Lord of the Mysteries

Upon hearing the chubby Apothecary’s question, Klein smiled inwardly as he wore a stoic expression.

“From the moment you make the first payment.”

Darkwill didn’t hesitate to take out a huge wad of cash as he counted it while his heart pained for the money.

“Here’s 300 pounds.

“You can carry out your promise.”

Klein received the notes and nodded.

“That wouldn’t be an issue.”

Darkwill immediately felt relieved, as though he was a drowning person who had finally caught onto a float.

Half an hour later, in the Teana Inn, Darkwill watched in a daze as the powerful adventurer, Gehrman Sparrow, said to the reception counter, “Switch us to a luxurious suite.”

With that said, Klein took two steps backward as though giving his spot to the chubby Apothecary.

Darkwill gulped his saliva and asked hesitantly, “I’m paying?”

“During the mission, all expenses are borne by the employer. This is the rule adventurers follow,” Klein said without a change in expression.

I’d be a dumbsss if I believed you! Am I to help you pay if you call for a few Red Theater prostitutes? Darkwill thought as he squeezed out a smile.

“We can use an ordinary room. This will make the protection job easier.”

“Then, you stay by yourself.” Klein acted as Gehrman Sparrow without any effort.

Darkwill laughed and walked to the counter and said without expression, “A luxurious suite.”

When Darkwill finally checked in and entered the smaller bedroom, he opened the window and left an “opening” for the owl, Mr. Harry. He took out the ring box in his pocket and checked the situation of the strange die.

After confirming that the die was the same as before, with four points facing up, Darkwill gradually heaved a sigh of relief.

…

Backlund. Inside an ordinary house.

Ince Zangwill woke up from his slumber, and the first thing he did was check on his body.

This was something he had to repeat every day. This was because he had no idea what kind of story 0-08 would compose after he slept, bringing about unknown accidents.

After confirming that he wasn’t injured, Ince Zangwill wore a pair of bright leather boots and stood up.

Without any surprises, he saw 0-08 silently sitting on his desk as though it was an ordinary quill.

However, it had been locked in a metal box that was covered with symbols and magic labels.

Ince Zangwill walked over with a heavy heart and grabbed 0-08. He flipped open the notebook beside him and discovered that there was another page of text.

“Ince Zangwill couldn’t recall what he had done last night, but he acutely sensed some problems.

“He looked into the mirror and found his reflection somewhat unfamiliar, as though his body had given birth to another Ince Zangwill.

“He looked down and saw there were obvious abnormalities under his fingernails, but he couldn’t recall what he had done the previous night no matter how hard he tried…”

After seeing this description, Ince Zangwill instinctively looked at the full-body mirror in the room. He saw that he was still blind in one eye. His classic chiseled face didn’t have a single wrinkle, but there was a smile lingering at the edges of his mouth. It formed a stark contrast with his heavy gaze.

At this moment, Ince Zangwill felt that his face was a little livid. He had eye bags, and it was matched with the smile he couldn’t understand. He appeared sinister, vicious, and strange.

He lifted his hands, lowered his head, and saw black stain blocks under his fingernails. It was as though he had spent half the night digging up roots in the garden.

Although he had switched from the Death pathway to the Evernight pathway, and he had become a Nightwatcher, Ince Zangwill didn’t lose the Beyonder powers he had from before. He was still a powerful Spirit Guide, a Spirit Guide in the domain of dead spirits. Therefore, he immediately planned to communicate with the spirits inside and outside the house to figure out what had happened last night.

At this point, he saw the final passage on the notebook through the corner of his eye.

“Ince Zangwill attempted to channel spirits, but sadly he realized that it was to no avail. It was as though a person of a similar profession had wiped out all clues. He was very worried, unaware of what he had embroiled himself with the previous night.”

Ince Zangwill’s expression turned heavy as he attempted to channel spirits. Within his expectations, he didn’t receive any outcome which could be called a pleasant surprise.

…

Wednesday morning, outside Amyris Leaf Bar that had its shadow boss replaced.

Klein circled around to a secluded alley and saw Oz Kent carrying a tiny suitcase.

“Your bounty.” Oz Kent threw the small suitcase over.

This actually wasn’t the bounty money in the true sense of the word. It was money the military had put forth—the former involved the governor-general’s office and the kingdom’s finance ministry. The procedure was complicated and needed at least three days to complete.

Klein caught the suitcase and opened it on the spot. He saw stacks of neatly arranged cash, with most of them in one- or five-pound denominations.

“A total of 5,400 pounds. We didn’t take a cut,” Oz Kent said as he forced a smile.

If it were any other adventurer, he would have given 4,000 pounds at most. The rest was the income for the personnel involved in the entire procedure.

But faced with the crazy man whose strength was close to a pirate admiral, all he could do was volunteer work thanks to his fear of being executed on the spot by him.

