Galon stepped lightly into the room, feeling a sense of discomfort. The air was oppressively still.
"This room is too quiet..."
He couldn't hear a sound, not even from outside. The window seemed to block out all noise, including birdsong and the wind, leaving the room in an unsettling silence. It felt as though someone had just been there a moment ago, and then suddenly, it was deserted.
Approaching the large chest at the foot of the bed, Galon's curiosity was piqued by Tarry Mercury's chest.
"Didn't he say he brought little kerosene? Why light a lamp in broad daylight?"
He reached out to pick up the kerosene lamp.
Creak...
Suddenly, the sound of the door behind him made Galon whirl around in shock. The door had closed on its own and, somehow, locked itself.
He hurried over and tried the doorknob, only to hear the futile click of the lock. Fast footsteps could be heard scampering away down the corridor outside.
Galon's expression darkened.
"There's definitely something eerie going on here..." Suddenly, he remembered a document Tarry Mercury had shown him, which included the detective's highlighted analysis.
'In the mystery of the deaths of the three previous owners of the Ceylan Castle, there was one commonality among the victims. They all wore a copper cross medal passed down from their ancestors.'
'This medal was once said to be a second-class military decoration awarded for military service during the war years. However, my investigation shows that the castle's owners possessed this medal at least two hundred years ago, so it couldn't possibly be from later wars.'
With this thought, Galon quickly pulled out a black cord from around his neck, with a purple-red medal hanging from it, marked with the letter P. It was the copper cross medal he always carried with him.
At this moment, the color of the medal appeared unusually vibrant, as if it had just been plated, showing no signs of age or wear.
"It must be this causing the trouble!" Galon's face darkened as he surveyed the bedroom, yanking off the medal and placing it on the chest's lid before rushing to the window.
Crash!
He punched through the window.
Suddenly, the bedroom came to life, as if breaking free from a silent movie. It was as if the mute button had been turned off, and everything instantly felt more vivid.
Galon felt an eerie chill, as if danger was rapidly approaching, and instinctively, he didn't want to leave through the door.
He looked down from the window on the second floor, seeing the ground and lawn about ten meters below.
"I need to find sheets to use as a rope. It's too high!"
Just as he was about to turn around, he felt a strong push from behind. The force was so strong, stronger than his current self, pushing him straight out of the window.
"Who?!" He roared, his mind blank, body tensed to the extreme.
Heehee...
A faint laugh echoed from behind.
Thud!
Galon braced himself with his arms as he landed on the lawn, thankfully, his physical condition and strength saved him from severe injury, though his arms were slightly dislocated due to the incorrect posture of exertion.
He quickly got up and glanced back at the second-floor bedroom, where the curtains fluttered in the wind, showing no sign of anyone. Looking at the castle's main door, it was securely locked, even though it had been half-open just moments ago.
Galon, enduring the pain of his dislocated arms, took one last look at the castle and hurriedly ran off into the distance.
Once outside the castle's enclosure, Galon didn't pause, heading back along the mountain path towards Ceylan Town.
"Being pushed out of the window like that, any normal person would have been killed instantly from such a fall. The posture, headfirst, would have broken their neck. If I hadn't been trained in martial arts, that fall could have been fatal or crippling," Galon thought, still shaken. He was grateful he didn't check the rooms on the third floor; a fall from there would have been even more dangerous.
Recalling the castle's previous owners' records, there were incidents of servants dying from falls while cleaning the rooms. And it wasn't just one case.
"I thought those were accidents due to faulty castle design, but now it seems clear, just like my experience, they were pushed!" Galon was convinced, noting the similarity in the deaths of those servants, all headfirst, exactly like being pushed.
The pain in his dislocated arm was worsening. Galon rolled up his sleeve to see a swollen red lump.
"I need to find someone to set this bone in town!" He increased his pace, urgency in his steps.
Snap!
"Hisss!" Galon, with his upper body bare, cradled his swollen arm, which was red as a steamed bun. He was seated in the doorway where he had previously shared tea with Tarry Mercury.
A doctor in a gray suit was sitting beside him, gripping Galon's left arm, and with a firm slap, made an adjustment.
