Chapter 16 MissionTitle of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 5338 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-19 15:55:04
Association of Astronomical Observation Enthusiasts?
Douglas reacted for a few seconds, and then, after relating it to his own experience, he quickly came to the conclusion: "The church suspects that Thomson got information about the secret organization from within the association? Is there a member of the secret organization hiding within the association?"
"You can understand it that way. But in fact, this association itself is somewhat dangerous." Father Schultz explained to him in a vague way, which was unusual for him. "This is also a surveillance mission. You go there once or twice a week, establish some contact with the members of the association, always pay attention to their mental state, whether they have come into contact with extraordinary things, and report in a timely manner."
Douglas agreed with some doubt, thinking about what dangers there could be in an association for observing celestial bodies. I think the biggest danger there is that the telescope falls and hits your foot if you operate it improperly. That's a whole brass lump, and it won't be a problem to be crippled for three months.
"The most critical requirement for this mission is that you cannot use a telescope to observe the sky, at any time."
"..." Douglas opened his mouth and asked, "Why?"
If he had not been busy saving his own life that night, he might have taken advantage of his nostalgic mood to fiddle with the telescope and take a look.
Is using telescopes the source of danger for that association? But isn't this an astronomical observation association? The purpose of everyone joining the association must be to see the stars, right?
Thinking of this, he hastily added: "If someone uses a telescope, should I stop them?"
"No, you just need to restrain yourself." Schultz shook his head and put on a serious expression. "I won't explain the specific reasons to you, and you shouldn't think too deeply about it. Some mystical knowledge, once understood, means contamination, you must remember this."
...Now that you mention it, it's hard for me not to think about it... Douglas tilted his head in embarrassment. In order to prevent his thoughts from wandering, he began to play with the little shadow in his hand, letting the comfortable touch of petting a cat occupy his mind.
I might as well call the little shadow "Oreo", that's my cat's name...
Schultz saw that he was consciously trying to divert his thoughts, and after waiting for a moment, he continued the topic: "If you are interested, you can also read some of the information in the association. The Nighthawks have already conducted a preliminary inspection of them, but the association members will add new ones at any time. This aspect will be left to your supervision."
"no problem."
"Then the above are all your tasks. The membership fees for joining the association and the purchase of some items for underground gatherings can be reimbursed. Just write a reimbursement note and give it to me."
Damn, the underground party purchases are also reimbursed! So good! Douglas immediately threw the telescope out of his mind and said with emotion that this is the good shade of a big tree!
After making all the arrangements, Father Schultz took him to the weapons room to get a revolver, including a gun bag, fifty rounds of ammunition and a gun license, and paid the dues required to join the association. Douglas watched the various business processes and always felt that these withdrawal methods were very...convenient for running away with money.
He could arrange the rest of the day on his own. Douglas took the initiative to apply for a language course based on the principle of building a good relationship with Anthony so that he could get access to Russell's diary.
The language system of this world is simpler than he imagined. According to international standards, there are nine language families on Earth, and there are even more with minority language families, which include several language families. But in this world, at least all contemporary languages in the northern continent are based on the ancient Feysac language, and their word formation and grammar are relatively similar.
And ancient Feysak was derived from Giant language. The unique languages of the ancient non-human races, such as Giant language, Elven language, and Dragon language, are the truly complex part.
Dragon language... Douglas was speechless when he saw this line of words. He couldn't imagine how to pronounce this language. The accurate pronunciation of a language is related to the structure of the oral cavity. Humans and dragons have completely different physiological structures. It would be a pain to imitate the language of the other.
"You don't need to learn those for now." Antonia said, "Ancient Hermes is sufficient to meet the requirements of ritual magic. It was a language created by humans in the Second Age that was capable of communicating with nature. In the era when humans, blood races and other pan-human races were generally servants and slaves of giants and magic wolves, it is hard to imagine how Hermes made such a great creation..."
Douglas watched him speak like a little fanboy with an expressionless face, and the enthusiasm in his words was no less than when he talked about Russell that day. Only then did he realize that although Anthony looked aloof, he was actually very simple at heart. When he encountered a topic he liked, he could take the initiative to talk for two hours without taking a breath.
Antina, who was left out, ignored her brother's long speech and sat down next to Douglas, put her arm around his shoulders and said with a smile, "Don't mind it. This nerd likes to nag about things that make people sleepy."
I'm more concerned about you being so close to me... Douglas tilted his head slightly and asked in a low voice: "I can understand that he likes linguistics, but why does he like Emperor Roselle so much?"
It was normal for the vampire race, as an immortal species, to have some inheritance in terms of history and language, but Roselle was a modern figure, and at most had a prominent role in history for a few decades. I wondered what special attraction he had for Anthony.
"Well," Antina looked up and seemed to be reminiscing, "Maybe it's because when I was a kid, besides general education, the only thing I could read was Roselle's Fairy Tales?"
Douglas's mouth twitched, and he felt that he could already guess what the story in the so-called "Fairy Tale Selection" was: "...Then why don't you have any feelings for Russell?"
"I don't like reading." Antina answered confidently, "I don't like Roselle and general studies. I just skip classes and let the teacher catch me, so that Antonia has time to read some books."
"…"
He stared at her in silence for a few seconds, then turned to ask the person concerned: "Antonya, I want to know why you like Emperor Roselle so much?"
Antonia blinked and answered seriously: "The greatest value of language and words is to be used and expressed, and to become the carrier of great ideas. The works of Emperor Roselle have brought the magnificence of language and the charm of words to the extreme, such as his most famous "The Return of the Count"..."
Douglas listened carefully to the other party's explanation of the cultural connotations of this famous work of the great emperor, which became popular throughout the northern continent after its publication and was later adapted into multiple versions of dramas. As he listened, he could not help but want to raise his hands to cover his face.
Isn't this "The Count of Monte Cristo", which is known as the originator of cool novels... You said it is a world-famous novel, and it is true... Fortunately, Intis was in a similar situation at that time, and Roselle was in the right place at the right time and with the right people...
After finishing a whole passage of high-scoring answers to reading comprehension questions, Antonia circled back to the question: "...Finally, deciphering the Russellian script is the dream of many linguists and even mystics. So, why does Douglas like the Russellian script so much?"
If I tell you this is my mother tongue, you won't believe me... Douglas held his forehead and lied to the innocent child in all seriousness: "I am just impressed by the emperor's personality charm. No one in the Fifth Epoch is more dazzling than Emperor Roselle. I think his private diary must contain many... well, many successful experiences that are worth learning from, such as how he developed his advanced reform ideas..."
Antonia nodded in agreement: "Indeed, in terms of worldly achievements, I think Roselle is a shining star in human history second only to King Solomon..."
King Solomon... This title caught Douglas' attention. He vaguely remembered that there was such a historical figure on Earth, an emperor of ancient Israel. Of course, the first thing that came to his mind was not some serious historical knowledge, but a character in a mobile game...
Could this be a joke from the senior time travelers? Douglas asked tentatively, "King Solomon?"
"He is the founder of the Fourth Epoch, the 'Age of the Gods'. He established the first human kingdom in recorded history, the First Solomon Empire." Antonia explained briefly. "He is a milestone figure in history. Unfortunately, I have not accumulated enough merits yet, so I cannot get more history related to the Fourth Epoch from the dukes..."
