Mystery: The Stars Returner

Docklands, Sunrise Workhouse.

Since the workhouse scandal occurred, this ghastly workhouse with its gloomy dungeon has been banned by Loen officials.

As for the orphans and homeless people here, they were scattered and arranged in other almshouses, hoping that the new environment could heal their wounded hearts.

In just over a year, this place has become very deserted. Because there are a large number of children's bones buried underground, almost no one comes to this nearby area on weekdays.

The clock tower, which was strangely built and oriented in the opposite direction from the normal, had no maintenance and repairs on it and the big clock had stopped running. Ivy-like vines and moss covered the entire building.

In the dungeon beneath the ground, a figure was hiding in the shadows. To his right was a dilapidated and pitted wooden table, with an oil lamp emitting a dim yellow light placed on the table.

The light of the oil lamp could only illuminate the right side of the figure's face and the wall with a map hanging in front of it.

It was a topographic map of the major streets in Backlund, which was sold in street vendors' stalls.

Because of the moisture in the ground, the corners of the map have turned yellow and curled.

But a personal name written in red and black handwriting on the map appears particularly clear.

Hastur Campbell, Greg Negan, Audrey Hall, Hibbert Hall, Sharon, Maric...Forth Wall, Hugh Dilcha, Leonard... …Klein, Dawn Downstad, Hazel, Emlyn…

There are a total of forty or fifty names, and each name is pinned to the corresponding position on the map.

There are only five names that are circled with a red pen and circled inside.

Hastur Campbell, Audrey Hall, Leonard, Crane, John Jones.

The black figure was holding a red pen at the moment, making a small X at the bottom of the name Audrey Hall.

If you identify the people carefully, there are already red X's at the bottom of some names.

Then he put a question mark above the name John Jones, as if he was puzzled and hesitant.

His eyes carefully searched for the names on the map, then landed on the name Leonard and looked at it deeply for a while, and finally circled the name Dwayne Downstad with a red pen.

After doing all this, the black shadow put down the pen in his hand and blew out the oil lamp on the table. At the moment when the oil lamp was finally extinguished, the original human-shaped black shadow's torso and limbs began to twist, and two rows of symmetrical eyeballs were revealed on the face, reflecting the The figure on the map first shrunk a bit, and then swelled up.

As if he was undergoing some kind of pain, his figure shook and trembled in the dark world, and then a hoarse and low voice came out.

"Looking for... eliminating... the stars, the Fool..."

……

At St. Samuel's Church, Klein came to the prayer hall again to attend prayers. Unexpectedly, he ran into Leonard again. His face didn't look very good.

Klein only glanced at it briefly and looked away to avoid being noticed by him.

When praying to the goddess of the night, Klein clearly heard the pious prayer from Leonard.

Has Leonard completely fallen into the arms of the goddess of the night?

The last time I saw him, his prayers were not so pious.

Did something happen recently?

Soon, the prayer time ended while Klein was thinking.

He invested money as usual, but unexpectedly Leonard also invested a sum of money, a full 100 gold pounds!

Based on Leonard's current salary, this is at least one month's salary for him.

When did he become so generous?

It is estimated that what he encountered recently was very dangerous, so he had to pay a high price to show his piety to the goddess of the night.

Do you want to give him a dream at night and ask him what difficulties he has encountered recently?

While Klein was thinking, Leonard had already left at a significantly accelerated pace. Judging from the direction he was walking, he should be heading deeper into the church, probably to talk to Archbishop Anthony.

It seems like something really big has happened.

Klein looked at Leonard's leaving figure again, turned around and left St. Samuel's Church. At night, he tried to use Will's power to enter Leonard's dream again. If that didn't work, he would tell him that he was still alive. The news allows him to seek help when he is in danger.

Deep in St. Samuel's Church, Leonard met Archbishop Anthony who was reading the classics.

"A mysterious person has been targeting me recently!"

Leonard's first words told Archbishop Anthony to put away the classics in his hands, and his expression became serious, "Details."

"It started late at night three days ago. That night I fell asleep as usual. At about three o'clock in the night, a mysterious black figure appeared outside my window. He seemed to be observing my every move through the window. Move."

"I woke up with a spiritual reminder, and with just one glance, I met his eyes. Those eyes were enough to make people shudder and make their scalp numb. I felt like my blood was about to freeze at that time."

