Favored of the Gods

"Is it really appropriate for us to take on private jobs like this?"

Luther asked.

"Of course it is."

Leonard replied without looking up, his fingers clattering away as he typed out the contract terms on the typewriter. "The rule in our squad is that as long as there's no official work, we can take private commissions. Half the earnings go to the squad's petty cash fund, and the other half is split equally among those who did the work. That welcome party you had the other day? That was paid for by the squad's fund."

He finished typing, looked up at Luther, and smiled.

"See? Now you've got the money to buy that dress for your sister."

So that's how it works. A way to make some extra cash...

Luther was thoughtful. It made sense, too; a security company that never took any jobs would look rather suspicious.

After quickly drafting the contract in duplicate, Leonard pulled the documents from the typewriter and strolled back to the front lobby.

"Ma'am, here is our contract. We will track and investigate your husband to find the person he is having an affair with, and you will need to pay a fee of 10 pounds for this service."

"Find out everything about that bitch! I'm going to catch them in the act!"

Mrs. Pound waved her arms with great intensity.

"I have written all your requirements into the contract," Leonard said with a smile, handing it over. "Of course, regardless of whether we succeed or not, you must pay a 3-pound deposit upfront."

"I know that."

Mrs. Pound paid the money and picked up a pen to sign her name. Roshan then stamped it with the Blackthorn Security Company seal, finalizing the contract. "Then I'll be waiting for your good news!"

After seeing Mrs. Pound out, Leonard turned back to look at Luther. "Frye has to patrol the public cemetery this afternoon, so shall the two of us handle this?"

"That works for me."

Luther replied, "But I've never done any tailing before. Don't blame me if I blow our cover."

At the same time, he calculated in his mind: a 10-pound fee, minus the 5 pounds that had to be turned in, left 2.5 pounds each. That should be enough to buy a decent dress.

"It's not like we're actually going to tail them—that's exhausting, and it would interfere with our daily work," Leonard laughed. "I was thinking, do you have a way to find out where her husband goes to have his affair? Using your Ritual Magic."

So that's why he came to me.

Luther thought for a moment and nodded. "I do, but I might need a personal item belonging to her husband."

"Then let's go to her husband's company," Leonard said. "Let's do it tonight. There will be fewer people, and I can make use of my abilities. We might just find something at their office."

The two agreed on a time and place to meet, and with that little interlude over, they cleared away their plates and began their afternoon work.

Meanwhile, in a space that did not exist in the Reality World.

Boundless Gray Fog flowed like water, filling everything in sight. Massive stone pillars towered upward, supporting a magnificent dome. The grand, imposing architecture stood silent within the fog, as if it had stood at the end of time since the dawn of eternity.

Directly beneath the dome, where the Gray Fog was thickest, sat a long bronze table. On both sides of the table, high-backed chairs were arranged, their backs etched with strange, mysterious patterns that shimmered with deep, dark crimson light.

At this moment, there was a figure sitting at the head of the long bronze table and one on each side. Gray-white mist shrouded their bodies, allowing only their silhouettes and the colors of their clothing to be vaguely discerned.

"Good afternoon, Mr. The Fool."

Audrey Hall said in a light tone, bowing her head in greeting to the distant, mysterious existence at the head of the table.

"Good afternoon, Mr. The Hanged Man."

She then addressed the blue-haired man opposite her.

"Good afternoon, Miss The Justice."

The others replied to her in turn.

Once the greetings were finished, The Fool—that is, Klein—maintained his inscrutable demeanor, his fingers tapping lightly on the edge of the long table.

The gazes of the other two turned toward him simultaneously.

"I want to know information regarding the Aurora Society," Klein said calmly. "The reward is that it can be used to offset two pages of Roselle Diary."

Because of his colleague Luther, he had developed a greater interest in this Sequence and its corresponding secret organization.

"Mr. The Fool, may I ask which aspect of the Aurora Society you wish to inquire about?"

Alger, The Hanged Man, asked cautiously.

In his heart, he had already begun to speculate on the purpose behind Mr. The Fool's question.

Is this Ancient God, who is suspected to be from the past, gradually awakening and beginning to use me, Alger, to understand the current situation? But why start with the Aurora Society... Could it be that Mr. The Fool wants to use the Aurora Society to deduce the current state of the True Creator?

Klein had no idea of the complex web of thoughts building up in Alger's mind, nor did he know exactly what he wanted to learn, so he simply replied calmly, "Tell me whatever you know."

"Yes, Mr. The Fool."

Alger suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his mind and said respectfully, "The Aurora Society is a secret organization that appeared in the last century or two. They worship the True... Degenerate Creator, believing that everyone possesses divinity and can ascend to become an angel through the process of enduring trials."

Klein nodded slightly; this was consistent with the information he had learned from the internal files of the Night Watchers.

Seeing this, Alger continued his introduction:

"The Aurora Society has five Saints and twenty-two Divine Envoys. These Divine Envoys use letters as codenames, calling themselves Mr. A, Mr. X... They are at least Sequence 7 Beyonders, with the strongest being Sequence 5, and they are all quite adept at concealing themselves... If one Divine Envoy dies, a new one will take their place."

Klein had never heard of these things before.

"But other than that, the majority of Aurora Society members are low-sequence Beyonders, basically concentrated at the Black Knight and Listener stages."

Audrey, The Justice, was listening with such fascination that she couldn't help but interject, "Mr. The Hanged Man, may I ask what kind of Extraordinary Ability they possess?"

"Black Knights are basically harmless; they only know some sacrificial knowledge and a small amount of Ritual Magic..."

A "small amount" of Ritual Magic?

Klein recalled the matter of Luther, who had once told him that he had learned a vast number of rituals from his Potion...

Could it be that Luther's situation was rather special?

Klein thought to himself. Because of his surprise, his body moved reflexively, the motion slightly too large.

Sensing the abnormality in The Fool, the two people who were conversing stopped immediately and looked at Klein in unison, as if waiting for him to say something.

Don't mind me, please continue... Klein felt a bit awkward, not knowing what to say to brush it off. With a sudden flash of inspiration, he simply chuckled:

"I once saw a Black Knight who mastered a vast amount of Ritual Magic the moment they drank their Potion."

He had originally intended to just brush past it with a casual remark, but unexpectedly, Alger's body jolted, as if he had thought of something.

"Mr. The Fool, please forgive my inaccurate description."

He bowed his head in apology, recalling a record he had seen in an ancient tome of the Storm Church. He had originally thought it was merely a fabrication by the book's author, but he hadn't expected it to actually be true.

"Just as you said, there are indeed a very small number of Black Knights who, upon consuming their Potion, immediately master a vast amount of degenerate and evil Ritual Magic."

"In ancient records, they are known as... Favored of the Gods!"