A few hundred meters away, at the street corner on the east side of Saint Delan Square, Priest Augustus and Bill Schneider walked into the square together. They walked along the unlit side of the street, both looking composed.
"Doctor, I'm here to deliver an alchemical item to Xia De. I owe it to him. What are you here for? This area is under strict surveillance by the Church tonight, and it took me a lot of effort to get here without being discovered. Oh, I must give Xia De a surprise this time."
Priest Augustus asked softly, the Old Priest seemed to be in a good mood tonight.
"The academy sent word at seven o'clock, telling me to monitor this area tonight and report what happens after tonight. The best place to monitor, of course, is Xia De's home; he should lend me his window. The academy also told me this area is under strict surveillance by the Church tonight, and it also took me some effort to get here."
Bill Schneider nodded and said, turning to look behind him: "When I came from that street just now, I saw people fighting in the sky. What's happening tonight?"
Although Priest Augustus didn't know about the wise man's stone, he knew it was related to the Chosen One. He didn't want the doctor to get involved in such matters, so he just shook his head.
Both of them were heading to Xia De's house, but just as they passed through the square and approached the fountain in the center, they both frowned simultaneously, looking in the direction of Saint Delan Square Six.
Two strangers, a man and a woman, were peering into No. 6's first-floor window. Even though the two strangers had been in that position just now, both the doctor and the Priest only noticed them at this moment.
Bill Schneider and Ratt Augustus frowned deeply.
Inside the sealed room on the second floor of the Prophet Association on Silver Cross Avenue, it was silent in the darkness. Everyone was watching the tabletop under the white light. Iluna's eyes were fixed on the puppet representing Xia De, which was moving towards Saint Delan Square:
"It seems my luck is good tonight. Although Hamilton cannot detect the whereabouts of Jack the Thief, he has a perfectly reasonable reason to also go to Saint Delan Square."
"But what good is one stroke of luck? 【Night Prowler】Joggeli Deus and 【Charming Lady】Lydia Pungelo have already arrived at Saint Delan Square, but your Hamilton is still on the way."
The professor from the Truth Society said with a relaxed tone.
On the map representing the nearby area on the table, two figurines had already entered the Saint Delan Square area. Jack the Thief, who had been detected, was moving quickly within the square, like an ordinary thief performing a final reconnaissance before acting.
"With the first stroke of good luck, there might be a second."
Miss Green, behind Iluna, said softly, "Currently, it seems that although your story characters are indeed strong, they are not strong enough to guarantee victory. No matter how powerful a Ring術士 is, he still fears bullets. Otherwise, why didn't you manipulate the characters to attack Xia De Hamilton at the beginning of the story?"
Her analysis reassured the others present. Professor Ons pointed to his companion:
"Guess why I am acting with this gentleman, Mr. Ons, a follower of the great one mr. doom."
The young Cultists looked up at everyone, and after kissing the evil god's holy emblem again, he asked softly, "Professor, is it my turn to act?"
"Yes."
The middle-aged professor nodded: "The story cannot always be smooth sailing. It's time for some twists and turns."
"What are you going to do?"
Iluna asked very warily. The Cultists took the holy emblem pendant from his chest and placed this divine artifact with blasphemous elements on the table:
"Keeper, I offer you this holy emblem in exchange for all the characters in the story encountering a stroke of bad luck."
The figure in the black robe raised his right arm, and the wide hem of his robe waved lightly over the holy emblem, and the holy emblem disappeared.
The professor explained to Iluna with satisfaction: "Only a few powers can directly interfere with the game, including the holy emblems of gods related to fate, stories, and wisdom. And the bad luck summoned additionally for the story will only involve things that can reasonably happen within the story scene; no gods, angels, or relics will appear abruptly."
"Yes, the vice-president of The Society of Truth anticipated that the character chosen by the Church would have extraordinary qualities, so we arranged strictly contained relics at various intersections nearby in advance. When bad luck descends, fate will cause those relics to be on the verge of losing control. Our characters know how to deal with those specific relics, but that Mr. Hamilton..."
The Cultists with messy hair smiled, his yellowish-brown teeth looking particularly terrifying.
The bearded captain of the Mechanical Church wanted to curse again, and Mr. Modero of the Peace Church clenched his fist. Dorothy was protecting Angelina, and was about to switch places with Leia again to inform Xia De that relics would attack him, but Iluna spoke at this moment:
"A friend of mine has told me many times that manipulating fate will only lead to being played by fate. Maliciously summoned bad luck will only lead oneself astray on the path of destiny."
She picked up the parchment with Xia De's information, and the Keeper's voice, from the darkness all around, described the story's next turn:
"The night was as cold as water, and on the street of the winter night, Xia De Hamilton, the lucky one, was still pondering the thief's target. In a trance, he seemed to hear the terrifying whisper of bad luck, and when he looked up again, he found himself surrounded by darkness.
The lucky one encountered the Document-level relic "swarm of cats" in the dark night. The abandoned pet cat died alone in a garbage heap, and the concentrated malice congealed into a curse of cat swarms in the dark night. Due to the sudden event of bad luck, Xia De Hamilton cannot escape by any means. Now, a mental assessment is performed. Roll the dice; if the number is below 200, he will immediately go insane from witnessing the relic."
