"The Forsaken Land," Silver City, at the base of the Round Tower.
After the tarot session ended, Derrick returned to the real world. He sat cautiously for a few seconds, and finding nothing unusual, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Recalling the information exchanged at the Tarot meeting, he quietly pressed his ear against the wall to listen to the sounds from next door.
Suddenly, an old and ethereal voice came from behind Derrick: "Where did you go just now?"
Derrick froze instantly, and the hairs on his body stood on end.
But the combat experience he had accumulated from patrolling and exploring made him quickly calm down. Instead of turning around, he clenched his hands and placed them on his chin, as if in prayer.
The small room suddenly became bright, and pure beams of light, wreathed in flames, fell from the ceiling and struck the person behind him.
Just then, Derrick was astonished to see the divine light he had prayed for suddenly thicken, becoming so dazzling that he couldn't open his eyes.
In the light, someone lunged at Derrick from behind, followed by a piercing scream.
Only then did Derrick dare to turn around and look. In the bright light, he saw a blurry figure wearing a black classical robe, a pointed soft hat, black hair, a broad forehead, and a monocle made of crystal.
Soon, the bright light faded, and Derrick saw the gray-haired "Chief" Colin, and on the bed behind him, a translucent little worm.
It is only the length of a thumb, and its transparent rings divide it into many segments.
Derrick was taken aback at first, then realized the danger had passed: "'Chief's' esteemed position."
Colin nodded slightly and said, "We've always known he had a problem, but in order to find out what this guy named Amon was up to, we deliberately didn't eliminate him directly."
"Unfortunately, he was perfectly normal until today."
He then turned to Derrick and asked, "Why do you think he suddenly changed? How do you feel that you are different from others?"
Derrick frowned and fell silent, but he soon recalled that the hermit had once said that Amon was a descendant of the "ancient sun god".
So he replied, "Perhaps it's because my extraordinary path is different from others."
Colin's expression remained unchanged: "What were you doing in the room just now?"
"Attending a tarot session!"
Derrick suddenly realized that things were probably not as simple as he had imagined.
He took a deep breath and said, "...Sleeping."
Colin looked quietly into Derrick's eyes, and after a dozen seconds asked, "Before his mutation, did you notice anything unusual?"
"No," Derrick said, shaking his head with considerable certainty.
Silence fell again at the bottom of the round tower. After another ten seconds or so, Colin said, "Your condition has stabilized. You can go back now."
Derrick paused for a moment, then said, "Okay."
He took a deep breath and left the round tower along the passageway. On the way, he encountered the guards who arrived one after another. They let him pass without asking him a single question.
Derrick hurried home, closed the door, and carefully observed the room for a while. Seeing nothing amiss, he muttered under his breath, "A fool not of this age... I have just experienced something terrible..."
He reported everything that had just happened to the Fool and mentioned his guesses, hoping to get an answer from Mr. Fool.
As the tension subsided, he felt intensely tired, so he lay down on the bed and quickly fell asleep.
In the quiet, dimly lit room, streaks of lightning would sometimes illuminate everything, and sometimes disappear into the darkness.
Derrick, who was fast asleep, suddenly smirked and raised his hand as if to pinch his eye socket: "Ha, Fool! Interesting."
...
Backlund, West End, 51 Henry Street.
Odis opened her eyes, saw the ceiling of the lounge, and then yawned widely; she was really sleepy.
However, he was destined not to have time for a nap today. He got up and first offered £260 to the "Fool" to complete the deal with the "Magician".
Then they went to the shop in front, first summarizing the accounts brought by Enoch and Mandy's assistants, and listening to their brief reports.
Just as he expected, it wasn't long before Viscount Kelton's men delivered the high-quality spiritual materials that Odis had ordered.
The spiritual materials were packed in two large leather trunks. They contained not only the materials needed for Odis's next experiments, but also the spiritual materials needed to create the "Flaming Arrow".
After inspecting the goods at the counter, Odis paid £2,360, and his savings were instantly depleted.
He took the materials to the backyard and began to process them, preparing the spiritual paint for drawing the "Flaming Arrow" magic circle.
We need to finish this order quickly and get the remaining £2,000 from Bernadette. Also, Klein didn't mention the deal for "Flaming Arrow" at today's gathering.
Odis estimated that the deal had probably fallen through.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
But it doesn't matter, Bernadette's money is enough for him to make up for the empty promise he made at the Tarot meeting.
At dinner time, Max, the squad leader of "Mechanical Heart," invited Odis to dinner.
Odis then remembered that he had received a sum of money.
The two found a nearby restaurant and asked for a small room where they wouldn't be disturbed.
Before the food was served, the two of them talked about business.
"I asked Captain Iconsel for you at the right time," Max said, puffing on his cigarette. "Unless you join the 'Mechanical Heart,' it will be difficult to get you a 'wizard' potion recipe."
Odis was slightly taken aback. If it were before today, Max's words would have made him only consider trading with Bernadette. But with the formula trade at the Tarot Meeting, he said more easily, "Okay, no problem."
"Give me all those honors in gold pounds."
"You made the right choice." Max was also very happy. If Odis insisted, he wouldn't know how to persuade him otherwise: "Your intelligence led us to destroy a 'Rose School' hideout."
"The captain said that you would get a bigger reward for this case. He originally planned to give you 600 pounds, but since you gave up the 'wizard' potion recipe and asked for gold pounds instead, I can help you apply for more by combining the two."
He thought for a moment: "1500 pounds shouldn't be a problem."
"That's great," Odis said honestly. "It will help cover my financial shortfall."
Max was slightly taken aback: "You're conducting new research again?"
He thought to himself: No wonder he gave up the "wizard's" potion recipe.
"That's right."
"I've always wanted to ask you, why don't you join 'Mechanical Heart'? With your research achievements and talents, wouldn't it be better to focus on being a research scholar in the church? The church will provide you with ample funding, and you just need to go all out in your research."
Odis laughed and said, "I'm afraid that if I really let go of all my research, it will bankrupt the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery."