"He isn't as sincere as he appears."
After destroying Ephest's manor, Rowena's voice echoed in Rey's mind. The "he" she referred to was naturally the Fallen Werewolf who could freely control his transformation.
Rey had searched his memory and seen his rather bizarre life experiences. However, those experiences, along with the completely unobstructed probing process, felt as if the other party had opened the door to their memories for him to inspect at will.
Having one's memory searched by magic is a passive mode, so the person being searched usually has a subconscious resistance.
But Stemple didn't. The process was smooth, like a homeowner opening the front door to welcome a robber.
"I felt it too. His memories of the Moonwell shouldn't be hidden. What's hidden is his life experience, and he isn't as friendly as he showed," Rey responded to the puzzled Rowena in his mind.
"Why not just kill someone like that?"
"There are many people like him in the world; he's not some great evil. Selfishness is just human nature. Moreover, the way he opened his memory... I just feel it's not something an ordinary person could do. I'm very concerned about that invisible force in the background."
Rey answered Rowena's question, but at the same time, he was puzzled.
"What invisible force?"
"I can't explain it clearly. I just feel that the memory I probed... he believes it's his own." Rey was also somewhat unsure of his feeling.
"What do you mean?"
Rowena asked again. She was confused before Rey explained, and even more confused after he did.
"It's simple. The memory I probed... Martin Stemple himself should believe it's his own memory, but..." Rey didn't finish his sentence because he himself wasn't truly certain.
At that moment, Rowena immediately understood and finished Rey's thought: "You mean, someone unknowingly altered his memory, and that werewolf Martin Stemple didn't even realize his memory had been changed."
"Yes, that's what I mean. But I'm not sure; it's just a feeling. You know, sometimes feelings aren't accurate."
"I believe your feeling. A wizard's sixth sense is never wrong, especially for someone with ridiculously strong spiritual power like you."
Rowena immediately validated Rey's feeling. In her view, Rey's spiritual power was indeed incredibly strong; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to withstand her, the Queen of the Evil Spirit Valley, residing within him.
If it were an ordinary wizard, they might have suffered a mental breakdown long ago, becoming an idiot or a lunatic. Only Rey could still communicate with her mentally after she moved in.
"Which part of his memory do you think was altered?" Rowena asked again after a long silence.
Rey didn't answer Rowena's question immediately. Instead, he reviewed Martin Stemple's memory in his mind.
---
"The process of being bitten by the Fallen Werewolf!"
After carefully recalling it multiple times, Rey said with great certainty.
Drinking the holy water from the Elven Moonwell—although that experience was bizarre, Rey felt it was true. This was also the biggest reason explaining why he could transform into a human at any time.
At the beginning of the memory search, Rey didn't detect any abnormalities. However, in the experience of being injured by the Fallen Werewolf in the forest, Rey sensed a trace of dark power.
The Fallen Werewolf that injured people in the forest was the existence that felt most abnormal.
Whether from his actions or his eyes, the Fallen Werewolf should have seen Martin Stemple. How could a werewolf locked onto his prey simply scratch it lightly?
He should have torn his prey to shreds, bathing his whole body in the prey's blood. There was no reason for Martin Stemple to escape.
Werewolves are berserk, and Fallen Werewolves are even more bloodthirsty; this is common knowledge.
It's not that people haven't escaped from a werewolf's claws, but mostly because the injured person wasn't the werewolf's main target, or the attacking werewolf was distracted by something else.
However, in Martin Stemple's memory, it was completely different.
Locked onto by a Fallen Werewolf, then bitten and injured.
The bite was on the calf, but no flesh was torn off; it just left deep, bleeding tooth holes.
Moreover, this werewolf showed no signs of frenzy. After biting Martin Stemple, he put him down and even looked back with deep meaning before leaving.
What does this look like?
Such a rational biting Fallen Werewolf—it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe this abnormal behavior as a vampire ritual to turn a normal human.
After this ritual was completed, the Fallen Werewolf retreated into the darkness. At that moment, Rey sensed the traces of pure dark power left behind.
Dark memories, dark forest, even more gloomy and deep.
There was a problem with this memory because it fundamentally contradicted the logic of a Fallen Werewolf attacking humans.
"Since you are so suspicious, you might as well just kill him." Rey's suspicion wasn't groundless. After hearing it, Rowena still suggested that Rey cut the Gordian knot; killing him was the best way to solve the problem.
---
"What are you afraid of? Didn't he already sign a Blood Oath of loyalty with me? And the Blood Oath isn't using his half-baked magic." Rey ultimately didn't take Rowena's advice.
The organization's power was just beginning, and all kinds of people in human society were needed.
Moreover, a Fallen Werewolf who could control his emotions and remain conscious after transforming was a rare combat asset in any respect.
"I plan to give him part of the money to manage, making him the economic source of my organization."
Martin Stemple was an investment manager, and it was precisely this profession that gave Rey an idea for making money.
Having robbed billions of pounds, Rey planned to take out one-third to invest in the stock market. He would find a controllable broker to buy stocks of Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Toyota, and a series of other future well-known companies.
This world was not much different from the world he knew. To him, a person from the future, those inconspicuous pieces of common sense information could bring him huge wealth at this time.
With foresight on information, getting on the Forbes rich list would be a piece of cake for Rey.
There are some family tycoons in the world who are outside the Forbes rich list; they are the true wealthy people of the world. With this foundation, it wasn't impossible for Rey to become one of them.
Of course, eggs shouldn't be put in one basket. Even one-third of the funds was a significant amount. Only by dispersing these figures into multiple baskets could Rey rest assured.
"I also need to put a part with Willy Bruce."
Back in his bed at the pub, in a daze, Rey fell asleep thinking about these issues. When he woke up, it was already noon the next day.
He slept quite sweetly last night. When a person's body and spirit reach a limit of exhaustion, sleeping becomes the happiest thing in the world.
---
A dreamless night. Rey, having slept his fill, felt full of energy; all fatigue was swept away.
This sleep felt even more effective than entering deep meditation.
Stretching and sitting up from the bed, looking at the sunlight outside the window, Rey didn't expect that he had slept until noon the next day.
By the half-open window, there were several letters on the desk, which puzzled Rey. Since when did he receive so many letters?
Randomly picking one up, he looked at the signature on it.
It was a letter from Agnes. Presumably, there was new progress in the treatment of Willy Bruce's daughter.
The second letter, the third, the fourth... Rey didn't expect that all four letters on the desk were from Agnes. At the same time, an owl flew in through the window and dropped a newly arrived letter.
Picking up this new letter and seeing the signature, Rey frowned slightly because this letter was still from Agnes.
Checking the date on the envelope, Rey was startled. According to the time on the envelope, he hadn't just slept until noon the next day, but until noon two months later.