Old-time musicians

With the assistance of the station staff, the 80 or 90 members of the symphony orchestra quickly gathered in a small open space next to the platform, and moved efficiently to the exit, and boarded a group of pre-booked carriages.

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"Caroen, do you feel hot?" Joan fanned her dress gently.

"It's hot."

Fanning realized as early as when he stepped out of the train compartment that the summer heat in this place was more severe than that in Uvlancel.

He lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, and the night view of the streets around the station was similar to that of Uvlancel, which is also an industrial city, but the latter is just a small fight in scattered pieces, far less spectacular than such a vast ocean.

As the industrial heart of the empire with a permanent population of over four million 13 years ago, the city of Santaranburg is filled with huge and bloated steam engines and steel pipes under the surface. Boilers burn boiling water day and night, providing power for the city's factories and residents through layers of ditches and tunnels, which also makes the fog cover the sky and the sun difficult to see all year round.

The incandescent light of the huge airship permeates the night sky, staring at the chimneys, factories, and buildings with pointed roofs and steel brackets like a giant eye. The ground looks like it has just been hit by a summer rainstorm. The trouser legs of hurried pedestrians are not very clean, and the endless stream of carriages and cars bring up one piece of lead-gray water after another.

"The atmosphere of the imperial capital is indeed different from usual." Lu next to him said.

"How do you say it? Where is it reflected?" Fanning asked.

"The number of pedestrians. At this time of day, there are many more people in this central area than now... The martial law of the police system has been strengthened. On the one hand, the homeless and the poor will be driven away and will not stay in places where they can be seen on the main roads. On the other hand, some citizens who have noticed the atmosphere will tend not to go out after dark... In any case, tell the students to stay in the hotel and limit their free activities."

"I have explained it before departure. I suggest you focus on the safety issues of the subway..." Fanning shared some information that Julius had explained in the town of Vatnai.

At around seven o'clock in the evening, everyone settled down in the "Boethius Hotel" in the Tulip Parish of Saint Taranburg.

Before the late Hoffman Empire, the influence of the Holy Sun Church on ordinary people gradually reached its peak. The parish replaced the status of the village or the lord's manor and was the grassroots unit in the subordinate divisions of various local governments. At most, there were more than 21,500 in the country. After several administrative reforms, the cultural influence of the church on the grassroots level is still deeply rooted, but the non-religious affairs functions of the towns and counties above are basically gone. "Tulip Parish" is just a general term or common name that has been used unchanged.

In the work file of Fanning's father's special patrol office, the previous stop before the investigation in the abnormal area was Tulip Parish.

Located in the center of Santarambu, the Boethius Hotel is only a 15-minute walk from the Theolain National Concert Hall. The asset owner behind it is the same company as the world-famous "Boethius" brand piano.

Many well-known artists from all over the world who perform in Santarambu stay here, and its specifications and costs are needless to say.

Dinner was very simple. The logistics person in charge directly ordered boxed lunches and snacks from the hotel and asked the service staff to deliver them to the musicians' rooms on the 3rd, 4th and 5th floors. Even Joan did not object to this plan, which shows that the negative emotions brought by the nightmare were not light.

Fanning returned to his room, threw his carry-on bag onto the large sofa by the French window, and then frowned as he began to clean up the pile of envelopes and small cards in his hands.

There were probably about twenty in total.

Some of them were handed to him by the hotel staff when he just checked in at the front desk - the sender had already inquired about the symphony orchestra's schedule and knew that his conductor would be staying at the Boethius Hotel. For another part, the sender even knew the room number he had booked and put it in the mailbox at the door in advance.

There were a few more outrageous ones, which Fanning picked up from the ground after opening the door.

"Dear young composer, conductor, and pianist Mr. Carloen Van Nin: We sincerely invite you to be the piano teacher of Baron Raymond's three daughters. Your musical talent has impressed Miss Myron Stave, Miss Judy, and Miss Isabella. The teaching tasks and time periods can be arranged according to your wishes. We can at least pay you 30 pounds per hour to make up for your occupied private time and give you the highest courtesy of the Raymond family. Yours sincerely"

"Teach each lady one hour a week, 90 pounds a week, and more than 4,000 pounds a year?" Fanning held this letter with hundreds of words and began to calculate quickly in his mind, "It's quite sincere, and the monthly income has caught up with the annual income of the middle class threshold, but running back and forth between the two cities every week, too much energy is spent on the three ladies, and I can't do anything else"

"The main thing is that I have written so much, and I don't know how the piano foundation and practice progress of several people are." Fanning raised his wrist, and the letter rotated and fell into the trash can in a parabola.

