As An Antique Shop Owner, It's Only Reasonable That I Know A Bit Of Magic - Chapter 30

Dream Manipulation?

Su Fan carefully pondered this unfamiliar term.

[Is it equivalent to illusion magic?]

After understanding it, Su Fan felt quite satisfied.

Illusion magic is a skill with an extremely wide gap between its lower and upper limits.

Those who aren’t skilled might only manage to briefly daze their opponent.

But those who master it? Think of Aizen Sōsuke from the anime Bleach—absolutely overpowered.

For such a skill that relies heavily on execution, Su Fan was all for it.

“Is everything really over now?” Carl asked, still shaken.

“It’s over.”

The detective let out a sigh of relief.

“If Su Fan isn’t pursuing anything further or taking more action, it’s a sign that the problem’s been resolved.”

During the Mary Shaw incident, Su Fan had moved between four locations in a single night, dismantling all of her contingencies.

The sharp insight he displayed had earned him almost unconditional trust from the detective.

“Let’s go,” the detective said, suddenly noticing that the protective charm in his hand had shattered.

The same had happened to Carl’s.

Seeing this, the detective was alarmed.

He clearly remembered that the only reason he’d been able to enter was thanks to that charm.

Without it, wouldn’t he be…?

“The life-draining curse was set between the floor and the basement,” Su Fan’s voice came from ahead.

“I tore up the floor, and the person behind it is dead. What is there left to fear?”

Hearing this explanation, the detective finally exhaled in relief. Noticing Carl still looked dazed, he cleared his throat.

“Go cuff that guy.”

Carl, as if waking from a dream, went to do as instructed. The detective watched him, a step slower than usual, but said nothing.

In just one day, the kid had witnessed too much that defied common sense. Everything he once believed in had been shattered, and rebuilding his understanding would take time.

Besides, during the emergency, he was the only one who’d followed the detective down—a real stand-up guy.

All things considered, the detective had a favorable impression of him and cut him some slack.

“Su, are you alright?” the detective asked, stepping closer to check on Su Fan.

“I’m fine.”

Su Fan waved it off and handed over his small revolver.

The detective took it with a handkerchief, then glanced at Luke, who was being dragged away by Carl like a dead dog.

“He had a handgun all along. Why didn’t he pull it out sooner?”

“Overconfidence, probably,” Su Fan mused.

Arrogant from having lived a few extra years, he assumed he could handle anyone who came down. Seeing Su Fan unarmed made him even more reckless.

To be fair, the guy’s combat skills were decent for an average person, but crossing paths with Su Fan was his comeuppance.

By the time he realized he was outmatched and tried to use the gun, half his body was already incapacitated. How could he possibly pose a threat to Su Fan?

But none of that mattered anymore.

Su Fan walked to the center of the shattered ritual circle to check on Max.

Although his soul had been separated from his body, it hadn’t been for long, so there’d be no lasting effects.

To ensure no curses lingered, Su Fan channeled his energy for a quick scan before feeling reassured enough to pick the boy up.

“Detective, over here. Help me get this child out too,” Su Fan said, gesturing to Daniel in the corner.

So, each carrying someone, the three of them left the basement.

……

Afterward, the police investigated the incident at the orphanage but found nothing.

The detective somehow managed to gloss over the details, and the case was classified as a cult-related abduction.

“Gloss over” might not be entirely accurate—Su Fan suspected the detective had told the truth, but no one believed him.

Supernatural events involving ghosts and spirits are often dismissed by those who haven’t experienced them firsthand.

Max and Daniel, aside from being severely frightened, were physically unharmed.

Ms. Kate, though critically injured, survived after emergency treatment at the hospital.

Su Fan visited her a few times during her stay.

Seeing her despondent over her husband’s death left him with mixed feelings.

Given Lena’s amateurish skills, it was unlikely she could completely warp an adult’s will. The arguments and fallout had partly been due to John’s own issues.

