The clown stood quietly in a corner of the central open space within the tents, staring blankly upward at the top of the pavilion, where the fabric formed a brown canopy.
His lips were curled upward out of sheer habit, revealing a highly exaggerated, comical smile. Yet because of everything that was currently unfolding, such a smile somehow made one feel as if it were born of sorrow.
Suddenly, the clown whispered, “Birds… they’re birds…”
The birdmen were still flying high up within the pavilion.
A sudden shadow was cast in front of him, causing the clown to look over subconsciously. Upon spotting a familiar figure, he also blurted out instinctively, “We meet again, sir!”
Siles gazed back at the clown as well. After a brief pause, he said, “I heard Miki died.”
“Died… died…” The clown nodded. Pinching a playing card between his two fingers, he pointed ahead. “He’s right over there. Dead.”
Siles nodded thoughtfully and asked, “Do you know how he died?”
The clown tilted his head, his lips still stretched into that highly exaggerated smile. He said, “I know—but I can’t tell you. I won’t tell you.”
Siles asked, “Why?”
“It’s a secret of the circus,” the clown said mysteriously.
“But the leader of the circus is already dead,” Siles pointed out with absolute composure. “Therefore, the secret is no longer a secret.”
The clown tilted his head, casting a somewhat peculiar look at him. Suddenly, he pressed the playing card he had been idly manipulating between his fingers against his own lips, as if signaling that he had been silenced.
Siles’s gaze naturally fell upon that playing card. Although he had already noticed back in Lamifa City that the clown was consistently playing with cards, he had never actually paid attention to the content on them.
In the very next instant, a look of profound shock abruptly surfaced in his eyes.
That was a Fate Card—it was the Fate Card Alva had produced!
…A Merchant card.
“Where did you get this card from?” Siles couldn’t help but ask.
What he was currently pondering was that if the clown had obtained this card from Alva’s hands, it wasn’t entirely impossible; Alva might have had his card stolen at the House of Hales, perhaps last night, or perhaps this morning…
Regardless, the clown at least had the possibility of coming into contact with Alva. He indeed had the potential to touch a Fate Card.
But what if the clown had obtained this card even earlier? Back when they were in Lamifa City, when Siles saw him playing with a card in his hand, was that a Fate Card?
Siles hadn’t paid any attention to the card at the time, completely oblivious to whether it was merely an ordinary playing card or a Fate Card printed by the Alva family’s printing workshop.
…Just who exactly was the mysterious customer who had placed an order with the Alva family’s printing workshop to customize this deck of cards?
With a complex expression, Siles stared fixedly at the Merchant card. Upon the card face, the pot-bellied merchant revealed a self-satisfied, immensely wealthy smile, as if mocking Siles.
The clown shook his head, murmuring something indistinctly. Siles caught that he was saying the words “secret.”
Secret—what secret?!
Siles narrowed his eyes.
“…The Merchant card,” Siles said. “You are hinting at this to me. Is this related to a merchant?”
The clown’s eyes gazed back at Siles. Where the card face didn’t block his view, Siles saw that the clown’s lips were still curled upward. Yet his eyes were entirely devoid of mirth.
After a moment, the clown slipped the card back into his pocket. He wore a set of clown clothes that looked ornate and complex, though they were actually quite filthy. He said, “Miki… is dead. Heidi… has left too.”
The circus existed now only in name, Siles thought.
From the angle Siles had observed, the circus seemed to consist of five people in total: the circus leader Miki, the lady astrologer Heidi, the clown, the beast tamer, and the magician. Siles did not know the names of the latter three.
The clown was a character card in the TRPG scenario. In the script of that TRPG campaign, after the apostate Hamlin handed that list of former Church clergymen over to his companions, he would flee from Lamifa City. One of his choices was to blend into the caravan of the merchant Lanmere.
Subsequently, after leaving the city, they would encounter the circus. The circus was a chaotic place, and the clown specifically had to wear clown clothes and paint heavy greasepaint onto his face.
Therefore, there was a certain probability that Hamlin would choose to kill the clown, blend into the circus, and then head to the territory beyond—the Ashless Lands, biding his time.
