Lord of the Mysteries

“Your butler might be researching black magic;

“Your valet is secretly worshiping Death;

“Someone among your neighbors has supernatural powers.

“The street where you live might have certain secrets that cause people to have strange dreams…

“You should understand some of the terms mentioned. We won’t provide a further explanation. May the Goddess bless you.”

“…”

Klein looked at the letter in his hand as he was momentarily unsure whether to laugh or cry.

After a few seconds, he couldn’t help but give a self-deprecating laugh.

Just from the contents of this letter, I’m really quite pitiful…

And the matters described don’t seem to be problematic in any way…

As he shook his head with a smile, Klein held a letter in one hand and suddenly shook it to the side.

Scarlet flames surged and devoured the piece of paper.

Regardless, Miss Xio and Miss Magician are rather kind people. The only problem is that what they mentioned are things I already know. In fact, I’m more aware of the reasons than they are… As Klein mumbled, he found the mushrooms he had hidden.

There were a total of four breeds of mushrooms. One was three dried products that could react with water and fish. The second was a new breed with golden caps as they emitted the smell of flour. The third was white with specks of black spots; they were swollen and puffy, as though a liquid was flowing within them as they exuded the smell of milk. The fourth had strange gills running down its two sides, their surface was filled with dense and soft scales.

Klein swept his gaze at these mushrooms and took out a gold coin. He caught it after flicking it.

After confirming the results, he took off the ordinary glove he previously wore. With his bare skin, he grabbed the three new mushrooms to test various scenarios that Frank Lee hadn’t mentioned.

They felt normal to the touch, and there weren’t any changes to the mushrooms. Klein heaved a sigh of relief, no longer afraid that the level of danger they possessed had exceeded his capability.

He was previously afraid that these mushrooms would immediately produce roots upon contact with items of flesh and blood, devouring whatever was in its path to grow before dispersing its spores.

Perhaps it’s the relatively strong light from the gas wall lamps, or it might be as a result of plucking them which causes these mushrooms to lose most of their living characteristics. They will be revived only under special conditions, such as being in the stomach of a living creature… With the intention to figure out the truth, he drew all the curtains to the master bedroom and extinguished all the wall lamps.

Then, he picked up the new mushrooms with his bare hand and determined that there wasn’t anything abnormal about them as they hadn’t fed on his body.

After doing this, Klein lit the wall lamps again and set up a ritual, sacrificing the mushrooms above the gray fog.

Sitting in The Fool’s seat, he wasn’t in a rush to summon Creeping Hunger. He first summoned a metal bottle that had his blood inside to the long bronze table.

Right on the heels of that, he poured a drop of blood on the table and piled the three new breeds of mushrooms onto it.

In just a second, the mushrooms suddenly softened at the parts where they made contact with the blood. They squirmed as they enveloped the blood. Whatever they made contact with grew a dense array of needle-like hair.

“…”

The corners of Klein’s lips twitched when he saw that. He directly adjusted some of the powers of the mysterious space above the gray fog, suppressing all the mushrooms. Then, he sent the drop of blood back into the metal bottle and closed the lid.

He had roughly understood the characteristics of the mushrooms. Without wasting any time, he summoned Creeping Hunger from the junk pile.

Holding the thin human-skinned glove, Klein placed it on the table and removed the seal around the mushrooms.

Then, he saw the Creeping Hunger support itself with its five fingers before standing up with great difficulty. It began retreating rapidly like it was playing a piano.

So you do know fear? Klein revealed a genial smile. He pressed the glove down and “gifted” it with some of the powers of the mysterious space above the gray fog.

Then, he grabbed a mushroom with his other hand and brought it close to Creeping Hunger.

The human-skinned glove struggled with all its might but ultimately failed to escape his grasp as it clearly began trembling.

Klein stopped moving the hand with the mushroom and chuckled.

“Are you still going to randomly praise the True Creator?”

Creeping Hunger continued struggling without giving a reply.

Klein thought for a moment before he compromised.

“I’ll allow you to praise once a day. In the day or in the evening.”

Creeping Hunger’s struggling weakened, but it didn’t stop.

Tsk… Klein continued negotiating with an unperturbed expression, “Thrice a day. During breakfast, lunch, and dinner time. However, you will need to warn me ahead of time.”

Creeping Hunger struggled twice before sprawling onto the desk, motionless.

After another round of negotiations, Klein successfully reached an agreement with Creeping Hunger. However, eating daily was instinctual to the item. It was unable to be weakened much as a result of the negotiations. Therefore, he needed to wait for the sealing method provided by Azik. At present, what Klein could do was bring Creeping Hunger around without it eating. However, he needed to come up with a meal within 24 hours.

