Standing at the end of the St. George Stone Bridge with his cat in his arms and looking at the falling snow in the sky, Shade really didn't know what to say.
The three addresses given by the coroner are not very close to each other. Among them, "Shaun the Magician" whom Shade has visited is roughly located in the southeast of Yuewan City, while the "Sir Donald" he visited this morning lives in Yuewan.
Northeastern part of the city.
The vampire "Sir Donald" does not have a real title. The title "Sir" is in recognition of his social status and double doctorates in politics and history. Therefore, it is okay to call him "Sir" or "Sir". Al
Mr. Bei also only gave Shade the working address of Sir Donald, which was Yuewan City School of Political Science and Economics.
And when Shade saw Sir Donald at the most famous college in the city, the middle-aged man with a small bat symbol floating on his head and gold-rimmed glasses was comforting Sir Donald with several other colleagues.
A crying woman.
Hearing that someone was looking for him, he said goodbye to his colleagues temporarily and walked out of the office to meet a young man with a dog on his shoulder:
"Hello, um. Do you have anything to do with me?"
Shade withdrew his eyes from the symbol above his head:
"Yes, Mr. Albert asked me to come."
After confirming that there was no one around in the corridor and that the only sound that could be heard around him was the sobbing of a woman from the office, Shade briefly talked about the prostitute's body and the matter of the blood being drained.
Similar to the magician, Sir Donald also immediately suspected that a fellow member from out of town had committed a crime without knowing the rules. When Shade said that the Church of the Five Gods was investigating vampires in the city, he frowned in annoyance:
"This is really a troublesome matter. Although everyone usually keeps to themselves, if the church is allowed to investigate casually, who knows what might be discovered accidentally?"
Seeing Shade looking at him with strange eyes, Sir Donald shook his head hurriedly:
"Don't get me wrong, except for buying blood on the black market, I have never done anything illegal. You see, I have a tenured teaching position in this school, I live a comfortable life, and the students love me very much. All I pursue now is a peaceful life
With a passionate girl.”
He coughed:
"Anyway, thank you very much for informing me of this matter. I won't visit Ptolemy recently, so please help me say thank you to him."
"no problem."
Shade likes simple tasks like this. Just find the right place and talk for a few words. There is no need to fight:
"Can you satisfy my curiosity? Why is the lady inside crying?"
He asked again, and the vampire wearing glasses covered his forehead and said:
"May God bless poor Ms. Connelly. Her husband stayed away all night last night. Someone just sent news that the man was found dead in the alley with his head missing. This is the serial murder case that has been widely rumored in the city recently.
.Poor Ms. Connelly finally met her husband at the age of 29, and now she has become a widow just one year after getting married. May God bless us all.”
Shade glanced at the door and sympathized with the lady:
"Mr. Albert also told me about this matter, but unfortunately there is no progress in the police investigation at present."
But judging from what the porter on the dock said, these headless serial murders are related to the "Eternal Light".
"I don't think there will be any progress."
Sir Donald said, not wanting to go in to comfort the crying lady, he continued to satisfy Shade's curiosity here:
"In my opinion, this is not a serial murder case at all, this is just a legend coming true."
He no longer looked at the people indoors with his hands behind his back. Instead, he and Shade looked out of the corridor window at the gloomy campus with snow falling outside:
"When wealth accumulates into mountains and sin flows into rivers, Yuewan will eventually usher in its own destruction. The many strange things that have happened in the city recently, in my opinion, are just these legends coming true in ways that no one expected, and I
I’m pretty sure this is just the beginning.”
"Sir, I remember that you have a PhD in history and economics. How come you also study legends and stories?"
"Young people, history and folk custom are inseparable."
Sir Donald said with a smile. Seeing that Shade seemed interested in this topic, he asked again:
"You look like you're from the North?"
"Yes, I just came to Yuewan recently. My knowledge of local legends is limited to the seven major families and dragons."
"It's enough to know this. According to my research and investigation, most of the legends and stories circulating in the Yuewan area can always be related to these seven ancient families when tracing their roots. But what people always don't realize is that
, Hawthorne, Belindell, Eddington, Blake, Wright, Blue, and Wood, the ancestors of these seven families must have come into contact with some kind of unusually powerful existence."
"Why?"
