In the manor, the afternoon sunlight shines on the carpet through the windows, and the fine velvet roots on the carpet are clearly visible. Her leather shoes step on the edge of the carpet. Merkel, who is wearing a shirt, leans forward, crosses the table, and steps from the shelf.
I took down the globe.
The globe had not been used for a long time, and there was a layer of dust on the surface. Merkel took out a rag and gently wiped the surface of the globe. At this time, he heard footsteps coming from behind. When he turned around, he found that Schiller had walked in.
.
"Good afternoon, sir...oh, what is that?" Merkel greeted normally at first, and then looked at the thing in Schiller's hand with some confusion.
"Yesterday Victor and I went shopping in an antique store in the West End and found an interesting thing." Schiller shook the thing in his hand and made a crackling sound.
It was a wooden frame with many small wooden beads. Schiller picked it up and shook it, and Merkel saw the whole thing. He said: "This is... an abacus? Why are you interested in this?"
"
"The abacus is an ancient calculation tool. I love it better than a calculator. It also makes sounds. The sound of the abacus beads colliding is much more pleasant than the electronic synthesized sound of the calculator."
As Schiller spoke, he sat behind the table with his abacus. He squinted his eyes and looked at the clock on the wall. Merkel took a step to the side and stepped aside slightly to ensure that Schiller's view would not be blocked.
But Schiller just glanced at the watch casually, and then lowered his head and began to fiddle with the wooden abacus.
It can be seen that this abacus must be an antique, but fortunately, the patinated wood will make it feel smoother. Schiller supported his head with one hand and kept turning the abacus beads with the other.
Merkel looked at it for a while and found that Schiller was not randomly moving the abacus beads. He seemed to be really calculating these things with the abacus. Not only did his hands move constantly, but he also muttered words in his mouth.
Merkel discovered that her employer was getting weirder and weirder. Forget about the changes in her schedule and living habits. Before, she loved the globe like a treasure, but at some point, the globe was thrown aside.
On the contrary, the cane, which had never been popular before, was used so frequently that the paint on the top was worn away.
Today, I got an abacus from nowhere, and it seems that I actually learned the abacus, and planned to use this rather ancient calculation method to calculate certain things.
"Sir, if what you want to calculate is more important, I can help you get a calculator. I am not questioning your abacus ability. It's just that the numbers and accounts are full of mistakes. Once something goes wrong, you can restore this part of the content.
It may take you quite some time..."
"It doesn't matter, it's not an important thing." Schiller crackled the beads on the abacus and said, "I'm just practicing the abacus first in order to cope with the peak of accounting that may come next..."
"Peak settlement?" Merkel was a little puzzled again, but at this time, Schiller looked up at the watch again. Just as he made this action, Merkel heard the doorbell ringing downstairs.
Merkel raised her ears in surprise, then quickly walked to the door, glanced downstairs, and said: "I remember, there should be no appointment today?"...
"Indeed, because the people who come here don't know anything about making reservations."
Merkel went back and put down the globe in his hand. When he came downstairs, he found a figure lazily leaning against the door. Without even getting close, he knew that there would be no one else but Constantine.
"Good morning, Merkel, is Schiller here?" Constantine didn't regard himself as an outsider at all. He raised his legs and walked in. On the contrary, the housekeeper Merkel could only follow behind him.
"Mr. Constantine, you must call to make an appointment first so that I can know whether Mr. Schiller is available today. If you don't make an appointment and Mr. Schiller is busy, wouldn't your trip be in vain?"
"Come on!" Constantine waved his hand and said, "What can he do? Eat, sleep, wipe his broken umbrella, only work 4 hours a day, and spend the remaining 20 hours shutting himself in the study to study the conspiracy.
…”
"You'd better not say that." Merkel chased after Constantine, but Constantine really took off and walked quickly. He crossed the courtyard and stepped onto the stairs, "Once upon a time" a few steps
, and came to the study where Schiller was.
Schiller was still sitting behind his desk fiddling with his abacus. When Constantine walked in, he didn't even raise his eyelids, but pointed to the chair opposite.
Constantine lifted up the hem of his trench coat and sat across from the chair. Schiller gave Merkel a look. Merkel first closed the curtains, then walked to the door, closed it, and then stood in front of the table.
Constantine looked up at him and said: "Next, we are going to have some private talks..."
Merkel made a "please" gesture, then stood still. Constantine stared at him, clicked his tongue, and then said: "My conversation with your boss may involve some confidentiality, don't you think so?"
you should……"
"Sir, you are British and you should know that the butler does not exist in this manor at any time."
Constantine sighed helplessly, and then looked at Schiller, but Schiller was completely indifferent, still lowering his head and fiddling with the abacus. When Constantine looked at Merkel, he only saw Merkel's standard British expression.
Fake laugh.
"Okay, next, let's talk about my reward." Constantine tapped the table with his fingers and said.
