On a moonlit night, in the garden of 160 Böklund Street.
A gray mouse rustled out of its hole and ran to the bottom of the master bedroom balcony.
A small ball of black, paste-like substance floated down and was held on the head of the mouse like an acrobatic performer.
It quickly turned around and ran out of 160 Böklund Street to the entrance of a nearby sewer.
At this time, the gray mouse raised its front half and stretched out its two paws.
Its claws suddenly stretched out strangely, and clumps of clearly visible muscles appeared on its front legs!
Then, it used its mutated front paws to move the manhole cover away with almost no sound!
Without stopping, the gray rat crawled into the sewer and came to the place where the witch Triss had hidden.
It dug and dug in the corner and dug out a piece of mirror fragment from the soil.
After doing all this, the gray mouse threw the sticky black substance on its head to a cleaner place nearby, retreated to the corner, and let its body slowly grow longer and wider as if pulled by an invisible man. It turned into a middle-aged man in a dark red coat and an old tricorn hat, just like the "Blood Admiral" who was active on the sea in the past.
However, this Senior's body and clothes were only a thin layer, like a mannequin cut out of paper.
"This rat is quite fat..." The paper-like "Blood Admiral" raised his hand and touched his chin, and was almost blown away by the cold wind in the sewer.
It was Klein who was speaking. In the master bedroom, he manipulated the "Spirit Thread" to transform a mouse into a secret puppet. He sent it to the sewer with the "ritual materials" to try to contact the witch Triss.
"Senior", whose arms were constantly twisting with the wind and movement, bent down and picked up the sticky black thing. This was the item left after Triss burned a strand of hair with black flames, which could be used in the communication ceremony.
Then he wiped the mirror fragment clean and smeared the material in his hand on it.
After completing this step, Klein had the puppet take two steps back with the "mirror" and then stick it to the mossy wall with a snap, like a realistic oil painting.
…………
In the East District, in a room with thick curtains and almost no light.
Layers of black and slippery "tentacles" are intertwined together to form a huge sphere.
Some of these "tentacles" have a black and white eyeball on the top, while others look like the head of a poisonous snake, with its mouth slightly open and its tongue spitting out. They are all strange and grotesque, and very scary.
Suddenly, they rose up or retracted, and the sphere disintegrated layer by layer.
In the center of the ball was a curled-up girl with an exceptionally sweet face. Her brows were tightly furrowed, and her expression was slightly distorted with pain, making her look extremely pitiful.
Those slippery and disgusting "tentacles" had all retracted at this time, shrinking rapidly, and finally returning to their original appearance:
A bunch of shiny black hair!
The girl with long smooth hair relaxed her expression, and she slowly stood up and walked to the bed that had been divided into small parts. She picked up the nightgown that had fallen to the ground and put it on.
Then, she gathered her black hair, walked to the full-length mirror, stretched out her right palm, and wiped the glass surface.
A layer of black flames ignited, quietly burning the air and then quickly extinguished without a trace, leaving behind the mirror that had become dark and deep.
In the mirror, light and shadows floated, quickly presenting a dirty and muddy sewer environment, and a middle-aged man wearing an old tricorn hat and a dark red coat was clinging to the wall, looking down at the girl who was unknown how far away she was, like a famous painting that had come to life.
The girl with a round face and narrow eyes looked at him quietly for two seconds, then suddenly laughed.
As her smile bloomed, the almost dark room seemed to become much brighter in an instant.
She then opened her lips slightly and said in a teasing tone:
"Mr. Gehrman Sparrow, is this the madness and cruelty of the strongest adventurer?
"Or, the person I actually know is a clown?"
Klein was not surprised at all that the witch Triss could recognize his identity as Gehrman Sparrow. After all, he used the image of "Blood Admiral" Senior when he met her, and this pirate general had long been Gehrman Sparrow's prey.
At the beginning, Triss hid in the sewer due to injury. She had been focusing on investigations on revenge. She didn't know the various news at sea and didn't know what happened to the "Admiral of Blood". It was quite normal, but she could recover and leave there. If she didn't find out the latest news about her collaborator, it can only be said that she was completely unqualified in both the "assassin" and "instigator" stages.
Obviously, Triss's past performance proved that although she was bad, she still had a good mind.
Klein did not argue. Senior, who was controlling the paper man, smiled and responded simply:
"Why can't the Joker be crazy and cruel?"
Without waiting for Triss to answer, he asked:
"How far have you investigated the captain of the palace guard?"
Triss's expression became a little gloomy and she said:
"It will take at least another month, maybe two months, to get results."
“If you need any help, you can come to me,” Klein emphasized again.
Triss chuckled and said:
“In Backlund, in this game, strength cannot solve all problems.
"Of course, I never waste an opportunity to take advantage of others.
"Mr. Gehrman Sparrow, since there is no need to hide your identity, can you give me a more convenient way to contact me?"
Why do I feel like someone is asking for my phone number... Klein thought for a moment and calmly described the steps to summon the messenger, not forgetting to emphasize that gold coins are important ritual materials.
Triss said nothing more, and once again stretched out her right hand and lightly touched the mirror.
The black flames rose and disappeared, and the full-length mirror returned to normal.