The military is unlikely to fool me with fake notes… Klein grabbed a stack of cash and waved it.

5,400 pounds… Hiding outside the alley, Darkwill heard Oz Kent’s words and secretly shot a glance at the suitcase. The stacks of pound notes seemed to blind him.

This was the first time he was seeing so much money placed together.

An adventurer really is a profitable profession. Successfully hunting a pirate earns thousands of pounds. Protecting me nets him 1,000 pounds and one request. Occasionally, he can find sunken ships and treasure… Why did I become an apothecary instead of an adventurer? If I had known, I would have chosen that lucky Beyonder pathway… Darkwill thought with atypical admiration.

However, he quickly recalled his reality. Most adventurers didn’t live such rich lives. Even if they could make a killing, a third of their income was given to apothecaries, either to treat their injuries and remove any latent injuries, or to buy medicine to add to the fun and deal with unmentionable diseases.

It’s still safer being an apothecary… Darkwill sighed inwardly.

At this moment, Klein, who had only did a rough count of the money, closed the suitcase and said to Oz Kent, “I’ll be leaving Bayam for some time. If I have any intel, how should I inform you?”

“You’re leaving Bayam?” Oz Kent asked, finding it odd.

Klein nodded slightly and said, “I received a bodyguard mission.”

Oz Kent was first enlightened before he felt a baffling sense of ease.

If this madman were to stay in Bayam for long periods of time, there will ultimately be a day where he causes problems. It’s better to drift out at sea and fight those pirates… Oz Kent immediately said with a smile, “You can directly send me a telegram and include my address. We have people planted at the telegraph office.”

“Alright.” Dressed in a black tweed coat, Klein didn’t speak further. With the suitcase in hand, he turned to leave the alley.

He headed for the harbor together with Darkwill and planned to catch the earliest liner to Oravi Island. The owl flew in between the trees and appeared furtively—they had already bought scalped tickets the night before.

Half an hour before they boarded the ship, Darkwill reeled with anxiety. He was afraid the person who had betrayed his teacher would suddenly rush over and attack him.

This feeling continued until he entered the first-class cabin that belonged to him. As long as the liner went out into the sea, Beyonders without flight capabilities or their own ships would find it difficult to intercept him.

“Quickly start the ship. Quickly start the ship…” Darkwill looked out the window as he muttered to himself.

At this moment, the owl had followed and perched on his left shoulder. Klein sat on a chair in the room, prepared for any possible attacks.

At this moment, the sky suddenly turned dark as the wind howled with increasing strength. The air’s humidity also clearly climbed.

“A storm?” Darkwill widened his mouth as he blurted out.

This meant that the ship might not set sail at the scheduled time. It might be delayed for hours!

And with that, Darkwill wouldn’t be able to withstand many of the unnecessary risks!

He turned his head to look at Gehrman Sparrow and forced a smile.

“Do you have any solutions?”

I do have one. For example, you can immediately pray to Sea God Kalvetua, and I’ll immediately answer your prayer above the gray fog. I’ll disperse the storm… But it’s without a doubt that in minutes, or maybe seconds, Sea King Jahn Kottman will rush over. And his attacks will arrive earlier… Klein looked at the chubby Apothecary and said calmly, “I’m only an adventurer.”

Darkwill knew that he shouldn’t have had any expectations. He cursed the weather silently and turned around, looking out the window to check on the exact situation.

Boom!

A silver bolt of lightning struck Darkwill before Klein could even react.

Darkwill immediately collapsed, convulsing as smoke emitted from his body. His skin was charred as snakes of lightning buzzed.

Klein nearly felt into a shock. This was the first time he was seeing someone getting struck by lightning during a storm.

That’s way too unlucky, right… He briefly forgot to rescue Darkwill.

The owl, Mr. Harry, was similarly stunned for a few seconds before it screamed, “Quick! Quick! There’s a bottle of medicine in the second secret pocket on his left. Feed it to him!”

This owl can talk… Klein pricked up his brows, took a few steps forward, bent down, and found a bottle of blood-red medicine. Then, he poured it down Darkwill’s throat.

After a few minutes, Darkwill finally regained his senses. As charred black skin peeled off, he stood up with great difficulty.

“I-I’ll deal with my wounds.”

He staggered to his room and locked the door.

After doing all of that, he took out the ring box and opened it with a solemn look.

In the ring box with almost no room to roll, the milky-white die had already changed at some point in time. Two red dots were facing up!

In the living room outside, Klein stood on the spot and recalled everything that had happened before frowning.

At this moment in time, he had a baffling feeling that the enemies he would face during this bodyguard mission was probably going to be different from the enemies he encountered in the past.

After Darkwill partially recovered and came out, Klein sat on the chair and leaned forward slightly.

“Explain.

“This determines how I should provide you with protection.”