Whispering Verse

Captain Rades went into town today not on vacation, but was sent to find someone to help repair a broken steam engine in the Red Water Camp.

After hearing that Captain Rades was also from the Red Water Camp, Shade asked him about Lieutenant Shotten, the first company of the Red Water Camp. This was the person Lecia asked Shade to help investigate.

Captain Rades was not very wary of Shade and told him directly that Lieutenant Shorten had recently won a large sum of gold pounds playing cards with others in the city. He was even seen smoking a cigar outside the camp when he was resting on duty at night. .

"Expensive cigars?"

Shade asked.

"Are there any cheap cigars?"

Captain Rades asked curiously.

Thus, the matter Lecia asked Shade to investigate was simply completed.

Captain Rades was very familiar with the school set up in the castle. When he heard that Shade was looking for someone, he volunteered to help him lead the way. Anyway, he has found the person he is looking for. Just now he was thinking of finding a tavern in the city to sit down before returning to the team in the evening. . .

Now that I have met Sha De, it is okay to help him.

Although it is called a "Mechanical College", the folklore major in the school is not small at all. With Captain Rades in military uniform leading the way, the two of them walked through the academy without encountering any obstruction.

Passing by the scholars walking in the castle holding books, passing by the young students discussing their homework and grades, finally on the east side of the third floor of the castle hangs the slightly narrow single "Folklore-No. 11" In the office, they met Professor John Dunn.

Professor Dunn is a middle-aged man who has lost all his hair but looks to be in his forties. Although his clothes were a bit shabby, his eyes behind those gold-rimmed glasses were very sharp.

He was somewhat surprised to see an officer coming to visit with a stranger, and stood up to welcome him. But after hearing Shade introduce himself and talk about Granny Cassandra, the professor immediately understood:

"Good afternoon, Mr. Watson, Captain Rades. It turns out you are Ms. Cassandra's people. Well, please sit down. This is what happened."

He regarded the captain as the person investigating the whereabouts of the antique. The captain had nothing to do in the afternoon. Seeing that Shade had no objection, he also sat down and listened.

"The folklore major of our college has a very good relationship with Cassandra Auction House. In other words, most of the fortune of the folklore major of the college is sponsored by Cassandra Auction House."

When talking about this matter, the professor seemed very calm:

"We have had a relationship with Cassandra Auction House for more than a hundred years, and graduates are also very popular with the auction house. Not long ago, I got a very good bronze jar, and that antique was heard Ms. Cassandra heard the news and bought it. She originally planned to hand over the bronze jar to the auction house this week, but the jar was accidentally stolen."

"Stolen? Any clues?"

Shade took out his notebook and prepared to record it.

The professor nodded:

"The bronze jar must still be at the academy, because it's probably the same as um."

The professor looked around:

"About as tall as this captain. Transporting this kind of cargo in and out requires registration. We are very sure that it has not been transported."

"Why didn't you call the police?"

Captain Rades asked curiously.

"After all, it was a theft within the academy. It would not be good for us if it spread out. Besides,"

The professor's eyes wandered for a moment:

"Some of the ways to obtain that antique, yes, just some, do not comply with the mandatory national rules and regulations that are generally observed by the public. Do you understand?"

Shade and Captain Rades both nodded. It was illegal, but they didn't care about it:

"So besides knowing that the jar must be in this castle, are there any other clues?"

Shade asked again.

"I know that I shouldn't doubt my students casually, but Mr. Henry Val, who is about to graduate in two years, is highly suspicious. You can ask him for investigation. Your identity is hired by Cassandra Auction House. Detective. I have already informed the academy in advance that people from Cassandra Auction House will come to investigate this matter in the next few days, so you can move around here as you please."

Henry Val is a 22-year-old student of folklore studying at Fort Midhill Mechanical College. He was born into a wealthy farmer family in the countryside north of Fort Midhill. But two years ago, due to some reasons, his family fell into decline, and the young students who were accustomed to a wealthy life still maintained their original living standards after that. In the winter of about 1851, they were discovered by the college selling illegal products in the city. drug.

After being severely warned and ordered to repeat the grade for a year, young Henry Val returned to his normal self. As for doubting him, it was because before the bronze jar was stolen, someone saw him sneaking around Professor Dunn's office, and when the professor found him for questioning, he showed an abnormal state.

