Chapter 16: Crimes

Chapter 16: Crimes

“Haha, how could anyone tell at a glance whether someone is an outsider? How would you even distinguish that?” Roy forced himself to stay calm and pretended that he was only discussing the contents of the yellow paper with his companions.

Through the hidden meaning in his words, he tried to comfort Phil and Pasha, telling them not to panic. After all, aside from the local Byers, the remaining three were also Loenese citizens and had no Southern Continent ancestry. Judging by their facial features alone, there was nothing special about them.

“But—but this is a supernatural incident…” Pasha answered, stammering slightly.

It could not be judged by common sense!

Roy’s heart tightened. Looking at the expressionless citizens slowly approaching them, he immediately shouted in a low voice,

“Run!”

The instant he spoke, he had already turned and sprinted toward the nearest street entrance. Pasha and Phil followed closely behind.

As a local, Byers tacitly stayed at the rear, letting a layer of illusory fish scales cover the surface of his skin.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several citizens raised double-barreled hunting guns they carried and fired forward.

Roy, Phil, and Pasha were all Beyonders rather skilled at combat. As they ran, they either changed direction from time to time or suddenly threw themselves down, rolling forward. They successfully evaded this round of attacks.

Then, under Pasha’s guidance, they passed through streets and alleys, shook off their pursuers, and hid in an empty shadowed corner.

“What do we do?” Phil, who had lost one hand, panted as he asked. “Judging from the contents of the announcement, we probably can’t leave this city directly.”

“We need to figure out the rules and search for a method within those rules.” Although Roy was also panicking, he forced himself to think calmly, preventing the entire team’s emotions from collapsing.

Pasha looked at Byers, who was keeping watch, and asked,

“Has that noticeboard always been there?”

Byers nodded.

“Yes. Although I rarely had the chance to go to the municipal square, when I was conscripted into the army, we gathered there, and I saw that noticeboard.”

“The noticeboard itself should be fine. Perhaps the two sheets of paper are the key. They may be able to give written laws mystical meaning,” Pasha stated her guess.

Roy immediately expressed agreement.

“Right.

“And I suspect those laws must be publicly announced before they take effect. If we can find an opportunity to tear down those two sheets of paper, the corresponding restrictions may disappear.”

After hearing Roy’s words, Pasha, Phil, and Byers all fell silent.

Several seconds later, the muscles on Phil’s face twitched as he said,

“Let’s try! If we stay trapped in the city, even if those citizens don’t catch us, we might still be punished by the laws for all kinds of reasons.”

Although they were all Beyonders, their Sequences were not high. Dealing with a few ordinary people was not a problem, but facing the hostility of an entire city was extremely dangerous.

Roy, Byers, and Pasha had more or less been on the battlefield. They knew that hesitation at a time like this was the worst possible choice. One after another, they made their decisions and agreed to Phil’s proposal.

Guided by the fairly experienced Hunter, Pasha, the four of them circled around most of the area and secretly returned to the municipal square from another street.

At this time, the citizens who had been gathered around the announcement were no longer there. It seemed they were searching the entire city for outsiders.

Looking at the noticeboard quietly standing between two gas streetlamps, Roy and the others cautiously approached, ready to flee at any moment.

When they drew close to the target, Roy suddenly thought of a problem and hurriedly lowered his voice.

“Does damaging the announcement count as an illegal act?”

“In theory, yes…” Pasha froze for a moment before answering.

They immediately cast their gazes toward the noticeboard and read through the criminal acts listed under the third law:

“…

“8. Damaging public property;

“…”

“There really is one,” Byers blurted out.

Phil’s face, already pale from blood loss, grew even more ashen. After thinking, he said,

“What punishment would damaging public property incur?”

This was only a relatively minor illegal act. The corresponding punishment might be fairly light.

If that was truly the case, Phil intended to take a certain risk and tear down the announcement, ending everything terrifying and bizarre.

“A first offense is flogging.” Just as Roy, Pasha, and Byers were pondering the answer, a voice came from behind them.

The four turned in shock and saw a young man in a black robe and tall top hat, with an ordinary appearance.

The man continued,

“A second offense is losing a hand.

“As for repeat offenses, I’m not sure.”

“How do you know?” Roy asked with a frown, vigilantly gripping the hidden dagger in his hand.

The young man smiled.

“I tried. It had no effect. The announcement recovered very quickly.”

“So you suffered flogging?” Pasha asked in sudden understanding.

“Mm.” The young man nodded casually. “But because I also committed fraud at the same time, I was then punished with the loss of a hand.”

“Fraud?” Byers asked, somewhat unable to understand.

The young man answered cheerfully,

“To put it simply, I did not personally go to destroy that announcement. I made a fake person go instead. The one flogged was also that fake person.”

As he spoke, he raised his right arm.

Like Phil, his wrist had been severed cleanly. At the wound, the skin was pale with traces of red, and it still seemed to be seeping blood.

Suddenly, the stump wriggled. One twisted, transparent little worm after another crawled out from it. They tangled with one another, layering together until they formed a new palm.