The creation of the Fourth Epoch, this, at least two thousand years ago, is difficult to confirm... But from what Anthony said, there should be information within the blood clan. Well, I can't get it, can Anthony get it?
The immortal species is really great, it is simply a living history book... Douglas deeply felt that he had made the right choice by hugging the right thigh.
He took the language course for two hours. He didn't rush to ask for Roselle's diary, and Antonya wouldn't run away. Douglas let Antina pull out the shadow bat named Oreo from his shadow and ravage it - after all, it's your blood clan baron, you can rub it as you like - while thinking about the afternoon schedule, and his mood was infinitely similar to thinking about what order to do the side quests in when playing a game to save effort.
-
Soest knocked on the door and saw the "Sword of the Goddess" Master Creste Cecima, who had dark green eyes and short golden brown hair. He closed the door, bowed to him, and then took out a thick stack of investigation reports.
"Sit down and talk." Krestai leaned back in his chair and nodded to Soest. They were not strangers to each other. As a senior deacon, Krestai Cecima was like the direct superior of the Red Gloves in a sense. He appeared in many difficult tasks.
However, with the promotion after the God War, Sost's team has become one of the strongest forces in the Red Gloves, and rarely encounters tasks that require trouble for His Excellency "Sword of the Goddess", and the number of their meetings has continued to decrease.
Sost pulled out a chair and sat opposite Krestai, and began to report on the Sealed Artifact 2-061. With the collars of his shirt and windbreaker raised high to cover his chin, Krestai half-closed his eyes and listened carefully to the information.
"…Friedman Mir, Lawyer Path Sequence 7 'Briber'. The current investigation results show that he belongs to a brand new, secret organization that has not yet been recorded. His main purpose in coming to Backlund is to develop subordinates and infiltrate the forces. The merchants and some nobles who have had contact with Friedman have been included in the monitoring scope. The investigation is still ongoing, and no signs of contamination have been found so far."
After reading this paragraph in one breath, Soest paused for two seconds and then emphasized his tone and said, "We don't have much information about this secret organization, but they seem to be looking for a way to see the real starry sky under the leadership of someone who calls himself 'God's Blessed One', and have repeatedly recruited members from this aspect."
Hearing some key words, Krestai opened his eyes, raised his hand to signal Soest to pause, and asked, "What is the current status of all the personnel responsible for interrogating Friedman, especially those who have entered Friedman's dreams or communicated with him through mystical means?"
"There are only four of us, including me." Soest answered preparedly, "So far, no signs of loss of control or contamination have been found. After the incident, we never left the bottom of the church, nor did we come into contact with more people. All personnel have undergone a ritual magic inspection behind the Chanis Gate."
Creste Cecima stared at this old friend for a while, and his dark green eyes suddenly became deeper, as if they could see through people's souls.
He slowly bent down, picked up the silver-white briefcase from his feet and placed it flat on the table. He never took his eyes off Soest, who also cooperated and did not make any drastic movements, but just slowly put the documents in his hand aside.
Krestai nodded slightly, and with his right hand he pressed down slightly, and the force attached to the surface of the silver-white suitcase was broken, and the surrounding light suddenly dimmed as if it was swallowed by something. The suitcase lid flipped up, revealing a pure, flawless, and lustrous bone sword that was less than one meter long.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became quiet and deep, as if one was in the purest darkness. During the whole process, Soest did not show any abnormality.
Seeing this, Creste secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The "Sword of the Goddess" was a sacred object bestowed by the Goddess, and it had the power of the true God. If Sost had been contaminated by an unknown source, he would involuntarily experience abnormalities in front of the "Sword of the Goddess".
"Swear on the holy object," he ordered briefly.
Sost nodded without hesitation, placed his hand on the bone sword, chanted the command of the Dark Goddess, completed the oath, and also accepted the purification of the Goddess's power.
After everything was over, both of them looked relaxed. Krestel Cecima closed the briefcase, and the light in the room returned to normal. Soest picked up the document again and took the initiative to say, "I will bring the other three people after the report is finished."
Krestai sat back in his chair, bent his right index finger and put it against the tip of his nose. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "The confidentiality level of all the information on this case has been adjusted. I will take it back to the temple and no copies will be kept. What other information have you obtained about that secret organization?"
"They were mainly active in Jianhai County, an area severely affected by the war. They have at least mastered the Sequence 9 formulas of the Assassin Path and the Lawyer Path. At the same time, the top brass is suspected to have a high-sequence of the Apprentice Path, or they have mastered the existence of the corresponding Sealed Artifacts. Well, it is uncertain how they obtained the information about Sealed Artifact '2-061', and it is possible that they have had contact with defectors from the Church of the God of War."
"Do you know about their internal religious situation?"
"This is very strange. The internal structure of the organization is relatively loose. Except for the 'God's Blessed' and senior staff, members are not required to have absolute faith, and the issuance of tasks is often one-way. Friedman is not aware of the situation of the upper echelons, nor does he know the corresponding honorific names. He only knows that his superiors have an accent from the West Virus County area."
It does not require members to have absolute faith... Krestai thought of some internal information he had read in the temple and could not help but frown. Soster did not pay attention to it. Seeing that he had no more questions, he quickly reported the rest and waited for instructions.
"...You and your team are responsible for this incident. Go to Jianhai County immediately to track down the corresponding clues." After a few minutes of consideration, the senior deacon of the Church of Evernight made arrangements. "Any suspected members of the organization should not conduct any occult investigations. They should be directly locked up in the local Chanis Gate and wait for the contact personnel to escort them directly to the temple. I will take Friedman and Sealed Artifact '2-061' back to the temple first and then meet up with you soon."
Soest's expression was slightly touched. Creste Cecima was already a Sequence 4 demigod, and although he could understand that it was mostly to rely on holy objects to resist the risk of potential contamination, the dispatch of the senior deacon itself meant that the mission was urgent.
Cindy was a native of Backlund, and before the mission, she was still discussing whether her accumulated merits were enough to apply for two days of vacation... Thinking that this little wish would soon be shattered because of the arrival of a new mission, Soest couldn't help but feel regretful.
Of course, on the bright side, the merit of completing the new mission safely might be enough for them to take a week off, and if things end quickly, they can catch up with the New Year. Although most Red Glove members have been victims and survivors of extraordinary events, and the existence of "family" is very scarce, a proper holiday is always worth looking forward to.
It's a pity that I finally have a vacation, but the person I wanted to invite is no longer here... Soster suddenly recalled that about two years ago, the joking and old-fashioned "gatekeeper" lady once said that she would give a chance to all the suitors who invited her to dance at the New Year's party.
He was busy outside that year and missed the dance, and later she was transferred to West Balam for a mission. As a result, when they met next time, Soest could no longer hand the bouquet to her, so he had to gently place it against the tombstone.
He allowed himself to remain silent in his memories for two seconds before he stood up before Creste noticed anything unusual. He left the information to the other party and left the room to notify the corresponding personnel.
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In fact, the final idea was the Christmas dance. Daly was just joking. She would use the excuse that "someone has already booked me" to decline the dance invitation. If someone asked where your dance partner was and why he didn't come, Daly would smile and say "maybe he forgot the time, but it doesn't matter, I'm willing to wait."
Then I suddenly got confused, is there Christmas in the mysterious world? According to the definition of Christmas, I always feel that the God-influenced Bai Creation should have created such a holiday, and this holiday should be celebrated by everyone.