"Dear young musician Mr. Carloen van Nin: We sincerely invite you to attend the dinner and music salon hosted by art critic and editor-in-chief of the "Event Newspaper" Ms. Camilla at 7 pm on August 22."

"The "Event Newspaper"? How come I didn't know that Theolain had this newspaper?" The envelope continued to fly into the trash can.

"You are cordially invited to serve as a judge for the final of the "913 New Calendar Santaramborg Annual Potential Pianist Competition" held at the West Wyverle branch of the Theolian Summer Art Festival on August 24. The appearance fee is 145 pounds."

"There are branch venues for the Summer Art Festival? This is not the way to ride on the popularity. Who organized this kind of quack piano competition? The judges' appearance fees are not even rounded up." Fanning raised his hand again.

"Dear conductor and collector Mr. Carron sincerely invites you to attend the art-themed summer night pool party held at the Gilezia Beach in the Lowlands on the evening of August 20. It comes from your loyal friend, Earl Gardner of the Great Godif Coal Mine Company."

"What does the pool party have to do with the art theme?" Fanning looked at the invitation in his hand with a strange look on his face. "Why use cards directly instead of envelopes? If you use cards, why print a row of color ink photos of girls?"

"I always feel like I have seen something similar somewhere." The trash can made a sound again.

Fanning suddenly recalled that when he was a child, he seemed to have heard his father Vincent complain about such topics.

Once a person makes a little noise in the art world, he will start to receive invitations to events from all sides - this seems to be a side angle that can reflect that artists in the world of mysticism have a higher social status.

Even some outrageous or impolite incidents that happen to them will be taken for granted by artists.

The premiere of the music salon "Death and the Maiden", the premiere of "First Symphony", the appointment of the new conductor of the symphony orchestra, the radio "trailer"... After making a few small noises, the number of event invitations has increased, but the quality is not

For these activities, one side needs the popularity of artists to consolidate their upper-class status, and the other side needs to increase the exposure of their own activities to raise the value of art. It is not ruled out that some well-known people are very useful to this and begin to indulge in sensual pleasures, but in Fanning's view, participating too much is wasting one's artistic life.

Artistic exchanges are necessary, but we must try to choose high-quality platforms, right?

After looking at a dozen or so, he threw all the envelopes and cards into the trash can.

After filling his stomach in a hurry, Fanning rechecked the locks of the doors and windows, and then took out the top hat from his briefcase, which was a little distorted at this time.

There were many people in the imperial capital, and he didn't dare to show off an investigator's things in public, so he stuffed the hat into his briefcase.

He stared at the top hat that inexplicably fell out of the ashes of the doll for a while, and felt that there was always something wrong compared to when he saw Vassius wearing it on weekdays, but he couldn't tell for a while.

Fanning tried to put it on the ground to look at it, put it on the desk to look at it, put it on the big bed to look at it, put it on the cloakroom to look at it, put it on the toilet in the bathroom to look at it...

All without any results, and finally, somehow, Fanning walked to a floor-to-ceiling mirror in the room, and moved it above his head for a while.

Then, he let go of it for some reason, and with a "pop", the hat covered his head.

Suddenly, a series of patterns similar to black and white grids flashed before Fanning's eyes. His muscles and bones seemed to be covered with something, and then he was gently strangled a few times. When his hallucinations dissipated and he regained his vision, he was almost shocked by the scene in front of him!

The gentleman in the floor-length mirror wore a top hat and a black suit. His facial features were small and short, and his expression was unhappy.

How did I... become like Vassius?

His hands suddenly felt a little cold. Fanning looked down and saw that even the pocket watch was in his hand again.

Fanning first moved around the room and made some body movements, then stood back and looked at the "Vassius" in the mirror with doubts for a few more times. Finally, he tried to lower his voice and said:

"You really didn't disappoint me!"

