Lord of the Mysteries

That was way too fast… I just had the thought… Klein looked at the undulating surface of the sea, temporarily unable to gather his thoughts.

Amidst his thoughts, he came up with a theory.

King of Immortality Agalito’s second mate, Slaughterer Kircheis, is suspected to be a Devil or even a Desire Apostle. He possesses the Beyonder powers to detect danger ahead of time and the ability to lock onto the source of the danger. Then, would the King of Immortality be a Sequence 4 demigod of the Devil pathway to begin with?

That’s why once the crew of the Future possessed the actual strength to deal harm to him with an actual plan in mind, he immediately sensed the problem and discovered the existence of Queen Mystic, so he didn’t hesitate to retreat?

Yes, this means Queen Mystic also had the intention of taking action. Otherwise, my thoughts would’ve only made King of Immortality sneer and retaliate crazily…

Sigh, this Beyonder power of the Devil pathway is just too useful. Trying to ensnare the King of Immortality or his first mate, second mate, or third mate is quite impossible… Klein thought regretfully as he looked at Anderson Hood.

The Strongest Hunter still showed a clear, warped expression, as though reeling in despair that his bad luck hadn’t decreased. He was also surprised that the Death Announcer would flee with its tail between its legs, as though it wasn’t going according to the script in his mind.

He darted his eyes as he looked around with a guess, seemingly coming to a conclusion.

Unfortunately, Anderson’s bad luck isn’t strong enough. Otherwise, he can be sacrificed in order to bait the King of Immortality… Heh heh, isn’t that the correct usage of a Provoker? Klein turned into the corridor and returned to his room.

Just as he pushed open the wooden door, he saw a familiar back standing before his window. She had a very proportionate figure and was dressed slightly oddly. She was none other than Queen Mystic, Bernadette.

Ma’am, did your father not teach you? You shouldn’t enter someone’s room without permission, especially the room of a male stranger? As a lady who was brought up in a noble family, you should’ve been waiting by the door and earnestly request permission to enter… Emperor, didn’t you recall the books on education? Klein silently lampooned as he closed the door in passing.

Without waiting for him to say a word, Bernadette said to him with her back facing him, “The matters from before have verified a theory of mine.”

“What theory?” Klein repressed his curiosity as he asked with a deadpan expression.

Bernadette didn’t turn her head as she looked out at the calm sea surface.

“Agalito’s Fountain of Unaging is a scam.

“If there really is a Fountain of Unaging, it would’ve been one of the main ingredients of a Demoness of Unaging, or it would be something that would be produced from their corpses. Therefore, any man who claims to have drank from the Fountain of Unaging is lying.”

She didn’t explain what a Demoness of Unaging was, seemingly certain that Gehrman Sparrow knew what it was. And even if he didn’t know, he would have the means of figuring it out later.

Fountain of Unaging… Demoness of Unaging… It does match. So, the bloody text on that sailboat beside the ruin is to tell the world that the Fountain of Unaging is a scam? King of Immortality Agalito has released news of the Fountain of Unaging again and again in order to lure adventurers and pirates to enter dangerous waters and die, or to take the opportunity to slaughter them? It has strong vibes of a Devil… It’s no wonder Slaughterer Kircheis warned me not to interfere… Klein thought for a few seconds and deliberately said in a ruminative tone, “scam…”

Queen Mystic Bernadette nodded and said with a gentle tone, “This might be part of the ritual that Agalito needs for his advancement to Sequence 4. It might also be an action needed to digest the Sequence 4 potion.”

She paused as though making a silent sigh. Then, she said, “That’s because the Sequence 4 of his pathway is Demon.”

Demon? Sounds deceitful… Creating a treasure scam to harm others, that does match the style of a demon… Klein was instantly enlightened.

At this moment, Queen Mystic turned around as she cast her gaze through her checkered black veil and towards Gehrman Sparrow’s eyes.

It’s my turn to provide information? Klein deliberated for two seconds.

“According to the analysis of limited diary entries, Emperor Roselle suffered an extreme predicament in his later years. This forced him to come up with the idea of attempting something crazy.”

In this aspect, he was extremely frank. This was because the diary entries he had received up to date didn’t reveal what Emperor Roselle wished to do in his later years, what predicament he was in, or what crazy action he did.

Therefore, by providing this piece of information, he was hinting to Bernadette that to know the truth, she had to hand over the diary entries of Emperor Roselle’s critical period to Admiral of Stars Cattleya.

Bernadette remained silent for a few seconds.

As the dark clouds moved through the sky, allowing the sunlight to shine from the outside, the queen that reigned over the Five Seas suddenly dissociated like bubbles, shattering and disappearing.