But after the Fourth Epoch, it is not certain whether people still take the festival created in vain seriously, so even if there was one, the only people who would celebrate it later would probably be the Medici and Ouroboros? Plus the Aurora Society and the Iron Cross?
I imagined that Aurora would celebrate Christmas. Tsk tsk tsk, you guys are making trouble just a few days after the Winter Gift Day of the Goddess of Night. You will be beaten by the Night Watchmen.
Moreover, it is not easy for Roselle to bring up such a nominal holiday, and the original work does not mention it, so in the end it is treated as if there is no Christmas. But it is very interesting for Xiaohong and Dashe to celebrate the holiday, so it will be written into the extra story (Chapter 17 Astronomical Observation Enthusiasts AssociationTitle of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 3483 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-19 15:30:02
"You really didn't kill Fude?"
"no."
Fernan narrowed his eyes and looked at him hesitantly. Douglas pretended to be calm and took a sip of the Southwell beer in his glass. He smiled at the famous intelligence dealer in the East District and said, "Why would I lie to you? It's not me, but I know who did it. Do you want to hear it?"
Fernando continued to look him up and down. After a long while, he picked up his Lelangzi and muttered, "Did someone cut off your balls? You drink a glass of wine and talk like a woman. If you have anything to fart, fart now!"
...Douglas' smile froze for a moment, then he slammed the cup on the table and cursed with true emotion.
Only the bars in the dock area would be so lively at three or four o'clock in the afternoon. Sailors and crew members who had just finished sailing were always eager to have some fun. At this moment, more than a dozen tables were almost full. The smell of alcohol, fish and the cheap rouge of the women soliciting customers filled the room. The sounds of rolling dice and throwing weights were drowned out by the sea of swear words directed at the lower third.
Douglas was very, very uncomfortable with this environment, but the problem was that he should have been very comfortable with it. He squinted his eyes and looked at a wooden board with bounty notices nailed to it beside the bar, pretending to appreciate the numbers on it, but secretly complaining in his heart. He was very skilled at pretending to be an honest man, but pretending to be a gangster was completely in his blind spot.
"Don't put all the blame on me." He leaned back in his chair with a look of self-abandonment, knocked on the table and said to Fernando, "Ford is blind. He dares to take any job. It's none of my business."
Fernando, who was born with a shifty look, raised his head and took a few gulps of liquor, then wiped the corners of his mouth with the back of his hand: "That's nonsense, everyone knows that he was planning to kill you a few days ago, but today he was chopped into pieces. Who else should he look for if not you?"
Shit, it's still okay if I chop it into small pieces... Douglas's eyes were empty, and he secretly pinched his thigh to control his desire to get up and leave, and replied: "If you have the guts, go find the Aurora Club, there's no point asking me."
"Extremely..." Fernando opened his eyes wide after hearing those three words, and turned around to see if anyone noticed their conversation. The more Douglas looked at him, the more he felt that the man's posture was like a big brown rat, the kind with almost all its fur falling off. He wanted to laugh but couldn't, so he had to pick up the glass and drink several sips of wine.
A table on the right erupted in laughter and curses. The loser nearly overturned the table, and the wooden chips were scattered all over the floor. Fernando looked around before leaning over and whispered, "Really?"
Douglas immediately sneered back: "Why are you speaking so softly? If someone doesn't know you, they would think you have been castrated."
He was satisfied to see that Fernan's face also froze. The information dealer glared at him, put down his wine glass, and pounded his chest with his right fist: "Storm, every one of those lunatics should be locked up and fucked!"
...What did the donkey do wrong! Douglas was shocked, but he didn't say anything. He swallowed a mouthful of wine with difficulty, pushed the empty glass aside, and continued to look at the bounties. Most of them were pirates who were causing trouble in the five seas. The prices were very tempting, but no bounty hunter would take them as their main target. Pirates who were stupid enough to land in Backlund basically didn't live to see the day when the bounty was posted.
Of course, there was an exception, namely, Qi Lingos, who was in the newspapers the year before last and failed to assassinate the Prime Minister. The former pirate general was said to have been lurking in Backlund for a long time, and the bounty hunters knew more about it than the newspapers. A gang leader named Darkholm only inquired about a little information, and was killed at home by Qi Lingos. His death was extremely miserable and weird.
Therefore, during that period of time, bounty hunters were eager to avoid Qilingos's bounty. After all, even if you make money, you have to live to spend it.
Fortunately, Qilingos died in the hands of the authorities soon, and the terrifying face was no longer visible on the wooden board. Douglas turned his eyes away from the crooked portraits of the pirates and turned to the simpler tasks, and asked casually, "What good business do you have? Introduce two to me?"
Fernan turned to the bartender and ordered another glass of Relangzi, then casually pointed his hand above the wooden board and said, "Look, the bounty on that red-haired Feysac woman is pretty good, it's newly posted."
He looked over and found a less wrinkled bounty ticket. On it was a very professional sketch of a woman with dark red curly hair, thick and upturned eyebrows, and a heroic look. Below the picture were several lines of information about the target, such as name, height, body shape, accent, etc.
"Winkel Agassiz..." He looked at the portrait for a few more times and wrote down the woman's name. This reward was not from the official side, but was obviously for personal revenge or some other purpose. It only required information. The price of 3 soli for one piece of information was already quite generous in the field of searching for people.
"If you have any news, please tell me directly. As usual, we'll split it 70% and 30%."
Douglas responded and focused more on the fugitives wanted by the authorities. He had no intention of getting involved in private revenge business where good and evil were hard to distinguish.
On the one hand, he had just gotten out of this mess, and on the other hand, he could easily guess what would happen to a woman who fell into the hands of her enemies, given the moral standards of the East District. Although he didn't want to be a saint, he couldn't add insult to injury. He just pretended not to see it, since he didn't need the three soles anyway.
After exchanging some recent intelligence with Fernando and playing a few games of "Fighting Evil" invented by Emperor Roselle, Douglas waited until almost six o'clock to eat something before leaving. He returned to the rented safe house, changed his clothes, and hurried to the Astronomical Observation Enthusiasts Association in the Joewood District.
He had wanted to go there in the afternoon, but Anthony reminded him that members of this kind of association all had serious jobs and were usually only present at night and on weekends. So Douglas readily adjusted his plan and spent the afternoon walking around the East District and the Docklands, maintaining the original owner's past interpersonal relationships.
"Luckily I found a decent job. I'm not cut out to be a bounty hunter. I can't smoke, gamble, flirt, or be a street prostitute. Fortunately, I can still hold my liquor..."
He did not take the public carriage, but walked quickly on the street, letting the cold autumn and winter breeze blow away the smell of cigarettes on him from the bar, and thinking casually about how to make use of his identity in the East District.
"Some things in the church can be done by offering rewards through information dealers... Uh, I wonder if I can hook fellow villagers by posting some bilingual advertisements in the East District? Try it when you have time? The problem is that although Rosel language cannot be deciphered, it is easy to identify. It will be difficult for me to explain if I am caught by the authorities..."
"Oh, right, let's change our thinking. Why not just forge some Roselle diaries at underground gatherings? Everyone can write simplified Chinese! But Roselle's diary can't contain too much English, after all, the difference between Chinese characters and letters is too big... I can only give priority to catching fellow countrymen, if there are any!"
