Blessed

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

Luther asked.

"Of course it is."

Leonard replied without looking up, clattering away at the typewriter as he drafted the contract terms. "Our team's rule is that as long as we don't have work, we can take private jobs. Half the money we earn goes into the team's petty cash fund, and the other half is split evenly among the people doing the work. Like that welcome banquet for you the other day—it was paid for with the team's funds."

After finishing, he looked up at Luther and smiled.

"See? Now you've got money to buy your sister a dress."

So that was how it worked. You could make extra money like this...

Luther fell into thought. Besides, it made sense. A security company that never took jobs would stand out even more.

After quickly drafting the contract in duplicate, Leonard removed the documents from the typewriter and leisurely returned to the front hall.

"Ma'am, this is our contract. We will follow and investigate your husband, find the person he's having an affair with, and you will pay us a reward of 10 pounds."

"Find out everything about that bitch! I'm going to bring people and catch them in bed together!"

Mrs. Pound waved her arm with great force.

"I've written all of your requests into the contract." Leonard smiled as he handed it over. "Of course, whether we succeed or not, you'll need to pay a 3-pound deposit first."

"I know that."

Mrs. Pound paid the money and signed her name. Then Rozanne stamped it with Blackthorn Security Company's seal, completing the contract. "Then I'll wait for your good news!"

After seeing Mrs. Pound off, Leonard turned to Luther. "Frye is going to inspect the public cemetery this afternoon. Shall the two of us handle this?"

"Sure."

Luther replied, "But I've never learned how to tail someone, so don't blame me if we get exposed."

At the same time, he calculated silently. Of the 10-pound reward, 5 pounds had to be handed over. Split equally between the two of them, they would each get 2 pounds and 10 shillings—enough to buy a decent dress.

"Why would we actually tail him? Not only is it exhausting, it would also interfere with our regular work." Leonard smiled. "I was thinking, do you have a way to find out where her husband goes to have affairs? Using your Ritual Magic."

So that was why he came to me.

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

"Then we'll pay a visit to her husband's company." Leonard said, "Tonight. There'll be fewer people around, and I can use my ability too. We might even find something at his company."

After agreeing on a time and place to meet, that little interlude came to an end. They cleared away their dishes and began their afternoon work.

Meanwhile, in a space that did not exist in the real world.

Boundless Gray Fog flowed like water, filling everything before them. Gigantic stone pillars rose high into the air, supporting a magnificent dome. Grand and towering buildings stood silently within the Gray Fog, as though they had remained unchanged since ancient times at the end of time itself.

Directly beneath the dome, where the Gray Fog was thickest, rested a Bronze Long Table. High-backed chairs stood along both sides and at either end of it. On the backs of those chairs, brilliant flashes and subdued dark crimson outlined all manner of strange, mysterious patterns.

At that moment, one figure sat in each of the chairs at the head of the Bronze Long Table and on its two sides. Grayish-white mist likewise shrouded their bodies, allowing only vague glimpses of their builds and the colors of their clothing.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."

Audrey Hall called out brightly, lowering her head in greeting to the lofty, mysterious existence seated at the head of the table.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hanged Man."

She then greeted the blue-haired man across from her.

"Good afternoon, Miss Justice."

The other two returned her greeting as well.

Once the greetings were over, Fool, who was Klein, maintained his unfathomable demeanor and lightly tapped the edge of the long table with his finger.

The other two immediately turned their gazes toward him.

"I want information about the Aurora Order." Klein said evenly. "The payment can offset two pages of Roselle's Diary."

Because of his colleague Luther, he had become more interested in this Sequence and the secret organization associated with it.

"Mr. Fool, what aspect of the Aurora Order would you like to ask about?"

Hanged Man Alger asked cautiously.

Inwardly, he had already begun guessing why Mr. Fool had asked this.

Was Mr. Fool, this suspected Ancient God from the past, gradually reviving and beginning to learn about the current world through him, Alger? But why start with the Aurora Order... Could it be that Mr. Fool wished to infer the True Creator's current condition through the Aurora Order?

Klein had no idea of the twists and turns that had piled up in Alger's mind in that instant. Nor did he know what exactly he wanted to learn, so he simply replied calmly, "Tell me whatever you know."

"Yes, Mr. Fool."

Alger suppressed his tangled thoughts and said respectfully, "The Aurora Order is a secret organization that emerged within the last one or two centuries. They worship the True... Fallen Creator. They believe that everyone possesses Divinity and can improve themselves through enduring trials, eventually becoming Angels."

Klein nodded slightly. This matched what he had learned from the Nighthawks' internal files.

Seeing this, Alger continued his introduction.

"The Aurora Order has five Saints and twenty-two Oracles. These Oracles use letters as code names, calling themselves Mr. A, Mr. X, and so on... At the very least, they are Sequence 7 Beyonders, while the strongest are Sequence 5. They are all exceptionally skilled at concealing themselves... Even if an Oracle dies, a new one will replace him."

Klein had never heard these details before.

"But apart from that, most Aurora Order members are Low Sequence Beyonders, basically concentrated at the Secrets Suppliant and Listener stages."

Justice Audrey, seated nearby, listened with rapt attention and could not help interrupting. "Mr. Hanged Man, what kind of Beyonder Abilities do they have?"

"Secrets Suppliants are basically not very dangerous. They only understand some sacrificial knowledge and a small amount of Ritual Magic..."

A small amount of Ritual Magic?

Klein recalled Luther's situation. Luther had once told him that he had learned a great deal of rituals from the Potion...

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

Klein thought so. Startled, his body reacted involuntarily, shifting slightly more than he intended.

Sensing Mr. Fool's unusual movement, the two who had been conversing immediately stopped and looked at Klein together, as though waiting for him to say something.

Don't mind me, just continue... Klein felt somewhat embarrassed, not knowing what he could say to brush it off. Then inspiration struck, and he simply chuckled.

"I have once seen a Secrets Suppliant who mastered a large amount of Ritual Magic immediately after drinking a Potion."

He had originally intended to let the matter pass with a casual remark, but Alger's body jolted as though he had thought of something.

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

He lowered his head in apology, recalling a Record in an ancient book of the Church of Storms. He had originally believed it to be the fabrication of the ancient book's author, but he had never expected it to be real.

"As you said, there are indeed an extremely small number of Secrets Suppliants who immediately master a large amount of degenerate and evil Ritual Magic after consuming a Potion."

"In ancient records, they were called... Blessed!"