During the process, Roy and the others felt no horror at all, because the instant they saw those indistinct little worms, their thoughts fell into chaos. Ideas flashed wildly, and their emotional fluctuations became difficult to control.

Only when that palm was “covered” with skin and returned to normal did these Beyonders recover. Shocked, doubtful, and terrified, they all retreated several steps at once.

The scene they had just witnessed had already exceeded their understanding.

“Right, I forgot to introduce myself. I am a wandering magician.” The one who had just committed the crimes of fraud and damaging public property was Klein.

He swept his gaze over the four Beyonders and said with a smile,

“The magic I am best at is fulfilling other people’s wishes. Do any of you have a wish you’d like to realize?”

Hearing this question, Roy’s spirit lifted. Holding considerable hope, he asked,

“Can you let us leave Belltaine?”

“Of course. I will do my best to accomplish that, but not right now,” Klein promised.

Then he looked toward Phil, who had lost a hand.

“His wish is finished. What is yours?”

“…Restore my hand,” Phil said tentatively.

“All right.” Klein turned his gaze toward Byers. “Take out his hand.”

Byers hesitated briefly but still followed this mysterious man’s instruction, taking out the wooden box and returning the hand inside to Phil.

“Come here,” Klein then said to Phil with a smile.

Phil gathered his courage and walked over with the severed hand.

“Remove the bandage,” Klein continued instructing him. “Place the severed hand in its original position. Let me remind you: don’t put it on backward, or we’ll have to cut it off and start again.”

Seeing how certain the other party was, Phil gained a bit of confidence. His face contorted severely as he hurriedly tore off the bandage stuck to the wound, constantly making hissing sounds.

Once he put the severed hand into place, Klein took out a sheet of white paper and moved closer.

Then he reached out and wiped across the break.

Silently, the sheet of white paper split in two, while Phil felt the pain vanish all at once.

He hurriedly lowered his head and saw that the severed area of his left wrist had been restored perfectly. There was no sign it had ever been injured.

Phil subconsciously moved his fingers and discovered that their flexibility had not decreased at all.

“Your wish has been fulfilled.” Klein took two steps back and said with a smile.

“Thank you…” Phil replied, still somewhat dazed.

Klein then looked toward the other two Beyonders.

“What about your wishes?”

Seeing that Phil’s wish had truly been realized, Byers immediately stepped forward.

“I want to know where my family is now.”

With a flick of his left arm, Klein took out a silver mirror with ancient patterns. Lowering his head, he smiled.

“What is the answer to the question just now?”

Waterlight rippled across the mirror’s surface, and one silver word after another appeared:

“Belltaine Gorolin Cemetery…”

Byers, who had craned his neck to look, felt his heart sink. Strong sorrow and disappointment uncontrollably surged across his face.

The next second, new silver words leapt out from the watery light:

“…the gravekeeper’s hut.”

…That means… Byers turned from grief to joy and sincerely said,

“Thank you.”

The moment he finished speaking, he suddenly thought of two questions:

How many people could live in a gravekeeper’s hut? How many gravekeepers could there be?

His family was definitely not limited to two or three people!

Byers’s expression shifted between gloom and relief before he fell silent again.

Because of that, he did not see the question appear on the silver mirror:

“Great Master, was my answer kind enough?”

“Mm.” Klein nodded almost imperceptibly, then cast his gaze toward the remaining lady.

After thinking for two seconds, Pasha said,

“My wish is for you to protect us until we leave Belltaine alive.”

She had noticed a serious flaw in Roy’s previous wish: those who left Belltaine might not necessarily be alive.

“Smart.” Klein smiled and praised her. “Your wish shall be fulfilled.”

“Then what price must we pay? I mean, the reward for watching the magic.” Pasha hurriedly asked another question.

“Your wishes themselves are the price,” Klein replied briefly. Then, somewhat thoughtfully, he asked, “If certain things are explicitly known to be false, but you are subjectively willing to make use of them, that should not count as fraud, correct?”

Roy and the others were left confused by what they heard. After seriously considering for a moment, they shook their heads one after another.

“It definitely doesn’t.”

“That’s basically a kind of game between both sides.”

“A voluntary act based on clear understanding certainly doesn’t count as fraud.”

“Without a doubt, it isn’t.”

After hearing each of their answers, Klein smiled.

“Good. That is the cognition of normal citizens.”

As he spoke, he reached forward with his right hand and grabbed several times, dragging out the figure of a woman in a simple robe with long black hair.

It was none other than the historical projection of Arianna, Matriarch of the Evernight Cloister.

Klein looked left and right, saw that no abnormality occurred, and smiled at the projection.

“Madam, what exactly happened here?”

Arianna’s eyes moved slightly, instantly growing deep, making one feel peace from the depths of their heart.

In an even tone, She said,

“The Patriarch of the Church of the God of Combat, Larrion, has fled. I am tracking Him.”

Arianna paused, then continued,

“After I arrived in Belltaine, I received a new piece of intelligence.

“The intelligence indicates that Larrion took a Sealed Artifact with Him when He fled.

“0-02.”