"Hehe, Brother Tao, you never imagined it, right? It is said that your diary can be sold for more than ten pounds a copy in the underground market... Whether I can get rich depends entirely on you! Praise Emperor Roselle!"
Douglas happily rushed to the "Association of Astronomical Observation Enthusiasts". After filling in his identity information and paying the membership fee at the front desk, he received an identity sleeve pin, which was engraved with a simple telescope pattern and surrounded by tiny inscriptions.
Douglas, who had just learned ancient Hermetic language today, spent a while to distinguish it and guessed that it was a root word meaning "observation" or something similar.
As a new member, he was led by the front desk staff into each room and introduced one by one. At this time, there were less than ten members in the association, and it was said that at least fifty members would be present on Saturday night.
Douglas pretended to be there for the first time and followed the waiter into the observatory, expressing his admiration for the bulky telescopes.
The service staff carefully introduced the basic parameters of the telescope, such as its magnification, to him: "If you are interested, you can use it at any time. However, due to the size of the equipment, for safety reasons, it is best for you to cooperate with two or more members to use it."
"Well, I'll try it when I get a chance." Douglas remembered Father Schultz's advice and lied calmly, "But I've never operated such a delicate instrument before. I'm afraid I need some time to learn the relevant knowledge. Haha, I don't want to damage it by accident."
As he spoke, his eyes swept over the several members who were operating the telescope, and then looked at the sky that was still shrouded in dust and haze, and he couldn't help but feel a little pity for these enthusiasts.
The service staff smiled and continued his words, and led him to the reference room: "Then you can find what you want here. We provide a lot of entry-level materials and books for free. You can browse them at will, but you can't take them away. If you have more needs, such as wanting to order professional textbooks or related academic magazines, we can provide subscription services at cost price..."
After guiding him around the environment with a businesslike smile, the waiter asked him what kind of drinks he wanted and then left him free to move around. Douglas wandered in front of the bookshelf in the reference room for a while, picked out two thin science-like pamphlets, and went to the lounge to find a seat and sit down comfortably.
A cup of black tea with milk was quickly brought to him. Douglas sipped his tea leisurely while flipping through the book. When he saw the chapter on constellations that mentioned that Emperor Roselle had tried to rename the stars in the sky with names such as "Capricornus" and "Libra", he almost spit out a mouthful of tea.
However, the data in front of him and Russell's attempts showed that the constellations in this world were similar to the original Earth... Was it like a parallel world or a parallel universe? Douglas turned the page and began to think about why he didn't become a chosen child or a Hogwarts wizard. Was he too old? Adults were not worthy of fantasy and could only work as workers?
While he was daydreaming, several members were discussing something in a low voice and sat down not far away. Douglas looked up and found that they were the ones who had been fiddling with the telescope before. Judging from the sweat on their foreheads, the telescope was really heavy...
Due to the needs of the mission, he observed these people particularly carefully and even secretly opened his spiritual vision. He saw that in their heads, the inner astral body was a state of excited red and thinking blue interlaced, while the outer etheric body was generally shrouded in healthy white.
There are no strange things around... Well, gentlemen, you have nothing to worry about except your hairline. Douglas closed his spiritual vision and was about to look away when one of them inadvertently tilted his head and met his gaze.
Douglas smiled calmly and nodded. He did stare at the man for a little too long, which was not very polite, so he explained, "Sorry, gentlemen, I'm just a little curious and don't mean to disturb you."
The other party didn't pay attention to this little episode and soon resumed the discussion. Douglas couldn't understand what they had to discuss after looking at the haze for so long, so he couldn't help but listen attentively and found that they were actually... doing astronomy?Chapter 18 Making FriendsTitle of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 3207 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-20 15:30:07
I thought this was an association that advocated science. After all, you all yearn for the stars and the sea... Douglas picked up the teacup and took a sip, lamenting the excessive concentration of mysticism in this world.
For example, in matters like divination, although only extraordinary people can get relatively accurate revelations, with the birth of playing cards and the tarot cards promoted by Roselle, divination has gradually expanded from a means of mysticism to an entertainment project for the general public.
He propped up his head and pretended to read a book, but in fact he was eavesdropping on their calculations. Astronomy is a type of astrology, involving very complex reverse calculations of the movement of planets and constellations. Ordinary people can try to interpret it, but it is very demanding on mathematical skills and knowledge reserves.
For extraordinary people of certain paths, some parameters can be judged by spiritual intuition, which is relatively easy.
After listening for a while, Douglas realized that they seemed to be calculating the "birth chart" for someone's newborn baby, trying to determine whether the child's life would be smooth by predicting the future trajectory of the planets.
As long as they have a good education, your middle-class kids shouldn't be too bad... Douglas complained silently and resisted the urge to help the other party calculate.
Astrology divination does not involve asking for help from the gods, so it is unlikely to attract strange things and the danger level is very low. Therefore, he did not intend to interfere with the other party. He just took out the notebook and pen he bought on the road and recorded this situation.
After all, it was a job that required submission of a report, and anything involving the occult had to be recorded. And who knows if these people would try other, more dangerous divinations after trying the astrolabe divination, so they were put on the observation list first.
Those people had no idea that they had been recorded in the small notebooks, and they continued to flip through the calendar for a while, and finally came up with a satisfactory result after more than ten minutes. It was already late at this time, and tomorrow was still a working day, so most people had already left. Douglas finished flipping through two introductory books and was about to return the books and leave, but he didn't expect to meet the man who had just made eye contact with him in the reference room.
The other party obviously recognized him. He smiled and stretched out his hand, as if he wanted to get to know him: "Hello, I'm Eton Vogel."
Douglas politely shook hands with him, introduced himself, and then pretended to be interested and asked: "I'm sorry to bother you just now. However, the content of your chat really attracted me. Can I ask what you were doing at that time?"
"Oh, you don't have to worry about it." Eaton raised his hand to stroke his brown hair and smiled complacently, "We were just doing astrology for a friend's child. Well, you should know that this requires consulting a lot of information to make an accurate judgment."
"I only know that it is quite complicated. I'm afraid only someone as knowledgeable as you can master it." Douglas continued to lead the topic. "I have tried it before, such as card divination, but unfortunately the results were not very convincing. Maybe I don't have the talent for it."
They walked out together while chatting about this topic. Eaton was a very expressive person and generously shared some of his experiences in divination.
"Maybe it's God's blessing. I always have a kind of...special intuition in this regard." Eaton laughed and took out a tin cigarette box from his pocket and handed it to him. Douglas politely refused. When he saw the other party light up the cigarette, he thought to himself, you'd better pray to your God to bless you more. Have you heard of coc running group? Sir, too much inspiration is not a good thing.
Of course, in this extraordinary world, such appearances do represent talent: both the talent of becoming an extraordinary person and the talent of courting death. Those who can see more than ordinary people tend to have greater curiosity, and the process of exploring the unknown world is never safe.
Douglas felt that he seemed to understand part of the meaning of monitoring this kind of fan association. Astrology is a major branch of mysticism. If you are exposed to it too much, you will inevitably be exposed to things that you shouldn't touch.
For example, my previous employer, Peter Thomson, I even forgot to ask whether this guy is still alive... I hope he is okay... Douglas silently prayed a few words for this unfortunate friend in his heart.
