Secret: The years I served as a foreign aid for the Aurora Club

Chapter 138 Game
359
Friday afternoon, outside the Red Rose Manor, a luxurious room filled with various antiques.

Klein stood at the door and asked the sixth maid he encountered today.

The young maid was wearing a black and white maid dress that was typical of the era. She had a pretty face and was in the prime of youth. Her brown hair was naturally curly, which made her look a little playful.

After a while of conversation, Klein smiled and said, "You seem to know more than the previous servants. You even know how to call me Detective Moriarty."

The maid glanced around and smiled as she spoke: "Because I take turns serving that young lady, she has always wanted to meet Detective Moriarty. After all, she is a good friend of Mr. Talim and is very concerned about his death."

"It's a pity that she always misses you."

"Always?" Klein was very sensitive to words like "always," "just happened," and "miss."

The maid nodded seriously and said:
"When His Royal Highness invited you to be his guest for the first time, she deliberately lost her temper and wanted to take the opportunity to go downstairs for a walk to meet you, but who knew that you left in a hurry."

"Afterwards, she offered to go to Mr. Talim's grave to lay flowers on his behalf, but she was unable to find you because she didn't know what you looked like."

"And today, she happened to go to the golf course behind to ride a horse to relax. Otherwise, even if the housekeeper didn't allow it, she would find a way to see you."

What a coincidence... Just as Klein was about to sigh, he suddenly grasped a key point:

On the day of Talim's funeral, the commoner woman whom the prince loved went to present flowers on his behalf!
What concerned Klein the most that day was the lady with a black veil on her face and a sapphire ring on her hand. She was likely carrying a Level 0 Sealed Artifact, or was a powerful being of the same level!
Suddenly, Klein's mind flashed back to the scene at that time:

The woman with the sapphire pinky ring on her hand was wearing a heavy black dress. Accompanied by her maid, she rode away in a carriage...

One of the maids had naturally curly brown hair…

The image of the maid quickly overlapped with the maid in front of Klein, and they were extremely consistent!

Klein's body suddenly tensed up, and sweat dripped from his vest, but his expression did not change at all.

Using the ability of the "clown", he pretended to recall the past and asked with a smile: "Did you follow that lady on the day of Talim's funeral?"

The maid responded nonchalantly, "Yes."

...Fuck, it's really her! Klein kept smiling:

"Great, next question."

He asked other questions as if nothing had happened, and then asked another servant to continue.

However, Klein secretly shortened the process and sped up the progress.

He had to leave Red Rose Manor before the young lady returned on horseback!
At four o'clock in the afternoon, before it got dark, Klein said goodbye much earlier than expected and took the carriage sent by the old butler back to the city.

Sitting in the car window, with his back against the wall wrapped in silk and cotton, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and had the energy to think about the whole thing:
The one who cursed Talim was the beloved commoner of Prince Edessak...

Why would she go after a fallen descendant of a noble family to avenge Talim's attempt to separate her and the prince?

However, there was no need for her to do it herself. She could find an opportunity to bring this up on the bed. Prince Edessak had plenty of ways to make Talim disappear without a trace...

Before his death, Talim was in love. Hmm... the first sign of this was after he successfully persuaded the commoner woman to leave Prince Edessak... they had an affair? So, the commoner woman who was brought back to the manor cursed Talim to eliminate the hidden danger?

It makes sense logically, but the problem is, how could a big man with a "0" level seal or a strong man of the same level be restrained by Prince Edsak? Even if Augustus is an angel family with enough accumulation, he would have to use huge power and adopt special methods to imprison him. This is not something a prince can do...

Besides, how could such a person possibly be interested in Talim?

Why did she keep wanting to see me? Did she notice that I was using the gray fog to spy on her?

No, if that were the case, I would have been buried with Talim on the day of his funeral... Besides, when she first wanted to see me, I hadn't received my flesh, blood, hair, or personal belongings, and hadn't done any divination!
Klein thought about it in confusion, and finally decided to bury the problem deep in his heart, not to explore it, not to investigate it!

I hope that with my previous reminder, the Mechanical Heart will be able to discover that the royal family attaches unusual importance to this matter. Yes, their attention may not be for the reputation of Prince Edessak, but for other reasons! I hope that the royal family will continue to restrict that lady and prevent her from visiting me... In a few days, when the time is right, I will hand in this task, saying that I can't do anything, and then use the excuse of going to the south for vacation to change my identity and hide for a while! Klein's mood gradually calmed down.

