Whispering Verse

Chapter 2419 [Eternal Light] Mutual Aid Association

After hearing what Shade said, the woman nodded and opened the door slightly to let Shade and Matilda go in together.

When the blonde girl passed by her, the woman stared at Matilda's face:

"You must keep an eye on her, otherwise she will run away with someone else sooner or later. This is how my son's wife ran away."

Shade just pretended to smile awkwardly, then took Matilda's hand and continued walking deeper into the opera house.

Probably to save electricity, the lights in the opera house were not turned on during the day. But there are lit portable kerosene lamps placed at regular intervals in the corridor to guide visitors from going in the wrong direction.

Shade didn't feel any extraordinary power here, and even the lamps were just ordinary items. So the two of them went all the way to the second floor, and finally entered the largest performance hall No. 1 on the second floor.

Of course, the "largest" is actually only one-third of the area of ​​the first floor of Xia De's house.

The curtains were drawn indoors, but fortunately the gas lights were finally turned on. Now all the equipment in the performance hall had been piled against the wall, leaving only twenty chairs placed two by two, forming a large circle.

Many people had already arrived, but no one spoke. So Shade and Matilda randomly picked two nearby chairs and sat down. Then Shade took little Mia out of his arms and put her on his lap.

The cat was lying lazily, not knowing that there was a high probability that he would miss lunch today. When Shade looked around and observed other people, he found that these people were generally around thirty years old, and he and Matilda were considered the youngest "couple".

But one of these pairs is a pairing of two men. And looking at the details of their movements when communicating in low voices, it is not difficult to see that they are actually close friends.

All the people present are ordinary people, and many of them must have participated in this kind of gathering more than once, so they don't seem nervous. While Shade was observing others, Matilda grabbed Shade's hand naturally, as if she was worried about this strange place.

When Shade and Mathilde arrived, it was already close to eleven o'clock in the morning. So before long, only two of the twenty chairs were still empty.

And at eleven o'clock, two men in white robes, one tall and one short, walked out from behind the stage. The cuffs and hems of their white robes are tattooed with red flame edges, and there is a symbol of "radiating light" on their chests.

The taller one of the two is an ordinary person, and the slightly squatter one wearing glasses is a ring warlock, probably a sixth ring, but of course he is not the person Shade and Miss Elise met in the underground tomb yesterday. .

After they appeared, they first locked the door of the performance hall, and then the taller one walked towards this side and said:

"It's been a week, friends. I hope the recent heavy fog has not brought too much trouble to your lives."

Then people said something like "Good afternoon, Mr. Lean" or "I've been really bored this week."

Although everyone wears their own better clothes, judging from their accent and way of speaking, they are all residents of the lower city. So the tall "Mr. Lean" and the short, fat ring warlock came to the middle of the circle of people and continued to say with a smile:

"Don't lose confidence in life, and believe that light will always appear. Ups and downs in life are normal, and now is a low period for everyone."

Then he looked at the two empty chairs:

"Why aren't Mr. and Mrs. Rodol here? I'm still looking forward to Mrs. Rodol sharing her balcony planting experience with us."

No one else knew their whereabouts, so Mr. Lean looked at Shade and the blonde girl again:

"Oh, look at this handsome gentleman and beautiful lady. Who are these newlyweds?"

He is very good at using words to arouse emotions:

"Friends, I am happy to announce to you that we have welcomed new partners. They are Mr. Holmes, an accountant who works in the dock area, and his wife, Mrs. Holmes, who works as a cleaner at the local university."

As he spoke about the false identities that had been woven out, Shade and Matilda stood up and nodded to everyone, and the people also applauded to welcome them.

"Oh, in addition to this enviable couple, we have a new friend today."

Mr. Lean said with a smile again, and finally introduced the short and fat gentleman beside him:

"This gentleman is a priest of [Eternal Light] like me. Don't worry, he is not here to replace me. According to the rules, we have to attend meetings of other groups regularly so that everyone will not become unfamiliar—— Mr. Ronan, welcome!”

This "Mr. Ronan" is the target of Shade and Matilda today. Whether they follow him later, or find an opportunity to talk to him at the rally, it will be convenient for the investigation of [Eternal Light] .

Compared to the vigilant ring warlock in the tomb yesterday, Shade and Matilda, who appeared as ordinary citizens today, are obviously more mobile.

