Lord of the Mysteries

Mr. X is looking for people with abnormal luck? Above the gray fog, Klein ruminated over the information Miss Magician had provided, in an attempt to analyze anything of use.

After thinking to no avail, he decided to approach it from another angle. He first recalled the people who had abnormal luck around him to see if there were any connections.

Hmm… The Fog Sea’s Strongest Hunter Anderson Hood counts as one… Dr. Aaron Ceres is another… Hmm, both of them were affected by one of the Snakes of Fate… Angel of Fate Ouroboros was one of the creators of Rose Redemption. This secret organization supports and believes the True Creator… The Aurora Order is equivalent to the True Creator’s Church… A series of circumstances surfaced in Klein’s mind as he quickly came to a conclusion.

This is Angel of Fate Ouroboros’s attempt to search for Snake of Fate Will Auceptin!

“He” is driving the members of the Aurora Order to help “Him” find Snake of Mercury Will Auceptin!

And this implies that behind Mr. X, there’s a King of Angels existing somewhere in Backlund!

Under such circumstances, assassinating Mr. X will be equivalent to having a death wish… It’s no wonder Mr. X doesn’t care about the uniqueness of Backlund… The official factions would at most imagine that he has a saint backing him. Hmm, in the official dossiers, the Aurora Order only has five saints. This way, they will respond in the wrong manner… After Klein made the judgment, the first thought he had was to decline Miss Magician’s request, and also to warn her not to provoke Mr. X.

If it wasn’t because sounding the alarm might affect Snake of Mercury Will Auceptin, while the Church of the Evernight Goddess clearly had records of Dr. Aaron Ceres’s bout of bad luck, Klein would’ve gotten Miss Magician to report both the Angel of Fate Ouroboros and Mr. X to a particular Church!

He calmly thought for another few seconds and conjured The World Gehrman Sparrow, making him pray in the gray fog.

“…I’ll confirm the situation and give you a reply tomorrow.”

He didn’t directly reject her commission, as he planned on first asking Snake of Mercury Will Auceptin!

He then immediately returned to the real world, and he carefully took out the extremely fragile paper crane from his wallet before gently unfolding it.

Klein wasn’t in a rush to write anything. Instead, he first recalled the various questions he needed to consult Will on. After thinking up a draft, he got out a pencil and sharpened it with a blade.

After stretching his muscles, Klein wrote:

“The members of the Aurora Order are searching for people with abnormal luck.

“I wonder if you know how to use the Worm of Time to create charms.

“Does your placenta blood count as a Mythical Creature’s blood? If it does, I hope to obtain one drop. What price would I have to offer?”

Klein had originally planned on asking Will Auceptin how he was able to maintain “His” rationality. After all, the Church’s information indicated that there had been no public faith in the Snake of Fate. However, he ultimately curbed himself from doing that, afraid that Will Auceptin in “His” infant state replied, “How did you conceive the notion that I’m rational?”

That way, he had no idea if Will was joking or speaking the truth.

Hmm, although there’s no organization that believes in the Snake of Fate, there are certain areas that believe in the God of Luck; it’s considered a traditional custom… Perhaps “They” are an alternative identity of Will Auceptin or Ouroboros… Klein mumbled silently and used the best of his Clown abilities before managing to refold the paper crane. He then placed it underneath his pillow.

After doing all of that, he had the time to calculate how much cash he had.

17,046 pounds, 5 gold coins, 3 soli, and 8 pence in change… If I had assets like a house, manor, and company shares, having so many liquid assets would make me quite a tycoon in Backlund… Of course, I’m still very far from being a top tycoon. To reach them, one’s overall assets need to be a million pounds… As Klein was glad that he had quite a bit of money, he recalled his debt, as well as the large investments that he needed to make in order to develop his persona’s image.

He then drank a mouthful of water, got into bed, and covered himself with a light but warm blanket before he slowly fell asleep.

Amidst his reverie, Klein suddenly snapped awake and saw the desolate black plains.

He walked all the way to the pitch-black steeple in the middle of the plains, passing through the chaotic and abnormal layout before coming deep into the steeple. Like before, there was a circle of tarot cards on the ground.

However, the protruding area in the middle of the tarot cards didn’t have any silvery lines written.

Will Auceptin didn’t give a reply… Then why did he pull me into this dream? Amidst Klein’s puzzlement, he suddenly saw a black baby pram roll out of the shadows. In it was an infant whose looks were indiscernible while it was wrapped in silver silk!

“…Mr. Snake of Fate?” Klein politely and cautiously asked.

The infant immediately said in a clear voice, “What makes you so sure it’s a mister?”

