Mr. Dellal's story is not new, and even to the "well-informed" outsiders, it can be said to be a bit cliché.
This story is about the ocean, strange statues, greedy hearts and curses, which is probably very suitable for Miss Louisa to provide writing material.
The incident dates back to a year ago, in the spring of 1852 in the universal calendar.
Mr. Delar, a cargo dispatcher at the dock area, checked the confiscated contraband as usual, and responsibly took the valuable small items back to his home for safekeeping. This was also an unwritten source of income for this position, anyway, it would be fine as long as he was not discovered.
In a pile of messy boxes, Mr. Dellar found a group of small stone statues. They were about the thickness of an adult man's arm and as long as a forearm. The statues were of a mermaid with her head tilted back.
"Mermaid" refers to a creature with a female upper body and a fish torso in the lower body. It often appears in fairy tales in this world. This is not the same thing as the ugly "fish man" that Shade had seen before, whose only feet were human.
"So, you took the statues with you?"
Listening to the other party's story, Xia De asked hesitantly, and thought of many plots in horror novels. In this era, horror novels have just emerged, and colorful court novels, knight novels, and detective novels that have emerged in recent decades are the mainstream.
"Yes, I took it away... I have worked here for twenty years and never thought that the stories I heard from the old sailors would happen to me."
Mr. Dellal huddled in the corner and said dejectedly, not caring at all about the blood on the ground getting on him.
As a dispatcher, although he has the right to deal with those inconspicuous illegal items, if the goods want to be sold, it is definitely impossible for him alone.
Mr. De Laer had some very reliable partners who played different roles in the entire transaction process. For example, Mr. Lemaire, a crew member, whom Shad thought was just an ordinary crew member, actually held the position of first mate. In the sale of Mr. De Laer's stolen goods, Lemaire was responsible for bringing some sensitive items to the New World for sale.
After discovering the mermaid statues a year ago, Mr. Dellal fell in love with them at first sight, so he distributed them to his companions as works of art at a party.
For a year after that, everyone who obtained the mermaid statue would dream of a dilapidated palace in the deep sea, deep-sea reliefs that were completely beyond human aesthetics, and a huge rotten mermaid corpse floating inside the palace.
The dream ends with "a terrifying giant corpse approaching, and then a corpse as big as a mountain opens its eyes." Many people are driven crazy by the recurring dream. After realizing that something is wrong, even if they throw away the mermaid statues, they cannot get rid of the troubles in the dream.
It was just a dream at first, but starting three months ago, people troubled by the dream began to die in very strange ways.
Mr. Lemaire was one of them. Although the ship he was on said that he had fallen into the ocean in a storm, in fact, that was the captain's excuse to reduce panic. Lemaire died of his own madness. In three days, he went from being a mentally normal first mate to a madman muttering crazy words, and finally chose to jump into the sea and commit suicide.
And now, only Jason Dellar is still alive.
His face twitched as he told his story, and when he looked up at Shade, there were bloodshot eyes.
"Wait, why don't you go to the Orthodox Church?"
Xia De raised his confusion in time.
"If we go to the church, they will definitely implicate us in our activities. You think we just stole goods and sold them, but no, we did more than you think. I don't need to read the Constitution of Delarion to know that this is definitely a capital crime. If I go to the church, I will definitely die, and even if I don't die, I will definitely lose my property; if I don't go to the church, I will have a chance to solve it myself. Oh, isn't this an easy choice to make?"
The middle-aged man with the revolver pointed at his head asked with his eyes wide open, an abnormal blush appearing on his face.
After thinking about it, Shade actually thought that what the crazy guy said was not unreasonable. However, the primitive fear of the unknown did not overcome the greed for the gold pounds. Shade did not know whether greed was really so terrible or whether the mermaids were influencing them.
In short, after their companions died one after another, the survivors tried their best to find solutions, and then died mysteriously.
Mr. Delaar, who survived to the end, got a book through private channels that was said to be very useful, and then performed a ceremony according to the contents of the book to expel the curse for himself. However, the ceremony did not attract the "omniscient and omnipotent great being" mentioned in the book, but instead attracted a stranger living in Tobesk.
"That is to say, although this matter is related to the inheritance itself, it actually has nothing to do with my client, Mrs. Lemaire. She can accept the inheritance."
Shade summed it up in his mind, then pointed to the floor:
"Next question, where did the blood come from? Don't tell me it's from a hospital. I don't believe that answer."
"Sir, how much money do you want to help me..."
"Where did all this blood come from? And what are those lumps of flesh?"
"The homeless in this city can... "
Bang!
The smoke from the muzzle floated upwards, and the body suddenly fell backwards, soaking in the blood plasma on the ground.
The crazy dispatcher in Coldwater Harbor has nothing to do with Tobesk's detective, especially when he is sure that he will not affect his client. After confirming that the other party is a bad guy, just kill him and leave, so as not to cause any trouble.
However, when Xia De looked at the corpse, he suddenly realized that strictly speaking, this was the second person he had killed in this world. The first one, Lady Lasoya, was killed from a very far distance, but this one died right in front of him, so he still felt uncomfortable for a few seconds.
Greed and desire caused this tragedy. Shad hopes that this incident can remind himself that excessive greed is never a good thing.
He sighed, then pulled out a wooden tube from his pocket, sprinkled the bone powder inside onto the corpse in front of him, and used the magic of Soul Echo.
A cold wind blew in the closed room, and the flames of the six candles on the ground dimmed a little, and the warm yellow flames turned into a faint blue.
Gray light emerged from the body, and the light lasted for a few seconds before gathering together. Jason Drall's shadow appeared above the body. His expression was numb, his eyes were lifeless, this was the shadow of the soul.
Although it originated from the Echo Spirit Rune, this magic is actually a standard necromancy ability.