Lord of the Mysteries

Alger heaved a sigh of relief when he heard The Fool’s answer. He lowered his head and humbly said, “Please allow me to thank you in advance.”

That’s because I’m also curious… curious about the item Qilangos is searching for. I want to know about the item that can allow a Sequence 6 Wind-blessed to have the strength of a Sequence 4… I’m also curious about what a pirate admiral is going to do in Backlund… Klein smiled, maintaining his profound posture.

It’s not like I’ve promised to provide assistance after I hear your prayers! He emphasized in his heart.

But now, he was a lot more confident than before. Now, he had actual allies and the mysterious Mr. Azik who was currently in Backlund.

If it was absolutely necessary, Klein was willing to use the bronze whistle to enlist the help of Azik. Of course, he definitely wouldn’t mention the Tarot Club. He would probably say he got information from some random source.

There were still two problems that existed in this matter. First, Klein was only limited to a cooperative relationship with Azik. It wasn’t necessarily the case that Azik would provide assistance unless he was interested in what Qilangos was doing or the mystical item that he was after.

Second, Klein was unsure of just how powerful Azik was. Even if he had made the assumption that Azik was a High-Sequence Beyonder, he had to consider the fact that his memory loss might have weakened his abilities. After all, knowledge was usually equated with power, and the lack of knowledge would definitely diminish Azik’s power.

If that was the case, Klein couldn’t guarantee that Azik could deal with Qilangos, especially with the latter wielding the Creeping Hunger. Klein was afraid that he would be placing Azik in danger so he was unwilling to trouble Azik unless he absolutely had to.

Now that I think about it, Mr. Azik’s terrifying messenger can be summoned with the bronze whistle… No, that thing doesn’t look like a messenger at all; it could take the role of an evil boss! So, even if Mr. Azik cannot beat the Creeping Hunger augmented Qilangos, he should be able to defend himself easily and have enough power left to save The Hanged Man, Miss Justice, and her partners… Klein shifted his posture as he thought, still leaning against the back of his chair. He propped his right leg over his left.

The Hanged Man Alger looked at The Fool and spoke once again, “I’m about to receive a batch of pages from Emperor Roselle’s diary. I believe that I can present them to you in the next gathering, or the gathering after that.”

According to the arrangement of the Church of the Lord of Storms, Pritz Harbor was under the jurisdiction of the Backlund diocese. Thus, Alger could enter the capital and wait for Rear Admiral Hurricane Qilangos to show himself under the guise of reporting about his previous voyage.

Backlund had been the headquarters of the Church of the Lord of Storms until the end of the last epoch, having shifted their holy altar to Pasu Island only after the establishment of the Loen Kingdom. Regardless, the status of the Church of the Lord of Storms in Backlund was second only to the headquarters of the Seven Great Churches. One could imagine the information the Church of the Lord of Storms held.

Under these circumstances, Alger was confident that he would be able to collect pages of Emperor Roselle’s diary in the name of research. After all, they were indecipherable at present.

Klein allowed joy to color his tone, as he said with a gentle nod, “Very good.”

What he was really feeling right now was a mix of joy and worry. He was happy that he could see several pages of Emperor Roselle’s diary soon. They might contain a lot of useful information, but he was also worried about what he had to give The Hanged Man in return. After all, no one knew if The Hanged Man would be interested in the contents of the diary, or if the content was valuable enough.

Even a Seer is unable to determine that in advance… Must I really let my “adorer” help him? Klein gave a silent sigh.

Audrey Hall hurriedly spoke up when she saw the conversation between The Hanged Man and The Fool end.

“Honorable Mr. Fool, may I recite your name and inform you using a ritual should I receive any timely and useful information?”

Timely… Look, Miss Justice’s choice of words is so refined. Compared to her, you are too vulgar, The Hanged Man! Klein nodded slightly, saying past the fog, “You may.”

Great! Audrey secretly clenched her fists.

At the same time, Klein turned to look at The Sun, Derrick Berg, who had been silently listening to their conversations. He spoke, his tone was peaceful, “The same goes for you as well.”

“Yes, Mr. Fool.” Derrick lowered his head.

The majestic palace was silent for a few seconds before Audrey spoke, “I need the complete pituitary gland of a Rainbow Salamander.”

One of the main ingredients of the Telepathist potion? Hanged Man Alger nodded slightly as if he was contemplating.

“I don’t have it. To be honest, I’ve only seen this creature in textbooks.” The Sun, Derrick, heard the term automatically translated to him as Phantom Netherdrake.

What kind of textbook would discuss a supernatural creature? How envious… I can only get information like that at a Beyonder gathering, through word of mouth, or through a crumpled piece of paper. There’s no system in place, and my search for knowledge lacks organization… I’ll find a way to trade for the Sun’s textbook in the future! Oh, he was interested in the formula for the Bard potion… Audrey thought, a little envious.

