Chapter 2076: Sealed Reconnaissance
Moon Bay City, Parsifal Club.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Frei."
"Oh, good afternoon. What? You just left this morning, and now you’re back in the afternoon. Have you finally made up your mind to seek out the ladies here?"
Shard greeted Mrs. Frei familiarly, and the woman, squinting with a fan in hand and smiling, warmly welcomed Shard:
"Or do you want to do other business with me?"
"Yes, I still want to inquire about some things."
Shard smiled, and at the same time, he heard the distinct clatter of dice rolling in his ears.
Even though his face was disguised with the witch’s eyeshadow, Mrs. Frei paused for a moment at such a smile. The charm check passed, and although not enough to immediately win her loyalty as the witch jested, Mrs. Frei enthusiastically invited him to speak in private.
So they came to the third floor again, and Shard explained what he wanted to investigate:
"Freeman Hawthorne was attacked here. I want to know the details, those that can’t be shared with others."
He was about to take out his wallet, but it was pressed back by the closed fan. Mrs. Frei lightly tapped his arm with her fan, teasingly said:
"Look at these muscles... I mean, for such a little issue, there’s no need to pay. Whatever you want to know, I can tell you. Boatman, where did you meet such a handsome person?"
Shard inwardly complained about the witch choosing "charm" instead of "persuasion," but outwardly he was still grateful for Mrs. Frei’s generosity.
Thus, he and the witch in the bell tower obtained further information together:
"[Outlander Traveler]’s charm check succeeded, obtaining basic information ’The crime scene is this room; the investigation of this case is handled by the Moon Bay City Police Department, and they have already gathered some evidence.’ Since the total points exceed 200, additional information ’3. Freeman Hawthorne, when found unconscious, was muttering ’Eternal Light’’ ; since the total points exceed 300, additional information ’4. Although the perpetrator knocked out the two technical workers sharing the room with Hawthorne, they untied and covered them with blankets, leaving behind two silver coins for each.’
The witch suddenly realized:
"So, the next steps are two investigation directions: examining the room and going to the Moon Bay City Police Department. Moreover, this incident is related to the Eternal Light! Their caring for the poor aligns with their external propaganda! Wait, isn’t the Eternal Light just an organization for ordinary people?"
"What does this have to do with the Eternal Light?"
Shard in the club thought in surprise, but immediately recalled that the three questions he asked Hawthorne were "three Roder Cards, Circle Sorcerer and Relic, Eternal Light." Clearly, "Psychic Shockwave" made him lose many memories but left the recollection of this single term intact.
However, these two additional pieces of information were not directly connected to the real perpetrator. As the real perpetrator, Shard wanted to give the witch some hints, but the "she" in his ear reminded him at the moment:
"Someone outside the window is eavesdropping, it’s that [Silencer]."
"[Silencer] round two, action two, listening to the information [Outlander Traveler] obtained under stealth conditions!"
Before the witch could contemplate the newly obtained information, the woman in the black dress spoke up. Miss Belindel frowned at her, then picked up the dice herself:
"Since we are all circle sorcerers, let’s test it out. [Outlander Traveler] round two, action two: reconnaissance on the eavesdropper!"
"[Silencer] competing against [Outlander Traveler]. Due to the current stealth state, [Silencer] has already heard the basic information. The [Silencer]’s dice roll points added to the basic [Stealth] and [Luck] points form the total points, and the first round of successful stealth grants an additional 50-point bonus.
[Outlander Traveler]’s dice roll points added to the basic [Luck] and [Reconnaissance] points form the total points, and due to [Silencer] being in stealth, [Outlander Traveler]’s [Reconnaissance] points are halved as a penalty.
Whoever has higher points wins the confrontation; if [Silencer] wins, they remain unnoticed, and if the point difference exceeds 20 points, gain additional information 1, exceeding 40 points gains additional information 2; if [Outlander Traveler] wins, they detect [Silencer]."
The woman from the Light Worshipper Training Association had already cast her dice, while the witch solemnly drew a divination card again.
"Points are 88, First Ring Sorcerer basic [Stealth] 110 points, [Luck] 60 points. The symbol [Deerhide Boots] adds 5 points to stealth, Magic Potion [Breath Holding] 20 points, using Arcane Technique - [Illusion of Light and Shadow] to assist stealth, gaining a 1.2x coefficient bonus; using Relic - [Lucky Pinecone]’s effect, gaining a 1.3x coefficient bonus; Profession - [Assassin], during professional action, total points gain an additional 20-point bonus."
She calculated her side’s final points:
"88×1.5+110+60+5+20+20=347."
