Mystery: A Spark

"With Hugh's IQ, if he were to work for you, he'd probably be sold out and still have to count the money for you," Fors muttered before Hugh could answer.

stop:???

She stared wide-eyed at Fors, furious, never expecting that she was seen this way by her friend.

Fors realized she had misspoke and awkwardly turned her head away, deliberately avoiding looking at Hugh's expression.

At this moment, Arthur said from the side:

"I forgot to mention earlier that our organization has its own code of conduct, so even if you, Miss Hugh, are willing to join us, you must first make sure that you can abide by our code of conduct."

"And a program? What kind of program?" Fors asked.

Arthur did not answer directly, but said:

"Miss Hugh, you can take your time to think it over. You can come to my house to find me when you've made up your mind."

After saying that, he turned around and prepared to leave.

But at this moment, Hugh suddenly spoke up:

"Wait, Arthur, I have a question. Aren't you a member of the Church of the Earth Mother? How come you have another organization?"

"Hehe, it doesn't matter." Arthur chuckled and left.

Fors and Hugh exchanged a glance, both of them thinking of a certain possibility.

That is, the unknown organization that Arthur mentioned is very likely backed by the Church of the Earth Mother.

Chapter 109 Hugh's Wisdom

In the apartment where Fors and Hugh lived, the two sat on the sofa, staring at each other.

After a while, Fors asked first:

"Hugh, are you really going?"

“I won’t be going for now,” Hugh said, shaking his head.

"I thought you would rush over to find out more after hearing about your father," Fors said, somewhat surprised.

"No, I had always wanted to restore my father's reputation, but I was worried that he was executed because he was really involved in the rebellion, which would leave him with no reputation at all."

“But according to the information Arthur gave me before, there are other hidden reasons for my father’s death, so this matter must be related to that person in the Sodrak Palace.”

"You mean King George III?" Fors's voice was clearly surprised.

“Yes,” Hugh’s voice carried a strange emotion:

“My family belongs to the court nobility, and at its most illustrious, we even served as the Earl of a Royal Palace.”

"Count of the Imperial Palace? What kind of position is that?" Fors asked, partly out of curiosity and partly to ease his friend's tension.

"This is essentially the royal family's spokesperson, the noble closest to the throne," Hugh recalled with a gleam in his eyes.

“From then on, our family had the fiefdom that a true earl should have. By the time of my father, although he was no longer so illustrious, he was still trusted by the former king, William VI the Strongman, and served as the commander of the royal guard and the chief of the court guards.”

Her voice gradually lowered, revealing an undisguised pain:

"But seven years ago, he was accused of participating in a rebellion and was eventually sentenced to death by hanging, stripped of his title and fiefdom."

“My family fell into ruin as a result, and many members died for no apparent reason. In order to survive, we changed our surname and left East Tuckershire.”

"So that means if what Arthur said is true, then there must be something fishy about your father being accused of participating in the rebellion," Fors said suddenly.

“That’s right. As a court nobleman, even if my father was involved in the political struggles of Rune, he would not be executed unless the king gave the order. At most, he would be stripped of his title.”

“In other words, my father’s sudden accusation of involvement in a rebellion and subsequent murder must be directly related to King George III,” Hugh said in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Fors, the female author who wrote "Stormy Mountain Villa," a book containing detective elements, immediately had a possibility in her mind.

She guessed:

"Then do you think it's possible that your father accidentally learned some secret that no one else knew, and that's why he was silenced by George III?"

This was the most likely possibility she could think of, and the most reasonable inference she could make based on the information she currently had.

“That’s what I think too, so the most important thing now is to figure out what this secret is. And the only clue I can find right now is Arthur, who seems to know a lot of inside information.” Hugh nodded and said seriously.

"Then you..." Fors looked at Hugh with a questioning gaze.

"I don't plan to go find Arthur right now, firstly because I don't know the purpose of the organization he mentioned. I want to gradually figure out his purpose through our next contact before deciding whether to join."

"Secondly, I'm only at Sequence Nine right now, so even if I go, I probably won't be able to do much. That's why I want to be promoted to Sheriff first. That way, if I decide to work for him later, at least my salary will be higher," Hugh said logically.

"Hiss~" Fors couldn't help but gasp when she heard Hugh's words.

She shifted her body back, her face contorted in exaggerated surprise as she exclaimed:

"You, you're not Hugh, who are you? Give Hugh back to me right now, she couldn't possibly have your wisdom and rationality."

