Lord of the Mysteries

160 Böklund Street, inside the dining hall on the second story.

Klein had just bitten into the buttered toast his servant had served him when he saw his butler walk in.

Walter bowed and said, “Sir, a person of unknown origins pulled our doorbell last night.

“As it was already very late, I didn’t wake you up, and instead got the servants to patrol the area with the double-barreled hunting rifles.

“If you so permit it, I’ll visit the nearby police station to get them to reinforce the patrols on this street at night.”

To employ such a butler, there aren’t any flaws aside from him being expensive… Klein nodded slightly and drank the fresh milk that had been delivered to him.

“Very good.”

…

39 Böklund Street, Member of Parliament Macht’s house.

Hazel entered the activity room on the second floor and saw her mother, Riana, chatting with the housekeeper.

“What happened?” She pushed a lock of black-green hair to the back of her ear.

Riana chuckled and said, “Someone rang Dantès’s doorbell late last night.”

“A prank?” Hazel sat down.

“No one knows. Anyways, Dantès’s butler specially went to the police station this morning,” Riana recounted what she had learned from her servant.

Hazel nodded slightly and said, “It’s best to have the police involved.”

“But it’s useless. No one knows who pulled the doorbell. Apparently, there wasn’t anyone there.” Riana laughed while shaking her head.

Hazel was taken aback as she blurted out, “There wasn’t anyone there?”

“That’s right. Dantès’s butler only seemed to ask the police to double their efforts on the night patrols on our street. That’s good news.” As the wife of a Member of Parliament of the House of Commons, and the daughter of a famous lawyer, Riana had very good relations with the police.

“Not a single person…” Hazel repeated softly before falling into silence.

After a while, she left the activity room and returned to the third story.

Along the way, she couldn’t help but clench her fist and swing it as though she was testing something. In between her brows was a clear look of puzzlement.

…

Inside his bedroom, Klein looked at the large pile of gold coins in front of him. All he saw was the shiny color of gold!

There was a total of 4,000 pounds of gold coins!

After a week of gathering funds, Admiral of Stars Cattleya had finally completed the transaction for the Scales of Luck. Apart from the gold coins, she had also paid another 6,500 pounds in cash.

To be honest, having a pile of gold coins is way more visually shocking than a pile of cash of the same size… As Klein sighed, he took out the 13 Loen gold coins—coins he received from Senor—from his pocket and threw it into the pile.

After doing all of this, he took out the adventurer’s harmonica and blew into it.

Silently, Reinette Tinekerr appeared in front of him with the four blonde, red-eyed heads in her hand.

“Ma’am, this is the first installment, a total of 4,013 pounds.” Klein retracted his gaze from the pile of gold coins and looked at Miss Messenger.

He was actually quite curious as to how Miss Messenger would move such a huge pile of gold coins. He remembered that she always used her teeth when collecting letters.

“Very good…” “You still have…” “Five thousand…” “Nine hundred…” “Eighty…” “Seven…” Reinette Tinekerr’s heads said one after another.

There’s no need to remind me… Klein forced a smile and said, “I’ll try to gather the rest as soon as possible.”

Reinette Tinekerr didn’t speak further as one of the heads tried hard to open its mouth.

Suddenly, the area before her turned dark and deep. All the gold coins were sucked up by vortex-like surging water.

In a few short seconds, the large pile of gold coins vanished.

Reinette Tinekerr’s four heads nodded at the same time before returning to the spirit world.

I still have 8,156 pounds and 5 Loen gold coins… I can barely be considered a tycoon… I could actually afford any investment opportunities if they appear, and it won’t just be me raising the price and mentioning it in passing… This way, I won’t be suspected to be a cheat for the time being… Heh heh, be a little optimistic. Perhaps the investment opportunity might allow me to earn back the money I spent. It’s always fast to make money work for you… Klein silently exhaled as he cast his gaze out the window, forcing himself to enjoy the thinly fogged streets.

…

At night time in the East Borough, the surrounding area was pitch-black due to the few street lamps available, along with many of them being damaged. It was as though there were countless monsters and criminals lurking within.

Xio Derecha wore a hooded cloak, turned into a small alley, and came outside to what seemed like a dilapidated house.

This was the new gathering in East Borough she had previously mentioned to Fors!

Xio wasn’t in a rush to knock on the door with the agreed-upon signal. She first looked down to check her attire.

Unlike how she usually dressed, she wore a pair of long boots.

They didn’t look odd, but Xio knew very well that the soles were very thick. She had stuffed plenty of things inside, allowing a person to “magically” appear taller.

And this effectively hid Xio’s greatest characteristic!

Feeling assured by the presence of her triangular blade, Xio pulled her hood up and knocked on the door with the signal.

Soon, she was led into an activity room inside as she randomly found a spot to sit down.

