Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 136 The Prince's Invitation (Two Chapters in One)

Strangely enough, the moment the rusty light appeared, the inexplicable whispers in Fors's head suddenly vanished, and even her wildly growing hair stopped moving.

The next moment, she suddenly appeared in an endless gray-white mist.

In front of Fors was a long bronze table. Atop the table sat a mysterious figure shrouded in thick fog, seemingly looking down at her from above.

This shocked Fors immensely!
However, compared to her emotional reaction, Klein the Fool, who was hidden in the "gray fog", was even more stunned.

Earlier, after he heard Fors's prayer, he quickly arrived "above the gray fog."

Klein naturally saw the crimson star, but the moment he touched it, the crimson suddenly became stained with a hint of rust!

The rust color quickly expanded and filled the radiation range of the star.

The rust-colored stain only subsided when Fors came to the head of the long bronze table.

"It's probably only slightly lighter than Roger's pure rust... with a little red mixed in.

"It seems the rusty light blocked out the whispers before the gray fog did... What's her relationship with Roger?"

Klein suppressed his doubts and looked at Fors.

"You...you are Mr. Fool?"

"Just call me Mr. Fool."

Klein smiled and nodded, looking at the layers of "door" emblems on the back of the chair behind Fors, and tried to regain his composure and leisure.

"Judging from this emblem, it seems to be Mr. 'Men'..."

Klein immediately thought of Mr. "Door" mentioned in Emperor Roselle's diary, who kept asking for help.

Afterwards, he tentatively asked Fors Wall, who was sitting in the high-back chair, about the frequency and duration of the mysterious mutterings and found that they basically matched Emperor Russell's description.

Klein immediately explained to Fors that the mumbling was probably not malicious, and it was only because the life level was too high that the call for help affected Fors, who was just a Low-Sequence Beyonder.

This series of explanations shocked Fors greatly, and at the same time, she was filled with admiration for Mr. Fool.

After all, when she was in trouble, the "God of Steam and Machinery" she had always believed in did not help her, but this great being who was suspected to be an evil god extended a helping hand!
Not to mention that the other party not only had no ill intentions, but also kindly and friendly explained to him the origin of the mysterious mumbling.

Fors immediately expressed her willingness to cling to Mr. Fool's thigh, as long as he could help her out when the full moon whispered.

However, Klein was not willing to establish himself as an "evil god." He directly stated that he did not need it, but also said that he would not mind getting some Fors during the full moon in the future.

Finally, Fors noticed that there were many other high-backed chairs here and asked Klein the Fool if anyone else had been here.

Seeing that Fors had noticed this, Klein told her about the existence of the Tarot Club.

After hearing this, Fors's heart skipped a beat and she immediately expressed her desire to join the gathering every Monday at 3 p.m.!
Klein agreed and asked Fors to choose a Major Arcana card for him.

With the guidance of fate, Fors drew "Magician" after shuffling the cards.

……

Royal Art Gallery, inside Roger's studio.

Just as he was racking his brains, unsure of what musical rules he should establish first, and not knowing whether he should "create" the music of Beethoven, Kreisler or Chopin first, there was a knock on the double door.

Roger stood up puzzled and went to open the door.

The man standing outside was wearing a red, neat uniform, high combat boots, and a tall black hat.

"Is this... someone from the Royal Guard?"

Roger immediately realized that he had seen such uniforms at royal banquets before.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Baleno Jones?"

The visitor asked politely.

"It's me, what's going on?" Roger asked.

"Prince Edessak invites you."

The guard said this, then turned sideways and respectfully made a "please" gesture.

"coming……"

Roger came to his senses and realized that his good luck had once again played a role.

"Ok."

He nodded, followed the guard down one floor, and in the lobby on the second floor he saw Prince Edessak, who was surrounded by many people and talking with a middle-aged lady in blue who was obviously the director of the Royal Theater.

Roger had seen the lady in blue in the newspaper. Her name was Paddington and she was a female dame.

"Your Highness, Baleno, Jones has arrived."

The guard reported and retreated.

Upon hearing this, Prince Edessac, dressed in white, quickly stepped forward and extended his hand to Roger.

"Good evening, Mr. Jones. I'm glad to see you at last."

"Hello, Your Highness. I think we have met before."

Seeing that the young man in white opposite him didn't seem to be putting on airs, Roger shook hands with him and smiled gently.

"That kind of occasion is different."

Prince Edessak gave a look of "you know what I mean" and then he said:
“Your performance in The Ruined Princess last time was outstanding and left a deep impression on me… It is my favorite play, and before you, I had never seen an actor who could play the role of the wandering knight so perfectly.

"In fact, not only me, but even my eldest brother praised you highly afterwards."

He was referring to Prince Covington, the future King of the Kingdom of Loen, Covington II.

"You flatter me."