The light refracted from the bubbles had produced different colors, filling the room with a fairytale-like dreamscape.

If not for the Hidden Sage, the Mystery Pryer pathway is really interesting… Klein reflected as he tapped his left thumb on the first segment of his index finger twice.

He activated his vision of Spirit Body Threads, but he didn’t discover any additional black threads.

This meant that Bernadette had already left!

Phew… Klein silently sighed and quickly deactivated the vision.

Just as he was about to lie in bed to take a rest, he heard brisk footsteps approach.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Someone knocked at his door.

“Who is it?” Klein sat up.

“It’s me.” Cattleya’s voice sounded.

Klein went over, feeling puzzled as he opened the door.

He didn’t ask what it was about as he coldly looked at her, his gaze expressing everything.

Cattleya nudged the heavy glasses on her nose bridge and said, “Coming out from those waters doesn’t bring us back to where we entered. We are less than 100 nautical miles away from Toscarter Island. It will take about three days to Nas. Where do you wish to return to?”

The entrance and exit are different? Klein was surprised as he asked in a confirming manner, “Then, is it possible to enter those waters from this place?”

“No, we will directly fall into that bottomless ravine of the ocean. According to the results of divination, the people who did so are dead in the true sense of the word,” Cattleya explained simply.

Is that so… Klein thought before saying, “To Toscarter Island.”

The reason why he didn’t choose Nas was because they were close to the next Tarot Gathering. He didn’t wish to do something that took plenty of time on the Future.

Furthermore, Toscarter Island was the easternmost colony of the Loen Kingdom. The currency used was pence, soli, and gold pounds. Klein no longer needed to consider the problem of foreign exchange.

“Alright.” Cattleya had no views on this.

Watching her turn and walk to the captain’s cabin, Klein shook his head slightly and sighed inwardly.

If you had come earlier, you would’ve met Queen Mystic .

…

In the evening, the Future arrived at the port of Toscarter Island as it forcefully docked there.

Klein dressed up as a gentleman, carried his leather suitcase, and came to the deck. He then handed over the final payment placed in his two pockets to Admiral of Stars Cattleya.

After subtracting the Pugilist Beyonder characteristics worth 700 pounds, it was a total of 1,300 pounds.

As such, Klein’s wealth was reduced to 8,436 pounds and 5 gold coins.

Cattleya received it in silence and opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something, but she ultimately didn’t say a word.

“Are you getting off here, or are you going somewhere else?” She turned to look at Anderson Hood.

Realizing that Gehrman Sparrow was about to leave and that he was on a pirate ship with him hunting several pirates in the past, Anderson immediately smiled.

“I’ll get off here.”

“You can now make payment.” Cattleya didn’t spare him just because Anderson had borrowed clothes from the pirates.

“Alright.” Anderson didn’t hide his heart-aching expression as he reached out and pulled off an ordinary button in the middle of his shirt.

Reluctantly, he handed it over.

“This is what I acquired from those waters. It’s from the corpse that originated from an explorer from the Loen military.

“I’m not sure of its original name, and I can only call it by its corresponding Sequence 6 due to the powers it exhibits. Yes, Judge.

“It’s negative effects aren’t especially strong. It makes its wearer easily offend people or monsters. Perhaps, one might end up being targeted by a demigod.”

This isn’t something you can call not especially strong? If I were Admiral of Stars, I would’ve chosen that sword of yours… Klein lampooned as he watched Cattleya receive Anderson’s payment for the boat ride.

He didn’t bother with their affairs as he lifted his suitcase and left the Future, arriving at the pier of Toscarter Island.

Bang!

Anderson Hood leaped off the deck and landed beside him.

“Let’s get some drinks? To celebrate our departure from those cursed waters!” the hunter invited him with excitement in a relaxed manner.

Klein swept his glance at him, refusing his offer with his eyes. All he wanted was to put a distance between him and this fellow who had bad luck and a provocative halo.

“Alright.” Anderson looked to his sides, cleared his throat, and said, “Can you lend me money? As you know, everything that I had has sunken in those waters.”

Having said that, he laughed.

“Don’t worry. I’ll return what I owe tomorrow morning. There are plenty of pirates in Toscarter’s bars and brothels. I plan on getting them to sponsor me a little.”

Extort those without bounties while cashing out those with bounties? Klein tsked inwardly and handed him a five-soli note.

“That little?” Anderson said with his mouth agape.

“It’s enough for your drinks, meals, and hotel,” Klein calmly replied. “Besides, this is one pound in cash.”

“One pound?” Anderson rubbed his eyes and said with a helpless smile. “Alright, it’s one pound. I’ll return one pound to you tomorrow morning.”