Mermaid Reef

The sound of raindrops is continuous, like a cheerful symphony.

The chaotic footsteps gradually joined the invisible rhythm of the music.

The bishop suddenly felt palpitations, and he immediately shouted: "Stop."

The order knights around the bishop immediately surrounded the people and looked around vigilantly.

The stagnant water has submerged the calf.

There may be people in the nearby houses, but after seeing the group of strangely dressed people outside, they immediately chose to hide behind the curtains, and they didn't dare to look out.

The bishop motioned to a knight beside him to take something out of his pocket.

Rose shaped glass pendant.

The rain falls on the surface of the crystal clear pendant, creating a magnificent color.

"..."

Jason on the roof in the distance turned his head quickly, and jumped into the nearby waterway with Gemil before the knight could read the spell.

The two evil gods looked at me and I looked at you, maintaining a ten-second silence.

"Glass?"

"Rose?"

Isn't the frequency of these two things a bit high?

Jason said thoughtfully: "...Andre took out this rose pendant as a detector when he climbed to the roof of the church before."

"There is also the red powder frozen in the ice of the dungeon. It may have turned out to be a large glass product that was shattered by our arrival." Gemil added.

Jensen continued: "Hans nearly died using the 'Pupil of the Rose'. These were Andre's words when he was arguing with the Bishop."

After collecting the investigation clues, it is almost certain that the secret weapon of the Gray Order is the "rose".

Bizarrely, this weapon is actually made of glass.

Even for humans, glass is something that can be easily broken, and it is used to fight against evil forces?

What's wrong?

Gemil subconsciously looked at the glass windows of the nearby building. These flower windows are very beautiful in style and in various colors. They are completely different from London and seem to be a feature of Venice.

"Wait." Jason took out a booklet out of nowhere.

This is the city tour brochure presented to first-class passengers by Simplon-Orient-Express.

There are many exquisite illustrations, the addresses and house numbers of the resort hotels, as well as the locations of wineries, theaters, churches, and town halls.

This is actually a business, and the directors of international luxury sleeper train companies usually have other businesses, such as the restaurants and hotels listed in this booklet.

Because the brochure was issued to high-society people who came to Venice for vacation, there were many contents in it that Jason was not interested in, such as which church sold indulgences with the longest history, which club had a good atmosphere, and which restaurant had a French chef. Excellent workmanship.

Jensen saw only the relevant parts of the theater and orchestra, and bought a schedule of summer performances.

Too bad it didn't work.

Then the pamphlet just got moldy in a corner.

When Jason took it out, there was still a piece of purple-red seaweed hanging on it, and the cover had been soaked in sea water and changed color.

It took Jason a little effort to get it open rather than crushed.

"look here."

Murano island.

Located in the northwest sea area of ​​Venice, it is also the direction in which the Gray Order's people escaped.

Murano is most famous for its glass workshop. According to the description in the brochure, it is the most skilled and prestigious handmade glass workshop in Europe. It has brought huge wealth to Venice and is a national treasure of Venice. Unfortunately, in recent years It's gone. (Note)

According to the description in the manual, hundreds of years ago, every high society person had a large number of Murano glass as decoration in the home.

"...can work like a lace craftsman in Calais, 'weaving' exquisite patterns on glassware in the flames, including noble coats of arms and heads of characters...can form flowing light spots on the surface of the glass, presenting a scene The magic of color."

Jason read the passage in French.

This manual is not for people to visit the ancient glass workshops on Murano Island, because the workshops are almost closed. This glory gradually declined when the Republic of Venice collapsed in the eighteenth century. The manual really recommends is an auction house in Venice.

The auction house is planning to hold a sale this month of Murano glassware, all of which are hundreds of years old, perfectly preserved and of superb craftsmanship.

There is also a black-and-white photo in the album, the picture is very blurry, it can be recognized that it is a holy grail used in religious ceremonies, it has a very glorious history, many big people have been its owners, and the estimated value is a series of zeros.

Human beings focus on its history, and the evil gods only care about the traceability behind it.

"Glass, Venice, hundreds of years of glorious history, the most advanced skills of human beings, many religious utensils have been made..."

Combining these words, even if you don't have the ability to be a detective, you can piece together a complete clue.

"The 'Rose Eye' that discovered us was made by the Murano Glass Workshop under the control of the Gray Order? Humans have discovered a way to peek into the real world through color changes?" Gemil stared at the black and white In the photos, I couldn't see the extraordinaryness of this Holy Grail.

Jason said seriously: "It seems that we are going to attack a knight of the Order, so let's grab a rose glass pendant and have a look."

***

The sky was dark, and the cold wind blew one after another.

Hans couldn't help but sneezed. He looked up at the sky, and the dark red sunset hidden behind the clouds seemed to indicate something ominous.

The ship swayed from side to side, and the waves swept relentlessly with the torrential rain.

Looking back, the main city of Venice has long been a gray shadow that is not very clear, and it is even more blurred in the rain.

Andre stood at the bow with a solemn expression.

He is like a statue, no matter how violent the storm is, he will not move an inch.

He can persevere, but the people under him can't.

"...Leader, nothing happened!"

A gray cloak began to complain.

Everyone has changed from full of fear to anxiety, and finally numb and blank, because their faces are almost distorted by the sea breeze.

Apart from being cold, so cold, there was no second thought in my head at all.

