Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Grisha was nothing more than an ordinary person, and still just a child—the easiest kind to fool. His hypnosis itself already had the effect of cognitive interference. Even if there were some flaws, it should have been enough to muddle through. Could there really have been some glaring loophole?

But the scene just now had been extremely simple—there were only soap, fried fish, and Nora. Where could the problem have arisen?

Isaac, being able to be sent by Hughes to the Northlands to gather intelligence, was naturally meticulous in thought. After pondering briefly, he already guessed the general reason.

“It’s Nora. Could it be something went wrong with Nora? Was she not in the camp?”

He murmured to himself. Catching sight of Grisha still glaring angrily at him, he shook his head again.

“Seems I guessed wrong. Nora was gravely injured and couldn’t get up?”

“Nora won’t come out for inspection?”

“Nora’s accent is wrong?”

He guessed several times in succession, but nothing could be read from Grisha’s face. Isaac simply stopped trying. He patted the snow off himself, picked up the pancake from the ground, and stuffed it back inside his chest pocket.

Perhaps it was nothing more than sheer bad luck. Extraordinary beings on the Investigator Path would always occasionally encounter accidents. Even if Isaac was dual-path, he was not exempt.

“I truly am from Castel, but I did not come under the order of the Lord. I only heard that Lady Nora was still organizing resistance, so I wanted to make contact.”

He explained to Grisha, then ignored whether the boy believed him or not. He hoisted him back onto the tree and continued deeper into the forest.

The Investigator’s ability was best at tracking. As long as he was sure Grisha was one of the resistance, he could just follow the traces the boy had left on his way there.

In fact, when the boy asked him for soap, Isaac had already achieved his goal. The rest had merely been probing.

It now seemed the resistance held some cooperative value.

Firstly, since the resistance had children like Grisha, it showed their order had not yet collapsed—they had the ability and surplus strength to protect the weak.

Secondly, Grisha had the will to resist. He neither fled in fear nor waited for death numbly. That was of great importance. If a group lost its morale, all else was empty talk.

As for the rest, those were only minor issues.

Although he had only seen a single boy, Isaac had already gathered a considerable amount of information. Soon, he bypassed one outpost after another and entered the camp.

Casually explaining his intention to a few people, Isaac stood still, coldly observing the chaos within the camp.

First, a few men nervously surrounded him. They were half-believing, half-doubting his words, so they sent some to report while the others kept a close watch on him.

These men held weapons but wore no armor—and the weapons themselves were crude.

Isaac examined their faces closely—their spirit was decent, but their complexions were average, and their bodies somewhat thin and frail.

It seemed their situation was not good, but with Nora holding things together, they could still barely sustain themselves.

Soon, several squads of fully armed fighters arrived. Their weapons were varied, but at least most wore tattered armor.

They ought to have some measure of combat strength.

The children and women were quickly moved away. Though the camp fell into some chaos, it remained under control—their level of organization was not bad either.

Isaac nodded inwardly. This resistance did have potential. His trip was not in vain.

Next, he only had to wait for Nora. He planned to meet her, discuss cooperation, and inquire about the situation here. The Ashen Alliance still did not know much about this side.

But soon, Isaac frowned. He noticed after some discussion, the people pushed forward a few to speak with him, but Nora herself never appeared.

“Nora isn’t here?”

The people across did not answer, but their faces revealed a strange expression.

Why was their reaction so odd?

For a moment, all sorts of conjectures stirred in Isaac’s mind. His face revealed no expression, but there was a trace of daze in his gaze.

In the shadows of trees and snow, a moth’s silhouette flickered silently past.

Nora, clad in heavy armor, sat beside the bonfire.

After her return, she had never spoken with anyone—losing one’s head naturally meant one could not talk. The resistance members dared not approach to ask either.

Each day she only sat there. Yet as long as she was there, the resistance would not collapse.

At this moment, a figure slowly revealed itself beside her, emerging from thin air.

Isaac’s eyelid twitched. This man, who had always concealed himself without showing anything, finally failed to keep his composure. After a moment of silence, Isaac tested cautiously, “Nora?”

Nora slowly stood, turning toward him.

It was only then Isaac confirmed—she truly had lost her head. Damn it! No wonder that boy had seen through his illusion instantly!

The next instant, Nora raised her chain mace high and swung it down violently!

Isaac dodged aside. The censer swept past before him, the gust it brought up stirring wind and snow.

“Hiss… that force, not small at all.”

The Burier Path was extremely adept in direct combat, its endurance top-notch. And with Nora fully clad in heavy armor, Isaac quickly realized he could not subdue her swiftly.

So he drew a letter from his chest and shouted, “Nora, this is a letter from Earl Hughes for you!”

The chain mace halted mid-air, its hammer head swinging with inertia before settling beside her.

It seemed communication was still possible. Isaac let out a breath of relief.

He placed high hopes on this contact.

When the Ashen Alliance first came to the Northlands to expand, they had intended to follow the Empire’s path. But just as things began to take shape, the Empress was assassinated, the Three Grand Dukes of the North rebelled, and Isaac, to preserve their living strength, chose to retreat westward with the Empire.

Then came round after round of religious purges from the Empire.

After barely preserving the organization and accumulating some strength again, Isaac came personally to the Northlands to reach out to Nora’s resistance and inquire about Castel.

Castel, located in the far east sea of the Empire, had lost contact ever since the Principality of Tis declared independence. Isaac had tried to contact through the Sea of Unawareness but found nothing.

Back then, when the Lord sent him north to expand, he had accidentally followed the Empire into the Central Lands. He believed the Lord must have assumed him dead, and surely sent someone else to the Northlands.

Yet after searching in the Northlands for so long, he had found nothing—no news of Castel either. All he knew was that the Prince had allied with the Four Northern Territories. With no other choice, he sought Nora’s resistance.

If he could not find anything here, he might truly have to pass through the entire Principality of Tis and go see the coast himself.

In truth, Isaac harbored doubts. With Castel’s strength, even if not widely known, it should not have been utterly absent from all information. How had the entire island vanished as if it never existed?