The world controlled by dice [Western Fantasy]

Everyone looked at him.

Eric sat down, cleared his throat first, and then said to Siles: "Mr. Qinduo told me before that you only need to find relevant information in the middle and late May, and no later than the first ten days of June. Speeded up my investigation.

"I finally found two potentially related cases, which met the two characteristics of the time of the incident in mid-to-late May and the fact that the man was wearing armor and was thrown into the wild. However, one of the cases can be confirmed to be a female knight's armor. But the other is not sure."

Siles listened thoughtfully.two cases?Combined with the four cases they know today, it can be said that in the past century, the frequency of its occurrence is not low.

Eric went on to say: "The archives in the second corridor cannot be taken out of the Historical Society, but I have also recorded the relevant information, so I can talk to you directly.

"These two murders happened 92 years ago and 21 years ago respectively. In the murder case 21 years ago, it was confirmed that the deceased died wearing the armor of a female knight; the case 92 years ago cannot be confirmed."

Eric paused.No one else wanted to interrupt him at this time, so Eric continued following the information he knew.

"In the case of 92 years ago, the files at that time were not very neat, and the information was relatively simple. Simply put, the body was found in the Kanla River. The body was completely decomposed at that time, and no relevant information could be investigated. .

"However, there were rumors at the time that this was a water ghost from the Kanla River, which caused panic among the residents, and the Historical Society had to come forward to refute the rumors. However, the findings of the Historical Society believe that this person drowned naturally, and it is not certain Either suicide or homicide.

"...The origin of the rumors about the water ghosts in the Kanla River is that shortly after the Age of Fog, the fog suddenly dissipated, and the Principality of Const was besieged by other countries. At that time, the battle seemed to be happening near Lamifa City, and many Dead soldiers were thrown into the Kanla River before they could be buried in time.

"Therefore, the presence of a body in armor in the Kanla River seemed to be a matter of great concern to the residents at the time."

Angela said in surprise: "Is there still such a rumor?"

Mrs. Fuller thought for a while, and said: "I seem to have heard this kind of talk, but it seems that it is only spread among the older residents of La Mifa City. For today's young people, this kind of rumor is like a fantasy. generally."

Darrell couldn't help but nodded: "I think this is like a plot in a novel... the soldiers who died in battle and the water ghosts in the Kanla River."

They diverged a little on this issue for a while.

Siles did not participate in their conversation.He thought of the conversation with Jimmy in the morning... It was the water ghost of the Canla River again. At the same time, this matter was also somewhat related to the war to defend the country in the Principality of Constance 400 years ago.

It was through that war that the Darrow family became lords and established themselves in the Duchy of Constance.

At that time, along with the war on the surface, there were also many private struggles, especially those related to extraordinary power.It was Mr. Xia who suddenly appeared and used various means to protect the Principality of Constance.The Dawn Revelation Society was also established at that time.

... 400 years ago versus 14 years ago.Siles thought silently.

Time has passed for so long, but the infighting has never ended.Moreover, these two things seem to be vaguely related now.

Do the water ghosts of the Kanla River really exist?There are indeed supernatural powers in this world, but ghosts and the like never really seem to appear in reality.Or, is someone deliberately using historical stories from the past?

Eric continued: "As for the murder case 21 years ago, the information is relatively complete because it is not far from now. It is clearly recorded in the investigation records that the male deceased was wearing a female knight's armor engraved with marigolds.

"Investigators at the time even looked at the concept of marigolds, but they couldn't find anything related to it, especially the 'bride of the sun' that was associated with Ruthmi."

Mentioning the "Bride of the Sun", a flash of light flashed in Siles' mind, but he couldn't catch it.He couldn't help frowning.

Maybe you can try to use a judgment later.he thinks.

"So the investigation on marigolds at that time was of course fruitless." Eric said, "But there were some unexpected discoveries about the corpse.

"It was a vocal teacher from a college in the city. The specific college was not specified. He was about 25 years old at the time. The investigation report said that he did not show up when the new semester started, which made the college very dissatisfied. .

"And about two months later, his body was discovered. The location was by a stream in the northern suburbs. A nobleman who was out saw the body.

"At that time, the deceased looked very...strange. It is said that he was only wearing the armor of the female knight, without any other clothes. His whole body was full of anger and disbelief. His whole body was covered with wounds, and the blood flowed into the stream.