360
"This is the 'Faceless Doll', a magical item I treasure, a Level 1 Sealed Item, an item that was accidentally formed by combining extraordinary materials from multiple sources and a doll's body. It can be used as a temporary external clone when necessary. After my testing, it can descend with abilities above Sequence 4."

"But once it reaches Sequence 3, it will start to wear out. So far, the wear and tear is not too serious, and it can still withstand two or three times."

"The negative effect is that it will continue to attract people around it, or transform into the appearance of a human being it has merged with, tempting others to look at it, pick it up, and mistake it for a puppet with their own appearance. It may affect up to twelve active targets at the same time and absorb the blood of people around it. Once the person attracted has such cognitive confusion, the 'faceless puppet' will obtain the identity and appearance of the object in a very short time, and the two sides will exchange and try to leave. The fastest speed I have observed is four seconds, and after taking over the identity, the puppet will regard itself as the real person, so it is difficult to be discovered."

"Killing the puppet that has taken over the identity will restore it, but once the identity is successfully swapped, the victim is doomed to die."

"Before I got it, it had already merged with dozens of souls, so it had a certain degree of self-awareness."

Riel finished playing the recording of Treanor he had recorded, and handed a metal box to Richard. Richard shook it, and there came a sound of something colliding inside - it didn't sound big, and the material seemed to be wood, it should be a common action figure for painting.

"The way this object is sealed is to put it in a completely sealed box?"

Riel opened his mouth, and Treanor's voice came out of his throat again: "The sealing method is to put it in a completely sealed lightless box, and ensure that no human or animal stays within a radius of 200 meters for more than five minutes."

"You prisoners are good at sealing and controlling, so it should be easier to deal with it."

"The most important thing is: you must return it to me! Without it, my future plans will be greatly affected."

Richard smiled and put the black box aside: "I will."

“Here’s another recording,” Riel said. “You didn’t ask me about this, but I’ll play it for you anyway.”

"This item is not a complete product of the Diviner's Path. It is also mixed with other extraordinary materials and... an incredible blessing. That's why it has the negative effect of devouring souls and sucking blood. In short, use it with caution and don't use it for more than twenty minutes at a time."

Richard tilted his head and said thoughtfully, "I see. Is there anything else?"

"No more." "I'll leave the intelligence information about the raid you asked for here. If there's nothing else, I'll leave." Riel put a stack of materials submitted by Garland De, which he had taken out from somewhere, on the table. Seeing that Richard had no extra requests, he waved his tail happily and ran into the spirit world.

After he left, Maria, who had been sitting in the corner of the office without daring to breathe, finally mustered up the courage to speak: "Is that your messenger in the legend? A demigod messenger?"

Mine? It seems that I have used it too many times, and unreliable rumors have spread within the organization... Richard immediately denied: "No, it is my friend's messenger. It's just that we are on the same route and it can't beat me, so I often requisition it."

Maria was shocked when she heard Charlie say confidently for the first time, "It can't beat me again." Some strange elements appeared in her mind about the image of the leader.

As for the friend mentioned by the leader, there was no doubt about his identity. He must be the old partner in Intis, a partner that only the leaders of the middle and high sequences could know. He had provided considerable technical assistance and jobs for decades, and even the supply and capital chain had never been broken.

It is said that the new craftsman from Garland De was also sent by him, and he has just completed a batch of high-value orders with the Aurora Society.

Richard picked up the stack of reports, read through them quickly, and breathed a sigh of relief:
"Fortunately," He said, "this matter was reported expedited, and was not made up specifically to force me to go back."

"If it's the latter, Maria, I suggest you withdraw from Loen immediately. The government management here may be seriously problematic."

Maria's heart trembled: "What should I do now?"

“Maybe there is still hope.”

"But even so, it should not be underestimated..." Richard stroked his chin and said thoughtfully, "My whereabouts can be tracked through train and boat tickets. This is also the agreement I made with the North Continent Church in exchange for assistance. On the second day after I arrived in Backlund, someone got a hold of my whereabouts and used the newspaper industry to hint that I should leave here quickly. It seems that there is something fishy going on with this crisis in the East District."

Speaking of this, Maria suddenly had an idea and quickly said, "Before Admisor fainted, he looked in the direction of the 'Clock of Order'. Maybe this is a clue?"

Richard did not answer. He removed the spiritual wall, opened the box that sealed the "Faceless Doll", and took out the true form of the sealed object from the small black box - a wooden painting doll about 20 cm tall with movable limbs.

