eurekapd Chapter 20 Rules of Play
Chapter 20 Rules of Play
When Evan returned home, the elderly butler, Mr. Buck, was still awake. He was clearly relieved to see that Evan had returned so early.
Compared to the decadent and promiscuous Intis, the upper echelons of the Loen community were generally more conservative.
For ambitious young nobles, a good reputation is still very important. Those who indulge in debauchery and pleasure are the ones abandoned by their families. They themselves may not be affected by their parents' pampering, but in the next generation, they will basically be unable to stay in the core circle of the nobility, and their family fortunes will plummet.
Evan was not a legitimate nobleman and did not have a universally recognized noble status. The flattery and praise he received came from Robert Horn.
Therefore, the old butler, who had watched Evan grow up, did not want Evan to get too involved with a promiscuous socialite like Mrs. Sharon. Occasional flings were fine, but he absolutely could not become infatuated with her or do anything disrespectful to the family, as this would not be good for Evan's future development.
Some time ago, Evan frequently accepted Mrs. Sharon's invitations to go out and often stayed out all night, which already made Mr. Buck somewhat worried. Mr. Buck even attributed Evan's inexplicable suicidal tendencies to Mrs. Sharon.
Seeing that Mr. Buck was pleased that he hadn't stayed overnight at Mrs. Sharon's house, Evan knew what was going on, but he didn't explain further.
Just as Evan was saying goodnight to Mr. Buck and preparing to return to his room, Mr. Buck handed Evan a telegram that had been delivered to his home overnight by the telegraph office.
The telegram came from Backlund and was a reply from Irwin's brother, Robert Horn.
It seems that Robert Horn returned home that evening, saw Evan's telegram, and replied immediately.
In the telegram, Robert urged Evan to come to Backlund as soon as possible and to stop attending those messy occult gatherings. He also told Evan not to comment on the political situation in Tingen and hinted that once Evan arrived in Backlund, he might take him to witness the true occult.
Looking at the telegram in front of him, Evan's eyebrows danced with excitement, and he couldn't help but whistle.
Clearly, his telegram had worked, finally making his brother Robert realize that the younger brother he was protecting had grown up, and that as his position rose, Evan was now practically at the center of the storm. His idea of keeping Evan out of the conflict was no longer possible, and given Evan's current situation, he would be targeted by the secret organization sooner or later.
Therefore, Robert decisively adjusted his overprotective approach to Evan and prepared to change the way he nurtured him.
"Finally, I'm going to leave this dangerous vortex of Tingen!" Evan was extremely excited.
Then Evan glanced at Mr. Buck and felt it necessary to explain, so he said:
"I went out for a stroll this afternoon and suddenly realized that the mayoral election in Tingen this year is very complicated. My brother might not be back for vacation during the parliamentary recess, so I went to the telegraph office to send a telegram myself."
Mr. Buck didn't pay much attention to it and casually remarked:
"You don't need to explain these things to me. You can do whatever you want without worrying about other people's feelings or opinions."
Evan nodded and said nothing more. This is also the difference between the education given in aristocratic families and that given in ordinary families.
Noble families instill in their children from a young age the idea that they are nobles, not ordinary people, and are born to rule others, and should not accept criticism; they are always right. Commoner families, on the other hand, emphasize adherence to rules and obedience to the ruler.
Evan, who came from Earth, knew very well that all these things were ultimately for the sake of domination; in this world, they were the means by which extraordinary and powerful beings on the side of order created order.
"Then please help me with some preparations. I plan to leave for Backlund the day after tomorrow, and I may not be able to come back for a while. Please help me make sure everything is prepared."
After confirming with Mr. Buck the time he would be leaving Backlund, Evan turned and went upstairs to his bedroom.
After taking a nice bath, Evan changed into a silk nightgown and lay down on the bed.
Tonight, after spending several nights in the company of Mrs. Sharon, Evan not only informed her of his impending departure from Tingen, but also obtained the potion recipe for Sequence 8, "The Instigator."
Evan always played the role of the conquered in front of Helen and Mrs. Sharon. They did not think that Evan had any ulterior motives, and coupled with their confidence in themselves, they were very low on guard against Evan.
It should be said that their judgment was actually quite good. It's just that Evan now is not the same Evan as a few days ago. They thought they had Evan under their control, but in reality, they were the ones being controlled.
"The most skilled hunters often appear as prey. Although I haven't taken the corresponding hunter potion yet, thanks to the mysterious city that is connected to both the hunter and assassin paths, I can clearly feel that my role is on the right track. I expect that after drinking the hunter potion, I will have a great deal of digestion."
As for assassins, I've summarized two corresponding rules for playing the role over the past few days: First, when reaping lives, one must not easily reveal their identity. Second, sometimes, to eliminate the target, one can use someone else's hand; assassination is merely a means, the goal is to succeed.
