Chapter 129 Looking for Prey (asking for double monthly tickets) Lumian quickly read through the reply from the "Magician" lady and extracted the key points that he needed to remember. Obviously, the first and third methods to solve the problem of Montsouris' ghost were just jokes. Only the second one was really useful, which was to rely on "corrupted mercury" to exchange the fate of "encountering Montsouris' ghost". Frankly speaking, Lumian had not thought of using the "Corrupted Mercury" to stab himself and actively change his fate. It was not until he was attacked by the ghost of Montsouris and pushed to the edge of death that he grasped the only chance of survival from all the various thoughts. Due to time constraints and the inability to make a careful selection, Lumian simply exchanged his fate of "being attacked by the ghost of Montsouris" instead of "encountering the ghost of Montsouris", which means that he did not completely get rid of the shadow of death, but only escaped the first danger. Of course, when choosing the fate that needed to be exchanged, even if he was given enough room to distinguish and think, Lumian should have chosen "being attacked by the Montsouris ghost" rather than "encountering the Montsouris ghost", because the attack had already happened, and he had no idea whether it would stop after the fate of "encountering the Montsouris ghost" was exchanged. He could only use the most certain plan to protect himself first. Simply put, what if the ghost of Montsouris killed him only to find out that he had never met him and had recognized the wrong target? "Well, I have to find someone as soon as possible, and use the fate of 'being attacked by the ghost of Montsouris' stored in the 'Fallen Mercury' to exchange for a good fate of his. Then, make sufficient preparations, and when I am in a good condition, stab myself to complete the exchange of that better fate and 'encountering the ghost of Montsouris', and seal the latter into the 'Fallen Mercury'..." Lumian combined his own experience with the reminder of Ms. "Magician" and quickly came up with an idea of how to solve the current difficulties. At that time, "Corrupted Mercury" can be called "Cursed Blade", and anyone stabbed by it will bear the fate of "death of the whole family, including himself". The disadvantage is that it takes some time for the effect to ferment. Lumian pulled out the "Corrupted Mercury" from his waist and looked at its blade wrapped in layers of black cloth. He felt more clearly than ever the usefulness of this extraordinary weapon. He seriously considered the possibility of finding a professional to repair the "Fallen Mercury", otherwise this magical dagger would only be useful until the end of the year at most.
The extraordinary gathering convened by Mr. K may be able to provide resources in this regard. "My guess is correct. Ms. 'Magician' asked me to contact Osta Trull so that I could use him to attend Mr. K's party and join the secret organization behind Mr. K..." Lumian put on a wide-brimmed round hat, a formal black top, walked out of room 207, and went down the stairs. As a "hunter", he has to start looking for prey. As soon as he walked out of the door of the "Golden Rooster Hotel", Lumian saw Charlie sitting on the three steps leading to the street, his face pale and his eyes looking at the sky sadly, with a lit white cigarette in his right hand. "What's wrong?" Lumian walked over and sat next to Charlie quite casually. Charlie didn’t look away, took a puff of cigarette, sighed and said: "I felt like I had lost my soul, it had fallen." He was wearing a white shirt and a red vest, with a black suit draped over his left arm, as if he was wearing the hotel uniform again. Lumian laughed and asked directly: "You did that kind of thing with that old lady?" Charlie turned his head and looked at Lumian, and emphasized seriously: "Please call her Madam. She is only in her fifties." He then took another puff of his cigarette and blew out a cloud of smoke: "You know what? She gave me a diamond necklace, worth at least 1500 Fel gold. I couldn't resist. She was so shining and so attractive. She went straight into my heart." "It." Lumian corrected a word. Charlie smiled awkwardly: "Mrs. Alice is also very attractive. It's not easy for her to maintain such charm at her age. She said that she will live in Trier for half a year and can give me 500 Felkins every month..." As he spoke, Charlie's voice became low and his eyes once again revealed melancholy. Just when Lumian thought he was going to lament that he had lost his soul again, Charlie sighed deeply: "Why can she only live here for half a year..."