Of course, a player holding the clown character card could utilize various methods to alter their destiny. They could choose to leave the circus ahead of time, choose to cooperate with Hamlin, choose to fake their death, or choose to perish together.
Regardless, reality and the script had already drifted as far apart as heaven and earth. The clown hadn’t died, but Miki was dead, while Heidi had gone missing.
As for the beast tamer and the magician, no one knew what their fates would be.
Siles gazed mutely at the clown.
“…What’s wrong?” Quinton walked over and asked.
Siles cast a glance at him, shaking his head gently, and then turned to ask the clown instead: “If there is a merchant standing behind you all…” He pondered for a moment, “…then back when you headed to Lamifa City, was it driven by him?”
Was that how Elgar managed to find this circus?
During the recent Grayson incident, there was a question that had left the investigators thoroughly baffled—namely, that the two masterminds behind the scenes, Elgar and Clarence, had never been linked to the Ashless Lands in their past experiences.
Yet, they had inexplicably fetched a circus from the Ashless Lands and had them participate in the October Fair, utilizing a unique business to add chips to their ultimate plot.
How could they have tangled themselves with this circus from the Ashless Lands?
Even if they might have investigated the source of that strange portrait within the Ashless Lands, the investigators had found no signs within their correspondence to prove they had actually gone to investigate or had truly dug up any useful information.
It was as if someone had erased their connection to the Ashless Lands; as if someone had caused them to believe deeply that the portrait was the incarnation of Timiafa; as if someone had informed them that there was a circus capable of aiding them, so let them come to Lamifa City.
“Someone”—who was it?
If there were a merchant standing behind this circus…
Siles said in a low voice, “Quinton, you told me previously that this circus is permanently stationed at the House of Hales.”
Quinton glanced at the silent clown, and then said, “Yes. They have always stayed at the House of Hales, remaining in the central open space of the tents.”
“…The House of Hales,” Siles said. “Merchant. Menavaca.”
After a pause, he suddenly let out a sigh.
“I should have realized this sooner,” he said.
Quinton looked at him with a touch of perplexity, but Siles had no intention of explaining. He said, “Mr. Clown, thank you for your hint.”
The clown blinked his eyes, and then handed the card over, whispering, “For you, sir.”
His vibrant red lips, covered in greasepaint, still maintained that comical smile. Siles accepted the card, and then the clown swung his body half-crazily, waving his hand toward Siles.
Siles slipped the card into his pocket. For the time being, they departed from this corner, walking a bit further away.
Quinton suddenly said in puzzlement, “Wait, this card?”
Siles said, “Indeed, a Fate Card. Though it is unknown where the clown obtained it.” He pondered for a piece of time, subsequently shaking his head. “It’s almost as if someone is aiding us in the shadows.”
Quinton’s gaze flicked toward Siles’s pocket, and then he said, “Who knows. Perhaps someone truly is aiding us.”
Siles’s attention was actually not on this card right now; he gave an absentminded murmur of assent, standing there as he gazed at the central open space of the tents, sinking into deep thought. Over there, people had just finished collecting Miki’s corpse.
This morning, Mary had risen the earliest, with Alva and Chester following close behind. Because Siles was still sleeping, they had been the first to come over to the tents to eat breakfast, which was exactly when they ran into Miki’s corpse.
Mary had found a messenger to head over to the low houses to inform Quinton of the matter. Since they were eyewitnesses, the three of them had to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
When Siles woke up, the messenger had only just departed. They had consequently gotten out of bed and come over to the tents as well.
Miki’s cause of death was exactly the same as that of the explorer they had encountered at the Clinking Cups tavern last night. Dr. Chester said in a daze that his legs had turned into statues.
This matter had dealt no small stimulation to Chester. It instantly brought his mind back to that freezing night seven years ago.
However, from another perspective, he actually felt a sense of relief. It hadn’t been his hallucination—furthermore, that person’s death couldn’t be said to be his fault either. Clearly, that man must have been nearing the end of his life already.
To a certain extent, Chester had reconciled with his cowardly past self. Of course, chagrin was still unavoidable; he wished so much that his past self could have been a bit bolder, at least questioning that half-human, half-statue fellow to extract a bit of information.
