The world controlled by dice [Western Fantasy]

At this time, the theater district is no longer as bustling as it used to be.

Typically, the theater district is always packed on weekends.People can go to the theater district to watch plays or listen to operas with their lovers, or with their family and friends in their spare time.There's only so much entertainment people can get these days.

Of course, this kind of "entertainment" is for the people in Dongcheng.The residents of Lamifaxi City rarely come to the theater district, and there seems to be a barrier between them and them.

After the murder, the business in the theater area would naturally be affected, but the deserted appearance still surprised Siles and Qindo who came here.

Most of the theaters have put up bulletin boards to suspend performances, and a small number of theaters that are still attracting business have no one at all.One or two relevant practitioners walked by them, apparently also communicating about this matter.

They seem to think that it will take at least a week or two before things improve here.

Before leaving the house this morning, Siles had also seen a report in the Constance National about the murder in the Theater District.

The relevant information in the newspaper was very vague and fragmented, mentioning that the deceased was an actor who died on the stage of the theater, but more information was not disclosed.Larger pages are devoted to insider accounts.

However, Siles also noticed a small problem from the newspaper.

The deceased had an accident in the early morning, and people discovered his body when they came to work in the early morning.But in theory, the theater must be locked at night, and the deceased is only an actor, so it is impossible to have a key.

So how exactly he got into the theater, and why he was killed there, remains an unsolved mystery.

In the newspaper, the well-known unknown theater owner also said incredulously: "He shouldn't be there at all! Why did he run to the theater in the middle of the night?!"

This doubt may not be resolved in the short term.The Lamifa City Police Department and other investigators (such as the Church of the Past and detectives) are still investigating.

However, the newspaper also vaguely mentioned one thing, that is, the theater district's non-cooperation with the investigation.They seem to intend to downplay the impact of this incident, and even speculate that the deceased may have committed suicide on the theater stage because of depression.

All sorts of speculations arose.However, the theater district eventually became deserted.

"...32 Comstock Street." Cinder muttered, "Found it."

They came to the Lancelot Theatre.

On the way, they also tried to find the rumored private museum of the Berkeley family, but failed to find it, so they focused on this theater.

This is indeed a small theater, not eye-catching.Farther away is the most well-known Const National Theater in Lamifa City; against the backdrop of that rather luxurious and magnificent building, the Lancelot Theater looks even more ordinary and pale.

Judging from the number of performances on the bulletin board placed at the entrance of the theater, people can also find that this theater has a shallow foundation and few performances. Although the empty ticket window indicates that all scheduled performances on the weekend have been cancelled.

They went in.After entering the theater, they felt a chill.The weather outside was so sunny that it was daunting.

"Good morning." Ms. Heidi, who had been waiting at the entrance of the theater for a long time, greeted them.

Arkwright the Clown was standing beside Heidi, idly playing with a deck of cards—Fate Cards, obviously.He shuffled the cards with very fancy movements, just like people's inherent impression of clowns.

"Good morning," they replied.

Siles asked again, "Where's Carlos?"

“There was a little girl who came to audition for the role of Garland...she said her name was Garland too. It’s an amazing fate, isn’t it?” Heidi explained, “So Carlos was talking to her, and I happened to come and pick you up. "

Siles suddenly realized.He glanced somewhat curiously at the door in the corridor.Wonder how Garland's interview went, he thought.

Heidi was clearly absent-minded and not paying particular attention to the question.She thought for a while, and then said, "I think...you should already know about the murder."

Arkwright nodded and said, "Murder."

They were all silent for a moment, and then Heidi said, "Come to my office."

It is said to be an office, but it is actually the prop room of the Lancelot Theatre.There are many ordinary or exotic props, stage sets, costumes, etc., and it is a quite large room.Part of it was partitioned off as Heidi's work area.

A window was open looking onto another theatre.The air in this room has a cool dusty smell, brewed from dust that hasn't seen light for a long time.

Several slightly worn-out sofas are placed randomly.Heidi said: "Sit whatever you want. These sofas were originally props, but they are not used recently, so they are placed here for people to rest their feet."

They sat down.Arkwright put away his cards carefully.

Heidi sat behind her desk.That was facing the window.After thinking for a moment, she said, "He died in the theater opposite."

