In the deep valley, the cold, light rain gradually weakened. At the scene of the carriage team's tragedy, Dorothy sat on the ground, facing Ed's corpse, gasping for air. It took a long time for her to recover. When she stumbled to her feet, she suddenly realized an important issue.
'Right! Where are this guy's dogs?'
Thinking of Ed's two hounds, Dorothy quickly gripped the revolver in her hand and scanned her surroundings. In her impression, the two strange hounds from earlier were just blown away; they shouldn't be dead yet. It would be bad if they got up to avenge their master. Because it was her first time shooting and killing someone, her emotions were somewhat volatile, and she hadn't reacted to this matter immediately.
Dorothy held the gun and looked around. By the faint Light, she found the two hounds. At this time, they were lying motionless on the riverbank not far away, not even breathing, like corpses. This sight made Dorothy pause.
'Dead? No way... Just being blown away wouldn't kill them, right? Does a section of Unloading Force Dragon Roar have such power?'
Seeing the two dog corpses, Dorothy felt confused. However, because the appearance of the two hounds was too exaggerated and strange, looking quite terrifying, Dorothy had no intention of checking them. But this confusion remained in her mind.
'Whew... Never mind for now, let's think about what to do next...'
Seeing that the hounds were no longer a threat, Dorothy let out a long breath and sat on the ground. She picked up the black umbrella that had fallen beside her and propped it up to shield herself from the rain, then pondered how to face this unfamiliar world next.
Having just transmigrated into this world that seemed like 19th-century foreign country, reincarnated as a girl who should have died in a car accident, Dorothy was still utterly bewildered at this moment, unsure of what to do. The new world and new body left her feeling lost for a while. At this moment, she felt completely blank.
After thinking back and forth on the spot, she decided to follow the original Dorothy's life steps for now.
'First, let's continue going into the city to find Dorothy's brother... After all, he's the closest blood relative I have in this world. Family can always be a trustworthy reliance... This is also the little girl's last wish...'
Sitting on the cold, damp Stone with her hand propped on her chin, Dorothy thought this. In Dorothy's memory, her brother, whom she hadn't seen for many years, was very protective of her when she was young. Going to rely on him according to the original Dorothy's idea was a good choice... After all, no matter where you are, the first thing is to find a good "home."
'My clothes are all wet, it's so cold... I need to find a place to change. According to the memories of what Dorothy heard the coachman say, there should be a town nearby. In any case, let's go there first.'
Cold and hungry, Dorothy felt that before going to the city to find her brother, she needed to find a place to change clothes and eat. According to her memory, based on the information Dorothy got from talking to the coachman earlier, walking forward along the carriage road they had been traveling on would quickly lead to a town called Wokan Town. Since these bandits were able to find a place to get down, there must be a passage back to the main road ahead along the riverbank.
Thinking this, Dorothy rested for a while, preparing to set off. Then, after thinking for a moment, she thought of other problems, which was that she had no money. To find food and lodging, she needed money! But she had no money now!
This time, Dorothy was entrusted by Hannah Aunt to a familiar carriage team to help send her. The carriage fare and food expenses that her brother had sent before were all given to the coachman by Hannah Aunt to help take care of Dorothy along the way. Now that the carriage team had met with disaster, the money on the other passengers and the coachman had just been collected by herself to be used as bait and put in the carriage. Now that carriage and the two bandits who took the bait had fallen into the river together.
Thinking of this, Dorothy couldn't help but pause. She stroked her chin and scanned her surroundings, finally focusing her gaze on the bandit leader who had been shot and fallen to the ground.
Since he was the bandit leader, he must have some money on him, right...
Thinking this, Dorothy picked up a gas Light from the ground and, without a word, ran to the corpse and began to search it. Since she had searched other corpses before, she was already used to it and didn't feel much fear.
Gradually, the things on Ed's corpse were turned out one by one by Dorothy: a dagger, a deck of cards, a few banknotes, a bunch of keys...