"200? But Mr. Hamilton is just an ordinary person..."
Someone in the darkness said, but Dorothy and Angelina weren't nervous at all. Princess Margaret, who was close to them, bit her lip and seemed a little flustered. Although she didn't know why Xia De became an "ordinary person," she didn't want this capable knight who had helped her to die here, or to expose his identity here.
Clang, clang~
The number rolled was 25. Iluna unfolded Xia De's parchment. Although the number was small, her expression showed no panic:
"Number 25 points, symbol bonus 10 points, character trait 'Cat Affinity' bonus 76."
No one doubted this. Although Xia De didn't often take Mia out, many people had seen that cat, at least many people had seen it in Lakeview Manor, so people knew that Xia De was very popular with cats.
"Character special ability..."
Dorothy, Princess Margaret, and Angelina all held their breath, thinking she would read out something that would expose his identity.
"Cat Training, provides a bonus with a coefficient of 3 in this judgment..."
She glanced at the explanation on the parchment and rolled the dice again. This time the number was 53. Even though the people at the table knew they shouldn't make a sound, they couldn't help but exclaim.
Iluna's eyes swept over the traits that could not be read, such as "Extraordinary Creature Affinity, Bond of Moon and Cat, Basic Blessing of Time Task - Life Friendly, First Fire's Deterrence":
"Character special ability 'Cat Training' bonus, 53 × 3 = 159, total 270, judgment passed."
"Wait, isn't this too exaggerated?"
The young Cultists who had summoned the bad luck immediately questioned:
"It is true that ordinary humans can master some very powerful skills through long-term training and their unique talents. If Xia De Hamilton had a 3x bonus coefficient in card gambling, I wouldn't be surprised at all, but why does his Cat Training have a 3x bonus coefficient?"
The Keeper ignored the question, and instead Iluna snorted lightly with a serious expression:
"This can only mean that Hamilton chose the wrong profession. Perhaps he should work in a circus, where he can both raise cats and play cards. Hamilton's cat is orange, and tigers are also orange; they are very similar."
The three princesses in the darkness suppressed their laughter.
Iluna continued to add: "No matter how proficient one is in cat training in reality, it is absolutely impossible to avoid the mental influence of a relic by relying on it, but stories are just that magical. I should thank you; if Hamilton were not a story character, he would truly be insane right now."
Many of the special bonus values that Iluna did not read out directly exceeded the 200 required for the judgment. For example, the special status "Blessing of Ten Thousand Souls" provided a bonus of 200. The souls trapped on the Edge of Life and Death in Sicar Mountain, even if each only gave Xia De a little blessing, formed an astonishingly large mental resistance. And the fourth profession, "Time Investigator," beyond "Detective Correspondent Student Agent," provided an additional 275 points of bonus for this judgment due to the inherent peculiarity of the profession itself.
In addition, in the 【Legendary】 column of the parchment, the three special titles "Summoner of Tobesk, Merman Slayer of Coldwater Port, Enemy of the Undead of Middlesburg" each provided an additional 300 points of mental resistance, plus the Miracles and Curses that required dice rolls for judgment values, and other scattered special bonuses. If Xia De's total value for this judgment were actually calculated, it would easily exceed three thousand.
The seventeen-year-old girl had no idea how to lose.
"He just hasn't gone insane, but he is still being affected by the relic. Do you think this relic won't actively attack him? He's just an ordinary human; fate won't always favor him."
The professor from the Truth Society reminded him. As his words fell, a voice came from under the hood:
"The Document-level relic "swarm of cats" launches an attack; it needs to pass soul defense and physical defense consecutively to..."
It suddenly stopped speaking. Everyone was surprised by this, but no one dared to urge it.
This eerie silence lasted for a full half-minute before the interrupted story continued:
"The Document-level relic "swarm of cats" retreated. On a leisurely winter night, attempting to murder an ordinary person who has an affinity for cats is clearly not a good idea. Perhaps sensing the presence of another terrifying force nearby, they retreated. The "swarm of cats" went from an out-of-control state back into a contained state. The bad luck of Xia De Hamilton, the lucky one, was lifted, and he continued towards Saint Delan Square."
"Huh?"
The Cultists' mouth slightly opened; he never expected such a thing to happen. Dorothy, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief and temporarily did not inform Xia De of the current situation.
"What terrifying power is in this area?"
Miss Green quietly asked Mr. Modero beside her. He shook his head slightly:
"This is the center of Tobesk City; how could there be terrifying power? I understand. It seems that a fight has already broken out nearby. That street is on the edge of the story scene. Perhaps... could it be some unknown Ring術士 nearby who had a dispute with the Church? Or perhaps some relic they were carrying disturbed the "swarm of cats"?"
No one could guess what exactly happened, but it was clear that the young Detective had good luck.
--- Aside ---
PS: Since these two chapters actually talk about the same thing, I'm adding an extra chapter. Asking for votes at the beginning of the month.
