Shade did not return to his home in Tobesk until after dinner that day. Shortly after returning home, he received the doctor who came to visit him again.
"The time has been determined. At eight o'clock on Sunday morning, we will meet at your place and set off to Moon Bay to eliminate the demon."
Of course, Shade also mentioned to the doctor that the devil had appeared as a clone today, but this was also part of the plan, so Dr. Schneider just reminded Shade to be careful. He had great confidence in Shade.
Today is Friday, and the new time key is ready for use. But considering that the devil is imminent, Shade still plans to postpone the key to Sunday to prevent himself from being distracted by dealing with too many things at once.
As for the address in Tobesk given to him by Desire, Shade did not visit it on Friday night, but set out after breakfast early on Saturday morning.
The address is Thomson Lane in the North District of Tobesk City. Both sides of this alley are rental apartments for outsiders. Of course, the North District is a slum area, and most of the outsiders who can live here are not wealthy.
money man.
"6 Thomson Lane."
After getting off the carriage from the alley, Shade quickly found his destination by counting the house numbers. If the three-story rental apartment was divided with wooden boards to form compartments, it could probably be rented out to more than ten families. Shade tried to knock on the door
I knocked on the door downstairs and found that it was not closed.
The stairwells and corridors in the house were extremely messy because they were filled with all kinds of clutter, but they also had a very lively atmosphere. Shade went all the way to the third floor and found the third room from the left of the stairwell.
The door was closed, so he knocked on it out of politeness. Almost the next moment, a very familiar voice asked from inside the door:
"who is it?"
"Hmm? Priest Augustus?"
Shade was startled. He turned around and looked around to make sure that he was not suddenly transferred to another place by space. Then he said to the door:
"Detective Shad Hamilton, I've been hired to investigate something."
The sound of footsteps was heard, and standing inside the opened door was indeed Priest Augustus.
The old priest did not wear a sacrificial robe today, but his regular clothes. He was equally surprised by Shade's appearance. After letting him go in first, he asked curiously:
"Did you also hear that there was a problem here, so you came to investigate?"
Shade couldn't talk about "desire", so he just nodded vaguely:
"It is said that there are relics nearby. What is the situation now?"
"It is indeed a relic. It is not very dangerous, but it is quite tricky. The person we are looking for is not at home now, but I can roughly guess where he has gone. Come with me to have a look. I will explain the current situation to you on the way.
"
As expected, Priest August appeared here because he heard the news from the believers who visited Dawn Church. Specifically, the person Shade and Priest August were looking for today was Mr. Vincent Taylor, who lived on the third floor.
, is a student who came to Tobesk from other places to study.
Since about two weeks ago, he has shown some strange behavior. For example, when reading newspapers, he always likes to complain loudly about those outsiders taking away the living space and urban welfare of Tobesk locals. For example, when reading newspapers on the road,
When he saw a stranger who looked like a Kasenlik man, he would always spit and then complain in a low voice.
"Wait, does that sound weird?"
Walking together in the alley, Shade asked curiously:
"Isn't this kind of people very common after the border conflict in the Green Lake area? Especially in pubs at night, you can find a lot of drunken lunatics who claim to kill all foreigners, not to mention those who are just hostile to foreigners.
He's just a human being. Although Mr. Taylor sounds very unqualified, isn't that strange?"
"Listen to me and continue, this is just an early stage."
The priest continued to explain:
"If you just complained or spit in the street, of course it was just a lack of quality, but then Vincent Taylor's character became worse and worse. First, he yelled at the boys living downstairs, just because he thought these
Children who grow up in slums will definitely become worms in society in the future, and may even become murderers, thieves and robbers. Then, he pointed at the girls passing by on the street, thinking that they were still wearing cool clothes in such a cold summer this year.
, must be in the flesh business."
If this were the case, although this person's character problem was indeed serious, Mr. Vincent Taylor would at best be regarded as mentally ill and sent to a local hospital for treatment soon after. But Priest Augustus learned from his old man
An acquaintance, Mr. Vincent Taylor's landlord, learned something else:
"What he said began to become very inflammatory. People who were originally peaceful would agree with his strange ideas after hearing his views. Old Mrs. Louise told me that Mr. Taylor is not a
A person who is good at public speaking, but now he seems to have the ability to read people's inner thoughts and spread his own prejudices through negative remarks.
The old lady is a devout believer. She has been going to church on time every week since her youth. But even such a person, after listening to Vincent Taylor's words, began to doubt in her heart that church actually often
The misappropriation of donations allowed priests and priests to squander it.”
