Part 2 The Faceless Man Chapter 106: Audrey’s “Adventure”
Queens, inside Count Hall’s luxurious villa.
It was supposed to be time for piano practice, but Audrey was still sitting in front of her dresser, thinking about how to read and memorize Roselle’s diary in the evening.
Suddenly, a haze surrounded her, and an infinite gray fog emerged.
In the center of the gray mist was the figure of the Fool, who was listening to the prayers of a man who was too blurry to be seen at all:
”…… pray for some help;”
”Praying for some help in accessing the bookmark that’s in Roselle’s creative manuscript;”
……
How did Mr. “Fool” know that I would be visiting the Rossel Memorial Exhibition today after closing time and have access to some of the things …… Audrey listened in amazement, amazed but not surprised:
To “fool” Mr. status and ability, to grasp such a small thing is still very easy!
As for the specific how to master, ordinary serialists do not need to understand.
Audrey was about to respond, when she heard Mr. Fool speak in a low, flat voice:
”You can choose to accept this commission, or not.”
Er …… Audrey pondered for two seconds and said:
”Dear Mr. ‘Fool’, I can give it a try, but there is no guarantee of success.”
She wasn’t too interested in the 500 pounds minimum payment, the reason why she accepted this mission was because she was curious about what was so special about the bookmark left behind by Rossel the Great, that it made Mr. ‘Fool”s dependents value it so much that they offered a price that was not capped.
Anyway, I was going to look through Russell s diary today, so it just …… happened to be on the way, Audrey thought greedily.
Klein, the Fool in the gray mist, nodded gently and returned a word:
”Good.”
When the hallucination completely disappeared, Audrey cast her eyes to the dresser mirror, seemingly seriously examined herself inside.
She felt both nervous and uneasy, and excited to make plans for the evening’s action:
”It must not be perceived as unusual.”
”I can’t be the focus of suspicion if Mr. ‘Fool”s dependents do anything afterwards.”
”Just touching that bookmark definitely won’t work, once it’s lost, all eyes will be focused on me.”
”Well …… so, I have to show the same interest and the same gesture to all the items, I can’t let others see that my main purpose is that bookmark, and the whole process has to be soft, unobtrusive, and in line with reason and logic.”
”How should I cause tiny unobtrusive damage?”
”It was just a bookmark ……”
Audrey’s gaze swept unfocused-like over the same artifacts laid out on the dresser, suddenly settling on the open jewelry box, on a pair of jeweled earrings decorated with tiny pins.
The corners of her mouth turned up a little, her eyebrows curved slightly, and she said as if to herself:
”With Susie’s help, that should be enough ……”
……
At six o’clock in the evening, Birkeland, where the sun was already hard to see in the current season, was already dim, and the gas streetlights came on one after another.
The Kingdom Museum sent away the last batch of ordinary visitors, but ushered in a group of visitors consisting of counts’ young ladies, dukes’ children, young viscounts, and other people of noble status.
Because he knew that some of the nobles’ children were dilettantes who often got into trouble, Max Levimore, the captain of the “Mechanical Heart” Western District Squad, who was responsible for guarding the Memorial Exhibition, had to disguise himself as a security officer and always follow the side to prevent accidents.
His hair was neatly combed back, and he wore a monocle that made him look like a college professor.
The monocle was in fact a seal, code name “3-1328”, nicknamed “Crystal Eye”, through which Max Levimore could see spirits, ghosts, and phantoms directly, and no longer feared that the Extraordinary One would drive these normally hard-to-detect things to cause trouble or steal. things to cause trouble or theft.
Of course, the seal has a significant downside, which is that it tends to attract monsters such as grumbling ghosts and phantoms to its vicinity, and irreversibly diminishes vision if worn for long periods of time.
”She’s like the bright sun in the gloom of Berkland ……” At this moment, Max was looking at the blonde young girl in the side with admiration.
Audrey looked with interest at the toilet, inlaid with gold leaf and carved with intricate patterns, and inquired of the narrator beside her:
”Is this the first flush toilet in the modern sense?”
”Yes. Personally, I think it’s one of Rossel’s outstanding contributions to human civilization, and it, along with its accompanying sewer project, changed the phenomenon of Trier being full of, heck, full of dirty things.” The narrator was about to say the word “feces,” but looked at the young girl in front of him and decided she couldn’t afford to lose her genteel demeanor.
Audrey asked again with deliberation:
”May I touch it?”
”Does it still work?”
Viscount Graylingt, meanwhile, chuckles from the sidelines:
”Why are you so curious about this as well? No matter how old it is, it is always just a flush toilet.”
The rest of the noble sons who were on good terms with them laughed out loud.
”No, Grelint, you guys don’t understand, this is the glory of human civilization.” Audrey responded with a light smile, making a vomiting face in her mind.