The moment Siles arrived at the tents, he was pulled aside by Dr. Chester, who mentioned the appearance of Miki upon his death. Siles naturally knew he was thinking of his own past.
However, encountering two deaths right after arriving at the House of Hales caused Siles to feel a touch of doubt.
He asked Chester, “Back then, you did return to the place where that man appeared, but there was only a bit of ash left there, correct?”
Chester nodded: “The next morning… yes, some traces resembling peeling lime.”
Siles narrowed his eyes slightly, and then said, “Don’t you find this highly peculiar?” He paused. “Dying in the process of turning into a statue, Miki’s corpse didn’t disappear, nor did it turn to ash.
“Why did the person you encountered disappear?”
Chester pondered for a moment, shaking his head.
“…Perhaps someone moved his corpse away,” Siles said in a low tone.
Chester knit his brows, asking, “But why?”
“Indeed, why,” Siles said. “Why would someone turn into a statue, why would his corpse disappear, why has such a deceased individual appeared at the House of Hales too…”
There were far, far too many questions.
Subsequently, Dr. Chester returned to a nearby seat to sit down. The young Alva still bore a face of unrecovered astonishment. Noticing the clown in the corner, Siles walked over to that side to converse with him.
…And then he had obtained a Merchant card.
Siles suddenly snapped out of it, finally straightening out the contents he was pondering in his mind before putting them aside for the moment. He walked up to stand before Alva, asking, “Alva, did you bring the Fate Cards with you?”
“The cards?” Alva looked a bit startled. “No, no. I left them at the lodgings. What’s wrong?”
Siles then handed the Merchant card from his pocket over to Alva, saying, “I obtained this card from the clown.”
“A Fate Card!” Alva looked extremely astonished. He flipped the card over and over to inspect it, and then suddenly let out a cry of surprise, “This is a card from the very first proofing run!”
“What?” Siles asked with great interest.
Quinton and Chester also looked over curiously.
“Here! Right here!” Alva pointed toward a corner on the card face. “There’s a special mark here—it’s a flower. Our family’s printing workshop specifically printed it during the test run to differentiate the proofing version from the official version.”
They all looked over. It appeared to be an eight-petaled rose, exceedingly small like an ant, situated at the bottom right corner of the entire card face.
Siles was slightly startled, thinking to himself: An eight-petaled rose?
…So the eight-petaled rose paper he had obtained from the publisher Benton had originated from the Alva family’s printing workshop? He suddenly felt a sort of fateful coincidence.
Of course, he also realized a problem: “If it’s from the first proofing run, that means…”
“This card comes from that mysterious customer who placed the order,” Alva shrugged. “All 54 cards from the first proofing run were given to him. Only after that did we formally sign the contract.”
He handed the card back to Siles, and then said, “How strange for a single card to actually appear with the clown.”
Alva looked toward the clown out of curiosity.
Siles remained silent, lowering his eyes to gaze thoughtfully at this Fate Card.
An eight-petaled rose, he thought. This inexplicably brought him a highly subtle feeling.
The feeling was roughly akin to… “The eight-petaled rose again?”
He seemed to run into this imagery quite frequently of late.
After a moment, Siles slipped this card back into his pocket.
“You’ve indeed discovered something, haven’t you?” Quinton asked. “Stop keeping us in suspense, Professor Siles Noel.”
The moment he called Siles by his full name, it signified that this fellow was feeling a touch provoked.
Siles cast a glance at him, weighing his words for a moment, and then said, “This is merely a hypothesis of mine—if one looks at everything that has occurred in the past by connecting it all together.”
“Connecting it all together?”
Quinton, Chester, and Alva asked in unison, while Mary, standing not far away, cast a curious look over as well.
“Quinton,” Siles asked suddenly. “Why did you appear at the kitchen entrance of the banquet on the Day of Divine Birth?”
Quinton was startled, not expecting Siles to mention this matter at a moment like this.
Without waiting for Quinton to answer, Siles said, “Because you were pursuing matters related to Hoodoka. The believers of Hoodoka once constructed a temple; now the ruins of this temple have been discovered, and some explorers stole items from within to sell.
“You heard that something was sold to a secret organization related to food, and subsequently, because of the situation in Lamifa City on the Day of Divine Birth, you realized something had happened, so you decided to come to the banquet to take a look, correct?”