Dorothy put away the useful items, then thought for a moment, feeling that she hadn't looted cleanly enough, so she continued to search repeatedly and carefully several times. She also found some coins, a few rolled cigarettes, and a box of matches... Just as Dorothy felt she had searched enough and was thinking about whether to strip off Ed's seemingly decent suit jacket and find a place to pawn it for money, she suddenly discovered something unusual.
In the interlining of the clothes, she felt something. From the feel, it was some kind of hard paper-like item.
'Something hidden in the clothes interlining? Hiding it like this must mean it's a good thing! From this feel, could it be private stash money?'
Dorothy's eyes lit up, and she immediately drew out her dagger and cut open Ed's clothes. Then she took out the item she had felt from the interlining. Holding it in her hand, she saw that it was two envelopes!
'Envelope? Is there a letter inside? What kind of letter is so important that it needs to be carried in the interlining of clothes?'
Looking at the envelope she had taken out instead of money, Dorothy was a little disappointed. Then, with confusion, she opened one of the envelopes, took out the letter paper from it, and held it up to the gas Light to examine it carefully.
A series of neat letters were written on the letter paper, and she was surprised to find that she could actually read them!
'Ah... No way! Didn't I sacrifice the language the original Dorothy learned in exchange for Dragon language? Why can I still understand it now?'
Dorothy thought in surprise. In her opinion, the knowledge that was sacrificed should have just disappeared, right? But why did she still possess it?
'Perhaps... it's because the essence of knowledge is information, not material... Information can be copied, but items cannot. My sacrificing knowledge doesn't mean I lost knowledge. Teaching knowledge to someone else doesn't make me lose that knowledge... Perhaps I shouldn't say I exchanged my language for Dragon language just now, but rather communicated to get Dragon language...'
Thinking of this possibility, Dorothy felt a sense of relief. It was good that she didn't have to worry about becoming illiterate in this world later.
Then, feeling a little happy, Dorothy continued to look down at the letter. The letter was written in Prite language, which was the common language of the Kingdom called Preet Kingdom where Dorothy was located. The script was a typical phonetic alphabet.
And the content of the letter surprised her quite a bit.
...
Dear Mr. Edrick,
We are honored to have received your letter. Based on your description in your previous letter, we can confirm that the extraordinary item you accidentally found is called the Corpse Puppet Ring. It has the effect of manipulating newly deceased corpses. It was indeed a wise choice for you to use it to manipulate beast corpses. May you be able to make a bigger name for yourself in Wokan Town with it. Of course, we also advise you not to be too ostentatious, lest you attract the attention of the Hidden Security Bureau or the Church.
Regarding your expressed desire to join the society in your letter, we are naturally very pleased. As a street leader who possesses an extraordinary item, you are naturally qualified to join us. We believe that with your status in Wokan Town, you can make the society's influence spread further.
We welcome your joining, but before that, we have a small task that requires you to complete. This can be considered a test, a special test.
On the evening of April 8th, a carriage team heading for Igwinte will pass through the road from Yew to Wokan. There is a girl about thirteen years old with white hair on the carriage team. Capture her.
Please do not misunderstand. Usually, our initiation test for newcomers is not such a kidnapping operation, but this time is a special case. That girl is useful to us. We should have done it ourselves, but unfortunately, the Hidden Security Bureau has been very active recently, and there are signs of a Hunter Squad appearing in Wokan.
For the sake of caution, we have decided not to show up. Therefore, we need you, Mr. Edrick, to step in on our behalf. As long as you handle this matter like any other ordinary kidnapping business, the Hunters will not deal with cases that have no extraordinary signs. We believe that with your professional and skilled techniques, you will definitely be able to handle this case flawlessly.
Of course, we will not let you work for nothing in the name of a test. We have specially prepared a special reward for you for this special test. For you, this reward can be said to be very generous, enough to allow you to take a big leap forward in the extraordinary field you aspire to, from a newcomer who knows almost nothing, and even have a considerable position in the society.
If you accept this test, please reply as soon as possible. We believe that you will not refuse this rare opportunity. May you and we enjoy a feast at the same table in the future and jointly experience the beauty bestowed by the great Blood cup.
...