Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 158 Manuscript Processing
Late that night, a little later, on the banks of the Tasok River.

Rosago walked steadily, holding a sapphire pendant in one hand.

He had handsome features, with black hair and blue eyes. His well-groomed beard accentuated his masculinity without making him appear rude. Such a man would undoubtedly be popular with ladies of all ages at a dance.

"is it here?"

The pendant, defying the laws of physics, maintained its buoyancy and tilt, guiding Rosago's way. He walked to the riverbank and stopped, for any further and he would have to step into the water.

So he stopped by the riverbank, which reeked of a fishy stench, and closed his eyes.

"crash"

Not long after, a sudden, surging sound came from the river, and something floated up and swam to his side.

It was a three-finger-long bass with bulging eyes, shaking its head and showing no fear of Rosago. Instead, it swam up to him and, as he crouched down, handed him what it was holding in its mouth.

After performing these actions, the bass flipped over belly-up, died instantly, and sank to the bottom of the Tasok River.

The bass was biting a pale piece of meat, which had lost its rosy luster, seemingly because it had been soaked in water.

"It has a decadent feel to it."

Rosago frowned.

After failing to seize the manuscript, he withdrew from the battlefield, only to find that he could not contact his "Faceless Man" subordinate—who, following his orders, had infiltrated the gang to obtain clues about the manuscript, but had never returned, which was very strange.

Rosago had thought dealing with a bunch of gangsters would be easy, but his men had simply vanished. He had no choice but to resort to divination to search for them. Finally, he found their bodies at the bottom of the Tasok River.

Using the eyes of the perch, Rosago saw the corpse's transformation, and combined with the sense of depravity in the piece of flesh he had bitten off, he suspected that his subordinate had died at the hands of an extraordinary being from the Mystic sequence.

Holding the slice of meat in his hand, Rosago tried to use dream divination. However, in his dream, he only saw a crimson mist of blood, nothing else.

"Will we see the aurora? We should tell the ambassador when we get back."

After finishing the divination, he pondered to himself and offered a prayer for his men as a form of remembrance:
"Poor Andorra, may your soul return to the land of the sun god of light."

This mission can be described as a complete failure. His men were killed, and the secret puppets were all destroyed. Most importantly, he failed to retrieve the manuscript of the third-generation difference engine.

No, it was never really possible to get our hands on that thing in the first place, because there was a mole among us, and the news had already been leaked to MI9. His Excellency the Ambassador was also implicated as a result and had to return to Intis.
Rosago felt somewhat regretful, because he reported directly to Intis's ambassador, Beckeron, and if Beckeron returned, Rosago would have to go back with him. Fortunately, his abilities were well-suited for espionage, and even if he returned to Intis, he certainly wouldn't be neglected.

But before that, the ambassador had given him another small task: to kill a junior detective who had gotten caught up in the incident. If it weren't for him, MI9 would never have noticed their operation.

Coincidentally, the little detective turned out to be a "clown" in the same category as him, posing as a detective by fortune telling and working hard to make money in Backlund.

Although all the marionettes had been destroyed, Rosago wasn't worried about being killed by a low-level Sequence 8 user. However, out of caution, he still used the sapphire pendant in his hand to perform a simple divination.

".Um?"

The sapphire pendant quickly responded, slowly rotating clockwise.

In other words, it is possible to succeed, but there will be some difficulties?
Rosago paused for a moment, then quickly offered an explanation.

It's probably because that little detective hired a Sequence 5 bodyguard. Heh, the "vengeful spirit" just happens to be countered by my abilities. Although it will cause some trouble, it can also become a supplement to my marionette.

With that thought in mind, he no longer hesitated, said goodbye to his colleagues underwater, and turned to leave.

Before the night was over, he needed to get to 15 Minsk Street, take care of that little detective named "Sherlock Moriarty," and then report back to the ambassador.

What a life of toil!
He smiled bitterly and walked into the dark night.

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.

"Stop following me!"

Lu Ze cursed angrily, forced to emerge from the shadows.

Behind him, the red-haired girl had been following closely. Seeing him stop, she also stopped. "Give me back my things!"

she shouted.

"Believe it or not, I'll kill you!"

Lu Ze said coldly, his mind buzzing.

He managed to stay conscious for a bit too long today; if he doesn't get back soon, he might go half-mad on the street.

"You think you can kill me so easily?"

After being threatened by Lu Ze, the red-haired girl turned pale at first, but quickly retorted.

Lu Ze glared at her, but did not make a move immediately.

Because what this guy said is actually true.

The red-haired girl carried many magical items. With their power, she managed to hide several times, only to be found and caught by the other girl each time. Even when Luze attacked, she was able to dodge thanks to these extraordinary items.

She had so many extraordinary items, and they were all very effective. Most people would be lucky to have one or two, but she possessed so many, making her seem like a young descendant of some ancient, prestigious family.

Moreover, Lu Ze wasn't sure how many extraordinary items the other party possessed, nor could he assess the danger of those items. He was incredibly annoyed by the persistent pursuer, someone he couldn't hit or shake off.

"I've taken the things, don't even think about it," Lu Ze said fiercely. "If you keep bothering me, I'm going to get serious!"

If she insists on forcing him, then Lu Ze will have no choice but to give up dodging and go all out.

The red-haired girl took a few steps back, seemingly genuinely frightened by him.

However, she quickly shifted her gaze, as if she had thought of something, and asked, "Then let me ask you, if you take the manuscript, can you find a place to sell it?"

Lu Ze was taken aback.

He was so focused on grabbing it that he didn't even think about that.

The manuscript is indeed very valuable, but where can we sell it?
The fat pharmacist told him that he had never been to the gathering of extraordinary people and did not know the details of it. If he rashly exposed the information about the items, he might be discovered by MI9 to have other underground black markets with the same problem: he would not be able to find buyers in the short term and would also easily leak his own information.

"Look, I know it."

The girl's voice carried a Fursak accent, with a distinct trill of the tongue. "I happen to know of a gathering of extraordinary individuals where a very important person is requesting this manuscript. That person has a very good reputation and isn't an official. How about this, I'll provide you with the channels, and we can split it, okay?"

After she finished speaking, Lu Ze hesitated for a moment.

In any case, it's best to get rid of this manuscript as soon as possible. It would be good if someone could handle it quickly. Anyway, he got it without paying much, so a small reward would be acceptable.

"Okay, we'll split it 90/10."

He nodded.

"No way! Why don't you just rob us? We'll split it equally."

After some haggling, they settled on a 30/70 split, with the red-haired girl agreeing to take him to the gathering of extraordinary individuals and introduce him to the important figure.

"My name is Sofia, what's yours?"

The other person's name and accent matched, both having a Fussack-like style.

"Kafka Anderson".

Lu Ze gave his pseudonym.

(End of this chapter)