She hesitated for a moment, definitely needing to be more cautious, so she spoke again:
"Activate the character’s special talent - [Silence], at the cost of not being able to use [Wordplay][Persuasion] in future rounds, gaining an additional 50 points in any current round’s check. Final points 397."
After confirming the final points, he said to the woman with the blurred face:
"Miss Amethyst, even if that Miss Charlotte is also a Circle Sorcerer, do you really know her entire Magic List? From the previous performance, it seems you are not very familiar with her situation."
The witch did not speak, but picked up the dice and shook them in her palm for a moment before casually tossing them:
"Points 42, [Luck] 98, [Reconnaissance]... hm?"
She looked at the newly appeared entry, glancing at the towering "1500" value. In her astonishment, she watched as the blue-black ink marks on the parchment seemed to leap, at the highest even exceeding seven digits. Even though she had already witnessed countless astounding things happening to ’Miss Charlotte’ in this short hour, she was still stunned at this moment:
"What does this mean?"
It was exactly because of this momentary pause that the opposing party, a woman from the [Light Worshipper Training Association], had already placed a peculiar page-shaped copper-colored Holy Emblem onto the table:
"Keeper of Secrets, I want to sacrifice this Old God [Fairy Tale Poet]’s Holy Emblem to you, requesting to seal the [Reconnaissance] ability of the role [Outlander Traveler] before the story ends."
Although [Reconnaissance] would suffer a halving penalty, the Circle Sorcerer’s reconnaissance points were definitely far surpassing the "98 points" of luck. With the past experience, seeing Miss Amethyst’s trembling hands, she could guess that the other party had seen a very exaggerated number.
But a hoarse voice gave the reply:
"Impossible to achieve."
So the woman in the black dress reduced her request:
"Sacrifice the Holy Emblem of the [Fairy Tale Poet], seal the [Reconnaissance] ability of the role [Outlander Traveler] before the end of this round of all actions."
Thus, the ancient copper-colored Holy Emblem turned into points of light and disappeared. The woman breathed a sigh of relief and winked at the blurred face of "Miss Amethyst":
"The Holy Emblems of Old Gods related to fate, wisdom, and stories can influence the rules to a certain extent, you should know this, right?"
Mr. O’Connor hesitantly looked at "Miss Amethyst", worried about how to win in this targeted situation.
But the witch felt a sense of relief in her heart, always feeling that if she read that extraordinarily exaggerated "Reconnaissance" value, something bad would happen:
"I know the rule you’re talking about, it was good to consume the precious Holy Emblems of the Old Gods. Can you bring out the Holy Emblems of the God of Fate and the God of Wisdom just like you did with the Old God [Fairy Tale Poet]’s Holy Emblem, even if you’re someone blessed by fate and wisdom... hm?"
Unexpectedly, because of her words, the parchment revealed entirely new content —
[Blessing of the Sage: A sage never directly grants power, but only guidance. During the Dice Story Collection, this character’s dice points will never be less than 30.](Note)
"This..."
The witch opened her mouth, deciding not to think about things she couldn’t understand:
"With the card set and divination card - Empress, it provides an additional 5-point bonus each. Yes, I know that’s still not enough, the Special Ability [Mortal Luck] can’t be used now, the current 42+98+10=150 points is far short."
The white sand in the hourglass was slowly falling, and the witch fell into contemplation.
"So, it’s finally my turn to act this time."
In the Parsifal Club, even though the conversation had clearly ended by now, Mrs. Frei was still standing in front of Shard, smiling with no hint of embarrassment. And despite all the clues having been explained, the First Ring Sorcerer listening outside the door was still in a state of uncertainty over whether any additional information had been overheard.
The peculiar feeling once again allowed Shard to understand the power of the "Dice Story Collection", while also being completely aware of the happenings in the bell tower. He was even clearly aware that during the witch’s hesitation, Mr. O’Connor from the Church rolled the dice for the second round of the [Detective], but unfortunately, the judgment did not pass again, and the police detective still couldn’t produce the idea of seeking help at the church.
"The me in the game is not the true me, the real me in reality is the powerful one."
He muttered to himself, then directly looked towards the door:
"It’s really strange, why do I feel like there’s someone outside the door?"
Clink clink~
In the absence of anyone rolling dice, the three people at the table simultaneously heard the sound of dice rolling. That sound interrupted the witch who was pondering how to guess at the Special Ability, and then they heard that familiar hoarse voice:
"The [Outlander Traveler]’s Spirit is so powerful that even with eyes closed and ears blocked, he sensed the abnormal presence outside the door. Due to the significant disparity in [Spirit] values between the opposing parties, the [Outlander Traveler] gains an additional 50-point advantage in the confrontation. Meanwhile, based on the special rules for hiding story characters’ abilities, the [Outlander Traveler] randomly activates 1~4 special abilities."