When the bell ended, Katz woke up from his dream. I overslept! Realizing this, he nearly choked on a yawn. He quickly flattened the rolled up robe and checked whether there were any traces of saliva on it. Although his colleagues at the detection station all knew how boring work it was to guard alchemy instruments, it would be a small matter to be embarrassed if the traces of daydreaming were seen. , it would be too bad to be remembered by the supervisor.
Fortunately, Gaia also helped him. The church bells rang shorter than usual today, and there was still some time before the end of work. Katz poured himself a glass of water and waited for the bell to ring, informing everyone of the change of shift. The detection station has to be manned all day long, and he is just one of them. When will it be my turn to schedule the night shift? Katz counted on his fingers and finally had to resort to pen and paper.
But as soon as he turned around, the date and the rotation were suddenly forgotten.
In the center of the room, a metal star platform was placed smoothly. It is about four feet tall, nearly two people's arms-span long, shaped like an inverted ladder, and made of polished oak. Its plane is square and smooth, and an unheard-of tool is used to plow out hundreds of curved and interlaced lines, which extend to the bag frame at the end. Silver pearls slide in the grooves, shimmering from time to time.
According to rumors, this object is an alchemical creation made by the dwarves of the Oath Keepers Alliance, cast by the Grand Duke of the South himself, and blessed by the local bishop with divine magic. The effect covers the entire city and can detect abnormalities in every corner. Mysterious fire. Relying on the coordinates it conveys, the Shadow Legion is on standby at any time to ensure that the order in the city is not destroyed by mysterious creatures. For mortals, this is a reliable guarantee, but when adventurers enter the city, they have no choice but to keep it between their legs and call it the "Nightingale Nemesis."
Now, Katz watched helplessly as the pearls rolled around the table, like a class of children firing marbles at each other at the same time. These things have their own orbits, he thought, and there is no way they will collide...
...until the table suddenly made a clicking sound. A rail rung was knocked to the ground, and at the same time, the pearl symbolizing fire was shattered to pieces. A cluster of faint blue flames spurted out from the debris.
Magic mark.
At this time, the city defense army should be notified immediately. The powder burned quietly, and he stared at it carefully for a moment, thinking about things like his future, his family, the law, and prison. Finally, Katz pulled the tassel on the chair cushion, and the thin threads silently poked out of the wall. This is not a means of informing the city defense army. Gods forgive me. He heard the short ringing and waited by the wall.
For about five seconds, someone's voice penetrated his ears: "What did you find, Satis?"
Katz Satis swallowed: "Unexpected situation, sir." He truthfully reported the situation of "Nightingale Nemesis".
"Timely information." The other party recognized his judgment. "Continue your mission, Satis."
"How long...how long will it take?" Katz blurted out.
"Your waiting will be rewarded." As expected, the other party did not give an exact time. Katz didn't dare ask anymore. He carefully reached into the inside of his robe, opened the invisible pocket, and a handful of finger-sized pearls collided inside. He picked one of them and gently blew away the powder. The flames twisted and disappeared without a trace. Katz felt tempted to sneeze, but resisted the urge and filled the beads in and replaced the baffle.
The star platform returned to its original appearance. Then Katz heard the bell ring. "Get off work!" came the formal announcement from the supervisor in the cat-faced flower. "Give me to leave the detection station within five minutes. Katz Satis, report on the situation of Nightingale Nemesis."
"Nothing unusual," he replied.
"See you tomorrow, Satis." The director ended the conversation, and the flower closed its petals.
Katz sank heavily into his chair. He ran his tongue over each tooth until he tasted blood.
"Nightingale nemesis", right?
…
The detection station in Yotsuba City is even more laxly guarded than Antolet's sentry tower. The latter is the border city of the Mist Elves, which fell to the sneak attack of the Underground Legion during the Battle of Alanvor. Due to its puzzling speed of fall and undefended outpost layout during verification, the place has been recorded in every military textbook of the Kingdom Academy as a standard negative example.
Multon climbed over the castle's iron bars. In the past, there would be spikes and thatch tips set up here, but now there are only wooden sticks scattered across the place, which greatly facilitates the passage of nightingales like him. He remembered that the iron bars melted and bent in the red mist, and the mottled marks after cooling were like flowers that were crushed and spread out. Therefore, when he jumped off the railing, Multon subconsciously rubbed his hands, as if there were still traces of them on them. Acid.