In the sewer, the "Blood Admiral" Senior, in paper man form, buried the mirror fragment in the soil again, then shrank his body rapidly, turning back into the appearance of a gray mouse, and rushed all the way to the depths of the underground world, feeding himself to the carnivorous creatures.
At 160 Böklund Street, Klein closed the curtains and returned to his armchair.
To be honest, he kind of regretted working with Triss.
He felt that the guy was carrying some of the will of the "Original Witch" and would do anything for revenge. He was like a moving bomb and no one knew when he would get out of control.
If Triss mutates, it is very likely to cause a terrible disaster... I shouldn't have let her go in the first place... Klein sighed and began to arrange the ritual, bringing the paste-like black things above the gray fog, trying to use them to predict Triss's current whereabouts and recent condition.
Twenty or thirty seconds later, he ended up in failure.
This made him even more worried, because such a result indicated that Triss had become the "Original Witch"'s favored one to some extent.
…………
The next morning, after breakfast, Klein began to instruct his butler Walter and the new assistant butler Richardson to distribute the gifts he brought back from the southern continent.
This filled an entire suitcase and included specialties such as Filmore coffee beans, East Balam tobacco, River Valley wine, and human bone statues.
They will be delivered to different neighbors in the neighborhood, representing Dwayne Dantes' thoughts and announcing his return to social occasions.
“Well, when you give this bottle of River Valley wine to Senator Macht or his wife, remember to mention that it is suitable for making sour cocktails and is a perfect match with lemon juice.” Klein reminded the butler Walter.
There are also considerations when giving each gift to a certain person, and it must be combined with the other person's hobbies. Of course, the most popular product in the southern continent, Donningsman Hair Growth Water, is not suitable as a gift, because it seems more like a mockery.
Walter nodded solemnly:
"Yes, sir."
When the employer had no other instructions, Richardson glanced at the remaining gifts and asked:
"Where are they going?"
“This is for the staff of the Charity Student Aid Fund. I will deliver it myself.” Klein said with a smile.
He then pointed to the golden amulet in his hand and said:
"I missed the birth of Dr. Allen's child, so I need to go there in person to express my apologies. Haha, I will go there this afternoon and give this amulet unique to the southern continent to the child."
Of course, the baby Will Auceptin Chris probably wouldn't like it... Compared to this, "Him", or he, would rather have ice cream... After saying this, Klein muttered a few words in his heart.
After the butler and Richardson left one after another, carrying gifts and servants to different neighbors' homes, Klein got on his own carriage and arrived at the "Loen Charity Student Aid Fund" at No. 22 Pacefield Street.
After getting off the carriage, he walked in front, followed by his personal servant Enuni holding a pile of gifts. Whenever he met a staff member along the way, he would go up to say hello and give gifts.
Just like that, Klein went up to the second floor and arrived at one of the directors' offices. He bent his fingers and knocked lightly on the half-open door.
"Come in." Audrey Hall's gentle voice came out.
As a more experienced "audience", she had noticed that Mr. Dwayne Dantes had come to the "Loen Charity Student Aid Fund" and had been waiting patiently.
Klein pushed the door open and took out a small gift box from his inner pocket. He smiled gently and said,
"I have returned from the Southern Continent. Well, this business was very successful. I brought some small gifts to everyone. I hope to share my joy with everyone."
He mentioned this specifically to show that he remembered Miss Justice's request.
"Then I can't find any reason to refuse." Audrey smiled expectantly.
It's not that she cares what gift Mr. "World" will give, but she is curious about what gift Mr. "World" will give.
She took the gift box and unwrapped it in front of Dwayne Dantes. She found an ornament with a white feather as the main body and light yellow patterns on it.
"This is a hat ornament," Klein explained. "People with a certain social status in East Balam like to wear various white feathers on different parts of their bodies as ornaments. Among them, the ones on the hat are the most valuable and meaningful. It is said that this comes from the custom of worshiping feathered serpents. Haha, the feathered serpent is a symbol of death there."
The feather that he asked a craftsman from the southern continent to make a hat ornament was a by-product of the artificial death god project and could be used as a sacrifice.
Klein once obtained three of them. One was used by Bayam. When combined with the corresponding copper whistle messenger, he summoned a monster that was contaminated and mutated by the artificial death god. One was sacrificed to the "artificial death god" in the southern continent, and he obtained the revelation that Ince Zangwill was possessed by the evil spirit. This was the last one left.
Because the current "artificial god of death" is actually equivalent to the "goddess of night" to a certain extent, Klein, who has been identified as the follower, no longer needs to perform the same operations as before when performing subsequent ceremonies. He can use other materials instead of feathers. Therefore, he simply made the remaining feather into a gift and gave it to Miss "Justice". After all, she is also a believer of night, and maybe she can use this feather to contact the "artificial god of death" at a critical moment.
Audrey held the gift, smiled, and listened quietly to Dwayne Dantes's story. Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind:
Mr. World wouldn't have really plucked the hair of a feathered serpent to make this hat ornament...
ps: I recommend a fantasy book, "Demon Hunting Cookbook", Synopsis: When night falls, whispers sound in the ears, and the monsters in the shadows begin to stir, Jason's hungry stomach begins to roar, and he can't help swallowing his saliva...
Hunger is the best motivation.