Chapter 2074: City Anecdotes
[Silencer] stood beneath the Belindel Big Bell, while [Detective] patrolled the square, and the [Outlander Traveler] was at the club entrance on the square’s periphery, almost stepping out of the selectable range. ’Her’ puppet was dressed in men’s clothes, but those seated and standing by the table thought it was a disguise.
"The target for the afternoon for the three of them was the criminal who broke into the club and murdered the local noble. No one knew why they were so fixated on the criminal, but they were determined to capture the sinner and gain honor. Tinkle~ as fate stirred with the fall of the dice, like people awakening from a long dream, deciding on their actions at this moment."
The three people by the table picked up their dice.
"The investigation of the criminal starts at the crime scene. Roll two dice to form a number for a ’City Lore’ check. A number higher than 80 determines the crime scene’s location, failure means reinvestigation is required. [Social Reputation] can provide additional bonuses to the dice. Higher points can yield extra information."
The woman from the [Light Worshipper Training Association] first threw two dice:
"Points 41, [Silencer] social reputation is 25, total 66."
It seemed he had just arrived in the area, but should’ve been there for about half a month, otherwise, as an outsider Circle Sorcerer, his social reputation wouldn’t be this high.
"No symbol can affect the current check, but activate the character special gift - [Silence], at the cost of not being able to use [Wordplay] [Persuasion] in future turns, any checks during the current turn gain an extra 50 points bonus. The number of uses affects the number of times [Wordplay] and [Persuasion] abilities can’t be used. Total points 116."
"What?"
People from the Dawn Church and the witch all looked up at her, the witch asked more:
"Where did you find such a person with special gifts? If I’m not mistaken, is he practicing silence in real life?"
The tall man behind the woman replied for her:
"Since His Excellency, the Light Chaser, sent us on this mission, naturally some preparations were made. Just a First Ring Sorcerer with a special ability, nothing to be surprised about."
"This ability seems tricky, but can you really bear the cost?"
Mr. O’Connor of the Ten Rings threw the dice:
"Points 10, [Detective]’s local reputation is 51."
He frowned slightly:
"Although I can’t see the specific content of the [Profession] column, I want to use my [Police] profession’s special bonus."
His brows relaxed instantly, and he smiled at the parchment:
"Sure enough, just like hidden basic values, hidden contents are not unusable. When you guess the entry name correctly and use it, the entry becomes clear."
These words were for "Lady Amethyst," but the problem was, the witch knew nothing about "Miss Charlotte’s" situation:
"Her profession should at least include an actor, right?"
"The profession [Moon Bay City Police Officer] provides a 20-point bonus in this determination. Additionally, the symbol [Badge of Loyalty] provides an extra 15-point bonus when conducting investigation-related activities, so the total points are 96."
The Great Witch of Destiny twirled the dice thoughtfully before finally throwing them—
Tinkle~
"Points 53, [Outlander Traveler]’s local reputation is... 9. The symbols Roder Card Deck and Divination Card: Empress each offer a 10-point addition, currently totaling 72 points."
Although the number she threw was the largest among the three, the problem was, Shard’s total activity time in the area was barely two days. Having 9 points was thanks to knowing the Princess Trading Partners. The identity of the Gray Glove Agent and MI6 did not add to local reputation.
The man and woman from the [Light Worshipper Training Association] both smiled, while Mr. O’Connor and the two people behind him looked somewhat worried.
"I want to use..."
She glanced at the four special abilities, confirmed none could provide additional points for this check, and reached for her Divination Card Set again.
And just a few minutes earlier, at the club entrance on the edge of the square, hesitating whether to go for another round or turn into a cat and enter now, Shard suddenly stopped, blinking suspiciously:
"What’s this feeling? Why does it feel so familiar?"
He turned to look at the square behind him, then suddenly understood:
"Isn’t this..."
[Yes, Dice Story Collection.]
"She" smiled gently:
[You have been chosen again by the Dice Story Collection. Having experienced a game once and emerged victorious, the relic—Dice Story Collection, grants you extra permissions for re-entering the story, this is the power of the victor.]
A great deal of information flooded Shard’s mind, detailing the entire game rules, which only players like Iluna knew last time:
"What’s going on in Moon Bay City? An Unclassified Level [Hope Diamond], Angel-Level [Sole Existence] and [Dice Story Collection], are there so many high-risk relics in this city? Even Tobesk doesn’t have such things."
"She" smiled gently and continued to whisper in Shard’s ear:
[In this game, you can know the content and results that need to be determined by the three players each time.]
"That’s convenient, but is this the only extra privilege? We won once and all we get is this? Last time Iluna got the [Sage’s Glowstone], but I got nothing."