He solved the obstacle a few days ago. Alchemy potions are far superior to ordinary things, and their effects are getting better and better with each passing day... Multon was on the alert all the way to see if anyone was paying attention, and he was almost swallowed by the mist due to his carelessness. The clergy could not heal his burns, but the gods—no, to be precise, the Holy Spirit—gave grace to the mortals. Even a profit-seeking person like Multon in this religion would inevitably be grateful to him. Otherwise, I might have to open the lid of my own coffin before climbing over this fence.
But divine grace is not free. The acid potions Multon purchased had increased in price, and he now felt that alchemists also added divine grace to their products. Ordinary juices can't hurt anyone... Didn't the sect say before that divine grace is the rarest magic potion? He considered the source of divine grace and suddenly realized that the priest might be hiding it secretly. If it were me, I would do that.
However, people from the Holy Spirit Sect are also aware of his virtues. Katz Satis didn't know who he was, so he called Multon "my lord." In fact, not to mention the priests who have access to divine grace, even Katz himself is worth far more than him. People have their own professions. Multon never thought about losing his job or finding another job. The exception is astrologers like Katz Satis.
There were no shadows of cruising knights on the streets. Multon secretly rejoiced and quickly blended into the crowd. Law-abiding citizens will not climb out of the back wall of the detection station, and running into a roving knight will be a big deal. In the Yotsuba Castle during the day, magic is not as useful as agile skills, so hiding one's head and showing one's tail attracts more attention. He quickly crossed Sonbigrad Avenue, walked around Hercule Street, and entered a perfume shop through the east alley.
The shop is located between two small stone buildings. The tailor shop on the left is empty, and the brothel on the right is a prosperous brothel. The perfume shop has no brand, and a thick wooden board is nailed in front of the door. Multon knew that there was originally a four-leaf clover pattern carved under the wooden board. To the locals, this is a sign of the mysterious creature soliciting customers. I should advise the owner to change the door, or simply change the location. There are not that many mysterious shops in Yotsuba City, which means there is a high probability that there will be repeat customers here. Although he is a nightingale, Multon is still a mortal, not a mysterious creature. A new face coming here is likely to be remembered by regular customers.
The detection station monitors the fire of mysterious creatures, and there is no need to arrange for soldiers to follow it, but there are still loopholes for ordinary people to take advantage of. Legend has it that in Chloe, the "Tower of Sky", the suzerain country of Eastman's mysterious realm, every move of mortals will also be mysteriously monitored. The astrologer has alchemical creations, mysterious facilities, and most crucially, astrology that far surpasses Eastman's, which claims to be able to catch you before you do anything. Chloe's main city and vassal state, the "City of Floating Clouds", Bloomnot, is a place Multon will never go to in his life. It is probably the nightingale's nemesis.
Yotsuye Castle is far less dense than the tower. Although Eastman is also a vassal nation of the Tower, she is not floating in the sky like other vassals and is in the airspace of the Tower. Since the end of the War of the Saints and the split of the Great Alliance of Saint Mirend, the Glorious Council, to which the Eastman Kingdom originally belonged, divided the entire southern vassal state to the tower in exchange for part of the airspace of the Morris Mountains.
As a result, Eastman, located at the southern tip of Peniaio, half a continent away from the tower, and its mortals and mythical creatures were thrown to the astrologers like unwelcome bastards. The tower accepted the exchange indifferently and regarded the sending of the garrison as all its obligations. It never thought of sharing its various facilities and alchemical creations with Eastman. This is certainly not a bad thing. Multon plans to stay in the Nightingale business for another five or six years.
The smell of perfume penetrates my nose. He sniffed, took a deep breath without thinking, and sneezed.
…
"It's not that I want to sleep," Cecilia insisted, "but her singing is really boring."
To be honest, Uriel thought so too. But he was so absorbed in reading the magazine that he didn't even notice the hanging screen, let alone the singing. When he decided to plan, the streets and alleys were covered with "videos" of alchemical creations and promotional posters of a certain opera singer. Out of novelty, he bought two tickets with three days' salary. But now, if there is a way to go back to the time before watching, the apprentice is willing to pay any price.
He grinds the green beans. "I saw someone leaving a message on the poster saying that the monkey's whistle sounded better than her high notes."
"The monkey probably doesn't like hearing that."
"If the monkey could understand, I'm afraid I would take you to see its performance instead of some damn theater flower. But I didn't force you to listen to the whole show. Do you still have a headache?" Uriel handed her a wet towel. .