Eaton had no idea what he was thinking. He took a few deep puffs of his cigarette with a look of satisfaction on his face. He puffed out smoke for a long time before turning to him: "Haha, my colleagues always advise me to quit smoking. Goddess! I said I would rather fill my lungs with tobacco. At least it makes people feel happier than the air in Backlund."
You are a believer of the goddess. I am going to meet the Night Watchman tomorrow... Douglas smiled tolerantly and looked up at the sky: "I think the Excellencies of the Air Management Committee have worked hard enough. At least we can still see the red moon clearly."
He looked critically at the hazy red moon that seemed to be covered by a veil, and thought it was fine to just watch it as a spectacle, but it was unpleasant to see it hanging like this every day.
Eaton nodded in agreement, "Yes, I have to say that Backlund's bad climate makes many people ignore the beautiful scenery that is truly worth appreciating... Every summer, the association organizes everyone to go to the suburbs to see the clear night sky. Well, then you will know how vast the world we live in is! Believe me, it will definitely be a view that you will never forget in your life."
"Of course, I am looking forward to it very much. I just hope my boss will approve my leave application when the time comes."
"Haha, this is why I chose the profession of public school teacher..."
The two chatted until they reached the corner of the street and said goodbye to each other. Eton Vogel looked very happy and walked briskly towards the public carriage station. Douglas quietly took out his notebook and wrote down more information about this new friend under the light of the gas street lamp.
The various signs in the conversation just now convinced him that Eaton was not an extraordinary person, and had not even been exposed to the extraordinary world. He was just an ordinary person with slightly higher inspiration who liked to look at the stars. As for whether the other party would gradually go astray in the future, Douglas felt that even if such a thing was reported, he would still be responsible for guiding it in the end, so it would be better to start with being friends with the other party.
He watched the other party get on the public carriage and leave safely, then turned and walked towards another station heading to the North District.
Fernando had drunk a little too much. Of course, this kind of tipsiness was his normal state. As a believer of the Lord of Storms and a sailor who had sailed on the sea, he firmly believed that strong liquor was a symbol of manliness and could provide him with unimaginable energy, so he always drank this kind of beverage excessively.
The bar became more lively after nightfall, and many bounty hunters began to come in and out, looking for targets or squandering the bounties they had just received to relax. Those who were familiar with Fernan would always go straight to the seat to his right and chat with the intelligence dealer.
Without exception, they were all recommended by Fernan for the bounty of finding the Feysac woman, Winkel Agassiz. Bounty hunters were very interested in this easy and well-paid task, and were even interested in the good-looking woman in the portrait.
Many people half-jokingly asked Fernando about the woman's background, such as whether she was the daughter of a poor family, or whether she was the mistress of a businessman but eloped secretly for a gigolo. Such stories always arouse people's greatest imagination.
Amid the noise, Fernan drank glass after glass, listening to the sailors and bounty hunters turning the conversation to bed. He glanced up the stairs with his squinting eyes, and in his heart he laughed at the other people's short-sightedness.
You have never seen a real woman... He leaned on the bar, thinking leisurely, the streetwalkers in Loen, the noisy dancers in the Red Theater... What kind of women are they? Bah! Real women, real...
He stood up suddenly, squeezed through the noisy crowd, and stepped onto the upward staircase. He had his own room on the second floor of the bar. Fernan walked all the way to the depths. The noise downstairs gradually faded away, he burped, exhaled a breath of foul air, and suddenly shuddered, feeling the blood that had originally flowed to his lower limbs in his imagination gradually cooling down.
However, he had already walked to the door of the room, and the old wooden floor creaked with his footsteps. Fernando hesitated for a moment, and just as he was about to turn around and leave, the people in the room seemed to notice. A soft and lazy voice came from behind the door: "Come in."
The moment he heard the voice, Fernando involuntarily took half a step back.
His eyes drifted a few times, but he finally stretched out his hand, pressed the door handle, gently pushed the door open, and walked into his room with his head lowered.
The room was equipped with gas pipes and lighting fixtures, but at this moment, only a candle was lit, and the light was dim and flickering. On one side of the candle was a cracked mirror, and on the other side, which was the table, a beautiful woman with black hair down to her waist was half-sitting and half-leaning.
Seeing Fernando standing by the door, she held her cheek with her hand and asked softly, "What's the matter?"
Fernan didn't dare look directly at the woman who occupied his room. He bent his already hunched body even harder to show respect. He rubbed his hands awkwardly and replied in a low voice: "No, nothing, I just want to tell you... the commission has been issued, and many bounty hunters are very interested in it. I will find her for you soon! I swear!"
The woman chuckled and said, "That's great. Fernando, why don't you look up at me?"
Her words seemed to have some kind of magic, and Fernando, who had been gradually calming down, experienced the hot-headed feeling again. He slowly raised his eyes, licking up along the thin white ankles of the woman who appeared in his field of vision, passing through the ambiguous shadow under the skirt, and then lightly sweeping across the curvy figure wrapped in the fabric, and finally landing on the woman's face.
The excessive amount of alcohol he drank seemed to burn in his veins. Fernan stared blankly at the woman's face, watching her lips curl up slightly and reveal a light smile.
"When you really find her, I don't mind giving you a small reward. Go ahead and keep my secret. Don't bother me these few days if you have nothing to do. Got it?"
"Okay, okay…" Fernando swallowed hard and loudly, with a strange expression of half piety and half greed on his face. "Everything is up to your wishes, Miss Cortina…"
He backed out of the room.Chapter 19: Mystic Mentor from the Church of NightTitle of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 3634 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-20 15:30:07
Nora Melos was a petite lady with short chestnut hair that reached her shoulders. Behind her gold-rimmed glasses were a pair of lake-green eyes that always contained a hint of smile.
He seemed like a good person to talk to… Douglas relaxed a little, and followed him into a dark room at the bottom of St. Samuel's Church. The night watchman turned on the gas lamp to illuminate the room, and looked back at him with amusement: "You should know that it is very impolite to stare at a lady like this."
Douglas replied somewhat awkwardly and helplessly: "No offense, ma'am, I'm just afraid that I might accidentally see something I shouldn't see."
And I was just locked up a few days ago, he added silently in his heart.
"Sit down." Nora Melos chuckled, pulled out two chairs, and sat down opposite the large classical wooden table. "Well, don't worry. Since the archbishop has agreed to your church's request, there will be no risk of leaks in the things you can access here."
Indeed, even if I go out and leak the layout of the Night Watchmen's office, I guess no one would dare to storm St. Samuel's Church… Douglas sat in his chair, and then he dared to raise his head and look around.
It was a small room, with not much space left after putting in a table and two chairs. There was also a locked iron door on the other wall of the room.
"We won't be holding classes here forever." Noticing his gaze, Nora Meros explained briefly, "Ritual magic requires enough space, and you need to have a basic grasp of the Hermetic language. This is the weapons room, and you should have a similar setup."
"I'm already studying it." Douglas looked back at Melos with some confusion. Since it's not time to learn ritual magic yet, am I here to help you guard the armory?
Melos smiled as he opened the drawer and took out the information, "Don't worry. Well, I need to understand your knowledge of occult science and potions first. You are an 'apprentice', right? How many years have you been a Beyonder?"
Douglas hummed, "...seven years."
