vncnus Chapter 9 Russell's Diary
Chapter 9 Russell's Diary
The party is still going on.
Then someone else spoke up, "I'm selling some of Russell's notes. Anyone interested?"
Russell's Notebook? That's the one from that time traveler, and he's suspected to be a time traveler from China.
Lorne suddenly became interested and sat up straight, waiting for the man to continue.
"I have three pages here, only 5 pounds, and I can guarantee they're genuine."
£5… Lorne mentally calculated the price.
"Ha, you brought some stuff that nobody can understand. How come the people at today's gathering are so low-class?"
"This was left behind by Emperor Roselle; it's a genuine treasure," the man retorted.
"No one can understand it, so no matter how precious it is, it's useless." A hoarse female voice rang out.
"I can buy it," Lorne said amidst the jeers, "but I need to see one page first."
At this moment, the old man with the "Eye of Wisdom" spoke up: "It is said that the notes of Emperor Roselle were written by Emperor Roselle himself using a secret script or symbols that he invented, but even today, hundreds of years later, no one has found the correct way to interpret them."
Does this mean I shouldn't waste my money? Lorne understood what he meant.
"I'd like to give it a try." Lorne declined the 'Eye of Wisdom's' offer and turned to the man, asking, "Do you agree?"
"Okay." Seeing that there was someone willing to be taken advantage of, the man quickly agreed to the deal.
Before long, a waiter brought over a page of Emperor Roselle's notes.
Lorne took the paper and saw a large amount of crooked text, but upon closer inspection, it was still possible to tell that it was Chinese, and even simplified Chinese.
I don't know if the crooked and messy handwriting is the fault of the copyist or if Russell's handwriting is just bad.
Despite the garbled characters, Lorne forced himself to read on.
"On January 1, 1184, at the grand New Year's Eve party, Madame de Flore was truly a beauty."
Upon seeing the first sentence, Lorne frowned. This transmigrator was indeed unreliable.
"On January 2nd, the gentlemen of my Foreign Affairs Committee were all idiots!"
"January 3rd, the choice at the time was too hasty. Now it seems that whether it was 'Apprentice,' 'Fortune Teller,' or 'Thief,' they were all better. Unfortunately, there's no going back."
Is this a diary? Lorne looked at the long list of dates on it.
"So, are you sure?" Seeing that Lorne didn't speak, the man became impatient.
"Okay, I agree to the deal."
"Seriously, you guys really can't understand it?"
Lorne suddenly asked a question.
"I don't understand it anyway, so how come you do?"
"Of course not, I was just a little curious," Lorne quickly denied.
"Is nobody really that clueless?" Lorne muttered to himself again.
Lorne looked around and saw only blank stares.
Ah! You don't understand? He doesn't understand either? Nobody understands? Ah~ then I'll just...
A thought suddenly flashed through Lorne's mind.
Since Emperor Roselle's notes are so valuable, could I make some copies myself?
Anyway, nobody understands it, so if this business succeeds, it's a business with no capital.
Thinking of this, Lorne couldn't help but get excited, and his resentment towards Rosell lessened. It seemed that this senior transmigrator had left some way out for his junior.
Just as Lorne finished his transaction, another woman said, "I want to sell a weapon. It's a short knife with extremely high sharpness, capable of easily cutting through sheet metal. As long as you carry it, it will temporarily enhance your physical abilities and reduce your pain sensitivity. At the same time, you can instantly become proficient in using various melee weapons and light firearms."
"What are the negative effects? What would you trade it for?" someone asked, intrigued.
"Carrying it on your person for a long time will gradually make the user cold-blooded, and over time it will cause the user to lose normal human emotions."
"But as long as you don't carry it with you for more than a day, those problems will resolve themselves and won't cause any serious consequences."
"My price is 500 pounds or the recipe for Sequence 8 'Barbarian'."
"So expensive!" Lorne thought to himself.
Although Lorne was somewhat interested in the weapon, he could only smile helplessly, considering that he didn't have many gold pounds left.
But the woman's words also gave Lorne a rough idea of the price of a Sequence 8 potion recipe, which, even with a possible premium, would be at least 400 pounds.
At this price, he is still a long way from being promoted.
While Lorne was calculating the price, the dagger had already been bought by a man.
Then other people proposed deals, some of which succeeded and some failed.
After some time, the living room fell silent, and no one spoke again.
Then the old gentleman with the "Eye of Wisdom" stood up and announced, "This gathering is now over."
He then began arranging for people to leave. Lorne noticed that there were several exits, and everyone left at different times, trying to stagger them as much as possible.
"To prevent anyone from plotting something," Lorne guessed.
After everyone else had left, the old man with the "Eye of Wisdom" looked at Lorne and said, "You want information about the 'Assassin'? I can tell you now."
"Hmm," Lorne nodded.