Shade asked curiously, and the vampire with his hands behind his back said with satisfaction:
"Look, you don't realize it either. How can mortal government and mortal power flow for thousands of years without changing. But according to the records of Moon Bay City, it was far back in the era before Kasenric and Delarion appeared.
, these seven surnames have already affected everything in the Yuewan area. From ancient times to the present, civilization has changed, the world situation has changed, and the way of life and production has changed. Knights on horseback have turned into soldiers holding firearms.
Food farmers have come to work in factories in the city, and even men and women having an affair know to avoid using gas lights in case the victim finds out that the bill sent by the gas company is different from last month, but the seven major families will always rule here in Yuewan.
Everything. But is that reasonable?”
Shade suddenly realized:
"Yes, even if the family inheritance is passed down, it cannot last so long, let alone all seven surnames. There is such a thing. Does the church know about it?"
"The records of the Zhengshen Church must be more complete than what I have seen, so they should also know. I assume that there is some kind of strange blessing that ensures that the seven major families will always have descendants, and the descendants will always be able to rule Yuewan. If this is
Even if the church knows the truth, I'm afraid it won't take care of it, after all, it won't endanger civilization and stability."
He told his guess, Shade nodded and said with admiration:
"This sounds amazing. If I were to investigate on my own, it would probably take me several months to discover this."
What he was very curious about was that Miss Belinder had not mentioned this matter:
"However, the type of story where 'a powerful being gives power to mortals and his descendants' is more likely to appear in fairy tales than in reality."
Sir Donald was pleased with Shard's reaction:
"The seven major families themselves have also lost a lot of history and information. It's hard to say whether they themselves are aware of the source of their family power. It's a pity that this research cannot be made public, otherwise I might be able to get a seat on the city council. Or
Murdered in the bathroom by unknown assassins."
Shade laughed along with it. He had nothing to do before noon anyway, and Sir Donald looked very talkative, so he asked again:
"Can I ask you if you have any research on Yuewan City and dragons that cannot be made public?"
"You really asked the right person."
The vampire said proudly, but then added:
"But my research has not been recognized by anyone. This is just my personal interest."
"It doesn't matter, I can listen to them as modern legends."
So Sir Donald took Shade to his private office. After inviting Shade to sit down and preparing tea, the vampire talked about the research results that he had never had the opportunity to publish publicly:
"Yuewan City is a very suitable place for research. It has been a densely populated and developed area since the beginning of the Sixth Era. Because civilization continues in this land, there are more legends and stories here than other places.
"
He took out a book from the drawer and handed it to Sha De. The title was "Ancient Harbor: A Study of Folklore in Yuewan Area".
"Even from the perspective of ordinary people, you can find that this city has many magical places. Needless to say, there are stories circulating in the city. In the hills, forests, and swamps outside the city, there are stories about the 'moon-worshipping werewolves' and the 'thousand-year-old tree'
There are many stories such as 'Man-eating Mire' and 'Wailing Heights'. Legendary creatures like 'dragons' have always been closely related to the stories of Moon Bay. Many stories can be related to if we delve into their roots.
The dragon is involved."
He took a sip of tea:
"Mr. Watson, the legend that the ancestors of the seven major families you just mentioned once encountered an ancient dragon in Yuewan and gained the power and wealth to rule Yuewan is, in my opinion, the source of all legends in Yuewan City.
If we seize the source and then investigate, and gather the local legends and stories together, it is not difficult to find that 'the dragon will return and destroy Yuewan' is the meaning expressed by many legends, but the versions are different."
Shade thought for a moment;
"So, the ancestors of the seven major families received blessings and wealth at the cost of facing disaster for their descendants and the city?"
"This is just speculation, but if you look at it this way, it's only fair, isn't it?"
Sir Donald said, then stood up and took out some black and white photos from the safe and handed them to Shade:
"I have participated in the excavation of many ancient ruins in this area. Of course, the sensitive information and items were taken away by the church, but I kept some photos. For example, although I can't understand these ancient dragon language runes,
But the general meaning refers to transactions, power, payment and so on."
The stone carvings on the yellowed photo did contain quite ancient dragon language runes, but after Shade translated them, the meaning was completely different from what Sir Donald said -
[The god who swallowed the dragon was defeated in Moon Bay, (unintelligible) was printed in the bay, (large section indecipherable) was searched for. 】