Priest Augustus shook his head:
"She felt guilty in her heart because of this thought, and I only heard about it when she came to me to confess."
Shade thought about it carefully and understood what Priest August wanted to express:
"Bias and demagogy? Did the church find out about this?"
"Not yet. After all, there are no harmful incidents at present. The church's ring warlock teams have more important things to deal with. But if it continues to develop, I think there may be problems that may break out, and I'm afraid it's not just someone getting hurt.
It’s easy.”
Priest August led the way, and they were walking through the intricate alleys of the slums in the north of the city. Boys pushing iron rings passed them by, and women gathered together at the entrance of the alley and sat washing clothes.
After walking far away, they laughed and talked about the handsomeness of the strange young man.
"Detective, I conducted some preliminary investigations before coming here. So far I have basically determined what it is: a poet-level relic - [Prejudice]."
"Only poet level?"
"Only poet level."
The priest nodded:
"This is a curse-like relic, which manifests itself as an individual spreading his or her prejudiced ideas to more people through speech and writing. It is secretive and difficult to detect, but apart from being extremely inflammatory, it basically does not show other extraordinary powers.
, so it is only at the poet level. This kind of relic can appear in different places at the same time, and according to church statistics, the more complex the social situation, the more serious the conflict between the enemy, or the implementation of regional discriminatory laws, the more common this kind of relic is."
The foreigner thought for a moment:
"So, this relic has basically never disappeared from this world?"
"It seems that your knowledge and knowledge are even better than I thought."
Priest August turned his head to look at him unexpectedly, took a deep breath and nodded heavily:
"Yes, since records began, [prejudice] has almost never experienced a long-term cessation in the civilized settlements of the material world. Although it is only a poet, it is one of the few relics that are considered to have no possibility of being completely contained.
one."
"Well unless all intelligent life is wiped out?"
"Detective, you are a little too extreme. But you are right, the only way to completely eliminate prejudice is to completely eliminate ourselves. I don't want to admit this, but from now on, this is the fact."
As for stopping the spread of "prejudice", it is also easy. After finding the source of "prejudice" in the area, you can either use words to persuade him to give up his extreme thoughts - which is quite difficult, or eliminate it from the physical level. The second option
The method sounds very similar to the "malicious serial curse letters" that Shade helped Emilia deal with some time ago. When Shade told Priest August about this, the priest also nodded:
"Prejudice itself is a curse-like phenomenon, and this classification is correct. Unfortunately, there is no way to undo the curse of prejudice."
Both of them sighed longly, and the priest continued to lead the way. When they turned again at the entrance of an alley with a pile of wooden boxes, Shade gradually felt that the surrounding scenery seemed familiar:
"Speaking of which, are we going to the Three Cats Hotel?"
"No, but it's very close. On the street east of the Three Cats Hotel, there is a courtyard that is rented out all year round to the 'Jasmine Opera Troupe' to perform some programs that are popular with the citizens of the lower city. Ahem, I mean serious programs. You know where it is?
?"
"certainly."
Shade nodded. One of the main sponsors of the Jasmine Opera House is Dorothy and Lesia. Shade followed them there:
"That Mr. Vincent Taylor is an actor in the opera company? But isn't he a student?"
The priest then explained softly:
"Poor students from other places always have to find a job to support themselves. You have also seen his living environment. He is not a rich man. But let's agree first to see how Mr. Taylor behaves later.
If he is not easily persuaded, we will find a way to get him. After all, we can no longer let him talk nonsense in the city."
Shade nodded to express that he had no objection.
Although the weekend system in this era is not yet perfect, Saturday morning is undoubtedly the busiest time of the week. If you want to go to the theater, of course you have to buy tickets in advance. When Shade and the priest Augustus walked in, they found that they had entered the theater early.
There are already quite a few viewers.
There are rows of stools under the open-air stage, and half of these seats are now occupied. However, the performance has not started yet. The staff on the stage are still setting up the scene, and the audience below the stage are talking and laughing.
.
PS: One update will be added as usual on New Year's Day tomorrow, and updates will be added as long as the author has time on statutory holidays. In addition, the editor gave a good recommendation on January 2nd, and an update will be added at that time. The current plan is to add three updates, that is
Chapter 2 is updated on the 2nd.
In addition, the customary extra updates during the Spring Festival will continue, but that will be in February.
Please vote, it’s the last day of 2023, please vote monthly.