As Roger spoke, he quickly glanced around at the people around him.

"There's no one who looks like a witch... And Prince Edessak wouldn't bring his mistress to such a formal occasion."

"Let's not stand here and talk about it."

Prince Edessak nodded to Roger and extended an invitation:
"Ms. Paddington has prepared some drinks in the banquet hall. I wonder if you would be willing to come? We could discuss music."

On the one hand, he wanted to make friends with Roger, and on the other hand, he also considered that there were several well-known composers at the scene and wanted to invite them to communicate with Roger.

"my pleasure."

Prince Edssac's invitation was exactly what Roger wanted, and he entered the banquet hall on the second floor with everyone else.

This party was probably organized by Prince Edessak on a whim, so the scale was not very high.

Apart from the older musicians, the rest were young artists who were familiar with the prince.

Because Prince Edessak is at the end of the line of succession and bears the fewest royal obligations, he is marginalized and is not as cautious in his words and actions as Prince Covington. Instead, he prefers relaxed socializing and entertainment.

In fact, it was precisely because of this that the third prince of the Kingdom of Loen had the opportunity to come into contact with Triss, the witch.

Rather than being in contact, it would be more accurate to say that he was being held hostage in the agreement between King George III and the Witch Cult...

Under the coordination of Prince Edessak, Roger quickly integrated into the current social environment and quickly became friends with most of the young people.

Some people even asked Roger to sing a few lines on the spot because they had never heard his singing live.

Roger naturally agreed. He sang two songs that were popular in the Kingdom of Loen, which drew applause.

Even Ms. Paddington, who was accompanying them, looked at them in surprise.

Originally, she was somewhat disdainful of this young man who climbed up to the Royal Art Troupe by performing for the royal family, but now she had to admit that the other party's singing was indeed better than most of the singers and musical actors under her.

After three rounds of drinking, the slightly tipsy Prince Edessak suddenly spoke:

"Friends, there is a party at my manor this Saturday. I wonder if you can come?"

Many people agreed immediately, but Roger was unsure whether he was invited and cautiously did not answer.

Unexpectedly, Prince Edessak looked directly over and said humorously:

"It seems our singer is unwilling to do the honor."

"No, no."

Roger felt relieved. He put on a serious face and replied:
"I'm just afraid that I'll be arrested by the guards of the Prince's Manor for assaulting someone."

Everyone was slightly startled when they heard his words, but then they heard Roger add:
"After all, it's been said that it's difficult for the police in Trier to get off work on time unless Benelu Jones gets drunk in the bar there." "Why?" Prince Edsac was stunned and blurted out.

"Because then they only need to arrest him as a suspect," Roger replied with a smile.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Everyone at the scene reacted and burst into laughter.

As Loen people, their sensitivity to Intis' jokes was almost ingrained in their bones.

“Benelu, you are indeed an interesting person.

"Don't worry, I promise I won't let things get to that point."

Prince Edessak looked at Roger with a look full of recognition.

Afterwards, the waiters present distributed invitations to those who would attend the party at Prince Edsac's estate on Saturday.

The rather exquisite invitation card had obviously been prepared long ago, with the name of Benelu Jones written in beautiful cursive script at the top.

Only then did Roger breathe a sigh of relief.

According to Prince Edessak's style, he would probably bring Triss to the banquet directly!

As long as he could get close to Triss, Roger had at least five ways to get information about the Witch Cult from her.

After a while, at about 1 a.m., Prince Edessak announced the end of the party with some reluctance.

The elderly Ms. Paddington, who had accompanied them until late at night, finally breathed a sigh of relief. After seeing off Prince Edessac and the other young people and giving them instructions on how to deal with the aftermath, she boarded a carriage and left the Royal Art Company building as if fleeing...

Roger slept until 11 a.m. the next day and went downstairs. Klein was making lunch at that time.

"Awake? Look at this."

While Roger was sitting in the living room drinking water, Klein threw two copies of the Tussock Times on the table.

Roger picked up the newspaper with some confusion and found two news items circled in pencil by Klein.

The first one is titled "On the night of the blood moon, the killer appears again!"

Roger quickly glanced through the news and found that after ruling out the copycat crime of Sibel at Sivellas Field, a new case of a victim who died in a demonic ascension ritual was identified.

"This is the 11th case, which means there are at least two more cases... and at most 2."

Roger remembered the Demonic Path Promotion Ceremony that classmate "Sun" had introduced at the Tarot Club.

He knew that former Nighthawk Klein, who had the same information, must have become interested in this case and wanted to stop the serial crimes of the "devil dog".

"Are you interested in this case?"

Roger raised his head, looked at Klein's back and asked.

"Well, a little bit."

Klein nodded without hesitation.

"I think you should wait a little longer. Judging from the other party's crime pattern, there's no need to rush for a day or two.

