"Beautiful lady, we meet again."

The round-faced man should only be about eighteen years old, and he can even be called a teenager, although he wears an ordinary linen shirt and coarse cloth trousers, as if he is an ordinary dock worker, but he has an elegant temperament between his gestures, and with that shy, childish face, Angel has a lot of good feelings for him.

"Hello, I remember seeing you in the public carriage in the morning, but I didn't expect to meet again so soon."

She saw that the other party took the initiative to say hello and responded kindly.

"Maybe it's fate that has brought us together again, I'm Tris, and I've been working on the docks lately. I seem to be seeing you for the first time in this market? The boy named Triss introduced himself, "Maybe I'm mistaken, but a lady like you, if I had seen it, I would never forget it." ”

"I live in Daffodil Street and rarely come to the docklands, and today is the second time I've come here to buy materials, well, some candles for ceremonies."

Tris looked at the bundle of candles in her hand and nodded knowingly: "Sandalwood candles, this thing is selling very hot, it is out of stock everywhere, you are so lucky to find so many." ”

"It's just a little more expensive." Angel felt a little distressed thinking about the premium he had spent, but when he heard that this kind of candle was hard to buy, his heart finally balanced, "Sounds like you know more about the occult?" ”

Seeing that Triss easily recognized the type of candle, she asked curiously.

"Hey, mirror psychic, magic rituals, tarot divination, I can't say I know about it, I just often visit this market and hear some knowledge."

Triss replied briskly, but his expression was not "I don't understand" at all, but a little smug, like a high-achieving student who was selling his knowledge in front of his friends, but with his sincere eyes, it was not annoying.

"Can you elaborate on the magic ritual? I'm about to give it a try, but I'm not sure exactly how to do it yet. Angel answered cooperatively.

"You're asking the right person." The round-faced boy pulled out the intricately shaped ritual knife just now, pulled it out of its sheath, held the handle of the knife and threw it upward, and firmly caught the falling knife with the scabbard at the moment when Angel dodged backwards.

After juggling like a vaudeville, he continued: "First you have to prepare a knife or dagger for magic rituals, like mine. Knives are also fine, preferably silver. ”

"Of course, its role is not to sacrifice livestock, and there are no such bloody rituals anymore. The knife is only used to carve out charms and ritual requests, and it can be placed on the table, or on the ground, as long as it is in a quiet, clean environment, with four candles arranged in a square, in the center of which you will engrave your request in Hermes, and then pray to the gods...... By the way, what is your faith? ”

Angel was secretly relieved to hear Triss describe just ordinary rituals rather than the more formal kind of "ritual magic".

"I am a believer in the goddess of the night." She drew a crimson moon on her chest and replied.

"Then you'd better pray to the goddess of the night, so that the chances of success will be greater, remember not to pray to a god of unknown origin, otherwise the ritual will fail, or at worst it will be doomed, and even your life may be in danger." Tris reminded with a serious face.

Unknown origin......

Angel remembered the temple in the gray mist, the mysterious "Fool" and the Tarot Society.

According to the ritual magic taught by the Fool at the Tarot meeting, the clear three-stage description indicates that he is most likely a being who is equivalent to the seven gods, and although he is far less powerful than the legendary seven gods, it may also be that this hidden being has just awakened from a long slumber, and his current strength is only the tip of the iceberg of his full strength.

But in any case, the "Fool" fully deserves the title of "god of unknown origin".

"Thank you, I know these taboos, and this also corresponds to the knowledge I have seen in the book, and I will not try it easily."

But alas, I have been entangled in "bad luck......

She silently added in her heart.

Seeing Angel's kindness, Tris smiled kindly, and he continued to introduce the types and points of magical rituals, his words clear and capable, accompanied by the aid of body movements, like a university lecturer talking on the podium.

Angel also listened patiently, and by the way, compared it with what she had learned, the real "ritual magic". She discovers that the magical rituals that Tris knows are not much different from the ritual magic she learned from Old Neil, except that they do not use a spiritual wall to demarcate the scope of the ritual and point to the gods through clear descriptions.

It seems that even if the church strictly controls these occult knowledge, over the years, some shallow knowledge has flowed to the people, although they do not have extraordinary abilities, and it is difficult for non-standard rituals to take effect, but under a considerable base, there are always people who mistakenly point rituals to a powerful existence, and then cause various occult events.

According to the statistics of the Night Watchman, one-third of the events involving supernatural powers in the city of Tingen were made by ordinary people who knew little about the occult but dared to try it boldly.

The official Extraordinaries of the Church have gone to great lengths to control underground markets such as the Dragon Bar and to control occult knowledge in order to reduce the occurrence of such incidents.

Although the effect is really limited......

From Angel's somewhat occult knowledge, Triss knew that the magic rituals were very close to being effective, and it could even be said that as long as he could get some materials containing a small amount of extraordinary powers, or find a spell with a clear point from the occult book in the corner of a library, it was possible to successfully perform the ritual on a crooked date.

Maybe he's already succeeded?

As soon as this thought popped up, Angel couldn't help but ask questions.

"Mr. Triss, it sounds like you're quite knowledgeable about magical rituals, do you have any success with it?"

"I'm sorry, I'm just curious, but if you've managed to get a response from the gods, I'll be more confident about my next attempt." Realizing that her question is aggressive and may be misunderstood, she added.