At that moment, Alger looked at The Fool, then retracted his gaze. He then looked opposite him and said in thought, “I might have a way of obtaining the complete pituitary gland of the Rainbow Salamander.”

Without waiting for Audrey to speak, he added on, “But it’s under the premise that Qilangos is found. When the time comes, the complete pituitary gland of the Rainbow Salamander would be equivalent to the extra compensation that I owe you. Miss Justice, you might not know, but these creatures are nearly extinct, and we can only find traces of them in primitive islands in the Sea of Fog, the Berserk Sea, or the Sonia Sea. Not many people have the coordinates to these Islands. Heh, if you’re interested, we can make a deal, for I am one of the few who knows how to get there.”

I’m also interested in those primitive islands… Klein silently listened to their conversation.

Thinking about the extinction of the Rainbow Salamander, he suddenly recalled the joke he cracked with Old Neil—the Dragons and Giants Protection Association. He let out a sigh in his heart.

Audrey became thrilled after hearing that. She fought back her emotions as she said, “I once dreamed of going on a voyage in search of these primitive islands to take in the history.”

My Goddess, the Tarot Club is too powerful, too wonderful! To be able to recruit a member who has the coordinates of the primitive islands! Praise Mr. Fool! Audrey couldn’t maintain her Spectator state as a smile crept across her face.

Primitive islands? Klein froze for a moment, then thought about a page of Emperor Roselle’s diary that he had seen, the one where the Emperor described himself as a pirate king!

He said that he discovered an unnamed island with many supernatural creatures when he and his Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were traversing the Sea of Fog on an unsafe sea route.

Could that be the so-called primitive island? How unfortunate, the Great Emperor didn’t include any coordinates in his diary. Perhaps the information will be in some future pages, but as of now, I haven’t received any pages of his diary in chronological order… Klein was filled with regret and anticipation.

The Sun Derrick was already confused by the terms “Sea of Fog,””Berserk Sea,””Sonia Sea,””primitive island,” etc.

He felt more and more certain that Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man belonged to a different world than he did.

After collecting herself for a few seconds, Audrey asked curiously, “Does the near-extinction of the Rainbow Salamander mean that the Spectator pathway will be severed soon?”

“No, there will definitely be substitute materials.” Alger gave a definite answer.

“What substitute materials are there?” Audrey’s eyes brightened as she asked.

Alger shook his head, replying without revealing certain profound truths, “I don’t know. Perhaps the members of the Psychology Alchemists might know.”

“Then how can you be so sure that there will be substitute ingredients?” Audrey didn’t understand.

Alger laughed and said, “You will understand in time. Or do you have something to trade for the information right now?”

“I guess I’ll wait.” Audrey pouted and sighed. She also dismissed the idea of asking Mr. Fool.

There’s no use in me knowing for the time being… The Hanged Man will definitely ask about something regarding Rear Admiral Hurricane, and I cannot be dragged too deep into that matter… She suddenly felt like praising her intellect.

But what she never expected was that Mr. Fool was feeling very disappointed at that moment.

Klein was rather curious about the secrets which Alger’s words held. Unfortunately, Miss Justice, who was the best assist all this while, didn’t choose to go through with the transaction.

No matter what method they chose to perform a transaction, the contents of the deal couldn’t be hidden from the owner of the fog!

Well, even if the Rainbow Salamander is nearing extinction, the Psychology Alchemists are still giving out formulas listing it as an ingredient instead of providing a substitute. Does this mean that the Psychology Alchemists are in possession of the coordinates of certain primitive islands? Or could they be working together with an organization that has the coordinates? Klein wondered.

After the end of the transaction discussions, Klein looked around, then turned to The Sun. He asked in a gentle tone, “Does the City of Silver still believe in gods?”

Klein was merely an official member of the Nighthawks and had no access to deeper mysticism knowledge. An example would be sacrificial rituals. Thus, in order to refine his understanding of performing sacrificing dedicated to himself, to move materials in the mysterious space above the gray fog, as a Sequence 8, Klein needed to learn it as soon as possible from other sources.

He came up with three methods after continuous consideration: First, he was going to ask Spirit Guide Daly, who was adept at ritualistic magic whilst also being a deacon. But this might invite suspicion from her; thus, Klein could only patiently wait for an opportunity. Second, he could ask Mr. Azik, but Klein couldn’t guarantee that he would be able to recall the knowledge in this area. Third, he was going to use a roundabout way to ask Sun, who lived in the City of Silver.

Klein already had an idea of how he was going to do it while effectively maintaining his image.

Whatever he asked would be tied to the gods!

Derrick replied in a respectful tone, “We still believe in the Lord that created everything, the omnipotent and omniscient God.”