Part 1 THE JOKER Chapter 161 An Inverted Mausoleum
Most of the buildings in the town of Morse followed the style of a hundred years ago, the most prominent one being the steepled, black church.
Getting the wagon, Klein and the others quickly settled on a lunch consisting of bread, toast, bacon, cream, and coffee.
”With the purification of the sealing object ‘3-0782’, we can still hold out for two hours and thirty-five minutes.” Standing in the doorway of the church, Kornleigh pulled his gold-cased pocket watch from the inside pocket of his tuxedo formalwear, pressed it open and glanced at it and said, “I would suggest dealing with those suspected hauntings to avoid any possible deterioration before returning to the church to take turns watching and regaining our status.”
–Under normal circumstances, Sequence 9, Sequence 8 and Sequence 7 Extraordinaires who are close to the limit would have to stay away from the “Mutated Sun Emblem” for 2 hours to recover completely, but if they are not at the limit, or only want to recover partially, then depending on the situation, at least 1 hour. Hour.
”Okay.”
”I have no comment.”
Klein and Leonard spoke at the same time.
”So which incident do we deal with first?” Kornleigh solicited his companion’s opinion.
Leonard put away his dangling stance and said, “The one where the old man living alone heard heavy footsteps echoing inside the house.”
”Why?” Kornleigh subconsciously asked back the reason, and Klein waited with interest for some guy to explain.
Was this what was called a poet’s intuition? He quietly hacked at the other man.
Leonard’s gaze shifted from the not-so-tall Cornley’s face to Klein’s face, then back again, and said with a light laugh:
”Because it’s closest to the church.”
”How do you know that? It’s not on the profile ……” Klein asked offhandedly.
Leonard hemmed and hawed, “On the way to the meal, didn’t I go to the washroom? On the way back I met a trainee priest and casually chatted for a few moments, he told me that Noah’s home is near the church, well, Noah is the name of that old man who lives alone.”
Worthy of being a night watchman for more than three years, doing quests is very skillful. …… Klein let out a dry smile, and turned his head sideways to Coenly, “Then we’ll go to Noah’s home first.”
”Okay.” Coenly had no problem with that.
And just a minute later, they arrived at Noah’s home ……
Noah was an old man with gray and thinning hair, who had lost his left hand forever in a war when he was young and had to leave the army, take his compensation, and return home.
At this moment, he opened the door of his room, looked at the three strangers before him, and then at S’Elle, who had hurried over from the church, and said in a hoarse voice:
”Come in, I hope you have solved my problem, I hear you have brought holy water, holy emblems, silver daggers and garlic? This is very great, I am much relieved, pardon my shivering, you must understand the state of an aged man after he has been unable to sleep peacefully for two nights in succession, oh Goddess, I have been assuming a fear, and my mind has become in a trance.”
Just as he entered the gate, Leonard suddenly straightened his back, and his eyes examined the surroundings as if they were substance.
It was only immediately afterward that Klein felt the eerie aura hovering around the room, the lingering traces of ghosts that had once moved about the place.
”Unholy creatures have indeed been here.” Kornleigh was the last to notice the state of the place and lowered her voice.
”Very weak.” Leonard withdrew his gaze and spoke languidly.
”The Midnight Poet can be considered a higher inspired “profession” in all the Sequence 8’s recorded by the Church.”
”Yes.” Klein felt the warmth and purity that naturally emanated from the seal “3-0782” was rapidly dissolving those gloomy auras, and the other party was defenseless.
Just then, the townspeople who had been waiting for quite a while gathered at Noah’s house and gazed at Klein, Leonard and Kornleigh with a pair of curious and expectant gazes.
”Ahem!” Leonard cleared his throat and said aloud, “We are blessed by the Goddess, and those unclean creatures will soon disappear without causing any trouble.”
After saying that, he signaled with his eyes for Klein to perform the “purification ritual” for everyone.
Why me? Klein asked with his eyes.
Of course, he didn’t know if Leonard could read his eyes.
Obviously, Leonard comprehended his meaning and lowered his voice:
”You’re a professional, when it comes to rituals.”
Well, who asked me to volunteer to help? Klein organized his clothes and received the holy water, holy emblem, silver dagger and garlic from Leonard.
He first put the “Darkness Holy Emblem” on his chest, then broke open the garlic and threw it to every corner, one clove at a time.
”Huh, is this how garlic is used when exorcizing ghosts?”
”It’s different from the description in the newspaper ……”
”Will this work?”
……
The onlookers of the town instantly murmured, curious and excited, as if they were traveling to a circus.
It didn’t work! I’ll just do it casually! Suddenly feeling like a “clown”, Klein hurriedly half-closed his eyes, used his silver dagger to pick out holy water and sprinkled it on the ground.
As he sprinkled, he walked around the house, chanting under his breath:
”Goddess of Darkness ……”
”Mother of the Hidden …… Lord of Crimson ……”
”Queen of Doom and Fear ……”
”Lord of Rest and Silence ……”
……
This standard God’s Rod paradigm immediately shook the room, and the townspeople quieted down one after another.
And as soon as a person enters a state of quietness, it’s easy to notice things that were previously overlooked.
”A very warm feeling.”
”It’s like basking in the sun ……”
”No, it’s like I’m seeing the pure sky ……”
”It’s truly magical …… Is this the effect of holy water?”
”Worthy of being a cleric sent by St. Selene’s Church!”
”Praise the Goddess!”
……
The townspeople discussed in whispers, looking at Klein, Leonard, and Coenli with eyes gradually filled with awe, while the house owner, Noah, visibly relaxed, no longer in doubt about whether or not things could be resolved.
