บท 30: Chapter 30: As an arbitrator, it’s reasonable to carry a tri-edged spike, isn’t it?
Chapter 30: As an arbitrator, it's reasonable to carry a tri-edged spike, isn't it?
Hastur felt tired but not sleepy, silently pondering how to resolve the matter tonight.
If he blocked his ears, could he resist the eerie sound of the bells? In the face of danger, how would he save himself?
How to devise a rule that would ensure the safe departure of the three from the almshouse…
Instructor Folen, sitting on the other side of the bed, was also sleepless. Unlike Hugh, he didn't have a big heart or Hastur's calmness. He stood up from time to time, looked towards the door, and occasionally took out his pocket watch to check the time.
Time ticked away, and soon it was two o'clock sharp.
Instructor Folen hurried to Hastur's side, shook him awake, and whispered, "It's two o'clock already!"
Hastur opened his eyes, glanced at Hugh on the table, who had also woken up.
"Grab your handy weapons!"
Hugh said as she took out a black tri-edged spike from behind her waist and tried swinging it a few times, producing a whistling sound as it cut through the air.
Hastur curiously asked, "How do you hide such a tri-edged spike behind your waist?"
"It's a secret." Hugh smiled and raised an eyebrow.
Surely it was because she was too short, her arms not long enough, and she was at a disadvantage when fighting taller people, so she always carried a tri-edged spike to compensate for her innate shortcomings, Hastur guessed, but he wasn't foolish enough to say it out loud.
Instructor Folen glanced at the tri-edged spike in Hugh's hand, then at Hastur swinging a hefty cane, and then around every corner of the house.
There wasn't a suitable weapon for self-defense.
He whispered, "I'll take care of the lighting with the lantern later."
"Okay." Hugh nodded.
Minutes passed quickly, and as the three of them stood guard, the same bell sound from last night finally rang outside the door.
Ding-a-ling! "Now, let's go!"
As soon as the first bell rang, Hugh opened the door and rushed out, with Hastur and Instructor Folen quickly following.
Ding-a-ling! The second bell rang, and Hugh had already pinpointed the general direction of the sound.
It was indeed coming from the area where the children lived!
As the three approached the iron gate near the corridor, the third bell had already finished ringing.
The iron gate, separating the almshouse staff from the children's living area, was very sturdy. Hugh couldn't kick it open with all her might.
Seeing this, Hastur raised his cane and knocked on the iron gate, making a dull sound in the quiet night sky.
Hugh understood Hastur's intention and also raised her tri-edged spike to knock on the iron gate.
The two metals intersected, making a clang that echoed through the night sky.
Soon, people awakened and attracted by the noise came near the three.
"What happened?" A police officer in his thirties asked calmly.
"We heard a strange bell sound over there, and when we came out to check, we saw a suspicious figure shaking a bell."
"We don't have the keys, so we couldn't get through the iron gate and could only watch the figure disappear."
"To alert you as quickly as possible, we took this simple and direct approach."
Hugh's words were half-true, half-false, spoken earnestly and urgently, clearly accustomed to such situations.
The officer's expression turned serious, and he immediately sent someone to fetch the keys to the iron gate.
Deputy Director Bard, also awakened by the late-night incident, came wearing a black coat and carrying a kerosene lamp.
"I have the keys."
Deputy Director Bard fumbled in his pockets, took out a bunch of keys under the dim light, selected one smeared with oil, and unlocked the iron gate.
Hugh let the two officers who had arrived go ahead, followed by herself, with Hastur, Instructor Folen, and Deputy Director Bard at the rear, while others stayed put.
After passing through the iron gate, to prevent unrelated people from sneaking into the children's area, Deputy Director Bard locked the gate again, made sure it was secure, and then followed Hastur and the others away.
The group arrived at the source of the bell sound identified by Hugh and saw no figure, but they found a pair of blurry footprints on the ground.
Hugh crouched down, measured the size of the footprints with her hand, and frowned slightly, "It's a child."
"This, our management here is very strict. The children have to go to bed at a certain time, and they are absolutely not allowed to linger outside and play.
Moreover, we have dedicated staff to lock the doors from the outside; they can't open the doors from the inside." Deputy Director Bard showed a look of surprise and difficulty.
"These footprints are still fresh; that child just left not long ago." Hugh made her professional judgment.
Instructor Folen, holding the kerosene lamp, also crouched down to look at the footprints, wondering how he couldn't tell the age of the footprints. "Let's look around; maybe he's hiding nearby."
Hugh's petite figure now gradually took command, issuing orders to the two officers.
Is this the passive talent of an arbitrator?
Hastur was surprised to see the two officers willingly follow Hugh's arrangements.
