Lord of the Mysteries

Upon hearing Mr. Hanged Man’s question, Derrick replied in shame, “No. I’ve been constantly assigned to patrol missions recently, and I didn’t have the time to investigate.”

Alger wasn’t too surprised, but he was puzzled over one thing.

“Why don’t you get the help of a few friends?

“You don’t have to tell them your true motives. Split the task into very minor missions that wouldn’t garner much attention. Let them search for information in different areas. This way, even if anything gets exposed, it wouldn’t implicate them in a fatal way.”

Derrick fell silent for a few seconds before saying, “I do not have friends.”

Before his parents died, he had a certain number of friends from general education classes and those at the combat training field. After all, there weren’t many people that are roughly the same age in the City of Silver. They often got to meet each other, and they would even become teammates. However, after his parents death, Derrick had become introverted for a very long period of time. Burdened by the secret of the Tarot Club, he unknowingly distanced himself from his friends and stopped interacting with them. The last time someone visited him at home was Darc Regence who had been corrupted by the True Creator.

Alger choked on The Sun’s reply. After taking a breath, he reorganized his words.

“That’s not a good thing.

“You won’t be able to rescue the City of Silver just by relying on yourself. You have to unite a group of people, friends who can provide you with help during critical moments.”

“But, this will make them be suspected…” The Sun said hesitantly.

Alger immediately said sternly, “Being suspected is better than being dead.

“The City of Silver is now at a dangerous crossroad. You have to carefully consider what needs to be done.

“It’s impossible for there to be no sacrifices in such matters. There will even be a large number of sacrifices. Do you wish for their sacrifices to be worthless, or to be of value?”

He didn’t provide any further persuading words as he allowed Derrick to inwardly struggle over what he had just said.

Mr. Hanged Man is always able to find a reason to convince someone… Klein sighed and made The World Gehrman Sparrow turn his head to look at Justice Audrey.

“Are you currently able to treat relatively serious mental illnesses?”

His only understanding of a Psychiatrist was Frenzy and Dragon Might. He knew little about the rest, having only heard Miss Justice occasionally mention Placate and Psychological Cue. Therefore, he wasn’t sure how capable she was at treating mental illnesses.

Audrey’s attention was caught as she eagerly replied, “Yes I can. There’s no problem.

“Mr. World, do you have a friend that requires treatment?”

I happen to lack patients! she thought in excitement.

At this moment, Emlyn raised his right hand and held it to his mouth and nose, as though he already knew the answer.

Klein silently sighed and made The World said with a low chuckle.

“No, I’m the one who needs treatment.”

The entire magnificent palace suddenly turned extremely silent.

Alger, Cattleya, and Fors all knew that Mr. World was a crazy adventurer, but they never expected him to have a relatively serious mental illness that brought him to the brink of complete insanity!

This is the price for strength? Fors trembled as she felt increasingly afraid of Gehrman Sparrow.

Communication and reasoning were still possible with a crazy adventurer, but it was impossible with a lunatic!

The Mental Terror Candle wasn’t able to fully treat his mental illness? It has already reached such a severe state? Emlyn, who had expected this, felt that The World could go mad at any moment.

Derrick didn’t think too much about it, solely feeling concerned for Mr. World. He had wanted to say that the City of Silver had a Psyche Analyst that could provide treatment, but realized that it would expose too many problems. All he could do was shut his mouth as he looked at Miss Justice with an expectant look.

Audrey was alarmed, lost, and puzzled. She said with some deliberation, “Mr. World, based on my observation, you shouldn’t have any relatively serious mental illnesses.

“If it’s just anxiety and immense pressure, you can condition yourself and properly relax yourself to recover. There’s no need for direct treatment.”

The World Gehrman Sparrow chuckled and said, “The reason you didn’t discover it is because the mental illness from before has been treated.

“I’m only making a reservation. If similar signs appear again in the future, I wish to receive timely treatment.”

I see… Audrey nodded in enlightenment.

She suddenly felt a little pity for Mr. World. She felt that this cold Reaper who had killed several Sequence 5s a week was a cold and profound Blessed of Mr. Fool. He was a powerful and fear-inducing Beyonder, but he was also someone whose inner feelings resembled an ordinary person. He was currently suffering from immense stress and was being eaten away by various kinds of negative emotions, slowly walking into an abyss of pain.

After a few seconds of consideration, Audrey sincerely said, “If you are within my reach, it wouldn’t be a problem.”

After her coming of age ceremony, she had obtained a certain level of autonomy. She could spend her holidays at her parents’ family castle, or stay in East Chester County’s Stoen City on her own. However, this freedom was still limited. She couldn’t head anywhere she wanted. Even in Stoen City, there were many areas she couldn’t visit. This could only be circumvented if she joined certain charitable organizations of the Church of the Evernight Goddess.

