Whispering Verse

Although there are only a few members, there are really many crows raised in the Crow Club. Even the oil paintings hanging on the corridor walls are images of crows. And when Shade and Sister Devlin, led by a man, met the rumored boy in the study deep in the house, the first thing Shade noticed was the crow in the birdcage hanging at the door.

With dark feathers and red eyes, after Shade and the others entered the door, they kept flapping their wings in the birdcage, seeming very uneasy.

The man who led the way did not stay in the room for long. He introduced the guest to the owner of the room and left.

The door was closed behind Shade, and the study was a little dark. It was obviously daytime, but the curtains were tightly closed, and it was only illuminated by the gas lamps on the walls on both sides. The lampshade of the gas lamp seemed to have not been scrubbed for a long time, which made the light appear unusually dim.

Coupled with the sound of crows flapping their wings from time to time and the strange smell of burning spices in the study, this really makes this place look like a professional fortune teller's room.

The study room is very large, divided into two parts: bookshelf and desk in the east, and sofa set in the west. Only the two gas lamps in the west were on, and the so-called "boy" was sitting on the couch waiting for the two of them.

Shade pushed the wheelchair, letting the metal wheels roll over the red carpet. He sat down on the couch opposite the boy, not in the center but on one side because the wheelchair was parked on the outside of the couch.

On the coffee table between him and the boy, there were already two cups of steaming tea. It seemed that he had calculated that the reserved guests would arrive at this time, and knew that two people would come. .

But the "boy" doesn't look like a boy. Although he is sitting, he can be estimated to be about 5 feet (about 1.52m) tall. The limbs are abnormally thick, but the body looks very thin. Not only that, his head was also completely disproportionately large to his body. Although he was wearing a turban, Shade could still tell that he had no hair.

Wearing a pair of glasses on his face, his two thick hands were clasped together and placed on his lap. When Shade looked at him, he also looked at Shade. This made Shade very suspicious that the other person was not a boy at all, but an adult with incomplete development.

[One ring or two rings. 】

"Hello, my name is John Watson and this is my sister Mary Watson."

While Shade spoke, Sister Devlin, who was wearing a veil, nodded slightly. Because the room was too dark, the nun sitting there really looked like an exquisite proportional doll. After all, her exposed hands looked too perfect under the dim gaslight.

"Sorry, Mary has had some problems with her legs since she was a child, so she has a somewhat introverted personality and is not willing to talk to strangers. This time, I will communicate with you."

Shade used his excellent acting skills and believed that he was really talented.

"Understandable."

"The boy" said, his voice was very green, which made him sound like a real boy.

"What is your name?"

Shade asked politely.

"Joey Patton, they usually call me little Joey, or Mr. Patton."

The boy said again, and because the sentence was relatively long, you could tell that his accent was a very authentic Middleburg local accent. In contrast, Shade's accent is more Tobesque, while Sister Devlin's accent has always been standard Delarian.

"It's a pleasure to see you on this gloomy Sunday morning, Mr. Barton."

Shade glanced at Sister Devlin in the wheelchair next to her again:

"This visit is mainly for my sister. I have heard about you and your strange abilities, so I want to know about Mary's future. I am really worried about her. She is at home every day. Reading, occasionally taking care of the flowers or teasing the orange cat I raised, other than that, she is rarely willing to let the servants push her to the manor, ahem, I mean to walk on the street, so I came to you. , I want to know what her future will be like.”

Using the identity of "a noble who does not want to reveal his identity" to explain his slightly weird behavior so far will add doubts to himself and is more conducive to concealing his identity.

"Mr. Watson, do you want to change the future?"

Joey Barton asked, staring at Shade with his black eyes. There was a feeling of tiredness in his eyes, and he didn't know why the other party was tired so early.

Shade immediately shook his head:

"No, no, I just want to know the future, and at least be mentally prepared before that day comes."

As he spoke, he took out the envelope containing the money that he had prepared in advance from his pocket and placed it next to the teacup on the coffee table.

Joey Barton's eyes glanced at the envelope:

"Well, I can divine the fate of your future death for you."

"That's great. Do you need to prepare anything in advance? I heard that the fortune tellers of the Prophet Association even need to provide the specific time of birth in order to predict."

"No, it doesn't have to be so troublesome. My eyes can tell me the answer directly."

"That's great, what's the answer?"

Shade asked curiously. Mr. Barton paused and pursed his lips. His lips were very thick:

"You can't get the answer just by looking at it. It requires the cooperation of some simple rituals. However, before that, I can use other divination methods to calculate your destiny. Knowing you better can increase the success rate of death divination."

He bent down and took out a pair of divination cards from under the coffee table. Then the divination cards were arranged in a row of nine on the coffee table.

With his right hand, he motioned to Shade to pick up a random card. Shade thought about it and picked up the one in the upper right corner. After turning it over, it turned out to be [Death].

"Um?"

This really surprised him. After all, after Priest August revealed this card a month ago, he really died once:

"What do you mean? I'm going to die?"

"I'll choose the one next to me."

Sister Devlin's slightly cold voice brought Shade back to his senses. He opened the card next to him, and under the dark yellow light, the card was [Flame].

Shade placed the two cards face up next to the envelope containing the money:

"Mr. Barton, what does this mean? I originally just wanted to divine fortune for Mary, but am I going to encounter bad luck?"

"No, divination is just divination. Please don't think too much. You can treat this as preparation. Next, I will divine your death for you."

Mr. Barton did not put away the fortune-telling cards on the table, but instead took out a new card from his pocket and covered it in front of his right eye. Shade narrowed his eyes slightly, because judging from the back of the card, the card in Joey Barton's hand was not a divination card, but a Rhodes card.

The "boy" first looked at Sister Devlin in the wheelchair, and then put down the card after a while. He did not reveal the face of the card during the whole process, so that Shade could not see what card it was.

"This Miss Mary Watson will live until twelve years from now."

"Twelve years, but in twelve years she was only in her 30s. May I ask, what was the cause of death you saw?"

"It is difficult to describe. Miss Mary Watson seemed to have died in a heap of ashes."

Shade frowned:

"This is not the result I could have imagined. Do you mean she suffered a fire?"

The boy shook his head and said nothing.

Shade then looked at Sister Devlin, who was sitting in a wheelchair, still keeping her hands folded together on her legs. She also shook her head slightly, meaning there was no need to delve into this issue.

"Then please continue to divine my death."

Shade sat there while the boy continued to pick up the card and put it in front of his eyes.

But this time, he didn't give an answer quickly. Instead, he suddenly put down the cards and looked at Shade with both eyes. Then he covered the Rhodes card in front of his eyes again, frowning, obviously seeing something incredible.

After putting down the cards, he slightly raised his head to look at Shade:

"How can it be?"

"Excuse me, what's wrong?"

Although I don’t know what the opponent’s divination level is, at least this look is really bluffing.

"It's really strange. I saw that you died from the collapse of the giant tower."

This way of death is at least more normal than the way Sister Devlin turned into ashes.

"What about the time of death?"

He asked curiously again.

"Boy" Joey Barton had a sullen face and tapped his thick fingers on the sofa twice quickly to express his uneasiness. He didn't speak immediately, and even the crow at the door remained silent.

The moment of silence seemed to make the dark room become more and more confusing. Whether it was the "boy" sitting across from the coffee table or the nun wearing a veil beside him, Shade felt more and more weird.

It was a sign of inspiration, of him capturing part of the future. Shade understood that he would hear an incredible answer.

"Ten months ago, it was the beginning of the year 1853 on the universal calendar."