How troublesome… Thankfully, after Creeping Hunger fused with Mr. A and the mushroom, its living characteristic has strengthened; otherwise, there would be no way to make any negotiations with it… Klein commented wistfully. Finally, he did a divination regarding the recent matters, and he received a conclusion that there wasn’t too much danger. He also got confirmation that Cuarón’s suicide was a result of the influence of a Beyonder.

After busying himself with all of that, he left the gray fog and returned to the real world and continued waiting for Mr. Azik’s reply.

…

On Saturday evening, Klein, who wore a formal suit, arrived at Saint Samuel Cathedral with Richardson on a carriage to participate in the charity party.

After passing through the main entrance, he was led by a priest to a huge adjacent hall.

There was a baldachin with the Sacred Emblem representing the Evernight Goddess placed inside. High above were a few miniature crystal chandeliers that hung down. In front of it were thin and long candles as well as overturned round metal lids used to store wax.

At this moment, all of them had been lit, illuminating the hall with brightness. It had quite a holy feeling to it.

Klein glanced over and saw a series of neatly arranged seats and guests who wore out of the ordinary attire.

Among them, the women mainly wore two types of clothing. One was dresses that were either bright or dark colors, and they were bold and liberal in their dressing, allowing one to see the fair flesh at their bosoms or their shoulders. The other type wore pure and fresh colors in relatively conservative dressing. Even their collar bones could hardly be seen. Some of them even had theirs concealed.

Based on what Klein knew, this was the difference between married and unmarried women in the Loen Kingdom. As for widows and divorced, they could choose between the two. However, the former tended to choose darker colors.

Aside from those, Klein also saw shimmering necklaces and exquisite earrings, as well as all kinds of valuable accessories. They were a lot more impressive than what the guests that attended the ball or banquet which Macht and himself had hosted.

After walking into the hall, Klein greeted the bishops, Macht, and others he knew and exchanged pleasantries.

At this moment, there was a sound from the door as many guests turned to look back, revealing their smiles as they walked over.

When Klein looked over, his gaze first lit up before it froze.

At the entrance to the hall, the most attractive one there was a girl with lustrous blonde hair that softly cascaded down her shoulders. Her beautiful eyes were green like emeralds. They appeared like the sea which hid a maelstrom within, making anyone who looked at her unable to move their gaze away.

Her facial features were pretty, and she had an outstanding bearing. Her looks were nearly flawless, making the men and women present find it difficult to notice what kind of dress she was wearing or the designer of her jewelry. However, Klein had swept his gaze to the necklace at her collarbone. A lustrous and perfect pearl was being embedded within the crevice between the intersection of her collarbone. It softened the lines at her neck, making her accentuate a clean and mesmerizing feel.

Klein had met her before and he knew her!

She was none other than the Tarot Club’s Miss Justice!

Back when she used magic mirror divination, Klein had seen her before!

Immediately, Klein moved his gaze away, without daring to take another look.

This was an instinctive reaction of his, as he knew that Miss Justice was a Beyonder of the Spectator pathway. If he garnered her attention, it was very easy for her to read his true thoughts and secrets based on the changes in his expressions and body language.

But his racing mind quickly forced him to turn his head back as he continued casting his gaze at Miss Justice.

He discovered that him avoiding her had made it worse and more obvious.

How could a gentleman who liked all kinds of women not take a few more glances when encountering such an abnormally beautiful lady?

At the same time, Audrey sensed the abnormality of a particular man.

His sideburns are a little white. His looks and bearing aren’t bad, making him appear profound… This is likely Mr. Dwayne Dantès who donated more than 10,000 pounds in an attempt to establish a bursary foundation for the poor…

His reaction was a little odd, as though he was trying to hide something…

To Audrey, Dwayne Dantès’s act of moving his gaze away was actually very normal. She had encountered many similar situations in the past. Some men would indeed subconsciously turn their heads away after seeing her, as though afraid that she would notice it, or that they would make eye contact, exposing their moment of being mesmerized.

Therefore, what was odd wasn’t that Dwayne Dantès had moved his gaze away. Instead, he had turned his gaze back again. In addition, Audrey felt that the greatest problem was that the gentleman’s emotions were more of shock instead of amazement.

What’s he shocked about? What is he trying to hide? With her questions, Audrey greeted her parents and brother and the people that gathered over with a faint smile.

Seeing Miss Justice no longer paying attention to him, Klein secretly heaved a sigh of relief as he began thinking.

I need to be careful later and play the role of Dwayne Dantès well. I mustn’t let a Spectator notice any problems.

Hmm… Regardless of whether Miss Justice noticed it or not, I’ve already thought of the excuse for my abnormal reaction…

Miss Justice is indeed a lady from a powerful aristocratic family. I wonder what her last name is exactly. I’ll ask Macht or Bishop Elektra later…

Amidst his thoughts, Klein frowned slightly, having a nagging feeling that he was being watched. Following his spiritual intuition, he swept his gaze towards the door.

Outside the door in the shadows, there was a golden retriever sitting there silently.