Chapter 96 The End of the Voyage

Chapter 96 The End of the Voyage

Chapter 96 The End of the Voyage
257
Alger Wilson woke up slowly. The first thing he saw was the wine bottle rolling and spinning in front of him. It took him a while to realize that he was lying on the deck. His head hurt so much that he had never felt before.

He propped up his upper body with his trembling arms, and the moment he saw the sun in the sky, he suddenly felt a strong sense of ecstasy of surviving a disaster, and almost fell down again. The sea was blowing a salty and cold wind, and the sun's rays fell on his body without much warmth. His whole body was in pain and he was hungry, but Alger almost shed tears at this moment.

Why should I be so happy... Today is December 12rd... Isn't our voyage going smoothly...?
His head felt dizzy and he squinted his eyes to barely see his surroundings: the crew members were lying on the deck in all directions, including his employer.

The young man's glasses flew several meters away, the cracked lenses gleaming in the sun. The small suitcase that he carried with him almost every time was not outside, but should have been placed in the cabin. Alger took a few breaths and recovered some strength. He found that his employer's small brown-red cover diary was also thrown out, right at his feet, with a lot of water stains on it.

Alger didn't think about anything at first, but when his eyes fell on the notebook, he reached out his hand as if possessed.

When he picked up the notebook, he was still a little dazed. His morals, which had been almost completely wiped out by life and ambition, made him hold on to his bottom line. Alger quickly found the index tape in the notebook and saw all the diaries recorded by his employer since he set sail. He slowly regained his memory.

After a quick glance, Alger saw that there was no information or secrets that he shouldn't have seen. It just recorded the daily weather, food, and some daily trivial matters. He felt relieved and his conscience was no longer condemned. With the help of the diary, he gradually recalled his experiences after going to sea. The vague pictures in his mind gradually became clear. He remembered the days of investigation in the Oradek Islands, the previous storms, and the Blue Avenger was so fast that it seemed to fly into the sky. As a navigator, he was completely unable to control the ship. In the chaos, he seemed to have hit something and fainted... Alger quickly raised his head and counted the number of crew members. He was relieved to see that no one was missing.

I haven't started writing today's diary yet. It seems that he fainted at about the same time as us. Alger made a few guesses in his mind. From the diary, they successfully completed the mission and did not find the mysterious primitive island. Except for the storm at sea, everything was as he expected. So, they can return home soon.

He and I had agreed at the beginning to go to the Oradek Islands, and nothing went wrong along the way. Why do I always feel a little uneasy subconsciously? Is it because everything was going too smoothly and we were under too much pressure?

I will report this to the church when I get back. Of course, I have to make a fake contract. I only told the crew that the remuneration was 500 pounds. After deducting their salary and the portion donated to the church, I can pocket nearly 400 pounds.

This way, purchasing the Sequence 6 formula will be more certain.

With the reward about to arrive, Alger felt much more at ease. Everything else was imaginary, only the benefits were real. He put the notebook down, staggered to his feet, straightened a wooden barrel, sat down, and began to wait for the others to wake up.

258
Peaceful days always pass quickly. It seems that in just a blink of an eye, there is only half a month left until the New Year.

Klein extinguished the charcoal in the fireplace and put on a double-breasted tweed coat over his crimson wool vest.

Nearly three weeks ago, Leppard finally obtained the patent for the bicycle and began looking for suitable second-round investors. Steam-powered car tycoon Franmi Cage expressed some interest.

After several contacts, the three parties agreed to hold the final negotiation today. As long as the negotiation went smoothly, Klein could sell his shares in exchange for a considerable amount of funds.

In the past month or so, Klein had lived a peaceful life. He used his investigation to digest the potion step by step. If there was nothing too urgent, he could avoid taking risks. Another month would be enough... Klein took the half-high silk hat from the coat rack with his mind wandering, and used a brush and handkerchief to smooth out the wrinkles and remove the dust.

He had no intention of attending the January 1 gathering pointed to by the "Hermits of Destiny" badge left by Lanevus.

During this time, the "Tarot Club" was still held at a frequency of once a week. Klein obtained a few pages of Russell's early diary, witnessing the other party's transformation from a weak bird who could only fantasize but dared not put it into action to a playboy who actively hunted. Apart from this, he had almost no other gains. Although the "Werewolf" extraordinary characteristics obtained when helping Sharon fight against the Rose School of Hedonism were given to the "Hanged Man" through the "World" to sell on his behalf, it was obviously not so easy to make a business involving more than a thousand pounds, and the cursed characteristics of the "Werewolf" also discouraged many interested parties.

