novelonline Chapter 4099 The Club and Resurrection
Chapter 4099 The Club and Resurrection
Chapter 4099 The Club and Resurrection
Shad chose to drop the glass slipper and return home, since it was obviously closer to the Blue Ink Library in the lower town from his home.
When he reappeared in the library, no girl was waiting for him this time, but the rain outside the window was much heavier than in the morning.
The Hohenheim Opera House in the lower town is not far from the Green Street where the library is located, so Shad opened his umbrella at the library entrance and stepped into the rain.
Although the opera house was located in the Lower Town, it was by no means small. Because the "City of Scholars" had numerous colleges, young students couldn't afford to go to the opera houses in the Upper Town, creating a demand for the cheaper but more affordable opera houses in the Lower Town. Furthermore, the citizens of the "City of Scholars" generally had a higher level of education, so even the opera houses in the Lower Town did very well.
The Holburn Opera Company originated from the Lower Town. Although they no longer perform in the Lower Town, the opera house is still willing to temporarily provide them with a place for office and performance.
The opera house was located on the side of a green park in the downtown area. The park was a people's park, and the opera house mainly relied on its employees, small shop owners, ordinary families, and students for income.
However, it was Wednesday morning, so the opera house was not open for business. Because it was raining, even the adjacent public park was almost deserted.
The main entrance to the opera house was closed, so Xia De went around to the backyard and found several workers unloading goods in the rain, while two middle-aged women checked the contents of the boxes under the eaves.
When Shad saw that the boxes were full of costumes and stage props, he realized that the Holburn Opera Company was moving their luggage.
He then walked directly into the courtyard with his umbrella. Seeing his youthful appearance, the two middle-aged women from the opera troupe did not say that outsiders were not allowed to enter, but instead asked what Xia De was there for.
Holding up the umbrella, Xia De smiled and said:
“I am a loyal audience member of the Holburn Opera Company. I heard that the company has temporarily moved to the Lower Town, so I wanted to come and visit them.”
He didn't give the two middle-aged women a chance to refuse:
“I also heard about the gas explosion in the city last night. It’s really bad luck that the troupe was forced to relocate here. I wonder if the troupe accepts external donations? I would like to contribute my strength to help the troupe get through the difficult times ahead.”
Since Xia De had mentioned donations, the two women exchanged a glance and then invited Xia De into the opera house, whereupon they found the director of the opera company.
The director of the Holburn Opera Company was Mr. Holburn, a middle-aged man who looked quite distressed due to the company's forced temporary relocation and the disappearance of important members.
After exchanging a few polite words with Shad, and confirming that Shad was willing to donate and that he didn't want to go out alone with certain actresses but simply wanted to meet and say a few words to everyone, Mr. Holburn gladly accepted the substantial donation.
He had his own temporary office here, so he used this temporary office to explain the opera company's current predicament to Xia De, and of course, he also mentioned the "third female lead" who had gone missing the previous night.
The latter was an elderly ring sorceress who died last night from the loss of control over her belongings; her body is now in the crypt of the Fragrant Mansion. Viggo couldn't determine the original owner of the leather garment she was wearing, but after hearing Mr. Holburn talk about the leading actors in the troupe that morning, Shad was certain that the "third female lead" had probably appeared wearing the leather garment from the beginning.
Through this opportunity, Shad learned about the other woman's relationships within the troupe, who her close friends were, and even discovered that Mrs. Connaught, who was now disguised as an old woman in a leather coat, had joined the troupe through Shad's introduction.
Shade also subtly inquired about the "mermaid" topic. The troupe leader, Mr. Holburn, was not unaware of this either. He told Shade that a small number of the ladies in the troupe believed that trinkets related to the "mermaid" could make them more popular.
When Shad curiously inquired where this claim originated, Mr. Holburn thought for a long time before answering:
"It seems that this saying started circulating in the troupe last summer. We went to perform in other places at the time, and it must be some kind of local custom."
It seems that the "mermaid worship" in the opera troupe originated from elsewhere, but Shad still believes that there must be "desire followers" in the local area.
However, Mrs. Connaught, disguised as an old woman and suspected of being connected to the follower, did not appear today, and the people in the troupe did not know where she lived. Obviously, the disappearance of "Number Three Actress" had frightened this woman who had abandoned her once prominent status. Although the church had not yet discovered anything unusual about the troupe, it would investigate her again sooner or later, so she had temporarily gone into hiding.
She was just an ordinary person, and Shad wasn't worried about not being able to find her later.
