Her Royal Highness the Princess said softly, and then nodded in understanding:
?????????"If you have something to do, do it, but don't forget to make time to date me."
????????When Shade returned to Mason Street, where the Masons Association is located, it was already five o'clock in the evening. He passed through the bustling crowd and entered the bustling tavern. He glanced around and saw
Mr. Antonio sat down in the corner against the wall.
????????After the waiter left, Shade, who sat down next to Mr. Antonio, apologized softly:
?????????"Sorry, I may have come a little late. Unfortunately, I couldn't see that old Huck."
"No need to apologize. I think even with the power of the earl, it would be difficult for you to meet the prince's assassin for such a reason."
The middle-aged playwright expressed his understanding, and Shade added:
"Of course, although I couldn't meet him in person, I investigated his neighbors and got some stories from the children in exchange for a few pieces of candy."
The two of them ordered a glass of Randall Valley's local specialty honey beer. Shade had never liked alcohol, so he just took a sip to increase his knowledge.
????????"As long as it can achieve its goal, do you have any good stories to share with me?"
????????"certainly."
???????Xia De then told the story he heard this afternoon, and Mr. Antonio recorded it excitedly. When Sha De finished telling his harvest, the middle-aged man also talked about his own
Harvest:
???????" I asked about the old Humphrey who was crushed to death last year in the association. The middle-aged stonemason we met in the afternoon did not lie. He was indeed knocked upside down during the earthquake last autumn.
His whole body seemed to have been smashed to death. The wound was in his head."
????????He also pointed to his head and explained the specific location:
?????????"It is said that he died immediately on the spot, and the ground was red and white..."
???????Mr. Antonio’s mouth trembled, obviously not very used to this kind of topic:
"It's very interesting that since the death of old Humphrey, the Stonemasons Association has occasionally heard the sound of carving stones at night, which is the prelude to the rumors of hauntings. Because of this incident, the association's senior officials
I just invited the local Sun Church to perform an exorcism."
????????He lowered his voice slightly:
?????????"My friends in the church told me that there really was a ghost in that incident."
????????This world is already rich in ghost stories and legends, so it is okay for ordinary people to know these things. What cannot be spread casually are things about relics and gods, and specious ghost stories can cover up the danger.
means of information.
?????????"But after the church exorcises demons, even if there were ghosts originally, they should be gone now, right?"
???????Xia De asked, but Mr. Antonio shook his head:
"Since then, the sound of carving has occasionally appeared. However, people searched carefully and found nothing, and no one was in danger. Later, I heard an architect say that it was
After the house ages, due to the large temperature difference between day and night, the materials inside the building deform and the sound is produced... I don't know if you believe it or not, but I... don't know if I should believe it."
????????" Then, we have so many stories in our hands, but no clues for further investigation."
???????Xia De said while holding the wine glass, and Mr. Antonio laughed instead:
?????????"Mr. Watson, aren't we here just for the story? Investigating the truth is not our purpose. You went too far and forgot the goal when you set out."...
"That's right. There are enough stories today. Even our investigation process can be called a good story."
Shade said, and Mr. Antonio was convinced. So the two chatted for a while while holding wine glasses, each exchanged the information they obtained and recorded it, and then they left separately.
Or rather, Shade sat motionless, and Mr. Antonio took the initiative to stand up and say goodbye to him, and agreed to go to the Prophet's Association to play Rhodes together at some time.
????????Xia De continued to hold the dirty wooden wine glass and looked around.
?????????"Mr. Antonio has left, and the next step is to find Luvia..."
???????【What are you looking around?】
"She" suddenly asked in Shade's ear.
????????" I was wondering if demonologist Mr. Sean Asmon would suddenly walk out of the crowd at this time. Since there may be demons in the Randall Valley, it cannot be ruled out that they are demons.
.”
????????But it seems that the demonologist who always meets Shade by chance is probably not here now.
After leaving the tavern, Shade went to the Fertile Land Hotel and found Luvia who had just gotten off work. After hearing about Shade’s investigation this afternoon, Luvia was also very interested in it.
, so he agreed to go with him that night.
Of course, before that, the two had dinner together. Luvia also smiled and said that since she came to Randall Valley on a business trip, the time she spent eating alone with Shad was comparable to that in Tobes.
There are a lot more grams.
?????????This is probably hinting at something to Shade.
The Masons Association usually closes at eight o'clock in the evening, and there are only three gatekeepers left after 8:30 in the evening. Shade calculated the time, and came to the Masons with Luvia around eight o'clock in the evening.
