Chapter 343 "Black Cat" (Last Two and a Half Days Asking for a Monthly Pass)
Opera District, Lomba Street.
This street is famous for selling sweets, and you can see colorful candies of different colors everywhere.
The Mechanical Cafe is located at the bottom of Lomba Street, next to a small confectionery factory.
Its appearance is unremarkable, even if you look through the row of glass windows, you can't see anything related to machinery, and the black triangular emblem on the heavy wooden door is probably the only thing that makes people think of "machinery".
Lumian pushed the dark brown door and found it motionless, as if locked from the inside.
He observed briefly and pulled the doorbell hanging from the secondary window.
In the sound of ding ding, Lumian heard the slight collision of metal, and saw the door slowly pushed back.
It has a robotic arm attached to its back, and this metal structure extends all the way to the counter, making it look more like a decoration.
Lumian looked at the environment as he approached the corner of the café, where two one-legged tables were piled up, and five or six people sat around it.
The most eye-catching of them was a middle-aged man with red hair, his skin was piled white with powder, and there was a circle of black lines around his eyes, which made his brownish-red eyes even deeper.
He has no beard and wears an open brown velvet jacket and a red shirt without a bow tie, which is both sophisticated and casual.
This is exactly what Lumian is looking for, the "Count" of Puifer, a member of the Sauron family, a former royal family of Intis.
He inherited his father's rich inheritance, did not enter the political arena, did not join the army, and did not become a businessman, and has been mingling in various art circles as a literary critic, and the most common place to see him is the "black cat" gathering.
Lumian walked over and asked with a smile:
"You are Count Puifer?"
Puifer. Sauron looked up at him and asked lightly:
"Are you the friend Martin mentioned?"
"Yes, Charles. Dubois." Lumian was not restrained, and directly pulled a chair and sat down.
Puiver looked him up and down a few times, and smiled with satisfaction:
"Yes, a beautiful friend.
"Do you like literature, oil painting, sculpture, poetry, or music the most?"
"Novel." Lumian replied without hesitation.
Puiver stretched his body, pointed to the short and fat middle-aged man diagonally opposite, and said:
"Arnolly, the most literary writer in recent years."
The erotic writer who forgets his purpose is to write about human nature? Lumian naturally remembered Aurore's assessment of the novelist.
His early works used love to express human nature, and then became more and more obsessed with the former, and if it weren't for official control, Aurore believed he would have written an erotic novel similar to "The Monk Chasing the Dog".
Of course, Lumian doesn't care about human nature, he just loves to look at those embellishments.
"Your novels have made me grow." He said to Anoli from the bottom of his heart.
The black-haired and blue-eyed Arnoli smoked a pipe and said:
"It's good that you didn't say you like my "Death of a Pioneer"."
"Death of the Pioneer"...... Isn't that Adrid's work? Well, Aurore said that the names of these two writers are spelled more similarly and are often confused...... Lumian asked with some understanding:
"Are you talking about the Adri who is raised by the government and earns tens of thousands of salaries every year, but can only write a bunch of shit?"
Arnoli immediately laughed:
"This sentence is worth a glass of absinthe!"
As he spoke, he patted the silver-gray metal button on the one-legged table in front of him and slapped it three times in a row.
Count Puiver also admired Lumian's performance and introduced several other members of the "Black Cat" organization:
They are the pale and tired painter Maren, the slightly mean-looking literary critic Ernst Yong, and the poet Elite holding a cherry wood bong.
As soon as Lumian finished a round of greetings, he saw the iron surface of Anoli's one-legged table crack open and bloom like a flower.
At the "stamens", a glass of green vermouth with a dreamy luster is placed in a tray and placed in a mechanical lift, slowly ascending.
Writer Arnoli picked up the glass of wine and threw 1 Ferkin worth of silver coins into the tray.
The mechanical elevator 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's really a mechanical café...... Lumian reacquainted himself with this place.
He set his sights on the table's wide, thick one-legged one, believing it should be hollow, connected to a pipe buried underground.
After taking a sip of absinthe and feeling the familiar bitterness, Lumian looked at the one-legged table again:
"Didn't find any money?"
"Here, a glass of absinthe costs 1 Felkin." Anoli smiled.
This is too expensive, right? The Breeze Ballroom and Basement Bar only sell for 7 ricks, and the quality is about the same...... Lumian silently scolded a couple of words.
1 Felkin is equal to 20 ricks.
At this time, the pale face as if he hadn't slept for a long time, but he looked like a handsome painter, Malun took a sip of coffee and said:
"I heard that an elephant came to Trier Zoo, which is a very rare animal."
The chunky Anoli muttered:
"What's there to talk about about an elephant, don't you think it's meaningless?"
