Part 2 Faceless Man Chapter 120 Stalker
On the outskirts of the Northern District, inside the nearly abandoned three-story school building of the medical school.
Even though it was only three o’clock in the afternoon, the fog and layered clouds had already made the whole of Bakerland gloomy and dim, as if there was a big storm coming.
Inside the dilapidated corridors, the chilly light shone in ghostly slants, penetrating the windows and making everything seem silent and sooty and morose}.
Audrey, who was already here for the second time, was no longer as apprehensive and tense as before, and her head, which was wearing a surgical cap and a large mask, turned slightly from side to side, habitually observing the environment and every detail of the place.
Viscount Grelint walked beside him, gradually becoming a little frightened, and couldn’t help lowering his voice:
”How does this place feel a little weird ……”
”Will there be ghosts and evil spirits?”
As an occult enthusiast with only half a foot in the circle, the only transcendental phenomena he had really seen were Forsyth’s piercing through walls and opening doors, and he wasn’t sure about whether or not the ghostly apparitions of the grumbling souls actually existed.
But that didn’t stop him from being afraid of similar monsters!
Voorhees glanced at him sideways and stifled a laugh:
”Most of the people attending the party are extraordinary people, if there really are evil ghosts and specters, they must be very happy that it means materials or servants.”
Seeing that Viscount Grelint was visibly relieved, she deliberately added another sentence:
”Of course, I’m only talking about the weaker kind of ghosts, a real molded specter might be able to make everyone here die silently, trying to run but only able to go back and forth between the three floors, unable to get out in any way, like entering a labyrinth.”
Hugh nodded approvingly:
”I once encountered a similarly disgruntled spirit that couldn’t escape after several turns in the cemetery, a process that kept people inexplicably turning back, followed by sudden deaths, and if it weren’t for an Extraordinary One carrying a ‘Sun Charm’, perhaps you wouldn’t have seen me today. ”
Viscount Grelint winced, and was busy looking sideways out the window, just as a withered branch hit the glass with a soft thud as the cold wind blew.
Glorinte nearly screamed out, panicking and moving a little closer to the two Extraordinary Ones, Forsyth and Hugh.
Audrey stifled a laugh that was almost to her lips and quietly watched the scene with an oily thought in her mind:
I’ve seen Mr. Fool, who is almost a god, I know the Silver City in the Forsaken Land, and I’ve heard of all the horrible monsters in the dark depths, so I’m still afraid of what kind of ghosts and phantoms?
But …… I really haven’t really encountered a ghost yet, yuck! Audrey, what are you thinking? It’s better not to encounter this kind of thing casually!
Unless I’ve become a “psychiatrist” and have the extraordinary ability to influence other creatures, or I’ve got a magical item that can control ghost-type monsters. ……
The group of four people accelerated their pace and quickly arrived at today’s meeting place.
Before entering the door, Voorhees found an opportunity to bend his back slightly and came to Hugh’s ear:
”You cooperated well just now, you were able to make up a story so quickly to scare people.”
”Look at Viscount Greylindt’s white face where the mask is not covering, so white that you can hardly see any other color.”
Hugh twisted his head, slightly bewildered, and replied:
”I’m not making up stories.”
”That’s what happened to me before I came to Birkeland.”
”……” Forsyth froze for a moment and asked offhandedly in return, “That’s true?”
”What’s there to lie about?” Hugh’s face of disbelief was hidden by his mask.
Forsyth turned his head, took two steps forward, and suddenly shuddered.
At that moment, Grelint, who no longer wanted to stay within the eerie and frightening corridor for long, reached out and pushed open the door to the meeting place.
As the creaking sound echoed, his eyes were greeted by the cast concrete floor, and the cringe-inducing smell of preservatives reached his nose.
Immediately after, he saw a larger pool in the center, filled with a clear, yellowish liquid, floating figure after figure.
The figures were all naked, some more intact, others with half of their skin stripped off in a beef jerky-like tan color.
These were all corpses!
”Ah!”
A miserable male voice echoed through the room.
A single gaze then turned to Greylint.
These gazes came from the figures in white coats surrounding the pool, also wearing surgical caps and large masks, with only their eyes and some skin exposed.
Grelint’s body shook for a moment, wanting nothing more than to turn his head and run, but instead he saw Audrey, Forsyth, and Hugh cross over to him as if nothing had happened and walk in, pretending not to be companions who had come here together.
Sucking in his breath, Greylint nearly recoiled.
He looked back out, only to see the corridor dark and dank, shadowed, with not a living soul in sight.
Shivering again, Grelint hastily quickened his pace to catch up with Audrey and the others, and found a place to sit furthest away from the pool.
After a few minutes, a white lab coat figure stepped out and, using a wooden pole with a hook next to the pool, pulled a body against the side and got right up to it, yanking the other man to the concrete floor.
He paused for two or three seconds, pulled out a scalpel, and cut open the corpse’s abdomen.
As that wound went deeper, suddenly a cold, raspy voice came out of it:
”The party begins.”
…… Graylingt reached up and pressed the mask on his face, his throat wriggled a few times, and he nearly vomited.
