Whispering Verse

After having lunch and reading for an hour, Shade went out.

The carriage was found at the corner of the street and headed east across the entire city to the cemetery outside the city. On the way, Shade, who was extremely bored, talked with the driver about the recent weather, complained about the high prices, and then talked about their respective jobs.

Perhaps it was because of Shade's slightly younger face and approachable tone that the coachman was willing to chat more with him. Of course, this carriage does not belong to him. The coachman rents a carriage from the Tobesk Taxi Carriage Guild in the city, carries passengers according to the designated area, and pays the daily income to the guild in proportion, and the remaining money is used to support the family. .

Although such a job earns more than a porter carrying bags near the station, it does not actually get rid of the family's poverty. The main reason is that the coachman has five children in his family.

Four of them are his own children, and the other is the child of his deceased eldest brother. In this era, it is normal for anyone to die suddenly, just like Detective Sparrow.

"My recent income is pretty good. I even ordered milk from the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company. One bottle is given to the children every day. Oh, sir, I heard others say that drinking milk can make you grow taller."

"There is such a saying...I remember isn't the milk from Silver Parrot Milk Distribution Company very expensive?"

Shade asked hesitantly, and the coachman smiled:

"The price of milk order there was lowered some time ago. It seems that there is a problem with the warehouse. Before repairs are completed, the daily stockpiled goods must be sold as soon as possible. The last time I drove a middle-aged gentleman who worked there, he told I heard this news and my neighbors are also planning to order some before the price goes back up, which is really good.”

Tobesk Public Cemetery is an important part of Tobesk's basic municipal engineering. Although it is a "public cemetery", in addition to members of the royal family, even nobles will be buried here.

The park area is very large, and the choice of burial on the ground or in an underground tomb, in the shade or in the sun, and even the nearby environment and density of tombs, are all very particular.

The emergence of public cemeteries in the steam age is of course not due to the large sums of money spent by the city hall having no use. Rather, during the expansion of the city of Tobesk, it encountered the problem of land occupation by the cemeteries around the city.

In a world where occultism is real, burial is no simple matter. Therefore, it was finally decided to establish an urban public cemetery in the east of the city. As for the choice of the east, it was because the east of the city is adjacent to mountains, and the other three sides have flat terrain. Tobesk's expansion would not choose the east.

Compared with the shabby little country cemetery managed by Mr. Copus, which Shade had visited once, the Tobesk City Public Cemetery was much more impressive. There is a specially built road extending from the city to here, and except for the carriages in the cemetery, no external carriages are allowed to enter the park.

Stone roads are paved in the cemetery, connecting various parks. There is not just one public cemetery. It is usually divided into northeast, east and southeast. The eastern cemetery that Shade went to this time is divided into five parks. The graveyard No. 3 of the Eastern Cemetery where Mr. Watson, who has turned into bones, is buried, is the so-called graveyard for the rich.

The burial place in the underground tomb is even more expensive. Not to mention the current year of 1853, even more than 20 years ago when Mrs. Watson purchased the tomb, the price was definitely more than 30 pounds.

Shade got the above information from the coachman. The journey was boring and the two talked about many things. The coachman was happy to talk to people like Shade. Therefore, when getting off the bus, Shade specially gave him an extra 5 pence as a thank you for relieving his boredom along the way. The coachman also took off his hat to express his gratitude to Shade.

Because the city's public cemeteries are managed by the city hall and the Church of Nature, there are of course churches within the cemeteries.

The white chapel stands next to the gravekeeper's cabin, and an obituary is posted on the door informing people of the identity of the person buried here today.

When Shade was arranging his clothes and standing on the stone road in front of the chapel, some guests attending the funeral were already arriving one after another. You don’t need to bring anything extra to attend such a funeral, just wear formal black attire.

Going all the way inward, Shade found the old woman standing next to the coffin in the chapel. On the wooden painted coffin lid was a silver wrench symbol. This is the [God of Creation and Destruction], that is, the True God [Creation]. Lady]'s holy symbol represents the faith of Mr. Watson, who has been dead for many years.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hamilton."

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Watson, please don't be so sad."

Shade whispered a few words of comfort, and then Mrs. Watson introduced him to the middle-aged man in a black hat who was also standing next to the coffin.

Although he is said to be middle-aged, he is actually almost fifty years old.

