"A Screaming Letter?"
Wasn't that something made up for Annan Potter? How was it real?
Luoxi explained that it hadn't existed before, but once the Magic Film came out, someone had made it. The same went for brooms, talking paintings, and other Magic Items.
Annan took the envelope. Sure enough, the Free City Magic Shop logo was stamped in the lower right corner, with a small warning beneath it: Never activate a Screaming Letter next to your ear.
The Ratfolk Elder had been clever. To keep anyone else from finding the letter, he had hidden it in Free City and set an alert to ensure it reached Annan alone.
That made Annan even more curious about the secret the Ratfolk Elder had been too afraid to tell him while alive, yet had gone to such lengths to deliver after death.
He opened the third letter. The handwriting was so messy it was nearly illegible, and more than half of it was in Ratfolk Script.
Fortunately, Annan had learned not only the Ratfolk Language but also Ratfolk Script to work with the Ratfolk.
[We've all been deceived by the High Priest! He's already found the Great Horned Rat. He can summon him at any time!]
That crooked first line made Annan's gaze sharpen. The ease on Luoxi's and the others' faces vanished too.
[Even the McKinnon Rat doesn't know. The High Priest wants to keep the clues to the Great Horned Rat for himself. He even... What is he doing? He wants to replace the Great Horned Rat!]
[Mad! Mad! Mad!]
[He's mad!]
[I know! He knows I know! I must be loyal!]
[Loyal! Loyal! Loyal!]
[I am loyal to the High Priest. The High Priest is... the incarnation of the Great Horned Rat... We must... No! Stop interfering with me!]