"She" continued to smile gently, without answering:
[This time, you’re being controlled by that witch, and the event is investigating the criminal who murdered Freeman Hawthorne. Determining if you know the crime scene is in progress.]
The witch’s series of rolls and Shard’s own [Social Reputation] value were automatically known to Shard. As he pondered, he continued to step forward, having already walked back to the square from the club’s entrance:
"But wasn’t it me who murdered Freeman Hawthorne at the Parsifal Club on Friday? If I report myself, wouldn’t the investigation be completed?"
Of course, this isn’t possible; the story wasn’t supposed to make the "case" Shard committed his investigation target, but just like he was judged as an "ordinary person," clearly, in the choice of events, the relic made another wrong judgment about Shard.
He already understood the special rules this time and wanted to help Miss Belindel, but the Great Witch of Destiny had already found a solution herself.
On the bell tower terrace, the witch drew a new divination card, glanced at the card face representing "Luck," and then picked up the parchment roll again:
"Use special ability - Luck..."
The parchment roll did not display any hidden contents, the witch glanced at the countdown hourglass, and tried to say:
"Special ability - Inhuman Luck, Special Luck, Cursed Luck, Blessed Luck, Mortal Luck... yes, it’s this one!"
New content appeared before her eyes, this was a special ability Iluna had never used back then to hide Shard’s "ordinary person identity." For the Iluna of the past, her trouble was simply selecting items she could speak out loud.
[Mortal Luck: Not the luckiest mortal of all time, but at least possessing the blessing of the luckiest mortal of all time - Sludge Riddle, who will always remember their common participation in the ■’s game of life. Every three actions: in the event of a failed determination, roll a ten-sided die again. If the point is greater than 5, the total point is increased by 2.0 times that point value; if the point is less than or equal to 5, the total point is increased by the (Basic Luck) divided by (twice that point) value.]
Triggering the effect requires reading out the entry, and when "Miss Amethyst" spoke these complex determination contents, both other parties in the game looked at her with surprise and suspicion.
The witch was actually more curious, even wanting a bit to make "Miss Charlotte" her follower. She was also curious about who "Sludge Riddle" really was, but she decided to roll the dice first. In her view, currently, there were 8 points short, so rolling a number greater than "5" would certainly pass, but if it’s less than "5," it would still depend on "Miss Charlotte’s" basic luck value.
The bouncing dice, in the end, showed an even better result than she had thought:
"1 point?!"
Looked at the parchment again:
"[Outlander Traveler]’s basic luck is 98 points, so the total point is 72+49=121 points."
"Where did you find someone with 98 points of luck?"
The woman from [Light Worshipper Training Association] couldn’t help but ask her, even mentioning her reason for the doubt:
"Basic luck, even Circle Sorcerers can’t influence it arbitrarily. Whether ordinary people or Circle Sorcerers, as long as they’re mortals, normal state luck can’t exceed 100, and even 100 itself can’t appear. 98 points, is already theoretically the highest luck, where did you find this person?"
The witch feigned indifference:
"She’s one of my girls, of course, she’s remarkable."
In her heart, she already had more thoughts about that "Miss Charlotte," but of course, those thoughts would wait until after the game ended:
"The points are enough now, but I want even higher points."
She glanced at the hourglass, confirmed there was still time, and continued:
"Use professional trait, profession - Actor, Assassin, Agent, all incorrect... MI6 or Grey Glove? Oh, guessed it right - hmm?"
She widened her eyes, noticing that both "MI6 Ace" and "Grey Glove Ace" appeared simultaneously, feeling as if Vanessa was playing a very new game. The figure of the formerly beautiful and fate-gifted "Miss Charlotte" became even more ambiguous and enchanting.
The witch hesitated, unsure if she should read it aloud, so she drew another card, confirmed the answer, and said:
"Profession - MI6 Agent, Grey Glove Agent. The former can provide an extra 35 points bonus to this ’City Gossip’ investigation; the latter can provide an extra 25 points bonus... Wait, why does Grey Glove add less than the Northern Country agents? Never mind, it’s not important, the final point total is 121+60=181 points."
The woman in the black dress and the church people didn’t comment on this, but the former was already frowning:
"Lady Amethyst is indeed as formidable as the rumors say, no one could have imagined this choice."
"[Silencer], [Detective], and [Outlander Traveler] have already known in advance the location of the ’Freeman Hawthorne’ attack case - ’Parsifal Club.’ Since the total point exceeded 100, [Silencer] has acquired additional information ’1. The criminal is male’; since the total point exceeded 150, [Outlander Traveler] acquired additional information ’1. The criminal is male, 2. The criminal is not over 30 years old’."