Whispering Verse

The dusk light shone on his face. At this moment, Armand Bernhardt on the trestle could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion, nor between life and death. I suddenly realized that "dusk" itself has the meaning of dividing life and death, and then I immediately understood that maybe what happened at this moment was the brief intersection of life and death that became blurred here due to man-made reasons.

Although the originally dazzling and brilliant sun was still half-sinking far away on the sea, its light had an extremely ambiguous dim feeling. The sea, which was originally one wave after another, suddenly calmed down after it overlapped with the black water. The ships on the sea disappeared at some point. Standing on the pier and looking at the calm water, I found that the water was now dazzlingly bright. .

Some illusory figures walked past Mr. Bernhardt, stepped into the sea illuminated by the dim sunlight, and walked further away. Although the black cat on the edge of the trestle was tired, he still found a cat with the same coat color as himself among the retreating figures.

That cat was bigger, and that cat was more beautiful. The cat was standing on the sea behind Shade, looking back at it, and then called out "meow~", waiting for it to come over.

So the black cat jumped off the trestle, clearly not using any force, but still standing on the water.

Facing the dim sun, the black cat seemed to have a physical form again. The beautiful hair was very shiny in the sunlight. The cat raised its head and looked at the person who helped it on the water between the Zhanqiao and Shade:

"Meow, are you the god of cats?"

The stranger lowered his head and smiled and replied:

"of course not."

"Then why do you help me? I have nothing to repay you for."

"Because this is my justice."

The cat didn't understand all this, so he wagged his tail and said:

"Meow~ Goodbye then."

It ran past Shade and, under the watchful eye of Herr Bernhardt, joined the waiting female cat. The female cat licked the cat's fur affectionately, and the cat rubbed her body. Then the two cats looked at Shade, who had turned to look at them, and then walked together towards the dim yellow sun that was half setting. went.

Obviously "darkness" has been an image associated with "death" since ancient times, but looking at everything ambiguous under the sunset in front of him, Armand Bernhard still felt that he truly understood death in this scene.

The cat had gone far away, and the light of the half-dark sun made the vampire on the trestle unable to open his eyes for a moment. When the dazzling light disappeared and he looked around again, all the abnormalities had disappeared. And when he saw Shade stepping back onto the trestle from the water, the sea in front of him was covered with ships. The disappearing sun did not have that strange "yellow" color, and there were no cats leaving along the sea. .

Shade looked back at the sea, sighed and signaled to Mr. Bernhardt that he could leave:

"Sent away another one. Let's go, it's already so late."

He actually wasn't very clear about how the scene just happened. But obviously apart from Mr. Bernhardt, very few people on the dock also saw the "phantom" at that moment. Although this would not have any impact, Shade still felt that it would be better to leave as soon as possible.

So Mr. Bernhardt, who had come back to his senses, followed him and hurriedly returned to the ground along the trestle. After entering the alley and confirming that no one was following him, he suddenly asked in a low voice:

"Mr. Watson, if one day, I mean if, I accidentally die tragically and turn into a wraith or something, please help me leave."

"Okay. Wait, what do you think I am?"

Shade looked at him unexpectedly, only to find that the vampire seed lord was looking at him with awe:

"Of course I consider you my friend."

"Well, I feel like you have misunderstood something. Forget it, it's not important. Although the cat's story is very plain, it touched me very much, probably because I also have a cat."

"I don't have a cat, I don't have any pets, but I am still very touched by 'because this is my justice'. Why can't there be more people like you in this world?"

He seemed to be complaining, or just sighing.

It was getting late. Now that we had obtained important clues from the cat, the second exploration of the underground laboratory and prison could be postponed until tomorrow.

After a busy day, the two parted at the end of the alley. Shade still remembered that he promised Miss Belindel to go to her place for dinner tonight, so instead of throwing away the glass slipper and going home, he went to the witch's manor again.

But after all, he went to the sewer in the afternoon, so he was worried that the smell on his body would disturb the beautiful countess and maids. Fortunately, Miss Belindel also knew that he was busy in the sewer today, so she thoughtfully asked the maids to prepare the bathroom in advance for Shade to wash up.

After taking a bath, the sun has completely disappeared, and night has finally arrived. But today, there were no old Mrs. Belindel and the witch's sisters at the dining table of Belindel Manor. They seemed to have gone out to visit relatives.

