After placing protection on Backlund's most dazzling Miss Diamond, Sno quietly canceled his "Cannot Be Seen By Anyone Psyduck" state, returning to his Salon Prince persona. He continued moving among the wealthy ladies and rich young girls, maintaining the vast network of connections that was the only "positive legacy" his predecessor had left him.
Audrey, meanwhile, had not noticed any change in herself at all. Maintaining the stance of a Spectator, she scrutinized the guests at the banquet. Only after noticing that Madam Norma was observing the room in a similar manner did she begin displaying the poise of a young lady who had received an excellent social education, subtly steering the conversation toward the direction she wanted.
Sequence Seven of the Paradox Path was a very interesting Sequence. Compared with a Witch's Counter-divination ability, it possessed the rarer ability of "misdirection." Although this ability was generally not a permanent one, if it was directly "bestowed" through Origin Quality, it could last for a very long time.
Considering Miss Diamond's social standing, Sno only needed to occasionally attend her salons to maintain the protection on her.
The reason he had gone to so much trouble lay in Miss Justice's status. As a highly influential great noble of Backlund, the Hall Family was important enough to draw the Psychology Alchemists' attention. At present, K was still at the peak of Seer, naturally unable to pull off methods like Paper Angel. If Miss Justice ended up hypnotized and corrupted during this brief gap, his sin would be quite considerable.
Fortunately, although he had no Paper Angel, directly empowering her with Origin Quality worked just as well. It might only have been a Sequence Seven ability, but bolstered by the status of Origin Quality, unless Russian Priest himself showed up, those small fry from the Psychology Alchemists would not even be able to notice the ability of White Horse is Not a Horse.
Of course, there was still the possibility that some demigod Spectator might be extraordinarily gifted. But if that happened... well, perhaps they should get acquainted with Cannot Look Directly at God?
After politely declining invitations from several ladies whose husbands were away on business, Sno returned to his mansion in the West Borough. As usual, he opened the mailbox and began checking his letters.
Veterinarians in this era, like Detectives, did not need storefronts. Thus, clients would usually choose to visit in person or send letters to convey information.
Although Sno had begun considering developing a novelist persona, he had no intention of abandoning his identity as a veterinarian, which allowed him to enter Backlund's upper society openly and legally.
However, after several lavishly decorated envelopes, Sno's brow twitched slightly when he spotted a letter bearing a postmark.
For Sno, and for his predecessor as well, this was a rare sight. His clients usually wrote their letters and had servants deliver them directly. His predecessor had also been a loner, so this was truly Sno's first time seeing a letter handled by the postal service and delivered by a postman.
"A letter from Tingen? K wouldn't be this careless, would he? Backlund has a postman named Ammon!" Sno bared his teeth, carried the letters inside, and carefully sliced them open with a letter knife. What he saw left him rather speechless—
"To Mr. Devil:"
"I obtained your contact information through a certain channel. I heard that you require some powerful weapons for self-defense, and I happen to be able to acquire some Sun Domain charms."
"Their power can reach the level of Sequence Six, and they are highly effective against undead and wraiths."
"However, producing the charms requires extensive preparation and considerable expense. How many do you need? And what price are you willing to pay?"
"Anonymously."
"Why didn't K just send the message through Mr. Fool?" Sno looked at the letter, which had gone to every effort to conceal the sender's information, wearing an expression akin to an old man staring at a phone on the subway.
But he quickly realized the reason. He had read the original novel, so he knew about forwarding chat logs, but the current Mr. Fool apparently had yet to discover that feature.
"Come to think of it, K is obviously trying to raise enough money for the Clown Potion this time. Sending the money directly to an anonymous account or by bank draft would not be a problem, but receiving the Flaring Sun Charms would be troublesome."
With that in mind, Sno began considering the possibility of getting himself a messenger.
Messengers were easy enough to summon, and given the special nature of his abilities, finding a useful one would be quite convenient. The only problem was... how to sign a contract.
The Paradox Path's auxiliary abilities were extremely comprehensive; it could even modify contracts that had already been signed. Yet it alone lacked the ability to establish a contract. In other words, he needed to obtain a contract somehow. Either a Fair Contract from the Sun Pathway or a Necrotic Contract from the Death Pathway would do.
"What a pity Mr. A isn't in Tingen right now. Otherwise, perhaps... wait a moment? Mr. A may not be around, but there's still Eye of Wisdom!"
That was right. If he remembered correctly, Old Master of the Eye of Wisdom possessed a Sealed Artifact capable of simulating a Notary's Beyonder Ability. Its effect definitely could not compare to that of a genuine Notary, but all Sno needed was a contract. Of course, if that ring could only notarize contracts and could not establish them, then Sno would have no choice but to risk breaking into Mr. A's treasure vault.
After all, Mr. A had held Beyonder gatherings for so long that he had stored quite a few good things in his basement. Considering that there was a Sun Pathway Extraordinary among his attendees, it would not be strange for him to have several notarized contracts on hand. Such things could unexpectedly come in handy at times.
At present, the strongest members of the Aurora Society in Backlund were at most a few Listeners. Sneaking into Mr. A's house with the power of White Horse is Not a Horse would actually be quite easy.
After considering it briefly, Sno decided to try his luck with Old Master of the Eye of Wisdom first. If something could be solved with money, there was no need to take risks. That was one of Sno's principles in life.
Having sorted it out, Sno clasped his hands and pressed them against his forehead, softly chanting:
"O Fool who does not belong to this era;"
"You are the mysterious ruler above the Gray Fog;"
"You are the King of Yellow and Black who wields good fortune."
"I pray for your gaze;"
"I pray for your listening;"
"I have received the letter from your blessed, but he did not leave a means of contact. Sorry for the trouble, please inform him that I am willing to purchase three charms at three hundred pounds each."
"Who is praying to me again?" Mr. Fool, who had just returned home from work, heard the layered sounds of prayer beside his ears. He immediately entered the washroom, walked backward four steps, and arrived Above the Gray Fog. When he saw that the contracting and expanding star belonged to Mr. Devil, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly—
"Mr. Devil had dinner a little early today, didn't he?"
After making a quiet jab in his heart, Klein extended his spirituality and touched that star. Then, the layered sounds of prayer echoed beside his ears...
As for the conservatism of Loen people, that was only relative to Intis, where people could get it on right in the street—an exaggeration, of course. In the original novel, when Audrey had just obtained Spectator abilities, there was already a hint during that banquet: married nobles would practically sneak off behind the garden to fool around right in front of their spouses. So please consider carefully just how "conservative" they were.
In any case, do not treat Loen's conservatism as the same kind of conservatism as that of the Ming Dynasty. You have to remember that Loen's official faith was the Evernight Goddess! When Daly teased Klein, Dunn said that it was quite a common occurrence.
Before you continue