Raiden and Scooby followed the priest outside, making sure he didn't notice them. They moved across the rooftops, keeping enough distance to avoid being seen.
Raiden didn't transform.
For this kind of situation, remaining in his human form was much more convenient. He could use his telekinesis just fine, and there was no reason to draw unnecessary attention to themselves.
Now they could follow the priest without him ever realizing it.
What's more, the man looked behind himself a couple of times.
Each time, he slowed his pace slightly and glanced over his shoulder.
But it was useless.
They weren't behind him.
They were above him.
There was simply no reason for him to look up, and because of that, he never noticed the pair silently moving from roof to roof.
After a while, they followed him to a shop.
It was just a normal convenience market.
"Night shopping?" asked Raiden, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at the entrance.
"Maybe. There's no guarantee he's going to do something strange tonight. The only weird thing so far is that he's acting quite paranoid," explained the detective. He kept his eyes fixed on the priest below. "Also, the records say he goes out almost every night."
The two of them continued observing from above.
A few minutes later, the priest came back outside.
He carried a paper bag under his arm.
However, there was something different.
He wasn't wearing the white clerical collar that identified him as a priest anymore.
"Okay... that's weird," muttered Raiden.
It wasn't illegal, of course.
But considering the man's behavior so far, it certainly stood out.
Neither of them said anything else.
Instead, they continued to follow him.
The priest walked through several streets, occasionally glancing around him, until he finally arrived at an old building.
It looked aged and poorly maintained. The paint on the walls had faded long ago, several windows were broken, and the structure itself seemed like it had seen much better days.
The priest stopped at the entrance.
Again, he looked to both sides.
Then he quickly stepped inside.
Once he entered, both Raiden and the detective exchanged glances, each with a raised eyebrow.
This had officially gone from unusual to suspicious.
At that moment, Raiden moved.
Psychic energy surrounded both of them.
Without making the slightest sound, he lifted them with his telekinesis and carried them onto the roof of the very same building.
They landed softly.
Not even a tile moved.
Raiden then walked toward one of the rooftop windows.
He looked inside for a brief second.
Then, slowly and carefully, he opened it and entered through the window, with Scooby following right behind him.
both of them analized the place, it was rusty but well mantained.
they keept exploring the upper floors and they were empty, the place as they already notices it was empty, however it was well mantained.
As they kept moving through the building, they found several people. However, being a top student and an experienced detective, they avoided all of them without issue.
They moved silently through the corridors, taking advantage of blind spots and the shadows of the poorly lit hallways.
The weird thing was that they were all civilians.
Families.
An old man watching television.
A couple arguing in their kitchen.
Someone taking out the trash.
This wasn't some hidden criminal hideout.
It was simply an apartment building with people living in it.
Nothing more.
Still, Raiden didn't lower his guard.
He extended his telekinesis through the structure, using it to scan the building and search for the priest.
After descending a couple of floors, he finally found him.
He was inside one of the apartments.
However, what Raiden felt through his telekinesis wasn't a murderer.
It was...
A gambler.
He immediately communicated with Scooby in a low voice.
"He's drinking and playing poker..."
Hearing this, both of them looked at each other with deadpan expressions.
It was too obvious.
The chances of finding something useful at that exact moment had suddenly dropped dramatically.
However, discovering that one of their prime suspects was secretly spending his nights gambling and drinking outside of his priest duties was...
Well...
Certainly unexpected.
"We wait and see," said the detective.
Then he reached into his pocket and took something out.
It was a small device.
"It's a camera."
Indeed, it looked like a tiny metallic cube.
However, after a few seconds, it unfolded itself with a series of soft clicks and transformed into a miniature car.
Raiden raised an eyebrow.
"So we're going to use this..."
The boy nodded in understanding.
Right after that, both of them quietly retreated and exited the building.
Once outside, the detective took his phone from his pocket.
It almost looked like he was opening a game.
Using the screen, he controlled the tiny vehicle.
The little car entered the apartment building and moved toward the room where the priest was.
When it reached the door, its shape changed again.
The frame bent and deformed itself slightly, following principles similar to origami. The structure became flexible enough to squeeze through the small gap beneath the door.
A few seconds later, it was inside.
The detective moved the tiny camera around the corners of the room.
Soon enough, they found the priest.
Just as Raiden had said, the man was playing poker.
He was laughing loudly.
Several empty bottles were scattered around.
Cards covered the table.
There were four other men inside, all of them drinking and enjoying themselves.