The group split into two teams of three. Hugh and the two officers were responsible for searching for people, while Hastur, Instructor Folen, and Deputy Director Bard checked whether the locks on each dormitory door were secure.
"Sigh, why don't they ever listen? Fortunately, Director Darn is not here, otherwise they would have been punished." Deputy Director Bard led the way, sighing.
Hastur asked, "Deputy Director Bard, are you referring to being locked in the basement as punishment?" "Being locked in the basement is the most severe punishment. Generally, only those children who are very troublesome and behave badly receive such treatment."
Seeing Hastur's interest in these matters, Deputy Director Bard shared some knowledge with Hastur and the others.
In this almshouse, punishments for children are generally divided into three levels.
For minor offenses, they only need to stand outside as punishment or have their palms slapped.
For more serious offenses, they are not allowed to eat and can only watch others eat at the table while hungry.
Only those who are incorrigible face the most severe punishment.
"What if they are locked in the basement and still refuse to admit their mistakes and repent?" Instructor Folen raised his question.
Deputy Director Bard fell silent, not answering the question.
"Isn't that too cruel?"
Instructor Folen realized from his silence that the body in the basement must have come about this way. Even if the child eventually admitted his mistake and repented, in the dark, unattended environment, with no one hearing his cries, he could only wait to die silently!
Starved to death, that's too cruel!
That child certainly wasn't the first to die in the basement!
Other bodies were just cleared away earlier!
No wonder Director Darn didn't think of leaving an explanation but just ran away; he knew that once he went to court, the crimes he committed could no longer be hidden.
Deputy Director Bard sighed, "Sigh, Director Darn did some things very poorly, but he was very good at raising donations, and most of the obedient children live quite well here."
The three chatted while checking the locks on each room.
From start to finish, checking the second and third floors was easier; they only needed to make sure the iron gates at both ends of the corridors were locked.
They didn't have a lawn as a buffer here; if those naughty children dared to jump directly from the second floor, they would likely end up severely injured.
Before the three had finished checking, they heard Hugh's voice not far away.
They had found the child shaking the bell!
"No rush, let's check everything first before going over." Hastur said with a smile.
He felt it was better to check everything thoroughly to be sure, as there might be more than one child sneaking out tonight.
Deputy Director Bard also thought it was better to patiently lead Hastur and Instructor Folen to check everything.
Indeed, they found no signs of locks being tampered with, and the iron gates on both sides were securely locked.
After confirming everything was in order, the three went to where Hugh and the others had found the child.
It was a washroom on the far right side of the first floor, where the child was hiding.
"Little Amy, why did you sneak out?"
Recognizing the child, Deputy Director Bard exclaimed in surprise, clearly knowing the child who had not followed the rules of the almshouse.
Hastur also observed the little boy named Amy in front of him, about eight years old, 1.2 meters tall, with chestnut short hair, wearing a thin white monk's robe, barefoot, currently bowing his head, standing by the sink, nervously clutching the corners of his clothes.
"Deputy Director Bard, I, I didn't mean to not go back to the dormitory to rest, I just came back too late, got locked out, and didn't dare to disturb Aunt Lisa…"
Amy slightly raised his head, his eyes reddened, tears hanging at the corners of his eyes, about to fall but not yet, his voice sobbing and choking, combined with his youthful face, very pitiable.
Hugh lowered her voice, gently saying, "We're not here to catch you, we just want to understand where you got this bell from?"
Amy timidly replied, "I picked it up on the road, and I thought it sounded nice, so I kept it with me."
"Why were you shaking the bell late at night? Aren't you afraid the sound will wake others up?"
"I was scared being alone…" Amy lowered his head again.
"Why did you shake the bell last night too?"
"It wasn't me. Last night, Simon took my bell. He said he wanted to scare Aunt Lisa."
"Simon?"
Hugh raised an eyebrow, and Deputy Director Bard explained, "Simon and little Amy live in the same dormitory. He's a bit domineering and often takes other kids' toys."
"Can we meet this Simon?"
"Of course, it's necessary to question him."
Deputy Director Bard said, and went with an officer to get the keys from Aunt Lisa to open the dormitory door.
Hastur, who had been silent, secretly rubbed his middle finger and thumb together three times, activating his clairvoyance.
Using a snap would easily attract attention, which wasn't discreet.
Hastur's gaze turned to the bell in Hugh's hand, examined by her. It was about a third of a palm in size, overall dark yellow, The bell showed no fluctuations; it was just an ordinary bell with no supernatural powers.
The sound it made was also slightly different from last night's bell.
It probably wasn't the same bell.
(End of Chapter)
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