"Therefore, the nobleman went directly to the Historical Society and asked the Second Corridor to help with the investigation. However, the investigation of the deceased's interpersonal relationship did not make any progress. He seemed to be an ordinary teacher, appearing beside him people are also very normal.

"By the way, there is another thing that has to be mentioned. It is said that there is a painting beside him."

"Painting?" Angela couldn't help but ask in surprise, "What kind of painting?"

"Landscape painting, it should be." Eric said uncertainly, "The painting was stained red with his blood, so the content inside cannot be seen."

They were all quiet for a moment, each thinking.

92年前、73年前、50年前、30年前、21年前、11年前。不算布鲁尔·达罗的死亡，那么这六件案子，就可以说是他们如今调查出来的五月连环杀人案的案发时间了。

However, these timings also appear to be rather subtle.

The occurrence time of the first four cases is quite regular, basically maintained at about 20 years; but starting from 30 years ago, these behind-the-scenes black hands seemed to suddenly become impatient and began to speed up the speed of killing.

In the past 30 years, there has been a murder case almost every ten years.

Of course, it is also possible if the murders also occurred between the four earlier cases, but they failed to find out; but Siles thinks this possibility will be relatively low.

In the final analysis, they have already looked through the archives of the past church, the historical society, and the police station. In theory, they have collected as many relevant cases as possible.

If it really happened every ten years then, a total of three bodies would have gone undiscovered.That seems like too much.Even though the places where these abandoned corpses were abandoned were quite hidden, people would come and go in those places, so it was always possible to be discovered.

Therefore, Siles still tends to believe that it is the mastermind behind the scenes that has accelerated the frequency of killings in the past 30 years.

……why?

They have been unable to achieve what they want, so anxious?But in the final analysis, every ten years, or even 20 years, this is already a rather long process.

The black hands behind the scenes need to have enough patience and even a long enough lifespan to see the results they want.What on earth are they trying to do to take such a long time to wait?

Originally, an interval of 20 years was required; and even if an interval of ten years is only required now, ten years is a long enough time for ordinary people.

In addition, in terms of time, in the two cases 92 years ago and 73 years ago, although the deceased was wearing armor, it was impossible to confirm whether it was the armor of a female knight; and in the four murder cases after that, it was confirmed that it was a female knight. knight armor.

Perhaps, in the first two cases, they did not wear the armor of the female knight engraved with marigolds, but just ordinary armor?

After the first two murders did not achieve the desired results of the murderer behind the scenes, they further improved their "plan".Therefore, in the murder case 50 years ago, the deceased wore female knight armor.

However, death 50 years ago still did not satisfy them; perhaps 30 years ago, they made another attempt.

Siles wasn't sure exactly what the death of 30 years ago had brought about, but since then, they've been trying once in a decade.They are getting more and more anxious.

Now, counting Brewer Darrow, there have been four murders every ten years.But judging from the various actions of the black hand behind the scenes, it is difficult to say whether they got the desired result.

...so, what will happen this May, perhaps still be the death of a man in the armor of a female knight?Maybe they will change the time of attack to once a year under severe anxiety and urgency?

Siles doubted the possibility of this guess very much.

In any case, the death once every 20 years and once every ten years proves that it is impossible for this group of behind-the-scenes black hands to achieve their goals in a short period of time.

Moreover, from the experience of Brewer Darrow, the selection of the identity of the deceased does not seem to be random, but after specific investigation and analysis, the list is determined.

…So, after the death of Brewer Darrow last year, can the group of behind-the-scenes really re-pick good candidates in such a short time?

Furthermore, based on the changes coming from various places (including inside and outside the Duchy of Const), Siles is even more suspicious that the purpose of this group of behind-the-scenes black hands is about to be achieved, just this May.

... even more strange, Sirius thought.

If this point in time in May means that the goal is about to be achieved, then did the previous serial murders also happen for this reason?But since the goal was achieved, what is the difference between the previous murders and the present?

He pinched the bridge of his nose with a slight headache.

The timing and modus operandi of the murder seem to be a little more defined, but that's all in the past.For the current situation, they still have quite complicated troubles.

Others feel the same way.

Eric sighed and said, "So, this murder has happened so many times."

