The Secret Code of Monsters.

Chapter 74 Visitors outside the door

When she looked at the holy water, everything became clear to the executive officers at the table.

She lied before.

For example: you are a devout believer, you pray every day, and you often go to church.

Because of Kate Pasetti's status and respectability, it is impossible for her to go to church without making a donation (not counting the seat fee).

The church priests are not blind and will never let go of such a "devout and wealthy believer" (mainly devout).

Especially when the "piety" reaches a certain amount.

She was sure to get a sprig or two of holy water made by the ritualist.

The number is small and the conditions are harsh but…

If she had had it before, she wouldn't have had the expression she had now.

It's like the first time I see it.

This shows that she has never been to church and doesn't even know anything about it.

"Holy water made by the faithful, Mrs. Pasetti."

Fernandez did not point it out. Instead, he raised his left hand and introduced Roland, who was sitting on his left, to the woman: "Collins, Roland Collins. The holy water he made once killed and injured a cultist."

The holy water produced by the ritualists can be returned to the church.

But few ritualists do this.

Unless you are really tight on money.

For a standard bottle of holy water (the size of a glass test tube), the church would give a 'gift' of half a crown to a crown in return (two to five shillings, the price varied).

But few people will sell.

One reason is that holy water has many uses.

It can cleanse curses of low intensity, calm emotions, repel/kill negative creatures, and stabilize the mind (but it is best not to take it frequently).

The second is the difficulty in production.

Pray every day for seven days, one standard capacity at a time.

That is, a ritualist can only make four holy waters per month at most (in case someone is not sensitive to numbers, Roland kindly reminds you that there are four weeks in a month.)
This is the most ideal state.

In reality, the failure rate of the ritual for making holy water is very, very, very high.

Take Fernandez himself for example: his highest record was a month last year - he performed four ceremonies that month, and succeeded three times.

Create three Holy Waters.

It is simply the mercy of the Father of all things.

Then, until this year.

Each one is one portion.

He didn't even succeed once last month.

How can you sell something for a few shillings if you don’t have enough for yourself?

But the reason why he introduced Roland to Pasetti was because Roland was different.

His success rate is terrifyingly high...

Let’s put it this way, Roland’s ritual has only failed once so far.

"What? Following the steps in the book... isn't it easy?" He once said this while looking at himself innocently.

Fernandez even wondered if he had secretly embarked on a great path that would increase the success rate of the ritual.

Roland knew this harmless little secret because he trusted him.

Fernandez wasn't going to tell anyone.

嗏

Can help Roland make some money.

"Roland Collins. If you need it, I will be happy to ask him to provide you with some holy water - just drink a drop every day, and fear will never bother you again. What's more, it can come in handy in times of crisis..."

Kate Pasetti looked at Roland with great interest, and after discovering that his eyesight was not good, she sighed and spoke a lot of words of pity for him.

It took at least two minutes.

"…I'll pay a pound a piece, will you?"

"It seems you haven't told all your little secrets to Fernandez."

Roland had never failed in the holy water ceremony.

Moreover, what he didn't tell Fernandez was that due to the existence of the "Secret Sound of the Pages", most of the time he could succeed with two to four standard copies.

every time.

'The Secret Sound of the Book Pages: Your eyes will unconsciously distort each ritual, making them occasionally have more powerful effects.'

"You are so cunning."
-
Appropriate secrets help deepen friendship.
-
All secrets are the beginning of betrayal.

"A few hundred years after you die, it will become a famous quote."
-
The prerequisite is that I have to be a celebrity.

"Little angel from the East District, a flower in the pharmacy."
-
Who taught you to use flowers to describe men?

"Do you have any objections?"
-
Of course, this is too...

"Su Yue."

"It's Su Yue, your sister Nina..."

"Hello?"

"Little angel? Are you still there?"

"Hi?"
-
Flowers are not a bad idea. Roland sternly handed over three bottles of holy water.

Later, a servant will give him the 'donation'.

After talking about holy water, Fernandez brought the topic back to the alien species.

This also gave Mrs. Pasetti some time to calm down.