As various deals either succeeded or failed, and the party entered its midway point, Audrey, who had been calmly observing, finally spoke up:
”I want the ‘Audience’ magic potion formula.”
Before the words left her mouth, she immediately felt several gazes sweeping in, but then quickly moved away without lingering much.
After a few dozen seconds of silence, the deal was aborted.
……
It was four o’clock in the afternoon, and the sky was getting closer to night.
”How can it be the same nothing ……” Grelint did not keep the noble manners, slightly paralyzed leaning against the wooden boards of the carriage, sighing in a low voice.
This gathering of extraordinary people had left a deep impression on him, making him feel that he had taken a great risk.
But even so, he still hadn’t bought the horn of an adult Unicorn Pegasus or the Venom Crystals of a Crown Jellyfish.
Foerth secretly skimmed his mouth and said:
”That’s normal, although Beckland is the easiest place to get materials, but if one can’t participate in every Extraordinary Gathering, then there will be the same situation of not being able to find the items one wants for a long time, which either requires luck or patience.”
”You see, Mr. Viscount, the ‘Audience’ recipe that Miss Audrey wants has no clue until now.”
There are times when one meets it but doesn’t have the money to buy it …… Hugh, who was sitting next to him, thought helplessly.
Audrey, on the other hand, relieved Grelint:
”When I go back, I’ll look in my family’s treasury, maybe there’s what you want.”
She’d brought along the pituitary gland of a seven-colored lizard dragon today, but hadn’t come across the spinal fluid of a Falsmann’s rabbit, so she’d just exchanged it for 320 pounds in cash – a preparation for Susie’s promotion.
Grelint nodded and was about to speak when he suddenly saw Hugh sit bolt upright and frown slightly:
”It looks like someone’s following us!”
”I trust your instincts, now what?” Forsyth asked as he looked around the room.
Following us? What do we have that’s worth following? Just selling an extraordinary item for a few hundred pounds in cash, even if someone wanted to rob us, we shouldn’t be at the top of the list of targets …… Though Graylingt acted like a rookie, we didn’t …… And the conveners of the party did quite a bit to keep the members’ safety against anyone being followed, unless, other than that, it was him who sent the followers! Everything was fine last time, hmmm, what’s the difference between the two …… Audrey’s thoughts were electric, and suddenly an idea came to her:
Maybe it is my behavior of seeking to buy the “audience” formula, attracted the attention of the Psychological Alchemy Association.
They can’t sell the “audience” formula casually, accompanied by the inevitable follow-up is to attract people to join the club.
And attracting people to join the club is not a simple thing, we must guard against the other side is a quasi night watchman quasi substitute punishment, or other hidden forces sent spies.
Without observing the target, without examining it, the organization would be quickly exterminated!
After a few seconds of contemplation, Audrey said to Voorhees and the others:
”Prepare to be attacked.”
”Pretend you haven’t spotted the stalker.”
”If you can make it back to Queens, don’t care about the exposure of mine and Graylint’s identities, while you guys have to leave stealthily.”
Her turquoise eyes swept over Grelint and added with a light smile:
”We are occult enthusiasts known to many people, it’s normal to find the opportunity to attend extraordinary gatherings, even if the ones we are following are official extraordinarys, they won’t suspect anything because we are all still just ordinary people, so at most they will warn us with a word or two through other channels.”
But I have Sequence 8 already …… phew, in order to contact the Psychological Alchemy Society, it is necessary to take a little risk …… The official extraordinary person should not be staring at me who is just begging for the formula to be right, it should not be able to bypass the party organizer and track it down to us, I want to believe in my own judgment! Audrey mentally puffed herself up.
”Fine.” Viscount Grelint muttered his agreement.
The carriage moved forward as usual and circled around several times, and at the end of the day, Audrey and the others even changed one, as scheduled.
The stalker never launched an attack during this process.
When they arrived at the back door of Viscount Grelint’s mansion in Queens, the two nobles returned in the normal way, while Forsyth and Hugh each relied on their own skills to leave.
After ten minutes or so, Audrey took Susie, the big blonde dog, and the maids with her, and rode in her own carriage, leaving through the front door without any cover.
Listening to the sound of rolling wheels, she couldn’t confirm whether there were any more followers, and could only scatter her thoughts on her own:
The daughter of the Earl of Hall was clearly unlikely to be a spy for any extraordinary power ……
There was nothing wrong with her past ……
Her love of the occult is well known ……
Her status and position can bring help unlike anyone else ……
Maybe, in a couple of days, a member of the Psycho-Alchemy Society will try to reach out to me …… Audrey thought with some anticipation and some nervousness.
……
Saying that he had to prepare, Klein spent two days like nothing else at the Krag Club, and even set up a card game with the equestrian teacher Talim and the others, winning a small few Soule.
Before he went to bed, he didn’t forget to look outside Lawyer Jürgen’s house to make sure there was light and to feed the cat.
At eight o’clock on Friday night, he put on his iron mask and black robe with hood and entered the living room of old Mr. Wise Eyes.