Lynch sat on his bed, staring blankly at the morning sun outside the window, feeling utterly despondent.
He hadn't slept well last night, plagued by several dreams throughout the night.
Well, that was to be expected. After all, the experiences of the previous evening had been a bit too stimulating for someone of his age and life experience. He hadn't felt much at the time due to the tension, but once he fell asleep, the weight of it all surged to the surface, causing him to dream of many overwhelming scenes.
Especially the final dream before he woke up just now—it was truly intense...
No, what am I thinking?
Giving himself a light slap, Lynch climbed out of bed to tidy up.
The bedding was clean and smelled of sunshine. Even though he had seen what this smell was like in his previous life, he still loved it.
The room was also clean; Mrs. Maggie cleaned it every day, which was included in the one and a half pound meal fee, but Lynch preferred to tidy it himself as it gave him a sense of home.
It was a little past seven, the perfect time to start hustling for his life.
He rolled up the five pound note and tucked it into the inner pocket of his formal suit, placed the remaining one pound note and a dozen or so shillings in coins into his purse, hid The Passion of the Blazing Lady in his trench coat pocket, and finally checked the Watcher's letter of introduction one last time before picking up his cane and leaving the room.
"Good morning, Mr. Levive."
As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw Mrs. Maggie poking her head out from the kitchen, offering a gentle smile. She looked so soft and fragile, but recalling her ferocity and madness from yesterday, Lynch couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.
"Please, take a seat. Breakfast will be ready in a moment. I haven't quite grasped your routine yet and wasn't sure what time to prepare breakfast, but thankfully, I didn't start too early."
Ah, he had almost forgotten; he would have breakfast every day from now on. How wonderful.
Lynch sat at the dining table, recalling the desolation of rummaging for breadcrumbs yesterday, and couldn't help but sigh that this was what life was supposed to be.
"Breakfast is usually bread, sometimes with butter, sometimes with eggs. There will be jam and coffee every day—just everyday food, I hope you don't mind. By the way, the coffee is already brewed in the pot; please, help yourself."
Lynch nodded. As he poured the coffee, he thought of yesterday's events and almost chuckled. Mrs. Maggie must have thought of the same thing, as she turned away with a flushed face to continue tending to the oven.
There was a newspaper on the table, which Lynch picked up and opened.
《Rhine City Investigator》. Although he always felt the name sounded malicious and ominous, Lynch flipped through it quickly anyway.
There was nothing related to mysteries. Come to think of it, if it were so easily seen by ordinary people, there would be no need to call it mystery.
The case involving the Randall family hadn't even lasted a day before all movement ceased. The current hot topic in the papers was the royal tour of Princess Sophia of the Rose family and the construction of the Bester Tunnel. The tunnel construction in particular was a point of contention; it was said that the mountain folk of Bester Mountain feared new things like trains and tracks and were desperately trying to block the progress of the era, having already incited several strikes, caused multiple acts of sabotage, and even resulted in loss of life.
After breakfast, Lynch waved his top hat to Mrs. Maggie in farewell and headed straight for the Crown District.
Separated from the King's District only by the Lande River, it was a half-hour walk away, yet the atmosphere was worlds apart. One side was the dilapidated old city, while the other was the bustling city center.
Crown Square, with the Governor's Mansion and the Municipal Building as its dual core, sat right in the center of the Crown District, surrounded by flamboyant Victorian-style buildings. Among these, four Gothic cathedrals were particularly striking.
They were also the target of Lynch's visit.
The original body was not a believer and knew nothing of the gods, only that there were still twelve major gods in this world and that the seventy-plus countries across the globe each chose their own official faith from among them.
The Lande Kingdom had four official faiths: Tina, the Lord of Wealth; Fiona, the Lord of Suffering; Nyx, the Lord of the Black Night; and Phil, the Lord of Fire and Crafts. These official faiths had cathedrals in every major city in the country, while non-official faiths could only build chapels, which were much smaller in scale and influence.
However, Lynch had little interest in these faiths.
It wasn't that he was a staunch atheist; he had encountered an eldritch god, so he wouldn't doubt the existence of the major gods. He simply believed in the fact of their existence itself. As a newly arrived transmigrator, he couldn't possibly have faith.
Therefore, his goal today was to find a feasible direction for soul alienation. If he couldn't find one, he at least needed to figure out where his path lay.
However, as he approached Crown Square, he realized he might have come at the wrong time.
It was only eight-thirty in the morning, but thousands of people were already gathered in the square, occupying most of it and clogging the surrounding roads, severely obstructing traffic.
Thousands of sturdy men in blue coarse-cloth uniforms were holding up slogans and banners, gathered in the square. Their rough voices mingled into angry shouts. On the outer perimeter, a large crowd of onlookers had blocked off the square completely.
"We need to eat too!"
"We want the tunnel, we want business!"
"Once the train runs, the gold will come!"
"Severely punish the mountain folk who sabotaged the project!"
"Severely punish the murderers!"
