"I don't know the details either."
Dunn shook his head.
"You'll find out tonight."
"All right."
Julian nodded and did not press the matter.
For the next few hours, he remained at the Blackthorn Security Company, meeting with Klein at one point.
Klein told him about being followed by a female member of the Secret Order, then explained that the Nighthawks considered the information he had provided important enough to offer him a chance to become a Beyonder.
"Just as you said before, Julian, I'm about to become a Beyonder.
"If things go quickly, I could get the potion this afternoon."
There was a hint of admiration in Klein's eyes as he looked at Julian.
"Well, I did work for the Church of Knowledge. I've seen plenty of things like this."
Julian winked.
"So, have you decided which pathway you want to take?"
"Seer."
Klein answered without hesitation.
"It suits you."
Julian nodded slightly.
"Beyonders of the Seer pathway are versatile, especially when it comes to staying alive."
"Uh..."
Klein was momentarily speechless.
After a pause, he asked another question.
"By the way, my notebook... could you give it back now?"
"Of course."
With a smile, Julian returned the notebook to Klein. Klein opened it, only to discover that the pages containing the passages he had written under the influence of the Antigonus Family Notebook had been torn out.
"Those pages..."
"Keeping them won't do you any good, but they're very useful to me."
At Julian's answer, Klein was about to ask more, but then he heard a nearby door open.
Dunn appeared in the doorway and addressed Julian.
"Julian, the people from the Holy Cathedral are here."
"All right."
Julian perked up. He immediately stood, said goodbye to Klein, and followed Dunn to a stone chamber on the basement level of the Blackthorn Security Company.
A man who looked to be in his thirties was already standing there. He had close-cropped golden-brown hair, dark green eyes, a rather pointed chin, and thin, firm lips.
His chin and lips were hidden behind his upright collar. A black case and a white case sat on either side of his feet, both clearly containing something.
"Julian Albrecht."
Upon seeing Julian, the man spoke amiably.
"My name is Crestet Cesimir, one of the senior deacons of the Nighthawks."
"Greetings, Your Excellency Cesimir."
Julian held his top hat and gave a slight bow.
Of course, he knew the famous Goddess's Sword. He simply had to act as though he knew nothing about the man.
"The Holy Cathedral has learned of your brave confrontation with a Sequence 7 member of the Secret Order, whom you killed before obtaining the Antigonus Family Notebook.
"Although you are a former member of the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, currently under the Nighthawks' special protection, your contribution was truly outstanding. The Holy Cathedral has therefore decided to reward you with a Sequence 7 Sealed Artifact."
"A Sealed Artifact? Sequence 7?"
Julian froze at those words. He turned toward Dunn and found the Nighthawks captain wearing the same expression.
In all his years serving with the Nighthawks, Dunn had seen rewards of money and potions, but this was the first time he had seen a Sealed Artifact awarded.
Noticing Julian's expression, Crestet smiled faintly, then placed the black case on the table, exposing the Evernight Holy Emblem on its surface to the lamplight.
With a click, the case opened, revealing a silver-gray ring set with a ruby.
"Sealed Artifact 2-0-19, Chris Jacob's Ring."
Crestet Cesimir introduced it.
"You should be familiar with this item."
"Chris Jacob? My grandfather?"
Startled, Julian hurried forward to examine the ring.
Although his surname was Albrecht, he was a direct descendant of the Jacob Family.
The Jacob Family had been one of the great noble families of the Tudor Empire in the Fourth Epoch, as well as an angel family that controlled the Marauder pathway.
After the fall of the Tudor Empire, the family had been relentlessly hunted by the Seven Gods and Amon. Most of its members had died, with only a handful taken in by the orthodox churches.
Chris Jacob had been one of those taken in, a Sequence 7 Mystery Pryer. While alive, he had worked for Lenburg's intelligence department, but about fifteen years ago, he had mysteriously vanished without a trace.
"The Feysac people killed your grandfather. After his death, this Sealed Artifact formed... It later entered the market, and the Church of Evernight only acquired it two years ago."
At Crestet's words, Julian took a deep breath before replying.
"Thank you for allowing me to recover my grandfather's belongings."
He picked up the ring, feeling a swell of emotion.
Chris had treated Julian very well when he was little. When his grandfather later vanished mysteriously, Julian had spent a long time crying at home.
"Buzz..."
Just then, however, the strange buzzing of the Colour Out of Space sounded again.
Julian sensed anger, confusion, and panic in that sound-the exact same emotions the Colour Out of Space had displayed when facing Klein earlier.
...This ring has been affected by Sefirah Castle's aura!
His eyes narrowed slightly as he immediately grasped the key point.
The Church of Evernight had used a suitable pretext to return something that already belonged to the Jacob Family to Julian.
Although the process was somewhat irregular, it made sense on a human level.
Yet the Goddess seemed to have secretly imbued it with Sefirah Castle's aura by some unknown means. Her intentions were intriguing.
Outwardly, Julian simply put away the ring without betraying anything, then accepted a document about Chris Jacob's Ring from Cesimir before bowing and thanking him again.
"All right. Captain Dunn and I still have some matters to discuss. You may go home."
Julian nodded lightly, turned, and stepped
out of the chamber, then took a carriage home.
"It enhances the bearer's powers of observation, association, and deduction, thereby granting the ability to decipher mysteries.
"In addition, it can improve the bearer's skill in deception and combat with short weapons to a certain extent.
"The side effects are occasional visual and auditory hallucinations during use, especially after fifteen minutes?"
Julian put on the ring and tested it for a while. Once he had confirmed its abilities and how its side effects manifested, he put it away and lay wearily on his bed.
Before long, he fell asleep.
Meanwhile, in the basement of the Moretti House's new residence at 2 Daffodil Street.
Klein Moretti, who had already become a Seer, once again performed the Luck Enhancement Ritual and arrived above the gray fog.
Taking the potion hasn't changed the situation... but my connection to this place seems stronger.
Klein silently assessed his current circumstances.
Yet when he raised his head again, he discovered that some sort of change seemed to have occurred in the gray, hazy sky.
Among the faintly twinkling crimson stars, a tiny but brilliantly multicolored streak of rainbow light had appeared at some point.
Its colors were exactly the same as those Klein had seen in his dream earlier!
"..."
With the intention of giving it a try, Klein gently tapped the rainbow light with his index finger.
A moment later, a sleepy, rather bewildered figure appeared above the gray fog.
Why is it him... Julian??
Klein was startled, but before he could think any further, Julian spoke in confusion.
"Where... is this? Am I dreaming?"
Only after he made out the figure at the head of the Bronze Long Table did he ask, sounding somewhat startled and frightened:
"...Who are you, Your Excellency? What do you want with me?"
Klein's thoughts raced. Then he chuckled softly and answered in an unhurried voice.
"My name is the Fool...
"This meeting is an experiment."