“Yes,” Quinton said. “What does this have to do with the problem we are currently facing?”
“The connection lies in the fact that that portrait came from the hands of Hoodoka’s believers, yet the masterminds behind the banquet incident believed it to be the incarnation of Timiafa—they were defrauded,” Siles said in a low voice.
Quinton understood almost instantly: “A group of old god followers defrauded another group of old god followers? Ha, dog eat dog, how amusing.”
Alva looked left and right, and seeing the thoughtfulness displaying itself on the faces of his elders, he couldn’t help but ask weakly, “I… I still don’t understand. Does this have any connection to the problem we are encountering now?”
“One should say that a group of old god followers utilized another group of old god followers,” Siles said. “I am not certain what exactly they wanted to attempt, perhaps seeking victory through sheer quantity, or perhaps testing whether a sacrifice could truly summon a deity’s power…
“In short, they conducted a trial.”
Alva spoke up, still bewildered, “Alright… I can understand up to this point. One group utilized another group. But what happens after that?”
“After that is the situation we are currently facing,” Siles said, and then he turned suddenly toward Mary. “Lady Mary, has this sort of thing—where people continuously become statues and die in the process—ever appeared at the House of Hales before?”
Mary shook her head with extreme firmness, saying, “People always die for all kinds of reasons, but individuals with hardly any connection dying for the exact same reason… at least I have never heard of it.”
Alva gradually came to understand: “So, people dying continuously is exactly what they are doing right now?”
“I suspect this group of Hoodoka’s followers realized that sacrificing a few people every year over the long span of time makes it entirely impossible to awaken an old god,” Siles said in a low tone. “They must murder many people in close succession within a short frame of time.”
And the actions of Elgar and Clarence had already provided a highly effective validation for them—through the sacrifice of “food,” they indeed summoned the power of Timiafa, even though the portrait they utilized was not the incarnation of Timiafa.
Rather, a “sacrifice” in the true sense was unrelated to a rigid, physical item like a portrait. They merely needed to perform actions that sufficiently aligned with the deity’s desires, within a “scene” that aligned with the deity’s desires. That was a connection on a “conceptual” level.
Timiafa corresponded to a banquet; what about Hoodoka?
That was the incarnation of sin. And here, in the Ashless Lands, at the House of Hales—what a place that perfectly aligned with Hoodoka’s desires.
Moreover, the plight of those workers… that star dust vein…
Siles took a deep breath, changing the subject instead: “Lady Mary, perhaps we must locate yesterday’s Mr. Miles and ask exactly when this kind of death began, and how many people have already died.”
Mary nodded instantly, saying, “I’ll go look for him. You all wait here for a bit.”
Siles offered his thanks to her.
Mary departed for the time being. The remaining four individuals each pondered absentmindedly.
A notion faintly arose within Siles’s heart. He thought that perhaps this sort of occurrence had already been continuing for a period of time; otherwise, Miles and that Revelator examining the body last night couldn’t possibly have been that calm, even relaxed.
They didn’t believe anything major had occurred.
From one perspective, they might simply be used to seeing it; from another perspective, they might also be colluding together.
But regardless, if Hoodoka’s believers only decided to begin operations in the Ashless Lands after the events on the Day of Divine Birth had occurred, that would seem far too rushed.
Barely more than a week had passed since then. For news to travel from Lamifa City to the Ashless Lands required a span of time. Would Hoodoka’s believers have enough time to act?
What if they had decided to forge some plan much earlier…?
…The Gourmet Town.
This possibility abruptly surfaced within Siles’s mind.
The incident at the Gourmet Town occurred at the beginning of September, which was already nearly two months ago. Such a long stretch of time was completely sufficient for Hoodoka’s believers to conduct some calculations.
At the time, Siles had felt that the incident at the Gourmet Town was an “out of control” event in a certain sense. No matter what the mastermind wished to do, the other party couldn’t possibly have desired for the Gourmet Town to experience an issue at that exact time.
…But what if… what if the shadow of Hoodoka’s believers lay behind this matter?
What if they precisely wished to utilize the Gourmet Town to conduct an experiment?
