160 Berklund Street, the residence of Dawn Dantes.
Klein stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the drizzling rain fall with the wind, hitting the ground and landing on the glass, weaving a net.
Since the beginning of autumn, Backlund has become rainy again, bringing with it a persistent chill and dampness.
Klein remained motionless for a long time, silently gazing into the distance amidst the blurry rain, his eyes unfocused.
Only when Spirit Intuition struck did he gather his thoughts, which were swirling like a drizzle, and turn his head to look to the side.
Reinette Tinekerr, carrying four blonde, red-eyed heads and biting a letter, emerged from the void.
"Who sent this this time?" Klein asked the messenger girl, as was his habit.
The previous letter he received was from Sharron, who told him that she had successfully completed the ritual and advanced to Sequence 4, " Puppet," of the " Prisoner " pathway.
Klein first offered a few sincere congratulatory words, then apologized and told the other party that he had already obtained what he wanted and would not be going to the Spirit World of Calderón City in the near future.
Of course, he also said that there was a big secret hidden there, which might be related to him, and he would most likely go there again after some time. At that time, if Miss Sharron was available and willing, he hoped to get her help.
For Klein, on the one hand, he might still need to find materials there for his future promotion; on the other hand, he believed that the magical city was related to the ancient god of death, the phoenix ancestor Gregory, and might hold a way to cure Mr. Azik's "spiritual deficiency syndrome." Even if it couldn't give this "death governor" another chance for promotion, he hoped that it would free him from the torment of amnesia.
Of course, Klein also had a plan for this: once he advanced to Sequence 3 " Scholar of Yore ", he would prepare more " Yesterday Once More " charms for Mr. Azik, or directly apply the corresponding extraordinary abilities to help him recover quickly each time he lost his memory.
At this moment, Klein had already received the letter, Reinette Tinekerr's four heads responded in turn.
"That... immortal... idiot..."
... Patrick Bryan of the Artificial Death Faction of the Spirituality Religion... Klein easily understood who the messenger was referring to, because Patrick was the one who had written to him most frequently in the past two months, basically reporting and consulting on any important matter.
After this happened a few times, Reinette Tinekerr gave him a nickname.
Miss Messenger had never shown any interest in this before, and I don't know when it started... Most of the people who write to me regularly have nicknames, except for Miss Sharron... Klein muttered to himself as he unfolded the letter and quickly glanced through it.
In his letter, Patrick Bryan stated that this time, the order from the Southern Continent was no longer for him to make various attempts to awaken " Death," but rather for him to prepare a special ritual to help the Angel of the Death Realm within the mausoleum, Heitel, the leader of the Artificial Death Faction, to recover further, allowing Him a way to temporarily leave the "Self-Sealing Land."
On the surface, the order seemed fine, just a bit abrupt, but Klein still sensed something was amiss.
" The Spirituality Religion of the Southern Continent, Artificial Death Faction, had Patrick perform strange and dangerous rituals several times in an attempt to awaken the ' Death,' but I instructed him to use excuses such as not being able to gather enough materials or the experiment ultimately failing to get through. Now, they finally suspect that Patrick is the problem?" Klein nodded thoughtfully.
He suspected this was a test against Patrick Bryan, a test through a ritual pointing to Angel!
The Angel ' response to rituals extends throughout the entire world.
Well, as long as there's no suspicion that the Artificial Death has gone wrong, that's good. After all, they inherited a large fortune from the Ancient Balam Empire. Who knows if there's a way to influence the Goddess's progress in mastering the " Uniqueness " of the " Death " path, so that neither side benefits... Klein analyzed for a while and breathed a slight sigh of relief.
As for the Angel's probing from the realm of death, he didn't think it was a big problem, because " The Fool " could also mobilize power close to that level to interfere in the form of " Angel's Embrace." As long as the high priest named Heitel didn't descend directly but exerted influence from a distance, he could cleverly mislead him.
Having figured this out, Klein snapped his wrist, causing Patrick Bryan's letter to ignite with a crimson flame, then returned to his desk, pulled out paper and pen, and quickly wrote...
"... You may do as your teacher instructs, but you must report to me and obtain my permission before the actual ceremony..."
Because the reply interval was very short, Patrick Bryan was likely still at his original location. Klein did not summon the messenger, but instead played the Adventurer Harmonica and handed the folded letter to Reinette Tinekerr.
In the light drizzle, Hugh, wearing a simple raincoat made of tree sap, huddled in a dark corner, staring at the side door of the Viscount Stratford's house.
It was not yet evening, but the gas streetlights had already been turned on one after another, casting hazy halos of light in the rain.
After a while, a horse-drawn carriage came from a distance and stopped in front of the side gate, which was in a secluded location.
The Viscount's male servant, who was hiding in a sheltered spot, immediately darted out and opened an umbrella.
