Mystery: The Silver Key

Chapter 39: A Message from Arrodes

In an office beneath the St. George's Cathedral.

At the long, dark table, everyone's eyes were drawn to the middle-aged man in the seat at the head of the table on the left.

He had a distinctive head of short, slightly wavy, uneven brown hair that stubbornly stretched outwards. His facial features were sharp and clear, somewhat like someone who spent a lot of time in a laboratory and didn't care about his appearance.

At this moment, he was pursing his lips slightly, his expression hesitant yet resolute, as if he were making an extremely difficult decision that went against his conscience.

After taking a deep breath and mentally preparing himself, he took out an ancient silver mirror with strange patterns from under the table. The two sides of the mirror were decorated with black gemstones to form "eyes".

This is the sealed artifact he took charge of after becoming the captain of the Mechanical Heart of Backlund Parish, numbered 2-111, "Magic Mirror" Arodes.

After he took out the "Magic Mirror" Arodes, a burst of watery light appeared on its surface, rapidly weaving together words flowing in bright red:

"What questions do you have for me?"

Beside him, the captain of the Mechanical Heart squad looked curiously at the "magic mirror" placed on the table and muttered under his breath:

"Arods seems to be in a good mood today; it wouldn't usually be so direct and blunt about the topic."

As soon as he finished speaking, another ripple of water appeared on the surface of the "magic mirror," followed by lines of new words, still dripping with blood:

"Ignorant human, what do you want to learn from the great Arodes this time?"

"You guys prefer this kind of arrogant attitude, don't you?"

"Although your hobby is a bit strange, the great Arodes can satisfy you."

As Arodes responded, the squad leader who had spoken earlier awkwardly shut his mouth.

The captain of the Mechanical Heart, who wielded the "Magic Mirror," stroked his stubborn brown hair, sighed inwardly, then looked at the "Magic Mirror" before him and asked directly:

"Great Arrodes, I want to know what happened this morning at the casino controlled by the Black Wolves on Miluk Street in the Backlund Bridge area?"

The surface of the "Magic Mirror" Arodes rippled, the original blood-red words disappeared, and then new words appeared:

"In exchange for answering two of my questions, you'll have to answer this one."

The captain of the Mechanical Heart asked in astonishment, "Why?"

Arrodes quickly replied, "Your question should be broken down into two parts: what happened and the people involved."

"Of course, if you don't want to know the information about the relevant personnel, we can also exchange it for a question."

"Also, this is also a problem."

He touched his messy, slightly curly, but still resilient hair with a touch of heartache, then sighed.

"No problem, just tell me the answer."

A ripple of light, somewhat cheerful, danced across the surface of the silver mirror, before a dim, veiled image appeared:

Inside the casino building, two figures, their bodies stained with intense colors and appearing completely blurry, flickered on and off, sometimes in the restroom, sometimes in the corridor, sometimes in the stairwell, as if the scene had been flashed back and paused.

A few seconds later, the image on the "magic mirror" froze on the third floor, where two figures covered in intense colors stood in the corridor, confronting a flowing black shadow in the opposite room.

The screen then experienced flashbacks and stutters again, with occasional flashes of white or black, and intermittent flashes of electricity and frost.

Soon, the two figures stained with intense colors disappeared, leaving only flowing black shadows filling the entire room.

The next second, the scene shifts to the street outside the casino, where a figure covered in color, its details obscured, stands in the middle of the street, raising its right hand. The scene is then covered in white light, accompanied by continuous thunderous sounds.

As the white light and loud noise disappeared, the surface of the "Magic Mirror" returned to its dark state, and words tinged with reddish silver quickly appeared:

"Two high-level forces interfered with my vision; even the great Arodes could only see some blurry, flashing images."

"One of the higher powers is filled with the meaning of depravity, filth, shadow and mutation, which comes from the one worshipped by the Aurora Society."

"As for the origin of the other high-level power, I don't know either; relevant information seems to be blocked."

Without giving the Mechanical Heart a chance to ask questions, Arods immediately spoke after giving a brief description:

"Now it's my turn to ask a question."

The captain of Mechanical Heart had a stiff expression on his face. He felt he had been ripped off. This vague, incomplete, and difficult-to-decipher information was not worth Arrodes asking him three questions.

Moreover, Arrodes inexplicably made him uneasy today, and he had a feeling that Arrodes's questions would cause him to lose something very important.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said, "Ask away."

Suddenly, bloody handprints made by tiny infant hands appeared on the surface of the silver mirror on the table. Then, bloody, faintly flowing words emerged:

"First question: How do you usually relieve your sexual desires?"

Feeling the gazes, both overt and covert, directed at him, the captain of the Mechanical Heart momentarily considered choosing punishment, but remembering the two questions that followed, he closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and chose to answer:

"While showering, close your eyes and fantasize, or pick up a magazine, lean against the headboard or sofa, and then...use...your hand..."

On the surface of the silver mirror, crimson words exploded with a triumphant roar:

"Correct answer!"

"Second question: Who do you fantasize about when you take a shower?"

After Arodes's problem arose, a suspicious red tinge appeared on the captain's bronze skin, and he spoke in a low, barely audible voice as he lowered his head:

"I choose punishment."

"Fine..." A line of somewhat resentful words floated across the surface of the silver mirror, and then...

boom!

A bolt of silver lightning appeared out of nowhere and struck the captain of the Mechanical Heart team precisely, causing his already messy hair to stand on end and turn from brown to charred black.

Whether it was intentional or coincidental, Arrodes, covered in soot, exhaled a ring of smoke and burped.

During each of the other person's breaks, new words quickly appeared on the surface of the silver mirror:

"Third question: If one day while you're showering, your fantasy character is holding your favorite magazine and inviting you to relieve your desires together, what would you do?"

He closed his eyes briefly, ignoring the astonished, curious, or hesitant gazes around him, and said firmly:

"I would pull the trigger on him; the real him wouldn't do something like that."

"Okay, the quiz game is over. Have a nice day."

The last line of words flashed across the surface of the silver mirror before quickly fading into silence, leaving the office staff in an awkward situation.

...

"This concludes the entire process of the Mechanical Heart seeking answers from me. I have not revealed any information about you or your followers, nor have I given them any hints."

"You sublime being, I will not reveal any information about you, nor will I give them any hints, now or in the future. Arodes has no ill intentions towards you."

As Sirion looked at the lines of silver words that appeared quite natural in the full-length mirror, an image of a tiny person huddled in the mirror, cautiously looking up at himself, inexplicably flashed through his mind.

If Arodes had a physical form detached from the mirror, this would probably be what he looked like.

He sighed inwardly, glanced at the full-length mirror in front of him, and nodded slightly: "Well done."

"It is my honor, a great and sublime existence."

The mirror-like surface rippled outwards in concentric circles, and Arodes's words lingered for a while after they disappeared before new words emerged:

"Supreme Being, one of your followers is planning to steal the sealed artifacts beneath the Cathedral of St. Hillan, but according to my calculations, without interference from any force above the level of an angel, his chances of success are infinitely close to zero."

"Is this the task you gave him? Is there anything I can do to help him? All I need to do is ask him to bring me along."

Cyril blinked, staring blankly at the words appearing on the mirror.

What the hell? When did I become a follower? And why would I send him to steal sealed artifacts from the depths of St. Hillan Cathedral?

He knew each word individually, so why did they sound so unfamiliar when put together?