"So... he just uses the nights to indulge himself a little. Bad for a priest, but not a crime," said the detective with a long sigh.
"Well, at least we can use it," said Raiden.
"You think he knows something?" asked the detective.
"At least it's worth trying," replied Raiden.
The detective thought about it for a moment.
"Most likely, he could know something about the procession that we don't. Either he's the anomaly, or there are more priests like him around."
Raiden nodded.
The idea now was simple.
See where this could lead them.
the next morning, this time, Raiden and scooby walked striaght into thew church.
both of them moved to the priest office, there they knocked and he ansewered, being a priest he didn't have secretary neither someone that could stop their ways into the deeps of the church.
the priest looking used to it, or at least this indicated his voice spoke.
"Come in."
At that moment, Raiden and Scooby entered the office.
It was a nice place.
The room looked quite old, almost as if it had been frozen in time, but it was also remarkably well maintained. It was obvious that the priest took great care of it. Everything shone. The wooden furniture was polished, the shelves were neatly organized, and even the old carpet looked recently cleaned.
The place almost looked like an old library.
Books filled several shelves, religious paintings decorated the walls, and a soft scent of coffee and old paper lingered in the air.
"Gentlemen, I'm Priest George. What can I do for you?"
At the priest's question, both of them presented themselves.
"I'm Agent Scooby Dush, and this is my companion, Raiden Tsurugi. We are here for an interview regarding a topic related to the procession you formed part of before establishing yourself here," explained Agent Scooby.
At the presentation, the priest immediately invited them to sit.
"Sure, sure. Pleasure to meet you, agents. You can ask."
The priest thought it was strange to see such a young kid accompanying an investigator. However, the moment Scooby presented his official badge, he didn't question it further.
"Tell me, agents, what happened? My fellow priests are okay?"
That was the first thing he asked after accepting.
Which was a good sign.
For now, he didn't look worried.
Neither nervous.
He looked genuinely concerned.
"They are okay. It's just that we have a sensitive matter. We believe someone may have been using your work as a cover to commit crimes, so we are here to ask if you saw anything strange during your travels with the group. Maybe an odd conversation with one of your fellow priests, or even if someone external appeared during the journey?" asked the detective.
He had given him more information than he should have.
That was intentional.
Both Raiden and the detective had been using their abilities from the very moment they entered the room.
Raiden was reading the man's surface thoughts.
Scooby was using his enhanced sense of smell to detect changes in hormones and pheromones, looking for signs of stress, fear, or deception.
Because of that, revealing the purpose of the investigation actually served them.
It allowed them to observe the priest's immediate reaction.
"No, nothing. I doubt my fellow priests could do such a thing. We really are good people. I have to admit that some of us struggle with certain things—we are humans after all—but something like a crime? That's a totally different matter," said Priest George.
"Certain things?"
This time it was Raiden who spoke.
He wanted to guide the conversation there.
Or, more specifically, he wanted to guide the man's thoughts there.
"Yeah. Some of us struggle with not having a partner. I struggle with not going to parties, you know? When I was younger, I liked them a lot, so that's always been a temptation for me."
The answer surprised Raiden.
And even the detective.
Because the man was telling the truth.
Even his actions from last night supported his words.
He really did have a weakness for drinking and social gatherings.
"So, in that case, was there someone new? Or perhaps someone who appeared repeatedly? Or someone whose behavior suddenly changed?" asked the detective.
"Hmmm... no one new. However, there is one of us who indeed changed... though in a good sense. It's the priest from the next city. He started changing around the second city we visited. He began helping more, and even among us he started showing more care. It's not like he was bad before—not at all. He always showed a great desire to take care of others."
Priest George smiled as he remembered.
"It's just that he became even more proactive. He even suggested better travel routes and good places to eat. Above all, good places to eat, ahahaha!"
The priest laughed warmly.
"However, that's all. There wasn't anyone doing something weird, at least not that I was aware of. Well... sometimes, if I'm being honest, we gathered together to have a few drinks."
Again.
Truth.
Both Raiden and the detective could tell.
Then they looked at each other.
"This priest," Scooby said carefully, "the one who took care even of you... he had a good relationship with everyone?"
"Yes, yes. I believe that if someone saw something strange, it would be him," said George without hesitation.
"And what is the name and location of this priest?" asked the detective.
At that moment, George said the man's name.
Raiden recognized it immediately.
How could he not?
It was the same man he had spoken to a couple of weeks ago.