In other words, her husband might not have loved her as much as it seemed.

But there was no need for Su Fan to tarnish the image of the deceased in her mind. He simply gave her a calming talisman to ensure her grief wouldn’t hinder her recovery.

Daniel and Max were in the same hospital and often dropped by to visit.

A woman may seem fragile, but a mother’s love makes her strong.

Seeing the children, still bandaged, coming to comfort her, Kate gradually regained her spirits.

Seeing this, Su Fan knew she’d be alright.

After the incident, both Max and Daniel underwent noticeable changes. Max became more attached to his mother, while Daniel grew quiet and kept to himself.

One day, as Su Fan was leaving after a visit, Daniel stopped him.

Expecting another outburst, Su Fan was surprised when the boy apologized instead.

“I’m sorry for what I said to you before. I’m truly grateful you saved me and my family.”

“I’ll never forget what you did.”

Daniel meant every word.

After Kate was discharged, she sent Su Fan a check as thanks and invited him to dinner, but Su Fan politely declined.

Taking money from a widow and her children didn’t sit right with him. He’d rather not.

Some time later, the detective, who’d been absent for a while, paid Su Fan a visit.

“These past few days, I went to Louisiana to investigate the house left to the nun and spoke with many of the locals.”

“They told me all the rumors about that villa.”

Sitting across from Su Fan, the detective recounted his findings.

“The villa once belonged to a wealthy white family with a son and a daughter. They bought a married Black couple to work as caretakers.”

“During a banquet one day, the parents couldn’t find their children and eventually discovered the Black couple secretly teaching them Voodoo in the attic.”

“Enraged, and egged on by the guests, they hanged the Black couple on the spot.”

“After that, strange occurrences plagued the villa until the white man killed his wife and then himself. Locals said it was the vengeful spirits of the Black couple.”

The detective took a sip of tea and sighed.

“Now, considering those two and their soul-swapping ritual, the truth is probably this.”

“During the banquet, they swapped souls with the children, so what were actually hanged were the white couple’s own children.”

“The white man likely learned the truth later, couldn’t bear the shock, and killed his wife before taking his own life.”

“Who’d have thought we were dealing with a pair of monsters who’d lived for nearly a century?”

As the detective marveled, another question arose.

“Why would they risk exposure by performing the ritual again when they already had new bodies?”

“If it were me, I’d have just settled down in that house in New Orleans.”

“They did exactly that before, but greed knows no bounds,” Su Fan explained.

As their Voodoo skills improved, their courage grew, and they began plotting to steal others’ estates.

Posing as the orphanage director, the Black woman quickly identified the Coleman family as the perfect targets.

First, she sent Lena under false pretenses to disrupt the family’s harmony and drive a wedge between Kate and John.

Then, using Lena’s twisted psyche, she had her kill the couple before eliminating Lena herself to tie up loose ends.

Finally, she and her husband would swap souls with Max and Daniel, inheriting the family’s wealth.

Any odd behavior after the swap could be dismissed as trauma.

A perfect plan.

Except for the final ritual, every step was executed flawlessly, leaving no evidence behind.

Given their methods, if any part had gone wrong, they’d have immediately cut their losses and vanished without a trace.

Once they disappeared into the crowd, where would anyone even begin to look for them?

You can’t guard against a thief forever.

Su Fan wanted to make sure these two were stopped here and now, to avoid future troubles.

“But Max and Daniel are siblings… Don’t tell me those two planned to…” the detective realized, horrified.

“An evil ritual with severe side effects, coupled with souls decayed by time, had long twisted their minds.”

“Their hosts being siblings wasn’t an obstacle—it excited them.”

“Besides, didn’t you say their first targets were a pair of siblings too?”

Su Fan’s words left the detective speechless for a long moment.

“That’s… unbelievable.”

If anyone’s unbelievable, it’s you, Su Fan thought to himself, taking a sip of tea.