“Alright.” Having Grazed a Traveler, Klein heaved a sigh of relief. He made The World reply, “You can confirm the location when the time comes and prepare the means to not expose your identity.”

Audrey tersely answered as a scene naturally surfaced in her mind.

She and Mr. World would be in two separate compartments somewhere, with a wall or wooden board in between them as she conversed with him and administered treatment.

In such a situation, Mr. World wouldn’t be able to determine that it’s me. To him, it doesn’t matter as long as he’s treated… This also means that if I can’t make myself available, I can get Susie to do it! Mr. World definitely wouldn’t believe that the one treating him is a dog~! Oh, Susie doesn’t know the existence of the Tarot Club. Unless it’s necessary, I shouldn’t get her to help Mr. World… As Audrey thought, she suddenly felt the joy from thinking up a prank as she went through a great deal of effort in order to stop the corners of her lips from curling up.

After confirming this matter, Klein thought of another problem and got The World to look at Cattleya.

“Can you provide a crate of explosives?”

He believed that as a pirate admiral, she definitely didn’t lack the resources in obtaining them!

“Yes. When do you need it?” Cattleya didn’t ask why.

With Gehrman Sparrow killing so many Sequence 5s, a crate of explosives was nothing.

“Send it together with Broken Finger.” Klein controlled The World to say, “How much will it cost?”

Cattleya replied without minding it, “Just treat it as a freebie for purchasing Broken Finger.”

A crate of explosives wasn’t expensive at sea. They were even rather cheap.

I like that… The Fool Klein secretly said as he made The World nod and then remind everyone:

“That picture from before—try your best not to recall it or even try to draw it when out in the real world.”

Audrey and the other members subconsciously glanced at the other end of the long bronze table and realized that Mr. Fool didn’t say anything against it. They immediately turned serious and didn’t dare to be careless.

This also made Cattleya’s thoughts of writing to Queen Mystic Bernadette about this matter be placed on hold. She had to consider a suitable method that could avoid influencing factors.

Following that, the free exchange segment slowly came to an end as the area above the gray fog fell silent.

…

Returning back to the Future, Cattleya stood behind the window of the captain’s cabin. She was clearly in a dilemma.

Finally, she took a deep breath and exhaled. As she nudged her glasses, she left the captain’s cabin and walked to Frank Lee’s room.

This first mate had been “chased” to the bottom cabin after the crew’s unanimous vote. It was to prevent his experimental products from suddenly spreading.

Frank Lee was rather pleased with this because his new residence was much more spacious. Furthermore, it also suited the condition of a dark environment.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Cattleya came to the bottom cabin and rapped at the door.

“Wait a moment!” Frank Lee shouted a reply. It was unknown what he was busy on.

After a minute, he opened the wooden door with his sleeves rolled up. He asked in puzzlement, “Captain, is there something?”

Cattleya didn’t directly answer him as she used her night vision to peep into the pitch-black interior. She saw blue fish laid on the table with their eyes wide open. From the gap between the scales, green sprouts grew out. Some were already mature with a ear of wheat.

“You succeeded?” Cattleya held back her instinct to take a step back as she asked.

Frank nodded in glee before shaking his head.

“Not yet. But I’ve already made significant progress!

“I’ve crossbred wheat, mushrooms, and a bit of a Rose Bishop’s cells, and I achieved a first-stage product. Placing them in the stomachs of fish, they will be able to absorb the flesh and blood to grow to maturity even without any light.

“But the current issue is that the target is supposed to be monster corpses. There’s a need to prevent the poison and madness accumulated inside to not spread to the food after their flesh and blood is absorbed…

“Also, producing them is a problem. There’s definitely not that many Rose Bishops who are willing to be material. Therefore, there’s a need for them to have the ability to split and absorb flesh and blood themselves…”

After hearing Frank Lee’s description, Cattleya silently nudged her glasses.

“Will such food begin to absorb flesh and blood and multiply while inside a human’s stomach after consumption?”

Frank Lee fell into deep thought. After a few seconds, he said, “In theory, no. Because no one will eat them raw.

“Hmm, I will have to test its activity under high temperatures. No, they still lack the ability to split themselves. It doesn’t matter if they have any activity…”

Seeing Frank Lee in his confused state, Cattleya fell into a dilemma again.

After a while, she slowly asked, “I have a channel that allows me to obtain a Druid’s Beyonder characteristic. Do you need it?”

“Ah? Of course!” Frank became thrilled. “Many a time, my abilities are what limit my ideas!”

This… I kind of regret it… Cattleya suddenly had such a thought.