Siles couldn't help being startled, he looked out the window hesitantly.He said, "Is this the one outside the window?"

"Yes." Heidi said in a low voice, "I still came to work in the theater on Thursday. We had already confirmed most of the roles that day, and we were going to check out the lines together.

“…And then, it happened. I was sitting here, looking out the window, thinking about the stage set. Arkwright was there. We were waiting for the other actors to come.

"I barely noticed what was going on outside the window. It was Arkwright, he said someone had moved a body out and I freaked out before realizing it was the theater across the way.

"It was in the morning, and we saw a lot of policemen coming, and they moved the dead body out of the theater. I...I saw the appearance of the dead."

She took a deep breath.

Siles sensed a possibility from her expression.

Qin Duo asked keenly: "Do you know?"

Heidi nodded, and she said in a low voice: "He is an actor who lives nearby, and he moved here about four or five months ago. He shared a nearby house with some other young actors. They Both love drama.

“…In fact, one of them was doing a lot of supporting roles at the Lancelot Theatre. They were hardworking, hardworking, and went to great lengths to find work.

"I don't know the last name of the deceased. But his name should be Alan. He was probably in his early 20s. It is said that he had the opportunity to go to La Mifa University, but he gave up his studies and finally decided to come. Try the theater district.

"... It seems that several theater troupes have taken a fancy to him and plan to recruit him as a resident actor, but..."

Heidi stopped talking, then she shook her head and sighed softly.

Siles fell into deep thought.

Appearing in the theater district about four or five months ago, sharing a house nearby with a few actors... This statement evokes certain details in his memory.

After a while, he suddenly said, "32 Gerald Street."

"what?"

Both Heidi and Qindo froze for a moment.Arkwright was watching him too, though he kept looking this way and that.

Siles got out of the state of contemplation, and he thought about where to explain it... In the end he just said: "In short, there used to be a group of followers of the old gods who stayed in this house and plotted something. In April this year , they moved away.

"But then, as far as I know, a group of young actors moved in. That seemed to be Allen and his mates."

Heidi couldn't help frowning.

Qin Duo also remembered, and he said, "The house that Kailan lived in before moving to 32 Lowell Street?"

Siles nodded.

This information was given to them by Detective Jon casually a long time ago.

At that time, they suspected that Kailan's location might be related to "32", so they investigated the No. 32 building in Ramifa City, including No. 32 Jerrold Street.

However, because a group of young actors had already lived in this place, and these young people obviously knew nothing about Kailan, so they did not continue to pay attention to the movements of this group of people.

...And perhaps, something happened to one of them.

"If this matter is related to Kailan, then the choice of the deceased is not random." Qin Duo said in a deep voice, "Are they deliberately selecting the relevant person?"

Heidi didn't know who Kailan was, but she didn't ask any more questions, just thinking about it thoughtfully.

"However, the Graves family no longer exists." Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose, "For them, Kailan is just a product of a failed plan. Perhaps, they just picked one from a list at random." list, and then the killings took place."

32 Jerrold Street is related to the conspiracy of the shadow believers.

The group of shadow believers who came to Lamifa City today may not be very clear about the plot of the Graves family in the past, and they have already regarded this plan as a failure.

However, it is also very likely that they have obtained some relevant information.

When they plan to do something in the theater district, they will naturally read these materials.They'll notice the presence of 32 Jerrold Street, not far from here.

If they were going to kill someone, they might think of this place, and pick a young man out of it as a victim.

...which is certainly not impossible.But the premise of this inference is that shadow believers don't need any specific "qualification" when killing people.They just picked someone at random who unfortunately they happened to remember.

Besides, "a list".

The list could include everyone involved in those past conspiracies, Sirius and Cinder certainly included, and others... like, Doreen Lucas?Will she be there?

For another example, earlier, the apostate Hamlin had found Dr. Chester Fitzroy to see his wounds.So, will Dr. Chester be on this list?

Siles felt a headache.If such a list existed, things could be a lot more complicated.

It was like a countdown to life hanging above each of them.

He quickly and rationally dismissed the idea.This only creates panic and does nothing to solve the problem.

