I upgraded and added points in the Holy Inquisition

Chapter 273 272. Layman?

Compared with the prosperous York Town in front of it, with people coming and going, this mountain spring village is simply out of sight.

It's remote, desolate, dilapidated, and deserted. Even the farmland in the distance is barren, with weeds almost waist high.

Looking at this place made Lloyd feel an indescribable chill in his heart.

It was supposed to be a sunny afternoon, but it felt like the light was deflecting and escaping, casting a layer of haze over the entire village, giving it a different kind of weirdness.

There was no one around. Even on the long-distance bus that brought Lloyd here, the other people on the bus got off one after another midway. In the end, he was the only one left on the bus, waiting for the bus to arrive. , the driver immediately turned around and left, and there was no longer a living person in Lloyd's field of vision.

This...isn't right? Judging from the size of this village and the number of residential buildings, there should be hundreds of people living there, right? Why is it so quiet?

Could it be that……

Have you gone to any gathering?

Or……

Are you all scared away by that father who loves to dig graves?

With doubts in mind, Lloyd wandered around the village. After walking a few steps, he came to a small square in the center of the village. Next to it stood a small building that looked like a hotel. There seemed to be human activity inside.

Lloyd was about to go over and inquire about the news, but as soon as he got closer, someone walked out first.

It was a group of three, two of whom were dressed as investigators, and the remaining one looked like a standard scholar in a white coat and monocle.

The three of them all had an emblem that looked like a magnifying glass hanging on their chests, which looked familiar to Lloyd, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

It happened that the person opposite him also thought his uniform looked familiar, so one of the investigators took the initiative and asked:

"Are you... from the Holy Inquisition?"

"Yes, you are again..."

"Nice to meet you, we are from the 'Live and Work in Peace' investigation team."

Hearing the person announcing his home address from the other side, Lloyd remembered that magnifying glass-style emblem, which he had seen in the newspaper before.

Well, it's on the advertising page...

Although I don't know the specific size and strength of this 'live and work in peace and contentment' investigation team, at least they advertised in newspapers very diligently.

It is said that it undertakes abnormal incident investigation, environmental management and maintenance, private security and other services. It has a professional and strong team, excellent professional quality, and cost-effective service packages.

It sounds pretty professional?

Lloyd quickly threw a few [Enhanced Detection] secretly and took a look at the attributes of these three people.

The two investigators are from the [Rejection] and [Embodiment] systems, but that scholar is actually from the [Redemption] system?

Except for rationality, which has exceeded 50 points, the remaining three attributes are basically around 30, which feels like the second and third levels.

As for the threat level, it is displayed with several strange symbols——

(O_o)??

Probably to express that he is not an enemy, but he is doubtful and wary, right?

"Nice to meet you, may I ask which case you are also here to investigate? Is it the father who misses his daughter so much?"

Lloyd asked again.

"Oh? I didn't expect you to have heard of this case? Are you here for this too?"

The scholar from the [Redemption] Department asked rhetorically.

Then he made eye contact with his two companions, seemed to have reached some kind of agreement, and then invited Lloyd to go into the hotel to discuss in detail.

Lloyd followed them in and saw a boss behind the counter who was cleaning the table and looking at him with eyes full of vigilance and vigilance.

But he didn't say hello, and just watched silently as Lloyd followed the three people up to the second floor.

Then, the three of them briefly explained the situation to Lloyd.

First, let me talk about the people in this village. It turns out that all the people in this village went to work in a newly opened logging farm nearby. There are several kilometers of mountain roads from here, so the village is so deserted during the day, and it has to wait until the evening to regain its popularity.

And the trio of the 'Live and Work in Peace' investigation team happened to be hired by the lumberyard with a lot of money.

It is said that it was because of the father who loved to dig graves that he kept the village awake at night and seriously affected the production efficiency of the lumberyard. Seeing that the order was about to be completed, he had to pay a lot of money to hire a professional team to solve it.

However, it has been three days since the three of them came here, but they have not found the father who loves to dig graves at all...

They searched almost every corner of the village and went to the lumberyard to investigate and collect evidence, but still could not find the suspect.

"This made us think it was some fake news or a prank, but whether it was the attitude of the employer or the reaction of the villagers here, it was confirmed that the man did exist. Maybe he hid when he saw us coming, right?"

The scholar said helplessly.

An investigator next to him also made a grimace and added:

"We have also promised the customer a time limit. The matter must be resolved within five days, otherwise the deposit will be refunded and a fee will be compensated..."

After hearing this, Lloyd asked:

"So you are telling me this just to get me to join your gang?"

"Yes, if it can be resolved smoothly, we can pay you a fee according to market conditions."

The scholar seemed to be the leader of the three and said it very frankly.

Lloyd didn't have any ink, so he nodded happily.

"no problem."

When he came here, he didn't originally think about making money, he just wanted to solve a small matter.

Unexpectedly, the situation has changed. Things are quite complicated? Is the suspect cunning?

So the two parties quickly reached an agreement on the remuneration, settling on the amount of 150,000.

This fee can be considered quite high...

But considering that this place is so remote, the situation is so complicated, and it may encounter unknown risks, is this price reasonable?

Since they agreed to join the team temporarily, both parties conducted a formal self-introduction and informed each other of their names, systems, and ranks.

These three people are all third-level explorers. They all have more than twenty years of experience and can be said to be experienced senior investigators.

Lloyd also reported his name and origin, and low-key stated that he had some attainments in executions and anatomy.

"Then why did you come to investigate this matter?"

The scholar named Kandin asked with doubts on his face.

"Because I happen to know about this matter, and I happen to have the ability to deal with it."

Lloyd answered truthfully.

"Ah... but aren't you the executioner who deals with monsters?" The scholar asked again.