She took it immediately. "I just saw you struggling for the ticket money, so I sat there a little longer."
"I'm holding on? Me?" Uriel turned to look at Cecilia, but finally turned back and continued to deal with Douzi. "It's not accurate to say that. Of course I can keep my ears open. As for wasting tickets - as far as the result is concerned, you fell asleep and I was very energetic. After all, is it really necessary to compete on some things?" He shrugged. "It's no fun to be tough, Cecila. Besides, your face and forehead are very red."
"I may have a nosebleed in a while, which will make it even redder. Do you have any new and appropriate adjectives?" But she didn't intend to appreciate it. The waitress sniffed sharply and threw away the towel. She walked quickly towards the bedroom.
Uriel realized immediately that she was angry. However, there were differences between men and women, so he did not dare to pursue her into the house. "You haven't taken your medicine yet...?"
"Please, Uriel! I'm just suffering from heatstroke. If you insist on me drinking it, make it chestnut-flavored."
"I've never seen anything that tastes like chestnuts, except chestnuts."
"That's not my problem."
"...Of course. Of course. You have always done research on the taste of drinks." The apprentice muttered.
Mung bean flour settles to the bottom of the cup. He stirred it with a spoon, and a little foam floated to the surface of the boiling water. Uriel looked at the cup and evaluated the work with the seasoning knowledge he had gained over the past few weeks and was still lacking. Finally, he came to a conclusion based on his own experience in spending the hot months.
It was so hot it was hard to eat.
…
"Mr. Joy?"
A voice came from behind the door: "Don't call me by my name."
Uriel recalled carefully and finally concluded that the other party never mentioned his last name at all. "Lord Messenger." He had no choice but to say.
The messenger thought about this title for a while. "You come from the outer world, do you know what a messenger is?"
good question. We all know that there are neither mysterious creatures nor towers in the surface world. What would you think if I said I knew? "I don't know. Mr. Eze said you were a patrol messenger from the tower."
"He spoke quite late."
Night? On the day he arrived in the other world, Eds Haynes had already warned his apprentice. Could it be earlier? What should I say at this time? Uriel didn't understand what he meant. This person talks like a riddle, with no logic at all.
"He should have warned you before you introduced yourself. Most people's names reflect their destiny."
"But without mentioning names, how do people distinguish each other?" Uriel imagined calling Cecilia "red hair" or calling Painter "big-nosed dwarf". Even bolder, what if the messenger was called a "Headless Man"? "The name is just a code name."
"Then change your name now." The messenger opened the door, "How about changing it to 'little brat'?"
"I'm quite satisfied with my name...if you like it, sir." The apprentice observed the words and quickly changed his words.
"Really? In occult terms, the name you admit will entrust your soul, Uriel."
He hesitated. "soul?"
The messenger looked at the apprentice with blue eyes. "Soul. Destiny. Or coincidence. The source of mystical power cannot avoid the fire, and the tower studies destiny. Astrologers combine the two and can easily see your life. You'd better remember my words."
Uriel did so. Although he doesn't think these things have anything to do with him. Maybe the messenger needs to be careful to protect his name. If so, why didn't he keep it a secret from me in the first place? Are employees who have been on the job for less than one month considered one of our own? It's so strange.
Dusk is approaching now. Church bells rang. Priest Lucia bid farewell to their goddess, while Gaia and Heather announced the cycle of life and time to the world. Uriel is a believer in Gaia, and Cecilia seems to have dual beliefs, because Eds Haynes, who rescued her and let her stay in the bar, has the bloodline of the forest goddess Heather. Generally speaking, as long as you are willing to buy two indulgences, no one will care about such things. Mortals have always had to pay taxes for piety.
The last bell ringing dissipated in the city streets, and the messenger slowly turned his head and looked towards the direction of the bell tower. "This clock is broken," he commented.
"Is there any?" the apprentice recalled, "the sound seems to have become shorter."
"For this, I have to go out."
What's the meaning? Are you going to repair the church bell? Or trouble with the bell ringer? Before Uriel could make a judgment, the messenger had climbed out of the window. Seeing this, he rushed through the study without thinking and climbed onto the balcony.
"It's safe to stay in the bar." The voice was still behind him.
"Wait!" Fafrank Street was far busier than the rest of the world. Uriel looked around, looking for the messenger on the road. "The bar is safe. Is there danger outside? Huh?"
No one answered. Joey is missing.
