About an hour later.
Mr. Stork and Miss Seagull returned together, accompanied by three uniformed security officers. One of them was tall and handsome, with blond hair and blue eyes—the very sheriff Gilan had seen on the poster.
He was called Pierre Aichi, and was a local celebrity in the Public Security Bureau.
Young and handsome, with exceptional marksmanship, he was often invited by the local Tourism Bureau to appear in promotional ads and posters for Fayelane Town's tourism industry.
But when Mr. Stork and the others returned to the inn, Old Toto, who was in the first-floor bar, couldn't resist sneering at the three accompanying officers, Pierre among them:
"The Public Security Bureau and Tourism Bureau are parasites on Fayelan, no different from the people at the coal mine, sawmill, and beverage factory! They're all outsiders with money and filth running through their veins, bent on ruining the town's environment and draining its resources for their dirty money... Your actions have awakened the Demon in Black Lake. Sooner or later, you'll get what's coming to you!"
Pierre didn't take offense. He simply smiled and shook his head.
Upstairs, he explained to everyone:
"Old Toto's full name is Thomas Toto. He's unmarried and has no children. He once had a distant nephew, Little Toto, who came back to town from elsewhere and worked at Black Lake Coal Mine, but he died in an explosion... Ever since then, Old Toto's held a grudge against the coal mine and cursed every business started by outsiders. That even includes the Public Security Bureau and Tourism Bureau, since we're all assigned here from elsewhere."
Pierre's words gave everyone a clearer picture of the situation.
Afterward, Mr. Stork found an excuse to send the three officers away for a while, giving the Record Society members a chance to talk in private.
When they heard that Mr. Oystercatcher had been attacked and had found a mysterious piece of parchment, Mr. Stork and Miss Seagull both showed great interest.
"An Elixir of Immortality? Perhaps such an alchemical masterpiece really exists!"
Mr. Stork looked delighted.
Mr. Oystercatcher, however, gave a wry smile and shook his head.
"It's a pity they took the parchment back. I only saw a little of what was written... It seemed to mention that the main ingredients were 'the blood of the living,' 'the water of Black Lake,' and 'the human heart,' along with some sinister sacrificial rituals."
"Human sacrifice?!"
Miss Sparrow couldn't help covering her mouth.
The others also looked grave.
"I ran into someone secretly watching me behind the inn earlier..."
Gilan shared his experience with the Assembly members, but didn't mention killing the man. He said instead that he'd accidentally let him get away.
No one doubted his story.
"The Reindeer Mask, the Lake God, and the Elixir of Immortality..." Mr. Stork said, pondering the clues Gilan had shared. "The two people you encountered were probably Cultists from the Lake God Cult. I just can't figure out how one of them suddenly disappeared."
"Maybe they have some kind of mysterious power?"
Miss Seagull furrowed her brow as she guessed.
"Very likely." Mr. Stork nodded. "That would explain why they were hiding deep in Forest Park, wandering around Black Lake and hunting the living... It seems they really are trying to make this so-called Elixir of Immortality!"
"Next, we'll go to Forest Park with the heroine, Fima."
Leaning on his Steel-core Cane, Mr. Stork spoke with determination.
"Now that Mr. Snowy Owl has joined us, and we have three officers accompanying us, we'll be much better prepared if the Lake God Cultists attack again... If we can get our hands on their mysterious knowledge, we'll have supernatural powers in the real world, too!"
But his words didn't stir much excitement in the others.
Perhaps the human sacrifice was too shocking. Or maybe Mr. Oystercatcher, Miss Seagull, and Miss Sparrow still had a conscience. Though they longed for mysterious powers, they weren't willing to betray their humanity to obtain them.
Miss Sparrow in particular had looked unwell and downcast ever since hearing that the main ingredients for the Elixir of Immortality were human blood and hearts.
Gilan was the only one who seemed relatively unfazed.
In his eyes, if human sacrifice really was necessary to gain mysterious powers, then the Louis Family pursuing him and the police task force hunting him down would make the perfect offerings!
Afternoon came soon enough.
After a simple meal in the first-floor bar, everyone followed Fima's suggestion and headed for the forest park north of town.
It was worth noting that the five members of the Record Society, as "viewers," could taste the food and drink in the movie just as vividly as in real life—and even felt full afterward.
The nine of them climbed into a large carriage provided by the Public Security Bureau and headed north along the main road. About fifteen minutes later, they arrived.
As soon as they got down, they spotted the entrance to Forest Park.
It was a pair of wrought-iron gates. A charming illustration of wild animals adorned the arched sign above them, but much of the paint had peeled away, leaving it looking shabby and ominous.
Creak...
They pushed open the gates and followed a path to an exhibition hall. Inside stood all kinds of taxidermied wild animals, from squirrels to brown bears—over twenty species in all.
At the very center stood a rectangular glass case, three meters high, containing a mammoth skeleton specimen. It was said to be fourteen thousand years old.
The Assembly members gaped in amazement at the mammoth skeleton.
Even Miss Sparrow, whose family was the wealthiest, had never seen anything so unusual. Her little face was full of wonder and curiosity.
Gilan, however, looked puzzled.
Were mammoths really this small?
By his estimate, the specimen in the glass case stood about 2.5 meters tall at the shoulder. But as a young man from the modern era who'd watched plenty of educational programs, he knew mammoths were supposed to stand at least 3.3 meters tall at the shoulder.
Maybe it was a dwarf species, or a young mammoth...
Gilan shook his head.
But just as he was about to look away, he suddenly froze.
The mammoth specimen had been pieced together from hundreds, perhaps thousands, of bones. From where Gilan stood, the bones in its chest looked eerily like an enlarged human skull!
Was it just an illusion? Gilan narrowed his eyes, but the longer he looked, the more it seemed that way. How could there be a mammoth like this... Its chest looks just like a gigantic, deformed human head!
The hollows on either side of the mammoth specimen's chest were like a pair of pitch-black eyes, staring at Gilan through a rift in time and radiating an indescribable malice.
"Mr. Snowy Owl?"
Just then, Miss Sparrow called to him.
Gilan snapped out of his daze, realizing his back was slick with cold sweat.
He turned away, unwilling to look at the mammoth specimen again.
"We should get going. Black Lake is still a long way from here. We need to reach our destination before sunset."
Miss Sparrow turned back and reminded him in a low voice.
"Right, I know."
Gilan nodded and set off after them.