“I can’t directly ask my own students if they are thieves.”

Professor Dunn said helplessly:

"To be honest, I don't want to believe that my student is a thief, so I asked Ms. Cassandra to send powerful helpers to help me investigate. I don't know how much Ms. Cassandra spent on you, but as long as I can find I'll give each of you five pounds for that bronze jar."

The folklore professor looked very well off.

Shade glanced at the captain beside him. The captain nodded slightly, which meant that he also wanted to make this money, and Shade didn't mind having helpers around him.

"Okay, Professor."

He originally wanted to ask about the "Twin Gods" first and then investigate, but Professor Dunn seemed very busy and asked Shade to investigate the antique theft case before coming to him.

So Shade and Captain Rades left the professor's office, and then found Mr. Henry Val in the large library in the basement of the college.

This is a young man with yellow hair. He wears a pair of glasses like the professor. He is wearing his own clothes instead of the college uniform. It is not obvious from his clothes that his family is in dire straits.

When Shade and Captain Rades saw him, the young man was looking for books in the "Folklore and Culture" bookshelf. When he saw the two men approaching, he put back the book he wanted to take out. Shade I took a look at the title of the book. It read "Legendary Anecdotes: The Vampire in the Shadows" on the spine.

This should be a popular novel or urban legend book.

"Gentlemen, is there something wrong?"

The young man with yellow hair asked, his tone a little impatient. He looked extremely tired, with heavy dark circles under his eyes.

"We were hired by Cassandra Auction House to investigate antique thefts and want to question every student who entered the professor's office over the past weekend."

Shade said, looking behind the person who was talking to him. Captain Rades and Mr. Henry Val certainly couldn't see it, but he could clearly see the soul of a young woman lying on his back.

It was an evil spirit, but it was not very powerful, so it was not powerful enough for ordinary people to see it in the daytime. Seeing Shade looking at her, the evil spirit wanted to roar at Shade, but Shade glared at her and honestly stopped moving.

"There are so many evil spirits in Fort Midhill."

Shade thought in his mind.

"No problem, what do you want to ask?"

Mr. Val said, there was nothing unusual about his expression. Shade winked at Captain Rades and asked him to help record it, and then asked:

"You went to the professor's office over the weekend. The professor said you were asking about the end-of-year exam. At that time, did you see the big bronze jar in the corner?"

"You see, that thing is so big, it's hard not to notice."

"Did you ask about the jar?"

"Yes, asked, I'm curious about it."

"So, have you told anyone else about that bronze jar?"

The young man thought a little impatiently:

"I think I mentioned it at Barbara Jaylin's weekend party, but I don't remember anyone hearing me say it, but it must have been a bunch of guys who heard it. "

"A stack" in the common language of Delarian also refers to the number 14. It is said that this is because the original canned fish was sold in 14 bundles.

"No problem, I'll bother you then."

Shade said, greeting Captain Lades and bidding farewell to Mr. Val. After leaving the row of bookshelves, Shade glanced back to confirm that the other party had not followed.

Captain Rades said softly:

"There's something wrong with that young man. His eyes are a little too fierce. It's like I've seen this kind of look too many times, especially when most of the students here don't have much social experience. Henry Val, he is absolutely I’ve seen blood.”

The captain said with great certainty that before he was awarded the title of "Eight-Gun Captain", he was actually an ordinary soldier, so there should be no problem with this judgment.

"Have you seen any blood?"

Shade nodded. The evil spirit he saw entangling Henry Val and destroying his vitality was probably the source of "seeing blood":

"Captain, can you keep an eye on him temporarily? Watch to see if he leaves the library. If he does, try to figure out where he went."

"Do you have any other leads to investigate?"

Captain Rades asked curiously.

"Yes, I am a professional detective, and I have never encountered a commission that I couldn't solve."

Shade smiled and nodded his chest, and Captain Rades recalled the scene a few months ago when Shade helped a woman who lost her child to find her child on the streets of Tobesk. At that time, Shade seemed to have observed some clues out of thin air, and found the alley where the prisoner was with almost no detours.

"Well, I can also ask other students here about the bronze jar."

The captain fully trusted Shade.

"Okay. Oh, and I'd also like to ask if there have been any homicides at this school in recent weeks."

Shade said, Captain Rades frowned slightly:

"You mean no problem, leave it to me."