Old days, dice and investigator's manual

Isaac rubbed his temples and gathered his thoughts.

In short, the current situation is that a very powerful figure, presumably of high status, is eyeing Finn's collection of books, while Carlo intercepted them and took them away. Then, Carlo deliberately arranged for him to come to Amorton Mansion and make contact with Finn.

What's the purpose of doing this? Isaac couldn't figure it out for the time being. Could it be... some kind of job entrance test?

Combining Carlo's earlier statement about "recruiting people," Isaac came up with this seemingly far-fetched guess, but based on the clues he currently had, it was a relatively plausible explanation.

Finn looked at Isaac, who was frowning in thought, and pursed his lips: "That's how it is. You can report these things back to your superiors exactly as they are."

Isaac snapped out of his daze and was about to say something when a voice broke the silence around him.

"Have you two finished talking? If so, we can move on to the next stage."

"That sound... damn it!" Finn's body tensed instantly, he drew his short sword, and frowned.

Isaac was familiar with the voice; he had just heard it that morning—it was Carlo's voice.

However... the sound didn't seem to come from a fixed location; it seemed to linger in the surroundings, making it impossible to pinpoint its exact source.

A few seconds later, Carlo, who was nowhere to be seen, spoke again: "Then let's do a check. Will Isaac Lessing and James Finn encounter vengeful spirits on the third floor of Armorton Mansion? Hmm, since Isaac Lessing is carrying relics related to the Church of the Golden Bough, the probability is greatly increased, so the check difficulty is set to... 30."

Isaac and Finn were both taken aback, but before they could fully grasp the meaning of those words...

dong dong dong-

Two distinct sounds rang out, and Isaac and Finn looked over at the same time. They saw two dice that had fallen from somewhere and were bouncing on the ground before coming to a stop.

They were two ten-sided dice, made of dark gold metal, with numbers engraved on the surface, one number recessed inwards and the other protruding outwards.

...Dice? Or two?

Isaac gripped his revolver tightly, staring at the two dice: "These aren't the dice you've seen before, are they?"

"No, both the number of noodles and the texture are different." Finn held a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other, equally vigilant.

Isaac frowned. This was a die with a different texture and number of faces than any Fein had ever encountered.

Combining what Carlo had just said with Finn's experience, the dice must have some special effect. He tentatively speculated that the effect of the previous die might have been that Finn was attacked and knocked unconscious before he could react. So what was the meaning of the die in front of him?

"Mr. Finn, what number is on the die?" Isaac asked again.

"This thing feels really weird..." Finn had lit the oil lamp on the table earlier and was now closer to the dice. He hesitated for a moment, then leaned in for a closer look. "The raised one is a 2, and the recessed one is a 4."

Isaac nodded. 2 and 4, are they added together, or... no, considering that guy said 30, could it be that one represents the tens digit and the other represents the units digit?

Carlo's voice quickly answered his question: "Oh, 42, huh? That was close, you guys almost avoided it. It's a pity it wasn't a major failure. I'm quite curious what would have come out in that situation."

As Carlo finished speaking, the surroundings fell silent for a moment. Then, a faint sobbing sound came from the end of the corridor, intermittent, like a woman sobbing or a child whimpering. Even the temperature seemed to drop slightly.

Finn's face turned grim, and he muttered under his breath, "Damn, it really is haunted?"

Isaac didn't respond, his attention focused on the door. The crying was getting closer, sometimes near, sometimes far, and someone was pacing back and forth in the corridor.

"Is the ghost story you told me true or false?" Isaac asked in a low voice.

"It's fake! I made it all up!" Finn gritted his teeth. "How was I supposed to know I'd actually run into something like that!"

It was clearly a story that Finn made up on the spot, yet a corresponding vengeful spirit actually appeared?

Isaac took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Being afraid wasn't an option; he needed to think of a solution.

Fortunately, although Carlo's words were misleading, Isaac also gleaned a clue from them.

"The probability is greatly increased due to carrying relics related to the Golden Bough Church."

Why do relics from the Golden Bough Church increase the probability of encountering vengeful spirits?

The Church of the Golden Bough is the dominant faith in the Westerlands, holding sway in major cities like Vista, but the official church in the city of Palmer is the Church of the Blackthorn.

Although both belong to the orthodox church order, they have many differences. Their relationship is not exactly hostile, but it is certainly not harmonious either. The relics of the Golden Bough Church may not be able to play their due protective role in Palmer, and may even trigger a kind of "rejection reaction".

...No, no matter how much you try to eliminate something, it shouldn't result in a vengeful spirit, right?

As Isaac's thoughts drifted to this point, a pale figure appeared outside the door.

The enormous, bloated figure almost filled the entire doorway. It was made up of several bodies twisted and stacked together, with several human faces embedded in its body. Some had their eyes closed, while others had their mouths half open. The faces of men, women, and two children could be seen. They were squeezed together on the same body at an unnatural angle, with several arms hanging down at their sides. At the same time, the whole body was somewhat translucent.

Finn forced out a curse: "Spirit-type aliens... tsk, the most troublesome things."

He moved quickly, putting the revolver back into its holster under his arm and then pulling out a small glass bottle from his waist, filled with shimmering water.

He pulled out the cork, poured the water evenly onto the blade, and muttered, "May Ya'en protect me."

It seemed to be a follower of the Church of the Hammersmith, carrying holy water, and should have relevant combat experience... Isaac's eyes were fixed on the vengeful spirit, his finger on the trigger, but he did not rashly raise his gun to fire.

The vengeful spirits moved slowly forward, their eyes opening to reveal cloudy whites, and all looked at the two people in the room.

Finn lowered his center of gravity, pointed his sword at the ground, and prepared to pounce: "I'll hold it off. If the bullets in your gun are Saint Silver, then find an opportunity to fire. Otherwise, don't get in the way."

Isaac nodded, watching the vengeful spirit's movements, but he still felt that something was wrong.

Although this vengeful spirit exuded an unsettling, chilling aura, its slow movement revealed no clear intention to attack. The expressions on its faces were not anger or resentment, but rather confusion, and even some... expectation?

"Wait," Isaac said, pressing down on Finn's shoulder. "It doesn't seem to intend to attack."