If it wasn’t for the sake of fulfilling the commission of Mr. Fool’s dependents, I wouldn’t want to do this ah …… She sighed helplessly.
The narrator chimed in:
”Miss Hall said it very well, the glory of human civilization is not only embodied in the cannons, muskets, and other weapons that have changed the form of warfare, but also shines in every detail of our lives.”
”Honorable Miss, I also don’t know if it still works properly because no one would bother to use it.”
The narrator glanced at Max Levimore as he spoke, receiving an affirmative nod before continuing:
”You can touch it, or even open the tank to see the mechanics inside, but please be careful.”
”Thanks.” Audrey watched as the security officer opened the glass wall and busied herself by taking two steps forward, extending her white muslin gloved right palm and carefully touching the pumping button.
Then, she took a slow step back and smiled:
”Well, that’s it, I’ve satisfied my curiosity and can’t hurt it any further.”
She always remembered her persona this time was that of the naive and curious young girl.
After looking at this place, they entered the gallery that had Roselle’s diary.
After a half-circle of introductions, Audrey asked again:
”May I look through this notebook? We’re all interested in this strange symbolism.”
”Uh …… I’ve heard that paper over a certain age can be damaged by even touching the air, let alone touching it directly, so I don’t think so, right?”
She blinked, letting her pretty jewel-like eyes show sincerity, eagerness, and a slight loss of emotion.
The narrator glanced at Max Levimore again and waited for the other to reply before smiling:
”The Church uses a special preservation method that allows the paper to be as if it had been produced only a few years ago, and, even without that method, we will try to fulfill any request you make, except that it may require a change of environment for a change of clothing, and a more rigorous process.”
”You can turn it over a bit, but don’t take too long and don’t push.”
Audrey’s eyes glazed over and she couldn’t look away.
After sincerely thanking her, she joined Viscount Grelint and the other occult enthusiasts piece by piece, opened the glass cover, and carefully flipped through the notebook.
Audrey tried her best to memorize it, but because the symbols were so complicated, what she could remember in a short period of time was rather limited.
”It adds up to almost two pages, I wonder if there’s a way to topographically print a copy ……” Her thoughts fanned out and she ceded her place to her peripheral companions.
With that, she made requests for each gallery to take a closer look at something, and was largely granted.
Walking around, they arrived inside the restored study.
Audrey kept up her curiosity by asking a few questions from time to time.
When the docent introduced the “Creative Manuscripts,” she spoke up with sparkling eyes:
”Can I turn it over? I’d like to see exactly what the great inventor Rossel’s manuscripts look like and what ideas they contain.”
”No problem, the beautiful Miss Hall, the honorable Viscount Grelint, you can all flip through it, heck, if any of you is a devout follower of the church, you can even request a topography.” The narrator replied on Max’s cue.
As a devotee of the goddess, Audrey could only respond with a light smile and was not at liberty to speak.
At the same time, she faked to ruffle her hair, reached out her palm and touched her right ear, quietly removing the stud.
Immediately afterward, the glass enveloping the desk was opened, and Audrey stepped forward, pressed against the manuscript, drew out the bookmark with a pretense of carelessness, and turned a random page.
Just then Susie, who had taken her cue, called out suddenly in the other direction:
”Woof! Woof! Woof!”
The eyes of the crowd were immediately drawn to the bookmark, while Audrey lowered her arm, stabbed the bookmark with the stud in her palm, and mentally mumbled the phrase “Pirate King,” once in Hermetic, once in ancient Hermetic.
The sharp, needle-like decoration touched the surface of the bookmark, and just as it was about to penetrate deeper, to the other side, Audrey felt a strong, illusory resistance.
Unusual resistance!
The resistance flickered, and the “fine needle” made a small mark, almost piercing through.
”There really is a reaction! There really is something odd!” Audrey’s eyes glazed over, not daring to try again, she lifted her hand up and placed the bookmark on the table.
Then, she looked at Susie and calmly instructed her maid, Annie, to say:
”Well …… you take it to the washroom.”
”Yes, Miss.” Annie was busy leading Susie out of this showroom.
When!
Taking this opportunity, Audrey dropped the earring in her hand to the ground, then inclined her head to look at it and said:
”Sorry, I dropped my earring.”
The other maids were busy leaning over, picking up the earring and helping her put it on.
The interlude passed, and the attention of the crowd returned to the manuscript, and when they had had a general look through it, Max Levimore, the “security man”, was busy pinning the bookmark in and reclosing the glass cover.
Audrey remained interested for the next few galleries, just as she had been before, and showed no signs of being out of the ordinary.
When she left the museum and returned home, she took the opportunity to recite the name of the “Fool” and reported the outcome of the incident:
”…… I damaged that bookmark a little bit as requested by your favorites.”
”It… it’s having an abnormal reaction.”