The power of fraud, the power of crime, the power of malice… the people back then, in order to obtain the food they desired, would even trample over the bodies of others—utilizing others as stepping stones, that was an outright crime and malice.
To a certain extent, this did not entirely resemble the power of Timiafa alone.
“On the verge of losing control.” Siles recalled his thoughts from back then. He had assumed it was an emotional, sensory impulse.
In reality, it was highly probable that it was merely an impulse toward “crime.”
Siles felt a touch of heavy pressure. He did not know what exactly people were doing in the corners of the world he couldn’t see. Yet those matters clearly and visibly impacted the operation of this world.
The believers of Hoodoka…
“Siles.” Quinton suddenly called his name in a soft voice.
Siles snapped out of it, asking, “What is it?”
“You’ve also overlooked an element… or rather, you intentionally overlooked this element.” Quinton’s voice was very soft, preventing Chester and Alva from overhearing. “Merchant.”
Siles was silent for a moment, and then nodded, saying, “That is merely a hypothesis. Whereas the matter regarding Hoodoka’s believers is something I am already entirely certain of.”
“So what is your hypothesis?”
Siles paused, and then said, “In the early edition rules of the Fate Cards, if a player holds a Drunkard card in their hand, and subsequently the dealer deals them a Master Chef card, then the player must exchange the Drunkard card for the Master Chef card.”
Quinton nodded, his emerald-green eyes radiating a spark of intense interest. He seemed to highly enjoy hearing Siles deliver his deductions in a calm, cool, and steady voice.
Siles continued, “The God of Wine and Pleasure, Ercoo. His fall symbolized the beginning of the Silent Era. Everyone knows of this matter, but no one knows why Ercoo fell.”
Quinton continued to nod.
Siles was silent for a piece of time, and then spoke slowly, “Wine, gluttony; pleasure, violent desire. The power of Timiafa seems to overlap with the power of Ercoo.”
“So?”
“…I believe a possibility exists—namely, that deities can consume each other’s power.” Siles’s voice was very soft, yet his tone appeared exceptionally tranquil. “Timiafa consumed Ercoo. And then, He likely became even more powerful.”
Quinton was startled for a moment, and then let out a laugh: “I am highly curious… Siles, how could you—how can you, produce this kind of thought?”
Siles thought to himself that it was merely because he was a novelist from Earth.
While another reason that couldn’t be spoken aloud originated from…
The manuscript handed to him by the copyist Bart.
Within that manuscript, words resembling those of a young child mentioned the little lamb consumed by the soil. At that exact instant, Siles had obtained this heavy hint—consumption.
He believed the contents within this manuscript clearly concealed many secrets, and that it was related to deities. Consumption… occurring between deities?
One passage in particular deepened Siles’s suspicion regarding the two deities, Timiafa and Ercoo.
“Fisherman finds a fish corpse.
“Praises repeatedly how fresh the meat is.
“Gurgle gurgle, bubbles rise.
“Clink clank, wine bottles.”
On one hand, the powers of these two deities indeed possessed similarities; on the other hand, within this passage, the fisherman cooked and ate the fish meat, while simultaneously, wine bottles were abruptly mentioned.
Purely from the sentences, Siles could envision a scene where a fisherman was drinking wine while cooking fish meat.
“Wine.” The God of Wine and Pleasure, Ercoo.
…The chef drank wine.
Siles did not know what “fish meat” referred to… one should say he possessed some ideas, but he had no intention to seek verification at this moment. However, the imagery of “wine” was highly distinct.
Coupled with that subtle old god card rule of the Fate Cards, Siles had consequently generated this thought: Timiafa had consumed Ercoo. And that had resulted in Ercoo’s fall.
…Of course, there was no evidence. It was merely a deduction based on various conditions and elements.
Siles fell silent for a moment, and then said, “Hoodoka and Menavaca.”
The God of Sin and Lies; the God of Commerce and Oaths.
Rumor had it that due to the deceptive nature within Hoodoka’s power, the believers of these two deities possessed a highly close relationship. Fraud and commerce, a match made in heaven, was it not?
And now…
Siles let out a gentle sigh, saying, “A merchant stands behind the circus, and this merchant might possess a relationship with the House of Hales. Meanwhile, the circus also participated in the events within Lamifa City.
