Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 857 Popular Trends
At this moment, the room was dead silent.

An invisible chill seemed to be floating around the people in the private room; the window glass, the decorative mirrors in the room, and even the surface of the glasses on the table all flashed a deep, mysterious light; in the hall on the first floor, the people who were having dinner fell into a moment of stagnation, their heads went blank, and their limbs and joints seemed to be filled with glue, making it difficult to move.

Dunn, who was wearing a gold-rimmed monocle, sensed something was wrong and looked at the others curiously, his gray eyes behind the lenses flashing with an inexplicable light.

Ah, it’s the left eye…

Angel's eyes met Dunn's and looked at the monocle that was different in shape from the ones he had seen before. After a moment, he reacted and returned to his original position.

Beside her, Klein made the same move. His frozen body immediately recovered and he stood up, as if he was preparing to celebrate in advance.

They all noticed that Leonard, who was sitting alone, had no reaction at all, which meant that the Pales in his body was not worried about Dunn being parasitized by Amon, otherwise this "parasite" who had swallowed up all the characteristics of Amon's clones in Backlund would have been the first to escape.

Leonard looked to the left and to the right, his expression calm and his eyes steady. He seemed as steady as a rock, but in fact he did not dare to make any drastic movements.

He sensed a chill and smelled the tense atmosphere.

"Heh, do you think this look suits me?" Dunn said teasingly, breaking the silence in the room. "Recently, gentlemen in Backlund are popular with this kind of accessories. It makes them look calm, steady, and ceremonial."

"Captain, where did you hear this?"

Angel asked, frowning.

"I heard that this year's fashion is to use flowers to arrange the Intis characters in cursive script, and to have a dinner for two with candlelight instead of gas lamps..."

Klein also took over the conversation and shared the news he heard from the upper social circle.

"Really? I think this look is pretty good now."

Dunn chuckled and glanced at Leonard, whose expression was fixed and whose limbs seemed to be locked. He did not take off his monocle, but took out another exquisite wooden box from his pocket. Under the gaze of Angel, Klein, and Leonard, he opened the lid, turned to Daly, who was looking forward to it, and said in a solemn tone:
"Daly, after going through so much, I finally figured it out..."

"I do." He had just started to build up the atmosphere when Daly stretched out her left hand, raised her ring finger slightly, and said to the surprised suitor, "Put it on for me, Dunn."

This sudden acceleration made Angel secretly glance at Klein beside him and found that he was also looking at him.

Both of them thought of the night when Klein successfully gained a promotion after killing Ince Zangwill, and the night when Klein said similar words.

She is much more proactive than you... Klein said while moving his lips silently.

That's because I started trying to help the captain and convince Ms. Daly in Tingen, and I almost got scared to death by the gaslight. Now, she will definitely not miss this opportunity again... Angel muttered, taking the credit on himself, watching Dunn clumsily pick up the ring and put it on Daly's slender but too white finger.

clap clap-

The remaining three people all applauded, witnessing the scene where this couple who had been secretly in love with each other for many years finally got together today.

After everyone had guessed it but all knew it, the dinner of Tingen team came to an end.

Of course, Angel, whose past was exposed in order to ease her embarrassment, also took her own revenge. She asked Daly the same question in the same tone as when Dunn asked her about the scheduled date for her marriage to Klein, and hinted that older men couldn't wait any longer. However, she was mercilessly teased by this lady who often teased her colleagues with dirty jokes as early as Tingen, and even brought the war to Klein.

Fortunately, Klein had played the role of Dwayne Dantes, a middle-aged wealthy man with rich emotional experience. He handled this situation calmly, quickly defusing the dirty joke attack and launching a counterattack, until Dunn couldn't stand it anymore, and he coughed lightly to end the topic that made Angel blush:
"I plan to go back to Tingen with Daly in October. Of course, we will be in new identities. It depends on the arrangements of the church and her own wishes..."

October, that was the day when Ms. Daly was going to be elected... Angel suddenly realized and muttered:

“This is too uncreative.”

She had reason to suspect that the captain was plagiarizing Crane's idea of ​​proposing on her birthday.

The other party, Daly, seemed to be nonchalant, as if any day would do. She just stroked the ring on her finger, and from time to time she smiled with out-of-focus eyes.

How could someone become like this after receiving an engagement ring... Angel complained in his heart and drank the champagne in front of him.

...The party ended in a joyful atmosphere. Angel and Klein left in a hired carriage, while Daly and Dunn walked to Pacefield Street, which was not far away, to return to St. Samuel's Church. Leonard, with his windbreaker buttons undone and his shirt hem fluttering in the wind, watched their backs as they left and walked alone in another direction.

