Return to Backlund

Yeah, this was far too much of a coincidence... If Leonard hadn't just mentioned that the preliminary interrogation results of Elliot's kidnapping showed no hidden faction or mysterious power behind it, that it was simply a case of people risking everything for money, I would have suspected someone had arranged it deliberately... Klein carefully pondered the beginning and end of the matter.

As he thought, he suddenly remembered a strange man.

Wait, no. Maybe someone really had arranged this deliberately! Klein was suddenly startled as he remembered the long-haired man he had met outside the Hound Pub.

That man had seen the strange remnants of fate clinging to him!

He had even said it was a fate Klein could not escape, and that they would meet again...

At that thought, Klein abruptly raised his head, anxiety in his eyes. "Captain! I just remembered that on the day I joined the Nighthawks, a strange person outside the Hound Pub told me that I had special remnants of fate on me, and that I couldn't escape them..."

Dunn quietly listened to Klein's account, his brow gradually furrowing.

After leaving the train station, Aster opened an umbrella to shield himself from the raindrops falling overhead.

"I still need to return to Backlund first." Aster dragged his suitcase into a hired carriage and said to the driver, "27 Rose Street."

As the carriage wheels began to turn, Aster slightly closed his eyes and opened his character panel.

[Name]: Aster Crowley

[Age]: 20

[Profession]: Death Pathway—Spirit Medium

[Level]: 24 (51%)

[Specialized Skills]: ...

"The excess experience I saved up as a Grave Digger was only enough to reach level 24..." Listening to the clopping of hooves, Aster began considering how to play the role of a Spirit Medium.

To prevent some players from getting stuck at a level for too long because they could not gather the materials for advancement, the game developers had set up a hidden experience bar. Even after reaching the maximum level for their current stage, players could accumulate experience by completing role-playing tasks for the next stage in advance, though experience gain efficiency would be halved. In terms of the game's setting, this was called role-playing in advance.

Spirit Medium, Spirit Medium... Taken literally, it meant "one who communicates with spirits." So did he only need to keep communicating with spirits?

After advancing, the note on Aster's character panel had changed from "one who digs his own grave" to "one who communicates with spirits."

He quickly set himself a simple little role-playing goal—Aster had no interest in figuring out deeper or more efficient role-playing principles. What could be more efficient than tasks issued by the quest panel?

By the time I finish summarizing principles, I might have already completed the role-playing and be ready to advance to Spirit Guide... He had always scoffed at players obsessed with role play.

No matter how quickly they gained role-playing value, they were no match for a naturally gifted combat-oriented player like Aster.

Closing the character panel, Aster opened the quest interface and began worrying over the daily quest.

Specialized Quest—Spirit Medium:

Quest: [Telepathist] (Daily)

Requirement: Channel the spirits of five living people.

Progress: 0/5 (Incomplete)

Reward: 5% role-playing value

The spirits communicated with by a Spirit Medium were not limited to the dead. Natural spirits, Spirit World creatures, and even the living spirits of ordinary humans all fell within the scope of a Spirit Medium's role-playing.

This quest, however, gave him a bit of a headache.

If he were communicating with dead spirits or natural spirits, it would be dangerous at most, but as long as he chose his targets carefully, the only difference would be how much information he obtained.

The spirits of living people were different. Their spirit bodies were protected by their flesh, and their thoughts and wills were far firmer than those of the dead. Even with the status boost granted by [Phoenix's Gaze], communicating with living spirits was quite dangerous for Aster. Normal Spirit Channeling required not only ritual materials such as candles, but also a sufficiently safe location—during Spirit Channeling, both parties' spirits were completely defenseless. If they suffered violent interference from outside, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Noble lords with status and ordinary citizens alike would naturally never allow some inexplicable stranger like Aster to channel their spirits. Aster needed an identity grand enough, or one that would make them trust him, but he had neither. That left him no choice but to turn his attention toward the poor masses at the bottom of society.

In truth, the difference between rich and poor targets meant nothing to Aster's role-playing, but at a time like this, it was more suitable to choose impoverished people with weaker protection... After all, Aster's battle-hungry brain could only come up with one method of violent Spirit Channeling:

Knock them unconscious first, then channel their spirits!

"This is the only option..." Aster helplessly scratched his head. "For now, this is the only method I can think of. I hope I don't get another troublesome quest like this next time."

Just as Aster was agonizing over how to complete his daily quest, he suddenly heard the driver's voice from outside the carriage. "Sir, we've arrived at 27 Rose Street."

After Aster got out, the driver hurriedly drove away. The entire journey, he had felt a chill all over his body, and he had vaguely heard eerie laughter and crying...