Count Puiver laughed:
"Then let's talk about the conflict between the council and the two major churches, about high-ranking government officials who can't do anything well, about the hateful censorship of publications, and about the spies who hover around us like hyenas?"
Anoli sighed helplessly:
"Let's talk about that elephant."
While the other members of the "Black Cat" organization laughed, Count Puiver raised his right leg and said:
"Since you have new friends, why not play a game involving the occult?"
Games involving occultism? Lumian's eyebrows moved.
"What game?" The poet Elite with a big bong asked.
Count Puiver laughed:
"The game of eating king cakes."
Seeing that everyone else was puzzled, Count Puiver said funny:
"None of you have a childhood or family, haven't you played this game?
"The rules of the game are to cut the king cake evenly, the number is the participant plus 1, the more piece is offered to a certain god or an ancestor we believe in through rituals, and the rest is a piece hidden with broad beans or coins.
The part that deals with the occult is on the sacrifice of the extra king's cake? Lumian glanced at Anoli, Maren, and the others who were eager to try, wondering if there were extraordinary people among them.
Of course, from the outside, none of them look like it.
In just over ten seconds, Count Puifer's proposal was responded to by everyone except Lumian.
He began to tap the corresponding button on the one-legged table and told the kitchen to send a piece of king cake with the corresponding number of times.
It is said to be a dessert that has been popular since the Sauron dynasty.
…………
In the basement of the Church of St. Robles, inside the Inquisition.
Valentine, Imre, and other purifiers gathered in Deacon Angoulême's office.
Angoulême, wearing a pale gold shirt and light white trousers, picked up the dossier in his hand and said:
"It has been confirmed that the body at 50 Vincent Street in the Red Princess District belongs to the wanted former priest Guillaume. Bene, remember to ask the General Police Bureau to remove the wanted warrant in the market area."
This case is not under the management of the "purifier" in the market area, Valentine just knew that there was such a thing, and now it has finally been confirmed.
Wearing a blue dress jacket, he looked at Angoulême and said:
"Deacon, there is an investigation into who killed Guillaume. Bennet?"
"There are no suspects for the time being." The blond Angoulême, who had golden eyebrows and a golden beard, glanced at the dossier and said, "What is certain at present is that there are obvious traces of flames at the scene, and Guillaume. Bene will most likely die from the witch's curse."
"At least the 'hunter' and witch of sequence 7? Such a combination is rare." The half-race Imre was quite surprised.
As far as he knows, most of the "witch" path is in the hands of the witch family, which is a secret organization that is not weak and does not need to cooperate with others.
"Less doesn't mean nothing." Angoulême retorted.
As a deacon of the "Purifier", he can read files with higher confidentiality permissions, and his experience is richer than that of Imre, Valentine and others, and he has even personally executed two members of the witch family.
Valentine frowned and thought for a while:
"Could it be Lumian? Li did it?
"He has enough motivation."
"But he doesn't have enough strength." Imre shook his head, "How long has he left Kordu Village, how could he have been promoted to 'Arsonist'? Isn't he afraid of getting out of control? Moreover, according to your description, even if he is an "arsonist", he is definitely not Guillaume. Bene's opponent."
Valentine stuck to his guess:
"That's why he needs the witch's help.
"Will he join the witch family for revenge and become a 'witch' in the future?
"If that's the case, it's going to be a big problem, Lumian. Li has a very serious problem hidden, and as you said, the witch family is keen to spread disaster."
Angoulême nodded:
"This really needs to be paid attention to, and I will report it, and at the same time, increase the investigation of suspicious people in the market area."
After making his decision, he reassured Valentine with a few words:
"Don't be too nervous, there is a motivation to kill Guillaume. Bene is not just Lumian. Lee, as well as powerful bounty hunters, official members of the 'Aurora Society', and other gifts of evil gods."
Valentine said "hmm", indicating that he knew it very well.
After discussing a few extraordinary cases that needed to be dealt with recently, Valentine and Imre walked out of the deacon's office, past Charlie, who was learning how to use a mechanical typewriter, and into the tunnel leading to the church of San Robles.
"You say, what is the matter with that would-be witch who took the initiative to ask us? What valuable information did she find?" Imre was a little curious and began to communicate with his teammates.
Valentine thought for a moment and said:
"Could it be Guillaume. Bennet's death?"
Imre was stunned for a moment:
"You mean, she came into contact with the witch family?"
Without waiting for Valentine's response, Imre shook his head:
"Impossible, the witch family is very hostile to female 'assassins', and once encountered, they will be eliminated."
ps: The last two and a half days to ask for a monthly pass~
(End of this chapter)