Without needing to ask, Lynch realized what these people were doing. He muttered to himself, "A protest. It must be about the Bester Tunnel mentioned in the paper. It seems they want to pressure the city government to crack down on the troublemaking mountain folk. I just wonder who these people are."
He had actually just meant to harass his Travel Companion in his mind, but he had muttered it aloud. To his surprise, a response came from beside him: "Railway workers, of course. At least on the surface, they are railway workers; they're all wearing railway uniforms. It doesn't count as a demonstration, just a protest, as you said—pressuring the government. It's fine for them to cause a ruckus, but they shouldn't have chosen now. It's such a hindrance."
Lynch was startled. He turned his head and saw an elderly stranger being pushed by the crowd nearby, pressed right against him, looking equally helpless.
The old man was at least sixty or seventy, wearing loose loungewear and a wide-brimmed hat that shaded half his face, making him stand out among the crowd of gentlemen in formal wear. His complexion was ruddy and he looked energetic, though his voice was anxious. It seemed he, like Lynch, was trapped by the crowded throng and unable to move.
"Good morning, sir." Since he couldn't push through anyway, Lynch decided to chat with the old man. "Are you also heading to the cathedral across the way?"
"Yes, I'm in a hurry to get to the Black Night Cathedral. I'm going to be late for a prayer service." The old man sighed helplessly. "Are you going there too? You don't look anxious at all. Do you have a way to get through quickly?"
"I do. I could just set a fire right here; that would guarantee everyone runs away in fear. Of course, I imagine half of them would get trampled to death, and you and I might be among them, so we'd better keep pushing," Lynch said with a shrug. "What is actually going on with the Bester Tunnel? Isn't it just a railway?"
"It's very complicated. It involves many issues that are hard to explain."
The old man glanced at Lynch, shook his head, and said no more.
It has nothing to do with me anyway. Lynch shrugged and tried to shield the old man from the surrounding crowd as they pushed forward together.
One meter, two meters... They finally pushed forward ten meters, and it looked like it might be a bit easier ahead, when a gentle female voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
【A mystery relic has appeared within your perception range: William's Holiday Surprise. I will do my utmost to exchange it for the innocent smiles of children.】
Huh? What's going on?
Lynch subconsciously looked around, but there were too many people to spot anything unusual.
"What's wrong?" The old man beside him noticed his strange movements.
"Nothing, just felt something was wrong." Lynch was suspicious and asked subconsciously, "Sir, what does a holiday surprise usually refer to? Something that makes children happy?"
"Oh, there are too many things. Gifts, candy, games, and, well, fireworks."
Fireworks?
Lynch suddenly felt a chill run down his back.
If fireworks went off in this environment, wouldn't it be even worse than setting a fire?
Someone was looking to cause trouble, and they were carrying a mystery relic like him?
Could there really be such a coincidence?
His heart hung in the balance as he subconsciously scanned his surroundings.
He didn't want to be blown up or trampled to death for no reason. There was nowhere to run even if he wanted to.
My perception range is three meters. The fact that I suddenly sensed a mystery relic means the probability of it being in my path is high, and it's not far. Ahead, ahead...
Thankfully, it was a bit more open ahead. Lynch took two quick steps forward to broaden his view, and then he saw a passerby a meter away suddenly pull out a box wrapped in colored paper and ribbons. The man pulled the ribbon and his hand was already gripping the lid.
It was him.
Seeing the man about to open the lid, Lynch steeled himself, lunged forward, and swung his cane down from behind the man.
Bang! It struck the shoulder perfectly.
He had actually been aiming for the head, but he had missed with his eyes closed.
The man was caught completely off guard, letting out a wail as the box slipped from his hands and fell toward the ground.
Lynch's pupils contracted. He reached out subconsciously, but it was too late. He could only watch as the box fell, the lid coming loose.
Slap. At the very last moment before hitting the ground, the box landed in a pair of hands, and the lid was pressed shut.
The person who caught the box was the old man who had been beside him. The old man's movements were much more agile than Lynch's; he not only caught the box gracefully but also kicked the man who had pulled it out to the ground.
"I saw your expression was tense, as if you had discovered something dangerous."
The old man stepped on the fallen man:
"Is it this?"
Whew. Lynch exhaled, and the female voice in his mind confirmed it. He finally managed a smile.
"That's it. Thankfully you were quick, it is indeed..."
However, before he could finish his sentence, the sound of several roars interrupted him. Explosions erupted simultaneously from several other directions around Crown Square.
In an instant, flames flared, smoke swirled, and the booming continued.
The square went quiet for a split second, followed by screams of terror.
Amidst the shrieks, thousands of people fled in all directions.
Lynch sighed deeply. What a pleasant morning. He hoped he wouldn't get trampled to death.
However, the next moment, he felt himself being grabbed by the arm and hoisted into the air, hanging from a street lamp.
It was the old man from before, hanging from the street lamp with one hand while holding Lynch with the other, looking at him with a helpless expression.
"Thankfully, at least you don't have to worry about being late. Their prayer service will have to be postponed."
"Hm? Why postponed?"
"Their bishop is absent; they can't hold it."
"Where is their bishop?"
"Hanging from a street lamp."
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