Chapter 77 'Black Cat' (please vote for the last two and a half days)
Opera District, Longba Street.
This street is famous for selling candies, and you can see candies of various colors everywhere.
The Mechanical Café is located at the bottom of Lombard Street, next to a small candy factory.
Its appearance is unremarkable. Even if you look through the row of glass windows, you can't see anything related to machinery. The black triangular holy emblem on the heavy wooden door is probably the only thing that reminds people of "machinery".
Lumian pushed the dark brown door and found that it was motionless, as if it was locked from the inside.
He observed briefly and pulled the doorbell hanging on the secondary window.
In the ding-ding-dong-dong sound, Lumian heard the slight collision of metal and saw the door slowly push back.
There is a mechanical arm fixed on its back. This metal creation extends to the bar counter and looks more like a decoration.
Lumian looked at the environment here while approaching the corner of the cafe. There were two one-legged tables stacked there, with five or six people sitting around them.
The most eye-catching one is a middle-aged man with red hair. His skin is very white with powder, and there is a circle of black lines around his eyes, which makes his brown-red eyes even deeper.
He has no beard and wears an open brown velvet jacket and a red shirt without a tie, which is both refined and casual.
This is exactly the "Count" Puyfer that Lumian is looking for, a member of the Sauron family of the former royal family of Intis.
He inherited his father's rich inheritance and did not enter politics, nor join the army, nor become a businessman. He has always been involved in various art circles as a literary critic, and he is most often seen in the "Black Cat"
reunion.
Lumian walked over and asked with a smile: "Are you Count Puyver?"
Puyver Soren looked up at him and asked in a relaxed tone: "Are you the friend Martin mentioned?"
"Yes, Charles Dubois." Lumian did not hesitate and directly pulled up a chair and sat down.
Puifer looked him up and down and said with a satisfied smile: "Yes, he is a beautiful friend.
"Do you like literature, painting, sculpture, poetry, or music best?"
"." Lumian answered without hesitation.
Puiver stretched his body, pointed at the short, fat middle-aged man diagonally opposite and said, "Anoly, the most literary writer in recent years."
That erotic writer who forgot that his purpose was to write about human nature? Lumian naturally thought of Aurore's evaluation of this writer.
His early works used love to highlight human nature, and later he became more and more obsessed with the former. If it were not for official control, Aurore believed that he would have written a pornographic book similar to "The Monk Chasing the Dog".
Of course, Lumian doesn't care about human nature, he just likes to see those embellishments.
"You make me grow," he said to Anoli from the bottom of his heart.
Anoly, who had black hair and blue eyes, smoked his pipe and said: "Fortunately you didn't say you liked my "Death of the Pioneer"."
"Death of the Pioneer"...isn't that Adri's work? Well, Aurore said that the spellings of the two writers' names are similar and they are often confused... Lumian asked with understanding.
road:
"Are you talking about Adri, who is supported by the government and earns tens of thousands of dollars in salary every year, but can only write a bunch of shit?"
Anoli burst out laughing: "This sentence is worth a glass of absinthe!"
As he spoke, he patted the silver-gray metal button on the table in front of him three times in a row.
Count Puyver also admired Lumian's performance and introduced several other members of the "Black Cat" organization:
They are the pale and tired painter Mullen, the slightly mean-looking literary critic Anyong, and the poet Elitte with a cherry wood smoking gun.
As soon as Lumian finished saying hello, he saw the iron-colored surface of Anoli's one-legged table suddenly cracked and bloomed like a flower.
At the "stamen", a glass of green absinthe with a dreamy luster is placed on a tray, placed in a mechanical elevator, and slowly rises.
The writer Anoly picked up the glass of wine and threw a silver coin worth 1 firgion into the tray.
The mechanical lift sank smoothly, causing the cracked metal surface to close, and the one-legged table returned to its original appearance.
Anoli pushed the absinthe to Lumian and said with a smile: "For what I just said!"
It really is a mechanical cafe... Lumian got to know this place again.
He turned his attention to the wide and thick leg of the table, believing that it should be hollow and connected to the pipes buried underground.
After taking a sip of absinthe and feeling the familiar bitterness, Lumian looked at the one-legged table again: "No change?"
"Here, a glass of absinthe costs 1 firkin." Anoly said with a smile.
Isn’t this too expensive? The Breeze Ballroom and Basement Bar only sell 7 Ricks, and the quality is about the same... Lumian silently cursed.
1 ferkin equals 20 ricks.
At this time, the painter Malen, who looked pale as if he had not slept for a long time but was definitely handsome, took a sip of coffee and said:
"I heard that an elephant came to the Trier Zoo. It is a very rare animal."
