Backlund West District, behind Philips Department Store, the back door.
Several carriages used to pull goods were parked neatly in a straight line. The tall brown or black horses had their heads buried in the mangers, eating the fodder that the coachman had just put in.
Since it is the most high-end department store in the Kingdom of Loen and is also a well-known social place for nobles and wealthy people, the employee benefits of Philips Department Store are much higher than those of other companies.
Take the delivery truck drivers as an example. Compared with the most common hired carriage drivers in Backlund City, they only need to work eight hours a day and are on duty according to the schedule every day. They also arrange shifts on weekends to ensure that each employee can work for a month.
One break is required, and of course the recruitment requirements are much higher.
It is now half past twelve in the morning in Backlund. The scorching sunshine rarely breaks through the thick fog that has accumulated in Backlund all year round, dispelling the coldness and humidity that plagues most citizens. This is the lunch break for most employees of Philip Company.
At that time, only a small number of people were on duty to ensure the operation of the store, and there was only one unlucky guy sleeping in the lounge and eating dry bread in the stable behind the store.
Suddenly, a petite girl with shoulder-length blond hair and wearing a knight's uniform took advantage of her body and slipped out of the parabolic tube attached to the back wall of the department store building.
She followed the inertia, put her hands on the ground, tightened her body, and rolled into the manger.
The horse, which was concentrating on eating grass, was frightened by the girl who suddenly rolled over. It looked at the girl's rough, unruly semi-long hair, thought about it, and lowered its head again, ready to take a bite!
The girl felt the sudden heat on her head. She looked up suddenly and saw the horse that wanted to take a bite of her staring with its eyes wide open, as if it had seen something surprising enough and was about to neigh.
Before the horse could cry out, it felt a huge, invisible pressure, suddenly became extremely gentle, lowered its head again, and ate grass obediently, as if nothing happened.
That girl is none other than the famous "arbiter" of Backlund's East District, Hugh Dilcha.
She looked at the horse that had been "pacified" by the "deterrence" she had just released. She didn't even bother to adjust her clothes. She rushed out of the backstreet of Philip's store and quickly got on the public carriage heading to Hillston District.
.
............
Xio pushed open the wooden door of the apartment, looked at the corridor behind him with familiarity, and then closed it after confirming that no one was there.
As soon as she entered the living room, she saw her roommate Forsi Wall half-slumped in the easy chair, his lips slightly open, his eyes dull, his right hand drooping weakly, and a round-bellied absorbent hanging on his index and middle fingers.
pen.
Forsi seemed to hear the creak of the door opening, but she did not get up to check. Instead, she continued to slump in the easy chair and made a decaying sound:
"Hugh, rice, I'm so hungry..."
"I remember I left enough bread." Hugh ignored his roommate and his undignified appearance, went straight to the closed curtains, and opened them.
The loud movement of the curtains kicked up bursts of dust, and the dazzling sunlight quickly occupied the entire apartment, "killing" the lazy "rice bugs" hiding in the shadows.
"Ah, why are you pulling the curtains?" Forsi suddenly jumped up from the easy chair, "I have just fallen into a bottleneck period and need inspiration. Inspiration does not require sunlight."
Xio took off his knight uniform, pulled Fors who was about to go to the kitchen to find something to eat, and sat on the sofa together. He unfolded the "Vice Admiral Hurricane" that Miss Audrey had given to him, which he had hidden before.
Sketch of Zillinges.
Forsi picked up the sketch in confusion and studied it carefully.
"What is this?" Forsi asked.
While adjusting his sitting posture and relaxing his body that was tired from "sneaking out" of the Philips store, Xio replied:
"Miss Audrey gave this to me. She said she was looking for the person above, uh, the great pirate Qilingos. His bounty in Loen is 10,000 pounds."
The unique wide chin, ancient knight's bun, eyes with a cold smile... Such a special hairstyle, for Backlund, is like a firefly in the night.
"Is this really 10,000 pounds?" Forsi couldn't help but ask. She then read the additional description below, and saw that it described that the target has the ability to transform into the appearance of others, and the duration is unknown...
.
Then what's the use of this sketch! Forsi raised his head in confusion, looked at Xio who was looking at him attentively, and said to himself:
"It's impossible to find a foreigner who can turn into someone else. There are countless foreigners in Backlund."
Forsi suddenly lost his temper again, returned to the way he was before Xio returned home, and collapsed again.
Xio looked at the lazy and depraved appearance of his roommate in front of him, as if he was used to it. He just took the sketch that recorded the information from her hand, without even the intention of blaming her.
She read it carefully again and found that there were many additional descriptions, so she read it out in a low voice:
"1. There is a very evil item on Qilingos' body, which will swallow the flesh, blood and soul of a living person every other day."
"2. It is recommended to collect detailed information about Qilingos. Although he can change his appearance, he has not been trained to disguise himself, so he will always behave like himself, and some behavioral habits will expose problems."
