Part 1 THE JOKER CHAPTER XXI A FAMILY FRIEND IN ANOTHER COUNTRY
For a moment Klein thought he had traveled back in time, but the elegant gas lamps surrounded by brass grilles in front of him and the silver-encrusted pewter tin in which Old Neil had filled his hand-ground coffee made him recognize reality.
Was Russell the Great, the traveler’s predecessor, really a compatriot?
Was he recording secrets in simplified Chinese that didn’t exist in this world?
With an indescribable feeling of “meeting an old friend in a foreign land”, Klein quickly skimmed through the three pages of text in his hand:
”November 18th, what a magical thing, a whimsical experiment and an accidental mistake, let me find a poor guy trapped in the storm, lost in the depths of the darkness, he can only be a little close to the real world in the full moon every month, but still can not pass his cry in, he is lucky, he met me, the protagonist of the era. protagonist of the age.”
”After writing the above paragraph, read it by myself, suddenly a little sigh, even in Chinese characters, also unconsciously brought a strong translation accent, forty years flick of the finger ah, past memories are really like a dream.”
”January 1, 1184, the grand New Year’s party, Mrs. Florentine is really a special person.”
”January 2, the gentlemen of my Foreign Affairs Committee are stupid asses!”
”January 3, the choice was still too hasty; now it seems that either the ‘Apprentice,’ or the ‘Diviner,’ or the ‘Stealer,’ were much better, but alas, there is no turning back.”
”January 4th, why are my children so stupid? I’ve told you a million times, don’t be fooled by the magi, no, the magi may have been fooled themselves, the key to magic potions isn’t mastery, it’s digestion! It’s not digging, it’s playing! And the name of a magic potion is not just a core symbol, it’s also specific imagery, it’s the ‘key’ to digestion!”
”September 22nd, the alliance against me is building, from Forsak in the north, to Rune in the east, to Feneport in the south, my enemies have finally come together, but I am not afraid, I will show them with the facts that the generational difference in weapons and insights is not something that can be made up for by the numbers and the low ranked Sequencers, and besides, it’s not as if there aren’t any of them under my command, and the high end, heh, have they forgotten who I am?”
”September 23rd, I lost contact with the ship searching for the ‘Godforsaken Lands’, time for me to consider inventing wireless telegraphy, hopefully it won’t be affected by the storm.”
”September 24th, Miss Ithaca is more charming than Mrs. Flonar, perhaps I’m just nostalgic for youth.”
Because it was a copy of the copy, based on the complexity of the Chinese characters, the volume of each character was enlarged by quite a bit, so there was not much content on each page, and even the back was blank for the sake of preservation and research, but even so, Klein still looked at the heart of the book, especially the description of the key to the magic potion by Rossel the Great, but also gave him a feeling of having found a “solution to the problem “, the ecstasy of mastering a priceless secret.
”Perhaps this is the guiding light for my future pathway to the extraordinary!”
”Well, the three pages of the manuscript are diary entries from different periods of time, and it can be seen that Rossel the Great has the habit of writing what year it is only at the beginning of the year, and the two from November and September can’t be judged which year they belong to for the time being ……”
”Who was the poor fellow he found?”
”What exactly does digesting and playing refer to?”
”Where is the godforsaken land?”
……
A single question boiled in Klein’s mind along with the surprise, making him want to immediately collect all of Rossel the Great’s journals and read them from beginning to end!
”Klein?” Just then, the old Neil across the room spoke in confusion.
Klein woke up with a start and was busy hiding a laugh:
”I thought I would be the most special one and wanted to try to decipher and interpret it.”
”What a young man.” Old Neil nodded his head with a harrumph, “I used to think I was the most special one too.”
Klein flipped through the three pages of manuscript in his hand to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, then handed them back and asked in a mock offhand manner:
”Are these the only ones we have?”
I wanted to see more of Roselle the Great’s diary!
”You thought there would be a lot?” Old Neil rubbed the manuscript and snorted with deep wrinkles, “There aren’t many events involving the extraordinary and mysterious each year per se, hey, the main thing is that those transcendent species are gradually dying out in our northern continent, and without them, there are no more magical potions, and so there are fewer and fewer extraordinary people, hey, over the past few hundred years, dragons, giants and elves have all turned out to be books, and even the sea people have no longer appear offshore.”
Hearing this, Klein suddenly remembered a terrier and immediately laughed:
”I think it’s time to establish the ‘Gargoyle and Giant Protection Association’.”
Old Neil listened with a bewildered face, and it took him a long time to understand what it meant, and after figuring it out, he lightly tapped the table and laughed rather freely, not gentlemanly enough:
”Haha, Klein, you’re really a humorous person, it’s a tradition in our Ruin Kingdom, young people can’t go wrong with humor. I don’t think we can be too narrow-minded, how can it be just dragons and giants? It should be called the ‘Magical Animal Protection Society’.”
”No, no, no, how can we forget the poor plants?” Klein shook his head.
Speaking of which, he and Old Neil exchanged a glance and said in unison:
”The Society for the Protection of Magical Creatures!”
As the words left their mouths, the two of them laughed in silent agreement, and much of the rusty atmosphere from earlier disappeared.
