Lord of the Mysteries

Empress Borough. In an unremarkable house.

Xio and Fors took a seat at random and examined the writing on the blackboard. Like always, Mr. A was sitting quietly, alone on the sofa at the front in his hooded robe, looking down at the crowd from a high vantage point.

Sequence 8 Sheriff potion formula. 450 pounds… Xio silently read the familiar content as she inwardly let out of sigh of relief.

The situation she feared the most was the lack of a seller when she had finally amassed the money with great difficulty!

I received 400 pounds from the split, plus my original savings of 150 pounds, that’s enough… However, I’d definitely need a huge sum of money for the main ingredient… Ah right, maybe I can change circles and see if there are any Beyonders who are interested in this formula… Xio suddenly felt invigorated, and she realized that she had found a way to make a fortune.

Frankly speaking, there was no way she would leak the formula if she wasn’t in desperate need for money to buy the materials to concoct the potion. On the one hand, most people always hoped that there were fewer Beyonders in their own Sequences, and on the other hand, the price of the corresponding ingredients would be raised significantly if there were many competitors who bid up the prices of the ingredients. It was the same with the subsequent potions.

After some serious thought, Xio slowly became nervous again, because it was normal for a recipe to be placed on sale for a long time without being sold.

Moreover, the Arbiter pathway belonged to the royal family and the military. All aspects were strictly controlled, and the leaked ones came from a small number of destitute nobles. There were hardly any complete formulas for the low to mid Sequences. Often, only one or two of them were complete and compounded with the knowledge that the main ingredients were controlled and difficult to obtain. Beyonders who chose this Sequence were rather rare.

Xio had been in some mysticism circles in Backlund for a long period of time, but she hadn’t found an Arbiter apart from herself. On the one hand, the others might have concealed it well, but on the other hand, that might also explain the problems faced in this Sequence pathway.

Phew, but compared to Fors, I’m lucky enough. She hasn’t encountered any of the subsequent recipes for Apprentice all this time… Xio saw Mr. A’s attendant approaching and wrote a note saying that she was purchasing the Sheriff’s recipe.

Before long, she was led to the study on the first floor. Before entering, she took a hooded robe from the attendant and covered herself with it.

The seller in the study was dressed in the same way, so they couldn’t see each other’s faces clearly.

“This is the formula to the Sheriff potion. Where’s my money?” the seller asked with a hoarse voice as he pressed a piece of paper on the desk.

Xio pulled out the cash that she had long counted numerous times and pushed it to the seller.

After checking the authenticity of the notes and the total sum, the seller finally released the potion formula he held.

Xio immediately took one step forward and grabbed the note.

Her eyes swept straight to the main ingredients as they were of great importance.

“A pair of Terror Demon Worm’s eyes. Silver War Bear’s right palm.”

Beyonder items I know of, but I’ve never seen them being sold… Xio sighed and walked out of the study and took off her robe.

Back in the living room, she sat beside Fors. Having fulfilled her wish, she slowly began to worry about the unknown honorary name and the evil spirit that might be haunting her.

10, no, 20, no, 30 to request for someone skilled in exorcism to do a purification ritual for me. Xio made up her mind, and after exchanging a few whispered words with Fors, she beckoned for Mr. A’s attendant.

After the end of the free communication break, she saw her request appear as an additional entry on the blackboard.

“Suspected haunting of evil spirits. Requesting the help of friends who specialize in exorcism. 30 pounds.”

After a while, Mr. A’s attendant came to the two of them and quietly invited them to the living room on the first floor.

There was a man wearing a white mask inside. He looked at the two people who were wearing loose robes that concealed their genders and chuckled.

“Let me introduce myself first, so that you won’t doubt my ability.”

“No, no, we trust Mr. A,” Xio, with her hood over her face, said before Fors could open her mouth.

She deliberately suppressed her voice to prevent her childish voice from revealing her identity.

The man with the white mask spread his hands and laughed.

“This is my habit, I am a believer of the Sun. As you know, this is not common in Backlund, or in the entire kingdom.

“It is only through moments like this that I can live as my true self.”

Due to the great conflict between the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun and the Church of the Lord of Storms, the former had never been able to obtain the right to proselytize in the Loen Kingdom.

“A believer of the Sun?” Fors’s languid look instantly vanished. “This is the first time I’m seeing a living believer of the Sun! Eh… It’s not like I can meet diplomats of higher standing.”

“Then, should I feel honored?” The man in the white mask spread his arms wide and held them up in a gesture of praise for the Sun.

Instead of answering his question, Fors smiled and said, “In terms of exorcism and purification, the attendant of the Sun is a professional. Our hearts are at rest, so we can begin.”

The man who claimed to be a believer of the Sun didn’t drone on. He took out a badge with the symbol of the “Sun” on it and placed it on the round table in the center. Then, he used a dualistic ritual method to light up two candles.

After finishing the preparatory steps one step at a time, he chanted with a loud and abnormally pious tone.

“The Sun that is Eternal,

“You are an Inextinguishable Light.

“You are the Embodiment of Order

“I pray to you,

“Please bestow me with your cleansing glow.

“Please repel the evils spirits in this body.”

…

Amid the echoing Hermes incantation, Xio and Fors saw bright light burst out from the Sun’s emblem, bursting in a pure and warm manner.