However, at the Tarot gathering a few days ago, the "Hanged Man" who had finally completed the previous voyage commission and returned to Bayam told the "world" that he had contacted a "craftsman" and the other party was obviously a little moved.

“Hopefully, we can get it done this week… I still don’t have any clues about the formula for the ‘Wind Blessed’ potion that Mr. The Hanged Man needs…” Klein packed up his belongings, took his cane, put on his hat, and walked out of the room. The formula for the ‘Wind Blessed’ potion belongs to Sequence 6, which is not easy to come across. Alger, the ‘Hanged Man’, waited for more than a month but did not hear any good news.

Following the advice of the Hanged Man, Derrick the Sun behaved normally, continued his daily patrols, and continued to accumulate merits without attempting any rituals. During every Tarot gathering, he would skillfully pretend to sleep, and temporarily did not expose any problems. He would also take intermittent naps to avoid certain things becoming regular and arousing suspicion.

According to him, Elder "Shepherd" Lovia did not leave the bottom of the round tower after seven days and is still imprisoned there for unknown reasons.

As Mr. A of the Aurora Society was trying to keep a low profile, he failed to obtain any valuable clues in his search for the followers and followers of The Fool. The Beyonders who knew the honorable name of The Fool all understood not to recite such things casually. Unless they were in desperate situations, they certainly did not have the courage to pray to a suspected evil god.

He went out and turned to the home of lawyer Jurgen who lived on the same street. Of course, professional negotiations require the presence of a professional lawyer!

259
The crow stood on a branch, watching the disguised detective Sherlock and the serious lawyer Jurgen walk into the cab together and gradually disappear around the corner of the street. He tilted his head, suddenly flapped his wings and flew up, shaking off two shaky dead leaves, passing through the smoke and mist, and landing on the shoulder of a man who was reading in a park in the middle of a street.

Edward turned the book to the next page and naturally took a piece of bread from the sandwich basket at hand and handed it to the crow's mouth.

"I've found a pattern. He will go to Sefirah Castle at 3pm every Monday. So will Fors."

Crow held the bread in his mouth, tilted his head, and tried to identify the old words in the book, which were similar to the Loen language but had completely different contents. He tried to recognize the contents of the book. However, he had been fascinated by the ancient culture of the Western Continent recently, and began to be biased. After reading for a long time, he only understood the words "the" and "and".

It looked around and saw that there were no pedestrians near the park, so it jumped off Edward's shoulder, hopped twice on the bench, and turned into a human form. Amon adjusted the platinum monocle inlaid with a circle of broken diamonds that he was wearing today, picked up the sandwich with a missing corner in the basket, put it in his mouth and took a big bite.

"Is there anything we need to do?" he asked.

"I'm thinking of buying the soul of one of them."

Edward turned to look at Amon and stared at his shining monocle for two more seconds: "I tried to buy Klein's soul, but failed. This time I should try to buy Miss Fors's."

“I haven’t seen a cat in the past two days.”

"Richard has completed His sea exploration mission and has sorted out all the records for me. If you want to find it, you can try to summon it yourself." The book in Edward's hand turned into a wisp of green smoke and dissipated. He also took out a sandwich from the basket and ate it slowly. "I am going to the sea, and maybe I will go to the God-forsaken Land in the future. But the time has not been determined yet. You can decide whether to follow me or return to Amon."

"go back?"

The cheese in the sandwich in his hand slowly flowed down. Amon laid the sandwich flat and ate a quarter of it in one bite. He said with a strange expression, "I can't wear these clothes anymore after I go back, and I can't match accessories as I like. I suddenly feel a little bored."

"You can think about it slowly."

"Okay. I've learned a lot about ancient history and mythology recently. I think I can become an ancient scholar, but I haven't been out of touch with the times for 300 years." Amon only had one bite of the sandwich left in his hand. He reached out and took a bottle of warm milk from the basket and warmed his hands like a human. "It's hard for me to imagine that humans can have so many magical fantasies and ideas about gods. Every country, every region, and even every person can interpret the gods instead of following the scriptures. From this perspective, although there are seven gods now, they are all quite monotonous."

Edward took a bite of his sandwich and said, "Tell me about it."

"I find that the older the gods are, the more complex and multifaceted they are. They can almost be said to be the embodiment of nature as imagined by humans." "The one that impressed me the most was the Great Goddess in Sumerian mythology. She loved humans, but also loved humans killing each other. Many gods in other civilizations are similar. For example, a goddess representing destruction actually sleeps violently while destroying."