Galon gasped sharply, drenched in sweat from the pain, but a crisp sound indicated the bone was back in place.
"There, all set!" the doctor announced.
"Thank you, Dr. Aches," Galon nodded, enduring the pain to pull out a stack of bills with his freshly aligned right arm and placed them on the table. "Here's your fee."
"All right." Dr. Aches was a well-known local practitioner who, despite lacking official certification, possessed genuine skill in setting bones—a common necessity in the small town.
Upon returning to town, Galon had immediately paid someone to fetch Dr. Aches, finally addressing the dislocation of his arms.
"I'll prescribe you some medicine. Apply this mixture to the injury daily, and you'll recover quickly," Dr. Aches, collecting his fee, smiled, "It's rare to have such a generous patient; I'll accept this thousand."
"The extra is for your trouble, especially since I woke you from your nap. Thank you for your help."
"Not at all." Dr. Aches rummaged through his white medicine box, pulled out a small ivory glass bottle, checked the label, and placed it on the table.
"Just apply this ointment daily, remember not to rub too hard, and you'll be fine. I'll be on my way now."
Galon nodded his thanks.
After watching Dr. Aches leave, disappearing into the bushes along a small path, Galon slowly sipped his coffee from a wooden cup.
"Another cup, please!" he called to the proprietor inside.
"Coming right up!" A stout, bearded middle-aged man came out with a glass coffee pot, carefully refilling Galon's cup.
Two robust farmers with hoes entered and took a seat at a table in the doorway.
"Two beers, please!"
The proprietor hurried back inside with their order.
Galon, holding the Black Jade Disc, felt its continuous cold energy soothing his arm's pain. His martial arts training at the dojo, where dislocations were common, had accustomed him to such discomforts.
Now, in the small town café, Galon found the peace to reconsider Tarry Mercury's actions.
"Setting aside the castle's peculiarities, it's odd for someone like Tarry Mercury to abandon his case and reside in a small castle in the countryside for so long."
"However, considering Gold Ring's presence near the castle, what if Gold Ring's actual target was the Ceylan Castle? If Tarry Mercury was tracking Gold Ring rather than the castle itself, then everything starts to make sense."
"Gold Ring aims for Ceylan Castle, and Tarry Mercury, following the case, ends up there. By placing me against Gold Ring's men, he could test if I was an undercover agent for Gold Ring. There must be more to it, but this is likely the gist."
"Where could Tarry Mercury be now?" Galon tried to rub his forehead, forgetting his arm's condition, and winced in pain.
As the afternoon sun turned red, the café's business picked up, and more people arrived, forcing the proprietor to bring out additional tables and chairs. The doorway buzzed with the lively banter of townsfolk and farmers enjoying their drinks and meals.
Galon moved to a quieter corner, his demeanor contrasting with the rowdy crowd, and silently enjoyed his coffee.
"Excuse me," he called out as the proprietor passed by, "Did the gentleman who had tea with me yesterday return to town?"
"Just curious," Galon inquired casually, doubting a small-town proprietor could track Tarry Mercury's movements if he chose to stay hidden.
"He did come back! He even had tea here today," the proprietor replied promptly.
"Really?" Galon was surprised, "Did he say anything?"
"He ordered the same tea as yesterday and sat in the same spot," the proprietor informed.
"I see..." Galon nodded thoughtfully, recognizing Tarry Mercury's deliberate clue. However, he wasn't inclined to pursue further.
"Getting entangled with a detective like Tarry Mercury without clear reasons seems disadvantageous. It's better to keep a distance. If Tarry is indeed unraveling the mysteries behind cursed antiques and their secrets, I can follow his lead. Finding cursed antiques through conventional means is nearly impossible."
"If my guess is correct, and Gold Ring is also searching for these artifacts, they could inadvertently lead me to them. I'll wait for the right moment to intervene."
Galon began planning his next steps, considering the recent dangerous yet fruitful events. Despite losing a Copper Cross Medal, acquiring the Black Jade Disc, a far more precious artifact yet to be fully absorbed, was a significant gain.