July 24, 1349, night.
Sno sat before a fairly decent dinner, his hands clasped against his forehead as he softly recited in Ancient Hermes, "Thank Mr. Fool for granting me dinner."
Though he offered such meaningless prayers several times every day, Sno did not find them tedious in the slightest, because the sensation of the potion's hard shell constantly cracking was simply wonderful!
Crack, crack—it was as if every prayer caused the fractures on it to spread. The feeling that just a little more force would shatter it completely not only brought him the thrill of growing stronger, but also satisfied the destructive urge buried deep within human nature.
I hope Mr. Fool has gotten used to the discomfort caused by these brief prayers. Sno offered this "blessing" without the slightest guilt, then picked up his knife and fork, ready to enjoy tonight's dinner. But just then, Lily, who had been meditating on the table, suddenly stood up. Its back arched high, and its amber eyes were filled with vigilance.
Almost instinctively, Sno reached into his pocket and gripped a talisman. But immediately afterward, a pleasant voice suddenly sounded from the corner of the room—
"Your pet is quite good."
Upon hearing that voice, Sno instead lowered his guard and withdrew his hand from his pocket. He gave a slight bow toward the source of the voice, then tapped his chest four times, drawing an Inverse Cross with a long upper stroke and short lower stroke.
"Welcome, esteemed Mr. A."
As he spoke, the shadows in the room suddenly came alive, slowly taking the form of a mature man with a beautiful appearance.
"The Lord is pleased with your devotion." Mr. A revealed a handsome smile, likewise drawing an Inverse Cross over his chest before glancing at Lily, who was still in a guarded posture.
"Don't be afraid. He's one of us." Sno reached out and stroked Lily's head, signaling it to relax as he began releasing his spirituality.
Thanks to the peculiar nature of a Secrets Suppliant—who acquired different powers according to the gifts bestowed by God—Mr. A did not question the Beyonder Ability Sno had used. He casually sat on the edge of the bed and said with a smile:
"I read your letter. What exactly happened?"
In that instant, Sno felt as though everything in the room had frozen. Even the sounds of mosquitoes on the summer night had vanished without a trace. Although no ritual had been performed, Mr. A had already sealed off the surrounding spirituality as he spoke. In other words, this room had now become a secret chamber where they could speak "freely."
"Have you gone to see the woman carrying the Son of God?" Sno did not immediately answer Mr. A's question, instead asking one of his own.
Mr. A did not find the question offensive. On the contrary, he viewed such "devotion" favorably. He gently shook his head and said:
"Although Tingen City has no High Sequence Beyonders, using Mid Sequence abilities there can easily draw attention. Besides, the information in your letter was far too strange, so I came to understand the situation from you first."
It had to be said that Mr. A's current performance was truly impeccable. His handsome appearance, elegant manner of speech, gentle temperament, and completely unpretentious way of talking gave Sno the feeling of a spring breeze.
If he had not known the damned characteristics of the Secrets Suppliant Pathway, Sno would never have been able to connect such a perfect boss of the year with the Crazy Beauty from the original story.
After repeating he's a lunatic several times in his heart, Sno finally nodded and said:
"Although I don't know how they did it, I did indeed see an ordinary human woman carrying the Lord's descendant. What is unforgivable is that the woman actually thought the child belonged to that Con Sorter!"
Sno appropriately set two options in his mind, deliberately entering a slight state of Loss of Control. Seeing the fur grow from Sno's body in his rage, Mr. A became increasingly satisfied—
"Calm down. Do not punish yourself for another's mistakes."
"Sorry, I lost control." Mr. A's reassurance triggered the option Sno had designed, immediately tipping the scales in his heart. After completing the choice, the fur on his body slowly receded, and his pointed ears gradually became rounded again.
Watching Sno swiftly recover, Mr. A gained an entirely new understanding of this member's potential, and could not help developing the desire to cultivate him properly.
However, this was not the time to think about such matters. He waited briefly until Sno had completely withdrawn his spirituality and the abnormalities on his body had vanished, then continued:
"What do you know about that Con Sorter? Also, how did you encounter the woman carrying the Son of God?"
"I learned about the Con Sorter from that idiot Heinsohn Vincent. I never came into direct contact with him. I only know that Heinsohn Vincent taught him the ritual to let the Lord descend. As for what exactly he did, or how he made an ordinary human woman conceive the Lord's descendant, I don't understand either. As for how I discovered it..." Sno gently shook his head and said somewhat blankly:
"It was quite a coincidence. To make it easier to contact Heinsohn Vincent, I disguised myself as someone superstitious about divination. I went to the Fortune Telling Club for a reading today, and unexpectedly, that woman had also gone there to seek a divination in order to find the Con Sorter. This must have been arranged by our Lord!"
"..." Mr. A was slightly taken aback. The speaker had said it unintentionally, but the listener took it to heart. He pondered for a moment before saying:
"Generally speaking, ordinary humans—no, even Low Sequence Beyonders—cannot conceive the Lord's descendant! There must be another issue involved. Right, you said coincidence? Tell me everything that has happened in Tingen over the past half month. Whether it involved Beyonder incidents or not, tell me everything you know!"
"Ah, please wait a moment." Hearing this, Sno immediately turned around and took out a stack of Tingen Honest Man Newspaper issues from his portable suitcase. Seeing the numerous marked passages on them, Mr. A nodded to himself. Then he watched Sno spread out the newspapers and recount events in chronological order:
"Two days before I arrived in Tingen, the ordinary person who had purchased the Antigonus family notebook died because of black divination, and the notebook was lost. Yet a survivor who should not have existed appeared, directly leading the official Beyonders to investigate clues about the notebook. And that idiot Sirius still went to the library to borrow related books under such circumstances, whereupon he was discovered by the Night Watch Heretics. That was why I killed him.
"Afterward, many incidents occurred around that notebook. They all looked like coincidences, yet they always caused the Night Watch Heretics to find us for no apparent reason. That was how Heinsohn was targeted as well.
"Besides that, there were these, these..."
Sno continuously reconstructed the minor news reports in the newspapers into Beyonder incidents. Mr. A's expression grew increasingly solemn. Although Sno appeared completely unaware, Mr. A had already realized that there was likely the shadow of some Mid or High Sequence Beyonder behind all this.
PS1: A Seer attracts a Spectator. This was actually said specifically for Klein, who was still a novice. The Spectator in those words specifically referred to High Sequence Spectators, because High Sequence Spectators possess the characteristic that if you know about me, I know about you. Once a Seer conducts divination, the Spectator knows.
PS2: As for why Mr. A did not use Mid or High Sequence abilities in Tingen, I did not think this needed explaining. But considering that some people previously thought even buying Trissy's life with pure intelligence was a loss, I'll explain it anyway—
Take exams as an example. In a place like Backlund, there are many top students—Mid and High Sequence Beyonders—and plenty score full marks. Even if you get a high score, no one pays attention.
But Tingen is full of poor students—below Sequence Seven. Passing is already impressive. If you score eighty points in a place like that, you immediately become the center of attention.
If Mr. A casually used his abilities, the officials would immediately know that a Mid or High Sequence Beyonder had arrived in Tingen. Even if they could not find him right away, they might request aid from Backlund. Backlund was only half a day's journey from Tingen, and using Beyonder abilities would make the trip even faster. When that happened, not to mention a whole group, if each Church sent a Sequence V, he would lose his advantage as "Tingen's strongest Beyonder."
Mr. A was crazy, not stupid. Naturally, he would not so easily throw away his advantage.
Before you continue