In fact, it was nine years... The original owner became a Beyonder at the age of seventeen, and he was twenty-six this year. But when he traveled here, he was twenty-three. In order to find a reasonable excuse for his immaturity in many aspects, he simply reported Douglas' age as twenty-four.
Anyway, there is no household registration system in this world, and the age difference of a few years will not cause him any trouble.
"Not bad. A long enough time will allow you to deepen your mastery of potions and reduce the risk and probability of losing control." Meros nodded slightly. "According to our standards, three years plus a certain amount of observation will allow you to try to advance to the next sequence."
Douglas fully expressed his longing and regret for promotion through his facial expression: "I don't know when I will get the opportunity to be promoted."
Putting aside the issue of accumulating merits, the potion formula is the key. The original owner had been searching for the corresponding formula for nine years but had not found it. If he had not been young enough when he became a Beyonder, he would have probably lost the opportunity to be promoted safely during the search due to his aging, physical and mental decline.
And it seems that the church does not have any follow-up formula. Douglas can only pin his hopes on Roselle's diary, hoping that Roselle will come across the corresponding formula and record it down during his promotion.
Melos obviously knew this, and did not offer any consolation, but simply pushed a few papers to him. Douglas flipped open the paper and was surprised to find that it was information about the "Apprentice" sequence pathway.
"Sequence 9, 'Apprentice', their abilities are quite strange, and we can only confirm that they are the beginning of a school of mages. They are rarely trapped and are difficult to block, and they always have a way to pass and escape."
The beginning of the mage school... This description gives me the feeling of playing an online game. But the mage in the beginning can't even make a fireball, and can only go through walls! So weak!
Since Melos had taken the initiative to provide this material, it meant that there was no leakage involved. Douglas looked at the next line of text with great anticipation.
"Sequence 8, 'Master of Magic', masters a variety of strange but not powerful spells."
"Master of Magic..." Douglas muttered the name of the potion with a strange expression.
Apprentice and Juggler, although the latter is indeed closer to the mage school in terms of name and skills, the names of the two lack the necessary connection.
According to his understanding, the potion sequence should be similar to the career division in online games. Regardless of changing jobs or upgrading levels, each profession should grow within its own scope of expertise.
For example, a swordsman can be promoted to a magic swordsman, mad swordsman, or ghost swordsman, all of which belong to the category of using swords, but being promoted to a berserker, even with only one letter difference, is extremely outrageous, and the game planner will definitely be criticized to the point of being unrecognizable.
His eyes continued to move downward and saw the name of Sequence 7.
"Sequence 7, 'Astrologer', possesses very comprehensive divination skills and knowledge."
Douglas put down the materials and felt even more confused.
This sounds like a mage profession, but what does it have to do with "Master of Magic"... Uh, they all appear in circuses? Could it be that "animal trainer" will appear in the next sequence... No, considering the attributes of mages, could it be "magician"?
"…I don't understand." He said bluntly, casting a questioning look at Meros.
Meros smiled and spread his hands. "Don't ask me. I don't understand either. Generally speaking, the names of sequences reflect a tendency to progress step by step. But sequences like 'Apprentice' and 'Assassin' below do not have this characteristic."
Douglas wordlessly turned the page and saw a brief description of Sequence 9 "Assassin" and the corresponding Sequence 8 "Instigator".
On the next page, as soon as he saw the first line of words, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
This is information about the secret organization "Genzhi Society"!
He suppressed his other expressions and quickly read through the entire article before coming up with a rough guess. He put the information back on the table and asked tentatively, "Do you suspect that my potion may have come from the Spiritual Knowledge Society?"
"If you can find subsequent potion formulas, or information about 'assassins' or 'instigators' in the underground market, it is most likely from the Gnosis Society." Meros gave an affirmative answer, then put on a serious expression and said, "This information is not to encourage you to take risks, but rather a warning. You should know that the Gnosis Society is a secret organization that is prone to committing bloody crimes. Once you get the relevant information, don't be blinded by greed and report the relevant situation to the church immediately."
It seems that they don't doubt me... That's right, if they doubted me, they would never let the Earth Mother Church take me away. Of course, it's more reassuring if the members of such a dangerous secret organization are dead...
Douglas breathed a sigh of relief and immediately said, "I have always cherished my life."
He realized that the Church of Darkness had provided this information to prevent him from falling directly into the arms of the Gnostic Society for promotion one day, and was trying to use his needs to do some reverse fishing...
"If you can contribute in this area, you will have no shortage of opportunities for promotion." Melos looked at him thoughtfully and gave him a final suggestion.
Douglas's eyes lit up immediately. Yes, I just lacked potions to get promoted. If I can capture the members of the secret organization, there is a high probability that I will get the corresponding potion formula.
But why is it the Church of Darkness that is suggesting this? I am clearly employed by the Church of Mother Earth... Am I your child, who was divorced and raised by each of you paying half of the living expenses?... I don't understand the boundaries of cooperation with your church...
While he was busy complaining, Melos had put away the materials and began to turn the topic to the field of occult knowledge, asking him if he understood concepts such as "symbol", "revelation", and "spiritual world".
Douglas searched the original owner's memory and gave half-understood answers, which were corrected one by one by the teacher in a stern tone. He was a little hesitant to accept and memorize these new concepts and knowledge. At the same time, he inexplicably felt that as the learning progressed, his spirituality seemed to be a little more lively.
After the explanation, Melos pushed the slightly slumped metal frame and habitually reached out to pick up her teacup. When she reached out, she remembered that this was not an office. She cleared her throat and looked at Douglas, who was doubting his life across the table. She said, "I know you haven't received systematic theoretical learning before. We can take our time in this regard. But in the future, you must use this tested and relatively safe knowledge as the starting point for your thinking, and change your original way of thinking that relies solely on instinct and intuition."
"I understand..." Douglas sat up a little straighter and raised his hand to pinch his eyebrows.
"Let's take a break. Do you need something to drink?" Melos stood up and walked around the desk, preparing to go back to the office to get a glass of water.
After declining the offer, Douglas watched the other party leave the room. He also stood up and simply stretched in the room, and carefully examined his own situation before reviewing the course content.
He was very puzzled by the sudden spiritual activity just now. Generally speaking, he would only have obvious spiritual fluctuations when he used his abilities or felt a crisis, and the situation just now was obviously not one of them.
There was no external factor affecting it. Could it be me? I didn't do anything or think about anything just now. All my brain cells were busy studying... How can I say that studying made me lose control? He touched his whole body suspiciously to confirm that there was no change that shouldn't have happened.
Then he felt a slight warning from his spiritual intuition. He turned around and saw Nora Melos standing at the door holding a teacup, staring at him silently, with a look of wanting to say something but stopping herself.
"..." Douglas opened his mouth and immediately said, "I can explain!"
"You must explain." The Night Watchman seemed quite speechless. "After all, this is inside our church. Any strange behavior you do will be recorded."
Douglas reported his spiritual fluctuations truthfully. After hearing this, Nora Melos put down the cup, tapped her right hand twice to activate her spiritual vision, and also examined him carefully.
"I don't think there's anything unusual." She touched her chin, first eliminating the risk of losing control, "The knowledge you just learned is absolutely harmless, and you also went through the red gloves' inspection not long ago... Hey, it can't be that you are guilty of not paying attention to the class."