"And Brewer is one of them." Angela whispered, "But this has never happened to anyone before. People have been killing people in Lamifa City."

Mrs. Fuller was a little puzzled and said: "On what basis did they choose the deceased? If Brewer is included, then the deceased we currently know are a vocal teacher, a tramp and an aristocrat. This... is completely indistinguishable. any rules."

These were the three dead closest to them, and they also knew their identities; the three dead earlier, because their bodies were decomposed and damaged, investigators couldn't even find out their identities.

However, as far as the three deceased who knew their identities were concerned, they came from different classes in Lamifa City, and even lived in completely different circles.

What can connect them?

Siles thought for a moment, then suddenly narrowed his eyes.He looked over to Darrell.

And following his gaze, the rest of the people also looked over thoughtfully.Of course, judging from Angela's expression, she didn't seem to understand at all, and she just followed suit.

Darrell looked puzzled: "What's wrong with me?" He was taken aback, "Wait, you mean...the department?"

"If these dead are revelators and are related to the artist department, then it seems easy to understand." Siles said, "They have a hidden organization."

Darrell looked a little shocked and said, "So I might be a candidate too?"

"Not necessarily," said Mrs. Fuller. "At least Brewer doesn't belong to that department?"

"But maybe, it's because Breuer didn't become the revealer under their arrangement, so he broke away from this chain." Siles said, "I can't say that all the dead came from that artist department, but the mastermind behind the scenes It is very likely that a secret organization was deliberately established."

"And the Revelation would be interested in this kind of organization." Angela said, "It's impossible for people to ask too much about it. It's their secret, and maybe no one knows it except themselves.

"...So, the investigators failed to glean what they had in common. That makes sense!"

Angela got a little excited.

Siles nodded, he thought for a while, and overturned some of his thoughts a little: "However, I think what Mrs. Fuller said is also reasonable. The Department of the Historical Society is still not safe and hidden. They are outside the Historical Society There may be other organizations as well.

"For example, Darrell said before that someone mentioned May in the artist department. Maybe someone will ask about it, and then be guided to join an external organization.

"The artist department is a transfer station... No, maybe, there are more other departments, or other methods. They use this method to attract enlighteners who are interested in mysterious things, and then select suitable dead people from them. "

He paused, and then told the news he heard from Jimmy in the morning: "So, there are also some specific rumors about wealth on the homeless side.

"That is to say, whether it is on the side of the enlightener or ordinary people, they are very likely to fabricate some rumors or other things to attract people who are interested in it. They cast a bait, and those who wish to take the bait."

Room 52 fell into a brief silence.

Afterwards, Angela said angrily in a low voice: "What a vicious act!"

Darrell, a rare refrain from confronting her, chimed in: "It's a distasteful thing to do."

Frowning, Eric said, "But how do they make sure people don't say things like this?"

"It's very simple. Of course people will keep their chances of gaining wealth and power secret. And every once in a while, those people may come up with something to prove that they still have hope of getting what they want." Rich Mrs. Le said slowly.

Siles also nodded, thinking to himself, this kind of thing is not uncommon, like a scam that everyone knows, but everyone is unwilling to leave.Everyone thinks that they will be able to escape in the end, but this is not the case.

In any case, this kind of impulsive adventure may also cause these people to lose their most precious life.

Eric hesitated to speak, and finally sighed.

This middle-aged man has a cautious nature. He may not be able to understand the greed of those people, but from another perspective, he feels a sense of helplessness.

The atmosphere was dull for a moment.

Darrell said, "There hasn't been much movement in that department lately." He thought for a while, then added, "I haven't seen anyone talking in private or anything, but maybe I just didn't notice."

Mrs. Fuller warned: "You still can't show your purpose too clearly, and now the time is getting closer and closer."

Darrell wanted to say something, but in the end he could only nod his head and agree.

Siles sorted out the information he got today, and felt that they might need to make more efforts and investigations.So, where should they start next?This question will stump him for a while.

Seeing his serious expression, Mrs. Fuller said, "Professor, we have made a lot of progress. It is getting closer and closer to May. By then, we will finally know the answer."

Sirius was taken aback for a moment, then heaved a sigh of relief.He whispered, "I see. Please don't worry."

