6kv Chapter 20 detected unrecorded occult knowledge.
Chapter 20 detected unrecorded occult knowledge.
A viscount invites circus members to a book salon.
Why would these two people, who seem to have nothing in common, appear in the same place?
Even if Viscount Hammond isn't the owner of the circus, he must have some connection to it!
Winston was surprised to stumble upon such a coincidental clue, but he recalled that when he first walked in earlier that day, Norman and Margaret were arguing about Margaret's accommodation.
"Why don't you want to go back to the circus?" Winston asked.
"That place makes me feel uncomfortable," Margaret replied uneasily. "My colleagues have a problem with me because many spectators come to see me, not the circus... I had made a good friend, but she lost money gambling... and the troupe leader often scolds me for refusing to... well, use his suggested methods to attract customers..."
She deliberately spoke incoherently and vaguely, clearly unwilling to trouble others with the "minor" things she had experienced.
Winston thought for a moment, then asked, "If I gave you a chance for revenge, would you be willing to go back?"
Margaret didn't understand and stared blankly at him.
"You won't be alone anymore." Winston pointed to himself and the others. "Everyone here will be your support. Remember those thugs whose legs were broken? If nothing unexpected happens, the police will break their other legs today too, and if you want, similar things will happen to other people you hate in the future."
He said "the person you hate" instead of "the person who bullies you," which is almost an open declaration that Margaret can bully others.
Norman couldn't help but glance at Winston, thinking that the Prime Minister's moral bottom line was quite flexible... which made sense.
Margaret's expression changed several times, not because of Winston's talk about revenge, but because of the phrase "You are no longer a person."
After a long while, as if finally making up her mind, she raised her head and looked directly into Winston's eyes, saying:
"I do."
"Excellent!" Winston exclaimed approvingly. "From today onward, the investigation will be led by Miss Margaret Zeller, and we will provide you with as much assistance as possible."
"You should still come to me for lessons three days a week. Diana and I will teach you some basics of mysticism and how to protect yourself in dangerous situations."
Norman told Margaret, "You need to find an excuse to fool your colleagues. If you're really too busy, say you have to perform on stage, have a pigeon deliver a message to me."
He reached into his pocket and handed Margaret a whistle:
"This is a pigeon whistle. Birds can hear it, but people can't. If you need anything, just blow it, and my little bird will come looking for you."
Martin thought for a moment and said, "You can mention my name if necessary, but the person must be someone of a certain status or position, otherwise it won't work."
That's really useless! After leaving Parliament, how many people knew the name of the Prime Minister's private secretary...? Diana couldn't help but scoff, while Margaret, unaware of the reason, sincerely thanked them.
Winston said, "Don't thank me. I'm the least helpful person here, but if you can find a way to sneak into Viscount Hammond's salon, I might be able to go with you."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a series of sharp explosions erupted in the Lovecraftian couple's drawing room.
"Sir, this is inappropriate!"
"This is a bit too risky, Prime Minister!"
Winston, who had anticipated this, made a pause gesture: "I was just saying, it's not like it's even happening yet."
Anyway, the prime minister in this world is a expendable resource. Every few days, he can surpass 1% of his predecessor's record. Why are you all reacting so strongly...?
Is it because it's not respectable enough? Like the US president of the past going to Alcatraz?
He then said to Margaret, "You should go back while it's still early. Mrs. Lovecraft, could you please see her off?"
The old lady simply stood up and went to get the hunting rifle hanging on the wall behind the fireplace.
To be honest, this kind of firearm gives people a sense of security.
After the old man and the young man left, Winston turned to Norman, took a deep breath, and said, "I have something else to ask you about related to the occult."
This was clearly not a minor issue like having one's mind completely overrun by semantic parasites. Norman immediately straightened his back and said, "I understand. Let's talk in my study."
Winston readily agreed; he was very interested in Norman's collection of books, and it would be even better if he could learn a forbidden spell from them today.
Regent's Park is a royal garden, so its gardeners naturally lived in nice accommodations. Norman's house, though not large in area, had two floors plus a basement, so the usable area was quite large, and there was no shared area.
Martin stayed on the first floor, and Winston followed him to the second floor. He immediately saw a massive, arched mahogany bookshelf that reached the ceiling, filled with dizzyingly large volumes covering almost every field, including but not limited to:
"Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy," "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding," "Elements," "The Fabric of the Human Body," "How a Victorian Gentleman Deals with Sudden Hiccups in Public," "A Guide to Soothing Highland Sheep During Thunderstorms"...
It's one thing to talk about it online, but in real life, who wouldn't want to frantically research "how a gentleman should deal with hiccups"?
Winston was intrigued, and pointing to the books on the shelf, he asked, "May I take a look?"
"Of course! Feel free to look around!" Norman buried his head in the pile of books, frantically searching. "...However, I placed a small alchemy spell on the shelf, so no one else can see any books related to the occult. I need to dispel the spell first, but I can't find the peanuts that were tucked into the pages..."
Winston had already placed his hand on the spine of the book when he heard Norman's next words.
He thought to himself, no wonder some of the book titles were so strange; it turns out there's alchemy in parallel universes!
Is "peanut" slang in their alchemy industry? It sounds delicious.
Suddenly, the system said:
[Unrecorded occult knowledge has been detected. Would you like to add it to the system?]
[Currently, the Mysticism stat is 999, and the number of knowledge items that can be collected is 3/111]
Winston's eyes flickered slightly.
He didn't see any occult-related knowledge on the bookshelf, but the system detected it. Could it be that the hidden effects of alchemy don't work on the system?
"Included!"
The numbers on the system panel suddenly skyrocketed, jumping from 3 to 111 in the blink of an eye.
It seems that every nine points of occultism can be used to add one knowledge item. However, Winston considers himself to be completely ignorant of occultism, but the system counts him as knowing three, which shows that the criteria for "knowledge item" are quite broad - it may even include common knowledge such as Queen Victoria being an ancient god or not being able to go out at midnight.
Then he had a second thought.
If the knowledge recorded in the system can be searched and read at any time like a browser, wouldn't he be considered a semi-master of occultism now?