"However, even if it is just to gain favor, I will give this as a gift"
Dorothy's eyes lingered on the pearl on the table. This look was very similar to the cat caught by Shade:
"It's a pity to give such a beautiful pearl to Keke. I mean, if you want to please the queen and get a possible title in the future, this is just the right thing to give."
"Title? Dorothy, I don't care about that."
Shade shook his head and said:
"If you like this pearl, keep it."
Although Shade has always felt that he is short of money, in fact, he still has many precious items that can be cashed in.
"No, no, let's send it out. Although you don't care about the title, but"
Dorothy raised her eyes and looked at Shade, and Shade looked at her. The blonde girl did not continue speaking immediately, but waited for the two sides to look at each other for several seconds before looking at Shade and continuing to finish the sentence softly.
Shade really couldn't guess what kind of thoughts were hidden in her beautiful eyes:
"Lecia cares."
"Meow?"
The cat being held by Shade stared at Dorothy with eyes that were more beautiful than those of pretty girls. Shade opened his mouth slightly to express surprise.
Because of this sentence, Shade has been thinking wildly all day. Even Professor Garcia's "Closed Space" course report paper, which was intended to be completed during the day, was delayed until the evening.
Although the report is long, there is also a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when the final period is clicked on that roll of parchment:
"Mia, step aside!"
The cat was trying to use its paws to smear the ink that hadn't dried yet.
He made an appointment with Priest Augustus to meet at midnight, but the meeting place was in the northern suburbs of the city, so Shade set off early at around ten o'clock that night. After much deliberation, he decided to take Mia, who wanted to stay at home and refused to go out, with him.
Going out. In Shade's view, Priest Augustus is a very reliable person. Since he said it was no big deal, it really shouldn't be a big deal.
It was a mid-August night in Tobesk, and there was still not much coolness. I found a carriage at the intersection of St. Teresa Square. I heard that I was going out of the city to the suburbs near the cemetery, but the coachman refused to take Shade out despite anything.
Even if Shade promised to double the fare, the cautious coachman was unwilling to do this business. In the end, Shade could only ask the coachman to take him to the Psalm Square in the north of the city, and then from there to the Saint in the lower city, which was also very lively at night.
He found another carriage near Song Square, took him to the edge of the city, and then walked towards the Hanged Man's Trail.
The night in Saint Teresa Square in the center of Tobesk is quiet and peaceful. Only the patrolling police and the occasional wild cat will make some noise. The strange light of the three-wheeled moon and the light of the elegant gas street lamp illuminate the earth together.
;
The area near Anthem Square in the lower city is noisy and dangerous, with wanderers, gamblers and drunkards wandering around, and the light of gas lamps and kerosene lamps is dangerous and full of temptation;
As for the small villages and towns outside the city of Tobesk, it is completely silent. It is still a civilized area. It is even physically separated from the urban area by the low city walls remaining from the old era, but the fire of the steam age is still here.
And stop.
Residents outside the city don't have the spare money to waste kerosene lamps at night. As for whether the gas pipeline of the city's infrastructure project is connected here, only the civil servants of the city hall know.
Even the carriage in the lower city was unwilling to take Shad out of the city at this time. Therefore, just like the last time he and Dorothy visited Mr. Copps' cemetery, Shad walked through the small village outside the city.
.
The building is low, but the straw beside the wall and the chicken coop beside the yard make the place full of life.
What Shade was most dissatisfied with was not the bad smell that made neither he nor the cat want to breathe, but the uneven ground beneath his feet. Fortunately, it didn't rain in Tobesk yesterday, otherwise it would have been a swamp.
The small village he passed through at this time is called Upper Glen Village. Like Lower Glen Village, which is located in a low-lying area a few miles away, they are both villages outside the city adjacent to the lower town of Tobesk. After passing the small village in the north of the city, there are
Going north completely leaves the royal capital, and that is the real Tobesk countryside.
The road called "The Hanged Man's Trail" is not far from the village of Upper Glen. Apart from the street signs, Shade could only confirm that this road was indeed true by looking at the edge of the detailed city map left by the previous detective.
exist.
The unmarked cemetery that the Hanged Man's Trail leads to is a public cemetery for several nearby villages. Although it is a country cemetery, it is well-equipped with a crematorium, a gravekeeper's hut, a church, and an underground tomb.
The dead tree on the Hanged Man's Path where Priest August and Shade agreed to meet is located at the end of the path, and beyond that is the gravel road paved by the villagers for the cemetery.
The dead tree was far beyond Shade's imagination. He originally thought it was just a small dry sapling, but he didn't expect it to be a towering tree that didn't grow any leaves even in summer.
It stood naked in the middle of the Hanged Ghost's Path, with branches extending in all directions along the main trunk, like spreading tentacles in the dark night, or the hands of the old witch in fairy tales.
