Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1436 Lovers' Night
"A genie? A genie!"

Christina uttered two words, seemingly forgetting that simply having the thought of "speaking" in one's mind would allow the other person to hear.

Dorothy, standing nearby, first glanced at Tina's hands rummaging haphazardly through her handbag with a puzzled look, then suddenly realized:

"Did it fall on the street just now?"

When the two were first brought here by "Magician" Merlin, the genie who dared not utter a word in the church distorted their hearing and vision, turning the complex Intis language into the simple and easy-to-understand Rune language, but now he has disappeared without a trace.

There's only one possibility: the problem lies on this old street with its ancient architectural style behind us.

"Impossible, the bag is intact, and I didn't take the 'wishing lamp' out..."

Tina reached into her handbag and carefully felt around to confirm that the sealed artifact hadn't shrunk her down and hidden her in a corner, but had truly disappeared. However, there were no tears or gaps in the handbag, and the golden lamp, which was several times larger than her fist, couldn't have left silently.

"Could it have been stolen..."

She murmured, recalling the black-haired man who had briefly interacted with them earlier. The way he hurriedly urged them to leave now seemed to have an element of guilt in it. Perhaps he was now holding the "0-05" that looked valuable but was actually not cheap and grinning foolishly.

The “Different” cabaret troupe across from the “Alone” bar where the man was staying was also very strange. Could there be a thief among the three customers dressed in short suits and monocles who passed by Tina, or even all three of them?

Although none of the four suspects had any physical contact with Tina, she had been indoctrinated with occult knowledge by the Genie for a day and knew that there was a whole potion-making pathway called "The Thief"!

As long as the genie is cooperative, or even "amplifies" or "distorts" the thief's power, the process can be made simple and secretive. After all, there is only one step left before He is unsealed. Compared to Tina and Dorothy, who would ask for their wishes after fulfilling their promises, it might be more convenient to have a different collaborator. This doesn't even require Him to break the agreement; He just needs to "not resist."

Having reached this final step, Tina was unwilling to give up this opportunity.

Thinking of this, she pulled her sister, who had just taken out the Mirror of Arodes, and turned back towards the old street.

"Shouldn't we ask Arodes first? I still have two free questions left. If all else fails, we can continue in a question-and-answer format. Anyway, it's just the two of us here, so we don't have to worry about being asked anything too embarrassing..."

Dorothy asked in a low voice.

During this short one-day trip, Tina entered the world of mysticism, met countless extraordinary individuals, and gained a great deal of knowledge. She made several decisions, both willingly and unwillingly, and was no longer as ignorant and reckless as she had been when she first stepped out of the house that morning. Hearing her sister's question, she shook her head and answered:

"Let's keep it for now. If they refuse to return the lamp to us, we'll punish them with Arodes."

She didn't intend to rely on herself and her sister, two girls with no extraordinary abilities, to retrieve the stolen goods from that mysterious cabaret. She just wanted to test the waters first before making any plans. After all, Arodes' "uses" were very precious, and they would later have to venture into the underground catacombs beneath Purgatory Square. She didn't know if they would encounter other, even more difficult problems.

In contrast, the nightclub patrons who stole valuables instead of robbing them were less likely to harm them in the street, leaving room for maneuver.

Furthermore, after calming down a bit, she thought of a special helper.

The man at the "Alone" bar.

The unusual nature of the “different” dance hall was almost obvious. There weren’t many pedestrians on the street, which was unbelievable in Trier, where the population was close to that of Backlund but much denser. Moreover, Tina noticed that none of the passersby looked at the door from which the music was constantly coming from, and they were not curious about the dancers’ uninhibited movements inside. It was as if the dance hall did not exist.

Before today, Tina would have thought it was just a niche entertainment venue with a high barrier to entry, but after learning so much about occultism, she naturally began to suspect that the nightclub was influenced by some kind of supernatural force.

Once the line of thought is drawn, the "Alone" bar diagonally opposite the cabaret, which also sees few outsiders but has people closely monitoring it, is most likely a base for surveillance and surveillance by the local church or official extraordinary beings in Trier. The black-haired man's serious tone in telling Tina and Dorothy to leave indicates his concern that they might get involved in the conflict and cause civilian casualties.