Then their conversation became lighter.They talked about the group arena match that was still going on. Today happened to be Saturday, and there would be an even more brutal knockout match.

As a member of the first corridor, Mrs. Fuller obviously paid more attention to the progress of the game than any of them. She said: "Professor, the Colin Lane you are optimistic about is really strong. He made everyone shine.

"Also, he specifically mentioned your 'self-reappearance' ceremony, saying that it helped him a lot. This has once again boosted your reputation among many enlighteners.

"It should be said that although the Historical Society and the Church of the Past are promoting this ceremony, and many revelators have already tried it, there are still many revelators who are not clear about the specific utility of this ceremony, or are skeptical.

"However, Colin Lane's performance surprised everyone. There are some enlighteners who are not convinced by you, so they plan to try the 'self-reappearance', and they must be able to immediately realize that this ritual The magic."

That is an achievement that must be recognized by the Presbyterian Church of the Historical Society.

Sirius was taken aback for a moment, then smiled slightly."It makes me happy to be able to help anyone," he said.

They chatted for a while, then said goodbye to each other.

When leaving, Angela couldn't help sighing: "I hope this matter can end as soon as possible, otherwise I'm worried all day long."

They both have to admit that this is exactly how they've been feeling lately.

After leaving 18 Housewell Street, Siles went to the Historical Society.

The group arena was still going on, and he himself watched it with great interest.However, now the salon has reopened the function of changing clothes, so people who come and go are people in strange clothes.

He didn't stay outside for too long, and soon went to the meeting room of the Dawn Revelation Society.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Dealer." The lady said lazily, "Will you come to our tea party again?"

That's pretty straightforward, and it fits very well with what they're doing.

The dealer sat down silently.

Only the lady and the newsboy were present, and the croupier was the third to arrive.Instead, the knight arrived a little later than the croupier. As soon as he entered the door, he said apologetically, "I have something to do, so I'm late."

The lady sneered and said, "It's nothing, we're just a tea party anyway."

The newsboy looked at her and said bluntly, "What's wrong with you? Your stepdaughter has messed with you again?"

"I didn't say that." The lady sat up a little, "Well, I was offended by other things."

The newsboy said, with a tone of very obvious interest rather than sympathy, "What's going on?"

The lady rolled her eyes, but she wasn't particularly angry with the newsboy.She just said weakly, "I have a caravan and something happened in the Never Ember."

They all fell silent for a moment, obviously shocked by the magnitude of the incident.

The newsboy restrained his original expression and asked, "Dead, or...?"

"Not sure, they're missing now," said the lady. "The Everlands have been a mess lately... oh, this is annoying. I don't care about my loss.

"But the people in that caravan are all my old buddies. I don't want them to have accidents because of this ordinary business trip. Alas, I just want them to drop by and find out about the nearest north of Eternal Land. things, but something like this happened.”

North of the Never Emberlands?The dealer couldn't help but frowned.

He said: "The sea to the north has been pretty uneven these past few days. Are you going to get involved?"

"I don't intend to." said the lady, "but as a businessman, you must understand the situation. Besides, you should also know that with the progress of the development plan of the withered wasteland, all countries have been connected.

"The sea in the north was originally a very important business channel, and many goods need to be shipped in or out by sea. Now that something happened there, people must know the specific situation."

The newsboy looked around and couldn't help but say, "Wait, wait, what happened to the sea to the north?"

They had talked about it, not so long ago.But at that time they didn't go deep into it too carefully, after all, the sea to the north was too far away from them.

The lady said: "Someone found something in the sea to the north. It seemed to be a very precious thing, and then it caused a series of disputes. This kind of thing is quite common... Damn it, why is my caravan this time? problem occurs."

She shook her head in annoyance.

The croupier thought, if the accident in the lady's caravan was related to the current situation in Fuliouhai, then he seemed to be able to ask some of the latest situation from the population of the caravan.

Although he has asked Hed Dreyson to do this, it is necessary to obtain information from different sources.

He then said: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have a ceremony here to help confirm the safety of the caravan members, but you need to provide their names. If you are willing..."

The noble lady provides the names of the members of the team, which is basically equivalent to revealing the identity of the noble lady herself.Although the croupier won't investigate—besides, he already knows the identity of the noble lady—but this is indeed a question that needs to be weighed by the noble lady herself.