It was endless, like the tide, as the light surged towards the two of them, engulfing them simultaneously.

Nearly a minute later, everything was restored to normal. All Xio and Fors felt was warmth, finding the warmth very comfortable and relieving. It was like soaking in a hot spring, or having gone sunbathing.

…

Cherwood Borough. Rice Police Station.

Klein was sitting on a low bench with a group of thieves and drunkards. It looked very disgraceful.

Suddenly, he felt warmth on the back of his hand as the coldness of the Backlund night was dispelled quite significantly.

Lowering his head, Klein realized that the four black dots representing the mysterious space above the gray fog didn’t appear.

Who’s being so kind? To know that I was feeling a little cold just now… he mumbled half jokingly and half-curious.

As a former inspector, he looked at the thief on the left who was handcuffed to the pipe, then at the drunkard on the right who could vomit at any moment but kept yelling about hitting people. He sighed at his present predicament and wasn’t sure when he would be free from this.

There should be another test after this and then I’ll be fine once I pass it… I hope the police will have their attention on the ambassador and the Zmanger gang, and ignore my origins as a puny detective. In theory, there’s a high chance for that. As long as Mrs. Sammer, Mr. Jurgen, and the others don’t say anything of interest to the police… Yes, they have only just met me so it’s impossible for them to know too much…

Meursault’s Beyonder characteristic was taken away by me and was hidden above the gray fog. He didn’t leave behind anything strange, so no one would able to discover that he used to be a Beyonder and have questions about my strength… Hmm… More than an hour has passed…

In his self-encouragement, Klein saw the officer with the short brownish-yellow beard walking towards him.

“Sherlock Moriarty, come with me to the interrogation room,” the sergeant said without further explanation.

Here it comes… Klein stood up and followed.

After going around a corner, the sergeant stopped in front of an iron door and gestured for Klein to enter.

Klein took a deep breath before exhaling. He yanked the handle and opened the door.

It was a small room with thick walls and a small table in the middle. There were chairs on both sides of the table.

Under the elegant gas lamp’s illumination, Klein identified the interrogator as a man who wore a black shirt, a rather uncommon sight.

He didn’t wear a vest but wore a black coat that wasn’t part of the usual formal attire. He had thin eyebrows and cold blue eyes. His face was cut, looking rigid while lacking any gentleness.

The man pointed the chair opposite him and said in a deep voice, “I ask, you answer.”

Before he finished his sentence, Klein felt an unimaginable suppressive force on him. He felt that an electric current was tearing through his mind that lashed at his soul with a barbed whip.

This “feeling” was painful and numbing, as though it stemmed from deep within the brain. It was barely resistible, and all he could do was tremble and have his knees buckle.

Klein nearly fell to the ground as he hurriedly held onto the table and sat down. His temples felt a throbbing pain.

This… this is the result of Beyonder powers… Ordinary people might’ve thought of it as a psychological problem caused by nervousness and the authority of the interrogator opposite them, but Klein had clearly identified that this was a result of Beyonder powers, powers that could directly attack the mind of others!

He quickly recalled the information he had seen before and quickly confirmed the target of his suspicion.

Arbiter pathway, Sequence 7: Interrogator!

Has the matter been transferred to a special department of the military? Klein thought with some relief.

As long as it isn’t the Nighthawks, everything’s fine.

“Identify the ambassador who met Meursault from these photographs.” The cold and unyielding man in black spread out eight black-and-white photos on the small table.

Klein felt as if the electric whip in his mind was being lifted high, and the warning of extreme pain made it so he didn’t dare to lie.

Of course, there was no need for Klein to lie. After a moment of identification, he pushed a photo in the direction of the interrogator. It was a middle-aged gentleman who wore ostentatious clothing and looked rather charming.

The interrogator glanced at it, but didn’t make any response. He once again asked, “Were your previous statements the truth?”

Klein felt like he was being forced into a dream. He kept his mind clear and rational, and he didn’t yield to the “whip” in his mind as he sincerely replied, “Nothing but the truth.”

The interrogator leaned forward with his hands on the small table and said, “When was the last time you met Ian Wright?”

“Yesterday, yesterday morning,” Klein said with great difficulty, “I tailed Meursault and found the body of Detective Zreal. As I didn’t want to deal with the police, I took Ian to identify the body and told him to call the police. Zreal’s body was located at the sewer entrance at the bottom of Iron Carbon Street in East Borough.”

After a brief silence, the interrogator finally nodded his head. Klein immediately felt the enormous pressure disappear along with the “whip” in his mind.

“You may leave now,” he said without a trace of emotion in his voice.

Klein stood up and opened the door, not masking the frailty in his gait.

He found it more tiring than fighting Meursault. If he made the slightest mistake, his spirit would’ve been completely crushed, and he would obediently answer any question that the other party asked.

No, if it wasn’t for the fact that my spirit is special and how it’s been subjected to the test of raving and screaming for a long period of time, allowing me to maintain my calm and rationality under certain circumstances, I would’ve most likely had a mental breakdown just now… Klein walked back down the corridor, his back feeling cold.

At this moment, the sergeant from before came over and said, “Come with me to fill out some forms. Lawyer Jurgen is waiting to bail you out.”

Phew… Klein secretly exhaled and completely relaxed.

He knew that the danger was over.