"Well...... Tris's embarrassed expression gave the answer, "...... You also know that magical rituals are not like tarot divination, and it is very difficult to successfully establish contact with those mysterious beings......"

"Well, that's good."

"What?"

"I mean, the ritual didn't work out, and it was better than running into some unknown, unpredictable existence, and at most wasting some time and materials."

Angel saw Tris's surprised expression and had to explain.

Tris frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

"You're right, it's better to waste time than life."

He changed his words and continued: "But I think I'm not far from success, maybe it's just a lack of luck, or maybe not religious, and the materials used are too cheap. ”

"It just so happens that you have a lot of sandalwood candles here that are suitable for magical rituals, and if you use them, maybe this ceremony will be successful, and my house is in the docks, less than five minutes away......"

Tris didn't continue, but the eager, unrestrained eyes looked straight at Angel, with her more than thirty years of male life experience in her previous life, how could she not understand the hidden meaning of the words?

It has to be said that Tris's understanding of the occult, coupled with his pleasing round face and elegant temperament, if Angel was just an ordinary woman interested in the occult, she might have hastily agreed.

But when the other party made an invitation, Angel's spiritual intuition that belonged to the assassin suddenly made her sense a hint of danger, which was very faint, not at all comparable to the strong sense of "bayonets falling when you go out", but under her surface consciousness, there was an unreasonable vigilance against the status quo, as well as a vague sense of familiarity.

Yes, unreasonable.

On the occasion of the underground market, the person who has only one side of the relationship accosted him, and in just a few minutes of conversation, he even said where he lived and which god he believed in, and he was about to follow the stranger back to his house, well, "study the magic ritual".

Although Angel doesn't know how the other party did this, maybe he has succeeded many times with his eloquence and appearance, and he has a lot of experience; Maybe the other person is well-versed in psychology and can win people's trust through a simple conversation.

But it did not prevent her from decisively refusing after seeing through the other party's purpose.

"Thank you for the invitation, but it's getting late, and it's time for me to go home, maybe next time we'll have a chance to discuss the occult together." Angel gracefully bent her knees and saluted, and before Tris could react, she passed by and walked towards the exit of the underground market.

As if he didn't expect the situation to take a turn for the worse, Tris raised his hand in surprise, as if to keep the other party, but in the end he just opened his mouth and didn't say anything.

————————

In the night, a pair of vigilant eyes are staring at the entrance of the "Dragon Bar".

The crowd of people coming and going in and out of the bar didn't catch his attention until a round-faced teenager dressed as a dock worker pushed open the door and walked out of the bar with a cloth bag, and he finished his task and relaxed.

The round-faced young man Tris looked around, and saw that no one was paying attention to him in the night, and the guard at the door of the bar had already begun to nap, so he slowly paced to the warehouse opposite the bar, and burrowed into the narrow alley.

"I haven't come out for so long, I thought you were caught."

The cloaked man who was watching in the alley grumbled, took the cloth bag that Triss was carrying, and put it on his shoulder without checking it. The crimson moonlight shone on his face under his cloak was the mysterious assassin he had fought with Angel not long ago and was wanted by the Tingen police. He didn't know how to use it, but he had already healed his injuries in just a few days, and he had no inconvenience in moving.

"I'm not on a wanted warrant, who's going to arrest me? It's you, I just got back to Tingen and I saw your face appear on the wanted notice at the steam train station, you better not get me in trouble and leave Tingen as soon as possible! ”

Tris replied with a gloomy face, remembering that when he had just returned to Tingen by steam train from the port of Enmatt, he was so frightened that he almost bought a ticket to escape from Tingen when he saw the faces of people he knew on the walls.

"I was ready to flee the day I found out I was wanted, but Mitis said that I had to complete a mission, and this week, I will leave as soon as it is over."

"Mitis that guy...... She doesn't have any feelings for her subordinates, so you'd better be careful, and leave Tingen as soon as you notice something is wrong, so as not to be killed by her. ”

Hearing the man in the cloak mention his new line, Tris couldn't hide the disgust in his heart, and his shy round face showed a trace of disdain.

If it weren't for the sudden death of Lady Sharon, who had led him into the world of the Extraordinary, and the subsequent potion recipe missing, he would not have had anything to do with this notorious witch.

When he learned the name of the follow-up potion of "Instigator" from Mitis, he couldn't believe his ears, and the malicious taunt of the other party deepened this discomfort, so that when he met a beautiful lady who had a relationship with him during the day in the underground market of the Dragon Bar just now, he couldn't help but come forward to talk to him, and even used the language charm ability of "Instigator".

Unexpectedly, the other party looked simple and cute, but he was quite vigilant, and he came to his senses the moment Tris revealed his true purpose, decisively rejected his invitation, and left the dragon bar in a hurry.

He didn't dare to continue pestering in the mixed underground market, so he had to give up.

Thinking that this might be his last chance before being promoted, he couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

Anyway, I'm going to come to the underground trading market to buy materials these days, maybe I can still meet her?

Tris thought so, and looked back at the dragon bar in the night, before he said to the cloaked man, "Let's go, send the things to Mitis first, and I'll come by myself tomorrow during the day, and you won't follow, if you are recognized, we will both be unlucky." ”

The skilful "instigators" and "assassins" quickly left the alley in the darkness of the night.