... He can get a lot of information directly from Qiuqiu, but this method can only be done in moderation.Now he has mastered the power of the gods, but he cannot be called a "god" yet.

Therefore, it is impossible for him to use the power of time for everything.When he could, he preferred to conduct his own investigations rather than allow the power of the gods to intervene.

He was almost lost to the power of fate, and he was almost lost to the power of dreams.Wouldn't he be lost in the power of time?

According to the dice, a will attribute of 100 points really corresponds to a god.He is still several points away from this value.

In fact, the closer he got to this value, the more vigilant and uneasy he felt.

...Of course, matters related to Mr. Xia still have to rely on the power of time after all.He knows it all too well.

After thinking for a moment, Siles asked Heidi: "Do you know where Alan's co-tenants are now?"

"On Thursday, they were taken in by the police for questioning," Heidi said. "They haven't been in the theater district since then. I suspect they might not want to come here either."

Siles nodded, not surprisingly.

At this moment, Qin Duo suddenly said: "Someone seems to be staring at us outside."

Siles narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked up at Qindo.

Qin Duo looked at him, and then looked out the window.He suddenly sneered, and said to Heidi and Arkwright, "Close your eyes."

Both obeyed his orders.

Afterwards, Qin Duo picked the word "thorn" from the manuscript of blood descendants and threw it out of the window.A low cry of pain came from the road not far away.Afterwards, Qin Duo clapped her hands and said unhappily, "It's solved."

"Dead?" Heidi opened her eyes and asked.

"Not dead." Qin Duo said playfully, "the eye was stabbed by a thorn. Let me see where he will go..."

He seemed to be concentrating on something, and then suddenly sighed regretfully: "They were very decisive and took out this guy's eyeballs. They can't find their lair anymore."

Heidi also sighed regretfully, and she told Arkwright to open his eyes.

"...So, someone is indeed staring at us." Siles said thoughtfully, "Ma'am, is there anything special about this theater opposite?"

"No. At least as far as I know . . . just a normal theater."

Siles nodded, and he said: "Then, maybe they chose this place to warn us... After all, if they investigate a little bit, they will know that Miss Garland's story will be adapted here. The drama is on."

Perhaps this kind of warning could have happened at the train station in Ramifa, but Siles didn't show up that day, so they found another opportunity to do it.

Heidi said with some trouble: "But, they just warned us?"

"They know we don't know what they're going to do," says Siles, a bit of a rap, but overall it's still a matter of poor information.

What the shadow believers are going to do, they don't know anything; and what they are going to do, the shadow believers also know nothing.It's almost a stalemate situation.

"...Perhaps, this is just a test." Siles said, "Including the people who peeped into our conversation just now. They are testing our bottom line."

Heidi opened her mouth and said in vain, "It's really complicated."

"It's complicated," Sirius said. "I don't think they killed that young man, put up such a big fight, just to warn us. 'Warning,' it's just a matter of course."

Their real purpose is probably for the layout of the murder scene.

Frames, canvases, bloody figures.This is their purpose.But for what?

They were talking when there was a knock at the door.It was Carlos Ranmier.

So they stopped talking tacitly.

Carlos obviously wasn't paying attention to what they were talking about either.He just said cheerfully: "That little girl is amazing! She captures Garland's character perfectly!"

Qin Duo couldn't help laughing at the side.

"Is she still there?" Sirius asked.

"You want to see her?" Carlos said. "Of course, she came with another boy and an adult. The adult seemed to want to see our theater and was asking around. "

...Maybe it was to learn about the theater district and the murder case.Siles thought.There is a high probability that it is an investigator from the church of the past.

They left the prop room.

Heidi whispered: "I'll tell you about the Kermit family's affairs later."

Siles nodded slightly.

They soon saw Garland and his party.Sure enough, three acquaintances—Garland, Nanisar, Dominic Milner.

The trio were in the main stage area of ​​the theatre, chatting with several staff members.

The stage of Lancelot's theater is not too big, the auditorium can accommodate about 1000 people, and there are also separate boxes on the second floor.The layout here is actually much more glamorous than the signboard outside, but it looks delicate, small and elegant.

Garland was the first to notice their presence. She stared at Celes for a moment, then realized: "Ah, we've seen it before!"