He escorted the cloaked woman who had stepped off the carriage, quickly passing through the side gate. The taxi remained in place, seemingly having already received its fare.
Hugh still couldn't see the woman's face clearly, but she wasn't discouraged at all. She waited patiently in the cold rain, like a statue, completely still.
She planned to wait until the other person came out, then try to follow them and confirm their identity.
This is both her chance to obtain the " Judge's " Potion recipe and her purpose in coming to Backlund to investigate the truth behind her father's death!
It was precisely because of this motivation that Hugh persisted in monitoring Viscount Stratford until today. Other intelligence personnel from Military Intelligence Section 9 had already ended their missions on their own after nothing happened in the previous months. Even the man in the golden mask who gave the commission hadn't inquired about it for many weeks, clearly no longer taking it to heart.
Inside Viscount Stratford's bedroom, a pretty, brown-haired girl in a silk robe sat before her dressing table, fiddling with the skincare and makeup products as if she had discovered a treasure.
The middle-aged Viscount Stratford, dressed in a men's nightgown and with his hair still damp, walked up behind the beautiful young woman and smiled at her reflection in the mirror.
Shermane, you no longer need them to add extra luster to you.
"It's just a woman's instinct." The girl named Shermane smiled and raised her hand, grasping the Viscount's hand that was resting on her shoulder.
Viscount Stratford smiled gently.
"When you're handling them, there's a sense of innocent purity about you. Haha, you've brought back my youth, like I'm seventeen or eighteen again."
Without waiting for Shermane's response, he continued speaking to himself.
"My wife passed away several years ago, and I thought I would live like this until God called me. But then I met you. After some time, when the pressure I've been under in Backlund is released, I will find an opportunity to walk down the aisle with you."
"Marriage... you want to marry me?" Shermane was stunned for a moment, and asked incredulously.
Viscount Stratford smiled and said
"Meeting you is a blessing from God. Although your background isn't noble, I've already been married once, so there's no need to worry too much about that. Of course, I'll also find a way to improve your status. Hmm, first, find a businessman and have him acknowledge you as his illegitimate daughter..."
He rambled on about his plans, and saw that Shermane's eyes in the mirror were gradually becoming misty.
"What I find most precious about you is that if I'm good to you, you'll be several times, even ten times, better to me without any hesitation." Viscount Stratford smiled and lowered his head to kiss Shermane on the top of her head.
Shermane opened her mouth, as if she were crying, but also as if she were laughing.
As the drizzle stopped and night fell, Hugh finally saw the woman in the dark red cloak emerge and board the carriage.
After memorizing the characteristics of the carriage, Hugh followed closely, relying on the extraordinary abilities of the " Sheriff " and the wet, deserted streets at night, tracking his target by walking and running.
The carriage finally stopped when Hugh was almost at his limit, having traveled all the way from Queens Borough to Backlund Bridge Area.
Hugh perked up and changed his target from the carriage to the woman in the dark red cloak, continuing his pursuit.
During this process, she was slightly surprised to find that the woman had a strong ability to evade tracking, sometimes circling around and sometimes pausing by using obstacles.
However, this did not stump Xiu, who was an experienced " Sheriff." She patiently followed from a distance without getting too close.
Just as she intuitively felt that the woman was not too far from her final destination and was about to catch up, she suddenly smelled a sweet and ethereal fragrance.
The aroma momentarily confused him, and then he completely lost track of his target.
The fragrance vanished, as if it had never existed.
"..." Hugh's pupils dilated slightly, and he didn't dare to search the surroundings for any more clues.
Inside a rented room, Trissy, with her gentle and sweet beauty that was captivating, looked at Shermane reflecting in the mirror.
You seem to be in a good mood.
"So, is this last task too difficult to accept?"
"Once it's finished, you can leave Backlund and live the life you want."
Shermane paused, her expression becoming quite complex, even showing a hint of disappointment, as if she had suddenly woken from a beautiful dream.
She didn't turn her head; her lips moved for a moment before she spoke.
He said he wanted to marry me...
Trissy immediately raised an eyebrow.
"You can't trust what a man says at that time; you and I should both know that very well."
"If he really wanted to marry you, he wouldn't be wary of you, and he would want to have a child with you. Haha, is that what he did?"
Hearing her question, Shermane's expression gradually dimmed.
Trissy stood up and smiled.
"I won't stop you from pursuing your love. If you want to extend this task to a lifetime, then you should think about what to do."
She said those words lightly, walked to the door, and left the rented room.
As Trissy descended the stairs, she suddenly glanced at her shoes, chuckled softly, and said in a tone that was both sarcastic and self-deprecating.
"Love..."
P. S. Thank you zb for the Silver Alliance donation!
Lord of Mysteries
Lord of Mysteries