The squat Anoly muttered: "What's the point of talking about an elephant? Don't you think it's pointless?"
Count Puyver laughed:
"Then let's talk about the contradiction between the parliament and the two major churches, the senior government officials who can't do anything well, the abominable censorship of publications, and the spies who are wandering around us like hyenas?"
Anoli sighed helplessly: "Let's talk about the elephant."
While the remaining members of the "Black Cat" organization burst into laughter, Count Puyver raised his right leg and said: "Since we have new friends, why not play a game involving occultism."
A game involving the occult? Lumian's eyebrows moved.
"What game?" asked the poet Elitte, who was smoking a big pipe.
Count Puyver smiled and said: "The game of eating king cake."
Seeing that everyone else looked puzzled, Count Puyver said funnyly: "You all have no childhood or family, so haven't you ever played this game?
"The rules of the game are to cut the king cake evenly, the number is the participant plus 1, the larger piece will be dedicated to a certain god we believe in or an ancestor we respect through the ceremony, and the remaining piece will contain a hidden treasure.
Whoever bites the broad bean or the coin is the king today and can order other participants to do anything, of course, within certain limits."
The part involving mysticism is in the sacrifice of extra king cakes? Lumian glanced at Anoli, Mullen and others who were eager to try, wondering if there were extraordinary people among them. "
Of course, just from the appearance, they look nothing alike.
In just ten seconds, Count Puyver's proposal received a response from everyone except Lumian.
He began to tap the corresponding buttons on the one-legged table, telling the kitchen to send a piece of King Cake the corresponding number of times.
It is said to be a dessert that became popular during the Sauron Dynasty.
Underground of St. Robles Church, inside the Inquisition.
Valentine, Imre and other Purifiers gathered in the deacon's office in Angoulême.
Angoulême, wearing a light gold shirt and light white trousers, picked up the file in his hand and said:
"It has been confirmed that the body at No. 50 Vincent Street in Princess Rouge belongs to the wanted former priest Guillaume Benet. Remember to ask the police headquarters to remove the wanted order in the market area."
This case is not under the management of the "Purifiers" in the market area. Valentine only knew about such a thing, and now it has finally been confirmed.
Wearing a blue formal coat, he looked at Angoulême and said, "Deacon, have you found out who killed Guillaume Benet?"
"There are no suspects at the moment." The blond-haired Angoulême looked at the file and said, "What is certain at the moment is that there are obvious traces of flames at the scene, and Guillaume Benet is likely to die.
The Witch’s Curse.”
"At least a Sequence 7 'Hunter' and a Witch? Such a combination is rare." The mixed-race Imre was quite surprised.
As far as he knew, most of the "Witch" pathways were in the hands of the Witch family, which was a powerful secret organization that didn't need much cooperation with others.
"Less doesn't mean none," Angoulême retorted.
As the deacon of the "Purifier", he can read dossiers with higher confidentiality, and he has more experience than Imre, Valentine and others, and has even personally executed two members of the witch family.
Valentine frowned and thought for a moment, "Could it be Lumian Lee who did it?"
"He has enough motivation."
"But he doesn't have enough strength." Imre shook his head, "It's only been a long time since he left Kordu Village, so how could he have been promoted to 'Arsonist'? Isn't he afraid of losing control? And, according to your description, even if it's '
The arsonist' is certainly no match for Guillaume Benet."
Valentine insisted on his guess: "That's why he needs the help of the witch.
"Will he join the witch family for revenge and transform into a 'witch' in the future?
"If this is really the case, things will be very troublesome. Lumian Li has a very serious problem hidden in him, and you said that the witch family is keen on spreading disasters."
Angoulême nodded:
"This really needs to be focused on. I will report it. At the same time, we will increase the investigation of suspicious people in the market area."
After making the decision, he comforted Valentine with a few words: "Don't be too nervous. The people who have the motive to kill Guillaume Benet are not only Lumian Lee, but also powerful bounty hunters, the Aurora Society."
'A formal member and a benefactor of other evil gods."
Valentine said "Yeah", indicating that he understood very well.
After discussing several extraordinary cases that needed to be handled recently, Valentine and Imre walked out of the deacon's office, passed by Charlie who was learning how to use a mechanical typewriter, and walked towards the tunnel leading to St. Robles Church.
"Tell me, why did that would-be witch come to us? What valuable information did she discover?"
Imre was somewhat curious and started communicating with his teammates.
Valentine thought for a moment and said, "Could it be the death of Guillaume Bennet?"
Imre was stunned for a moment: "You mean, she came into contact with the witch family?"
Before Valentine could respond, Imre shook his head: "Impossible. The Witch Family hates female 'assassins'. Once they encounter one, they will definitely eliminate them."