Became the Weapon Monopolist of the Gods-Chapter 35: Jack the Ripper (1)
Jack the Ripper.
The Ghost of Death.
We will never truly know who he was, and perhaps we will never find out.
For hundreds of years to come, people will speculate and wonder about his identity.
This is the phrase that describes Jack the Ripper in the documentary The Ghost of Death.
Jack the Ripper.
The forever elusive suspect.
This ghost, who appeared in 19th-century London, left behind nothing but unsolved mysteries, vanishing suddenly from history without a trace.
Even Conan Doyle, the father of Sherlock Holmes, and Joseph Bell, the inspiration for Holmes, failed to identify Jack the Ripper.
There were rumors that DNA analysis had revealed the Ripper’s identity, but it remains an unproven claim.
The DNA presented in the claim was not legitimate, and the information was too outdated to be accurate.
In the end, the identity of Jack the Ripper remained shrouded in mystery.
The Ghost of Death emerged from the shadows and revealed itself before me.
“This bread is really delicious!”
With a bright and cheerful smile.
A phrase appeared above the golden eyes that curved sweetly.
[Complete Jack the Ripper’s murder spree.]
Reward: Phantom Knife
In 19th-century London, two kinds of lives existed.
The life of the wealthy in the elegant townhouses.
And the life of those in the “slums,” viewed from the terrace of those houses.
─The East End.
The dark underbelly of London, where the lower classes were concentrated.
With no jobs available, prostitution thrived, and orphans were in abundance—the East End was a slum.
Vanessa lived there, a seamstress caring for orphans.
Her joy was sewing clothes for the ragged children and looking after them.
“Vanessa! Give me more bread!”
“What should I do? We’re out of it.”
“Waaah.”
“Don’t worry, the nuns will bring some on the weekend.”
“That bread tastes bad!”
“Then you can buy your own.”
She was the oldest sister, the older girl among the children.
“Thank you for sharing the bread. The children really like it.”
“Oh, yes.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to repay you.”
Her charming golden eyes curved beautifully.
She hummed happily and continued her knitting.
......
This bright woman, Vanessa, was so positive in everything she did that I couldn’t understand why she was called the infamous “Jack the Ripper.”
That made it all the more confusing.
[Complete Jack the Ripper’s murder spree.]
Reward: Phantom Knife
I didn’t understand why the status window had given me this quest.
‘Jack the Ripper killed prostitutes.’
The ones she killed were all prostitutes.
It was commonly said that there were five victims, though some claimed there were more.
In the East End, many prostitutes had met their deaths.
‘The Whitechapel Murders.’
It has long been suggested that these murders might have been committed by Jack the Ripper.
Of course, we couldn’t know for sure.
Jack the Ripper was a ghost wrapped in mystery.
But from what I saw, Vanessa was definitely not the type of woman who would kill without reason.
It was impossible to imagine her as a “pleasure killer.”
If Vanessa were truly such a woman, the victims would have multiplied endlessly.
Jack the Ripper.
She must have had a “reason” to kill.
That’s why the status window gave me this quest.
I silently watched the red-haired woman, happily continuing her knitting.
Life in the slums wasn’t easy.
Orphans, unable to find work, had to rummage through trash bins or pickpocket to survive.
“These damn little bastards!”
“Stop making the streets filthy! Get lost!”
The children of the East End were seen as a nuisance by London’s gentlemen, and it was a daily routine for them to be kicked for no reason if seen.
“Damn it, Allen. You’re back hurt again. I told you not to go to the West End. Let me see your arm.”
Vanessa silently treated the injured children.
Of course, her treatment was nothing more than washing the leftover cloth from her sewing and wrapping it around the wounds.
Finding medicinal supplies in the East End was a luxury.
“I’ll treat you.”
Jeanne stepped forward to treat the injured children in Vanessa’s place.
As warm light poured out, healing the wounds, Vanessa’s golden eyes widened.
“...Is that light magic? It’s amazing.”
Vanessa, gazing in awe at Jeanne’s holy power, asked once the healing was done.
“Can I have that power too?”
“I’m sorry, but you don’t have the aptitude for light magic, Vanessa.”
“Is that so? What a shame.”
Vanessa genuinely seemed disappointed by Jeanne’s answer.
Curious about the reason, I asked, but the answer was unexpected.
“Well, I wanted to become a nun.”
“A nun?”
“Yes! The nun comes every Sunday and gives us bread. I wanted to become one too, but it seems I can’t after all.”
Vanessa casually spoke about her dream being crushed, smiling brightly as she did.
But I could tell that there was deep regret hidden in her words.
Vanessa’s dream was to be a nun who gave out bread.I stayed near Vanessa for several days, observing her.
I had to figure out how she became Jack the Ripper.
In the meantime, I also learned about the darker side of the East End.
There was one characteristic among the prostitutes in the East End: they all had red flower patterns tattooed on parts of their bodies.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
“What’s that?”
“You’ve never seen it? That’s Baihua.”
“What’s Baihua?”