“…Is it truly the believers of Hoodoka controlling everything behind this? Or is it the believers of Menavaca? Or perhaps, they were originally one and the same?”
He spoke in a low voice.
Did Menavaca consume Hoodoka as well?
If it were truly so, then these old gods… their relationships with one another, as well as their falls, and the secrets concealed by the Shadow Era and the Silent Era… were truly enough to cause a chill in one’s heart.
Siles thought that, after all, it symbolized 5 points of the Knowledge attribute. Furthermore, without that ritual of “Replicating the Self,” the copyist Bart couldn’t possibly have successfully transcribed this copy.
…Just who exactly had instructed Bart to copy that manuscript? Had they obtained a copy as well, and comprehended the meaning hinted at within? Siles couldn’t help but wonder.
Quinton said, “This is far too complex. I’m afraid it’s only possible to understand everything that has transpired behind the scenes by truly speaking with the mastermind.”
Siles snapped out of it, nodding in agreement. It was indeed so.
They were deducing and speculating here; although it sounded as if everything could possibly have occurred, that remained merely “possible” in the end. They couldn’t possibly know the past events of the Silent Era deities, nor could they possibly know the plots of the old god followers during the Mist Era.
“Hopefully we will be in time to catch their slip-ups,” Siles said in a low voice.
The matters unfolding within Lamifa City already appeared highly complex—Siles didn’t even know how many grand figures had aided the Grayson Food Company. And now, this place was the Ashless Lands. How much sin and secrecy did this vast Ashless Lands conceal?
Before long, Mary and Miles appeared together in the central open space.
Miles bore an unusual tension about him, which was starkly distinct from his demeanor when he appeared in the tavern last night.
He rubbed his hands together, seemingly wishing to conceal this emotion of his, so his tone sounded a bit arrogant when he opened his mouth: “Who are you people? Why are you asking about this sort of thing?!”
“Mr. Miles.” Siles’s voice was exceptionally calm and steady. “Since you have appeared here, it signifies that you wish to communicate with us. I hope you can converse with us candidly.”
Miles’s expression froze, and subsequently, his momentum deflated rapidly. Ultimately, he gazed back at the man before him with a touch of sheepishness, merely saying, “That is… an internal matter of the House of Hales.”
Siles paid no heed to this statement of his, merely asking, “How many people have died? Exactly when did it begin?”
Miles stared at Siles. After a moment, he seemed to suddenly deflate, saying dejectedly, “It began from over a month ago. Around… twenty or so have died.”
Siles said, “Then that is nearly one a day. Did you all not intend to investigate and clarify the matter?”
Miles said awkwardly, “The House of Hales… experiences dead people every day. To be perfectly honest, we didn’t feel anything was amiss at the start either. But after the situation increased…”
Siles stared fixedly at the man before him. He thought that Miles didn’t seem to know that merchants related to the House of Hales might stand behind the deaths of these people.
In other words, he appeared to be merely an irresponsible manager rather than an accomplice of the mastermind.
Of course, Siles couldn’t make a definitive conclusion just like that either.
He pondered for a moment, and then said, “Is there any commonality to their deaths?”
Miles was silent for a while, but ultimately chose to say candidly, “They all obtained a manuscript. Perhaps I ought to conceal this matter, but regardless…” He glanced subconsciously toward Mary and Quinton.
This seemed to imply that because these two were present, he was willing to say this much to Siles.
He said, “They all obtained a manuscript from a mysterious individual. The contents are roughly similar… one of our Revelators read the contents of that manuscript… and then…”
He shuddered subconsciously.
Siles said, “He died too.”
“…Yes.”
Siles was silent.
Miles broke into a bitter smile: “That’s exactly why we don’t wish to investigate this matter… can you understand? Someone is attempting to stir up a conspiracy, and we… we are a relay station. There is no necessity for us to get mixed up in this matter. Let them muck about! It has nothing to do with us!”
His emotions suddenly grew agitated, almost shouting out those last two sentences, but very quickly, this emotion deflated.
Siles said, “This is occurring at the House of Hales. It is impossible for you to remain uninvolved.”
Miles let out a heavy sigh.
Siles asked, “What exactly was written on that manuscript?”