After the underground arch incident, Siles had met with Garland a few times, most of the time just to know about Garland's situation.

"Hi, Miss Garland." Siles smiled at her.Garland didn't know that Sirius was Mr. Ghost, but Sirius didn't intend to make her realize it.

Siles looked again at Nanisar.

This boy who used to be like a split personality has completely lost his arrogance.He became much quieter and less talkative, and he seemed very withdrawn.He just stood by Garland's side without saying a word.

And Dominic Milner immediately greeted Siles warmly, and he sighed and said, "I didn't expect to meet you here, Professor. Long time no see."

"It's been a long time." Sirius smiled.

Carlos was a little surprised and said, "You know each other?"

Siles nodded.He didn't mean to elaborate, and Carlos didn't ask.Soon, they were divided into several different conversation circles.

Dominique came to Siles and Cinder, and he said, "Have you heard about the murder in the theater district?"

"Yes." Siles nodded and replied calmly, "I have learned something about it."

"This case is a bit troublesome." Dominic said in a low voice, "Several investigators were contaminated after seeing the murder scene. It all depends on your 'self-reappearance' ceremony, coupled with your own vigilance , they were able to get rid of this pollution.

"Right now, we're struggling with how to deal with this."

Siles was a little surprised to hear this.

To him, this confirms that the murder was indeed a deliberate act by the Shadow Cultists.But was the scene so dire for these seasoned investigators?

Dominic quietly and quickly recounted the scene of the murder to Siles, which was similar to what Garland had reproduced in his dream.

Later, Dominique added: "The pollution came from the painting. They all saw the painting by surprise, so they were polluted."

Siles suddenly realized.

The stage of the theater is specially designed. Normally, anyone who walks into the theater will subconsciously focus on the stage area.The different positions of the auditorium will also have an impact on the view of the theater.

Therefore, when investigators go to the murder scene, they must subconsciously look at the stage, and this natural action has caused them trouble.

... Pollution in paintings.Siles thought.

It's a pretty familiar topic—that painting that Detective Jon picked up in the trash, didn't he?

That had polluted Jon's mental state.It was the ritual of "self-reappearance" that saved him at the time, and it also saved the group of investigators of the past church at this moment.

Dominique thanked Siles again and again.

He said with a bit of annoyance: "The time is approaching this year's God's birthday, but there are always troubles. Recently, the knight commander always seems to be troubled by something... damn the follower of the old god."

Siles listened silently.What bothered Bunyan, he thought?

They didn't talk for long, and soon Carlos came over.He negotiated Garland's hours with Dominique.Dominique obviously didn't know much about the situation in the theater, so he could only ask Garland what he thought, and Garland had no opinion.

Carlos handed a stack of scripts to Garland, and said, "The murder case hasn't been investigated yet, and I don't think it will be possible to rehearse it in the near future. So, Garland, you go back and memorize the script first... Do you know how to memorize it?" "

Carlos tried to be kinder in his tone and expression.But he himself is not very old, and this expression makes people feel very funny.

Garland flipped through the script, and she nodded seriously.

Carlos also breathed a sigh of relief.Garland is still a very sensible and obedient little girl.

"...murder," said Nanisar suddenly from the sidelines.

"Ah, by the way, homicide," Garland said. "How long is it going to be?"

"Who knows." Carlos said a little disapprovingly, "The theater district has its own rules..."

Garland was obviously curious, but Carlos didn't intend to continue.

Soon, Dominique left with his two children.Before leaving, he exchanged glances with Siles, probably hoping that if there was anything discovered by Siles, he would also let him know.

"...What are the rules in the theater district?" Qin Duo asked a little puzzled.

Carlos scratched his hair in distress. He didn't mean to hide it, but just said, "Go to my office and talk."

Heidi and Arkwright stayed on the stage to continue some arrangement and arrangement.They won't be working for some time in the future, so it's a good time to use this time to clean up the theater.

Carlos' office is located to the side of the stage, a somewhat cluttered room filled with various scripts and materials.The weather was sweltering, Carlos wiped his sweat, and managed to tidy up a place, and then moved two chairs for Siles and Cendo to sit down.

"...The rule of the theater district is that if something happens in the theater, it has to be resolved inside the theater district." Carlos explained, "so this time the murder case will probably be the same."

