Lord of the Mysteries

pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ

Panda Novel

Messy Chinese sentences were scribbled on the yellowish-brown goatskin.

“2nd August. This goes deeper than I imagined. History sure is something that can be manipulated easily.

“5th August. I witnessed the abilities of a High-Sequence Beyonder today. It was scary indeed. There’s a qualitative change that has happened to them in a particular aspect, it was as though they’ve transformed into a deity. It’s no wonder that we describe them as ‘Demigods’, though I think calling them ‘Legendary beings’ is more fitting.

“6th August. There’s something strange going on. Why would the Seven Major Churches adopt such a strange attitude towards the potions? At the low to middle Sequences, they not only provide the main ingredients to those who managed to advance, but they’re also generous enough to share the formulas and demonstrate the process needed to create the potion. They would also explain in detail if a ritual is needed to create the medicine, yet finished potions are the only things they provide to those who are advancing to the higher Sequences.

“This isn’t logical. Shouldn’t they keep the formula a secret for the lower Sequence potions and give the candidate the completed potion since it’s relatively easy to gather the necessary ingredients and create the potion? As for the higher Sequence potions, shouldn’t they share the formula and make the promising members search for the ingredients due to the difficulty of obtaining the main ingredients?

“There must be some hidden secret to this.

“9th August. The events of the past two days have made me feel uncomfortable. I started the Industrial Revolution with my own hands and personally ushered in the Age of Steam and Machinery, but this will create the conditions necessary for the Evil God to descend upon this world?”

What does he mean? The conditions necessary for the Evil God to descend upon this world? Klein knitted his brows, his index finger tapped on the edge of the ancient table.

Did Mr. Fool encounter a difficult problem? Anything that can trouble him must be something of another level… Audrey looked at the leader obscured by the thick fog and interpreted his state through his body language.

Klein was indeed pondering over the problem related to the upper echelons, but he didn’t arrive at an answer. He considered the possibility of using divination to gain some sort of revelation.

Yes, it would be impossible to divine something of use with such simple sentences. I’m not a prophet… What if I divine with the statement, “the conditions necessary for the Evil God to descend upon this world”? It feels too risky… The Evil God might not be as horrifying as the Eternal Blazing Sun, but its abilities might be much more mysterious. It might be able to trace the divinations back to me. There’s also no way to divine how large of a risk I’ll be taking if I were to divine that statement. After all, just divining if something poses any danger is dangerous once it has deities involved…

I’ll keep this question in mind and put more effort into observation.

The arrangement of the Churches regarding potions is indeed mysterious. I wonder what kind of secrets they’re hiding? Perhaps I’ll receive some hints about that once Spirit Medium, no, Spirit Guide Daly is made Archbishop or a high-ranking Deacon and enters the core of the Church…

Roselle’s description does make me look forward to the power of High-Sequence Beyonders…

Many thoughts flashed through his mind before Klein stopped tapping on the edge of the ancient table and looked at Justice, The Hanged Man, and The Sun.

“You can start your discussion freely now.”

Alger immediately said, “Mr. Fool, Miss Justice, I received a new piece of information. Rear Admiral Hurricane Qilangos infiltrated Backlund to complete a difficult mission. He might stay for an extended period of time and create an appalling tragedy. Also, I know that this incident involves a very important item, an item that would allow Qilangos to quickly become a High-Sequence Beyonder.”

“Quickly become a High-Sequence Beyonder? Does he not fear losing control of himself?” Audrey asked, adopting the posture of a Spectator.

Qilangos was only a Sequence 6 Wind-blessed, so there was still a Sequence between him and Sequence 4.

Alger had expected this question. He answered honestly, “That’s why the object is important to him.”

“Of course, those are simply my deductions. The information I received goes like this: Qilangos believes that once he completes the commission and obtains the object, he will be the equal of Nast, the King of the Five Seas. The Four Pirate Kings would then become the Five Pirate Kings, and the Seven Pirate Admirals will be reduced to six.

“The average person might not aware of this, but as Beyonders, we should know that Pirate Kings are either High-Sequence Beyonders, or are able to reach the combat strength of a High-Sequence Beyonder with the use of Beyonder boats and mysterious items. For Qilangos to be acknowledged as their equal, he must reach standards that are close to that. That’s my deduction.”

All I know is that the King of the Five Seas, Nast, is a Sequence 4 Beyonder, but I’m not sure of the name of his potion… Klein listened on silently, not giving his opinion.

The Sun, Derrick Berg, didn’t understand anything The Hanged Man said. He didn’t know who was who, but he still listened attentively. He felt a new door had presented itself in his world.

Pirates? The place they live in has seas that are mentioned in books? Then, the environment these people live in is very different from the City of Silver… They don’t seem to be very worried about the curse or the attacks of the Things of the Dark. It definitely makes me very curious… But, Mr. Fool once instructed me not to ask about the secrets of others. It’s a very rude gesture… Derrick thought in his heart, once again observing The Hanged Man and Justice.