”There are fewer and fewer young people as interesting as you …… Where was I just talking about?” Old Neil’s face wrinkled pan laughed, “I remembered, every year involving extraordinary and mysterious events itself is not much, the idiots worshipping Emperor Rossel is again a minority of the minority, we can get three manuscripts, already counted as a very good …… Well, the other cathedrals or dioceses should have more ……”
He whispered a few words, took the “approval note” that Klein had placed on the table long ago, and glanced at it, saying:
”Pistol bullets, or rifle bullets, or bullets for a steam high-pressure gun?”
”A revolver.” Crane answered as he really did.
”Okay, I’ll fetch it out, ahem, do you have an underarm gun pouch? As a gentleman, you can’t have your waist and below distended in public.” Old Neil made a joke that all men understood.
”Heh, no, need to go get the captain to write it up?” Klein laughed in tandem.
Neil Sr. stood up and said:
”No, just keep track of it, it’s a ‘companion item’, repeat after me, ‘companion item’.”
”You’ve been a teacher before?” Klein asked in amusement.
”Spent a while in church Sunday schools and free schools.” Old Neil raised the note, removed the key from the drawer, and unlocked the iron door leading to the inner room.
Extraordinary people and ordinary people don’t feel too different ah …… Klein muttered silently, and returned his gaze to the three pages of the diary on the table.
Rossel the Great was indeed involved in the mystical realm ……
His diary is worth a lot of money ah ……
To others, it’s just a scrap of paper that I don’t know when I’ll be able to decipher, to me, it’s treasure!
I wonder where the rest of the diary is ……
Gotta find more somehow ……
Klein’s thoughts rose and fell, and it was difficult to calm them until old Neil came out of the inner room and closed the iron door.
”Ten rounds of demon hunting ammo, thirty rounds of pistol ammo, a cowhide armpit gun pouch, and a Special Ops Team 7 badge, so take inventory, try it out, and sign the logbook.” Neil Sr. placed the items in his hand on the table.
The pistol bullets came in a cardboard box, divided into three tiers, neatly arranged, as yellow and slightly elongated as the bullets in Klein’s home.
The “Demon Hunting Bullets” were in a small metal box, the shape was the same as the normal pistol bullets, but the appearance was silver and white, at a closer look there was a complex and dazzling pattern, and at the bottom there was even a small emblem engraved with the words “stars on a black background and a red half-moon”.
The leather pouch was solid to the touch, with a buckled strap, and a half palm-sized badge on an iron-colored background, with the words “Ahova County Police Department” and “Special Operations Unit 7” in silver, which wrapped around in two near-closed circles, encircling “Two swords crossed and clustered around a crown”.
”Too bad it’s not the Night Watchman’s insignia.” Klein said, half-emotionally, half-tentatively.
Old Neil laughed and only urged Klein to try the underarm gun pouch.
Taking off his jacket, it took a great deal of effort for Klein to fasten the gun pouch, fitting it snugly under the armpit of his left arm.
”Not bad.” He didn’t remove it again and went straight to his formal attire.
Old Neil surveyed it twice and nodded in satisfaction:
”It fits perfectly, my eye is still as accurate as ever.”
After stowing the other items in his pocket and signing his name on the record book, Klein chatted with Old Neil for a few more moments before excusing himself.
Halfway there, he suddenly chagrined and slapped his forehead:
”Forgot to inquire about more sequences and magic potion related, I blame Rossel the Great’s diary ……”
He still wasn’t sure what the beginning of the sequence for that complete ‘pathway’ the Church of the Dark Goddess held, which was sequence 9, was.
I think Roxanne had mentioned one …… Sleepless One? Just as Klein was slowly making his way towards the stairs, a figure stomped down.
He wore tight pants that were easy to move in, his white shirt was untucked in, and he had a distinctly poet-romantic air, it was the dark-haired, green-pupiled officer who had searched Klein’s house earlier, and the two of them had already seen each other upstairs a while ago, they just hadn’t spoken.
”Good afternoon.” The poetically young night watchman greeted with a smile.
”Good afternoon, I don’t think I need to introduce myself, do I?” Klein humored him.
”No need, I’m impressed with you.” The young night watchman extended his right hand and said, “Leonard Mitchell, Sequence 8’s ‘Midnight Poet’.”
Sequence 8 …… is really a poet …… Klein shook him lightly and asked rhetorically with a smile:
”Impressed with me?”
Leonard Mitchell’s green eyes were dark and his smile was very light as he replied:
”You have a special aura.”
The corners of ……Gay in Gay …… Klein’s mouth moved slightly, forcing a smile, “I don’t feel it myself.”
”Having suffered an incident like that and not accepting our protection in the first place, yet you are still alive, that in itself is special enough.” Leonard pointed ahead, “I have to replace the captain, see you tomorrow.”
”See you tomorrow.” Klein sidestepped out of the way.
When he disappeared one step at a time at the end of the stairs, Leonard Mitchell turned abruptly, gazed at the dim glow and the stone floor, and whispered to himself into the air:
”Do you see anything ……”
……
”Sure enough, he’s nothing special ……”