"After we go back, let's go to the Special Patrol Office to have a good chat about your Turner Art Museum..."

... Is it so high-end? Fanning carefully experienced the various feelings in his body and consciousness.

After taking off the hat, a similar illusion appeared in his vision and body again, and then it returned to its original appearance.

"So this mysterious incident, I didn't go there in vain? I even got something back?" He couldn't help but laugh at himself, "But... this thing is indeed a bit difficult to understand."

Say it is an extraordinary item that will not be easily erased? But it did evaporate with Vasius, but later fell out of the ashes of the puppy doll.

Say it is a ritual with more special mysterious characteristics? ...The function is to change into your own appearance? What's the meaning of this?

Fanning pinched the brim of the hat on both sides with both hands, turned it over and looked at it again, and then he suddenly found a white, swirling snake-shaped symbol composed of concave abstract lines on the top of the hat.

He was so scared that the hat fell off his hand and he stepped back a few steps.

How did the witness "True Word Viper" appear! ? ! ?

Cold sweat immediately soaked Fanning's vest.

I had almost forgotten about this matter!

The night before today's departure, Fanning had some uncomfortable dreams, feeling that he was being watched inexplicably, and that's why he acted very cautiously since he left home early in the morning.

But later, the points that attracted his attention were: ghost stories, production accidents, train failures, "hidden lights", the town in Joan's memory, the connection between the fragments of the music train... and so on.

So how many factors of the "Secret History Entanglement Law" are mixed in this mysterious incident?

After calming down for a while, Fan Ning picked up the hat again.

The two most dangerous nodes of hidden knowledge are the impact of new knowledge on the original cognition and world outlook when it is first received; the second is the subtle changes caused by the high-level secrets in the memory, or the accumulated hidden knowledge.

I just saw the symbol of "True Word Viper" again. It was neither the first situation nor the second level. The main reason was that this matter was a bit scary and scared me.

After Fan Ning carefully replayed the experience of the town of Vatsen in his mind, he found that there was another very important point that he could not understand at all.

... Could it be, Mr. F?

When Mr. F looked at him for the first time, Fan Ning felt that he seemed to be scanning everyone to find something, and the eye contact made him think of "True Word Viper" for a short time. Who would study this hidden knowledge? And why would he stay in the town of Vatsen? Was he unable to escape or did he not want to leave?

At that time, I had a very strong fear and a sense of loss of control.

When the feeling of loss of control reached its peak, it was this person who took away everyone's things without knowing it.

It was just that I accidentally left the key to the art gallery in the Secret Realm of Yiyong, and the baton "Old Days" was returned to me after he got it - it was this incident that dispelled my vigilance. "Old Days" has been initially discovered to have many mysterious characteristics, and perhaps there is greater value. If Mr. F really has malicious intentions or wants to take it for himself, what can I do then?

Moreover, after everyone went up to the 1st floor, which is the actual second floor of the art gallery, they did not have any intersection with Mr. F again, and I don't know if he knows what happened upstairs.

After such a long circle of memories, although Fanning still felt a little scared when he saw the "True Word Viper" symbol, reason told him that there was nothing to be afraid of.

Vassius was left behind by the mystic trigger, and this hat could allow him to disguise himself as him. From this point of view... As the manager of the art gallery, Mr. F was helping me the whole time, no matter what his subjective thoughts were, at least, the result was like this.

This will allow me to optimize the previously decided disposal plan and choose a more proactive approach.

Does the matter of the top hat need to be kept strictly confidential and only known to myself?

...If I want to take the initiative to attack the Special Patrol Office, it would be better to verify the safety and have someone I trust to help.

So Fanning left the door ajar, sat on the edge of the bed, lifted the black receiver, and dialed the phone in the next room not far away.

"Hello?" Sheeran's voice came.

"It's me."

"Oh, Carloen... What's up?"

"Come to my room."

"...Okay." The girl's voice hesitated for a second or two, and then Fanning heard the unclear voice of June in the distance, "Carloen, are you not writing songs today... Can I come over to play with you?"

Fanning thought for a while and said, "You can come together."