This is Mr. Watson's younger brother, Johns Watson, the youngest son of the former Earl of Watson. Although he also failed to inherit the title, this gentleman also relied on his family's power to own his own industry in the local area. Today he came to attend the funeral on behalf of his family.

Although Old Mrs. Watson said that the two had some conflicts, at least this conflict did not appear in front of Shade. The middle-aged gentleman politely thanked Shade for coming all the way, while Shade asked about the funeral process and confirmed that the priest could attend.

This was the first funeral that Shade attended in this world. When he looked at the coffin in his spare time, Shade couldn't help but think about Mr. Watson who was sealed in the wall after his death. How do you view the relationship between your wife and your family?

"A funeral thirty years late."

Even though this funeral had little to do with him, he still couldn't help but sigh.

The funeral customs of this era were similar to the Western-style funerals in Shade's hometown. Relatives and friends with sad faces were present. The pastor of the church where the deceased believed in presided over the ceremony. The family elders or high-status friends read the eulogy, and then allowed the relatives to recall the life of the deceased one by one. things.

These procedures all take place in this cemetery chapel, and the longest process is when a licensed priest leads everyone to pray for the deceased and pray that his soul can rest in peace.

Relatives and friends of the Watson family and old Mrs. Watson sat down on the long seats in the church auditorium. Due to the power of the family and money, today's visitors almost filled the entire auditorium.

Shade's speech was very early in the order. After the funeral started at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, he was the second person to speak after the pastor. The eulogy had been prepared. He first explained his identity, and then read the sentences on the page in his hand that praised Mr. Watson and regretted his untimely death.

The whole process lasted for 10 minutes. When it was over, people clapped politely. Several old women sitting in the front seats covered their faces with handkerchiefs and cried. I don’t know whether it was true or not, but Shade at least thought that Wo Old Mrs. Center's cry was true.

He can't leave now. He can't leave until the coffin is delivered to the tomb. After all, the agreed checkout time is after the process. Until then, he could walk to visit Mr. Sparrow Hamilton, who was not far away.

Because he didn't know anyone, Shade found a seat in the back row near the church door and corridor. As he walked back quietly, there was actually a young girl wearing a black lady's hat with white flowers, who suddenly gave him a note.

I thought it was something important, but I didn't expect that after opening it, there was an address written on it, and there were lipstick marks under the letters.

"Um......"

【What do you think it will be? 】

The voice in my head rang in my ears.

“Things like asking for help when you’re in trouble.”

He replied, balling up the paper and stuffing it into his pocket, thinking of finding a place to throw it away after the funeral.

Shade has no intention of getting to know a strange girl now:

“It’s really interesting to be at a funeral and be approached by people.”

He whispered softly, but probably the people sitting next to him couldn't hear what he was saying.

"It's really fun."

Hearing such a voice in his ears, Shade was startled, thinking that someone had heard his words. But then he realized that the sound came from his left side, and his left side was obviously the carpeted aisle between the long rows of seats. Logically speaking, there couldn't be anyone there.

"what's the situation?"

So he glanced to the left and saw a middle-aged man with a transparent body standing next to him.

He put his hands behind his back and looked regretfully at Mrs. Watson who was recalling her husband behind the small podium in the church.

The middle-aged man with a transparent body is like a belated guest at this funeral. After discovering that there are no seats, he can only stand at the end and watch the scene in front of him. But the transparency of the body and the constant cold feeling prove that this is not a human being.

Shade didn't show any panic. He just glanced at it and then looked away, complaining softly in his heart:

"So, what is going on? I just came to attend a funeral..."

The fundamental reason for not panicking is that the man next to him is not strong.

[To put it simply, you have encountered a ghost. 】

She smiled and gave the answer.

Shade still maintained a sitting posture, his eyes occasionally looking to the left. The thing that was probably a ghost standing next to him was focused entirely on looking at Mrs. Watson in front of him, so he didn't notice that the people around him could see him.

Although the body is transparent, the appearance of the face can still be seen clearly. It's just that Shade has never seen this face, but he very much doubts that it is Mr. Watson. It's just that the unlucky guy who passed away more than thirty years ago didn't leave any photos at all, so Shade can only guess.

"When did it appear?"

[About a second before you expressed your exclamation, that is, at the same time that the current old woman came to the stage to speak. 】

"In this case......"

Shade tried hard to search for knowledge about "ghosts" in his head. Because the house where he lived had just had a death not long ago, Shade focused on searching for relevant content after coming into contact with the St. Byrons textbook.