บท 75: Bad Luck
Apart from Ebner, the other person who reacted to the Apothecary's words was Mr. Skade. He lost control of his emotions and muttered, "Unlucky… Mr. Detective, you just asked me if I've always been unlucky…"
At this moment, Mrs. Skade, who had been wearing a blank expression, exploded. She rushed to her husband's side, grabbed his clothes, and cried at the top of her lungs, "It's all your fault! It's all the things you brought back from overseas! If not for those things, how could my little Aaron be sick and now die?! Return my Aaron!"
"It's my fault… It's my fault!" Mr. Skade muttered to himself in pain as he allowed his wife's fists to land on him.
Ebner saw that the situation had become chaotic and that something else might be revealed in the couple's words, so he motioned to Captain Matt to advise him as he personally led Mike Joseph, the witness, and Mr. Caron and the former suspect apothecary out of the cabin.
When they were out the door, Reporter Mike was the first to applaud Ebner. He smiled and said, "What a brilliant deduction. Did I hear that you only searched the room once and figured out the truth? It looks like another famous detective is about to be born in Loen."
"You flatter me. I was just lucky," Ebner replied modestly.
"I'm not trying to flatter you…" Reporter Mike waved his hand and asked, "By the way, if you don't mind, can I publish this story in the newspaper?"
Reporting? That's a good thing… I previously thought of returning to Backlund to act as a detective, but due to my lack of fame, I kept feeling that there wouldn't be any decent commissions… If I were to report it, perhaps my reputation would come back?
While thinking this in his heart, Ebner pretended to be troubled and said, "I have no problem, but we still need to ask Captain Matt and Mr. Skade's permission."
"Don't worry, nothing major happened. Old Matt won't let go of the opportunity to advertise his ship! As for Mr. Skade… I'm also confident that I can convince him," Reporter Mike promised confidently. Then, he took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Ebner. "This is my business card. If you need it in the future, you can bring him to the Daily Observer."
I have to swap business cards now… Unfortunately, I haven't printed it yet. I can't possibly make a charm for you on the spot…
"I'm sorry. I haven't passed my teacher's test yet, so…"
"You haven't passed the test with your knowledge and reasoning skills? Who is your teacher?" Reporter Mike asked in surprise.
"My teacher is Detective Isengard Stanton." Isengard was a famous detective, so there was no need for Ebner to hide it.
Upon hearing the name Isengard Stanton, Reporter Mike didn't say anything, but Carlon, who had been silent all this while, spoke first. "So Mr. Bryan is the student of Detective Isengard. You are indeed a good student! This is my name card, please accept it."
This fellow is really realistic. Just now, he looked a little impatient, as if he was unwilling to befriend a small character like me. Now that he heard the teacher's name, he felt that he had some value, so he gave me his name card.
Ebner was still thinking this when the Apothecary behind him sneered again. "Heh, this is really the real world."
When Mr. Caron heard this, he couldn't hold back his smile. He glared fiercely at the apothecary and took a few deep breaths to calm his anger. He squeezed out an ugly smile and said, "I still have some matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."
Neither Ebner nor Reporter Mike wanted to offend anyone just because of words, so they said their goodbyes politely.
After Mr. Caron left, Reporter Mike shook his head and persuaded, "Mr. Apothecary, it's easy to offend people with your words."
"I don't expect him to eat. So what if I offend him!" The Apothecary replied nonchalantly before saying, "Oh right, my name is Darkwill. You two can call me by my name directly."
It really is Darkwill… Ebner muttered to himself before similarly advising him, "Although some people can't help you succeed, they can ruin your plans." He had already read many of Roselle's statements, so this sentence shouldn't have been recorded.
"That's right, that makes sense! Mr. Bryan, you must have received a high level of grammar education!" Reporter Mike's eyes lit up as he praised.
After the three of them chatted for a while, Reporter Mike and Darkwill also said their goodbyes. It was only then that Ebner returned to the cabin. He still had some things he wanted to ask Mr. Skade, and he hadn't given him the detective fee.
By this time, the Skade couple's agitation had mostly been vented, and they were gradually calming down under the captain's comfort.
"Mr. Brian, I know what you want to ask… I will tell you what I know because I also want to use your rich experience to figure out how to completely resolve this matter!" Seeing Ebner enter, Mr. Skade gritted his teeth and said.