"The same is true of Greek mythology. Ethics and morality do not exist. People can choose to believe in or convert to other gods, and gods can choose to protect or turn a blind eye to humans. Most of the time, their image is negative. God is eternal, powerful, and correct. Even the, um, God (Amon thought about it and changed his name) is very cruel. He never hesitates to use thunder and fire and divine punishment for those who do not believe in him."

Amon finished the last bite of the sandwich, wiped his hands, put the warm milk on the straw, and drank it happily: "But later, the image of the gods began to become single, with only two characteristics left: simply loving humans and excluding those who don't believe in themselves. Humans seem to have lost their reverence for nature and began to use the name of God to make profits for themselves."

"Yes." Edward replied, "Your feeling is correct. Gods who care purely for humans only exist in human imagination. There is no need to pretend. Cruelty, contradiction, complexity and selfishness are the nature of gods."

"Is that true of you?"

"This question is a reward for your hard work."

Edward spoke with great emotion: "Of course I am multifaceted. I love life, but I also hate those who are noisy and not good enough; I expect life to strive for progress, so I also want to see them destroy themselves; I build buildings in order to see them collapse, and I educate life in order to see civilizations destroyed; I like special individuals, expect them to bring changes, and also expect them to be destroyed by their own group."

"I see. But you seem quite rational."

"Maybe I just happened to have a human appearance and became crazy in a way that you can understand. If a mountain, a forest, or the wind suddenly spoke to you, you would also feel terrified."

Edward didn't care. After finishing his sandwich, he tapped the edge of the basket with his fingers, and the empty basket disappeared. "By the way, the original reward was to make you a set of glasses and accessories."

"What? I want the glasses too, can I?"

"Then go ask your half-father for reimbursement..."

Edward was about to stand up when he suddenly saw a man in the distance turning around and running towards him. He did not move, but watched the human running to him breathlessly. Amon looked at him curiously.

"Hoo, hoo, Mr. Vaughan, I actually met you here!"

The young man leaned on his knees, panting heavily, and laughed breathlessly: "I've been looking for you for a long time!"

260
"...Talim?" Edward recognized the voice and stood up, a little confused. "What do you want from me?"

“That’s it, huh!” Talim took a deep breath and finally controlled his rapid breathing. He smiled apprehensively, “I had no one to talk to before, so I found you…that’s it…that young man who you always suggested to elope…”

"I remember now, you came to me for their matter?"

Talim coughed, serious and a little guilty: "Yes, I once told you that one of them is from a very famous family, so I hope you won't spread the news. Well, I know you are a gentleman of good character, but what I mean is that in artistic creation...it's better not to include their story...um..."

Amon listened to their conversation curiously.

Edward thought for a moment and said, "Talim, you are a noble, right?"

"But even if it's the Duke's children or even the princes and princesses, the love between nobles and commoners has always been a popular part of dramas throughout the ages. It's impossible for you to eliminate it. Of course, I'm not someone who writes romantic comedies, and I have professional ethics, so you can rest assured about that."

"That's true..."

Talim had just felt relieved when he suddenly became nervous again: "No! How can you be sure that they are the adults from the Duke's or the King's family? Please stop speculating, this is a very serious matter!"

Amon couldn't help but interrupt: "We are all human beings, why can't we love each other?"

Hearing such a reckless statement that disregarded status, Talim was speechless for a moment. Out of politeness, he still replied: "Because nobles and commoners cannot marry each other, the gap in status will make both of them suffer."

"Can……"

"Okay, I understand." Edward raised his hand to stop Amon from continuing his rebellious behavior, and assured Talim, "Excuse me, this is the child of an acquaintance of mine. He is now studying with me and his thoughts are quite active. Please rest assured, I will not tell anyone what you said, nor will I write it down."

"...Thank you. That makes me feel relieved." Talim finally breathed a sigh of relief. He thanked again and again and left briskly.

Amon tapped his glasses frame with his index finger: "I don't quite understand. It's just a relationship. We are all human beings. What's wrong with that?"

"There's no need to understand. This is how humans make divisions and build communities of interest," Edward said. "Don't speak nonsense next time."

"Ok."

"But what does the prince's love have to do with him?" Edward glanced at Talim's shrinking back from a distance, thinking of the witch's curse rooted in him, and was a little confused, "What about the things on him? The witch wants to kill him to silence him? But what value does he have?"

"... Could it be that the prince fell in love with a witch?"

TBC
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Day 3 of the graduation trip: My waist hurts from walking so much.

82 Well, it seems that writing about the devil’s sacrifice is prone to problems…

(End of this chapter)