Finding a Place to Stay

Luther left Saint Samuel Cathedral, walked through several streets, and arrived at a Square.

He sat down on a bench in the Square, took out a piece of bread from somewhere, crumbled it into crumbs, and tossed them out to feed the pigeons. Luna lay in ambush in the shadows at his feet, only her head peeking out, her bright blue eyes fixed on the flock of pigeons that flew over to peck at the food.

"Stop fooling around. You're an extraordinary cat now; it's not appropriate for you to bully a bunch of pigeons."

Luther reminded it.

At the same time, M's transparent figure quietly appeared behind him, inserting his illusory hands into his head.

"Not belonging to this era..."

Luther whispered the Honorific Name.

Other passersby only saw his lips moving and assumed that the elegant man in the red shirt and black suit was communicating with pigeons, unaware that he was actually communicating with some Concealment entity.

"Respected Mr. Fool,"

Using the Virtual Personality created by M, Luther whispered to the being Above the Gray Fog, "Please tell [Justice] that I want to ask her if there are any properties left over from the ones I entrusted to her for sale. If there are, I hope you can reserve one for me."

The so-called real estate that Luther mentioned were actually the land deeds he had previously plundered from Mr. A. Because it was inconvenient for him to sell them while they were still in his possession, he mortgaged them all to [Justice] in exchange for the latter's investment in the textile factory.

Now that he has returned to Backlund, he needs a place to stay. Since he has already rejected the Church's arrangement, he will have to put in some effort to find one himself.

In his vision, the thick gray Fog gradually disappeared. His prayers had been Listening the ruler, and he believed that [Justice] would soon respond to him.

"Brush!"

Just as Luther was about to get up from the bench, a ripple suddenly appeared in the void in front of him. Then, a beautiful figure emerged from it. She wore an asymmetrical and mismatched black court dress, and her gorgeous red eyes scanned Luther's body and face.

Antiya Trois, the Ship Spirit of the "Black Throne".

"What kind of weird outfit is this? I still prefer you the way you are."

She frowned as she commented, tossing a white envelope into his hand.

As an extraordinary being of Angel caliber, Antiya is currently avoiding using her abilities. However, as someone capable of traversing the Spirit World, she is more than qualified to serve as a messenger.

Luther picked up the letter, glanced at the signature, and saw it was from his first mate, Anderson.

Before leaving the Fleet, he left the messenger with the method to summon Antiya as his means of communication. Whenever Anderson needed it, he could perform Ritual to summon the messenger and deliver the letter.

Luther also instructed that if the situation became extremely urgent, one could pray directly to the Fool —after all, he had already dragged Anderson into the mess at the God War Ruins. His first mate, however, stated that he would try to avoid using the second method.

It is worth mentioning that, in the messenger summoning Ritual, Antiya's corresponding exclusive title is: Shadow of Order, Ghost from a Distant Era, Messenger and Flagship Belonging Only to Alexander Gascoigne, Antiya Troliss.

As Angel, Antiya certainly has Honorific Name. Although the title used in the Ritual is not very formal, it may reflect some of her Characteristic.

While thinking about these things, Luther tore open the thick envelope.

After delivering the letter, Antiya did not disappear immediately. Perhaps guessing that Luther might reply after reading the letter, she sat down beside him and took the opportunity to pull Luna out of the shadows and hug her.

Luna's head was being stroked by her fair hands, but she remained silent, her eyes still fixed on the flock of pigeons.

Luther lowered his head to read the letter.

Anderson didn't write anything important in it; he simply gave a detailed report on the routes he had recently taken with his Fleet, the islands he had reached, and the enemies he had fought.

No wonder it took so many pages to write... It's so annoying to look at...

Luther skimmed through it, took out a pen, and simply wrote a line on the blank page of the last page:

[From now on, give me concise information, only reporting important matters. However, you must clearly explain how much money was spent and the crew's details; I might go back to check the accounts someday.]

As a leader, micromanaging only leads to exhaustion. For him, focusing on the two key areas of finance and personnel is sufficient.

Should we send it back to him?

When Antiya saw Luther put the letter back, she asked him a question.

"Yes, thank you for your hard work."

Luther handed her the letter.

Don't give me those useless pleasantries.

The Angel rolled her eyes at him, took the letter, and vanished without a trace.

With her leaving, Luna gained her freedom, and with a sudden stomp on the bench, her dark body shot out rapidly, hurtling towards the flock of pigeons.

"Splash!"

A rapid flapping of wings followed, white feathers fluttered, and the pigeons scattered in all directions.

Empress Borough Earl Hall’s residence.

Audrey Hall sat upright in her chair. Escalante, her nominal tutor but actually the liaison for the Psychology Alchemists, was giving her a psychology lesson. Her golden retriever, Susie, lay at her feet, tongue lolling out innocently, but actually Listening intently.

"Her statement here is somewhat biased..."

"That's what Audrey thought to herself."

Escalante is only Sequence 8 Telepathist, but she is already Sequence 7 "Psychiatrist". If it weren't for maintaining contact with the Psychology Alchemists, he wouldn't actually need to listen at all.

Furthermore, [The Hermit] has already promised at the Tarot Club to provide her with extraordinary materials for becoming a "Hypnotist," so it's believed that after a short while, her abilities will reach a new level.

Audrey was really looking forward to this day.

"Whoosh!"

Just then, a Gray Fog suddenly surged before her eyes, and at the same time, the voice of "[Temperance]" entered her ears. However, neither Escalante, who was opposite her, nor Susie was lying at her feet, knew anything about it.

Mr. [Temperance] is back in Backlund! That's great! But why is he asking me for property...? Hmm, it probably isn't about the money; maybe he's looking for a place to stay.

Facing Escalante, Audrey maintained an elegant and sweet smile on her face, but in her mind, she was quickly analyzing and deducing the true purpose of [Temperance].

However, those properties have already been sold... How should I respond?

When the class ended Escalante left, she winked at Susie, who immediately understood and happily ran out of the room to stand guard outside.

She bowed her head in a prayerful gesture and said to the Fool, "Revered Mr. Fool..."