“It’s a sign that they’re infected with Plum Blossom Poison. Once infected, they don’t feel hunger or thirst, so they all hope to be infected with it.”
“......”
I was at a loss for words.
Plum Blossom Poison.
It was a method of increasing followers used by Astaroth, one of the 72 demons of Solomon.
Astaroth, known as the “protector of prostitutes,” infects them with Plum Blossom Poison.
The infected don’t feel hunger or thirst, but eventually, they become “monsters.”
So, Plum Blossom Poison was a terrible curse that needed to be purified immediately after it manifested.
However, according to Vanessa, the prostitutes saw being infected as a form of salvation.
The gangs of the East End controlled the prostitutes infected with Plum Blossom Poison and even “sold” it.
“They’re poor souls. They don’t even know that they become monsters when infected with Plum Blossom Poison.”
“They don’t know?”
“No, they take it as jealousy whenever I try to tell them.”
“How do you know about this, Vanessa?”
“I saw my mother get infected with Plum Blossom Poison and turn into a monster.”
The government immediately exterminated her, though.
Vanessa spoke in a flat tone, as though listing facts.
“Even if they die, it would be better to die as a human.”
“Why are you quiet about the monster outbreaks?”
“Well, it’s the East End, right?”
......
I had heard that the East End was the dark side of London, where the poor were concentrated.
But this was beyond imagination.
The British government, knowing that Plum Blossom Poison was spreading, chose to ignore it, and when a prostitute turned into a monster, they quietly disposed of them.
It never made it to the newspapers.
The residents of the East End were the poor, people who could disappear without anyone noticing.
Since the government didn’t have to support the poor, the population was naturally controlled through Plum Blossom Poison, and the British government merely turned a blind eye to this “monster phenomenon.”
[Complete Jack the Ripper’s murder spree.]
At that moment, I began to understand the meaning behind this phrase.
Why the murderer known as Jack the Ripper appeared in London.
Jack the Ripper.
The Ghost of Death.
It was a monster born from the name “bystander.”“Allen wants to be a soldier. Raphael wants to run a bakery when he grows up, Ciel wants to be a jeweler, and Yuli wants...”
Vanessa looked so happy as she spoke about the children’s dreams.
But I knew, and Vanessa knew too, that those dreams would be hard to realize.
She probably knew better than anyone. This place was London’s garbage dump.
As I listened to Vanessa’s stories, I cautiously said:
“Vanessa.”
“Yes?”
“How about sending the children to an orphanage?”
......
Vanessa’s hands, which had been cutting fabric, stopped in an instant. After a brief pause, she resumed cutting the fabric.
“I’d like to, but the church won’t take the children from the East End.”
“I’ll help you.”
I looked over at Jeanne.
Jeanne, who had been quietly standing, nodded.
I entrusted the children under Vanessa’s care to the church orphanage.
It required money to send them there, but that wasn’t a problem.
“Oh, this is a katana!”
The relic from my treasure collection was quite valuable in 19th-century Britain.
Once Jeanne demonstrated her holy power, the London church happily accepted the orphans.
Holy power was virtually absolute power within the church.
“Sister! You’ll visit, right?”
“Of course, I will.”
“Vanessa! You have to come!”
After saying goodbye to the children, Vanessa smiled brightly and thanked me.
“Thank you. I can rest easy now.”
She looked longingly at the church.
“I wanted to become a nun, but it’s such a shame.”
“You already seem like one.”
“Just saying that makes me ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) so happy.”
Vanessa smiled brightly.
“But I’m not a good woman like Jeanne.”
......
After that, Vanessa disappeared from the East End.
And three days later...
[East End Crime Firm Annihilated!]
[It appears to be a gang war...]
[Peaky Blinders expand their influence to London?!]
The gang responsible for selling Plum Blossom Poison was wiped out.
The newspapers claimed it was a gang war, but I knew this wasn’t a gang fight. frёewebnoѵēl.com
─“They’re poor souls. They don’t even know they’ll become monsters when infected with Plum Blossom Poison.”
─“It would be better to die as a human, you know.”
Vanessa, at least, had hoped that the prostitutes would die with their human dignity intact.
Before they became monsters and were erased from the world without leaving a trace.
[Complete Jack the Ripper’s murder spree.]
“......”
I had to find Vanessa.
But there was no way I could find someone without knowing their location.
It would be difficult to find someone who could help me search for her across all of Britain.
She was the “ghost” of the East End.
So, I decided to find someone who could help me locate Vanessa.
Late at night.
A townhouse in West London.
On the exterior of the brown brick house, there were paintings of a man with a pipe in his mouth hanging everywhere.
The house was dark, but one room on the second floor was lit by a candle.
I used my shadow cloak to climb along the wall and stealthily enter through the lit window.
Inside, there was a middle-aged man writing with a fountain pen by candlelight.
“Who is it?”
The man, who had been scribbling with his pen, looked up when the window opened.
─If Holmes actually existed, it would probably be me.
The man I had come to see was none other than Sherlock Holmes’ father.
Arthur Conan Doyle.
He was the only person who could touch the essence of the ghost.
