blogombal Chapter 12 Cultists?
Chapter 12 Cultists?
The next day, in the morning.
A light drizzle was falling from the perpetually gray sky of Fog Harbor City.
Raindrops fell, shattering and flowing against the glass windows on both sides of the road, like countless winding, twisting, transparent maggots crawling all over it.
As soon as Rean arrived at the Fletcher family mansion, Kent, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately came to greet him.
"Rean, you've finally arrived!"
As he spoke, he pulled Rean to a secluded corner, then whispered with a trembling expression:
"Damn it! You'd never guess what I saw last night! The Fletcher family is definitely up to something, something really serious! I..."
"Calm down, Mr. Kent."
Rean raised his hand to stop Kent, who was becoming increasingly agitated. "Detective's Guide, Number Two: As a detective, you must always remain calm. Losing control of your emotions will not solve any problems; it will only affect your thinking."
"Feel sorry……"
Upon hearing this, Kent realized that he had lost control of his emotions and took several deep breaths to calm down.
"Now tell me, what exactly did you see that made you so nervous?"
As Rean spoke, he took two steps under the eaves to avoid the falling raindrops.
"That Daryl, he's a cultist!"
"Cultists?"
Rean narrowed his eyes slightly. "Are you sure? How did you find out?"
"I stayed overnight at the Fletcher family mansion last night, keeping a close watch on them."
Kent took another deep breath and explained, "The first half of the night was very peaceful, nothing happened, until around one o'clock in the morning when I looked out the window and saw someone moving around in the garden."
"Rean, can you imagine? At one in the morning, when there's not a soul in sight, someone actually struck all sorts of bizarre poses in the garden!"
"Is it Daryl?"
"That's right! It's him, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't sleepwalking or anything like that!"
Kent's eyes were filled with lingering fear. "I saw him light the candles and put some kind of skull on the ground, then he went crazy jumping and bouncing around the skull, and finally knelt down in a prayer position!"
"Rean, I guarantee that this damn guy is definitely a cultist!"
"It does sound like some kind of unknown sacrificial ritual."
Rean nodded slightly.
In his memory, none of the four major orthodox churches used skulls, an object that sounded evil, in their sacrificial rites.
Therefore, Kent's guess is quite logical.
Since it doesn't belong to the orthodox church, it is naturally considered a cult.
"Rean, I suggest we inform the church of this news now!"
Kent continued nervously, "Cultists are all reckless lunatics! We have to be careful when dealing with these lunatics, or we might encounter some danger."
Rean pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "Don't do that for now."
Kent's concerns were certainly valid, and as he said, cultists are reckless lunatics and extremely dangerous.
If ordinary people discover the existence of such people, the best course of action is to notify the church.
Well... at least that's how the four major orthodox churches promote themselves to the public.
However, considering his status as a native of Daryl, we cannot conclude that he is a cultist.
Because of ignorance and lack of education, the indigenous people of that land often hold various sacrificial ceremonies, such as praying to the earth, the sky, the sun, or even to a stone.
This has nothing to do with being a cult member; it's simply a sense of awe and fear born of ignorance.
Cyril claims to have been born in the Kingdom of Bernard and has never been to the Western Continent, so where did he learn this set of sacrificial rituals from?
Upon hearing Rean's words, Kent immediately became anxious:
"But……"
"No buts, Kent, don't forget Cyril's identity."
Rean remained calm. "He's Baron Jesper's personal male servant, and has been by this nobleman's side for ten years. Do you think Baron Jesper would be completely unaware of this for such a long time?"
Kent realized what was happening: "You mean, Baron Jesper knows about this? Informing the church now would only alert them?"
“That’s right.” Rean nodded. “Besides, the Fletcher family donates a considerable amount of money to the church every year. Even if Cyril really is a cultist, do you think informing the church would be of any use?”
Kent remained silent for a long time, then finally sighed:
"You're right, Rean."
"What do we do now?"
The theory of interpersonal relationships and social skills is universal, no matter the world.
"We can put Cyril's matter aside for now; there's no rush."
Rean took out his pocket watch and glanced at the time. "Besides Cyril's matter, did you find anything else last night? If not, let's go to the McCullos port area while we still have time."
"There's one more thing."
Kent quickly spoke up, "Miss Willow, I saw her leave the mansion at three in the morning."
"But since you said she was a superhuman, I didn't dare follow her. I originally planned to stay and see when she would come back, but I couldn't stay awake any longer and fell asleep."
Willow left late at night...
Rean stroked his chin, his eyes showing a thoughtful expression.
What does Cyril's fiancée want to do?
Since she was infiltrated within the Fletcher family, it can be concluded that this young lady acted on her own initiative, without Baron Jesper's knowledge.
He knew perfectly well that Baron Jesper had already hired a detective and had seen him during the day.
Why take action at this time?
Is it some kind of hint, or is it a deliberate attempt to lure people in?
This strange behavior reminded Rean of the small silver bottle containing poison he had found in Cyril's room yesterday.
The behavioral logic of these two is almost identical.
So, that small silver bottle was most likely the work of this Miss Willow?
Thinking of this, Rean suddenly asked:
"Kent, is Miss Willow still at the manor?"
"I'm sorry," Kent shrugged. "That lady left early this morning and hasn't returned yet."
"What's the reason and where did they go?"
"I don't know. I also asked the servants, but this young lady didn't mention anything about it to anyone."
"Then we'll just have to wait for this young lady to return before we go to visit her."
Rean didn't feel too much regret. After all, if the silver bottle was indeed left behind by the other party on purpose, then it was definitely aimed at him and Kent. Sooner or later, they would have a chance to communicate with each other.
"Let's go, let's go to the McCullos port area first."
With that, Rean adjusted his top hat and turned to walk toward the nearest public bus station.
"Isn't the Fletcher family mansion being investigated?"
Kent quickly followed, asking questions as they walked.
He didn't ask what he was going to do in the McCullos port area.
Their working relationship has always been like this: how to investigate, where to investigate—everything revolves around Rean.
Kent is very clear about his own position.
Anyway, he's just an assistant, and he's not good at using his brain, so he might as well just empty his mind.
"Now that we've confirmed that the Fletcher family is involved, we certainly won't find much information here. Staying here is a waste of time, so we need to look for clues from the outside."
Upon arriving at the station, Rean casually offered an explanation, then waved to the convenient carriage that was speeding towards them in the distance.
Soon, a double-decker carriage stopped in front of them, and the driver politely inquired:
"Good day, gentlemen. Where are you headed?"