"I'm serious!"
Douglas even wanted to say that this reminded him of the fear of his high school math teacher staying after class to solve problems, but after remembering that "he" had never been to school, he changed his words and said, "I, I even feel like I have become a real 'apprentice', as if I were in school... Huh?"
He suddenly stopped talking. Melos looked at him, and he looked at Melos, who tolerantly gave him some time to organize his words. Douglas savored the changes in his spirituality and asked, "The deepening of the mastery of potions... generally, what are the signs?"
The Nighthawk frowned slightly: "Mastery of potions? ...What do you feel?"
How can I explain this to you? I'm just a novice in mysticism... Douglas raised his hand and gestured a few times, and said incoherently: "That is, when I felt that I met the definition of 'apprentice', I had a kind of, uh... feeling that I could better master the power of potions...? Intuition? It was very obvious..."
---------
There is a lot of nonsense about the role-playing method. Although readers know it, my character doesn't know it, so I still have to talk about it. It's really troublesome. 2333 After the first part is finished, the plot will be smoother, probably (Chapter 20 Mastery and DigestionTitle of the Book:Mystery: From Apprentice to High-Dimensional OverlookerAuthor's name: BambooChapter word count: 4667 wordsUpdate time: 2022-09-21 15:30:09
"The definition of 'apprentice'..." Nora Melos crossed her arms and thought carefully about what Douglas had just said. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind. "What did you say last time?"
"The previous sentence? The level of potion mastery..."
"No, no, one more sentence!"
"Uh, I feel like a real 'apprentice'?"
Hearing these words, the Nighthawk suddenly recalled another very similar sentence.
"That's because I've always been a real 'psychic'."
Daly Simone said this with a smile when she was transferred to the Backlund Diocese.
This genius, whose promotion speed was far faster than that of an ordinary person, was transferred from Tingen Parish to Backlund a few years ago and became their teammate. At that time, many people half-jokingly asked her how she mastered potions so quickly, but Daly often just gave a simple answer like this.
Of course, everyone knew that she was a true, Sequence 7 "psychic", and they just thought this answer was a euphemism for Daly's description of her talent, and they just smiled and let it go. As night watchmen who were always walking on the edge of danger, they all knew that in the extraordinary world, they should not try to take shortcuts, and relying on time and continuous improvement to master potions was the safest way.
After all, talent is something that cannot be copied. Moreover, Nora Melos, who has heard of the other party's life experience, also knows that such talent does not mean luck for anyone.
However, hearing similar words again in such a situation, Melos suddenly had some new ideas.
If Daly's words were not just a joke, if the name of the potion was not just to explore deeper symbolic meanings, if the motto of the "Secret Peeper" "Do whatever you want, but don't hurt" was not just a warning...
She narrowed her lake green eyes, feeling that she might have discovered some truth that had been unintentionally overlooked.
But looking at Douglas who was still in a state of confusion, Melos closed his eyes, used quick meditation to calm his mind, and then spoke to comfort him: "I don't know what kind of phenomenon this is, but at present, it doesn't seem to be harmful to you."
"Hmm..." Douglas reached out and stroked the thick wooden tabletop, thoughtfully.
"You go in and out of the Orthodox Church every day. I don't think this abnormality is a big problem." Melos said in a concluding tone, "You should always pay attention to your condition. I will go back and look up some materials or ask seniors in the next few days. I will tell you when I have the results. Now, let's continue with today's lesson."
Douglas fully agreed with this arrangement, thinking of the fact that the other party had the profound background of the Church of the Night and the experienced Red Gloves. And I could go back and ask Anthony myself, maybe the vampires knew the relevant knowledge... He nodded obediently: "Okay, teacher."
Because of this address, Melos looked at him deeply. Douglas had to admit that he did it on purpose, he felt like he had just "realized" something.
Just like playing games, a mage adds points to magic, a warrior adds points to strength, and an assassin adds points to agility. The more the attributes match the profession, the more useful they are.
Then, as a Sequence 9 "apprentice", should I do what an apprentice should do? For example, like now, learn new knowledge from a more experienced mentor?
With this tentative idea in mind, Douglas was particularly focused in the second half of his studies.
After bidding farewell to Nora Melos and leaving St. Samuel's Church, he randomly walked into an empty alley, placed his hand on the wall, and successfully "passed through" the alley.
"Well, although the increase is small, the ability has indeed been enhanced... This wall is thicker than the ones I have tried to 'pass' through before..." Douglas felt the loosening of the power of the potion in his body with some surprise, which gave him some confidence in his idea.
However, such changes were obviously "quantitative changes" rather than "qualitative changes" and did not bring him new abilities.
"I thought that once you take a potion, it's a one-time thing... So it seems that the word 'digestion' is more appropriate than mastering the potion? Just like eating, it has to go through different degrees of digestion in the mouth, stomach, intestines and other organs before all the nutrients can be absorbed!
"Digestion takes a certain amount of time and requires specific chemical reactions... For potions, the former complies with the three-year probation period stipulated by the Nighthawks, and the latter should mean performing actions that match the name of the potion?
"'Apprentice'... literally means someone who has not yet graduated and needs to continue learning and improving. Then, doesn't a 'magic master' really have to perform for people..."
He made some guesses along this line of thought, but did not expand on it. After all, he could not confirm the root cause of this state at present. Instead of guessing blindly, he might as well think about how to trick Roselle's diary from Antonya to see if there is any relevant record.
Douglas thought about this and simply turned to another street corner, preparing to take a public carriage back to Harvest Church to see if he could get a working meal while solving the problem and save money for a dinner...
-
In an apartment building behind Pestfil Street where St. Samuel Church is located.
Al Hassan, who was handsome but had wrinkles around his eyes, entered the lounge and saw Nora Melos looking at a photo frame carefully.
"Nora, are your classes over?" He greeted her, took off his windbreaker and hung it on the hanger, chose a place near the fireplace to sit down, and let out a long breath, "Huh, the weather is starting to get colder."
"Oh, Al…how was the mission?" Meros was awakened from his contemplative state and responded with a smile.
"Some weak spirits accidentally broke into the residence of the living, and Luoluota quickly dealt with them."
As Al spoke, he casually glanced at the photo frame in her hand with a gentle expression: "It's a photo from the past..."
"Yes." Melos's eyes were fixed on Daly Simone's figure. "That little girl just now made me suddenly miss Daly..."
Al Hassan, who had a lot of middle-aged masculine charm, was silent for a few seconds and frowned: "I remember that person was a man...did he verbally harass you?"
Nora Melos was stunned for a moment and then laughed unrestrainedly: "No, of course not! Oh my God, Al, are those jokes the only thing you remember about Daly?"
"You can't deny that it's as remarkable as her talent." After getting a negative answer, Al's brows relaxed and he moved his knuckles.
When the topic was brought up, the two sighed at the same time. For a while, the lounge was extremely quiet, with only the crackling of the fireplace, until Lolota, who was supposed to be on duty at Chanis Gate tonight, pushed the door open and greeted them in surprise: "Why haven't you gone home yet?"
Before Al could answer, he saw Nora Melos take a deep breath as if she had made up her mind, put the photo frame upside down on the table, and then signaled Lorota to close the door.
"I have to get your opinion on something," she said.
-
Winkle Agassiz was trapped in the room again.