The difference is that general reference doll bodies are specially made into male or female bodies to facilitate observation and learning by beginners, while this doll is quite neutral, without any gender characteristics, and has a flat face and even no nose.

Maria was involuntarily attracted by the doll. At this moment, the doll also moved, and its face without facial features turned towards Maria. In an instant, a middle-aged man with a high nose bridge, a thin face, and light brown eyes appeared in front of her. The way he looked at her was like a father looking at his grown-up daughter.

This man who had died several years ago appeared vividly in her eyes, with a weak and gentle smile on his sickly face, just like when she was a child. It seemed that he would let her pass by in the next second, and gently stroke the top of her hair with his skinny but warm hands.

However, the next moment, rays of light burst out from the middle-aged man's body, like countless bandages, instantly wrapping him like a mummy. The middle-aged man's gentle and weak expression immediately became hideous and distorted, like a monster. The illusion was sealed, and the image in front of Maria shattered in the air. The limbs of the little doll in Richard's hand trembled, and it lowered its head with a click.

Richard noticed the change in Maria's expression and guessed who she had seen. However, he did not give Maria time to continue feeling sad and immediately asked her several questions in succession:
"The Bell of Order, Order, Judge? Do you mean that according to Admisor's perception, this disaster may be related to the royal family?"

Facing the leader's question, Maria quickly returned to her normal state. But she was a little uncertain. Just as she was about to deny it, she saw Richard frowning slightly, and a low voice sounded directly in her mind:

"I think so too."

"But I can't imagine ... under what circumstances the royal family, or the government, would carry out an indiscriminate attack in the East End."

Richard put the documents in his hand on the table, then smiled naturally and patted Maria's shoulder:

"Forget it, let's not talk about this!"

"Perhaps someone wants to frame the royal family. It's better to leave this matter to the administrators of Loen."

"I brought buttered bacon bread and a big bucket of mint tea for the children at noon. The children must have started lunch now, so let's discuss what to eat for lunch today."

Maria quickly responded: "Okay!"

"This is definitely not a population cleansing. If this is the case, Intis and Feysac, even Feynaport and Lenburg, will not sit idly by. They will definitely use 'human rights' as an excuse to declare war on Loen's improper behavior! The Augustus royal family cannot be that stupid."

As they left the principal's office and closed the door, Richard asked her, "Do you want to try some clam chowder from a restaurant outside the East Side? I think it tastes great and you'll definitely like it."

"You're right, I haven't tasted fresh food in a long time."

Maria nodded in agreement. At the same time, another sentence rang in her mind: "Someone doesn't want me here. Maybe I really need to leave immediately. I'll leave this doll to you. You should keep it carefully. When necessary, perform a ritual to make me descend. Recite my full name three times in a row, then throw this doll out, and I will act immediately."

"I have sealed this item. There is no need to require that there be no living creatures within a 200-meter radius. Just let it stay in the sealed box."

"Ha, but the fact that they are so anxious to get me away also exposes the true danger of this incident. It is definitely not higher than the angel level, and it will not be a disaster of the degree of the advent of the evil god. In this case, the power of the saint level can definitely intervene."

"That's it, okay?" Richard suddenly said.

Maria understood instantly: "Okay, no problem."

So they walked towards the restaurant on the outskirts of the East District, chatting and laughing. After entering, Richard went to the order counter, while Maria went to the booth. The moment she sat down, Maria suddenly felt as if many eyes were sweeping over her. She pretended to know nothing, sat quietly in her seat, and stared at the vase on the table.

Richard ordered the food and stayed at the counter for a while. He didn't feel as relaxed as when he was comforting Maria.

King of Loen, no, Black Emperor of Loen, are you planning something?

But what kind of decision would allow you to take action against your own people?

Is it because there are not enough people to build the mausoleum, or there are not enough anchors, so you decided to plunder the population in the East District? But how do you explain Admisor's "they are all dead"... Dead people are not effective anchors, and they can't help you build a tomb, right?

Or are they likely to be cleared out after two months?
Is this really a population cleansing that you condone? But what is the point of doing this...

After thinking for a long time, Richard still couldn't get an answer. All he could do now was to take things one step at a time. Since some people didn't want him to stay and ruin their plans, leaving the "faceless puppet" here secretly might be his last resort.

TBC
------

There will be another update at 6:30.

I'm so sleepy. If I can't make up my mind, I'll just take a nap.

(End of this chapter)