Miklos Blayvins for being too old, Ofra invited him into his own business.

Thus, the Rustani Theater was born, and Miklos Blayvins became its first employee.

Just as a woman becomes a mother with the birth of a child, Miklos Blayvins poured all his love for the Rustani family into the theater. He was too old to perform on stage, but he could watch the actors from the wings, feeling a quiet joy.

He did everything he could for the theater: sweeping the floors, checking the props. Everyone there knew the old man who had dedicated his entire life to both his master and the theater.

They affectionately called him Old Man Miklos.

Miklos Blayvins was especially fond of the "deus ex machina" device—it was his only way to participate in the performances. When the plot reached an impasse, he would pull a lever, activating the mechanism. An actor playing a god would then descend onto the stage, attached to a rope, and resolve the characters' problems.

This brought the old man a deep satisfaction, as if he himself were the one finding the solution.

Although the "deus ex machina" was criticized for its lack of logic and dramatic ingenuity, it didn't stop Old Man Miklos from loving it.

And so, from the Rustani Theater's founding to its golden age and eventual decline, Old Man Miklos accompanied Ofra Rustani, the theater, and his "deus ex machina."

He himself was also aging: his back stooped, his face became lined with wrinkles, his hair turned gray. The lever that had once moved so easily now required all his strength to pull.

Ofra Rustani, once a frequent guest at the theater, began to appear less and less often due to business matters. Later, when business soured, he stopped coming altogether.

All Old Man Miklos could do was take care of the theater for Ofra.

Then came the terrible news.

Ofra Rustani, his wife, and his children had been lost at sea during a storm while returning with cargo.

According to local law, Ofra's remaining property was forfeit to the crown.

The Rustani Theater was closed. Only Old Man Miklos remained—without family, without children, deprived of everything.

Having reached an age where a few steps left him breathless, he threw his whole body against the lever to open the hatch and lower the rope. Trembling, he walked onto the stage and, before the empty hall, looped the rope around his neck, putting an end to his life.

But as if in imitation of what he had done every day—lowering a god to resolve the unsolvable—Miklos Blayvins, who had ended his life with the "deus ex machina" rope, came back to life as unexpectedly as the theatrical device itself.

Later, recalling that time, the old man would say he had forgotten almost everything. He only remembered feeling as if he had become that very god from the machine, resolving the knots in the plot, appearing in the theater as a ghost. But to the audience, it was just part of the show. Who could have known that the old man on the rope, playing the "god," was a vengeful spirit?

The Exorcists Association eventually came to investigate. After looking into the matter, they took away the "god" who had been terrorizing the new theater owner and his actors.

Old Man Miklos's story in the Exorcists Association's records was described briefly: it was merely mentioned that, a little over ten years later, a new Evil Spirit named the "Rope of Descent" had appeared within the Association.

Upon becoming an Evil Spirit, a ghost loses its former body. The true form of the Evil Spirit transfers to an object associated with it. Usually, this would be the corpse, but when the Exorcists Association exhumed Miklos's remains, they didn't find it there. After some inquiry, it was discovered that his true form was the very rope he had used to hang himself—the rope from the "deus ex machina."

Even after becoming the Rope of Descent, Old Man Miklos clearly remained on the side of humanity. The Investigators responded with trust: when the Ghost Prison was built, he was appointed its warden to guard the inmates.

His "Rope of Descent" ritual was perfectly suited for pacifying restless ghosts.