"Why is there such a rule?" Siles couldn't help asking in doubt.

"...Because of... something about the Revelator?" Carlos said uncertainly, "You know, we are acting on the stage. But sometimes... some accidents may happen."

"for example?"

"For example... the actor is a revelation, and his performance unintentionally reproduces certain things in history, resulting in some subtle changes in the stage effect." Carlos explained.

Siles was a little surprised to hear this.

There is indeed such a possibility. Although most of the time, the revelators just use some established and stable rituals, but no one knows whether their unintentional behavior may reproduce the past history .

It is a long history, and no one can be sure that they fully understand everything.

As far as Siles knows, in the Research Department of the Historical Society, there are a group of researchers who specialize in this matter, and they are constantly trying to discover some unique and novel rituals.In the eyes of outsiders, it was just a group of people dancing like madmen.

Occasionally they do find something.

Therefore, it is not impossible for actors to have such accidents on stage.

Carlos explained while thinking: "So, on the theater side, we have always had a requirement for actors, that is, during rehearsals and performances, they must not swallow potions.

"However... I'm not sure if you know... After the revelator drinks the potion, it is indeed more convenient and simple to perform the ritual. However, even if you don't drink the potion, people with the qualifications of the revelator may unintentionally perform some kind of ceremony.

"Potions are an aid, not a necessity."

Sirius nodded thoughtfully.There is indeed such a possibility.

From what Antinam said before, and the nature of Stardust and the potion, after swallowing the potion, it will be easier to touch the power left after the fall of the old gods, but even if people don't swallow the potion, people It is still possible to perform the ritual directly through Anti-Nam's power.

In their introductory course of the Historical Society, Carroll also said that potions are to help people use the power of the revelator more "safely", not an absolute necessity.

After all, if people want to reproduce history and gain power, there are two ways; either through the dead old gods, or through the living Antinam.

Although the fallen old gods still pollute people,... the living Anti-Nam is not as gentle and gentle as he appears on the surface.He is the god of this world after all.

Before Siles' will reached a high level, he did not consider directly obtaining the truth of the world from Antinam.

Using the revealer ritual without taking the potion is no different from facing Antinam directly.Of course, the difficulty of realizing this is about the same as facing Antinam directly.

Theoretically, this could indeed happen, but in practice, the probability is very, very small.

...However, judging from what Carlos said, it seems that this kind of thing really happened, so there are "rules in the theater district"?

Carlos explained: "There was a scene... I don't know exactly what it is, I just heard it mentioned. In short, one actor needs to stab another actor with a prop sword. The prop sword is It's retractable, so it won't do much damage.

"However, for some reason, he reproduced a ritual... probably in line with a famous murder in history. It just so happens that the drama seems to be related to history."

Siles' expression changed slightly.

Qin Duo said thoughtfully: "So he really got stabbed."

"Yes, the actor who played with him died because of this. All the audience was shocked." Carlos shook his head and sighed, "It is said that the enlightener also went crazy shortly after, I don't know if it is because of psychological pressure.

"The deceased was quite famous at the time, and his family put pressure on the theater. In the end, the theater probably lost a lot of money, but it still kept it a secret, saying it was an accident.

"...After that, there were no historical adaptations in the theater district anymore, and the saying 'theatre district rules' gradually appeared here. To be honest, when many theaters recruit new actors now, they ask that they can't It is safe enough to have the qualifications of a revelation.

"However, after all, there will be fish that slip through the net, and some people don't even know that they have the qualifications of the enlightener.

"The 'theater district rules' are really, if there is a revealer accident like this, then we have to band together and keep it under wraps.

"The purpose is mainly to prevent the deterioration of public opinion, so that people don't have to worry about the threat posed by the power of the revelator - at first it was for the sake of the revelator, but it has gradually become a common practice.

"They... I mean, some big theaters, theater troupe owners or behind-the-scenes investors, they don't want other people to realize that there are actually very big risks in the theater district."

Siles suddenly realized.

After all, the theater district has also existed for a long time, and has a specific connection with the upper nobles of the Duchy of Const.In this case, the risk of "revelation" in theatrical performance has become a well-known but unavoidable problem.

...the number of revelators is not as many as people think.