After walking a long way, he tilted his head and asked in a nearly inaudible voice:

"Old man, I thought something was going to happen just now. Aren't you afraid that they haven't gotten rid of the shadow of Amon's clone yet and will attack directly?"

The old voice in his mind chuckled and replied:
“That’s why I asked you to tell your captain that the latest fashion trend is to wear it on the left eye instead of the right eye. This can prevent your two colleagues from really mistaking him for Amon. With their observation skills, they will find the problem after a moment of tension. Even if they really admit their mistake, they will choose to leave at the first moment instead of fighting back.

"Besides, if they launch an attack recklessly, I can steal this idea and prevent the worst from happening. In fact, they are... quite calm."

At that moment, I felt like my body was about to be frozen and my spirit was about to be controlled. You call this calmness... Leonard muttered, and continued to ask:
"Then what did you see?"

"Not too many, but your female colleague is indeed an 'ageless' witch, and the other one hasn't hidden too much strength either. This can be seen from their response at that moment."

"I knew this two months ago. You still said she wasn't an 'ageless' witch..." Leonard responded in a low voice, turning to look in the direction where Angel and Klein's carriage left, as if they were still at the street corner over there. "What do you mean by 'response'? That chill, or the feeling of the spirit's thread being pulled?"

"Of course not," Pales said unhappily, "Didn't you notice? The moment your captain put on the monocle, one of the two demigods in the room became a secret puppet, and the other became a mirror substitute. The real body had already escaped a thousand meters away and was almost leaving Backlund!"

Leonard stood still, stunned.

----

Entering the end of August, Backlund's summer atmosphere was swept away by the cold air gradually drifting in from the north. The number of pedestrians wearing coats on the streets gradually increased, and the elderly even put on gloves.

A three-masted sailing ship with bright red sails hoisted and its outer side painted the same color slowly docked at the pier in the dock area. The sailors jumped down the gangway, tied ropes, registered berths, unloaded and loaded cargo. They were very skilled in all the steps and quickly moved boxes of relatively fresh fruits and sugar stored in low temperatures out of the cabin and sent them to designated factories in the east district by horse-drawn carriages.

Red-haired Elaine stood on the bridge high on the deck, her eyes not fixed on the cargo this time, but on the Tussock River that meanders through the entire city.

"It's far worse than the Serenzo River, both in terms of water quality and prosperity... Well, this is related to their preference for rail transportation, and the fact that the port of Pritz we passed before has taken on a lot of pressure from river transportation..."

She made this assessment from a professional perspective, and then looked toward the buildings connected to each other along the river, as well as the Backlund Bridge that was still clearly visible from a great distance.

That was the biggest obstacle to a three-masted sailing vessel like the Redhead entering the upper reaches of the river, but the busy traffic on the bridge made up for it.

If we ignore the issue of ships passing through, this bridge does have its own unique beauty... Elaine muttered, retracted her gaze, and was about to leave the deck when she suddenly felt a burning touch from the necklace hidden under her lapel, close to her skin.

Danger is approaching!
Elaine, who was already familiar with the function of her new magical item, reacted immediately. She jumped off the bridge without hesitation and came to the middle deck. Only then did she find that the sailors were unloading on the front deck and there was no one around her, including the possible attacker.

Psychological invisibility, or real invisibility?
Elaine frowned and was about to shout loudly to attract the boatswain William and the witch Tia who was also the second mate, when she noticed a figure outlined in front of her.

"I'm not an enemy." Before the figure became clear, a gentle and pleasant voice came out, with a power that made people reluctant to take action. "Is it 'Red-haired Elaine'? I am Sherman, Miss Angelica's 'Queen of Pentacles'."

It was not until Elaine heard the other party report the code name that her tense expression relaxed a little, but her right hand was still on the hilt of the knife at her waist, and she asked in a deep voice:
"Why did you sneak aboard in stealth?"

She also remembered Miss Angelica mentioning that the "Queen of Pentacles" was a "witch."

Only then did the figure in front of her become completely clear. A woman wearing a hooded cloak, with her face and hair hidden in shadows, appeared in Elaine's sight.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to invite you to come to the East End. Miss Angelica will meet us there later."

"Queen of Pentacles," Sherman replied softly, not angry at Elaine's attitude.

Miss Angelica did say that she would come to find me after I arrived in Backlund, but I didn’t expect that this “witch” would show up first… Elaine hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said:
"Lead the way."

She told her boatswain that she would be away for a while and asked him to direct the unloading. She then went into "invisible" mode again. Deliberately leaving only a hazy silhouette, the "Queen of Pentacles" left the dock and headed along roads that were either wide or winding, and plunged into the East District, which was filled with fog again as the temperature dropped.

(End of this chapter)