Under such surveillance, as long as they do not voluntarily enter the dance hall, their safety should be guaranteed.

After listening to Tina's rapid-fire analysis, Dorothy's mouth dropped open, and she was momentarily speechless.

A moment later, she smiled with relief and patted her sister on the shoulder.

"Tina, you've grown up..."

She sighed as she put the silver mirror back into her pocket.

I've always been smart, but I don't usually like to use my brain. Anyway, I have you, and I have Mom and Dad... Tina muttered silently, and stopped in her tracks.

They had returned to the entrance of that bizarre dance hall, where the interior lights kept flashing and strange men in suits danced in unison.

Behind them, the black-haired, blue-eyed man reappeared by the bar door, his scrutinizing gaze falling on them once more, giving Tina a bit more confidence.

She stepped forward, just an arm's length away from the gate that resembled the mouth of a giant monster. Two guards, hidden in the shadows, stepped out at the same time, blocking the entrance and looking down at her with suspicion.

The two men were broad-shouldered and tall, but both wore short suits and had monocles clipped to their right eye sockets, making them look somewhat out of place.

"Hello, I've lost something. It might have been picked up by one of the three guests who just went in. Could you please ask them for me?"

Tina mustered her courage and spoke.

"&%#￥@?"

One of the guards looked even more puzzled and started speaking in a string of awkward Intis that Tina couldn't understand.

Oh no! After the "Wishing Lamp" was stolen, we can't even speak or understand Intis anymore... Tina's "courtesy first, then force" plan immediately failed, and her expression was quite interesting.

She didn't even dare to turn around to look at Dorothy beside her, or at the dark-haired man silently "protecting" her from behind.

Just then, a figure slowly appeared inside the dance hall. Before he even stepped out of the door, he completely blocked the light from the ceiling spheres and the ring lights on the floor. He then pushed aside the two dutiful guards and appeared in front of Tina.

This was a man whose age was hard to guess, but he wasn't young either. He had short, bronze-colored hair that shone slightly under the light, and his eyes were a pale gold. His features were regular, but they were somewhat distorted by excess fat. Between his nose and lips were two tufts of mustache with upturned edges, which reminded Tina of the iconic mustache of Emperor Roselle in historical illustrations.

He was dressed in a black short suit like everyone else in the cabaret, but because of his belly fat, he hadn't buttoned it up. He wore a slightly worn monocle with a brass frame over his right eye, and at that moment, he was curiously looking at Tina and Dorothy through the lens.

The two guards he had pushed aside immediately straightened up and said a short word in a respectful tone. Tina couldn't understand it, but she knew it was probably something like "boss," because they then turned and disappeared into the shadows behind the door, leaving only the portly, bald-haired man with a warm expression standing by the door. "You said something was missing. Are you going in to look for it?"

The man narrowed his eyes and asked with a smile.

He was actually speaking Rune!
Tina secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but then shook her head:
"No, I hope those three people can come out. I'll ask them."

She dared not stray from the watchful eyes of the "Alone" bar behind her and follow them into the strange nightclub, otherwise she might be abducted and sold to some place where even her parents could not find her, never to see the light of day again.

“Those three people…” The portly man with brass-colored hair glanced back at the chaotic dance floor, then looked away after a moment. “I don’t think it’s necessary to call them. If this is what you’re looking for…”

As he spoke, he reached behind him as if by magic and pulled out a golden lamp with intricate patterns engraved on its surface, its shape so ancient it looked like it came from the last era.

"0-05" Wishing Lamp!
"I just found this little thing in the dance hall. Is it the lost item you mentioned?"

He casually hung his left index finger on the handle of the lamp, and pinched the glasses on his eye socket with his right hand, asking in return with interest.

Tina's eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly:
"Yes, it may not be expensive, but it's an important item in our family!"

Whether our family can live a prosperous life in Backlund depends on it—she added to herself.

“But I feel a strong connection with this lamp. How can you prove it belongs to you? It doesn’t have your name engraved on it… but maybe it could be mine,” the man said with a smile, his gaze searching over the symbols and inscriptions on the lamp. “I almost forgot to tell you, my name is Gerdruf Trensorst, and this lamp seems to be a lost piece from my ancient family collection…”

Trenthostos… was the surname of the girl on the ghost ship, the name of a powerful empire in the Fourth Age, and the “Judge” Trenthostos mentioned by the genie, the deity of the Fourth Age… Tina immediately thought of all the meanings represented by this surname, and was convinced by it. She even suspected that the “Wishing Lamp” belonged to the family of this Gerdruf a thousand years ago.