Some people even hope that the monster will come out quickly, don't delay any longer, and when night comes, the sea will only get colder.

"Boss, it's been four hours, do you think we..."

"No."

Andre decisively refused.

Every once in a while, he could feel a chill in his back, and he was sure that an indescribable existence was watching him.

"Cheer up, the monsters will show up when night falls."

***

"What's going on with Hans?" Gemil asked casually.

"Still floating in the sea."

Jason glanced into the distance, and said casually, "I'll pay attention every once in a while, with the 'connection' maintained by Hans, the situation over there will not escape our sight."

In front of them, a knight of the Order lay stretched out, unconscious.

The knight's iron mask has rune defenses. Although he is just an insignificant ant in front of the evil god, at the moment he is attacked by the power of the evil god, those things carried by the knight can guarantee that he will scream and give the church an early warning.

Who would have thought that the evil god would sneak up behind him and attack with a hazel staff?

Jensen waved the cane around and found it to be quite handy as a weapon.

The sapphire on the top of the cane is too big, and if you accidentally knock out a hole in the human head, you must grasp the strength.

"very successful."

Gemil glanced at the injury on the back of the knight's head, and sincerely praised his beloved.

This is very difficult for the evil god, at least Gemil can't do it-knock out a human being without letting the other person die.

Gemil doesn't have the skills to stun people, so he's not in charge, but he can hide corpses... oh no, hide unconscious people.

The gondola next to the river is very suitable, stuff it in, and then cover it with oilcloth.

"It's a pity he doesn't have a rose pendant!" Jason said regretfully.

Gemil said indifferently: "Find the next one?"

An hour ago, the bishop had led the people to the deepest lair of the order.

Indeed, Murano.

The houses here are relatively civilian, and there is no situation where there is a grand cathedral or aristocratic mansion that occupies a vast area every once in a while.

Both the bridge and the building are more haphazard, in other words, featureless at all.

Jason felt a little lost after two turns.

Fortunately, there are members of the religious order as "street signs".

—They are patrolling vigilantly.

Seeing these human beings who thought they were hiding very well, it was actually either under the bridge hole or under the eaves, or in the gaps between the wooden piles at the bottom of the water, Jason wanted to laugh.

no difficulty.

Jason didn't expect that if a human detective was here, he would definitely be stumped by the perfect camouflage like a chameleon.

Even if a detective's eyesight is good enough to spot something wrong, he still can't sneak up on the members of the cult and sneak up on them.

Those hiding places were originally narrow, tricky locations, and surrounded by water.

Only the ghost can touch the back and sneak attack!

Not a ghost, Jensen, who is more terrifying than a ghost, is picking his next target.

"Don't look under the water, look for a high place, preferably sheltered from wind and rain."

Gemil gesticulated from the side, "Their captain is more likely to have a rose pendant, such a person is generally not willing to wrong themselves."

"What about the high place?"

"Humans have a narrow field of vision and cannot see everything unless they are at a high place. As a leader, you must find a good position that is suitable for advancing and retreating!"

Jason nodded, making sense.

So they knocked out the second hapless Knight of the Order.

This guy was indeed stronger, and when the hazelwood walking stick was swung, he turned his head in time and wanted to jump off the eaves.

Gamil suddenly appeared in front of the knight of the order and held his head down, keeping the knight in the original position and being unable to move.

The knight of the order stared at Gemil in disbelief. In his eyes, the strength of the man wearing the Venetian mask was unbelievable. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the murder weapon that stunned him. The sapphire at the top of the cane nearly blinded him.

Such a perfectly cut gemstone is worth a lot.

Why did such a person come to stun him?Or is it in such a weird location, under the eaves?How did they stand on the vertical wall?

It's a pity that these questions could not be explained, and the knight fell into a coma.

"Search."

Because they were worried that the power of the evil god would trigger the items with runes on the members of the cult, Jansen and Gemil could not use vines and shadows, and could only search "with their own hands" in human disguise.

But it doesn't matter, if you are unfamiliar with it once, you will be proficient the second time.

It's also fun to search for.

"Cigarette cases, keys, crosses, money bags..."

Gemil watched one by one, and all slipped into the water.

Jason suddenly grabbed Gemil's hand, preventing him from touching it.

A silver necklace slowly slipped out from the knight's neck, and a magnificent light red light shone under the clothes.

- Rose pendant.

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The author has something to say:

Note: Murano glass, also known as Venetian glass, the top craftsmanship is really beautiful

Can make a variety of glass products, including sculptures, chandeliers, portraits, flowers, utensils

There are all kinds of colors, and the colors are beautiful.

Some people may think that glass is worthless, but Murano glass was once one of the reasons for the prosperity of Venice. In the [-]th century, a perfect glass bead could be used directly as money.

Venice is famous for its wealth. Before the rise of the great voyages, its gold coins were once the currency with the highest gold content in Europe, equal to the US dollar.

In history, Murano glass has experienced three rises and falls, and the third rise will not be until 1950

In 1866, Venice was merged into Italy. In 1930, Mussolini ordered the construction of a passage connecting Venice and the land to strengthen the control of Venice. Therefore, in the story of this unit drama, ordinary people can’t avoid foreigners and very weird people. , not because they know the existence of the religious order, know the mysterious and evil power, it's just the background of the times.