As for the "third female lead," although it was not convenient for Shade to directly ask her if she had any strange behavior on a daily basis, through his conversation with Mr. Holburn, Shade also learned that the other party was a veteran of the early days of the opera company.
The reason she didn't become the lead actress on stage wasn't because her acting skills were bad, but because she had other things to do besides acting, and couldn't concentrate all her energy on her acting career. Sometimes she even skipped the troupe's rehearsals.
Xia De understood this quite well, after all, although he was known as a famous detective, he couldn't devote all his energy to his detective career.
Mr. Holburn didn't actually know much about the lady's background, only that she was an orphan who had inherited a large sum of money and lived a comfortable life. Moreover, she was well-liked in the opera company, and the young women there trusted this senior colleague.
"I hope she's still alive. I never expected something like this to happen to us."
Mr. Holburn sighed.
Afterwards, Shad met with the other members of the opera troupe and confirmed that there were no other people wearing leather clothing, so Shad did not stay long. Then, following the address he had just learned, he found the apartment in the city where the "third female lead" lived in the lower part of the city.
This is a relatively nice residential area in the Lower Town. Although it consists of apartments rather than detached houses with gardens and lawns, it is located in the border area between the Upper Town and the Lower Town.
Although the missing person was only a low-level sorcerer, Shad had prepared for any potential security measures in the apartment. However, it seemed that apart from using some kind of magic to lock the door to prevent thieves from entering, the person had not taken any other precautions to protect their home.
The three-story apartment building looked unremarkable. After a careful search, Xia De found a suitcase in a hidden compartment behind the mirror in the second-floor bathroom. Inside the suitcase were two leather items corresponding to different beautiful girls and an ordinary notebook.
"Before that man died last night, he said that he had regained the feeling of his youth by using leather goods. Including the leather goods on the laundress and Mrs. Connaught, the number of leather goods related to this man is already five."
Xia De sighed, but this also indicated that the other party was definitely related to the main body of the [Leather Goods Guild], otherwise they would not have possessed so many leather goods.
The notebook contained information about young women, including their age, address, estimated height, weight, and even body shape. This reminded Xia De of the price the washerwoman paid for the leather goods last night: helping the person behind her collect information on attractive young women.
"They're looking for raw materials, aren't they?"
However, after continuing to search the apartment, Shad found neither the diary nor any other useful clues.
Finally, Shad re-examined the suitcase and found an invitation hidden in a crevice. The invitation was also an ordinary item, sprinkled with gold powder on the front, and the ink used to write the letters inside was also mixed with gold powder.
The invitation was issued by an organization called the "Glamour Ladies Club," inviting guests holding the invitation to a masked ball held locally on Friday night. The invitation also explicitly mentioned that a craftsman called "The Leatherworker" would be attending the party to repair everyone's "clothes."
Shad then recalled the "House of Resurrection" that the "House of False Men" had founded in the Topsk region to expand their influence, replacing the relatives and lovers of nobles under the guise of resurrecting the dead.
The Leatherworks Guild now has similar methods, but they don't need to pretend they can resurrect the dead. The guild's technology to give people a completely new appearance is enough to drive people crazy.
In the hometowns of those from other places, there are many people who undergo major surgeries to improve their appearance. And [skincare], a method that can be considered almost painless to achieve a better figure and appearance, will never lack followers in any world.
"Glamorous Ladies Club"
Looking at the name on the letter, Xia De had already decided to go and check it out on Friday. This shouldn't be the real [Leatherworks Guild], but the appearance of the "Leatherworker" would definitely allow him to access deeper secrets of the relic.
It was 11:00 AM. Xia De was still thinking about Wei Ge, but just as he was about to leave with his suitcase—
Click~
The door to the apartment downstairs was opened from the outside, and someone came in.
"Oh?"
The owner of this apartment building is definitely dead; the body is now sealed in the "Coffin of the Underworld" and there's absolutely no way it could be resurrected. A bewildered Xia De pulled the invitation out separately and put it in his pocket. Standing on the second floor, listening to the sound of the other person coming upstairs, he stuffed his suitcase under the sofa, then retreated to the wall and covered his face with his hands.
"Miraculous Technique: Calm Stance"
Stone wings wrapped around his body, and Shad became a statue that blended perfectly with its surroundings.
The footsteps quickly reached the second floor, and the person's height, weight, and hair color were exactly the same as the owner of the house when he was wearing leather.
If it weren't for the six eyes on her face and the gray horn protruding from her left temple, Shad might have really thought the corpse had come back to life.