Chapter 8: The Vortex
The melodious bells of the morning, long and loud vibrating, echoed over the Bourjohn district.
Joyce stood outside the courtyard of the Rensu Museum, and received a response from the guard man, and he had no intention of entering the museum to continue his inquiry.
As for visiting museums, Joyce didn't, and the reason why he took a horse-drawn bus to Burjohn was to save some time and visit more museums.
"The Church of the Machines is also in the Burjohn district, so maybe I should try my luck there. Hearing the melodious sound of the bell, Joyce looked out toward the towering clock tower in the distance, where the Church of the Mechanics was.
"Young man, you can't find a job like this. ”
Just as Joyce politely said goodbye to the guard man and wanted to leave the Lensu Museum, the man's words suddenly came from the huge main entrance of the museum.
Joyce was somewhat surprised to see a middle-aged man with a slightly fat figure walking out of the main entrance of the museum first, followed by a short-haired woman at the back of his side.
The place where Joyce and the guard man were talking was twenty meters away from the entrance of the museum, and the relationship between the steps and the gate, the middle-aged man could hear the voices of the two, what a deaf ear.
The middle-aged man was dressed in a formal dress, his beard was neatly trimmed, and his smile was gentle, which was very much in line with the characteristics of a gentleman.
The woman was wearing a coffee-colored trench coat, long leather boots, short brown hair, broad shoulders and thick lips, with a strange rugged feeling.
"Is it some kind of big shot?"
Joyce secretly guessed as he saluted the other man after the middle-aged man approached.
"Students of the Department of Archaeology of Taya University, young people, what kind of related work do you think you can do?" said the smile on the face of the middle-aged man, as if he was giving opportunities and tips to the juniors.
"Is this a little bit of interest in my archaeology department?" Joyce instinctively responded.
"Dear sir, I am competent to be a docent of the museum. Joyce deliberately lowered his demands.
"Don't blame me for being too frank, even if it's a job fair, it's unlikely that the museum will choose you for a docent, I think it's better to work grading and joining the field archaeology team. The middle-aged man smiled and looked at Joyce.
"Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. ”
Joyce bowed to the slightly chubby middle-aged man and put the top hat back on his head.
"If your job search isn't going well, you can go to the Traveler's Bar at 131 Golden Rose Street and find Bodean Arthur. The chubby middle-aged man's voice was not loud, but Joyce could hear it clearly.
"In Sok District?"
Joyce knew about Golden Rose Street, which was in the middle of the city, almost adjacent to Moya, Knight Frank and Burjohn.
Bodean Arthur was a name, not a code word or an indication of intent, and Joyce guessed that he was a slightly chubby middle-aged man.
Standing on the lawn stone path outside the museum, Joyce watched the chubby middle-aged man and the lady in the trench coat go away in a carriage, and hesitated inwardly for a moment, but returned to the museum guard man approaching.
"Mr. Guard, do you recognize Mr. and Mrs.," Joyce asked the man in dark uniform.
The guard man shook his head after a moment's recollection, not like a perfunctory concealment.
"When did the gentleman and lady come? I mean, how long before I arrived?" asked Joyce, continuing cautiously.
"About five minutes before you came, and about that, the gentleman and lady came out not long after they entered the building. The guard man recalled this quite clearly.
Resisting the tension in her heart, Joyce thanked her and left the museum so as not to look flustered and abrupt, lest the guards take her for a guy with bad thoughts.
"How could it be such a coincidence that as soon as I came, those two men went in and came out again, and when I inquired about the work to no avail, they happened to give me advice and guidance. Joyce began to wonder if someone was following her.
"Is it because the matter at Toton Manor is not over?, or is there a relationship with Rupert Sr.?" Joyce could realize that there were many doubts about his survival at Totton Manor, and some details could not stand up to scrutiny.
As for Joyce thinking of Rupert Sr., it is only speculation now, and what he is worried about may not necessarily be a good relationship once Rupert Sr. is implicated.
Pretending to be fine, Joyce headed back to the Third Avenue bus stop, no longer trying to find work at the churches.
"I hope old Rupert doesn't have anything to do. ”
Joyce remembered the strange nightmare she had last night and decided to go home and wait for Rupert Sr.
When he got into the public carriage, Joyce did not sit by the window, even if he looked outside the carriage, he tried to control his gaze as much as possible, and he was more secretly vigilant.
"I thought too simply, Joyce was ostensibly a believer in the Goddess of Life Church, and it was reasonable to go to the Rensu Museum to find a job, but if he went to other churches, there was no difference between looking for death and death before the incident at Totton Manor had passed. While Joyce silently reflected, he began to force himself to erase Ye Chen from his heart.