Forsi seemed to want to say something when she heard this. She was trying hard to support her body and planned to pull out her body that was stuck in the sofa. She tried two or three times, then gave up the struggle and squirmed to adjust.
My "sitting posture" is trying to make myself look less decadent.
She took out the cigarette box pressed under her buttocks, nodded slightly and said:
"Miss Audrey does not seem to be as innocent and simple as the rumors say. She has a sufficiently delicate heart and calm observation."
Xio glared at Forsi, who was about to take out a cigarette from the cigarette box, and asked:
"Really, I never found out."
"Since you are so keen, why not let me be responsible for the search, and you be responsible for collecting and summarizing the pile of gold lists, no, the hobbies and characteristics of that pirate general?"
Forsi's eyes widened suddenly, he calmly put down the cigarette in his hand, and asked:
"How can you bear it? Look at my recent state. I've been very busy with new books. Readers' requirements are becoming more and more strict. I have to conceive more cumbersome yet interesting plots. How can you bear to let me do it now?
How can I take on such a heavy task again when I am so broken?"
Xio glanced at his friend and unconsciously showed a convincing majesty:
"I only saw you being lazy at home recently. This is an opportunity for us to make money. Isn't there a very excellent reasoning in your "Stormhouse"?"
Forsi tightened his body, buried his head in his arms, and muttered:
"You have no idea how much hair I pulled off for that reasoning when you were out..."
"Readers are sending letters every day, and editors have repeatedly threatened to come to check on my progress. You don't know how many nights I have stayed up. We sleep together..."
Xio looked at the pitiful appearance of her roommate huddled on the sofa, and felt a little distressed for a moment. She was almost fooled into trying to comfort him.
She deliberately lowered her voice, her childish voice became deeper, trying to highlight the majesty of the "arbitrator":
"Then do you have any other ideas?"
Seeing that he no longer had to deal with it himself, Forsi thought seriously for more than ten seconds, suddenly raised his head and said:
"We can hire professionals to do it! We only need to collect the information about the 'Hurricane Lieutenant General', then erase the names and hand it over to detectives who are good at summarizing. This not only only requires the necessary consulting fees, but also saves time.
!”
Xio looked at the roommate who suddenly became energetic in front of him, and suddenly froze on the spot. He and Forsi looked at each other, and the air was filled with silent embarrassment.
"Ahem, okay." Xio cleared her throat, "Just do what you said, consult the detective."
"Of course, you pay for it."
Forsi, who was originally happy because he no longer had to stay up late to sort out materials, heard this sentence, and the smile on his face suddenly solidified. It took him a long time to squeeze out a sentence in retaliation:
"When you came in just now, you forgot to mention that there were a few ears of wheat growing on your head."
After speaking, Forsi quickly stood up, jumped up, and fled to the bedroom, leaving only Xio standing there stunned with a few ears of wheat stuck in his head.
............
As Klein pushed open the door of No. 36 Zotland Street, he recalled the contents of Mr. Azik's letter:
"I will go to Morse Town on Sunday and return on Wednesday..."
He greeted Luo Shan skillfully and saw that the door of the captain's office was open at the partition, so he raised a less obvious smile at the corner of his mouth and deliberately lowered his voice and said:
"Yesterday at the Divination Club, I met a girl who looked very similar to you."
This topic really aroused Luo Shan's interest. She put down the "Tingen City Honest Newspaper" and asked:
"real?"
Klein nodded without sincerity, and turned his head to pay attention to the direction of the captain's office when he answered:
"Really, I thought she was your sister. Your personalities are very similar."
"That disappoints you. I have no sisters, only a distant brother." Roxanne replied playfully.
Maybe that's your brother. If I really saw such a "girl"... Klein thought of Tris from before and thought maliciously.
"By the way, is Klein's divination club fun?" Roxanne asked casually.
"That's work, madam. It's my daily job of mastering potions and obtaining more information." Klein chuckled, "However, I do encounter a lot of interesting things."
Luo Shan was immediately interested and asked curiously:
"What are they? You know, compared to your job where you can walk around every day, I can only sit here bored."
The captain's door is still open. Complaining about work at work is a taboo in the workplace... After Klein briefly told Roxanne a few interesting things he encountered during divination, he ended the topic, waved goodbye, and walked to the partition
Inside the captain's office.
Dong-dong-dong, he knocked gently on the open door, attracting the attention of Dunn, who was tossing coffee.
Dunn raised his head and glanced at him, quickly put down the coffee in his hand and straightened his posture.
"Please come in."
Klein has used personal experience in the past few days to confirm that the captain was trying the "acting method" and that the other party did not report it to the church's senior leadership, so he obviously had concerns.
He closed the door casually and said with a bit of excitement in his solemn expression:
"Captain, I have completely digested the 'Soothsayer' potion."