The lady looked at him in surprise, then nodded without hesitation: "Okay, that's no problem, I believe in your character." As she spoke, she found a pen and paper from a side drawer, and wrote down Several names, and a string of words.

Both the knight and the newsboy politely averted their eyes.

After the lady finished writing, she folded the paper and handed it to the croupier.She said: "I wrote down most of the names I remembered. The address line below is my form of correspondence, and you can write there to let me know if you have any results.

"I will give you a corresponding reward, Mr. Dealer. In any case, it would be great to be able to determine their life, death and safety."

she said very sincerely.

The croupier said, "You're welcome ma'am, I'll be happy to help you. I'll have a result as soon as possible."

The lady also nodded and breathed a sigh of relief.

The atmosphere in the room also unknowingly eased down.It can be seen that the lady is already mentally prepared to accept the worst outcome, but she still wants to confirm this, so as not to worry herself.

However, because of this matter, they have no mood to chat.Soon, the newsboy and the lady left one after another, leaving only the knight and the croupier.

The knight took off his helmet and said, "Professor, are you really going to help the lady confirm the situation of the caravan?"

Siles was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Indeed."

Carol hesitated for a moment, then touched his nose: "Well, I'm not asking you to stand by. I mean, this may expose your true identity.

"Besides, this ritual you have, if it can confirm the situation of anyone in the world, it is obviously extremely... terrible."

Siles understood what the knight meant, and he said, "It's not that we can confirm the situation, but we can only confirm safety, life and death." He thought in his heart, this is a white lie.

From another point of view, if the lady is not Angela's stepmother, then it is unlikely that he would offer to help.

Carol nodded, and didn't say much on this matter - he just hoped that Siles would be more vigilant.After all, they appeared anonymously at the Dawn Apocalypse.

Even if the four of them get along happily, it is definitely not a good thing to easily expose their true identities.

Of course, Carol knew that Siles had his own ideas, so he turned to say: "The two things you asked me to investigate last time have also achieved some results."

Siles listened attentively.

"Forrest..." Carol said the name, and then sighed softly, "He used to be the director of the research department."

This Wednesday, Siles had lunch with Edward Bello, the former head of the research department. At that time, he learned from Edward that Forrest was Edward's previous head of the research department.

Edward didn't know much about Forrest, though.After all, Forrest was Edward's superior at the time, and the Research Department was a rather closed department that didn't care about worldly affairs.

Even after Edward became the director of the research department, the inside story of the experiment 14 years ago gradually became less known.

Until now, Siles heard the inside story by mistake.

Carroll went on: "I don't think you know... I don't know, actually, but one of the elders told me privately. I'm about to take his seat, so he's been talking to me all this time. Talk about some past events, let me know more about the Historical Society.

"We were referring to 14 years ago. He said that people were actually in a state of ... almost crazy, god-denying, in terms of the overall ethos of the Historical Society.

"It should be said that after so many years of development in the Principality of Const in the Fog, people are indeed gradually... It should be said, getting rid of the shadows brought by those old gods. Anti-Nam is a god with little sense of existence. So. So, people want to deny the existence of gods.

"...That's why that research topic was enthusiastically promoted. As you can imagine, in today's Presbyterian Church, many ultra-conservative elders, 14 years ago, were actually in favor of research on how to restore human beings to the power of the old gods ?"

Siles couldn't help being taken aback.

When he put forward the three-element theory, he was warned or hinted by people on the grounds of what happened 14 years ago, telling him not to stimulate the nerves of those big shots.In fact, have those big names ever set foot in this field?

Carol also laughed: "Didn't think of it? I didn't think of it either. But in fact, 14 years ago, many elders were probably my age, 40 or [-] years old. At that time, they were not old enough to surrender to the world. the point.

"So, they are actually in favor of proceeding with that topic, at least with reservations. I can't say that this attitude is overwhelming, but at least two-thirds of the elders are like this."

Siles thought for a while, then asked, "Where's the vice president?"

"You mean President Morton?" Carol thought for a while, "Generally speaking, people think that President Morton belongs to the neutral and conservative camp. It should be said that such a big man is unlikely to reveal his true position.

"In any case, at least Chairman Morton did not intervene to stop the research on the subject 14 years ago."