Isn’t that determined from your name? Don’t mind such details! Klein lampooned and relaxed due to the attitude he was given.

“Then, how may I address you?”

Will Auceptin in baby form tersely answered as it said, stumped, “I haven’t decided…

“As you know, oh—you don’t. Every time I start again, I try to make myself a little different, so as to maintain a good mental state. A child should act like a child while they’re a child.”

Klein’s heart stirred when he heard that.

“Is this the way the Monster pathway maintains its reasoning so as to resist madness?”

In the black pram, Will Auceptin replied briskly, “Yes, every beginning washes away the madness. However, it still needs certain anchoring from faith; otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to maintain my state as a Sequence 1 for too long.

“Heh heh, compared to before, you’re becoming more and more knowledgeable.”

Oh, apart from anchoring oneself with faith, there are other ways to resist the madness. However, “restarting” is clearly an ability of Sequence 1 Snake of Fate of the Monster pathway. Other Beyonder pathways aren’t able to emulate that… Mr. Azik is constantly losing his memories and repeatedly finding himself. Does it also involve the same concept? Klein nodded in thought as he made every second count by asking, “I suspect Ouroboros is searching for you through the Aurora Order members.”

Will Auceptin scoffed.

“I’ve been playing hide-and-seek with ‘Him’ for a very long time. ‘He’ isn’t good at such matters. It’s quite obvious that ‘He’ doesn’t have a childhood. Every time he restarts, ‘He’ grows up beside the True Creator. ‘He’ lacks the psychological experience of the different stages in life, causing ‘Him’ to be very crazy at times, but of course, ‘He’ doesn’t mind.

“I did inform Ricciardo to use the Die of Probability in certain places and leave marks. This will mess up Ouroboros’s judgment. ‘He’ will soon leave Backlund once again.”

That means there’s still chance of assassinating Mr. X… Yes, when the time comes, I’ll divine the level of danger above the gray fog… Klein didn’t continue on this topic as he asked, “Do you know how to use the Worm of Time to create charms?”

Will Auceptin didn’t directly answer and instead returned with a question, “You obtained a Worm of Time from Pallez Zoroast?”

“How did you know?” Klein was taken aback as he asked.

He wasn’t surprised that Will Auceptin had managed to mention the origins of the Worm of Time—after all, there weren’t many demigods in the Marauder pathway who could create avatars—but why hadn’t ‘He’ assumed that it was Blasphemer Amon? The latter could also leave behind a Worm of Time!

Will Auceptin smiled and said, “Pallez Zoroast isn’t in good condition, and he had to parasitize your former colleague. Ah right, your former colleague was investigating Sherlock Moriarty, and he had entered my house in the middle of the night.

“I sensed that there was something problematic about him and had given him a short period of bad luck, causing him to encounter other demigods hidden in Backlund. And when he was in danger, Pallez Zoroast had taken action. Haha, it would’ve been fine even if he hadn’t taken action. It’s only a prank. I would’ve given your former colleague sufficient good luck at the critical moment.”

Leonard is investigating Sherlock Moriarty? The Grandpa in his body is called Pallez Zoroast… Klein frowned slightly, unsure where the problem stemmed from.

Will Auceptin continued, “The creation of a Worm of Time charm isn’t too difficult for you. You can pray to that uniqueness trait about you and use a compound of mercury and pure silver as a medium to draw the corresponding symbols.”

It’s not too difficult… Pray to The Fool? That’s right. The mysterious space above the gray fog clearly has a form of attraction to the Marauder pathway… Klein was thrilled as he felt like he had grasped something.

At this moment, Will smiled and added, “As for what the corresponding symbol is, I’ve no idea.”

…What a huge reversal… Klein couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his lips.

When he noticed that Will Auceptin wasn’t speaking any further, he hurriedly smiled and said, “There’s another question. About your placenta blood…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Will suddenly opened his mouth and let out a cry.

“Waaa!”

He began wailing like a real infant.

…Can’t we talk normally… Klein froze in his spot.

If he hadn’t already confirmed it, he really would’ve suspected whether the entity before him was a Sequence 1, the president of the Life School of Thought.

“Alright, alright. I just wanted to ask if it’s the blood of a Mythical Creature,” Klein said as he raised his hands midway.

Will stopped crying and said with a laugh, “Of course, but I’ll swap it ahead of time. Otherwise, everyone will die on the spot.”

He paused for a moment before saying, “If you can give me something suitable, it’s not impossible to give you one drop.

“Alright, goodbye!”

Just as Will Auceptin said that, Klein felt the steeple shake as the dream rapidly shattered.

Soon, he woke up.