Brunswick

Investigating the list of Puritans who had traveled by ship to Maine in the 1850s was an extremely difficult task. The household registration system had been woefully incomplete at the time, bringing Salomon's investigation to a standstill more than once. Fortunately, the family he was investigating had enjoyed considerable local prominence. Their bloodline had spread across Europe and North America along the routes of those old voyages, and through letters exchanged among the family members, Salomon was able to continue his work. Professor Selvig's help had also been indispensable—upon learning of Salomon's request, he had happily driven the Arcanist to the family's old estate in the United Kingdom, then consulted obituaries and news reports in old local newspapers to piece together the rough sequence of events for him. Yet the results of the investigation were chilling. When Darcy saw the compiled documents, yellowed with the smell of old paper and dust, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

This family seemed to have lived beneath the shadow of death. Whether they were infamous yet influential elders of the family or descendants who had turned against one another, not one of them had died a natural death. They either became gravely ill at a young age or vanished without a trace after starting families and careers. The longest-lived among them had been a writer, but after returning to the old family home in Maine during middle age, he had descended into uncontrollable madness.

Following this lead, Salomon set foot in Maine once again after many years.

It was not that he missed this place in the slightest.

Salomon politely declined Professor Selvig's request to accompany him, because he knew this mission would be extremely dangerous. The land of Maine seemed forever entangled with incomprehensible Outer Gods, and this mission was no