"I don't know what the result will be if I go to the Goddess of Life Church to find a job. Joyce just thought about it and didn't put it into practice right away.
"It's better to avoid the limelight at this time, I know too little about it, especially for Rupert Sr. Joyce thought it was time to think about some of the details that he had overlooked.
Before noon, the carriage was back at Miner's Street in Soke, and before going home, Joyce bought a large piece of beef and four sweet potatoes, and spent the remaining five copper buruns.
"The carriage fare alone is two copper buruns, and it is not enough to skip a meal. Joyce didn't know if it was because of the psychic ritual or the soul crossing, and after walking all morning, he only felt that his mental and physical condition was not ideal.
If Rupert Sr. didn't put money in the drawer of the little table, Joyce wouldn't have lasted long just to survive.
The reason why he bought a large piece of beef is not how particular Joyce is now, he has no means of survival, if he wants to struggle in the whirlpool, first of all, the body can't collapse, and supplement some nutrients through food, mainly to regulate the state of this body.
"It's a pity that you can't go out to collect medicine, otherwise you can prepare some medicine to nourish your body. Back at his home in the alley, Joyce didn't see old Rupert.
Busy with the ingredients, Joyce rekindled the fire and stewed the beef in an iron pot.
"I've passed the test temporarily, one may be thanks to old Rupert, and the other is that I really haven't changed much, but paper can't hold the fire, Toton Manor involves five lives, the dead and the families of the deceased, not all believe in the goddess of life, in this world, the relationship between the church and the church, and the major churches and the empire is very delicate, if it is not involved in strange things, it is fine, now I am very dangerous. Joyce calmly analyzed his situation.
Joyce thinks it will not be easy to leave Rensu City and find a place to start over, not to mention the possible stalking and surveillance, even if he succeeds in escaping, it will be difficult for him to live in the future.
The most important thing is that Joyce has no strong means of survival.
"If old Rupert comes back, how am I going to talk to him, and it's unusual to question him that he has a secret? Joyce, sitting on the small stool, was completely preoccupied with cooking, and forgot to take off her top hat.
Yesterday at Totton Manor, Joyce didn't ask if the three people who seemed to be enforcers were all from the Church of the Goddess of Life.
Ordinary people are rarely aware of the existence of the Church Enforcer, and the reason why Joyce has an impression of this pronoun is because Elena and Rupert Sr. have accidentally mentioned it.
The corpse collector occasionally encounters murders, and it is not surprising that the law enforcers of the church know that Elena, as an apprentice of the church's priests, naturally knows some things about the church.
It's a pity that old Rupert and Elena don't say much about some things.
"Church of the Goddess of Life, this may be an option, but if it doesn't work, we have to try to seek refuge over there!" Joyce sighed secretly.
Joyce at this time was somewhat repulsive about faith and God, which was cautious about things beyond knowledge.
"What is the background of Mr. Chubby and Mrs. Trench Coat that I met outside the museum, and what I finally confirmed to the guards would also be known to the two of them?" Joyce didn't dare to underestimate the people who thought about him.
Joyce recalls the two men she met outside the museum, and she couldn't help but think about work.
In Joyce's view, the old Rupert is unreliable, and at the age of eighteen this year, he should not rely on an old man, if he wants to survive, he must first solve the problem of food and clothing, and work and income become particularly important.
Marking and field archaeology team, the former choice is not specific, and the marking is placed in archaeology-related work, including interpretation, storage, and retrieval.
"If you can find a job similar to sorting out archives, it's pretty good, the field archaeology team is okay, it's very dangerous to follow the group archaeology, it is estimated that it is the scene of tomb robbery, I am a medicine picker, not a tomb robber!"
"If the middle-aged gentleman's solicitation has nothing to do with old Rupert, what did he fancy me, the knowledge of the archaeology department, don't talk about it, the archaeological knowledge I learned at Taya University should be just some superficial things, the secrets on my body, the middle-aged gentleman can't know, after the incident at Toton Manor, my survival itself means speciality. Joyce, who was constantly thinking about the details, thought of another possibility.
"Knock! knock!"
The door to the cabin was tugged at first, and then there was a knock.
"Elena, she's in the Goddess of Life Church, it's hard to say that she will come back, old Rupert or someone else?" After a short period of nervousness and speculation, Joyce did not slack off, and hurriedly took off his politeness and walked towards the door.
"Who is it?"
Joyce didn't open the door casually, but asked out loud.
"Me. ”
The man outside the door spoke in a deep voice, and it was the voice of old Rupert.
"Are you back, did you have a false alarm?"
Joyce breathed a sigh of relief, he was worried that something would happen to old Rupert.
Joyce, who opened the door, thought that it was a nightmare caused by too much psychological pressure caused by strange things that happened one after another in a short period of time.