Lord of the Mysteries

Panda Novel

After a frozen moment of silence, Amyrius quickly brought his expressions under control. He said in a domineering and deep tone, “Tell me the specifics.”

Klein didn’t hide much of the truth. He began with Aston Rieveldt’s question, before mentioning the warning from the mysterious person in the dream, and how he was told not to make a choice that resisted the trend of the times. Following that, he talked about the sudden telegram, and finally he spoke of Cynthia’s mutation. He went into detail about the situation, the arrogance of the secretary, how he dealt with it, and the general investigations that followed.

The only information he kept to himself was that the 4th February was the first day he arrived on Oravi Island, as well as his subsequent guesses.

Of course, he was also very vague with matters regarding combat. He believed that Admiral Amyrius was understanding enough. After all, what a Beyonder was good at or what unique abilities he had were one of their greatest secrets. If they were exposed or understood by others, it gave others a chance of setting up a targeted ambush, making it possible for them to die under the hands of an enemy of a lower Sequence.

Below that of High-Sequence Beyonders, many Beyonders could be very powerful or very weak!

After Amyrius listened to the recount in silence, his expression didn’t seem to change in the dark room. However, the fact that he hadn’t interrupted Klein’s recount implied something.

After a few seconds of silence, he asked in a deep voice, “The mysterious person who infiltrated your dream emphasized the fate of an era, as well as the trend of the times?”

“Yes.” Klein had already changed back into Gehrman Sparrow’s appearance. He didn’t deliberately go into detail that the mysterious person had never mentioned Aston Rieveldt’s exact plan.

Amyrius fell silent again.

“You maintained my appearance in your dream?”

“Yes, this is my secret,” Klein answered succinctly.

Amyrius nodded indiscernibly as he paced around in a tiny area before looking back at Gehrman Sparrow.

“There were no problems with your choices.”

Upon hearing this, Klein seemed to receive the ultimate and most effective feedback. A large portion of the potion in him was digested as a result.

Amidst the deep, reverberating tone, Amyrius turned his body to the side and said without any hint of emotion, “I originally had no plans to have a contract with the stand-in, and instead I wanted to inform Cynthia that I had the symptoms of losing control, making it impossible for me to have any physical relationship with her for five days. However, I later changed my mind due to certain reasons.”

If not for the temporary contract’s forceful restriction, even if I’m able to withstand the temptations during usual times, I might not have been able to resist the magnified desires last night…

Of course, if Cynthia knew of the five-day restriction ahead of time, she wouldn’t be in such a rush to consume the powder ground from the Proliferation Necklace. It would’ve prevented her from sensing the Mother Tree of Desire and end up mutating… But as such, the ball is in the Naturism Sect’s court. They could’ve made up an excuse to get Cynthia to consume it…

This matter was really targeted at me… What does the Mother Tree of Desire actually want? Also, what was the reason that caused Admiral Amyrius to make such an important change… Klein seemed to grasp the crux of the matter as he looked at Amyrius’s side profile.

“What’s the reason?”

Amyrius said with a deadpan expression, “There’s no need for you to know.”

“…”

For the first time in his life, Klein hated such a response.

After some thought, he took out the cracked pendant and threw it at Amyrius.

“This is the Proliferation Necklace that originated from the Mother Tree of Desire.”

Amyrius raised his hand to catch it before looking down.

“You may leave.

“Go to Bilt to receive your reward.”

Aren’t you worried that I know of something I’m not supposed to know? That’s right. Aston’s ploy has been exposed and is known by his political enemies. As for Amyrius, he was clearly not involved; therefore, it doesn’t matter if I understand anything… Klein imagined that there would be a long-term confidential contract, but to his surprise, he could leave just like that.

Noticing that Amyrius didn’t raise another matter, he pointed at him and said, “Clothes.”

Only then did Admiral Amyrius look up, silently taking off the formal attire comprised of a shirt and tailcoat.

Klein had originally wished to ask for additional payment due to the excessive dangers that went beyond the scope of the original agreement. But after secretly confirming that Cynthia’s outcome was because of him, he abandoned the idea while feeling guilty. He quickly took off the comfortable sleeping robe, switched into a tailcoat, and under Amyrius’s guidance, leaped out of the window, and secretly left the gardened villa while the bodyguards’ eyes were “confounded.”

Amyrius donned a sleeping robe and clenched the Proliferation Necklace before walking to the window. He stood there silently as he faced the crimson moon and few stars in the dark night.

He stood there without an expression, not even changing his posture for a long period of time.

Pa!

He slightly relaxed his clenched fist as the miniaturized rhinoceros horn fell to the ground in the form of shattered pieces, bit by bit, fragment by fragment.

…

The next day at noon, Klein, who had slept soundly the entire night, left the inn and took a carriage to Sweet Lemon Bar. He went to the second floor to meet Bilt Brando.

“It’s over?” Bilt asked with relief and surprise.

Klein nodded and said, “Admiral Amyrius has returned.

“Where’s the rest of the payment?”

Bilt revealed an unconcealable smile. After he dismissed his guards, he personally went to a safe and took out the remaining 500 pounds and a blue cufflink.

