Mystery: Start with the Reader

In the captain's room of "Youlan Avenger", after the ceremony of accepting the "gift", "The Hanged Man" Alger looked at the extra brass charms on the altar, sat down with a complicated expression, and said nothing. Saying:

"In the beginning, it was only possible to pull people into the world above the gray mist... After a while, you can listen to prayers and respond... Now you can accept sacrifices for gifts... Mister Fool is getting rid of the predicament step by step, Going deeper into the real world bit by bit?"

This conjecture and conclusion made Alger fearful and worried, but also somewhat fortunately looking forward to it.

At least I'm a member of the Tarot Society, the earliest member... he sighed.

Maybe... I should learn about the attitude of the "Tower" towards "The Fool"?

...

In the magnificent palace above the gray mist, Klein sat at the top of the ancient long table. Following the method taught by Mr. Azik, he drove the gray mist to gather around the "Joker" mask, and then spread his spirituality over, trying to communicate with it. communicate.

After a while, Klein withdrew his spirituality with a strange expression, and thought:

"It's smoother than expected... Not only did I promise not to disturb the user's mind, but I also shortened the interval between setting and changing the face to 20 days... and the condition is that I can come to the gray mist every week to stay For a while? Maybe the 'tower' is right, this space is really the apex of the path where the 'clown' mask is."

Thinking of this, Klein suddenly became very interested in this mask, and had the idea of ​​divination about its origin and source. So he made the yellow-brown parchment and black round-bellied fountain pen appear in front of him.

After thinking for a while, I wrote down the divination statement

"The source of the 'clown mask' in my hand."

After reading it silently seven times, he took the parchment and the clown mask, leaned back, and fell into a dream.

In the gray illusory world, Klein saw a black giant dragon surrounded by a dozen strong men dressed in simple clothes as if they were savages, and was soon beheaded by a red-haired man at the head. The yellow-brown tissue in the head was dug out.

In the red-haired man's hands, this mass of yellowish-brown tissue constantly changed its shape, sometimes gray and white with wrinkles, sometimes dark brown and extremely smooth, and sometimes two colors intermingled, outlining a "face" without facial features.

At this time, a face was smeared with colorful paint,

The old man dressed as a wizard put the excavated tissue together with a mask painted with weird patterns that had been prepared, and integrated them into one with simple but effective methods.

When Klein saw this, the dream quickly faded and he woke up.

"It looks like a creation of human beings in the age of ignorance... Can this mask be kept for so long? Hehe, but it's not necessarily true. It seems that the indigenous tribes on the southern continent and some islands still maintain this kind of life."

"What is that giant dragon? It seems to be much weaker than the legendary dragon... The tissue in its head is extraordinary material? The main material of potion? I don't know the sequence..."

...

In the detective agency in Hillston District, after holding another ceremony to receive the "gift", Abner took back the honest "clown mask", and from Mr. Fool's description, he knew It needs to board the gray fog once a week before it can continue to be "honest".

The cost of the "sacrifice" and receiving the "gift" ceremony materials together exceeds 30 pounds. Once a week... it will cost at least 120 pounds a month. This cost is a bit high... Fortunately, Klein will be able to do it in another month. Become a "clown", and he will be able to push open the "summoning door" with his own strength, so there is no need to waste so much.

While thinking about it in his mind, Abner packed up the other materials for the ceremony one by one, and then he lifted the spiritual wall and walked out of the room.

As soon as he went out, he saw the teacher's servant Kenny walking over.

Seeing him, Abner suddenly said helplessly: "Has another reporter come over?" Ever since he was named a hero by the "Desolate Ones", he has lived a life of being harassed by various tabloid reporters. As for the newspaper reporters? Of course he was open to interviews.

"Mr. Blaine, this is an invitation letter from your friend, reporter Mike. He invited you to the dance party held at the headquarters building of the "Daily Observer" on Friday night." The servant Kenny respectfully held the invitation in his hand. The letter was handed over.

He originally respected Abner only because the other party was a student of Detective Essinger, but because of Abner's fame, this respect has become real.

"Reporter Mike? He still has to give his face... Well, the "Daily Observer" is the leader among Backlund's second-tier newspapers. The standard of the dance is not low, and there should be many high-quality customers among the participants. " Abner said to himself after receiving the invitation, keeping this matter in his heart.

After the servant Kenny left, Abner came to his office, and while reviewing the various materials collected by the teacher before, he thought to himself:

"How can I tell Xio the name of the Fool without revealing myself?"

...

At night, Hugh had just finished adjudicating a robbery case. Because the suspect was not desperate, but wanted more money to buy cigarettes and alcohol before entering and robbing, Hugh judged him guilty for disturbing the order in his "jurisdiction". And ordered the robber to repay the loss of the victim's family within seven days, otherwise he would be sent to the black prison of MI9.