Miles said, “It roughly says that within the deep shadows lies hidden brilliant starlight… words like that. Similar phrases. The Revelator who read the manuscript only had enough time to tell us this… his mental state collapsed within a very short frame of time.
“Word is that it might be related to treasure, which is why people read it. Some friends of the deceased told us they were searching for wealth… which was why they sought out this mysterious manuscript…
“The reality is that this type of explorer is countless within the Ashless Lands, so their deaths are also… also, reasonable in a certain sense. We’ve all seen plenty of this sort of thing.”
Siles knit his brows because of the attitude Miles displayed.
However… “within the deep shadows lies hidden brilliant starlight,” these words sounded a bit familiar.
He pondered for a moment, and then recalled the reason—from Professor Cabel’s “safehouse,” Dominic had located a manuscript. That had originated from Hoodoka’s believers, and was highly likely to have come from that temple ruin discovered jointly by Quinton and the expedition team.
Within that manuscript, Hoodoka’s believers faintly displayed a subtle guilt and anxiety regarding Hoodoka’s fall, as if they themselves had caused Hoodoka’s fall.
There was a sentence within the manuscript: “Damn it! A bunch of liars! A bunch of crazy, shameless, profit-seeking liars!”
This sentence seemed to cleverly serve as an annotation for the hypothesis that “Menavaca consumed Hoodoka.” After all, in the public view, merchants were profit-seeking.
However, what Siles cared about right now was that the manuscript also mentioned a sentence: “In that abyss destined for sin, I glimpsed starlight.”
This possessed an identical meaning to what Miles was currently saying.
The light of stars… star dust.
A star dust vein happened to be nearby, Siles thought.
A fair number of people likely knew of this matter. After all, the fact that a merchant was mining around here last year couldn’t be concealed entirely flawlessly; at most, it was just impossible for anyone to know a more specific location.
…Star dust.
A subtle dread suddenly arose within Siles’s heart.
He thought, why could star dust become an essential accessory for a Revelator’s potion? Why could star dust serve as an energy source, even possessing such a highly efficient rate of energy utilization? Why…
Did those workers turn into statues? Why statues of all things?
Siles cared deeply about this matter.
Because even if the workers died due to the “curse of star dust,” why exactly could it be specified down to the matter of “statues”? How did they come into contact with the power of Hoodoka?
Because of star dust?
But star dust… why would star dust be related to Hoodoka? Why would an ordinary star dust vein become linked to a specific, concrete old god?
What exactly was star dust?
The light of stars… was it truly that beautiful? Siles thought.
He thought of the deep-sea dream world, of those rotting star eyes, and of the spiders crawling out from within those rotting star eyes.
Siles’s prolonged silence did not seem to strike Miles as strange either. He let out a sigh and said, “We have some… difficulty knowing where to start. To speak frankly, sir, your willingness to kindly investigate this matter is because you are kindhearted.
“But us… we don’t have that much spare time.”
Finishing his words, he shook his head.
Siles snapped out of it, weighing his words for a moment, and said, “Regarding this matter, can you provide any further clues?”
Miles thought for a moment, and then said, “They all died inside the pavilion tents, without exception. This can also be considered one of the commonalities.”
Siles nodded.
Just as Miles was about to take his leave, Siles suddenly recalled another matter, asking, “So, did you locate that manuscript on the leader of the circus as well?”
“What?” Miles was visibly startled, and then pondered for a moment, saying, “I truly don’t know about that matter. After all, he only died a short while ago.”
He called over an investigator, questioning him for a bit, and then said strangely, “They didn’t find that manuscript on the leader of the circus.”
Siles knit his brows subconsciously.
Miki’s cause of death was identical to that of the other twenty-odd deceased, yet the circumstances of the case appeared somewhat different. He consequently weighed his words and asked, “If it is convenient… may I go to the scene to investigate?”
He pointed toward that circus tent.
“Go ahead, I will speak with them.” Miles nodded, saying in a joking tone, “You truly are a kind person, sir.”
Siles thought to himself that his behavior might appear highly idiosyncratic within the Ashless Lands… however, he wasn’t meddling in others’ business.
Mary spoke up at the proper time: “However, Mr. Noel, you haven’t eaten breakfast since waking up, have you? Why don’t we go eat something first.”