"I just heard some interesting news."

Shade sat down at the dining table. The light from the crystal chandelier above his head and the elegant gas lamps on the wall made the restaurant very bright. When the maids started serving the meal, the blonde witch said with a smile:

"In the evening, many people saw strange phantoms on the sea near the pier, but they only lasted for half a minute and then disappeared. Because of what happened last Sunday, the church is still investigating at the pier. What are you doing? It added a lot of work to the church in vain. The sunset, the calm water, and the departing souls. It’s a pity that I didn’t see that scene, but I knew it was wonderful just from hearing about it.”

"Why do you think it must be me?"

Shade asked curiously, knowing what she meant by this:

"Divination?"

"Of course not. I found that any divination about you would cause various problems, so I didn't use divination. I just felt that this matter might be related to you. In fact, since you appeared in Yuewan City, most things in the local area It’s all about you.”

This is true.

Shade smiled and was about to pick up the knife and fork, but the countess held his hand down, then stood up halfway and reached out to help him bend the collar of his shirt.

Shade blinked and continued:

"What happened in the evening was not a big deal. My friends and I went to investigate the sewers in the afternoon and met a resentful cat who knew the secret. We took it to visit its previous owner. It consumed its soul power and was about to die. If it doesn’t work, I’ll find a way to give it a ride.”

Although the restaurant was very brightly lit by gas lights, Miss Belindel still snapped her fingers to light the candles on the candlestick on the table:

"Can you tell me this story in detail? I don't believe it's that simple."

As he spoke, he also picked up the knife and fork, so Shade spent the first half of the dinner describing the story of "The Cat and Janet". Of course, the maids in the restaurant were also listening. When the story finally came, when the cat and the female cat walked together on the sea towards the sun, Shade heard an unknown sentimental girl sobbing.

He feels that he still has some talent for storytelling.

The great witch of fate was obviously touched by this story. She put down her knife and fork and looked up at the crystal chandelier. She took a deep breath, adjusted her mood, and then looked at Shade again:

"You just laughed, and you smiled very gently at the end of the story. I mean, although you are not the kind of person who never smiles all the time, when you talked about this just now, you smiled really beautifully."

The maid ladies also heard this quite "direct" statement. Shade didn't know if they also commented on his expression in the same way. He just said hesitantly:

"It's rare that someone comments on my smile. Do I want to say thank you?"

The Countess then smiled and picked up her knife and fork again:

"Go on, I love the stories you share."

"Okay. As a ring magician, I have seen too many sad stories, so of course I am very happy to occasionally experience this kind of story that can be called a 'good ending', even better than from that cat. Even more happy after hearing the clue.”

"So you helped the cat for the so-called good ending?"

Miss Belindel asked, Shade nodded seriously:

"Yes, just like I said to the cat - this is my justice."

The curve of the witch's lips became more and more charming, but she did not continue to look at Shade and endured the throbbing in her heart. She almost wanted to give him a kiss.

After dinner, Shade stayed at the manor for a while, discussing the clues he got from the cat with Miss Belindle in the study.

"Combined with the strange noises that once appeared underground in the Marquis of Ankara Manor, the [Dragon Eater Order] has been using a certain piece of magical dragon scales to create dragon-blooded monsters, at least since the beginning of this year. And the dragon scales that the cat was talking about, I I highly doubt it is something inherited by your seven major families."

The study was equally bright. After dinner, Miss Belindel, who had to change clothes for some reason before coming to the study with Shade, also agreed with Shade's conclusion:

"In other words, someone from the seven major families has been cooperating with the [Dragon Eater Order] from a long time ago? Could it be the Black family? After all, before that poor woman was parasitized, it was Georgia Black who led those people Went to that underground secret laboratory."

"I can't get involved in investigating those nobles, but tomorrow my friends and I will go to the sewers again. If there are no clues, tell the church about the news there. Although the church will be able to find out there soon, you can also take the initiative to report it. Let the vampires dissociate themselves from this matter."

"Your vampire friend."

Before she finished asking Shade, she knew what she wanted to ask:

"He is a gentleman with a title, and as I said, he is very trustworthy."

The witch was relieved.

PS: The author feels very good about this plot.