Mysteries: Arcana Wars

Interrogation room, underground at St. Samuel's Church.

Jerome Clay, with a bruised face and nose, was handcuffed to an iron chair, looking around nervously and cautiously. The six sides of the interrogation room were covered in deep darkness, with only a spotlight overhead shining on Jerome Clay's face, which made him feel very depressed, and a sense of fear of floating in an endless void arose spontaneously.

This time it was just a petty thief, but Gloria decided to personally conduct the interrogation. The uneasy feeling from spiritual intuition made her pay too much attention to this petty thief.

"Name."

"…Field Moretti."

"Name."

"..."

"Name."

"...Jerem...C...Clay."

The strong pressure and the rapidly spreading fear were breaking down Jerome Clay's fragile psychological defenses. Not only did he stop trying to be tough, he even began to dry heave and twitch.

"Why 'Field Moretti'?"

"Because... because of what Sene said, he said, he said we should take a fake name, forge a fake identity, and then escape to... escape to the Backlund Underground City where no one can control us to hide from the limelight..."

Jerome Babu swallowed.

"Then...then we bought a newspaper and nailed it on the wall, and each person threw two darts to get two words to come up with a name..."

"At that time, I thought the two words I shot were 'downfield' and 'Morretti'... But then I thought, the word 'downfield' contains the word 'down', which is equivalent to telling everyone that we are going down to the dungeon? And the word is too long and it is annoying for me to write it, so I simply deleted the annoying 'downfield'... So, I took 'Field Moretti' as my new identity..."

"..."

This smart guy has clear logic and solid evidence, which is absolutely impeccable.

"What number and which newspaper?"

"Uh...I think it was last Friday's Greenmount Good Man..."

This incident sounds quite ironic. Two villains who slaughtered an entire family actually got new names in the "Good People" newspaper.

Gloria lowered her head to check and verify, and then she remembered that she didn't prepare any newspaper materials, nor did she have the habit of reading newspapers from other cities. She couldn't remember what the good people's newspapers, the good old people's newspapers, and the honest people's newspapers in other cities said every day...

Every time this happened, Gloria envied the knowledgeable people's memory, which was like a human library. It did not require spiritualism, divination or ritual magic, and could be used whenever she wanted. It was so convenient.

At this time, a red glove quickly handed a tablet to her. The young red glove was a little nervous facing her boss who had a serious face.

"Found it! Ah...Mrs. Gloria, this is last Friday's edition of the Greenmount Good Man."

...Praise the goddess, praise this young gentleman, when this case is over...uh...I wonder what kind of tea this generation of young people like to drink...

The daily newspapers in small cities didn't have much content, so Gloria quickly found a relevant article. It was a community football friendly match, and the best player of the match was an athlete named Piero Moretti-Tot.

The outrageous experience was largely confirmed, and Gloria continued her questioning.

"Why did you come to Backlund Underground City?"

"…We…we killed someone in Greenmont…"

Just as Jerome was crying and confessing the details of the crime, several other red gloves arrived carrying things.

"Mrs. Gloria, this is the stolen goods we found on him. We have completed the preliminary registration, but there are some things we are not sure about and need your judgment."

As he spoke, the evidence was quickly unfolded and presented to Gloria one by one.

Most of the equipment of the desperadoes is similar, nothing more than a mixture of stolen goods and weapons: a pile of cash (which is rare nowadays), some broken gold nuggets, a broken pistol, a few scattered bullets, and some obsidian...

"Where did you get all this stuff?"

"The cash and gold were found in the house of Greenmont. The pile of obsidian was stolen in the dungeon. And..."

The only two remaining sacrificial jewels have been returned to the warehouse. However, the obsidian is of very good quality, crystal clear, and exquisitely cut. Although it is not a precious gem, it is also exquisitely made.

A dazzling business card suddenly caught Gloria's attention.

"Madam, we found this card with an unknown pattern in his pocket. We dare not copy or explore it rashly. We hope to get your instructions."

Of course Gloria knew what this was. As an eyewitness to the "Fireworks Operation" at St. Julie's Church three hundred years ago, she would never forget these villains who forced her to death.

This is the holy emblem of the Motian Cult!

Painful memories of the past came flooding back. She had been tainted and tortured by the battle, and was later appointed the second bishop of St. Julie's Church.

But that is only the past, and nothing is more important than the life and troubles of the present.

Although her heart was in turmoil, Gloria remained unmoved on the surface. She calmly turned over the business card. On the back was a signature. The elegant and classical handwriting was obviously not that of the smart Jerome.

"Field Moretti".

"Who gave you the business card you have on you?"

"Yes... It's the owner of the pawn shop in the dungeon, the Leeds Pawn Shop on Leeds Street. The weird owner with the electronic mask said that this is a membership card..."

Before Jerome could finish his words, he fell headfirst onto the torture chair.

When she opened her eyes again, Gloria had arrived at the chaotic and disorderly Leeds Street. She stepped into the noisy Leeds Pawn Shop, where the arrogant Jerome and Sene were selling their stolen tributes to the boss.

Confined in his dream, Jerome completely forgot about the interrogation and devoted himself to pretending to be cool and making false claims.

Behind the counter stood the strange pawn shop owner, dressed in a black robe, revealing only various mechanical features, and unable to capture any useful biological information.

These people were completely unaware of Gloria's presence; she lingered in the tiny pawn shop like a ghost.

In the back room behind the front desk, the TV hanging on the wall was still playing the news, and the muffled sound still penetrated the thick door curtain and slightly spread to the front room.

"...I know that the investigation of the case also required the joint efforts of all the police officers in the police station, so I decided to donate a gift to the Backlund Police Department in the Loen capital to express our Ishdar family's gratitude to the Police Department..."

A row of business cards printed with the Skyrim Holy Emblem were neatly placed in a box on the table, but the white backs were facing outwards so that the dirty blood-red mark could not be seen.

"Wait a mininute!"

The boss in the black robe picked up a business card, wrote down the name "Field Moretti", and then stuffed it into the big round-faced man's hand without saying anything.

"Gentlemen, I strongly suggest that you purchase two fake identities from me. This will help you survive better in Backlund. The information is very complete and the price is quite favorable. Do you want two?"

"No... no need!"

"What a shame. I look forward to seeing you next time."

Amid the noise, the hooded man who had been silent in the room raised his head, revealing half of his gloomy and pale face.

…It’s David Axus!

The dream suddenly froze, and everything seemed to be paused, like a sculpture suspended in mid-air. Then the whole dream began to rewind, repeat, and retreat...

Everything started from the beginning again, and David stepped into the pawn shop for the first time.

"...I want money...a lot of money!"

The dream began to fast forward again, and then fast forward again. People's speech was accelerated and raised, and then suddenly stopped. After a short pause, it rewound again.

Gloria stood coldly in the changing dream, observing everything quietly and carefully. The things around her were like a damaged movie, playing repeatedly between rewinding and fast-forwarding under Gloria's control.

Amid the noise, she finally took a step and walked towards the back room behind the curtain.

Because Jerome had little knowledge of this place but a rich imagination, the back room in his dream was a mess. It was just a pale room with countless jewels. A vague voice in a black robe was wandering in it. This should refer to the pawn shop owner. And in the pile of jewels, there was another wooden doll lying, making a vague human voice, as if talking to the black-robed figure.

The conversation between the two was indistinct, with only the noisy TV on the wall clearly audible.

"...We will hold a donation ceremony in the lobby of the Luen James Bank Head Office, at that time..."

The wooden doll covered with jewels murmured.

"...My...Oujia..."