"I watched the stalemate with him through the window for a while, and then he disappeared into the darkness and went away."

"The next night, he appeared outside my window again. Even during the day, I could feel the peeping eyes from the dark."

"He showed up again last night. This time I didn't hesitate. I rushed towards the window, broke the glass and chased him out."

"In the hazy moonlight, I finally saw his back clearly. His arms and legs were like bamboo poles, thin and slender with not much flesh. His body was lying on all fours, like a reptile, moving very fast. Fleeing into the darkness, disappearing around the walls and roofs of houses.”

When Leonard said this, he paused for a moment, cleared his throat, and then continued: "Every time he comes late at night, I can find traces of white spider silk not far from the window."

"This reminds me of the case that happened on the Bellland Bridge some time ago. The deceased was hung on the bridge by being cocooned by spider silk."

"I have tried to find clues about him, and even with the help of the magic mirror of the Heart of Machinery, I couldn't find any clues."

"It's as if his destiny doesn't exist, or is covered by some powerful secret."

When Leonard said this, he secretly observed Archbishop Anthony's face and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that he was not angry.

"The fate that does not exist..."

Archbishop Anthony pondered for a while, comforted Leonard with a few words, and asked him to go back in peace.

After walking out of St. Samuel's Church, Leonard's pace became much more relaxed. Reporting the matter would at least attract the attention of the superiors. He did not want to face the lurker hidden in the darkness alone.

If it hadn't been for the old man's reminder, he wouldn't have been able to discover that someone was secretly observing him outside on the first night.

That mysterious figure's method of concealing his aura and destiny was so powerful that even the old man couldn't know his origins.

It was the old man's idea to come and report it to Archbishop Anthony.

He once asked the old man if he could cooperate with him to catch the lurker hiding in the dark?

This suggestion was rejected by the old man, and the reason given was: "Once He takes action, there will be some terrible consequences."

This was the first time he had seen the old man in trouble. He was hesitant, uncertain, and even came out less frequently.

"Well, I hope nothing happens tonight."

Leonard glanced at the distant hills where the sun was already setting, and stopped a carriage to go home.

At night, at two or three o'clock, Leonard, who had no sleep at all and had been tense and staring at the window, saw the black shadow appear outside the newly installed glass window again.

Leonard tried hard to see his face clearly, but he always felt that the other person's face was covered with smoke, making it difficult to see clearly.

"What the hell are you!"

Leonard let out a deep shout, but it did not scare away the black shadow outside the window. He stretched out his thin palm and pressed it against the window, as if he was identifying something in his own unique way.

At this time, the crimson moon and the light of the stars suddenly fell.

The black image outside the window seemed to be suddenly illuminated by a strong light. It quickly left the place and escaped into the darkness in the distance.

Leonard quickly came to the window, opened the glass window, and looked in the direction where the black figure escaped. Several figures in yellow clothes appeared out of thin air there.

They are hunting that dark shadow!

The monk in yellow?

At this time, the only people wearing yellow clothes who appear and go around are probably the monks in yellow clothes.

But soon, the monks in yellow also disappeared from his sight.

In the sky, the crimson moon and stars tonight are exceptionally bright and dazzling.

Leonard looked up for a long time before he felt that his irritated and panicked heart gradually became peaceful.

"Praise the goddess." Leonard bowed deeply towards the crimson moon in the sky.

Although he had said this on many occasions, this time was undoubtedly the most pious one.

This made him instantly feel that the 100 pounds he donated during the day was really worth it.

"Don't you also want to praise the stars?" The old man inside suddenly said.

Leonard was obviously stunned for a moment, "Why should I..."

Leonard looked at the night sky full of stars and said devoutly: "Praise the stars."

As the saying goes, it is not strange to be polite to many people.

If nothing happens, praise the stars. Maybe you will be protected by the stars at some point in the future.

After closing the glass window, Leonard lit the oil lamp in the room. It was better to keep it bright to make people feel at ease.

He sat at the table, drank a large glass of warm water, and then returned to the bed to lie down. He was still not sleepy, but for some reason, he felt that his eyelids became heavy, and as soon as his mind wandered, he came to a field full of gray. In a world of fog.

A long bronze table appeared in front of you. At the end of the long table, at the head, sat an ancient and mysterious figure.

Damn it, is tonight going to be over or not?