A New Piece of Equipment

"Fifty Guilders... I could buy Deities know how many Dolcebambini bars, Val, with that amount of money," muttered Graham in regret inside the motor carriage that Egon was driving.

The driver, noticing his passenger's distressed looks, became concerned.

"Anything the matter, Mr. Hymes? You've been rather emotional the past hour," asked Egon with genuine concern in his tone.

Surprised, Graham shook his head firmly.

"No, nothing, Egon," replied Graham shortly.

It had been more than one hour since he paid and left Cadhla to work on the remains from Gloom. He had gone to where Egon was having dinner and resting with the help of divination and ordered dinner for himself. Now, it was time for him to go and get his new enhanced equipment, but he still couldn't get over how expensive it was to get it made.

"But at least it's cheaper than buying the already-made equipment, Val. But still..." he mumbled.

In that small town, everywhere was close to everything, so it didn't take long for Egon to return to the antique store where he had dropped off his passenger before. Graham got out swiftly from the metal vehicle and asked Egon to wait for him there since he wouldn't take long.

"I hope the effect is worth it or I'll ask for a refund," he muttered with conviction.

Graham entered the antique store that had a strong reek of wood and old things. Through the same door behind the counter, he entered the colder back room whose walls were leaking spiritual energy because of the numerous talismans hung there.

"Welcome back, Graham. Your order is ready," said Cadhla gently. She looked very tired, most likely from making the item.

"It's over here. Come," beckoned Rafferty kindly.

This pair of brother and sister looked very kind on the outside, but Graham knew that Rafferty would turn 180 degrees the moment Graham showed malice or even too much friendliness towards his sister. As for Cadhla, he had never seen her flip, but judging from her brother's personality, she must have her own trigger button as well, despite her calm and gracious mannerisms.

Graham walked over to the table where Cadhla was sitting behind and on it, there was a bracelet with a simple design. Its color was brown, which happened to be Graham's favorite, so he was already liking it without knowing its effect. The bracelet looked to be made of some kind of metal with unconnected ends, so it could be stretched a little for his hand to fit through. There was no pattern adorning the bracelet, but there was an uncanny closed mouth with thin, pale pink lips at the top.

As his fingertips carefully touched the surface of the bracelet, a cold sensation ran through his nerves. It felt like he was touching a block of ice that was still frozen solid. Graham didn't want to touch the mouth part for it gave him a bad foreboding.

"So what is this thing? And why does it have a mouth?" asked Graham curiously as he retracted his fingers.

There was a meaningful smile on Cadhla's tired face. She then looked at her brother and nodded, seemingly asking him to do the explaining in her stead.

"This bracelet, not thing, is called Gloom's Redress," said Rafferty, and before he could continue, Graham already interrupted.

"Did you name it that?" interrupted Graham, looking straight at Cadhla with a look of suspicion. She might have divined the origin of the remains beforehand; that was why she knew the owner was called Gloom.

The freckled woman shook her head slowly.

"No. The name came to me as the bracelet was finished. It seems to want to be called that," replied Cadhla.

"Can I continue?" asked Rafferty impatiently.

Graham nodded.

"Gloom's Redress allows you to use an Ignoramus' Stupidity Charge five times a day. It's an ability that will make your target's intelligence drop significantly for their next action, making them much more likely to make the wrong decision," explained Rafferty.

Being the experienced man that he was, Graham knew that there was nothing in the supernatural world that didn't have any downside, especially when it came to enhanced equipment and artifact. Even the belt that he was wearing would constantly send out presence to anything within a radius, and if not for Valentine's anti-divination, he would have attracted many unnecessary dangers. At least now that Valentine was stronger, his anti-divination alone was enough to stop Purloin from sending out signals, without the need to constantly apply Concealment on it.

"What's the catch?" asked Graham inquisitively.

There was a smile on Rafferty's face. He seemed amused.

"So you're experienced, I see. This bracelet, as you've felt it yourself, is very cold. Wearing it for too long might give you frostbite-- unless you're a Fire Divinator or something with a naturally warm body. It also requires the wearer to feed it with the wearer's hair daily or it will freeze them instantly the next time the wearer tries to put it on," explained Rafferty.

Graham's expression showed approval as he picked up the brown bracelet on the table. Before putting it on, he brought it closer to his head and the mouth suddenly opened wide, revealing two rows of clean, white teeth. The bracelet seemed to have come alive as it tried to get closer to Graham's hair as he could feel the pulling force on his hand. He gave in and as soon as it was within range, the bracelet took a big bite of Graham's wavy hair tip.

Munch! Munch!

The bracelet seemed to be chewing on the strands of hair with a loud noise, which was bizarre. Once it was done, the mouth returned to normal and Graham knew that it had been satisfied. He put it on right away and the cold sensation rushed through his wrist. However, as a Fire Divinator who had a naturally warm body, Graham got used to the sensation quickly and now it felt like he was just wearing a normal bracelet.

"Val, please remember that you shouldn't wear this for too long since you don't have the supernatural warmth," muttered Graham quietly.

Since he had paid for the bracelet in advance, he didn't need to take out his money to pay again. However, since he was already there, he would like to buy more items from the pair of siblings because they sold them cheaper.

"Do you have blood bullets in stock?" asked Graham.

Drag...

There was a sound coming from behind the table as Cadhla opened the drawer built into it. She then looked at Graham and smiled.

"Yes. I have twelve of them here," she said as she laid the twelve blood bullets on the table.

"I'll take all of them. I'm going to Hoorn. Do you have any suggestions on what magical items I should have with me?" asked Graham.

Cadhla looked at Rafferty and raised her eyebrow. The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned colder as the friendly smiles on the sibling's faces were drained.

