104 All in a Day's Work

Valentine had gone home to meet with the clients again and received a commission reward of fifty guilders for saving the little girl. It turned out that the Baenens were a rich family that owned one of the local banks, that was why their daughter was targeted. It was also the reason why they agreed to give him half of the ransom money without hesitation.

He had switched with Graham again and he was now with Luuk van der Meer and Jacco van Wert. The three of them were already standing in front of the wall which was the entrance to the black market.

Graham said the password and the wall started moving on its own with a lot of dragging noises. In front of them was now a path that had been revealed. They walked through the gap and entered Erbarmelijk Bazaar.

"Is it always this busy?" asked Jacco.

It was his first time coming to the bazaar. He was also the only one among the three who was wearing a normal facemask.

"The only two times I was here it was this busy, so I guess that's a yes," replied Graham, who already had his Gemini mask on.

Luuk, with his Capricorn mask, nodded.

"Where did you two buy those masks? I want one too," said Jacco enviously.

"It's over there at that mask store," replied Luuk.

The three men walked towards the mask store near the entrance and got in. The wall was still full of various different masks with distinctive features. The smell of wood penetrated their noses once they took a step inside the store, and countless eyes were staring at them from every direction.

"This place gives me the creep," said Jacco.

There was a thin man standing behind the counter wearing a white featureless mask. Graham and Luuk recognized him as the same storekeeper as before. The thin man approached the customers and greeted them.

"Welcome. Ah, I remember you two. How do you like the masks?"

"I like mine. It feels unique. In fact, I've never seen anyone wearing the same mask," replied Graham.

"Of course they are. Those masks are one of a kind," said the storekeeper. His voice sounded very proud.

"Is that also true for all the other masks?" asked Graham.

He looked around the store and his belief was confirmed. When he looked closely, none of the masks were actually the same. They all had something different about them, although not all of the masks emitted a spiritual aura.

"Every mask in this store is unique. You won't find a copy anywhere else,"

Won't find a copy anywhere else?... Luuk also observed each of the masks carefully. ...Did he make all of these?

"I want this one! How much is it?" asked Jacco suddenly.

"That Aries mask is very suitable for you! Only five guilders and it's yours!" replied the storekeeper enthusiastically.

Graham observed the mask carefully. There was certainly a spiritual aura coming from the mask, which meant it was similar to his and Luuk's.

"Aries mask? That's another zodiac sign, Val. I'm sure it's not a coincidence that Jacco chose it. I'm positive that he was drawn to it just like I was to mine,"

After paying, Jacco wore the mask right away and now he looked menacing. A tall muscular man wearing a ram's skull mask that was unnerving, to say the least. With the correct attire, he could look like a tribal person during a brutal sacrificial ritual.

Graham went to the corner of the store and called for the other two.

"You two, come here for a moment,"

Now the three masked men were standing in the corner of the mask store, each wearing a different zodiac mask with its own unique vibe.

"Tell me your birthdays," asked Graham.

Jacco looked confused, but Look knew what Graham was thinking. He also had his suspicion.

"Mine is January 8th," replied Luuk.

Seeing Luuk replying so easily, Jacco did the same.

"My birthday is on March 27th. Why?"

"So it is indeed the case. Your masks are the same as your zodiac signs. I think it's not a coincidence now that there are the three of us-- four if we assume that Virgo guy is the same," concluded Graham.

"What Virgo guy?" asked Jacco curiously.

"Just someone who bought my wares. I don't know him either," replied Graham, shrugging.

"Should we ask the shopkeeper?" suggested Luuk.

Graham was also thinking about doing the same, so he agreed right away. The three masked men now approached the shopkeeper who had returned to his initial spot. He seemed to have been watching the three's congregation in the corner of his store.

"Anything else I can help you gentlemen with?" he said with a friendly voice and smile that could not be seen through his mask. They just had a strong feeling that he was smiling.

"I've been wondering. Who made these zodiac masks?"

The shopkeeper didn't answer right away. It was impossible to see his reaction through the featureless mask. The most they could see was his eyes whose pupils had dilated.

"It's about time you asked," he replied vaguely.

They didn't respond but just waited for the storekeeper to continue.

"..."

The storekeeper stayed quiet.

"Val, it seems this guy likes attention so much," Graham muttered and then spoke to the old man, "Please elaborate. We're listening,"

"Those zodiac masks were made by someone else that I can't say the name of. I was lucky to get a hold of several of them. They are truly one of a kind," he finally answered.

"Does that mean we won't find a copy even in other cities?" asked Luuk.

"No. But you might find the rest of them in other cities if they haven't been bought yet. The ones I have in my store here are the ones you are wearing right now. I had the Virgo mask but someone has bought it,"

"Are these masks special?" asked Graham.

The storekeeper shrugged.

"I don't know. I just know they are unique and have a minor enchantment like what I've told you," he replied.

"Alright. Thank you for your answers. That's all we need to know," said Graham.

"Val, we need to find out more about these masks later. Now that we know about the four of them, I think divination should work,"

The three men then left the mask store. With Jacco's Aries mask having been bought, they now only needed to sell some of the spoils of battle from the cave that they didn't need. Graham had divined each of the items' price and function and decided that he would keep the Olitiau's remains and heart as well as the Tsuchinoko's venom glands. They would sell the rest and split the money equally among them.

Graham, Luuk, and Jacco arrived at the common hall and Graham quickly stood in his usual spot. As usual, there was a watcher watching all that was happening in the hall.

"Selling hair of a famous corpse!"

"I have a lot of weapons embedded with gemstones! Come here if you're interested!"

There were already some people selling their stuff there, shouting to get the attention of potential buyers. There were many people surrounding them, especially the weapon seller. The three weren't interested, however, because they had their own Jeweller and a source of raw gemstones.