Schiller finally stopped fiddling with the abacus. He lowered his head, opened the drawer of his desk, took out a document from it, handed it to Constantine and said, "This is the account details. Take a look at it. Are there any questions?"
"
Constantine took the document and was stunned when he saw the first page. He pointed to the line above and said: "Reimbursement unit...Green Lantern Corps? What does this mean?"
"Literally." Schiller replied without raising his head.
"You mean, the one who pays my salary is actually the Green Lantern Corps?"
"No, I am the one who pays your salary, but I still have to go to the Green Lantern Corps for reimbursement. Don't forget, I am one of the Green Lanterns. Any strategic actions I take should be paid for by the Green Lantern Corps headquarters."
Constantine opened his mouth wide and said: "You mean, you asked me to hold back the first batch of Green Lanterns, and when the second batch of Green Lanterns arrived, they were driven to the central turntable and launched a sneak attack.
Adjutant Carroll, these things are all part of your strategic plan, and you plan to ask the Green Lantern Corps headquarters to reimburse you for the expenses incurred by this plan?"...
"That's right, before I implemented this plan, I was already a member of the Green Lantern Corps, a legitimate Green Lantern, and the code in the ring states that the Green Lantern Corps will pay the Green Lanterns to maintain security in the sector they are responsible for.
All expenses for the event are covered, any questions?”
"You..." Constantine rarely knew what to say. He thought for a long time, and even the muscles on his face were working hard to help him think. After thinking about it, he spit out a question:
"Do you feel that you are a little wicked?"
"Keep reading." Schiller was still thinking to himself.
Constantine retracted his thoughts, then lowered his head again and looked at the bill. As he looked at it, he murmured to himself: "Attendance fees... travel fees... time fees... are all calculated according to the energy of the green light ring.
Is it? It doesn’t seem to be a problem. The attendance fee is 20 green light ring energy? It’s acceptable..."
"Wait!" Constantine suddenly exclaimed.
"380,000 pieces of magic equipment were lost??? One, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand... 380,000?!
"
Constantine stretched out his hand and began to count his fingers. Then he looked up at Schiller and said, "You wrote it casually, right?"
Schiller also looked up at him, looking straight into his eyes. Constantine suddenly hesitated again and asked: "...really?"
Schiller looked at him and said nothing. Constantine closed his eyes, then rubbed his eyebrows, put down the bill, then looked at Schiller and said: "I thought you would have the most basic understanding of magic."
"
"The entire earth...oh, no, according to them, in this sector of the entire earth, there may not be more than 38 things that can be called magic instruments."
"I have long said that magic has a price, and it has a huge price. You will never hire a devil to help you build an artifact for free. Even the most common enchanted weapon may require you to sell your soul...
…”
"Even those magicians who have their own magician towers in the rift space are already very impressive to have a real magic tool, but wandering magicians like me don't have one at all."
Schiller still stared at him without speaking. After a long time, Constantine was finally defeated. He said: "Okay, there are one or two, but I hid them."
Schiller continued to stare at him, and Constantine sighed helplessly and said: "5 pieces, really only 5 pieces, including pots and pans for making magic paint..."
Schiller raised his eyebrows, and Constantine also looked at him. Finally, Constantine raised his hands and said: "Okay! Okay! There are probably more than 600 items in my hiding place..."
"But you have to understand that my situation is quite special. I am good at making friends. No matter in heaven or hell, I have many good friends. When they heard that I had moved to a new house, they were all willing to help me, and some of them also did business with me.
Just like you, so I can get paid some money..."
"However, the vast majority of magicians in this world don't even have a handy weapon. No matter what, the number of 380,000 is too exaggerated!"
"Who are you?" Schiller suddenly asked this question.
"Who am I? I am Constantine, who else can I be?"
"No, I mean your name."
"Well, I have a name called Hell Detective, but I told you before that I am not a detective. The focus of Hell Detective is hell."
"What's your reputation like?"
Constantine showed an expression that said, "You're asking questions knowingly." Schiller said, "Yes, it's really bad."
"A new Green Lantern named Schiller Rodriguez faced the hellish difficulty of Gotham City at the beginning, but he had a righteous heart and made a series of plans to save the place."
"At the beginning of this plan, he emptied about half of the energy of the total lamp furnace, but he found that the energy was still not enough to turn the tide, so he could only write blank checks first and hired many capable celebrities, including
Including you, Constantine."
"And because of your bad reputation, it's normal for you to speak loudly, right?"
"But how could they agree to such obvious extortion?"
"But if they don't agree, don't you have a reason to rob it? You are a bad person anyway."
"I..." Constantine choked for a moment, and he said: "I admit that I am a bad person, but I am not that bad. Many times, I still have a very contractual spirit. You are ruining the reputation of my industry.
,you……"
"I'll give you an extra 10% after the deal is done."