After paying the fare, Aster stood before the small building and took out his key to unlock the door. "The place is completely empty... If I'd known, I wouldn't have dismissed all those male and female servants when I went bankrupt. At least I could channel their spirits now to deal with this quest."

This three-story townhouse was one of the properties the Crowley Family had left to Aster. After the Crowley Family was stripped of its title due to losing too much land, this became the family's only property.

The instant he pushed open the front door, something seemed to shatter, and dust carrying a faint musty smell dirtied his sleeve.

"Looks like no thieves paid a visit." Aster tossed his suitcase aside and removed a red gemstone that had begun to fade from the ritual plate in the dust-covered living room.

"It can't be used anymore..." Examining the cracks spreading across the gemstone's surface, Aster tossed it into the trash without a trace of regret.

It was a simple ritual used to create a Wall of Spirituality. Its ability to block outside interference was almost nonexistent, but that was precisely what Aster made use of.

Whether it was a spirit body or a living creature, the moment it entered this house, it would immediately cause the Wall of Spirituality to shatter. Aster used this to determine whether anyone had entered his home while he was away from Backlund.

And to maintain a Wall of Spirituality for such a long time, a core that supplied spirituality was indispensable. Aster had used a ruby worn by someone for many years to provide that spirituality.

After yawning and glancing at the increasingly heavy rain outside the window, Aster quickly walked to the stairwell and pulled open a hidden door leading downward beside it.

Behind the hidden door was the cash he had obtained by selling off large amounts of Crowley Family property during this period. Having been cheated by banks in the game before, he did not particularly like depositing money in banks.

After taking some banknotes from the basement safe and stuffing them into his wallet, Aster stretched his body, locked the safe, and left the basement.

One of his main reasons for returning this time was to withdraw money.

I'm running out of money too... Is there any way to increase my income... Find a job? What can I even do? Become someone's bodyguard?

Worried by his dwindling savings, Aster seriously began considering ways to make money.

Just then, he sensed the spirit body he had stationed on the first floor sending back a signal: someone had entered.

"Someone came? What a coincidence? I just got back..." Frowning, Aster quietly activated Spirit Vision and used it to lock onto the location of the uninvited guest upstairs.

In fact, it was perfectly normal for the driver who had just brought Aster home to feel a bone-deep chill.

If anyone else activated Spirit Vision at that moment, they would see large numbers of spirit bodies gathered around Aster.

Some looked like half-rotted rabbits, some were corpses wrapped in bandages, while others had only a single basketball-sized eye remaining...

Level-four [Necromantic Lore] contained a vast amount of knowledge about Spirit World creatures and the dead!

Of course, he could not be satisfied with contracting only Alidibus, who served as his messenger!

After sending Alidibus away that day, Aster had performed multiple more summons, using [Spirit Contract] to make contracts with them. He paid the price himself and requested their assistance.

Neither Spirit Mediums nor Spirit Guides had the ability to store Spirit World creatures. They either had to keep them with them at all times or dismiss them all back into the Spirit World and summon them again when needed.

The first method would make a Beyonder constantly give off a cold and silent aura. If ordinary people stayed in such an environment for too long, they might fall ill because of it. Furthermore, commanding a large number of spirit bodies made it easy for Beyonders equally skilled at Spirit Vision to notice them, placing him in danger... The second method, meanwhile, would make it difficult for Spirit Mediums to deal with sudden encounters.

Aster had chosen the first method without hesitation, even if it might make him more conspicuous.

But he believed that staying in a state of readiness for battle was a more reliable choice than weakening himself to hide.

Just like now.

Sergi felt that his luck was incredibly good.

I never expected that brat from the Crawley Family to return today... This is exactly my chance...

After Aster Crowley returned to 27 Rose Street, Sergi infiltrated the house without hesitation.

The timing I chose was clever enough: if I entered the house before Aster, I might trigger some alarm devices, exposing myself or putting him on guard; if I infiltrated after today, I would be facing an enemy who had rested sufficiently. Although I am a Sequence 8 Clown and do not fear Aster, also a Sequence 8, in close combat, Sergi still does not want to clash with Aster head-on. That could very easily attract the police and would be detrimental to the Eternal Life Society's secrecy. But things are different now. Having just returned home and discovered that no one had broken in, Aster must be at his least vigilant! Besides, I don't need to fight him. As long as I hide and obtain that Crawley Family relic while he sleeps, the mission will be complete...

Secretly pleased with his own cleverness, Sergi tiptoed toward the second floor, completely failing to notice the pair of yellow eyes in the corner.