Chapter 17: Suspect

"What exactly is it?" Lu Mian felt both excited and a bit worried.

After the lady drank a sip of the "Venus Holy Oil" special drink, she answered at a moderate pace:

"This needs to be asked of yourself."

After speaking, she lowered her head slightly and focused on enjoying her breakfast, putting on a posture of no further communication.

Really, why is it always saying half and hiding half... Wait until next time to answer? Isn't this a waste of everyone's time? At this moment, Lu Mian actually felt a bit like he couldn't beat the other party in making people angry.

He controlled his breathing frequency, smiled, stood up, and bid farewell.

For the entire day that followed, Lu Mian stayed at home very quietly and didn't go out.

This wasn't because he was so afraid of that owl that he didn't dare to go out during the day, nor was it because there was nothing to do, but rather he was performing for certain people to see.

—He was very curious about the help letter in Lyra and the others' hands and wanted to figure out exactly what was written and who wrote it. The best entry point for the investigation was to find an opportunity to look through every small blue book in the village and find the one with some words cut out. As a local villager, Lu Mian was definitely more suitable for these things than Ryan, Lyra, and Valentine, but he was worried that if he started doing some investigations right after talking to those three outsiders, it would attract the attention of certain people and encounter unnecessary blows.

This was a matter very likely involving life and death, existence and extinction. Even with Aurora's protection, Lu Mian couldn't guarantee that the other party wouldn't take any risky actions against him.

In the past two years, he had become increasingly able to grasp the corresponding scale in "pranks."

This was brought about by rich experience.

He planned to wait a few days, after Lent began, and then use the excuse of pursuing legends related to the festival to "visit" every household.

When night fell and dinner was over, Aurora returned to her bedroom to write a manuscript that had been delayed for a long time.

Lu Mian entered the study, intending to find some books related to "dreams" to read, hoping to gain inspiration about what exactly was special about himself in the dream.

Because there was only one battery-powered desk lamp in the house, which was now being used by Aurora, he could only light the kerosene lamp, which had a heavy smell and not-so-good lighting.

Carrying the kerosene lamp that emitted dim yellow light, Lu Mian's other hand swept quickly across the spines of the books, occasionally pulling one out and tucking it under his armpit.

After a while, he returned to the table with the three books he had selected.

Just after putting down the things in his hand, Lu Mian saw the small blue book at home.

It was placed quietly in the corner of the desk as usual, and there seemed to be some dust on the gray-blue cover.

Seeing this small blue book, Lu Mian instantly associated it with the one he had obtained in the dream ruins and the one whose words had been cut out by someone to piece together a help letter.

He then reached out his palm, picked up the small blue book in front of him, and planned to flip through the content inside to see which words were suitable for cutting out and could be pieced together into useful sentences.

After flipping through only a few pages, Lu Mian's gaze froze.

There was an obvious void in the explanatory words attached after the calendar on the current page.

A certain word had been cut out!

"No way..." Lu Mian was incredibly shocked.

He flipped through the small blue book in his hand quickly and found more than a dozen traces left after words were cut out.

"No way..." Lu Mian whispered again, his reaction almost identical to just now.

The small blue book that Ryan, Lyra, Valentine, and the others were looking for, which was pieced together into a help letter, was actually this one in his own home!

Not to mention them, even Lu Mian himself hadn't expected such a development!

He hadn't even thought about it!

Amidst indescribable complex emotions, Lu Mian frowned:

"Could it be a help letter written by Aurora?

"Why would she need help, seeking help from the authorities? Why didn't she tell me?"

From details like Lyra and the others' style of conduct and their habitual choice of going to the parish priest to discuss things as soon as they arrived, he initially judged that they should be official personnel, perhaps from the government, or belonging to the "Eternal Blazing Sun" Church or the "God of Steam and Machinery" Church in the Dalie region.

Lu Mian hesitated, his expression changing constantly.

Finally, he made up his mind, took the small blue book, walked out of the study, and came outside Aurora's bedroom.

He planned to ask directly.

He chose to trust Aurora.

Knock, knock, knock. Lu Mian curled his fingers and knocked on the door.

"Please come in." Aurora's voice came out.

Lu Mian turned the handle and pushed the door open, seeing Aurora, in a two-piece cotton nightgown, under the bright light of the desk lamp, using a headband to tie up her golden hair, buried in writing a story.

"Did you cut this out?" Without waiting for his sister to ask, Lu Mian walked over directly.

"Ah?" Aurora turned around in confusion, her eyes looking blank and detached, seemingly still immersed in the story.

Lu Mian handed over the small blue book flipped to the corresponding page and stared into Aurora's eyes:

"You didn't cut this?"

Aurora looked carefully for a few seconds and looked up with amusement:

"Would I be so bored and childish?

"Your sister is steady, mature, and generous, unlike you."

Aurora's reaction is very natural... No surprise or panic at being exposed, not at all... Lu Mian didn't hide his confusion and asked:

"But who would cut words from a small blue book?"