"You can first learn as much as possible about the other party's behavior patterns and be fully prepared."

Roger didn't say anything to stop Klein, but just advised him to slow down.

After all, Klein's current identity is sensitive. Even with the protection of the "Wanderer Mask", it cannot be ruled out that his true identity will be discovered by the Nighthawks during the investigation.

On the other hand, if nothing unexpected happens, Isengard Stanton will find Klein soon.

By then, with Isengard's connections as a cover, Klein's work would be much easier.

Klein agreed with Roger's proposal.

In fact, he was also looking for an entry point, and his intuition told him that this entry point would come soon.

Seeing that Klein was still sane, Roger immediately picked up the second newspaper.

The headline was "Demonstrations initiated by the East District Federation of Labor intensify!"
The content of this news is that the number of workers participating in the strike in the East District has doubled, and many voices and groups have responded to this demonstration in the Docklands and St. George's District.

According to newspaper reporters citing insider information, these people were even preparing to storm the Capitol and City Hall!
"This matter is a bit serious."

Roger couldn't help but sigh.

"Yes, I am now afraid that these people will really attack the Capitol or City Hall. If the police or military do not handle it properly, it is easy for the guns to go off accidentally, resulting in civilian casualties."

Klein replied with some concern, "You know, if things start to develop in that direction, the Iron Cross will likely take the opportunity to plan a riot or even a coup."

"Yes."

Roger nodded, thought for a moment, and then looked up and said:

"I think we need to investigate this matter, what do you think?"

"That's what I planned."

Hearing Roger's words of support, Klein felt much more at ease.

He had always wanted to get involved in this matter, but was afraid that Roger would not be willing to get involved.

"Well, I think we need to tackle this matter from two aspects at the same time."

Roger hesitated for a moment, then continued:
"First, we must find a way to find out who is behind this demonstration and, if possible, detain or eliminate them.

“Secondly, although the Iron Cross is behind this demonstration, the workers are raising real issues, so improving working conditions at the policy level also needs to be implemented. Otherwise, it will only be a temporary solution and will not address the root cause.

"You're quite good at divination, and now you have some detective experience. You can go to the labor team in the East District and observe and identify those suspicious people. I will take action when necessary.

"As for policy advancement, I'm going to attend a party organized by Prince Edessak this Saturday. There should be some young nobles there, and I'll talk to them about this matter and see if there's any way forward.

"Well, I also plan to talk to another lady from a powerful family. Her brother is a member of the 'Kingdom Air Pollution Investigation Committee' and should be able to play a significant role."

Roger said a lot in one breath, all of which were things he had been thinking about in the past few days.

“Prince Edssac’s party…was originally intended to investigate his witch mistress, right?
"Also, that lady from a powerful family that Roger mentioned, could she be Miss Justice? Could they have already met offline after the Royal Variety Show?"

A series of thoughts flashed through Klein's mind, and he immediately answered:
"Alright, I'll talk to Ms. Mary as well and see if I can give her a knife... After all, in a sense, the interests of Coim Company and the workers are currently aligned."

Roger agreed upon hearing this:

"Yes, exactly."

The two then discussed their work plan and decided that Klein would first conduct an on-site visit to the East District.

It just so happens that Ms. Sharon can accompany us. With her help, threats below Sequence 5 are nothing to worry about.

Although "conspirators" are dangerous, no matter how cunning a conspirator is, he cannot withstand the beating of an iron fist.

In addition, although Klein is a genuinely good guy, he is no shrewd person when it comes to a real showdown of brainpower.

If a threat really arises that even Ms. Sharon cannot solve, Roger will naturally take action.

Therefore, he also planned to create the first song with rule inscription within two days, so that his means of fighting the enemy and saving his life would be enriched.

As for what specific rules need to be engraved, Roger already has a direction!
……

After dinner, Roger went straight to the Royal Art Troupe to continue composing music overtime.

Klein, carrying the "Medullary Crystal of the Elf Spring", went to the Beyonder gathering place of the "Eye of Wisdom" and met the "Pharmacist" again.

After a brief exchange, Klein took out the medullary crystal that looked like a faded egg, and the "Pharmacist" was immediately fascinated by it.

After successfully piqued the other party's interest, Klein offered 300 pounds plus clues to the "Pharmacist" potion formula as a price.

After some hesitation and bargaining, the "Pharmacist" finally accepted Klein's offer.

He took out 300 gold pounds, wrote a note, and handed it to Klein.

The latter took the money, opened the note and saw that it said:

"South Bridge District, Rose Street, Harvest Church. Complete a task for Bishop Utravsky and you might get the recipe for the 'Pharmacist' potion."

"Harvest Church? Isn't this the church of the Earth Mother Church?"

As a former Nighthawk, Klein immediately recalled the information he had read and this was one of the few churches of the Church of the Mother Earth in Loen.

　End of today~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)