Whispering Verse

The man wearing an old robe had lived in this shabby hotel for many days. He wanted to have lunch as usual, but when he went down the stairs, he unexpectedly saw a very familiar figure leaning against the wall.

"Long time no see, Mr. Watson."

Shade looked down at the news and heard someone greeting him in Kasenlic with a strange accent. As soon as I looked up, I saw the man pulling up the wooden chair opposite the table and sitting down under the light of the kerosene lamp on the wall.

The eyelashes are extremely short, the black eyes are extremely lively, the old brown robe from the desert area, and the green beard are probably longer than the hair.

"Mr. Sean Asmon?"

Shade was startled, not expecting to meet him again.

"Yes, Mr. Watson, I'm glad to meet you again in a strange city."

The demonologist put down his notebook and showed Shade his trademark weird smile.

Although this expression was very strange, it was not the first time that Shade had seen him. Besides, he was still very happy to meet his former friends in Kasenlik:

"Mr. Asmon, why are you here? First we went to Coldwater Port, then we went southeast to Fort Midhill, and then we turned back to the southwest and came here."

"To continue the legend of finding the devil, of course."

He still maintained that "smiling but not smiling" appearance, and his scalp almost glowed under the dim kerosene lamp:

"Besides, Mr. Watson, aren't you here too?"

"Yes, yes, to celebrate this unusual reunion, let me buy you a drink."

As he spoke, he called the fat waiter who seemed a little distracted. The latter was twice the size of Shade. Mr. Sean Asmon did not pay any courtesy to Shade. After ordering a glass of ale for himself, he supported his knees with his left hand, tilted his body and stretched his head, and started chatting with Shade again.

"Is there a demon in Huntingdon? Oh, Mr. Asmon, I often hear urban legends about vampires in the local area."

Shade said with a smile, and the demonologist's voice was as smooth as a snake crawling in summer and autumn:

"Yes, the devil. But not Huntington, but the Everglades. I've heard many legends here, such as interconnected caves and snake-like man-eating vines."

While Shade subconsciously looked to the west, Mr. Asmon's black eyes were still staring at him:

"There are some very interesting legends, and there are quite a few demonic ruins inside the Everglades. I believe I can find something valuable, which will make this journey interesting."

In fact, if he had gone to Tobesk some time ago, the probability of finding the devil would have been greater.

“But in my opinion, it’s not a good idea to go deep into the Everglades during this season.”

The two of them picked up their wine glasses and drank. The candlelight on one side of the table made their shadows sway slightly. This hotel was so shabby that it had no gas pipes, and of course no steam pipes, so even the heating was done by burning wood. The only fireplace was quite old and was the brightest light source in the room.

But this gave this shabby little hotel a surprisingly ancient and vicissitudes of feeling.

Shade knew that big things would happen in the Pantanal next, so he tried to persuade him. The demonologist let out a weird laugh in his throat, but there was no smile in his eyes:

"I just want to wander around the outside without going deep into the swamp. Those series of lakes are the target of my investigation."

But in this way, his probability of finding an angel is much greater than that of finding a demon. After all, there really is a local angel who lives in the lake.

"It's really interesting to say, though."

Shade placed the wine glass on the wooden table with slight chopping marks and soaked with decades of wine stains:

"Mr. Asmon, it seems that every time we see you, we are in a place with a 'rose' name. The Pink Rose Tavern in Coldwater Harbor, the Blue Rose Inn on the Windy Trail in West Carr Mountain, and now the Rose Inn in Huntington. Bloody Rose Hotel.”

"No, no, no, Mr. Watson, I didn't choose this place to live on purpose. It's just that my pockets are not rich."

He stretched his head forward slightly, but his expression didn't look embarrassed at all.

Shade smiled and nodded:

"Do you need me to sponsor your research? Maybe when we meet again in the next strange city in a corner of the city, you can tell me the stories you encountered locally."

As he spoke, he took out his wallet. Although he had only met the demonologist twice, Shade had a pretty good impression of him.

[Probably because he gave you the ancient [Devil·Soul Stealer Bishop] when he first met you. 】

"She" reminded softly in Shade's ear, but Mr. Asmon pursed his lips and made a "tsk tsk" sound while shaking his head:

"That's not okay. I study demonology. My knowledge tells me that it is not a good habit to accept other people's kindness or make wishes at will. However, I do have a good thing here."

He opened his notebook, which was turned down at the edges, and showed half of the cards.

The problem with that card was not only that it was only half a card, but the remaining half was also badly discolored and damaged, but it could still be seen that it was the upper half of a Rhodes card.

