Mysteries: Arcana Wars

"There are other people here besides us."

The detective leaned over. Years of dust had made all the marks visible.

"The footprints are very fresh. They must have fallen with us from the Cotton Lane Exchange."

As he spoke, the detective swung his flashlight, and the light illuminated footprints in the distance.

"There's one person here, but it seems like he's joined up with the others in the distance."

The four of them followed the footprints carefully.

"They formed a team of two here and moved forward together. The two wore the same shoes and were even of similar sizes. But judging by the depth of the dusty footprints, there were some differences in their body shapes.

"Wow, he is indeed the legendary cold-faced detective!" The Seven of Hearts exclaimed, "If it were anyone else in Sivella Field, they would definitely think that these were the footprints of the same person."

The detective ignored the other party's clumsy and exaggerated flattery and shone the flashlight around the footprints.

"A group of people, with the same attire, similar appearance, and similar body shape..."

"Could they be the Exiles who set fire to Cotton Alley?"

Fors exclaimed softly, speaking the detective's answer. Then the detective turned his flashlight and shone it directly on the face of the Seven of Hearts.

"Do you know anything about the Exiles?"

"Ouch, ouch, stop shining the light into my eyes. It's so bright. I can't open them!"

The Seven of Hearts turned her head away and cursed, complaining in dissatisfaction.

This time, the adventurer made no eye contact with the detective. He simply drew his gun, loaded it, and walked towards the Seven of Hearts in sync with the detective who had turned his flashlight to the highest level.

“Ouch! I’ll tell you! I didn’t say I wouldn’t tell you! Why are you two so excited? It’s really violent… Hurry up and move your flashlight away! Our puppet master’s eyes are very fragile! Ouch… my eyes…”

Ever since her identity as the "Master of Secret Dolls" was revealed, the Seven of Hearts no longer hides her sequence.

As the flashlight left her face, the muzzle of the adventurer's gun was immediately pointed at the Seven of Hearts' forehead.

"..."

The Seven of Hearts had a bored expression on her face.

“I don’t know a lot.

"This is an organization that has only appeared in the underground city in the past two months. According to the intelligence I have, they first appeared in the shallow underground city's [Banyan Street], and then carried out a bloody purge of some small gangs and underground factories in [Banyan Street].

"It was also for this reason that the Coke Gang and the Cinder Gang, who were once domineering in [Banyan Street], left there and headed deep underground along the pipeline. Eventually they came to [Eternal Night Harbor], which had convenient transportation, and then they foolishly set their sights on [Eternal Night Harbor]. You all know the rest.

"As for the exiles lurking in Evernight Harbor, I first noticed them a month ago. At that time, I found that a few people wearing red robes and even looking similar occasionally appeared in Evernight Harbor. I was curious and investigated.

"I guessed that these people must be organized, so I took this information to the bartender in Earthworm Lane to exchange some drinks. At that time, I just thought that they might attack [Eternal Night Harbor], but I didn't find out what they were going to do specifically. I didn't expect that their target was [Cotton Lane] below [Eternal Night Harbor]...

"The characteristics of these exiles are very obvious. They wear the same red robes and shoes, and their attire is exactly the same. But what makes me feel wrong is that they look a bit similar.

"Similar height, similar body shape, dark circles under their eyes of varying depths, and even their voices sound somewhat similar..." Or, Seven of Hearts paused, "I said 'similar', not 'same'. They are still different individuals, but I always feel that they are developing towards a certain final state, and the current state of still having differences is just an intermediate state in this development process...

"They must be organized. I mean, although they have looted many factories, smuggling groups, Daye gangs, and even the Cotton Alley Exchange just now, I can feel that their purpose is not just as simple as money.

"I have inquired in some shallow underground cities and found out that they provide relief to the victims of the collapsed underground cities. Some victims who have lost their original underground cities and have received grace will join them and become exiles... But I always feel that their behavior cannot be simply understood as robbing the rich to help the poor..."

After saying that, the Seven of Hearts spread out his hands.

"That's all I know of value. If you insist on asking where the exiles were before they came to Banyan Street and how they were formed, then I can only answer that I have no answer, because I don't know either."

"'Valuable'?" The adventurer turned his gun.

"Yes, 'valuable'. This time I'm not hiding it on purpose. There's really nothing much to say. Or, I think we won't be able to use it now."

This time, the Seven of Hearts did not make any excuses, looking like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water.

"The rest is nothing more than that the robberies and massacres in the dungeon a long time ago might have been committed by the exiles. Of course, I am just a suspicion, after all, the perpetrators did not wear the exiles' 'red robes'..."

"It's okay. We have plenty of time along the way." The adventurer smiled, which made Fors feel creepy. "You can explain it slowly."

"...Tsk, it seems that you are not only violent, but also annoying."

"I suggest avoiding them first." The detective suggested, "We should try not to conflict with them before we understand the situation here. Also, we'd better find some extraordinary items for self-defense on the way."

Fors followed the others and turned in another direction. The Seven of Hearts was talking to the adventurer in a low voice from time to time. But Fors couldn't hear clearly. Amid the chaotic noise in her head, a dripping sound was particularly prominent. Other program broadcasts or human voice broadcasts were drowned out by this dripping sound, which made her head hurt.

She concentrated on discerning the human language that was about to be drowned out, trying to use this old method of distracting her attention to relieve her headache.

"...We...we climbed up the branches...reached the treetops full of fruits...no, full of stars..."

Halfway through her recitation, Fors realized that this was another of her poems.

"Hmm? Sister Bessie, can you tell what is written on this note?"

Fors subconsciously recited the words that came to her mind. These sounds were keenly captured by the Seven of Hearts, who pointed at the twisted label strip next to it and asked Fors a question.

Before For could figure out how to deal with it, the adventurer took the lead.

"She's just reciting some poems to relieve her tension." The adventurer didn't take it seriously. "You guessed it right. This is her first time to see a dungeon."

"Oh, this poem sounds familiar..." The Seven of Hearts thought for a moment, "Oh! That's right! Tile Reading Newspaper! Do you like this newspaper too? I remember that I saw this poem in the Reading Newspaper. To be honest, I prefer the serialized novels in the Reading Newspaper... But its poetry column is really good..."

In order to prevent the old wily fellow from extracting any more information from Fors, the adventurer drew his gun again, and walked ahead with the enthusiastic Seven of Hearts, who had found a like-minded person, to keep a distance from Fors.

"... Oh, is it that serious? I just want to talk about the Tile Reading Newspaper... Don't you have any noble hobbies? If you don't read the Tile Reading Newspaper, then I can only say that you can only live a relatively failed life..."

As the adventurer pulled the Seven of Hearts away, the silent detective came to Fors's side silently.

"You're not in a good situation."

I don't know why, maybe it's because of the suspension bridge effect, compared to the crazy adventurer, Fors felt that the cold detective in front of him was more oppressive. Whenever Fors faced the detective alone, he was a little afraid.

Finally, Fors decided to trust herself. She carefully organized her words and spoke in a firm tone.

"I can hear a loud noise coming from there."

As she spoke, she raised her hand and pointed in a direction.