Ebner didn't expect the man to figure it out so quickly, but it was a good thing for him, so he nodded. "I'll do my best to help you analyze it."
After Captain Matt had tactfully departed, Mr. Scard sighed and narrated:
"The matter started more than a year ago. Back then, I followed the company's shareholder, Mr. Renster, to Bayam to purchase the raw materials. On the return voyage, we rescued an old gentleman who was in trouble at sea. It wasn't a big deal. After all, this is a rule at sea. Even pirates rescue drowning people…"
"Get to the point!" Ebner was a little helpless, but he did not want to interrupt him, so he could only continue listening.
"The old gentleman was a very mysterious man. At one point, we thought that he was mentally unstable. However, he reminded us several times to change our course, but we just happened to avoid danger. This made most of the people on the ship think that he was a very capable prophet."
"That old gentleman finally disembarked at a small port on the west side of the Rosed Archipelago. Before he left, he told us a direction, saying that if we kept going in that direction, we would find a treasure, and it would be our reward for saving him. However, he finally warned us that we could only take what was on the surface and not open the door inside."
"We followed his directions skeptically, and a day later, we discovered a small island. There was a very small valley on the island, and there were many items that might have come from the previous epoch, including gold coins, vessels, sacrificial items, and so on.
"We were very happy. Under the management of the shareholder, Mr. Lunster, we split the treasure. But at that moment, a metal door on the stone wall at the end of the valley attracted our attention. Although the old gentleman warned us before he left, greed filled everyone's hearts and they forgot his words. Finally, Mr. Lunster pushed open the door…"
Ebner listened intently. When he stopped, he asked, "What's behind the door?"
Mr. Skade seemed to be in a trance. He said in a dreamy tone, "There's nothing… only a few strange murals…"
"What kind of mural? What kind of strange method?" Ebner asked.
"I… I can't remember." Mr. Skade came back to himself then and shook his head.
He couldn't remember? Was he affected by the mural, or had he been dealt with by someone in the future? If the people on the ship returned, they would be in trouble one after another. It was impossible for them not to alert the officials.
Ebner had some guesses, so he asked, "So, did you encounter bad luck after you came back?"
"Not at all. At first, it was just the children of the people on the ship who received the treasure who started to have all kinds of strange illnesses… That was when my little Aaron started to have severe pain all over his body," Mr. Skade answered after thinking for a while.
"What happened then?"
"After that, our trading company went bankrupt for some inexplicable reason, and many of my unemployed colleagues and I started to encounter bad luck one after another. Only then did everyone realize that there was something wrong with the treasure!" Mr. Skade said.
"So you called the police, right?"
"Yes, not long after that, the military came to confiscate all the items we were allocated. They even sent a mysterious person to prepare a Mass for us. In the end, they told us that we should be fine…" Mr. Skade seemed to have a headache.
All the items he received were confiscated? What was with that gold coin? Hmm… that gold coin seemed to be able to counter-surveillance and anti-divination. If the military personnel's Sequence wasn't high, it was indeed possible that they would be missed.
Furthermore, Mr. Skade's memories must have been handled by the so-called mysterious person during Mass. Otherwise, he wouldn't have resisted the might of the Arbiter.
At this point, Ebner basically figured out the whole story. He thought about it for a while and asked again, "May I know what your faith is?"
"God of Machinery and Steam."
You, a God of Steam who works in sea trade? No wonder the company went bankrupt! After lampooning inwardly, Ebner said solemnly, "I can't be sure of the cause of the matter at the moment, but if you don't wish to continue suffering misfortune, I suggest that you immediately pray to the bishop at Saint Hierländ Cathedral after you arrive in Backlund."
Seeing Ebner's solemn expression, Mr. Skade said, "I will do as you say!"
Ebner was relieved to see that he had listened to him. He did not ask for his detective fee again. After all, that gold coin could be used as payment, although the man did not know it.
After Ebner had gone, Mrs. Skade sobbed quietly. "My dear, what shall we do now?"
"I'll pray at Saint Hierländ Cathedral as Mr. Detective said! Then, I'll pay a visit to the shareholder's house in Lunster Auceptin. I wonder if the strange illness on his son Will's leg has been cured in Backlund… Sigh!" Mr. Skade sighed disconsolately.
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