Shade took the card and looked at it, but he couldn't identify what card it was from the remaining card surface, so the demonologist explained to Shade:

"Some time ago, I and a group of people explored a group of unowned tombs in the wild."

In other words, a group of people collaborated to rob tombs, and the demonologist in front of him looked very much like someone who could do similar things.

"That place is very dangerous, but there are not many valuable burial objects. This is something I brought out from the tomb. It is lying in the soil of the tomb passage. I don't know whether it is a burial object or a burial object left by a previous group of visitors. It's a pity that the power of time has destroyed too many things.

I have investigated this card, and if I am not mistaken, it should be [Natural Disaster·Blizzard] from Star 8 (Note). The rules recorded by the Prophet Association are: when this card is drawn, if the opponent has not stopped and the number of cards in his hand is an even number, the card with the smallest number among the cards in the opponent's hand that has been revealed can be removed. Special effects still work. "

Mr. Asmon explained with a weird smile, and Shade was a little surprised:

"The Natural Disaster series is very famous and has been reprinted many times. Judging from the appearance and printing technology of this card, it is probably the first edition. It is a pity that it has been damaged like this, otherwise it must be quite valuable. .”

"Yes, but as far as I know, the Prophet Association provides the service of exchanging old cards for new ones for the owners of Rhodes cards."

The demonologist continued and Shade nodded.

After all, except for the thirteen cards in the founding series, the other cards are just ordinary items and will be damaged sooner or later (note). The Prophet Association has thoughtfully provided a replacement service for holders of Rhodes cards. That is, you can bring old playing cards and related documents with a completeness exceeding a certain level, and you can exchange the old cards for new ones by paying coins. New cards.

Among them, there are complete regulations on the integrity of the old cards and the relevant documents required. But if the reputation in the Prophet Association is big enough, or if you can come up with suitable reasons to convince the association, even if it lacks the necessary conditions, you can still exchange it for a new one at a higher price.

"very funny."

Shade commented, taking out his notebook and inserting the old cards:

"Mr. Asmon, since you are not willing to accept my kindness for nothing, why not sell me this old card."

He rummaged through his wallet and handed out a 3 kronor note:

"This is what I paid for the goods."

This amount of money is actually too much. After all, it takes 11 to 12 gold pounds to exchange for one crown. Shade purely wanted to help the man in front of him, at least so that he wouldn't have to live in such a shabby place.

"In this case."

Mr. Asmon accepted the three green banknotes:

"Why don't we continue telling the story we didn't finish last time."

"A devil's story? Of course."

The demonologist squinted his eyes slightly, and Shade felt that the light from the kerosene lamp and the candle dripping wax on the table was a little dim at this moment.

"Mr. Watson, do you still remember the content of the story we told the first two times?"

"Yes Yes."

Shade held the handle of the wine glass and replied:

"A wonderful existence, because of people's recognition, really has the power of the rumored devil. He has traveled to many places and brought countless disasters, but he failed only once when he met a person without wishes. .

The devil hides in the soul of a person who has no desire, walks with him, and brings disaster, causing the person without desire to be expelled from friends, partners, and even everyone. But when he was dying, the human said with a smile that he had spent his life to seal the devil, and the devil smiled and said that men still have wishes after all. It swallowed up the men's souls and went to where they came from. "

Shade shook his head:

"That's where men come from."

"Yes, and the story obviously continues."

The long-faced man picked up his glass of wine and talked about this topic with the acquaintances he met occasionally under the dim light in a shabby tavern, which was quite atmospheric.

"I have a feeling this is not going to be a happy ending."

Shade said softly, and then smiled to himself:

"How can a story about demons have a happy ending?"

The demonologist's smooth voice sounded at this time:

"A man without a wish spends his whole life traveling far away with the devil in his soul, just hoping that it can stay away from his family and friends. But the devil only spent one night to return to the man's hometown, back to The starting point of the journey. This story happened there.”

"Tsk, tsk."

Shade sighed softly, but the sound of wine glasses being roughly placed on the table around him covered up his astonishment.

－－－－－－Digression－－－－－

ps1: Thanks to reader @in Nanfengli for providing the inspiration for this Rhodes card.

ps2: The original thirteen cards have not been damaged all year round, but have never attracted attention. This is because they have the characteristics that no one will notice any abnormality. For example, the great witch of the fifth era has [Impermanence and Darkness] but has not studied it. anything happens. This has been said once before.

7017k

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . Mobile version reading URL: wap.