Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 13 Little Brush

Suburbs of Tinggen.

The morning sun shone brightly on the house with its dark red chimney, making the lawn in front of it appear lush and vibrant green. The bedroom window on the second floor was open, letting in sunlight that cast a golden glow on the desk beside it. A notebook lying open on the desk was illuminated, its words clearly visible.

The notebook contained the following writing:

"Sirius Arepis and Haynes Vanster, members of the Aurora Society residing in Tingen, following orders from Ms. M, a high-ranking member of the Aurora Society, successfully located a semi-mad youth named Luzer Rondor, who seemed to possess the aura of a true creator. The two followed orders to lure and temporarily control him and his sister, awaiting further instructions from Ms. M."

"However, Ms. M underestimated the danger of Luze. As Sirius spent more and more time with Luze, his aura quickly influenced Sirius, who was a Mystic, and his cognition became increasingly distorted, eventually leading to complete madness. He decided to kill Luze and use him as a blood sacrifice to pray for the arrival of the true creator. It's insane, but it all makes sense."

"Sirius successfully killed Luzer, but his ritual will fail. He will go completely out of control until he is killed by the Night Watch team that arrives. Dunn Smith, who leads the team, will be secretly contaminated because of the out-of-control Sirius."

(The following lines of writing have been crossed out; below that are a few lines of hastily written text.)
“Incredible! Illogical! Luze Rondor was not killed by Sirius. On the contrary, he killed him and consumed the extracted extraordinary properties, becoming a Sequence 9 Mystic.”

"But things haven't reached the point of no return! Sirius's letter containing Luzer's secrets was accidentally burned, and Dunn was unaware of Luzer's danger. There was an Aurora Society informant in the police station, who happened to learn about Sirius's murder and urgently informed Haynes that night."

"Driven to the brink, Hainas made a desperate gamble and decided to perform a mad blood sacrifice ritual. This was forbidden knowledge that Ms. M had bestowed upon them as a reward, but Hainas had never used it due to its extremely low success rate. But tonight, his ritual will be very fortunate to succeed."

"Hainas, who had successfully completed the ceremony, arrived at Blackthorn Security Company based on the information provided by the mole in the police department. He managed to avoid the Night Watch team that was heading to his house, since the two sides had chosen different routes, so it was perfectly reasonable that they did not meet."

"Hainas has invaded when the Night Watchers' defenses are at their weakest. He will devour Luze and create immense chaos."

(Again, large sections of scribbled writing. Beneath the writing, a classic-style quill pen floats on the notebook, writing freely even though it's not dipped in ink.)

"That damned Luze Rondor! He's survived yet again, defying all logic! The ravings of the evil god have no effect on him; he holds a deeper secret."

"He's just like that annoying Klein Moretti, constantly disrupting Ince Zangwell's plans."

Just then, a slightly pale hand grasped the quill pen, solemnly starting a new line and writing:

"But it doesn't matter, there are still many opportunities for Ince Zangwell."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The following morning, in the break room of Blackthorn Security Company.

The rustling sound of things being rummaged through woke Luze. He sat up and saw his sister Cecilia with her back to him, tidying up a tattered suitcase. Outside, the hall was filled with noise—a jumble of voices and the sounds of furniture being moved.

Oh right, so much happened last night.

As consciousness slowly returned, Luze recalled the events of the previous day: an unexpected death, time travel, his sister, cultists, an evil god, the Night Watchers, and a frenzied ritual. After Haynes' death, a small black sphere slowly emerged from his body. Upon seeing it, Luze immediately recognized it as the very thing Sirius had forced him to consume—the so-called Mystic Sequence Potion. Afterward, Dunn arranged for him to return to the lounge to sleep, while he continued investigating the case.

Speaking of which, I killed two people last night. Lu Ze lowered his head, looking at his palms. His palms were fair and slender, completely different from the blood-stained ones from last night.

Hainas's roar yesterday injured his nose and ears, but when he woke up, neither area felt uncomfortable and there was no more bleeding. This made him a little doubtful about his own physical condition.

To his surprise, he felt neither guilt nor discomfort. Was it because the Mystic's potion had distorted his perception and made him cold-hearted?

No, Lu Ze thought back to his own character; he was inherently wicked, petty, and vengeful. Besides, there was nothing to be sentimental about. The other party was already trying to kill him; they deserved to be killed by him. Rather than worrying about the lives of those crazy cultists, it was more important to focus on his adopted sister.

He turned his gaze to his sister once again.

Cecilia hadn't noticed that Luze was awake and was still packing her suitcase. Inside were a few clean but simple clothes, socks, some scraps of cloth and sewing supplies, a few ceramic bowls, a wooden spoon, a small amount of penny coins, a few pills wrapped in paper, and some other odds and ends. This was all the two siblings currently owned.

The suitcase had been left at Sirius's house, and it wasn't allowed to be taken away at the time due to crime scene preservation requirements. Cecilia was furious about this, and it wasn't until Haynes was also killed and the matter was settled that Luze took the initiative to mention it to Dunn and retrieve it from the police.

The policeman who delivered the suitcase that very night was extremely dissatisfied, because there was nothing of value inside. He couldn't understand why Cecilia insisted on getting back a tattered suitcase so quickly, and he was very annoyed at having made the trip so late at night. He threw the suitcase down and left.

The police couldn't understand, but Lu Ze could somewhat comprehend his sister's thoughts.

It's just the obsession of the poor; after all, this is all the property their family owns. For the poor, missing a piece of clothing or a few meals could be the cause of death. To survive, they must desperately hold onto everything they have.

"It's still there, that's great!"

Hearing Cecilia's delighted voice, Luze looked up and saw that she had found a small brush hidden in the crevice of her suitcase.

Ah, I think I've seen this before.

The relevant memories surfaced automatically in Lu Ze's mind, and he remembered. Those were the tools his sister used for work.

After their parents died, the brother and sister lost their livelihood. The meager pension was not enough to support them both, so young Cecilia had to take on the responsibility of earning money.

But in such times, there weren't many ways for a frail young girl to earn money, especially since Luze, who often went mad, needed constant care. In the end, Cecilia chose to work as a subcontractor at a match factory, pasting matchboxes at home every day. She could earn a little over two pence for pasting a full basket of matchboxes, and she could probably paste two or three baskets a day. With her pension, the two siblings barely managed to survive for a few years.

So, whenever Lu Ze was awake, he would often see this scene: his younger sister sitting sideways beside his bed, her cute little face tense, deftly pasting matchboxes with a small brush. When she noticed Lu Ze was awake, she would put down what she was doing, give him a happy smile, and bustle around taking care of him.

"Lu Ze, you're awake!"

Just as Luze was enveloped by his past memories, Cecilia finally realized he was awake, turned around and smiled at him.

Seeing that radiant smile, Lu Ze felt a surge of warmth mixed with guilt. He suddenly understood why the Lu Ze of the past had been able to grit his teeth and endure for so many years in the mad illusion of the evil god—perhaps it was to regain his senses and return to reality, to see that lovely smiling face waiting for his return.

(End of this chapter)