"Selling Tsuchinokos' remains and scales!"

Graham shouted not any less loud than the people before him and repeated it several times. After a while, customers started coming to where he was standing. When there were enough potential buyers, Graham took out the sample of each item and told them the price.

"The scales are three guilders each. I have eighty of them. The remains are twenty guilders each and there are only four of them,"

He had divined the market price for each of the items beforehand and put a higher price than shown, as usual. His only regret was that he couldn't carry more Tsuchinoko's scales from the cave because of the lack of container space. At that time, all their bags were already at their limits.

"I want to buy ten of the scales and one remain," said one of the people gathered there who was wearing an eagle mask.

"I'll take twenty scales," said a man wearing a brown mask with a giant question mark on it.

Graham served the two customers and after he received their money, more people wanted to buy the things he was selling. They sold out all of their stuff after a while, and in total, they made three hundred and twenty guilders, which meant each person got around one hundred and six guilders. Combined with the fifty guilders that he had made earlier from his detective work, he got a total of over one hundred and fifty guilders just in one day; it was the most that he had got at once.

"Wow, this fucking much money was only a dream for me just a month ago!" said Jacco in excitement.

"I wonder why people always buy everything so easily although you jacked up the price like crazy," said Luuk in genuine curiosity.

"Maybe they're just too rich and can't be bothered to gather those materials themselves," replied Graham nonchalantly. He didn't care about the reason as long as he got the money.

"So, are we done here?" asked Luuk again.

"Yes. You're free to look around and buy whatever you need. It's your money after all. But I have a request. Can you two come to the abandoned chapel tonight?" replied Graham.

"What abandoned chapel?" asked Jacco.

...

At eight in the evening, in an abandoned chapel on a hill, eight people were gathering in the dimly lit room. There were candles scattered on the floor all around.

Among the eight people, three were wearing masks while the other five weren't.

"Welcome back. Let's now get down to business. What have you found out about Pale Society?" asked Graham who was wearing his Gemini mask. His voice was muffled.

Eduard, the youngest and most curious of the group, looked at Jacco who was wearing his eerie Aries mask.

"Mr. Gemini, who is that one? Another member?"

"Oh. Yes. I almost forgot. This is another member of the Zodiac Syndicate. Please welcome Aries,"

The five associates looked at the new member and nodded in respect. To their knowledge, the members should have supernatural abilities, unlike them who were only associates. Besides, Jacco looked the scariest among the three masked men in front of them. especially with his big muscular body.

"I heard something from my friend who is in the mafia," said Calvin suddenly.

"And what is that?"

"He said to me several people have been reported missing from the Concrete. They are currently investigating it,"

Jacco, although he had been briefed, didn't understand what was going on so he went to sit on the altar, watching the others relaxedly.

Eduard noticed Jacco's action and became curious.

Is that man the watcher? Is he making sure we don't cause trouble? He must be very strong.

"That is useful. As a reward, I'll grant you one answer. You can go to the confessional later," replied Graham, and then muttered, "Val, does it remind you of something? That's the place where we first encountered a ghoul. There must be a connection there. We must investigate,"

After that, the rest didn't say anything else. They seemed to not have been able to find out about the Pale Society.

"As expected. I guess after all normal people's resources are limited, Val,"

"That is fine. The piece of information Calvin gave us is already a lead. Now, your task is to find out more about the missing people. Find out if there is anything in common among them, as well as the other important details,"

After that, Graham gestured at Calvin to follow him to the confession chamber. He didn't want to do his fire divination in front of them because he couldn't trust them yet.

The two men entered from different entrances and now their view was blocked by a separator that had a tiny gap in the middle.

"What question do you need an answer to?" said with a tone of a fortune-teller from behind the separator.

Calvin stayed quiet, thinking.

After a while, he finally said, "Where is the best place to get the mutilated body of a murder victim?"

Graham was shocked by the question.

"Val, are you thinking what I'm thinking? That must be a contract ritual sacrifice! Where did he get the scroll from?"

Graham muttered quietly and then lit the lighter in his hand. The confession chamber was now illuminated by the fire, only so slightly. He concentrated on the flame in front of him and repeated a question.

'How did Calvin Vinke get his hands on a contract scroll?'

An image slowly formed within the fire. It was of the man on the other side of the confession chamber being approached by a robed man. Judging from the surroundings, it seemed to be nighttime when it happened and they were in a quiet street. They appeared to be talking, or more precisely, the robed man was enticing Calvin. It seemed that he didn't have the scroll yet. After that, the image disappeared.

"Hmm. Val, is this the same case as Luuk where his professor made him a Contractbound for some reason or something else? Whichever the case is, it's not good."

"What did the robed man promise you?" asked Graham before answering Calvin's question.

Calvin was taken aback by the question, but then he quickly calmed down. He remembered that the man with the Gemini mask could see things normal people couldn't.

"I- I really cannot say it," he answered shortly.

Under his breath, Graham chanted.

"I, in the name of the Deity of the Tongue, order you to answer my question truthfully!"

Suddenly, Calvin had the urge to spill everything against his will. He didn't understand what was happening, but he started to open his mouth and spoke.

"I really cannot say it," he said in a monotonous voice like someone in a trance.

"..."

"Val, I think he is under a spell. This is definitely something we have to investigate,"

Graham then used divination one more time to get the answer to Calvin's question and then told him the answer. Once they were done, both men exited the confessional, and Graham stood in front of him, blocking his way. He maintained eye contact and spoke in a domineering tone.

"You will forget that I asked about where you get your scroll. You only got the answer to your question and that's it. Everything else didn't happen,"

Calvin looked confused and then after that slowly nodded. A second later, he regained his senses and walked back to the group as if nothing had happened.