"Isn't it you?" Aurora sized up her brother, "After reading my novel, you plan to imitate the content above, cut out words from books and newspapers, piece them into a kidnapping letter, play a big prank in the village, and before that, try to see if you can fool me? Are you testing your sister's reasoning ability?"

It really doesn't look like something Aurora would do... Lu Mian's gaze had been on Aurora's face, not letting go of any subtle expression change, and his sister showed no problems at all.

"It's not me." Lu Mian frowned, "Who could have done it?"

Aurora smiled:

"You go play your reasoning game first; I still have to rush the manuscript.

"If I have time tomorrow, I'll help you restore the truth."

Using supernatural means? Lu Mian said "hmm" and stopped disturbing his sister's creation.

He took the small blue book, returned directly to his unlit room, and sat in the chair behind the desk.

"Who could it be?"

Under the illumination of the high-altitude red moon, Lu Mian muttered to himself again.

He tried to reason:

"There are only two people in our house. Aurora is also a witch with supernatural abilities and wouldn't let others mess around at home...

"If it really isn't her, according to her statement, excluding all impossibilities, the remaining one, no matter how unbelievable, is the truth.

"So, in a choice of two, did I actually do this?"

For a moment, Lu Mian felt both absurd and amused.

So the "criminal" is actually myself?

How come I don't know?

He couldn't help but turn his body and look at the full-length mirror attached to the wardrobe.

In the crimson moonlight, the Lu Mian in the mirror was wearing a linen shirt and brown trousers, his handsome features without a hint of a smile, his expression exceptionally heavy.

He was very sure he hadn't done anything like cutting out the content of the small blue book.

For this, he even recalled his experiences over the past month.

Although many details were blurred, he was very certain about what he had done in general.

Bathed in the red moonlight seeping in from the window, Lu Mian muttered silently:

"Could it be that I did it when I wasn't sober?

"While having that dream, does the real me sleepwalk?

"No, impossible. Aurora said she would watch over this side. If I really sleepwalked and cut the small blue book, she would have pointed it out just now. And sending the letter must have been during the day, when I was very sober."

Lu Mian ruled himself out and thought about other possibilities:

"Maybe it was someone else who visited the house?"

Although they didn't have many guests usually, it didn't mean they had none at all.

First, there would be poorer neighbors around who would come to borrow the stove or oven to smoke meat or bake bread;

Second, Lu Mian's friends would also come to his house from time to time to find some novels with simple wording in the study or listen to him tell stories;

Finally, a few ladies like Naralaiza and Madame Pualis would occasionally visit to chat with Aurora. Among them, Madame Pualis came the most often and would even lend a pony to Aurora so she could gallop freely in the mountains. The relationship between the two could be considered quite good.

After all, in the countryside like Cordu Village, only a writer like Aurora was worth Madame Pualis's association.

However, Madame Pualis was very approachable on the surface. She would often sit with women like Naroka to bask in the sun and chat, and even help them catch lice. Her reputation in the village was quite good.

Although Madame Pualis and Aurora were barely friends, Lu Mian didn't like her at all because she would often introduce some relative of hers to Aurora, urging her to get married and have children early.

If those relatives of Madame Pualis were decent people, that would be fine, but every time Lu Mian went to Dalie to inquire, he would find that the targets were either of poor character or had no ability, almost falling into the poverty class. None of them were good.

Once might be a coincidence, but every time made Lu Mian hold a grudge against Madame Pualis.

"Those who come to smoke meat or bake bread definitely couldn't be it; there's always someone watching, and they wouldn't be allowed to go upstairs... Raymond, Ava, and the others couldn't be it either; I accompanied them the whole time... Madame Pualis, Naralaiza, and these ladies did have a certain opportunity. Every time they came, Aurora would leave them in the study to read books while she went to prepare snacks...

"If Madame Pualis really is a witch, then it's understandable that she needs to hide her identity when seeking help from the authorities. Moreover, she is very cautious in using someone else's small blue book to avoid being traced back to herself...

"Did she discover something while having an affair with the parish priest and had to protect herself in this way?"

Lu Mian became more excited the more he thought about it, having a feeling that he was about to lock onto the suspect.

He stood up, paced a few steps, and suddenly walked downstairs.

He didn't want to question Madame Pualis, nor did he intend to pry into the other party's actions now, but was prepared to find Raymond or little Guillaume from the Berry family to borrow their small blue book for comparison, to restore which words had been cut out and what kind of sentences could be pieced together.

In this way, Lu Mian would very likely restore the specific content of that help letter.

He stomped downstairs, passed through the kitchen, and opened the door.

The crimson darkness outside surged in, making him instantly calm down.

"Uh, sister said, before figuring out the situation of that owl, don't go out after dark..." Lu Mian muttered, stepped back two paces, and closed the door.

Anyway, borrowing the small blue book wasn't urgent; doing it tomorrow would be more natural.

Stretching his body, Lu Mian walked toward the stairs.

Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling.

The doorbell was pulled, and the sound echoed.

"Who is it?" Lu Mian turned around and asked suspiciously while walking toward the door.

A soft, female voice with a hint of magnetism sounded outside the door:

"It's me, Pualis de Rochefort."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 18 =====