“You deduction is very reasonable. Of course, that could also be a mysterious item that could hold its own against a High-Sequence Beyonder,” Justice replied with a smile.

The Hanged Man looked at the fog-enshrouded Fool, pondered over his words, before he looked at Justice and emphasized, “There are two key points in what I said just now, the first being the fact that Qilangos will stay in Backlund for some time. The second is that the incident involves a very important and very mysterious object.”

So, Mr. Fool, are you not tempted? There is ample time for you to send your adorer to Backlund… Alger added in his heart but didn’t dare say it out loud. All he could do was beat about the bush.

Mr. Alger, you don’t need to emphasize this repeatedly, I know what you are getting at… But my abilities do not allow me to interfere in these matters. Furthermore, I can’t leave Tingen without permission… Klein leaned back and thought in frustration.

Ignoring the adorer, I can actually find two relatively strong Beyonders to help…

One is Daly, who has advanced to Sequence 6, but I cannot tell her everything. The most I can do is mention that I’ve gotten some information that Rear Admiral Hurricane Qilangos has infiltrated Backlund and is living at a particular street and what he plans to do. That way, Daly might directly enlist the help of the Nighthawks, making the situation very complicated and troublesome… If you guys cannot find anybody to help you when the time comes, then I can try that to prevent a tragedy…

The second person is Mr. Azik, but I cannot expose my identity as The Fool to him. I don’t have a proper reason to get him to interfere with this incident…

Many thoughts flashed through his mind as Klein replied slowly, “I’m aware.”

Seeing how The Fool continued to not place much importance in the matter regarding Qilangos, he sighed and held back his disappointment. He started asking about the investigation Miss Justice conducted last week.

“… In conclusion, we have more or less targeted the general area Qilangos will be at, and we’ll soon start the next phase of investigations.” Audrey first gave a simple summary, then with the attitude that she was doing something important, said, “We need more information, preferably the hobbies and habits of Qilangos.”

Alger recalled, “He loves fish, especially fish from the sea. He would slice it and eat it raw…

“He also likes hard liquor, and despises champagne, red wine, and the like…

“He will often look for women to relieve his needs whenever he heads to shore, and with his strong body, one woman will not be enough to satisfy him…

“He’s used to using cold weapons and avoids hot weapons.

“He cannot be away from water for long periods of time. What I mean is that he needs to swim or dive once every couple of days.”

…

Audrey committed these facts to memory, creating an ample character of Qilangos in her mind.

“Let’s hope that the investigation will be a success. It’s a pleasure working with you.” She smiled after Alger was done.

“My pleasure.” All Alger could do was force himself to believe in Miss Justice, who had considerable power in Backlund.

Throughout the interaction, Klein seemed to be listening intently, but in reality, his thoughts had been diverted to another question. That was the question of how to deliver ingredients to Sun if he did manage to obtain them.

Now that he had a passable understanding of the field of mysticism, Klein instinctively followed the line of thought of using ritualistic magic. This reliance was natural given the successes he had when using ritualistic magic.

When I was previously flipping through the confidential information of the Nighthawks, I came across records of the Goddess bestowing holy items to her followers. There were also records of items descending in rituals involving evil gods or devils… Does this mean that I can “bestow” someone something when responding to their prayers, and transfer materials that way?

In previous attempts, I could only reply with thoughts containing pictures and voices. But that doesn’t mean that it’ll always stay that way… There could be some new changes when I advance to Sequence 8…

There’s also something important to consider. Can I bring material from the real world into the world above the gray fog? And… Hmm… Oh right, there’s often a step for “sacrifices” in rituals involving evil gods and devils! Can I consider “sacrificing” something to myself?

In that way, perhaps I can bring some material from the real world into the world above the gray fog…

If this attempt is successful, I can get items directly from Justice, The Sun, and The Hanged Man, and then bestow them to myself.

Yes, “sacrifice” is considered a more advanced ritual, so I won’t be able to learn of it for now…

The most important thing to do now is to improve my abilities!

Klein reined in his thoughts, and once again listened in on the conversation of the other members. He listened as their discussion changed from Qilangos to the characteristics of particular monsters.

Some time later, he smiled.

“Let’s end it here for today.”

“By your will.” The Sun, Justice, and The Hanged Man stood up at the same time.

After severing the connections of the members, Klein quickly descended from the fog and left the mysterious space.

When he returned to his room, he dispelled the wall of spirituality and pulled back the curtains by the oriel window, allowing the sunlight to shine in.

There are two important things to do this week. The first is to get examined and advance to Sequence 8. The second is to make Flaring Sun Charms. Its powers might be even higher than that of Sequence 7 or 6… Klein looked outside with anticipation.

Tomorrow. I should be able to receive the report of Mr. Azik’s paranormal disturbances tomorrow!

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