Siles realized this, and then nodded.
Miles then went to find those investigators to explain matters, likely instructing them to let Siles through when he went over in a bit. Meanwhile, Siles went with Mary, Quinton, and the others to eat breakfast first.
The moment Siles turned his head, he caught sight of Quinton’s slightly displeased expression. He asked in a somewhat strange manner, “What’s wrong with you?”
Quinton had been surprisingly quiet this morning.
Quinton cast a glance at him, saying, “I know you are very busy, so I won’t disturb you. However—” He hesitated for a moment. “I merely feel that I should have been the one to remind you that you haven’t eaten breakfast.”
Siles was silent for a moment, subsequently laughing out loud, “So you’re throwing a quiet tantrum at yourself?”
“Of course,” Quinton said as if it were only natural.
Siles felt that Quinton was truly a miraculous person. He said, “Don’t think too much about it. Let’s go eat breakfast. It’s nearly nine o’clock.”
“So are you hungry?”
“A bit,” Siles said.
“Willing to stay hungry just for official business?”
Siles asked back, “Otherwise? We must resolve this mess sooner or later.”
Quinton muttered something indistinct, and ultimately he said, “I always feel that other people are rather useless. The banquet matter was resolved by you in the end, and now this matter is also being investigated by you. You are always so busy.”
“I am accustomed to this state,” Siles said. “Of course, I am indeed very busy.”
Quinton said meaningfully, “Therefore, I must catch up to your footsteps. I cannot allow you to fling me to the back of your mind.”
Siles gazed at him silently.
Quinton gazed back at him as well, subsequently saying playfully, “Professor Noel, while you are immersed in your thoughts, I am consistently watching you. If I wish for you to keep me in your heart, I’m afraid I must work even harder.”
A slight feeling of exasperated embarrassment arose within Siles’s heart. The feeling was roughly akin to a small animal circling around your feet while you are rushing to attend to official business, yet you can’t truly find it in your heart to kick the small animal away.
So in the end, he could only be awkwardly bound together with him.
Siles faintly generated a subtle premonition, but he had no desire to ponder this matter further at this moment. He was merely silent for a moment, and then shifted the topic, “Let’s go eat breakfast.”
“Then I shall treat it as your tacit agreement.”
Siles: “…”
Quinton said with perfect composure, “To count on you to say a single word of your true thoughts is likely very difficult. But regardless, it’s enough that you can comprehend my feelings.”
“…Do not use honorifics to address me.”
“You only care about this matter?” Quinton asked back, and then said with a smile, “However, I am by no means trying to mock you, but rather to let you know your importance in my heart.”
Siles gave him a calm look, and then said, “You are precisely mocking me.”
Quinton choked, standing in place, his lips moving twice though he was left speechless.
Siles let out a low laugh, saying, “Time to eat breakfast, Quinton. As for our matters…” He paused. “That is not something to be discussed right now.”
Quinton gazed at him, and ultimately let out a dejected sigh.
He turned back, looking at Chester, Alva, and Mary, who were standing there dumbfounded by their conversation, and said fiercely, “Hurry up and keep up! Are you all not hungry?!”
Chester gave an awkward cough, “Uh… hungry! I’m starving to death.”
Alva let out a soft “Wow.”
Lady Mary looked at Quinton with a half-smile, and finally said, “Mr. Quinton, forgive my presumption, but in a place like the Ashless Lands, you truly ought not to display your weakness so openly.”
Quinton pondered for a piece of time, and finally nodded slowly, “You’re right.”
…To think that in this day and age, Quinton Praia could actually accept another person’s advice! Incredible!
Siles acted completely oblivious, merely saying, “Spur on your time, friends. We still have many matters to attend to.”
They ate a casual meal at a restaurant on the second floor. The surrounding atmosphere was as usual, as if the death of a person had caused no impact whatsoever. In reality, it was indeed so.
Yet Siles still couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh in his heart.
After eating breakfast, they temporarily split into two routes. Siles and Quinton went to “Audrey’s Inn” on the third floor to look for clues regarding the movements of Alfonso and Emmanuel; while the other three went over to the circus tent first to inspect the scene.