The reason Evan summarized such a rule of conduct was mainly because after Klein shot and killed the hunter tracker, his assassin potion had a huge effect, almost digesting most of it.
Evan did not kill anyone, but ultimately achieved his goal, dealt with all the potential threats, and successfully persuaded a night watchman to cover for him and handle the aftermath.
If it weren't for the fact that Klein was chosen to fire the final shot, the hunter might have died without ever knowing who had seriously wounded him. Otherwise, this would have been the perfect assassination, with the target not even knowing why he died or who killed him.
At the same time, Evan also summarized his two rules for playing the role of Sequence 8 'Instigator'.
First: Use language to persuade people to break free from their own constraints, release their hidden evil thoughts, and turn them into action.
Klein is an orderly and law-abiding person, but he was eventually persuaded by Evan to help him kill and even cover it up. This was partly due to Klein's subconscious desire to avenge the original owner of the body; he had the urge to kill.
Second: The best instigation is to start from the perspective of the person being instigated, and make them genuinely believe that doing so is the right thing to do.
One of the key reasons Evan was able to persuade Klein was that Evan gave him the perfect excuse to report 'Ryle Bieber,' the last owner of the Antigonus Family Notes, allowing the Night Watchers to continue the investigation and thus disrupt the mastermind's plans—which was what Klein wanted to do most at this stage.
Evan estimated that after digesting the 'Assassin' potion, he should be able to digest a lot of the 'Instigator' potion immediately after drinking it.
This may not just be because Evan successfully instigated Klein to carry out an assassination, but more likely because the gray mist associated with Klein increased Klein's "weight," which is why the potion's response was so good.
This is reflected in Lord of Mysteries. When Klein finally killed Ince Zangwill, there weren't many viewers, but Adam was worth more than a million viewers, allowing Klein to succeed in his advancement even when he wasn't at his best.
Therefore, there should be a third rule for the role of "instigator": instigate "those in high positions" as much as possible to create a greater impact.
Besides summarizing a few rules of conduct today, Evan's intimate conversation with Mrs. Sharon tonight also confirmed some things he had discovered before.
008 did want Evan to leave Tingen City as soon as possible, so he made things as convenient as possible for Evan in doing things he wanted to do.
For example, even Evan didn't expect it to be so easy to instigate Klein.
For example, Evan asked Mrs. Sharon for the recipe for the "Instigator" potion in advance, and Mrs. Sharon agreed without hesitation.
The witch cult is essentially a family bound by matrilineal ties. "Assassins" without the bloodline of the original witch have always been peripheral figures. To obtain the formula, they must make contributions, just like the most famous witch later on—Triss.
She obtained the potion recipe and materials after completing a task.
Evan was also one of their peripheral members, and he had only been an "assassin" for a few days. However, Madam Sharon gave him the potion formula he wanted without hesitation. Evan did not believe that there was no manipulation by 008 involved.
"I didn't expect 008 to be so useful. It's so useful that I almost don't want to leave Tingen."
Evan thought to himself that he had gotten a good deal but also knew that leaving the Tingen vortex as soon as possible was the right choice.
At the same time, Evan also discovered that Mrs. Sharon herself might have some problems. She seemed to really identify as a woman, and was obsessed with her own body and beauty. The many different women's clothes in her bedroom were proof of this. She had even recently started learning to paint and bought a large full-length mirror so that she could paint her own nude portrait.
This is undoubtedly a serious departure from the principle of "you can only be you" in the role-playing method. Only by insisting in her heart that she is a man can she reduce the risk of losing control brought about by the potion. If she indulges in her own beauty and truly regards herself as a woman, then the day when she loses control is not far away.
After thinking for a long time, Evan still couldn't decide how to deal with Mrs. Sharon: should he report her to the "Punisher" or hand her over to Klein as a merit?
"I don't want to think about it anymore, I should go to sleep quickly. Although the Assassin's Potion has improved my physical fitness, Mrs. Sharon is no ordinary person either, and now I have some back pain."
"I can't take advantage of this mysterious world and its extraordinary power to neglect my health. Who knows how many witches will be waiting for me to 'serve' me in the future."
While Evan was asleep, the Night Watch team was also conducting an operation throughout the night, raiding the homes of "Ryle Bieber" and the hunter who was "tracking" Klein. However, they could only confirm that Ryle Bieber was indeed the last owner of the Antigonus family notebooks, and did not obtain any more useful information.
Taking advantage of the case's deadlock, Klein suggested going to places like "fortune tellers" clubs to find the person he saw selling Welch's notes with the hunter during his "psychic" sessions.
Dunn thought about it and agreed, and approved the funds for Klein.