Pastor's Tantra

"Jacob..."

The one-eyed old man leaned on a cane with both hands and murmured in a low voice: "It's a name I haven't heard for a long time..."

The person sitting on the sofa chatting with Aiwass was an old man who looked short and thin.

His cheeks were sunken and his pursed lips gave him a mean look. The long face like a horse has become withered, and the left eye is inlaid with a prosthetic eye that looks like a gray glass bead... It is the same style as that used by old supervisor William.

His rickety body looked shaky, and he even couldn't even walk. The skinny arm was even more than a circle thinner than the crutch he was leaning on, almost like a skeleton covered with a layer of human skin.

This squire from Yingjia Village is the richest person here, and may also be one of the most educated people.

Although where his money comes from and why he lives in a remote area like Eagle Point Village where even newspapers cannot be delivered immediately, Aiwass has no idea...

But judging from the carpets in his room, the paintings hanging on the walls, and the small number of antiques and handicrafts in the room, his wealth is at least equivalent to that of a wealthy businessman on Glass Island.

Aiwass's classmate, John Eden, sells antiques at home. This squire is roughly at this level.

What surprised Lily the most was that...the squire didn't have a single servant in his home.

Even if you don't count the professional valets, there are not even housekeepers or maids and cooks hired to clean.

You know, this old man looks to be in his early eighties, and he even walks with a crutch! Let alone taking care of the house, I'm afraid he can no longer take care of himself.

But Lily glanced around with her professional eyes and found that unexpectedly there wasn't much dust in the empty house.

Absolutely none and impossible, but not much either. It was probably as if it had been carefully cleaned yesterday.

——Did they just miss it when they came? Lily thought.

The squire thought for a while and then slowly said: "You are Jacob's grandson...right? Although you are not an Alexander, you...do look alike..."

"Yes."

Aiwass nodded slightly and turned his body sideways to get closer to the old man: "This time I also want to follow in my grandfather's footsteps and seek memories of the past.

"My grandfather left me too many secrets... I have to go there myself. Otherwise, I really won't feel at ease."

At this point, Aiwass changed the topic: "I heard that my grandfather came here more than ten or twenty years ago?"

"Who did you hear that from?"

As a result, the squire asked: "Is it William? Or Haina?"

"Is not it?"

"of course not."

The squire replied: "Old Jacob is the first stranger to come here."

"……First?"

"That's right. The first time he came here... I forgot the specific time. But it should have been sixty years ago... In short, it was earlier than William came here."

After thinking about it, the squire confirmed: "Yes, I remembered correctly. He was the first to come, and then William came not long after he left."

Aiwass asked: "Did my grandfather also come through that swamp?"

"No, it's a forest path."

The squire replied simply: "He entered twice, both times from the trail."

"...But I heard that outsiders come in through the swamp."

"What about you?"

The old squire asked, "Didn't you come in through the front entrance too?"

"We do it because..."

Halfway through Aiwass's words, he had a realization in his mind.

Why can they walk in through the front door? That was because of Haina's guidance, and also because of the enthusiastic residents of Bagpipe Town who showed the way.

So, this is how Jacob came in back then?

But why did he stress that he didn't come in from the swamp?

Aiwass suddenly reacted: "Did the swamp start to enter after my grandfather came?"

The old man looked deeply at Aiwass with his sunken eyes.

"You don't have to test me. I will tell you what I can tell you, kid."

The old man paused his crutches, lowered his head and fell into deep memories.

He was silent for a while and then said: "To be more precise...it's not that outsiders can't enter through the main entrance. It's that people who come in from the swamp can't leave."

"……Why?"

Aiwass had a vague premonition of the truth.

"Because they have all died once."

The old squire put it bluntly: "They are all undead resurrected from the swamp."

On the other side, Sherlock and Haina also encountered difficulties in their inquiries.

They went to another blacksmith shop in the village.

Different from Haina's father's blacksmith shop that has gone out of business...the furnace here is operating normally, and there are some customers coming and going.

When Haina entered the door, there were guests chatting with the blacksmith.

"I want to change the head of the sickle."

"Your head is fine... I'll have someone help you sharpen it again. Don't change it."

"Okay, I'll treat you to a drink tomorrow."

The blacksmith leaned his elbow on the table and was chatting happily with the customer.

He was wearing thin clothes, but he was still covered in sweat. The air was thick with heat, and there was the sound of the apprentice swinging his hammer.

This middle-aged blacksmith, who is about forty or fifty years old, is wearing a coat that looks like an old women's apron, which makes him look a little funny.

Seeing Haina open the door and come in, the blacksmith and the guest turned around together.

"Yo, little Haina!"

The blacksmith uncle greeted me warmly: "I heard you're back - why did you come to see me?"

The guest also greeted Haina cheerfully: "Have you graduated? Are you still going when you come back this time? Are you married? Have you found a boyfriend? She is already twenty-two and is already a big girl. We can't delay it any longer. Yes."

"What you are saying is that I have just been back for a day! I just came here after taking a breather."

Haina couldn't bear this sudden and straightforward urge to get married. She could only cover her forehead with a headache: "If I leave...of course I still have to leave. I just came back to see...Old man, what's the matter with you! What's going on with me?" But when your career is on the rise, you don’t have time to fall in love. By the way, have you seen my gryphon? She is so cute! How about I bring it out to you?"

"Oh, I saw it, I saw it, it's such a big one, why can't I see it? You are just like William catching a big fish, walking around the village with the fish..."

There was laughter and laughter in the blacksmith shop.

But when the old man who left with the sharpened sickle head passed by Haina and the others, his expression suddenly changed.

"...Are you going to the swamp?"

The old man lowered his voice, glanced at Sherlock, and his expression turned serious: "Did you bring it back from the swamp?"

"I went there...to reminisce about my childhood. But it was foggy inside, and I felt a little dangerous, so I came back."

Haina explained and lied smoothly.

——In the past, she would never have lied so smoothly.

It's all my fault that Mr. Aiwass led me astray...

Haina thought sadly in her heart.

Aiwass is particularly good at this kind of lies without changing his face or heart.

I wonder if it's because he's handsome... Haina thinks he's handsome like this!

So she would subconsciously think about imitation in places where no one was around, and how she should respond if she encountered the same situation. As a result, over time, she can now lie without changing her face.

...This can probably be regarded as a kind of growth in a big city.

When the old man heard Haina's words, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "Oh, you guys went together? Then it'll be fine... You didn't meet any other undead, right?"

--Um?

Sherlock raised his eyebrows, realizing something.

What's the meaning?

Does this mean that only locals can meet "swamp people" when they go there?

And what is a swamp man?

But he didn't say anything, but listened quietly.

"I encountered him, but I killed him."

"Oh, little Haina has grown up...she can kill such a powerful undead by herself..."

The old man happily chatted with Haina again.