On the street, Luvia and I waited for a while in the tavern in the evening. After making sure that the lights of the Masonic Association building were turned off, we walked over with Luvia.
The two of them did not choose to climb over the wall from the backyard. With the help of Shade's illusion, they directly pushed the door open and walked in from the main entrance. The gatekeeper who was gathering to play Rhodes did not notice them at all.
The Masonry Association is mostly decorated with stone statues. Without lights, walking in such a place is quite scary. The president's office is on the top floor. The two of them looked for it according to the house number.
Found the location easily.
?????????After Shade used the [Door Key] to unlock the door, he saw an office that was larger than his bedroom. The owner of this office was very stylish, and the floor was covered with not-so-luxurious carpets.
, the wallpaper is dark brown. There is a stone bench next to the wooden bookshelf, and a stone statue of a philosopher's head is placed on the small table next to the clock on the wall.
Luvia followed Shade and walked in. She looked around in the dark and saw the safe in the corner at a glance.
????????Xia De walked over directly, apologized softly, and knocked on the side wall of the safe with his finger. Then, the sound of gear rotation and piston pushing and pulling came from inside the box. After a few dozen seconds,
, with a snapping sound, five alloy metal rods popped out from both sides of the box, accompanied by steam smoke, and the safe opened automatically.
???????? He knelt down to check, and Luvia summoned a small ball of light that flew into the safe to illuminate it.
?????????"Let me see what's there, cash, a small bag of gems...gold?"
????????It was a piece of gold bar in rather poor condition, less than half the size of Shade’s index finger. It was wrapped in paper and placed in the upper corner of the safe. Shade did not open the piece of paper, but the paper
It's too thin, and the light from Luvia's light group directly penetrates the paper...
"I didn't expect that the president of the Stonemasons Association would have such a hobby of collecting."
???????Shad would not mess with other people's things. He came here to find documents and contracts. There were indeed many documents in the safe. Shad pulled them out and looked at them separately with Luvia.
?????????There are not only the election and appointment documents of the president of the association, but also the real estate and real estate contracts of the Masons Association. Shade even saw the letters sent by the association to His Majesty the King of Willendale over the past ten years.
, but each envelope has a blue post office stamp of "returned", which is a sign of rejection.
?????????"I didn't see that ancient contract."
????????Shadow muttered, Luvia also shook her head and said that the files in her hand did not contain what he was looking for. So Shade put all the files back to their original places, and after restoring the safe, he saw
Toward the bookshelf at the back of the office:
?????????"Is it in the bookshelf? Search in the library!"
???????? He stretched out his hand in the direction of the bookshelf. Although the spell was successfully activated and the place here was judged to be an environment where the spell could be used, there was no ancient parchment flying towards it.
he.
?????????"Xia De, don't waste time, let me do it."
Luvia said softly, took out a half-thumb-sized amethyst tied by a thin string, and then held one end of the thin string to let the amethyst hang in the air. This is a more traditional "spiritual" method.
"Divination" is also a compulsory course for fortune-tellers.
???????The common spirit pendulum is amethyst
Or obsidian, but compared to card divination, Luvia's talent for pendulum divination is very limited. And "pendulum divination" itself has great limitations, but in looking for the lost key
, this divination skill is quite useful when it comes to small items such as socks.
?????????"The target is an ancient contract..."
Luvia whispered softly, letting her spirit pour into the amethyst. Then she closed her eyes and let her mind empty, letting her consciousness come into contact with the thread that represents fate and time. As the amethyst
Emitting a beautiful shimmer, the pendulum that was originally pointing downwards began to shift slightly to the side:
????????"found it."
"Speaking of which, can your pendulum divination be used to find cats? If it can be found, I, as a detective, will be out of a job."
???????Xia De asked curiously, and Luvia looked at him angrily:
"Don't always ask questions like this when we are doing business... Cats can be found in any divination, but fortune tellers will not do such boring things... If one day rice
Ya is lost, I can help you find her."
?????????Somehow, Shade suddenly remembered the silver-eyed little Mia being held by another Luvia in his dream.
The amethyst pendulum pointed to the wall where the office door was. Luvia pulled the pendulum in that direction. Sure enough, she found the safe embedded in the wall behind the oil painting next to the gas lamp.
And on that oil painting is the holy emblem of the righteous god [the God of the Sun and the Earth], the old man holding the lamp.
????????It was still Shade who opened the safe, and this safe was obviously much emptyer than the safe in the open. Shade saw the document he was looking for at a glance. Because this was hundreds of years ago
In order to preserve the previous documents, each page of the document was framed and tightly sealed. Fortunately, the original simple contract was not long, only twelve pages.