It was an exaggeration to call it a room. She couldn't even stand up straight in this small space. The temporary house, which looked like a tent and was built with discarded wooden boards and other similar things, was only designed to survive the cold winter and was incompatible with the most basic human dignity and comfort.
She kicked the door hard. Theoretically, a kick from a Hunter Path Sequence 6 was enough to knock down the entire burrow. However, with the help of a certain extraordinary item, the shaky door panel fulfilled its duty and served as the boundary between the inside and the outside.
The red-haired woman with a heroic look in her eyes was silent for a while, then she yelled, "Damn it!"
With this roar, a burst of flames rushed towards the door, burning the poor piece of wood into ashes, and igniting the miscellaneous things around it.
The wanderers shouted in panic. Winkle Agassiz rushed out of the room without looking back.
As she ran, she took out the revolver from her waist and stared at it hatefully, as if this could change anything.
Winkle felt very unlucky. Overnight, the vast Texas wilderness that she was familiar with and the hundreds of spotted cows on her ranch disappeared, and the world became strange, so strange that she could rub fireballs with her bare hands.
It was even more strange that a revolver was keen on locking its owner in any confined space! Any! Confined space! On the first day, Winkle was forced to break the lock of the hotel to escape. On the second day, she had to break through the basement of a residential building. On the third day...
The past was too painful to recall, but Winkle did not repent. She randomly picked a house again, picked the lock, opened the door, and rolled in with great skill. It was because the winter in this broken place was very cold, and even if she could light a fire by herself, she did not want to spend the night on the street.
She got into the house and put her hand on the door to prevent it from closing automatically. According to experience, as long as the doors and windows were closed to form a closed space, she had to break through violently; but if she didn't close the door, keeping the space here connected to the outside world, nothing would happen.
Then Winkle raised his head in confusion and sniffed, smelling a faint smell of blood in the air.
She was not afraid. She grew up with her grandparents on the ranch, sitting in her grandfather's arms and riding on horseback every night, squinting to see the glittering eyes of animals in the wilderness. When she grew up a little bit, Winkle learned to chase after her uncle and watch him shoot wild boars with a double-barreled shotgun, learned to use wire traps to catch rabbits and pikas that dug holes and destroyed the pasture, and learned to reach into the cow's abdomen to grope and untie the umbilical cord wrapped around the calf's neck.
How could a hunter be afraid of the smell of blood? Winkle loaded his revolver, slowly stood up, and walked steadily into the room with his back against the wall, stopping at a corner and listening attentively.
There was only a very steady breathing sound, like that of a person in deep sleep. The bloody smell was mixed with a faint smell of alcohol and damp, unpleasant sweat. Winkle's fingers moved slightly and pulled the trigger halfway down, then he dodged and rushed out, holding the gun horizontally with both arms and sweeping across the small room.
No one paid any attention to her. Of course, there was the bloated corpse on the ground, and the boy half lying on the sofa was still curled up and sleeping soundly, with the bloody knife in his hand telling everything.
The hunter was not careless. He walked around the bottles rolling on the ground and quietly approached the body. He kicked it with the tip of his boot and found that the body was stiff and had been dead for at least two days. If it wasn't winter, the body would have rotted and smelled long ago.
Winkle lowered the muzzle of his gun slightly, pointing it at the sleeping boy, and then kicked a bottle away. The crisp sound of glass breaking woke him up. He suddenly opened his eyes and almost jumped up on the spot, holding the handle of the knife tightly with his right hand, raised his cloudy dark brown eyes to look at the black muzzle of the gun, and then stopped his movement to pounce out, and stood still on the sofa in a weird squatting and kneeling posture.
The boy looked at her, tilted his head in confusion, and said in a hoarse voice: "...Are you a policeman?"
"No, I'm a robber," replied Winkle casually.
The boy actually nodded calmly: "Then you are really an unlucky robber. Our family has no money."
Hey, you brave little guy... She pointed at the body on the ground and asked, "Who is he?"
"My dad." The boy moved his arms and raised the knife to show her. "I've had enough. I've been hungry for a long time, but he only uses money to buy alcohol and beats me. I stabbed him three, no, four times. He must be dead, right?"
"Dead completely."
"That's good. I used the money he earned from drinking to buy food. Now he can never hit me."
The boy tilted his head indifferently, his defensive posture gradually relaxed, and he sat with his hands on his knees, blinking and looking at Winkle: "If you want anything, just take it. I don't need it. I think the police will come to arrest me in a few days, although they are already late for a long time."
Winkle Agassiz gradually lowered his arm, removed the muzzle of the gun, looked the thin boy up and down, and suddenly laughed: "What's your name?"
"Little John." The boy pointed to the body. "He is Old John."
"Little John, that's a nice name." She snapped her fingers. "You can call me Winkle. I'll be staying at your house for a while. Is that okay with you?"
"Winkle..." Little John rubbed his eyes as if he hadn't woken up yet, and repeated the name, "Well, then you have to pay the rent."
After a pause, he quickly added: "And food expenses!"
The hunter motioned him to throw the knife over first, and Little John did so obediently. Winkle put away the knife and confidently put the revolver back into the holster. After all, a little boy could not hurt a Sequence 6 Beyonder without a weapon. She kicked the corpse on the ground and said, "You still have an appetite to eat this thing lying in the house? Get up and clean it up, or you won't have any food."
Little John glanced at her aggrievedly, resigned himself to his fate and jumped off the sofa. He pondered for a few seconds beside his father's body: "...If I throw it outside, someone will find it. It's been a mess here lately."
Yes, it is not appropriate to let a child dispose of the body, but she is not familiar with the environment here... Winkle touched his chin and asked curiously: "It's been very chaotic recently? What happened? How did you know?"
"Dad has a lot of friends, they are all bounty hunters." Little John left the body and walked around to pick up all the glass bottles on the ground and put them into a basket. "Last time they said Aurora was looking for something and called the police. Many people came here in the past two days."
Aurora Club? Winkle felt like she had heard of this name before, but she couldn't remember the details. This wasn't the first time she had heard of this. She didn't hesitate, but just waved her hand: "Do you have a bathtub at home?"
"What are you going to do?"
Winkle snapped his fingers, and a flame ignited at his fingertips: "Burn your father clean."
Little John stared at the flame with wide eyes and said "Wow" sincerely. His face was full of curiosity, but he still remembered to answer her question: "No...but, maybe you can put it in the sewer to burn it? There is a manhole cover when you go out of the kitchen door, and you can burn it under it."
Smart kid. Winkle nodded in agreement, then took out a few banknotes from his pocket and stuffed them into the boy's pocket: "Go out and buy some food, two servings. Don't tell anyone your dad is dead yet."
"Would you like a drink?" Little John, who looked very experienced in running errands, put the money into a small pocket on his chest. "Would you like sausage, lamb or fish?"
"I hate alcohol, everything else is up to you." Winkle waved his hand and ordered, "Go! I'm hungry."
The boy pretended to perform a military salute, trotted out of the room with the basket full of empty bottles, and closed the door behind him out of safety awareness.
The door was closed... The hunter was stunned for a moment, rushed to the door, grabbed the door handle and pushed it. The wooden door did not move at all. The unfortunate seal took effect the moment it detected the closed environment, firmly locking the entire space.
Winkle took a deep breath and began to think about how he was going to explain to Little John that they had to replace a door.