Chapter 761 The Scam of the Century <TOC> Chapter 763 Two Thresholds
Translator: SumTLMan
At dusk.
A reindeer sleigh glided over the thick snow.
Angel sat in the back seat of the sleigh, carefully examining the map in his hands. Beside him was Nite, who was vigorously waving the reins, making the reindeer run faster.
This was Tailmouse Street, lined with residences on both sides. Warm lights shone through the windows, and twisting smoke rose from the chimneys amidst the heavy snowfall.
There weren’t many adults on the street, mostly children bundled up like meatballs, playfully engaging in snowball fights with their companions while waiting for dinner.
As the reindeer sleigh approached, the mischievous children were not afraid and even scooped up snowballs to throw at the vehicle.
Nite was enjoying the exhilaration of the reindeer sleigh ride when he was unexpectedly hit in the face by a snowball. As the snow slid down, a red, circular imprint emerged on Nite’s fair face.
The mischievous child who had hit him was pointing at his nose and laughing uproariously.
If it had been any other noble, they would probably be seething with anger by now. However, Nite was an unusual noble, having spent years wandering the seas and having experienced much, he was more tolerant.
Nite was not angry, but he glanced nervously at the person beside him. Although Sir Pat was always kind, would he be offended by this insolence from children?
Nite suddenly realized something.
Sir Pat was not angry, as none of the snowballs had hit him. Each incoming snowball seemed to “naturally” veer around him.
Moreover, not only was he not angry, but he also had a devilish grin on his face. He swiftly caught the snowballs flying through the air and threw them back.
The mischievous children couldn’t hit him, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hit the living targets stuck in the snow.
Even though the sleigh was moving, his aim was unerring.
For every stretch the reindeer ran, a thud could be heard from behind – the sound of mischievous children being hit and falling down.
On the short Tailmouse Street, Sir Pat was like a god of snowball warfare. When he got off the sleigh, not only was there no snow on him, but he also politely smiled at the mischievous children he had hit.
Then, he uttered a phrase that made Nite’s hair stand on end: “You’re welcome!”
Amidst the wails of the mischievous children, Angel contentedly arrived at a fir tree. There was a public well here, but since there was no shortage of water, the well had been sealed with a large stone.
“This is the twenty-sixth well; I hope it won’t disappoint me,” Angel murmured as he stood by the well.
Nite approached at this time, looking at Sir Pat, who was serious, and thinking about his earlier lethal smile towards the mischievous child. It was hard to imagine that this was the same person.
However, he now understood what Deputy Captain Helen meant; Sir Pat was indeed different from other extraordinary beings.
As Nite was lost in thought, Angel looked disappointed, holding his forehead: his mental tentacles had probed all the way to the bottom of the well, and there was no anomaly.
“I’ll go down and take a look; you wait for me here.” After telling Nite, Angel used his Magic Hand to move the large stone sealing the well. He then wrapped himself in a thin layer of water membrane and jumped into the well.
This was a diving well, and Angel quickly reached the bottom, which was the same as his psychic detection, with no anomalies.
Angel reluctantly surfaced, and when he jumped out of the well, he brought with his a faint mist. This was a natural phenomenon caused by the well water being warmer than the outside world.
Seeing Sir Pat’s slightly somber expression, Nite knew that they probably hadn’t gained anything this time.
He didn’t know what Sir Pat was looking for, and he wouldn’t ask too much. If Sir Pat wanted to say, he would naturally know. To insistently inquire when someone was unwilling to speak would undoubtedly make them suspicious.
“Sir, shall we go to the next location? I checked, and there are still four wells in Widow Street that we haven’t explored.”
At this time, Angel was also pondering. After screening and investigating, he marked a total of thirty-three wells within his designated area that were over three thousand years old. Adding the three wells with unconfirmed ages, there were thirty-six in total, which wasn’t a lot, and could be completed in a day if they moved fast.
However, now he had ruled out all the wells in the outer area, and the remaining wells were all concentrated in Lucas’s residential area.
By rights, these wells should be the most likely wells where Lucas committed suicide. However, when he went out for a stroll the night before last, these areas were concealed by extraordinary beings.
If he barged in now, he might attract attention.
Angel hesitated, wondering whether he should go and take a look.
“Speaking of which, there’s a well on Widow Street that’s in a good friend’s house. He’s the son of the West Expedition Knights’ captain and is currently a prospective baron,” Nite said, looking at the map.
Angel’s eyes lit up when he heard this.
“Nite, my main purpose for coming to the City of Lost Melodies this time is actually to find talented individuals. Since your friend is the son of a knight, he might have some talent. We can go there and test him.”