Siles' life seemed to be full of revelators, but that's because he was involved in related matters, and naturally he encountered many revelators.For ordinary people, they will probably know that there is some kind of supernatural power in this world, but they will not know more.

Naturally, when the stage accident happened, people would feel panic and uneasiness.

However, having said that, the prop sword stabbed...

...Didn't the dead Alan have a huge wound in his abdomen?

Siles was taken aback.

He suddenly realized why, in this case, "theater district rules" seemed to be at work again.

When people saw that scene, especially the death of the deceased, some elderly people would naturally think of the accident many years ago.They would think, perhaps, this is the result of the power of the revealer again?

The theater district seems to be planning to keep this matter a secret, but... Siles is not very optimistic about their choice.This matter may eventually turn into a public opinion storm - the kind aimed at the enlightener.

His home planet, Earth, has provided numerous examples of similar scenes.

Qin Duo said thoughtfully: "So, when did the accident happen?"

"I'm not sure...maybe, decades ago?" Carlos thought for a while, "Maybe 30 or [-] years ago, because when they mentioned it to me, they said I wasn't born at that time."

Judging from Carlos' performance, he doesn't seem to know the specifics of the murder scene.Siles thought.

"...Let's not talk about such a disappointing topic." Carlos turned to say, "Anyway, it's good news to find a young actor to play Garland."

Siles nodded.Not long ago, he received a letter from Carlos. In the letter, Carlos was still thinking about the choice of the heroine, but now it has been resolved smoothly.It is estimated that Carlos himself was surprised.

"As for the rest of the roles, they've pretty much been decided," Carlos said, a little cheerfully. "Everything went well...of course, the worst thing was the murder, which delayed our rehearsal for a while. .

"Recently, the actors will probably be busy familiarizing themselves with the script and memorizing the lines, which is just right, so they don't need to come to the theater area. I will find another time for them to correct the lines... that's about it."

Siles had no objection.In this regard, Carlos is much more professional than him after all, so he just agrees with Carlos' idea.

Carlos glanced at the time, then stretched.He said: "It's almost eleven o'clock! Do you have any plans for noon? Do you want to have lunch together?"

"No, we have to be busy with other things." Siles said tactfully.

Carlos shrugged, and said casually: "Then let's talk about it next time." He thought for a while, "Forget it, I'll go home directly, and let the others go back quickly. When I think of a place not far from me There was a homicide, and to be honest, I thought it was weird too."

Soon, he informed the others about it, and he was the first to leave the theater.

Heidi needed to organize and count the props, and if she was going to leave late, Carlos threw the spare key to her and asked her to lock the door and leave.

Soon, only Siles, Cinder, Heidi, and Arkwright were left in the theater.

Siles was a little surprised to see the spare key."Will every theater have a spare key?" he asked.

Heidi thought for a while, and then replied: "Not necessarily. This should be the idea of ​​the owner of the theater. Some theater owners will hold the key very tightly, such as the theater opposite us... the one where the murder happened.

"Carlos will indeed hand over the spare key to me, or other staff members. This has been seen by the owner of the opposite theater. He even laughed at Carlos for not being careful, and sooner or later he will lose his family property."

"...So, only the owner of the opposite theater has the key." Qin Duo said thoughtfully, "Then, how did the deceased appear in the theater in the early hours of the morning?"

Heidi thought for a while and said, "The power of the revealer?"

This is a natural conclusion to draw.

If it is in a world without supernatural powers, people will think it is a secret room and think about the murderer's modus operandi.But after all, Fisher's world possesses wonderful and extraordinary powers.

Therefore, facing this strange phenomenon, they naturally wondered whether the enlightener did it.

……but……

Siles frowned involuntarily.He felt more and more suspicious.

Combined with the previous accident where the enlightener accidentally killed a colleague on the stage, coupled with the current scene that seems to have recurred yesterday... This can easily cause panic among ordinary people.

He pondered for a moment, and then suddenly asked a weird question: "So, is the owner of the theater opposite an ordinary person or a revelation?"

Everyone else was taken aback.

Heidi pondered for a while, then shook her head: "I'm not sure. We haven't dealt with him much. Maybe Carlos will know. I'll find a chance to ask him later?"