This is the effect of the seal “3-0782” …… We do not need to do anything to exorcise the ghosts, just stay in place for a minute …… No need to be very tired and troublesome! After …… Klein finished purifying the gloomy breath from all parts of the house, he opened his eyes, put away the silver dagger, and solemnly and seriously drew the Crimson Moon on his chest:
”Praise the Goddess!”
”Praise the Goddess!” The townspeople responded reverently.
”There are still some things that have to be taken care of next, but we need absolute silence.” Leonard looked around the circle and spoke with a smile.
The townspeople who had seen what it meant to be “professional” didn’t dare to stay forcibly, and under Cleric S’el’s greeting, they exited Noah’s home like a tidal wave, and even the owner of this house had to leave for the time being.
”Actually, I would like to sleep immediately ……” muttered Noah, walking towards the church.
Leonard took a step and reached out, closing the doors, and turned his head to Klein:
”You divine the cause of the incident.”
”No problem.” Klein also wanted to try to divine what he could with this.
I know that it was Mr. Azk who did it …… but his bitterness doesn’t seem to be low, heh, the bitterness of someone who can live for 1,300 to 1,400 years surely can’t be too low …… so, my divination is bound to be affected… …In this case, without the help of the mysterious space above the gray fog, I’m not even sure what revelation I can get …… Klein took out the pen and paper that he had with him, and wrote down the “divination statement”:
”The cause of the haunting of Noah’s house.”
He took the piece of paper, walked over to the round table, sat down, closed his eyes, and leaned back.
In the disoriented, hazy world, Klein suddenly saw a black mausoleum.
It was similar to a pyramid, but embedded in the ground upside down, nearly buried.
And inside this ancient mausoleum, a thick black fog obscured everything.
Klein awoke with a start and opened his eyes.
”What have you found?” Coenley asked with concern.
Klein thought for a moment, and without hiding it, he described in detail the revelation he had gained in his dream, saying at the end:
”It’s definitely not the North Continent’s style of mausoleum, I mean the Fifth Era, and I’m barely an expert in this area.”
Leonard nodded as if in thought and said:
”That’s the ‘inverted pyramid’ of the Southern Continent, implying an entry from the earth into the underworld, and whether it’s in places like the former Byron Empire, or its offshoot Highland Kingdom, only the so-called descendants of the God of the Dead can build such a mausoleum for themselves.”
”In a sense, it’s a symbol of ‘death’.”
”Well, a ghost would definitely be related to the God of Death, this divination result is undoubtedly correct.”
Not bothering to pay attention to Leonard’s ridicule, Klein was struck dumb and had an interesting thought:
Could it be that Mr. Aztec is a descendant of the God of Death, or that he was able to gain such a long life because of some kind of deal with the God of Death?
According to the corresponding chapters of the Night’s Revelation and the Night’s Watch’s internal information, the Grim Reaper is an evil deity that once wreaked havoc on the Northern Continent at the end of the Fourth Age, a period known as the “Pale Age”.
Well, k later said to have fallen in the seven gods to join hands …… Ramsdale Castle’s initial age is not known, but not earlier than the “Pale Age”.
If there is some connection, then the person behind the taking of Mr. Aztec’s child’s skull by the person living in the Red Chimney house has something to explore ……
Of course, it is also possible that this is an excuse for the northern continent countries to colonize the southern continent, after all, the main belief in death over there ……
Because there was nothing else to discover, the three night watchmen didn’t stay too long and quickly left the Noah’s house to start dealing with the other two suspected haunted incidents.
Same process, same result, they quickly got the town rid of the necromantic aura, but did not find the source of it all.
On the way, Leonard had questioned the townspeople, asking if any strangers had come in the last few days, and had gotten a negative answer.
Mr. Aztec hadn’t come? He should have arrived in secret and left quietly, without anyone noticing …… It is indeed prudent …… What he means by returning to downtown Tingen on Wednesday is that even if we don’t deal with it, the “ghosts” will disappear on their own on that day? What does he mean when he says he’ll be back in downtown Tingen on Wednesday? Klein thought about things, following Leonard and Cornelius back to the door of Morse Church.
And they were able to hold out under the “Mutated Sun Emblem” for another 1 hour and 45 minutes.
”We’ll take turns watching, switching once an hour.” Klein held back his inner excitement, looked at the sky and said, “Try to make it back to downtown Tingen in time for dinner.”
”No problem.” Leonard glanced at Klein and said with a low smile, “But to ensure safety, I would suggest that two people watch and one rest, rotating in that order.”
…… Klein froze for a moment, and responded with a smile as his thoughts raced:
”Good, but then we’d have to work out the most sensible rotation, who rests first, who next, who last, how much time to recover each time, how much to recover, well, I think we’d have to create an equation with unknowns to find the optimal solution and make a comparison with a single watchman …… There’s an efficiency function that would be great …… Let’s start by assuming the unknowns are ……”
”Stop!” Leonard’s turquoise eyes were filled with bewilderment and fear, “In that case, let’s go with single watch, the one whose turn it is will stay inside the church, it’s wide enough, of course, have to let Cleric S’El and the others go somewhere else to be guests, and the remaining two will guard the outside of the church to prevent anyone from approaching.”
”That’s my opinion as well.” Kornleigh found herself getting a headache when she heard about the math side of things.
”Fine.” Klein nodded “reluctantly”.
If he hadn’t been able to convince his two teammates just now, he would have had to try to trade with Leonard like last time, using the everyone has a special all secrets, paying a certain amount of information in exchange for his departure.
And now, the problem was completely solved!