Then the two priests talked about the warm-up and invited everyone to share interesting things about their lives during the week. There were a total of nine "couples", except for Shade and Matilda, who all said a few words in turn, but most of them were about unsatisfactory life, worrying about skin diseases or madness caused by the fog.

When it was the "newcomer's" turn at last, Mr. Lean, who was very good at livening up the atmosphere, added another request:

"Mr. Holmes, this is the first time for you and your wife to come here. Can you tell us about the troubles in your life, especially why you want to join us, and whether you are suffering from oppression or other troubles?"

Shade really doesn’t know this process, but it’s not difficult to answer this question:

"sure."

He stood up as he spoke, and everyone also listened intently:

"I am an accountant at the dock, and my wife is a cleaner at the university. Although our income is not much, it is enough to live on. We even plan to have a child this year."

The maid made a shy expression and turned her face slightly.

"But you also know that the relationship between us and Delarion is very bad now. The trading company I work for mainly exports timber and steel to the North, and it is now affected by the "Trade Protection Law" just introduced by Willendale. , the efficiency dropped a lot.”

The full name of the "Trade Protection Act" is the "Trial Draft of the United Kingdom of Carsonlik 1854 on Tariff Adjustment and Bulk Commodity Export Restrictions List No. 18". Of course, Delarion also has corresponding countermeasures.

"As an accountant, I feel the decline in efficiency of trading companies the most. I can understand if it's just a salary cut because of this. After all, everyone's life is difficult."

His words received some voices of approval, so Shade gritted his teeth:

"But what I got was not a salary cut notice, but a dismissal notice. There was no compensation, and I was not given time to find a new job. The reason for dismissal was even that I drank too much tea at work."

So people began to condemn the trading company that even Xia De didn't know about. Xia De took a deep breath and made a decadent expression:

"So I was temporarily unemployed. Mr. Lean probably didn't know about it yet. I was really embarrassed to tell others. In the first few days, I even hid it from my wife and still went out on time, but only to the captain of the pier. Sit in the chair all day.

I have been looking for a job, but in a city like Yuewan, even a porter would not want me. After all, I am not a member of the guild. Now, I rely on the business of selling newspapers with my children and helping others repair shoes at night to support my family. As for the child, we will talk about it next year. I don’t want him to become like me. "

"Mrs. Holmes" on the side held his hand with concern, and Shade sat down dejectedly. The blonde girl hugged him tenderly and patted his back, then stood up and said:

"Sorry, my husband may have been a little emotional just now, please don't mind."

She gently patted Shade on the shoulder:

"Although my income is not much, it is quite stable at the moment. Although there are many small worries in life, the one that worries me the most is actually my husband, the cat."

She looked down at little Mia who was lying on Shade's lap. The cat didn't realize that she was being mentioned:

"This cat was raised by my husband before he got married. I also knew that he liked this cat very much before we got married. In fact, I also like it very much, but sometimes"

She pursed her lips and expressed her tangled psychology vividly:

"Sometimes I feel that in his mind I and the cat are equal."

Shade lowered his head slightly, and the corners of his mouth trembled. This time I'm not pretending, I'm really showing my feelings.

"What he did to that cat, I won't say here, but when we rested at night, no matter what we did, the cat would lie down on the bedside. This feeling was very strange. After he lost his job, although the family still had some savings , but daily expenses also need to be reduced. The cost of three meals is the first to be reduced, but he still refuses to change the cost of eating for the cat. "

She looked down at "Mr." sitting there again:

"I have discussed this issue with him many times, but he has always refused to give in. In fact, it is not a big deal. The cat is so small and doesn't eat much. I don't care about the cat's food, but his attitude. In his heart, I still have this cat. You have also seen that he takes it with him even when he participates in such activities. "

After sighing heavily, she sat down with her face half covered.

No one in the surrounding circle said anything. The maid lady's performance was so outstanding that no one would doubt whether it was true or not.

Fortunately, Mr. Lean broke the awkward silence promptly:

"It's true that every family has its own problems. Economic problems are probably the source of conflicts in all our families here. Do you know? In aristocratic families, even if they are not nobles like the seven major families, but in slightly richer noble families, pets The level of catering for cats is also much higher than that of porters at the dock. A bag of specialized high-end cat food can even be worth a month’s income of an ordinary worker.”