“This is the mystical item created from the murloc bladder you provided,” Bilt introduced. “It can provide illusory scales hidden beneath the skin, so you will be as difficult to catch as a fish. It will also help withstand a certain level of damage for you. With it, you can dive to at least fifteen meters without any protective gear. You can freely move about in the water for ten minutes. It doesn’t have any serious negative effects. It will just make you tired easily when in a hot or arid place.”

That means this cufflink shouldn’t be used with the Sun Brooch… Klein extended his hand to collect the money and item.

“Aren’t you afraid that there will be problems?” Bilt cracked a joke.

“Your business is here,” Klein answered calmly.

His meaning was clear. If there were any problems, he wasn’t afraid that the person-in-charge would go missing.

Bilt’s smile froze as he said, “It hasn’t been named. You can give it one.”

“Murloc Cufflink.” Klein couldn’t be bothered to waste his brain cells.

“… Nice name. It leaves quite an impression,” Bilt said with a forced smile.

He paused for a moment before saying, “That Artisan said that he can fix the summoning ritual of a spirit world creature onto materials with spirituality. It will be able to last a maximum of one and a half years, but you will need to provide detailed information.

“Heh heh, according to our agreement, I’ll be responsible for it, so there’s nothing to be worried about.”

“Alright. Make it a harmonica.” Klein took out a pen and paper from his pocket and scribbled the ritual to summon his messenger.

“Messenger? This is rather rare. It’s very hard for Beyonders not from the Death pathway to find a suitable one.” Bilt received the piece of paper and casually scanned it. “Eh, if the messenger is accidentally summoned during the production process, a gold coin has to be given to her… What happens if it’s not given? Heh heh. Spirit world creatures always have something odd about them. I’ve seen some who love music, as well as ones who loiter around shit.”

What happens if you don’t give one? Perhaps Ma’am Reinette Tinekerr might bring the heads of you and the Artisan to me. She’s a creature with a castle in the spirit world. She might even be stronger than me. Well, under situations when I’m not using the Sea God Scepter… Klein lampooned as he said in a deep voice, “The third promised item can be left to the future.”

“Alright.” Bilt didn’t have any objections. Following that, he asked out of curiosity, “Mr. Gehrman, how did you fool Secretary Luan, Governor-general Aston, and Miss Cynthia—people who Admiral Amyrius specifically mentioned?”

“…”

Klein did his best to prevent his facial muscles from twitching.

“Follow the information and think about it carefully.”

He didn’t provide an exact description before he stood up and bowed with his hat.

“It’s time I bid farewell.”

“It was a pleasure working with you,” Bilt answered with a smile.

After watching Gehrman Sparrow’s figure vanish behind the door, he shook his head and chuckled, muttering, “This powerful and crazy adventurer is actually a natural actor?”

After lunch, his subordinate sent him the day’s papers.

As Bilt sucked on a cigar, he flipped through it when his expression suddenly froze.

Last night, the new governor-general, Ben Conrad, held a banquet… New governor-general? Aston Rieveldt has been relieved of his position as governor general? Bilt picked up the other sets of newspapers and found the same piece of information.

With his connections in Oravi, he should’ve long heard of news regarding a replacement of the governor-general. However, the replacement was extremely sudden. Most people only learned of the situation when the new governor-general officially made his appearance.

After a while, a partner who was secretly serving Admiral Amyrius entered the room.

“Your Excellency wants you to investigate the people around you for Naturism Sect believers and sink them all into the sea,” the partner passed on Amyrius’s instructions.

“Alright.” Bilt asked curiously, “What exactly happened? The Naturism Sect suffered a terrible blow since yesterday.”

“His Excellency suffered an assassination attempt from the Naturism Sect yesterday. Miss Cynthia perished as a result. Secretary Luan was injured, and the admiral lost many of his bodyguards,” the partner described simply.

“Ah?” Bilt was momentarily stunned.

A-aren’t these the people Admiral Amyrius mentioned to be careful of when acting in front of them?

I even specially emphasized it to Gehrman Sparrow…

Now, Miss Cynthia is dead, Secretary Luan is injured, and Aston Rieveldt has been relieved of his position as governor-general… The corners of Bilt’s mouth twitched while he wore a blank expression.

…

East Chester County, Stoen City.

Audrey silently listened to a noble lady’s words, echoing her from time to time as she provided an ear to listen to.

Towards the end, the noble lady praised her sincerely, “Audrey, you really are an angel. I feel a lot more comfortable after chatting with you.”

At this moment, Audrey saw the female priest from the Church of Evernight enter. Hence, she exchanged pleasantries before walking over with a smile.

This priest appeared ordinary, as she only provided low-level preachings, but in fact, she was a secret member of the Psychology Alchemists.

“Audrey, the potion formula is already in my hands. However, you need to contribute enough to obtain it,” the female priest whispered while no one was paying attention.

Audrey’s eyes darted around slightly as she said, “That wouldn’t be an issue.

“However, Ma’am Smine, can you tell me its name?”

The female priest looked around before saying with a suppressed voice, “Hypnotist.”