"Fors!!!" Hugh, furious, lunged at his friend.

"I haven't even settled the score with you for calling me stupid yet, and now you dare to say it again!"

The two joked and played around for a while before Hugh finally let Fors go.

She straightened her disheveled clothes and defended herself:

"I usually do it because it's easier and faster to use my hands than my brain. It's not that I'm brainless. A brainless person can't be a good bounty hunter."

“Yes, yes, yes.” Fors nodded seriously, looking completely in agreement.

But Hugh, who knew her very well, could tell at a glance that, just like after they had been attacked by Qilingus last time, Fors clearly didn't take her explanation seriously.

"Forget it, I can't be bothered to talk to you. I'm going to go find that fraudster." Hugh stood up and was about to leave.

"You have to be careful. Arthur warned me before that this person is dangerous," Fors said worriedly.

She knew that Arthur's task was actually for Hugh, since she had some experience in helping people escape, but she'd rather not be the one to find people.

Fors had already decided that if she found Lanluus and got his bounty, she would give all the bounty to Hugh, plus some money as a reward for her help.

Before today, Fors was slightly wealthier than Hugh. After all, as a moderately famous writer, her books were quite popular, which earned her a considerable amount of royalties.

Moreover, Fors had previously worked as an apprentice in a clinic, which allowed her to save some money, and it was during that time that she obtained her apprentice's recipe.

Even though Fors had a considerable amount of savings, Hugh never tried to borrow money from her, instead insisting on earning his own money as a bounty hunter.

When money came up, Fors immediately realized that he would probably have to work hard to write a book, otherwise he would really be starving.

“Understood, I will treat him like Zilingus,” Hugh said, waving his hand.

Having nearly lost her life during her last investigation of a hurricane, she became extremely cautious about investigating such dangerous criminals.

Hugh left.

After she left, Fors took out the Trick Master's recipe that she had been holding in her hand.

She unfolded the folded recipe and, sure enough, found a small folded piece of paper tucked inside.

When Arthur handed the recipe to Fors, she knew there must have been something hidden in it.

As a female writer who frequently deals with paper, she is very sensitive to the thickness of paper.

So as soon as she got the recipe, she noticed that the thickness was wrong.

However, Fors did not open the recipe in front of Hugh, but waited until she left before opening it.

This wasn't because he didn't trust Hugh, but because Forl wanted to see what Arthur had actually written before deciding whether to tell Hugh.

Fors set the recipe aside, unfolded the small note tucked inside, and found it read:

"If you feel you can't bear it during a red moon, you can try reciting the following name:

"You are a fool who does not belong to this age;"

"You are the mysterious ruler above the gray fog;"

"You are the yellow and black king of good luck."

"This..." Fors stared at the note in her hand, lost in shock and confusion.

……

After leaving Fors' house, Arthur got into a carriage and headed home.

The reason he included Mr. Fool's name in the potion recipe for Fors was because the full moon was just a few days away.

In the original story, Fors survived the full moon ramblings until a sudden red moon the following month plunged her into despair, ultimately causing her to utter the name of the Fool that Audrey had deliberately placed in the book.

Then he was pulled into the gray fog and became a member of the Tarot Club, thus saving his life.

But in reality, human will is a very mysterious thing.

Fors's limit is probably just these last few times.

Perhaps something happened that strengthened her will to survive, so she might be able to hold on one more time.

However, it is also possible that due to certain events, Fors will not be able to survive this month's full moon ramblings.

Since Arthur has come to Fors for a deal, he must consider the possibility that his actions might trigger a butterfly effect.

That's why he included Mr. Fool's name in the recipe to prevent any accidents.

If Fors survives this full moon as she did in the original story, then naturally everything will be fine.

Audrey will bring up the issue of recruiting new members at the next tarot session, so Arthur's behavior won't seem out of place.

But if Fors doesn't make it through, then the insurance Arthur provided will naturally come into play.

He could simply explain the situation to Mr. Fool later, and he believed Klein wouldn't blame him for it.

Arthur returned home.

He stopped in his tracks as soon as he entered the room.

Because he saw a strange creature on his sofa at home.

It was a large white ball of fur, about a meter in diameter, with smooth, glossy fur, like silk.

"Hey! Where did this furry little beast come from?"

Arthur took a step forward, pointed at the rather peculiar-looking creature, and exclaimed in an exaggerated manner.

"Oh, it's me."