Of course, the last sentence was just a threat, and MI9 didn't have time for such trivial matters. If the other party really refuses to implement it, Hugh should carry out "physical" persuasion when the time comes.

After seeing off the grateful victim's family, Hugh walked to a nearby bar. An informant she developed left a message for her, saying that she had an interesting discovery to tell her.

"Hey, Hugh... You came just in time, let's have a few drinks together." Gene, who was drunk, grinned when he saw the girl walking towards him.

"Drinking is not good." Xio shook his head first, then looked at the drunk in front of him, and asked seriously, "What do you want me to do?"

Intimidated by the majesty, Gene's smile froze, and he only thought of nodding. He thought about it carefully with his brain paralyzed by alcohol, and then organized his words and said:

"Old Thor seemed to have had a stroke yesterday, and he was in a daze. He was found drowned in the Tussock River this morning!"

"The thief Sanji who was active on Dister Street seemed to have become an idiot the day before yesterday. He only knew how to giggle, and finally fell off the bridge and died."

"Aunt Tasso's eight-year-old granddaughter also suffered from hysteria the morning before yesterday, and she kept talking nonsense. Many doctors failed to cure her. As a result, this afternoon, her granddaughter suddenly went to work while she was not at home. Went mad and stabbed himself with scissors."

...

Gene talked about seven or eight cases in one breath, all of which were real tragedies or accidents that took place in the Eastern District in the past two or three days.

Xio didn't pay much attention to it at first, because there were too many similar things in the East District, and she couldn't handle it at all, but when she heard the fourth similar case, she was sure that it was not an accident, so her expression became serious.

"These dead... seem to be of all ages and genders..." Xio thought for a moment and then asked Gene, "Do they have anything in common? What do the police investigations say?"

Even in the East District, so many people died for similar reasons, it is impossible for the police not to investigate.

"The police? The police only said that it was an accident caused by a sudden illness." Gene sneered, then looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to him, so he whispered to Xio: "If you want to talk about something in common, there are indeed... That is, they are all believers of the Lord of Storms! So there are already rumors that the cultists cursed the believers in order to avenge the Lord of Storms."

It is so obvious that the "Punisher" should have been involved in the investigation against the believers of the Lord of Storms... The police's rhetoric is most likely just perfunctory to the public and cover up the truth. Hugh thought thoughtfully.

After giving Gene 5 Sule the information fee, it was already very late, Xio didn't delay any longer, and went all the way back to the apartment shared with Forsi in the North District. After taking today's letter from the mailbox at the door, he opened the door with the key.

As soon as she entered the door, she saw her friend in dressing gown sitting on the sofa reading a magazine while stuffing snacks into her mouth.

"Why do you look like this every time I come in?" Xio rested his hand on his forehead, looking helpless.

Speaking of which, this movement was learned from Abner during the trip.

"That must be because you opened the door in the wrong way! On this point, apprentices have more say than the arbitrator." Fors wiped the food residue from the corner of her mouth, and forcefully argued.

"I can't say no to you... But forget it, although this is not a healthy habit, it is better than smoking and drinking too much." Xio shook his head, then handed a large stack of mails in his hand to Fors, and said, "It should all be sent by your readers. I just checked with my ability and found no dangerous items."

"Why do you think that my readers will send me dangerous items?" Fors made some speechless complaints after receiving the letter.

Xio didn't speak, just looked at her quietly.

Forsi looked away with some guilt, and casually said while flipping through the mail: "Right, I received an invitation at the Literature Salon today, inviting me to a dance on Friday night. I can bring a A companion will participate, are you going?"

"Friday night... is the dance held by the "Daily Observer"?" Xio asked in a daze.

"Yeah... how did you know?" Forsi was a little surprised when she heard this, as Xio had never been very keen on similar activities.

"Because there will be a big person attending and giving a speech at that ball, so I was assigned the security job of the ball by that 'golden mask'."

...

West End, in the garden villa on Williams Street.

Rey was holding a pot of unopened flowers, sitting on the bed in the bedroom in only his pajamas, with a pair of white and slender thighs exposed, so Lieutenant Bernard, who was clearly determined not to touch the witch again, couldn't move his eyes.

"That is to say, His Royal Highness Prince Edsack will give a speech at the ball on Friday night? Hehe, why does a big man like him participate in a ball of this size?"

"However, Lina seems to be under the protection of Prince Edsaac. I don't know if she will join this dance... Well, if that's the case, I should go and see it too."

"Bernar, can you get the invitation letter?"