"But speaking of it, most of the old witches in existing fairy tales seem to be based on witches from the Fifth Age."
Shade thought in his mind, but it was difficult to equate a beautiful lady like Miss Feliana with a stooped old witch.
This tree obviously looks lifeless, but it still stands here. There are a few crows parked on the branches at night, and along with Mia's cry, they flap their wings and fly into the distant night sky.
Shade came twenty minutes early. He held the cat in his arms in the night wind, and stood under the tree and looked up at the trunk. He had to admit that if anyone wanted to hang himself, this tree was simply the best place.
Not only can people of all heights easily find the location where the rope is tied, but it is so close to the cemetery that there is no need for a carriage specifically to carry the corpse. The tombkeeper can drag the corpse into the tomb area himself.
The cat was usually timid, but it was very interested in this strange environment. It was held in Shade's arms and kept looking around. Shade guessed the reason why Priest August asked him to help.
Although he is not a magician of the church, if he encounters trouble, he can use the name of a church clergy to seek help.
Unless he doesn't want the church to know about it, or there is great benefit in it, or the priest thinks he can solve the trouble.
Just as I was thinking about it, the figure of the priest finally appeared on the other side of the hanged man's path. He was still dressed like a clergyman, panting and walking over with something on his back. He saw Shade under the moon and the mysterious figure in his arms.
The cat also waved his hand as a greeting.
When the priest came closer, Shade saw that he was actually carrying two shovels:
"Oh, my Mr. Dawn, this thing, this thing is much heavier than imagined."
The priest threw the shovel under the tree, then held on to the trunk and gasped for air.
Shade handed over a test tube filled with water. The priest thanked him and drank it all in one gulp.
"Shovel? Priest, do you want to dig something?"
Shade asked curiously. The priest held the tree with one hand, panting heavily and nodded to Shade:
"Of course, otherwise, would I have moved such a heavy thing and sold it to the tombkeeper?"
"So what are we going to dig for? Is there something under this tree? Treasure? Relics? Or a body?"
Shade and the cat were both curious about this.
"Who said we were going to dig up trees? We went there and dug them up."
Priest Augustus pointed to the dark cemetery not far away.
"What is buried in the corner of this cemetery? Or is there a secret in the underground tomb or the tombkeeper's cabin?"
Shade asked again.
"Don't think too much, we are just here to dig graves."
The priest finally adjusted his breathing, threw one of the two shovels to Shade, and held the other one:
"Follow me and be quick. The best time for the ceremony is to end at two o'clock in the morning. I noticed that you brought your cat, which is great. Smart cats help increase the success rate of the ceremony.
"
"Wait, priest, are we really going to dig someone's grave?"
Shade hurriedly followed the hurried priest, and the two left the Hanged Man's Path and formally walked onto the gravel road in front of the cemetery gate.
"It goes without saying that you really have to dig, I understand."
The old priest turned his head and looked at Shade in the moonlight:
"Do you have a mental disorder?"
"No, of course not."
Shade immediately shook his head:
"I'm just surprised that you led me to do such a thing. If it were Dr. Schneider, I wouldn't be surprised. In my heart, you are the kind of person who abides by church rules."
"Don't be dumbfounded, detective, come with me. Also, why do doctors have such a bad image in your mind? We are not desecrating a corpse tonight, we are dealing with an accident. I have always believed that human nature is evil, but
If it is for doing good deeds, then it is acceptable to have some problems with the means, everything is for the sake of dawn and justice."
Naturally, there are no competent gravekeepers in the unknown cemetery in the countryside. Priest August originally wanted to knock the other person unconscious to make the operation easier tonight. But when the two used Shade's illusion to lurk until the kerosene lamp was on,
When I looked out the window of the tombkeeper's hut, I discovered that the old tombkeeper had been drunk for a long time. He was lying unconscious on the bed holding a bottle of wine.
Even when Shade and the priest August broke into the hut, they failed to alarm him.
So Shade kindly covered the old tombkeeper, who was smelling of alcohol, with a quilt, and then kicked his shoes to the bottom of the bed. Priest Augustus kindly extinguished the kerosene lamp in the room and took it away.
A portable lantern to prevent fire.
In an era when most poor people suffered from night blindness, even if the gravekeeper woke up and couldn't find his shoes, the first thing he would do was not look outside the house, but light a kerosene lamp.
In this way, Shade and Priest Augustus will be able to know whether the other party is awake at any time.
In addition to the drunken gravekeeper and the sneaky two, the living creatures in the cemetery include the cat on Shade's shoulder, as well as the wild animals living here. Shade is very fortunate that little Mia does not have the habit of barking.
Otherwise, if he suddenly hears a cat meowing in the cemetery with the night wind blowing, he will definitely be frightened.