"I don't have any doubts about you, ma'am. But I still want to ask you this: Have you ever performed illegal rituals, or touched, carried, or collected any books or parchments with strange characters, coins, etc.? I hope you can answer this question honestly..."

"Please be aware of our identities, ma'am. Lies will not keep you safe—"

Before she finished her words, Kate Pasetti immediately ordered the servants to take down all the jewelry and clothes she had recently bought or received as gifts.

Including all the servants in the house.

The jewelry was on the table, being taken care of by three men; the clothing was next door, being examined by Shandel Kratov.

"Mr. Devinson, I and the servants are all here. Apart from that, I only eat and drink a little every day. I will never touch anything unclean..."

Fernandez shook his head and asked the servant to take her to rest first.

The inspection won’t take long.

When Roland activated the "Secrets" and manipulated them to pass over each piece of jewelry, the crow turned his head and looked at him.

"Why haven't you set out on your path to greatness yet, Collins."

"You don't recognize the Inquisition, or the Church? Or... the All-Father?"

Fernandez stood between them. "We're on a mission, Crow."

Even though he was separated from Fernandez, Roland could still sense that cold gaze.

The flames in his eyes blew away the darkness, but also reflected something that shouldn't exist in the waking world - for example, at this moment, floating next to the crow...

A faint, blurry shadow.

Her face was severely decayed, but she was wearing an elegant long dress. Her neck, which was devoid of flesh and blood, with only the cervical vertebrae left, was also wearing a sky-blue gemstone necklace.

She just floated quietly beside the crow, gazing at him lovingly.

It was not until Roland stared at her for too long that the spirit suddenly turned its head - only its head turned, but its body did not move at all.

The horrifying scene made Roland twitch his lips and he looked away silently.

Crow seemed to have noticed something and glanced at Roland: "...I'm just worried that there will be a traitor in the Inquisition... again."

Fernandez suppressed his anger:

"You want to argue with me now, in Mrs. Pasetti's house, where in a few hours a strange creature, the like of which we have never seen before, will appear at the door - you want to argue with me on this occasion? A crow?"

The crow grinned nervously, lowered his head and stopped talking.

——The spirit gently placed its head on Crow’s shoulder and stared at Roland.

"She's showing off her lover."
-
I have that, too. I have my uncle, I have Jam and Enid, I have Fernandez, I have Cherry—isn't that enough?

"Obviously, that's not the kind of lover she meant."
-
Why should I argue with a spirit.

"Who knows? I think you look like that kind of person."
-
I wouldn't be that naive.

As for the so-called inspection, most of the cases handled by the executive officer can show some traces at this step:

Whether it was the accidental purchase of cursed accessories or the frame-up by someone with ulterior motives, at this point, the executors could see the problem.

Except in very rare cases.

Such as this time.

Fernandez got nothing.

They couldn't even figure out who the 'visitor' was looking for.

"Someone lied."

The crow looked gloomy.

Given what had just happened, it was understandable that he would target Mrs. Pasetti with suspicion.

There's something wrong with that woman.

He grabbed a sterling silver necklace, and the 'highly decayed' spirit beside him floated over and put his head through the necklace, as if wearing it on his chest.

Roland stood behind Fernandez and quietly gestured to the spirit:
Point at her and raise one finger. Then point at yourself and raise five.

The spirit bared its teeth at him.

Roland pretended not to notice, playing with the mother-of-pearl hairpin in his hand, and continued Crow's words: "If I were her, I would probably send a servant away every day to figure out who the 'visitor' is looking for... or even run away to the church."

But she brushed aside the question by saying she was worried about the servants getting hurt.

At the same time, I don't want to leave here.

She, Kate Pasetti, that woman had problems.

Fernandez pondered for a moment and responded.

He agreed with what Roland and Crow said.

As the owner, his own safety is the most important thing - it's not that Fernandez is cold-blooded, this would be the subconscious reaction of a normal person.

What's more, Mrs. Pasetti is a 'delicate woman'.

With the knight as her backer, why should she wait to die with the servants?
unless…

She knew very well that the 'visitor' outside the door was looking for her.

as well as…

she will not die.

(End of this chapter)