Along the way, Julian stopped to buy some materials for ritual magic. The moment he arrived home, he went straight to his bedroom and began rummaging through his belongings.
Before long, he found a collapsible magnifying glass made of brass and crystal lenses in the luggage he had brought from Lenburg.
This item was called the Scholar's Legacy, a Mystical Item corresponding to the Beyonder Characteristic of a Sequence 7 Keeper of Knowledge of the Reader Pathway.
Unlike ordinary Sealed Artifacts, however, it had been contaminated by the power of the Colour Out of Space. The faint sheen on its surface, reminiscent of tempered metal, made that apparent.
In fact, this Mystical Item had been made from the Keeper of Knowledge Beyonder Characteristic left behind after the original owner of Julian's body died, before Julian transmigrated.
The item had three main functions. First, it could store knowledge from various sources. Second, it could enhance its wielder's reasoning and powers of observation.
Third, it could analyze and reconstruct the truth behind events that had occurred within a certain area. Given the right conditions, it could even reconstruct supernatural events.
As for its side effect, it could not be used for more than thirty minutes, or its wielder's senses and emotions would descend into chaos.
But Julian had not taken it out to use it in the usual way. He intended to conduct an experiment with it and test a few ideas!
To guard against possible dangers, Julian first had to perform a protective ritual.
He shut the door and windows and set up a small altar. After drawing a special magic circle on it, he took two candles from the paper bag he had just brought home.
One was a deep black candle made from night-scented herb, deep-sleep flower, and other ingredients, symbolizing the night.
The other was scarlet, made from moon flower, crimson sandalwood, and other ingredients. In mysticism, it symbolized the Evernight Goddess's identity as the Lady of Crimson.
He placed the black candle at the upper left of the altar and the red one at the upper right.
Once that was done, Julian took out a third candle and placed it at the bottom of the altar.
This candle was an ordinary white one, infused with mint and rose essential oils. Both plants were also loved and favored by the Goddess.
Afterward, Julian took a small amount of Full Moon Essential Oil, a Pitch-Black Cauldron, and the silver dagger, clean water, and coarse salt commonly used in ritual magic from his collection of mystical materials, arranging them in the most suitable places.
Finally, he found a transparent crystal ball that looked entirely unremarkable, but had numerous Ancient Hermes incantations engraved on its base. He placed it at the very center of the altar.
With that, the altar was ready.
Julian lit all the candles in clockwise order, then used the coarse salt and other materials to construct an intangible Wall of Spirituality.
A moment later, he began to recite reverently:
"Evernight Goddess, more exalted than the stars and more enduring than eternity, Lady of Crimson, Mother of Concealment, Empress of Calamity and Fear, Lord of Slumber and Silence!
"I pray for your attention, I pray for your listening, I pray for your favor.
"Please grant me your protection in the attempt I am about to make..."
Suddenly, the flames of all three candles flickered at once, as though a breeze had sprung up inside the sealed room.
Julian could not tell whether he was imagining it, but the setting sun outside, and even the strange radiance that constantly surrounded him, seemed to dim a little.
At the same time, his mind grew focused and calm. This dispelled much of his lingering tension and apprehension, giving him the courage to continue.
Holding the Scholar's Legacy, Julian infused his spirituality into it, then unfolded the lens and aimed it at the clear crystal ball in the center of the altar.
"I! In my own name, I beseech:
"Iridescence Beyond the Stars, Ruler of Colors, the one who dwells within me!
"I ask for your favor and beseech you to manifest your mighty power..."
Only now did Julian dare recite in Ancient Hermes some of the key phrases from the invocation the original owner had recorded before dying abruptly from the contamination.
Had he not already obtained the Evernight Goddess's protection, he would never have dared utter those words again.
As he recited, the neon-like radiance appeared around Julian once more.
The radiance flowed through the lens of the Scholar's Legacy and shone onto the crystal ball, staining it the same colors in an instant.
The neon colors moved at Julian's will, like flowing iridescence sealed within the crystal ball, but they could not escape it.
Of course, only he, as a Four-Color Seer, could see any of this.
"...It really works!"
Excitement surged through him.
This special crystal ball was a type of Mystical Item belonging to the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. It was often used to isolate and contain mystical contamination within Sealed Artifacts or even people's Spirit Bodies. It could also detect contamination that might be present in certain ruins.
Using the Scholar's Legacy's ability to reconstruct mystical events, along with the power of the Colour Out of Space contained within it, Julian had recreated the process by which he had been contaminated. This time, however, the target of the contamination was the crystal ball rather than himself.
This meant Julian could use the Scholar's Legacy to contaminate certain people or supernatural items, then control those contaminated beings and objects through his own mystical connection to the Colour Out of Space.
Most importantly, the whole process did not appear particularly risky. As long as he recited the Goddess's Honorific Name beforehand, he could reproduce events of this kind with relative safety.
"This makes things interesting."
As Julian dispelled the Wall of Spirituality and blew out the candles, the light in his field of vision returned to normal.
"It would be a waste not to use an ability like this. How about I go have some fun with those Aurora Order fellows?"
Once the thought appeared, Julian could no longer suppress it. The True Creator's followers spent all day contaminating this and persecuting that. He was very curious what would happen if those fellows got a taste of contamination themselves.
Just imagining it amused Julian.
"...But if I do that, should I submit a report to Arianna?
"That sounds like a hassle. Forget it. I'll put this aside for now and finish the urgent business at hand first."
Juli
an checked his revolver and Demon-Hunting Bullets once again. After night fell, he picked up the Scholar's Legacy once more, left home, and boarded the last Public Carriage toward Ray Bieber's residence...
Meanwhile, on Iron Cross Middle Street.
"Bang!
"Bang, bang!"
Klein, who had already gone to sleep, was startled awake by the sudden knocking.
He rolled over and sat up, glanced at the dawn light outside his window, then asked groggily:
"Who is it?"