Lloyd spread his hands and asked in confusion:

"Yes, but isn't this an incident involving monsters causing trouble?"

The three people opposite could not help but look at each other, and they all saw embarrassment and helplessness on each other's faces.

It's probably the kind of embarrassment where you really have no choice but to find a layman to help...

Generally speaking, many abnormal events have nothing to do with monsters, but more of abnormal natural phenomena, often evolved by the environment; special extraordinary materials; left behind sealed artifacts or ancient relics; and even taboo knowledge, etc. caused by various factors.

Only a few times it is caused by monsters, but if that is the case, things will be much simpler and easier.

The most troublesome and dangerous situation is not taboo knowledge, but human factors, or the handwriting and arrangements left by some mysterious beings...

If this is the case, it is very likely that a seemingly ordinary incident may eventually turn into a vicious crisis involving hundreds or even thousands of lives.

So when dealing with this kind of thing, you must be more careful and more cautious.

Especially those cases involving the glorious era of the past. If you are not careful, you may be in ruins...

But fortunately, the three-person investigation team had passed the previous investigation and eliminated the worst and most dangerous possibility. Otherwise, Lloyd, a layman, would not have been invited to join the team.

Right now we are really pressed for time and lack of manpower...

So in the end scholar Kandin just shook his head slightly and said:

"It shouldn't be a big problem. After all, you are also a third-level person. As long as you don't act rashly and be careful, you'll be fine."

This seemed like he was saying it to Lloyd, but in fact it was more like he was explaining it to his two companions.

Lloyd replied humbly:

"Don't worry, my greatest advantage is that I am humble, low-key, mature and steady."

The three other people could not help but be speechless for a moment, and the expressions on their faces became even more embarrassed.

Lloyd pretended not to see it and asked proactively:

"By the way, have you tried using divination to find suspects?"

"I tried it, but the result was too blurry and the direction was not clear..."

As the scholar was talking, he saw Lloyd taking out a box of matches, randomly pulling out a few and throwing them on the table, and then asked in front of the three of them:

"Where is the father who misses his daughter too much? Where is the father who misses his daughter too much?"

This wave of operations left the three members of the investigation team dumbfounded.

As a scholar and senior investigator, Kandin has not only used divination to solve many incidents, but also solved many incidents caused by divination. He still has considerable understanding and attainments in the field of divination.

But he had never imagined how someone could perform divination in front of others?

When doing divination, shouldn’t we avoid being disturbed by others as much as possible and choose an absolutely quiet place and time?

And why did you just raise the core issue directly? Isn't it too abrupt and impudent? Aren't you afraid of touching something dangerous?

In addition, why don't you choose a more reliable divination tool? What the hell are matchsticks? What results can this convey?

Kandin was complaining crazily in his heart, but his eyes suddenly widened in the next second.

When he saw the matchsticks on the table, they actually stood up on their own and began to jump up and down, as if they were dancing.

Then it ignited on its own, lighting up a few orange-red flames, and then began to sway on its own without air movement. It looked a bit like a person shaking his head, which was particularly weird.

"you……"

Scholar Canding suddenly hesitated to speak.

It was probably difficult for him to understand that Lloyd once performed divination on a crowded street, using matchsticks, and obtained optimistic and effective results.

Even Lloyd felt that matches were very useful, even better than the pocket watch that was issued to him before.

The divination results from the pocket watch always made people feel something was wrong. Even Lloyd himself suspected that it was feudal superstition.

After about two or three seconds, the matches burned out at an unreasonable speed, leaving several scorch marks on the table, which together formed a pattern without any direction or clear meaning.

Scholar Kandin didn't care about complaining anymore. He quickly stared at the pattern for a few times, then frowned, feeling a little disappointed.

Based on his attainments in divination, no conclusion can be drawn.

Although those matches started to move on their own, which seemed a bit special, that was probably just a [harbinger] from before. The real conclusion should be the scorch marks after burning.

It's a pity that the conclusions reached by his previous divination are similar, and they have no clear direction.

It is this [omen] of spontaneous combustion of the match that makes scholar Kandin even more concerned.

This probably represents the very unoptimistic conclusion of 'burning', 'burning out', 'destruction and destruction', or even 'moths flying into flames', 'seeking death'...

And this burning speed is very abnormal, faster than fireworks. It may be pointing to the worse ending of 'life quickly dissipates' and 'everything turns to ashes'...

However, the scholar Kandin then thought again. After all, this was an abrupt divination made by a layman. There were so many people around, and the results had long been disturbed to the point where he didn’t know where to go, so there were no [omens]. Too much reference value.

He also knew very well that his thoughts were somewhat self-comforting...

Unexpectedly, this layman named Lloyd was actually better at 'self-comforting' than he was?

"You see, the results tend to be optimistic. Fire represents excitement and enthusiasm, and it can bring warmth, indicating that the next process of finding the suspect will be safe;

And the fact that the match burned out so quickly meant that the matter could be settled quickly;

In the end, the table was not set on fire, indicating that no one else would be implicated;

Well, this is a very good [omen], so don’t frown all the time. "

Lloyd then expressed his interpretation of [Omen].

"what???"

Kandin was stunned for a moment.

Although interpreting [omens] is a very subjective matter, everyone can draw different conclusions, and there is no absolute right or wrong.

But how can anyone be so optimistic?

Have you ever seen a sea of ​​blood, filled with all kinds of weird tentacles, and come to an optimistic conclusion?

Kandin wanted to question Lloyd like this.

But then I heard the other party say:

"As for the final result... you see, these scorch marks seem to have no clear direction, but there is just one direction left here, so the person we are looking for should be here, just look for it there. good."

"what???"

Kandin was stunned again.

(End of this chapter)