If Pons Bene entered Naroka's house just to take away her hair and nails, then it means that Naroka was most likely murdered by a relative. This is because Naroka has a good reputation and is the pillar of the entire family. She is also physically and mentally healthy and is unlikely to commit suicide... Lumian quickly came up with a series of speculations.
If Naroka really died from murder by her relatives, then what was the reason
Seeing that his brother was lost in thought and didn't speak for a while, Aurore thought he was frightened by "people turning into sheep" and "someone in the Berry family might have died of murder", so he gently comforted him:
“Although the situation is serious, it has not affected us yet.
"It seems I have to reflect on this. Always prohibiting you from contacting real mystical knowledge can easily make you panic and fearful when encountering similar things, and you don't know what to do. Well, in this world, in recent years, the frequency of supernatural events has been increasing, and I can't always be by your side. You will grow up and have your own life..."
I've never heard of having to leave your family when you grow up... Lumian retorted in his mind.
He could sense that, because of the incident of man turning into sheep, Aurore's attitude towards her exposure to occult knowledge had softened.
If I try harder, I can confess to her that I have become a Beyonder... Before Lumian could even open his mouth, Aurore had already made her decision:
“Pack your bags now, and we will leave Cordu immediately with the invitation from the Novel Weekly.
"We are so lucky that a telegram like this came at the critical moment, allowing us to leave openly without anyone suspecting us.
"Well, when there's no one around during the journey, I'll tell you some real occult knowledge, but don't even think about becoming a Beyonder. It's too dangerous."
That wasn't luck. She had sent the telegram because she had discovered the problem, but she hadn't received the reply until this cycle... Lumian muttered silently, feeling relieved that her sister was still the decisive person.
Although he was not optimistic that his siblings could leave Cordu Village smoothly, or break free from the cycle, he had to give it a try.
"Uh, those three sheep, those three people, aren't we going to save them?" Lumian asked tentatively.
Aurore shook her head.
"This could lead to a conflict between us and Pierre Berry, and I'm not sure how strong he is or how many helpers he has. It would be too dangerous to save people blindly.
"Let the authorities come. This is their responsibility. Well, when we get to Darriege and buy the steam train tickets, we will send an anonymous letter to the authorities and let them handle it."
“But what if they don’t believe it?” Lumian asked deliberately.
Aurore smiled.
“You are indeed illiterate in the occult.
"If we describe the incident of people turning into sheep clearly in the letter, they will naturally seek out professionals to do divination. Even if they don't get any detailed revelations, they will be able to find that there is something wrong with Cordu."
“I understand.” Lumian didn’t waste any more time and went upstairs to pack his luggage.
Not long after, the brother and sister came down each with a brown suitcase.
Aurore glanced outside the door and said:
"Now go find Madame Puaris and borrow her carriage so that we can reach Darriege as quickly as possible."
It would take an average person an entire afternoon to walk from Cordu Village to Liege. As a "hunter", Lumian certainly wouldn't need that much. But in Aurore's eyes, he wasn't yet a Beyonder.
After hesitating for a moment whether to confess to his sister, and thinking that it was basically impossible to escape from Cordu Village, Lumian decided to take the opportunity to visit Mrs. Puaris's house and look for clues. He said, "Hmm."
"OK."
He reached out and took her suitcases from his sister, carrying two each and walked towards the door.
Aurore nodded with satisfaction and relief, then said with a hint of doubt:
"You've become stronger, so you can lift it so easily."
She subconsciously raised her right hand to rub both sides of her eyes, but Lumian had already walked out the door, so she had to give up trying and quickly catch up.
On the way to the administrator's residence, many villagers saw Aurore going out with a suitcase and asked curiously about the situation.
Aurore, who had legitimate reasons, was perfectly fine with this.
Lumian, on the other hand, made up seven or eight stories to deal with different villagers during this short journey.
Something about Aurore being awarded the Legion of Honor of Innis and going to Trier to receive the medal, or that she had been specially recruited by the Trier Higher Normal College and could sign up now, or that Aurore went bankrupt from stock speculation and her creditors were about to come to her door, so she had to flee to another place. The uninformed villagers were stunned when they heard this.
Thanks to Lumian's reputation, they all chose not to believe it after they came to their senses.
Not long after, the brother and sister arrived at the black building that was converted from an ancient castle.
Looking up at the two towering towers, Lumian smiled and said:
"I don't know what's in there, Aurore. Have you ever been in there?"
"How could I possibly hang around someone else's house?" Aurore rolled her eyes at her brother.
Lumian muttered quietly:
"I thought Mrs. Pualis would invite you to tour the castle. Don't people like them love to show guests around their big houses and precious collections?"