"Hoorn? Why are you going there?" asked Rafferty with a tone that was a mix of concern and suspicion.

Judging from the siblings' reaction, there must be something about them and that mountain city. Graham became curious and could help but ask.

"For some business. Is there anything wrong with the place?"

Then it was Rafferty's turn to look at Cadhla. The two of them were surely hiding a secret, and if it would compromise his safety there, he would like to know what it was all about.

"It's just... an evil city. The officials were corrupt to the bone. Do not trust anybody there, not even the Police," replied Cadhla. Her voice had suddenly turned as cold as the coldest winter's night. There wasn't any sign of her gentle smile.

"Just finish your business and get out of the city as soon as you can," added Rafferty, with the same coldness as his sister. His expression was as flat as a sheet of paper.

The siblings' warning made Graham feel uneasy. He had used divination to determine the danger of going to Hoorn before, and it indeed showed him that there was danger, albeit still at a manageable level. However, the words that came from them made him doubtful.

"Val, do you think my divination is wrong? Or are they exaggerating? Or the danger is manageable as long as I don't stay too long in the city?" muttered Graham cautiously.

He then turned to the pair of siblings who had been staring at him motionlessly. He felt like they had become mannequins for some reason-- ones that radiated enmity.

"What made you say so?" he asked carefully.

Neither Cadhla nor Rafferty moved nor show a change of expression. They just kept staring at Graham with eyes that looked like they were looking at a dead person.

"Just do what we say if you value your life," said Rafferty coldly with only a slight movement of his facial muscles. He looked like an automaton that was programmed to give a specific answer only.

Graham could only nod slowly. It was apparent that there was nothing else he could gain from the pair of siblings, and he didn't want to use his ability to make them spill the beans by force since he didn't know the extent of Rafferty's full capability. It was not wise to make an enemy out of the only people he knew who could create enhanced equipment.

"I'll heed your warning. In that case, let me pay for all the blood bullets," he said.

After paying twenty-four guilders for the twelve blood bullets, he stuffed them all inside the bullet pouch on his waist. He had to leave the money on the table and took the bullets himself because the pair of siblings still refused to move a muscle.

He placed some of them neatly in the bullet slots for ease of taking out, but since they were full, he had to leave the rest lying around the pouch. Each time the pouch jiggled, the bullets hit each other, creating a faint tinging sound.

"See you around," bid Graham goodbye as he quickly left the back room of the store. He wanted to get away from them as soon as he could.

Ever since he mentioned Hoorn, the pair of siblings had turned into completely different people. They didn't even reply to Graham's goodbye as they were just standing there motionlessly, staring at his back until he closed the door behind him. It gave Graham a chill and made him very uncomfortable.

"Are you done, Mr. Detective?" asked Egon warmly, which eased Graham's anxiety. Being with the changed siblings made him feel like he was in a different world, and meeting Egon had brought him back to reality.

"Yes, yes. Let's head back to Sloten now. We don't want to arrive too late, do we? Your wife and kid must be waiting for you," said Graham.

"Sure thing. Get in," said Egon.

The moment Graham closed the metal vehicle's rear passenger door, Egon hit the gas and drove away from the small town as fast as he could. There were only a handful of other drivers on the road, so he wasn't held back by the traffic.

It was already very dark when they left the town. Luckily for them, the government of the Republic of Tulp always made sure to take care of public facilities, including street lights. The road was illuminated by the numerous artificial lights, making it easy for Egon to see where he was going. His motor carriage had its own light, but it was still much better like that.

"It's not so bad," said Egon, "It shouldn't be too dangerous with the street being bright like this."

Besides himself, there were still other drivers on the road-- mostly people going to or from Rijssen, the coastal city east of Sloten. It made Egon feel even safer to know that he was not driving alone that evening.

"Please still drive carefully," said Graham, reminding Egon not to be too complacent.

Although Graham didn't want trouble, he wanted to try out the new bracelet he was wearing. As long as the enemy wasn't mindless, he felt that the Stupidity Charge would be effective against them. And if the motor carriage that Egon was driving got damaged in the process, Graham was confident that he could use Order to fix it part by part, at least as a temporary solution as long as it was not completely broken.

Egon kept on driving at a constant speed, which was probably sixty kilometers per hour, the fastest his vehicle could go without its engine being overworked. The other drivers could drive faster than him, so they overtook Egon one by one and left him behind.

"I'm sorry Mr. Hymes. This cheap junk can only go this fast," he said apologetically.

Graham smiled and although he wanted to pat the man's shoulder, he couldn't because of the glass separator that was placed in every public motor carriage. He actually preferred driving at that speed to Agatha's crazy speed. He just didn't feel safe when the vehicle he was in went too fast, as things could happen faster than he could react.

Now that he was driving all alone again, Egon's feeling of safety slowly crumbled. Being in the middle of a big road at night with tall trees on the sides made him feel small and insignificant. He also couldn't see what might be lurking behind those massive trees.

Suddenly, there was a large, black shadow appearing in front of the motor carriage that he was driving, causing Egon to floor the brake and tried to stop abruptly. Graham was launched forward because of that and he hit the glass separator, although he managed to dampen the impact with his hands.

He had a bad feeling about the shadow and quickly used his Supersight to try to find it. It had disappeared at one point, which made him even more cautious.

Since the shadow had disappeared from in front of him, Egon had a clear way to go. However, before he could press the gas, Graham stopped him.

"Don't! It's waiting for us," he warned him urgently.

Egon could only nod and did as the man said.

"Stay here!" ordered Graham as he took out his lighter and his gun. Right now, he couldn't be bothered to worry about the man finding out about his supernatural power. Their safety was the priority.