Sirius nodded slowly.He was suddenly curious, since Joseph Morton's position was ambiguous, why did Grenfell break with Joseph Morton?

Also, on the subject of biophotographing, Grenfell said it took him ten years to develop the results.Considering his somewhat lazy life in recent years, Siles suspects that this topic was only thought of by Grenfell after the incident happened 14 years ago.

He's not sure what Grenfell was based on when he came up with the subject, but there's some subtlety evident at this point in time.

Carroll did not continue to talk about Joseph Morton's position, but continued: "Forrest was the most radical group of people at the time. It should also be said that at least he made some of the most radical remarks.

"Therefore, some elders who were equally radical at the time promoted him. It just so happened that the head of the research department at that time was about to step down, so Forrest became the head of the research department.

"During those two or three years, Forrest was researching some unknown subjects in the research department. That young man, the one who wanted to revive the power of the old god, appeared at that time.

"Forrest praised his pioneering spirit and creativity, and immediately made the other elders pay attention to this young man. After all, people's emotions needed an outlet at the time, and that topic may be.

"So in a very short period of time, with the overt and covert support of many elders and other great figures, some progress was made on this subject. Then they actually conducted an experiment, although no one knew the result of the experiment , but...that's how it is."

Carol sighed.

Siles thought about it, and he said, "Have you learned anything about that young man?"

Carol shook her head.He said: "I don't know anything. It should be said that no one seems to know the young man's identity, name, appearance, and personality. He seems to be just a false shadow used to carry out the experiment."

This statement made Sirius frowned.He had to admit that it reminded him of something about the "Shadow" believers.

In particular, it made him think of the mysterious great-uncle of Herd Dreyson who had stayed at the Hales House for a long time, but no one knew his true identity.

He thought for a moment, then turned his thoughts back to the topic they were talking about now.

Experiment 14 years ago.In fact, that crushed the ambitions of some elders.

It was hard for Siles to say whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.Human beings spying on the authority of the gods, just for this matter, is already a mixed blessing.

He was silent for a moment, then sighed softly.

Carol also sighed: "So, after that, the atmosphere of the Historical Society has completely changed. There are some elders—I can't name them, but indeed, they pretended to forget their previous positions."

"Is removing Forrest from the Presbyterian Church one of the options?" Siles said.

"Yes, at the same time they also deprived Forrest of the head of the research department. Amidst the silent pass of everyone." Carol whispered, "After this, they arranged for Forrest a Leisurely third corridor work."

Siles nodded, that's all he knew.

Carol turned to say: "However, Forrest is actually closer to the second corridor. His current responsibility is to arrange the accompanying personnel of the third corridor for the second corridor. This is actually not too complicated Work.

"But because of this, Forrest was able to access many archives of the Second Corridor, as well as their daily investigation progress... What I mean by this is because you asked me to investigate another matter. "

Siles was taken aback for a moment, and he said, "You suspect that the missing materials in the second corridor are related to Forrest?"

"I doubt it," said Carol, rather seriously, "because, I talked about it with Grace, who is in charge of the Second Corridor. I have a good personal relationship with him, you know.

"He denied the possibility of someone deliberately stealing the data, and believed that it was possible that it was accidentally lost. But then, he also hinted to me that there are not a few people who have access to the files in the second corridor."

Siles said slightly troubled: "What does he mean, he also has doubts in his heart, but he can't directly explain?"

"Perhaps so," Carroll said. "Grace is a man who is wise enough to protect himself, and even to adapt to the wind. I can't say what kind of character he is, but at least it makes him a good guy in the Historical Society.

"Forrest's identity and past are very complicated. Even though he is low-key and silent now, no one wants to have anything to do with him. Grace is even more so."

Siles thought to himself, this kind of adjective on the person in charge of the second corridor really makes people feel... a sigh.Perhaps the Second Corridor really needs such a well-rounded person in charge.

In any case, if Forrest really took away part of the archives of the Second Corridor from 385 to 389 in the Mist Age, then what happened 14 years ago seems to have other secrets.

Or, at least as far as Forrest himself is concerned, there are things he wants to hide.

After thinking for a while, Siles said, "However, it is very likely that it happened several years ago. If you want to know the truth, I'm afraid you can only ask Forrest directly."

"And he won't necessarily tell us," Carroll said. "What I've heard is that Forrest