After the participants had mostly arrived, the host of the gathering finally walked in.

He was of medium build, with a height of about 1.75m. He wore a black classical robe, a pointed mage hat, with a brass mask on his face. He gave off an ancient and mysterious vibe.

Rather dark skin, but it’s not exactly brown. He resembles someone from Feynapotter or Desi Bay… But I can’t be sure. It might be a tan… He has raven black curly hair. This does match my first guess… Xio sized him up as a Sheriff.

The man in the brass mask looked around the room before laughing deeply.

“You can call me Mr. X.”

Mr. X… Xio couldn’t help but twitch the corners of her mouth.

After becoming an outer circle member of MI9, she had learned quite a bit of the situations regarding the secret organizations, and that included the Aurora Order.

Therefore, she knew very well that the Oracles of the Aurora Order used alphabets as their code names, and they enjoyed addressing themselves as Mr. or Ma’am.

And from her point of view, to address themselves in front of others in such a manner was obvious exposure of their identity and background. After all, the members who participated in these gatherings were mostly Beyonders who were lacking in knowledge!

Isn’t he afraid that others would report him? It’s no wonder the gentleman from MI9 said that the Aurora Order is filled with lunatics, that there’s no way to understand their actions with the logic of the average person… Ever since Mr. A vanished, there have been a few gatherings in Backlund that had impersonators, or gatherings that were hosted by his associates for their own benefit. The hosts were quickly reported and ended up being arrested… Hmm, it’s not necessarily the case that Mr. X is from the Aurora Order. Perhaps, he’s just like the others… Xio retracted her observing gaze and silently watched the gathering continue.

She seldom reported matters, because she had experience as an unaffiliated Beyonder. She knew it wasn’t easy to survive in this world with such identities, so long as there wasn’t any accidents, she wouldn’t provide such intel to MI9.

If it’s confirmed that he’s an Oracle of the Aurora Order, I’ll report him. These people are all lunatics. They will bring about extreme danger… As Xio thought over the matter, she watched the others exchange information and complete trades.

She didn’t participate much in it, firstly because there wasn’t any information or item of interest, and secondly, she was saving up for her Interrogator potion.

…

After the end of the gathering, she returned to her residence at Cherwood Borough. Xio saw Fors wearing a face mask that was said to be able to moisturize faces as she lay there leisurely reading.

“How was it? How was that gathering?” Fors asked, pretending as though she wasn’t interested.

Xio threw her cloak to the side and said, “There were quite a number of participants, and there were quite a number of items as well, but they were mostly for Low-Sequence Beyonders.”

“No one will offer anything good at the first gathering,” Fors said as she lowered the novel in her hands.

“Yeah.” Xio nodded and said, “The organizer of the gathering calls himself Mr. X, but no one knows if he’s related to Mr. A.”

Mr. X… A suspected Aurora Order Oracle… Could he be Lewis Wien? Fors’s attention was caught as she languidly leaned back and asked, “What does he look like?”

“He wore a mask!” Xio rolled her eyes at her. “Do you think I have the ability to see through an obstacle?”

“No, no, no. I mean his build.” Fors had seen Lewis Wien’s full figure thanks to her teacher, Dorian Gray, and knew his characteristics.

As a Sheriff, Xio easily restored Mr. X’s appearance and asked out of puzzlement, “Regardless if he’s related to Mr. A or not, isn’t he worried that he’ll be reported for having such a name?”

After Fors heard Xio’s description and saw the portrait she made with her Sheriff powers, she was delighted. There was a high chance that Mr. X was the traitor of the Abraham family, Lewis Wien!

He’s not afraid of being reported because he’s a Traveler. He can calmly escape no matter what happens? If the official organizations were to use their experience like how they dealt with Mr. A, there’s really no way they can restrain him… Fors silently mumbled. She stopped talking about the topic and switched to something else.

After Xio went to take a bath, she hurriedly used her powers as an Astrologer to ask her spirituality, and she stacked Lewis Wien’s image with Mr. X’s image before obtaining the answer that they were one and the same!

It’s really him! Fors stood up as she paced about in excitement and glee in the living room.

Her first thought was to report this to the various major Churches, and also include the tipoff that the target had the powers of a Traveler. Following that, she recalled her prior attempt at hiring Mr. World to assassinate Lewis Wien.

Regardless, I should first ask Mr. World if he’s free to take on this mission. I can’t offend him. Upon recalling everything that Mr. World had done, Fors couldn’t help but shiver.

After making up her mind, she first checked that Xio was having a bath and wouldn’t come out anytime soon before praying to Mr. Fool.

“… Please tell Mr. World that the Aurora Order’s Oracle, Lewis Wien, has appeared, and there’s a high probability that he’s a Traveler, codenamed ‘Mr. X.’”