But she couldn't give up on her almost-achieved goal, so she mustered her courage and continued:
"You can try rubbing its surface three times and then whispering the word 'genie,' and I think that will prove it belongs to me."

The man who called himself Gerdruf raised his eyebrows, which were the same color as his hair, and actually reached out and stroked the uneven surface of the wishing lamp three times. Then, in a low voice, he tentatively greeted the lamp:
"The genie?"

Tina's gaze was fixed on the spout of the pot from which a wick was protruding, but before the flame could ignite, golden light burst forth.

The cowardly genie hid again, unwilling to show himself!
Tina was furious, but didn't know how to deal with this coward. She could only cautiously look at Gerdruf, worried that this ambiguous cabaret owner would take the sealed artifact for himself.

Then she and Dorothy would have to resort to "unconventional methods".

But the overweight man who failed to summon the genie simply smiled and shook his head. The next second, he reached out and handed the wishing lamp to Tina.

"Take it. I'll teach that sleazy guy a lesson later."

"However, you were lucky this time, as I happened to see you. Otherwise, you might have encountered danger if you had recklessly approached a place with an unknown situation."

“Trier has become much safer recently, but hundreds of minors still go missing every year. Do you want to become one of them?”

Tina received the resurrected artifact with a blank expression, the serious words of Gerdruf echoing in her ears. She could only nod repeatedly, as if she had returned home and was facing her father who was giving her earnest advice.

"Okay, Uncle, I'll remember that."

She bowed slightly to thank the kind-looking and kind-hearted owner of the nightclub.

“Uncle… calling me that makes me sound a bit old,” Gerdruf said, somewhat surprised. He reached up and touched the brass monocle on his right eye, then snapped his fingers and, as if by magic, produced a neatly cut card and handed it to Dorothy, who was standing to the side with her hands empty. “Now that you’ve found your lost item, would you be interested in attending the party here the night after tomorrow?”

The "wishing lamp" was back in Tina's hands, and she immediately learned the obscure Intis again. She peered into her sister's hand at the card and saw a white-outlined monocle printed on the top of the black paper, with several lines of text written in bright red below:

"The 'Unique' dance hall, lovers' night, invites you to join us on the last night of every month at 7 pm."

A lovers' night? Tina felt her cheeks flush instantly, glanced at Dorothy instinctively, and then asked in confusion:
Is this an event that invites couples to participate?

"But we're not adults yet!"

She hadn't expected Trier to be so open, far beyond what the conservative Kingdom of Rune could compare to.

Clearly not expecting Tina to think in this direction, Gerdruf's already somewhat furrowed features almost twisted into a knot.

"Don't misunderstand!" he quickly explained, "Do you see any couples in the dance hall? The name is just because... I am a 'lover'."

As he spoke, he stepped aside to clear the doorway, revealing the guests on the dance floor, some male and some female, randomly paired up and dancing. He then took out a palm-sized card from his suit pocket and showed it to Tina.

It was a "Lovers" card depicting a man and a woman facing each other under the gaze of an angel.

Tarot cards… Tina immediately thought of the “Chariot” card she had seen not long ago, and of the “Chariot” lady who looked remarkably like her mother.

That was a powerful angel. Could it be that this Gerdruf Trensost was also one?

Thinking of this, Tina shook her head like a disco ball spinning in a ballroom:
"Thank you for the invitation, but we are leaving Trier tonight and will be unable to attend the party the day after tomorrow."

With that, she pulled Dorothy, who was still clutching the invitation, and left the street without looking back.

Watching the two sisters run away as if fleeing a disaster, Gerdruf adjusted his slightly drooping brass monocle, smiled, and returned to the "Unique" cabaret.

Before leaving, he glanced at the "Alone" bar diagonally across the street.

Swah——

The curtains were drawn over the long, narrow window next to the bar's main entrance, concealing a figure with black hair and blue eyes.

(End of this chapter)