Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Xio was dazed for about ten seconds before remembering the need to reply. She looked at the golden-masked man and nodded.
“Alright, I’ll take note of the people Viscount Stratford interacts with.”
The golden-masked man seemed to sense her dazed state as he said, “There’s another mission. The Church of Evernight’s Red Gloves are investigating something related to the Numinous Episcopate. If you have any relevant information on that, immediately inform me.”
Xio tersely responded, unable to extricate herself from her emotions.
The golden-masked man fell silent for a few seconds and asked after some deliberation, “Are you interested in directly joining MI9?
“You can continue maintaining your present identity, being active in East Borough.”
Xio was taken aback for two seconds as her mouth turned agape. She was momentarily unable to make a decision.
The golden-masked man didn’t require an immediate answer as he said with a smile, “There’s no rush. Tell me your answer after you become an Interrogator.”
After saying that, he walked back, step after step, slinking away into the shadows at the other end of the alley.
…
That same evening, Klein snapped awake from a dream.
The soul imprint he had set up in Böklund Street’s sewers had been touched!
Who is it that isn’t sleeping in the middle of the night… Is Hazel not afraid of being possessed by a Wraith? Klein sighed helplessly as he took out the iron cigar case which was wrapped in a wall of spirituality from under his pillow. He then walked to the balcony where the curtains were tightly drawn.
Wraith Senor rapidly leaped onto the surface of a street lamp before passing the manhole and sinking deep into the sewers.
After advancing a short distance, with the eyes of his marionette, Klein saw Hazel in commoner clothes.
This lady was warily walking forward as she raised her left hand without realizing it to touch the necklace with seven emeralds. In her right hand was a charm made from gold.
Although the charm hadn’t been activated, it exuded the feeling of sunlight and warmth, as well as the refreshing sense of morning dew.
Upon seeing this scene, Klein suddenly recalled his encounter when strolling in the morning.
Hazel had woken up early to stroll in her garden!
She was gathering materials to create the Sun domain charm? Morning dew? Klein guessed with uncertainty as he felt a little puzzled. This was because Hazel wasn’t only half-illiterate in the mysterious domain, but she also lacked quite a bit of knowledge. Furthermore, she was a believer of the Evernight Goddess.
Such a Beyonder wouldn’t receive any response if she prayed to the Eternal Blazing Sun. Even if something special happened, the smallest probability event would be that of receiving punishment!
As she hasn’t been digging and searching in the sewers for too long, that Beyonder that has been guiding her with a dream has turned anxious. That’s why she was taught how to make Sun domain charms via a dream? Hmm, from the Marauder pathway, the corresponding High-Sequence representative, Amon, is also known as a Blasphemer. Does this mean that at a certain Sequence of this pathway, they have the ability to pretend to be believers of other deities and circle around any defenses to obtain a response and create various kinds of charms? This does match their modus operandi… With Senor’s vision, Klein watched Hazel walk deep into the sewers.
Based on his spiritual intuition, although the Sun domain charm was targeted at a Wraith, it was far from sufficient to truly threaten a Sequence 5, with it dealing a certain amount of damage at best. After all, Hazel had no way of obtaining high-level materials. However, Klein didn’t let his Wraith possess her again, afraid that it would alarm that Beyonder who was influencing Hazel. After tomorrow’s Tarot Gathering, he believed he would obtain a low-level item from the Marauder pathway, allowing him to make the corresponding investigations. Before that, maintaining the status quo was the best choice.
Of course, the premise was that he was certain that Hazel wasn’t able to dig up anything within a day or two. He had plenty of time to prepare.
As a Seer, he had many ways to make a confirmation. The simplest way was to head above the gray fog.
After retracting his marionette, Klein took four steps counterclockwise and arrived inside the ancient palace which had stone columns propping it up. He conjured a pen and paper, and he wrote down the corresponding divination statement:
“Something major will happen in Böklund Street over the next three days.”
With the topaz pendulum, Klein obtained a negative revelation. This also meant that in three days, no major incident would happen in Böklund Street.
As for the possibility of what Hazel would really dig out, it would only affect him while being trivial to Böklund Street, he wasn’t fazed. This was because something trivial wouldn’t affect his subsequent plans. He didn’t have any strong intentions of stopping her.
He had previously given a hint to her at the ball. If Hazel didn’t understand or didn’t take it to heart, it was her problem. Klein didn’t have any psychological burden on such matters.
After returning to the real world, he waited for forty-five minutes before Hazel came out. After confirming that no significant changes happened underground, Klein laid back in bed, and with Cogitation, he quickly fell asleep.
…
Monday afternoon at three.
Dark red beams of light that soared up from both sides of the long bronze table appeared before The Fool Klein’s, The Sun Derrick’s, and The World Gehrman Sparrow’s eyes.