Nite looked puzzled. Are the children of knights known for having high talent? Is there such a saying?
Although Nite was doubtful, he naturally wouldn’t dare to object and continued with his job as a sled driver.
Angel knew that his reasoning was far-fetched, and while he closed his eyes to rest, he whispered, “Starting tomorrow, you can help me spread the word outside, looking for suitable talents. You know the restrictions, and the place to test talents will be… your home.”
Nite’s face brightened at this, testing at his home meant indirectly indicating that the New Rosberg Family had a connection with a respected wizard. For their family, this was a tremendous opportunity.
Thus, without hesitation, Nite nodded: “Please rest assured, I will take care of it!”
However, after finishing, Nite suddenly thought of something: “Sir, the total population of the City of Lost Melodies exceeds one million, with a large number of eligible people. If the information is spread indiscriminately, I’m afraid there won’t be enough room at home, and your workload will increase.”
Angel was well aware of this, as this was, after all, a city with a population of one million.
He pondered for a moment: “We can limit the spread of information appropriately. At the same time, those who want to test their talents can do so, but they must first pay five gold coins. Regardless of whether the test reveals any talents, the five gold coins will not be returned.”
For an ordinary family, five gold coins were equivalent to their entire wealth.
Gold coins were of little use to Angel, but they could test one thing: were you prepared to risk everything, only to possibly end up with nothing?
The same principle applied to the path of a wizard. Pay the price, and there is a high chance of failure; but without paying the price, success will never be achieved.
The gold coins were just one means for Angel to limit the number of participants. He planned to engrave a mental shock rune at the entrance of Nite’s house.
Only those who endured the mental shock would be qualified to take the test.
And there were only two types of people who could endure the mental shock: those with strong mental powers and those with strong willpower.
This could serve as a second threshold. With these two thresholds in place, the number of people who would ultimately come to take the test shouldn’t be too many.
Hearing Angel’s explanation, Nite breathed a sigh of relief. If people of all social classes were to swarm in without distinction, it would be too chaotic.
During their conversation, the sled had already entered Widow Street.
It was only then that Angel was surprised to discover that the apprentice wizards who had been guarding this place had all left. Either they had already obtained what they wanted and had withdrawn, or there were no clues to be found here.
Angel was more inclined to believe the latter, as anything that had survived from three thousand years ago should not have been discovered only now.
Since they had already withdrawn, there was no need for Angel to go to Nite’s friend’s house immediately. Instead, he would stick to the original plan and investigate each well one by one.
As for whether or not to investigate Lucas’s mansion, Angel considered and ultimately decided against it.
If there were any strange places, they should have already been taken by the people of the Song of the Deep Sea. Why would they wait for him to pick up the leftovers?
Angel examined the first three wells in Widow Street one by one. They were all diving wells, easy to probe to the bottom, and none revealed anything unusual.
Angel could only pin his hopes on Nite’s friend, the knight’s son, and their family well.
Regrettably, Angel found that the last well also yielded nothing, and as for Nite’s friend, he was an ordinary person without any talents.
After leaving Widow Street, Angel continued to visit other areas of Lucas’s property.
These areas originally had extraordinary people patrolling, but now they were gone. Angel successfully explored the final six wells, and the result was still nothing.
On the way back to the New Rosberg Manor, Angel’s expression was full of confusion.
Could it be that his judgment was wrong, and Lucas didn’t jump into his own well, but instead went to someone else’s house to do so? Wasn’t that a bit too bold?
Or perhaps… was Lucas lying about jumping into the well?
In Lucas’s logbook, other events were delayed by hundreds or thousands of years, such as the “Flower Sea” and “Wishing Tree”… could it be that his well-jumping was actually an event that happened a long time later?
That seemed unlikely, right?
The records in the logbook were divided into two categories. One was seemingly genuine, such as daily routines and records of eating and drinking… there was no need to fake these.
The other category was obviously fictional, such as the Tearful Flower Sea, Island Gods, and Luminous Wishing Tree… these were also clear at a glance, possessing some elements of fiction.
Angel treated all these fictional elements as somewhat unreliable “prophecies.”
The final log entry where he wrote about jumping into the well was clearly the first type, which prompted Angel to tirelessly search for it.
However, now that he had not found any clues in any of the wells, let alone remains, there wasn’t even a speck of debris under the full-range mental exploration.
Could it be that Lucas lied in his last log entry?
Angel now couldn’t even tell if Lucas was truly the honest person he claimed to be or the liar spoken of by many.
Chapter 761 The Scam of the Century <TOC> Chapter 763 Two Thresholds