"What's so good about this place..." Aurore's voice got lower and lower as she spoke, because she thought it would be very helpful for her to describe the castle in her work. "Well, let's talk about it later when we have a chance. I don't know if I can go back to Cordu."
She then led Lumian through the colorful garden and towards the castle gate.
After walking a few steps, Aurore slowed down, looked around, and said in confusion:
"The flowers in this garden bloom very early..."
The village of Cordu is on the mountain, and there are highland grasslands nearby. Normally, the first wave of spring flowers will arrive in mid-to-late April.
“Maybe Mrs. Pualis’s gardener has a special way.” Lumian thought that the lady was a Beyonder from an abnormal path, and suspected that this was related to some extraordinary phenomenon, but he couldn’t say it out loud.
Aurore just casually sighed without thinking too much, and arrived at the castle with Lumian, where they were warmly welcomed by Madame Puaris.
The lady was wearing a blue corseted dress today, with the gold diamond necklace still hanging on her chest. Her long brown hair was half tied up and half let down, making her look younger than usual.
She sat on the single sofa in the small living room, listened quietly to Aurore's request, and said with a faint smile:
"No need to be so polite, we are friends."
Haha… Lumian sneered in his heart.
Who would blindly introduce marriage partners to their friends
As soon as he finished his silent mockery, he saw Mrs. Pualis looking at him, with a smile like flowing water in her bright brown eyes.
Lumian suddenly recalled the conversation he had with Mrs. Pualis in the last loop and felt a little uncomfortable.
"Okay." Aurora looked helpless.
Every time she borrowed a carriage, she would offer to pay for it, but Mrs. Pualis would always refuse, so she usually brought some inexpensive but not cheap gifts to the lady on her return trip, and gave the coachman a small tip.
While waiting for the coachman to prepare, Mrs. Pualis invited the siblings to taste the dessert made by her own chef.
Lumian tasted a piece of pancake, looked around and said:
"Where's Mr. Lund?"
Louis Lund was the steward of the administrator Beost and followed him from Darriège to the village of Cordu.
Lumian had evidence that he had an affair with a woman in the village and secretly sold some collections in the castle, and thus obtained the information that Madame Puaris was the parish priest's mistress.
What about the chance encounter of the curé and Madame Puaris having an affair in the church? That was all a lie to outsiders!
At this time, Lumian was looking for Louis Lund to scold him, saying, "You son of a sow, why didn't you tell me that Mrs. Pualis was a wizard?"
Mrs. Pualis said, "Ah!"
"Louis is ill and resting in his room."
Sick? Lumian had a feeling that there might be something wrong with that.
While his sister was chatting with Mrs. Pualis, he made an excuse to go to the bathroom, left the small living room and headed straight for the stairs.
The castle was huge, and the administrator and his wife brought only a few servants with them, so everywhere seemed empty. One could even hear echoes in some places, which gave Lumian better external conditions to sneak in.
Relying on his powerful senses, he easily dodged a butler and a maid, walked lightly to the second floor, and found Louis Lund's room.
He didn't rush to knock on the door. Instead, he tilted his head and put his ear against the wooden board.
"ah!"
"ah!"
…
Painful screams of men were heard from the room.
Really sick? Sounds pretty serious... Lumian thought for a moment, then walked over to the side and opened the door of the other servants' rooms—Administrator Beost and Mrs. Prias lived on the third floor.
After slipping into the room, he gently closed the wooden door, walked a few steps to the other side, and pushed open the glass window.
Lumian looked down and saw that there was no one there. He immediately pushed himself up with both hands, flipped over lightly, and "hung" on the outer wall of the castle.
Then, he jumped lightly, like a wild cat, and landed silently on the windowsill of the butler Louis Lund.
Then, Lumian stood at the edge of the glass window, turned his body sideways, and quietly looked into the room.
He saw Louis Lund lying naked on the bed, his belly bulging so high that it looked like it would burst at any time.
Seeing the butler, who was over 40 years old, with his black hair all wet with sweat and a look of pain on his face, and hearing him screaming from time to time, Lumian couldn't help but frown:
What disease is this
It's scary, the belly can be so big...
At this time, a woman in her forties was standing next to Louis Lund's bed.
She had brown hair and brown eyes, a pretty face, few wrinkles, and was wearing a long gray-white dress. She was shouting to Louis Lund excitedly:
“Almost there, almost there.”
What's coming soon? Just as Lumian had this thought, he heard a scream and saw something pushing up Louis Lund's stomach.
Almost in the blink of an eye, something burst there, Louis Lund's stomach burst!
A bloody little hand reached up.
"It's born! It's born!" the woman shouted happily.
She then leaned over and took out a wrinkled, dirty, and bloody baby from Louis Lund's belly.
Lumian was completely stunned:
"… "