"'Assassin' is the name of a Sequence 9 potion. They all possess extremely high physical abilities. Like the name 'Assassin,' those who excel in this pathway have exceptional assassination skills and extremely strong tracking abilities."
"They have excellent eyesight, enabling them to see their targets clearly in the dark, and they also possess the ability to unleash their full power in a single strike."
He sized up Lorne and continued, "As far as I know, most assassins are not mentally sound. If you mess with an assassin, don't even think about confronting him head-on. Run if you can."
"Although 'assassins' also track and divine, with the current speed of steam trains, as long as they travel far enough, 'assassins' may not be able to find them."
"Oops, I got found out."
Lorne's lips twitched slightly; he hadn't expected this gentleman to have such strong reasoning abilities.
He didn't say anything, but took out some money from his pocket and handed it to the other person.
"The Eye of Wisdom" took the money and said to Lorne, "You must be relatively new to the occult, right? Would you like to consider buying some knowledge from me?"
"Knowledge?" Lorne asked, somewhat puzzled.
"That's right, knowledge."
The old man with the "Eye of Wisdom" nodded and said, "A newcomer like you will definitely go astray if you don't have enough knowledge. There is a lot of true and false knowledge in the occult, and newcomers often can't distinguish between them."
"If you want, I can sell you some basic knowledge about the extraordinary realm for only 10 pounds."
Trust me, it's absolutely worth the price.
Lorne felt somewhat speechless, as if he were being treated like an illiterate person, staring at the gaze of the "Eye of Wisdom."
Although I don't like the other person's gaze, I can't deny that I'm practically illiterate in the field of occultism.
The old man known as "The Eye of Wisdom" seems like a nice person, and it would be a good opportunity to obtain reliable occult knowledge from him.
At this price, 10 pounds is equivalent to eight or nine thousand pounds in terms of purchasing power.
"Forget it, you can't catch a wolf without risking your cub."
Lorne gritted his teeth and pulled out another 10 pounds.
"A smart choice."
The old man, known as "The Eye of Wisdom," took the money and led Lorne into his study. He took a stack of documents from a drawer in his desk and handed them to Lorne.
"This is definitely more detailed and reliable than the information you find yourself."
"Thank you." Lorne took the documents and then left under the waiter's guidance.
He first went back to the Grizzly Bar, retrieved his luggage from "Bottle," and then rushed towards Backlund train station.
Upon hearing the description of the "assassin," Lorne knew he absolutely couldn't win in a direct confrontation, and the silver-haired woman who gave her the potion was most likely an extraordinary individual in the "assassin" pathway, and her sequence level was definitely not low.
"This is completely beyond my capabilities; I need to retreat immediately." Lorne decided to follow the advice of the old man, the 'Eye of Wisdom,' and flee to another location.
In order to get to the train station as soon as possible, Lorne even spent a lot of money to take a horse-drawn carriage.
About half an hour later, Lorne arrived at Backlund train station. Instead of admiring the Victorian architecture, Lorne went straight to the ticket counter and said to the clerk, "I need to go somewhere else. Do you have any trains that leave immediately?"
"Ugh, sir, don't you even look at the time? It's almost midnight, how could there possibly be a steam train?" The ticket seller, who was sleeping on the floor in the ticket station, replied somewhat speechlessly.
"What!" Lorne realized he had made a common-sense mistake. In this era before electric lights, it was almost impossible for steam trains to carry passengers to run at night.
"Then I want the earliest train tomorrow."
"Wait a minute, let me take a look." The ticket seller flipped through the timetable.
"Anywhere is fine?"
"Yes, anywhere is fine, as long as it's out of town." Lorne's tone was somewhat urgent.
The ticket seller looked up at Lorne and said, "Well, there's only one location left."
"That's it, give me the ticket." Lorne urged before the ticket seller could finish speaking.
"Okay, now there are only second-class seats left, 10 soles."
Lorne took out a 10-sole note and handed it to the ticket seller.
The ticket seller then handed Lorne a second-class ticket. Taking the ticket, Lorne walked directly towards the platform without stopping.
Watching Lorne's hurried departure, the ticket seller muttered something to himself.
"What a strange person."
……
Sitting on the platform steps, Lorne absentmindedly played with the cat. Having arrived at the train station, he didn't plan to return to Rose Street or find a small hotel; it was unnecessary for just a few hours.
So Lorne just waited there at the train station.
"Consider it saving money."
"But it's really tough!"
After spending several hours in the night, Lorne saw the sun slowly rising and heard the sound of a ship's horn in the distance.
With a roar, the steam train pulled into the station.
"Finally here." Lorne stuffed the cat back into his bag, then picked up his luggage and headed toward the train.
Before boarding, Lorne glanced at his train ticket, only then realizing that the train's final destination was Tingen.