Justice Audrey remained in a good mood as she bowed at the figure shrouded in gray fog.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~”
Klein nodded with a smile as a response to this lady who often delighted him.
Meanwhile, Audrey swept her gaze and discovered an additional card beside Mr. Fool’s hand!
A new Card of Blasphemy? I wonder which pathway it’s from… I really wish that it’s from the Spectator pathway… Audrey’s heart stirred as she turned to greet the other members.
Once everything was done, she looked to the end of the mottled table ahead of The Hermit Cattleya and said, “Honorable Mr. Fool, I’ve found three new pages of Roselle’s diary.”
This was actually obtained from the Loen Relic Search and Preservation Foundation, but as its founder and main sponsor, she easily received the opportunity to make a copy.
Audrey was rather proud in regards to this. She was increasingly convinced that establishing such a foundation was a wise decision of hers. Unfortunately, to not expose her identity, she didn’t share this matter with the other members of the Tarot Club.
“Very good.” Klein smiled with a nod, indicating that Miss Justice could conjure the diary.
And at this moment, The Hermit Cattleya didn’t interject, as though she hadn’t obtained any new Roselle diary pages.
There’s temporarily no response from Queen Mystic? Or has she focused her attention on something else? Klein looked at the three diary pages which Miss Justice had conjured as he allowed them to jump into his palm.
When he scanned them, the corners of Klein’s lips nearly twitched. This was because he had encountered a familiar page of one of Roselle’s sexual escapades.
Compared to the pages specially chosen by Queen Mystic Bernadette that had plenty of information, the other members often obtained parts that weren’t too important. The content tended to be about Roselle’s daily life. The three pages that Miss Justice had provided was such an example. Klein casually flipped through them and discovered a diary entry that was worth a detailed read. As for the rest, it was either about him having a rendezvous with some lady or madam, or him belittling people who survived due to their status instead of intellect. He even expressed his desire for a Demoness from all the rumors he heard.
Soon, Klein placed his attention on the most valuable diary entry.
“…Based on the information obtained from the Church, there really are monsters in existence that are stitched at the soul level.
“After High-Sequence Beyonders die, the Beyonder characteristics they produce will have remnants of the imprint of their soul. It can be very powerful and resilient. It might not even fully dissipate after centuries or even a millennium.
“But when Beyonder characteristics form a mystical item with their surrounding objects, there’s a need to have a sufficiently similar soul in order to use them; otherwise, the negative effects will be extraordinary. And when such Beyonder characteristics are preserved and made into the main ingredient of a potion, the consumer similarly must have a powerful Soul Body to withstand it; otherwise, there’s a high chance of failure.
“In mysticism, an advancement’s failure will often lead to a loss of control or death. Only very few lucky ones can be calmed down and maintain an intricate balance. However, it’s rumored that certain special Sealed Artifacts can draw out unfused Beyonder characteristics and recondense them. It would be akin to not having consumed the potion, so the failures will only suffer a storm-like assault on their soul. But according to my conjectures, there’s likely some level of mutation at the gene level. This is because, based on the information provided, those who failed their advancement and survived by this method had mostly died from terminal illnesses within five years.
“Therefore, consuming a potion similar to one’s Soul Body can effectively decrease the difficulty of advancements, but it will leave behind remnant soul imprints. Unknowingly, one will suffer an identity dissociation, and they would slowly transform into a monster stitched at the soul level. It’s just like that High-Sequence Beyonder who resurrected on his body. Resurrected…
“On careful thought, it’s really quite terrifying… However, the Church told me that there are roughly three methods to rid the High-Sequence Beyonder soul imprints in a Beyonder characteristic. As for what they are, they didn’t tell me. They don’t seem simple. It’s no wonder the Sauron family enjoys calling descendants who look similar to their ancestors as having talent. Heh, talent. I have to say that I do pity Floren quite a bit.”
Monster’s stitched at the soul level… High-Sequence Beyonder soul imprints… Sounds a little alarming… So High-Sequence Beyonder potions have such a problem. Hmm, the Churches probably have a way to resolve them. They have no lack of Angels and Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts. They can shatter a Beyonder characteristic and recondense them; thus obtaining a purified one… Those ancient families probably aren’t that lucky. They might not have any more Angels protecting them. They might only have one or two Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, but they aren’t that easily used. Furthermore, different Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts have different uses. They might not be adequate for such matters… Klein’s mind raced as he made the diary pages in his hand vanish. Then, he looked at Miss Justice and asked with a chuckle, “What do you wish to exchange them for?”
Audrey was waiting for her potion ingredients, and she temporarily had nothing she lacked. Therefore, without any hesitation, she chose to satisfy her curiosity.
“Honorable Mr. Fool, is that an additional card by your hand a Card of Blasphemy? Which one is it?”