Lumian stretched out his left hand, patted Charlie on the shoulder, and said earnestly: "take care." Charlie's eyelids twitched and said: "I should be restrained in normal times. Mrs. Alice is really too enthusiastic. I was so tired last night that I didn't even have that beautiful dream." Lumian smiled and said: "You actually told me directly that you got a diamond necklace worth 1500 Fel gold. In the streets, this is a fortune that can make many people lose their minds. Aren't you worried that I will snatch it away?" Charlie chuckled and said: “I have to find someone to share it with, otherwise, I will feel very uncomfortable. "I have observed that you do not appear to be short of money at all. You can even say that you are very generous and magnanimous. You will not commit a crime for a thousand or two thousand Felgin." Lumian smiled: "Is there a possibility that I am deliberately pretending to be wealthy in order to lure people like you into lowering their guard?" Charlie's expression froze instantly, and his fingers were almost burned by the cigarette that was almost burned out. Lumian didn't continue the topic and asked casually: "Is there anyone you particularly hate, the kind you think deserves to die?" Charlie put out his cigarette on the stone steps and asked doubtfully: "Why are you asking this?" He was about to put the extinguished cigarette butt into his pocket, but after thinking it over, he raised his arm and threw the cigarette butt out. A homeless man nearby saw it, immediately jumped over, picked it up, and took a few deep sips while it was still warm. Without waiting for Lumian to answer, Charlie said: "What I hate the most right now is our head waiter. You have no idea how hateful he is, haha. But I haven't thought of killing him yet. I just hope that one day I can cover my face and beat him up. "I really feel that there aren't many people who deserve to die. One is Baron Brinell, the leader of the Savoy gang in the market district. He colluded with many loan sharks and made many people bankrupt. A friend I knew before was forced to jump off a building and commit suicide by him, but what's the use? His son disappeared mysteriously, and his daughter was taken to the Breeze Ballroom, saying that she was responsible for singing, but in fact, hehe..." “Yeah, if they even dare to commit suicide, why don’t they try to kill Baron Brinell and his men?” Lumian nodded slightly. Charlie turned his head in astonishment and glanced at Lumian: "Your idea is a bit extreme." He then added: "The second person who deserved to die was Maggot. He was the leader of the Sting Gang. He liked to hire people to deceive women who had just arrived in Trier. After squeezing out all their money, he forced them to become streetwalkers. That's how Miss Ethans, who lived in Room 4 on the 8th floor, settled down in the hotel. Most of the money she earned was taken away by Maggot. She tried to escape several times, but she couldn't get out of the chaotic street and was beaten half to death." There are quite a lot of gangs in the market area. No wonder it is so chaotic at night... Lumian glanced at Charlie and said: "It sounds like you have a lot of sympathy for that Miss Ethans." Charlie straightened his chest: "A true Intis gentleman will sympathize with the ladies' tragic plight and be willing to provide some assistance when appropriate." Lumian said, “Hmm.” "Do you know where Maggot lives?" "I don't know." Charlie shook his head. "But he often comes to the hotel in the evening and takes money from Miss Ethans. If you hear women crying, shouting and cursing on the fourth floor, it must be Maggot and his men." Lumian nodded slightly and asked thoughtfully: "Who else do you think should die?"
Charlie thought about it and answered with a slightly distorted expression: "Monette, the islander, he cheated me out of ten filgins! "Can you believe it? At that time, I had been unemployed for a while and hadn't found a new job. That was my last savings, and I almost starved to death because of it!" "Where does he live?" Lumian asked casually. "He originally lived in a hotel, but he moved out after he cheated me out of my money. I don't know where he went." Charlie was still angry when he talked about this matter. "I've been waiting for him to introduce me to a good job..." After calming down for a while, Charlie looked at Lumian in confusion and said: "Why is your hair different?" Some are long, some are short, and some are gold with black. “Don’t you think this is fashionable?” Lumian asked sincerely. Charlie uttered an "uh" and looked doubtful. The incident with the Fool Instrument made him instinctively doubt Lumian's intentions in similar matters. After a few seconds, Charlie looked at the vendors hawking on the street and waved his hand: "I have to go to the hotel now. See you tonight." Lumian did not stand up, but continued to sit on the stone steps outside the hotel, waving at Charlie's hurriedly leaving back. ………… In the afternoon, Lumian took a public carriage to the botanical garden, and then walked more than 300 meters to arrive at the Mason Café. This cafe is near the botanical gardens, located on the ground floor of a four-story off-white building. The outer walls of the building are wrapped with green plants. The shops on the ground floor are not directly facing the street, but are set back nearly one meter, allowing pillars to support the outer corridor for passers-by to walk. The walls of Mason Cafe were painted dark green, and there were many large windows. Sunlight penetrated the glass, illuminating the tables and chairs all the way outside the door. Lumian walked into the cafe wearing a dark suit and a wide-brimmed round hat. The first thing that caught his eye was the various artistic plant sculptures on the wall, with some sentences written in Intis scattered among them: “Who holds the highest power in the country? The president or the parliament? “It’s a cafe! “Who hears the final appeal in judicial cases? Is it the Supreme Court? “It’s a cafe! "Who is the authority in literature? The Intis Academy or the Debate? "No, it's a cafe, it's still a cafe!" (Note 1) Note 1: Adapted from the opening chapter of “A History of Parisian Cafes”, which in turn was quoted from a document from the early 20th century. The original text was too long, so it was simplified. PS: Ask for double monthly tickets~ (End of this chapter)