Chapter 114: A Concealed Secret

Chapter 114: A Concealed Secret

Count Mistral’s brows furrowed slightly. He did not especially want to admit it, but he still said with considerable honesty,

“The information probably was not leaked in advance either.”

If it had been, then the Rose School of Thought demigod would have had ample time to rely on the responses from the Mother Tree of Desire and the Abomination Suah to lay a more dangerous and frightening trap—rather than the kind that an angel could resolve casually.

That was why Mistral had said earlier that the trap was closer to something temporarily arranged and appeared somewhat hurried.

This fully proved there had been no traitor. After all, the few people who understood the operation plan in advance were those participating tonight. If anyone had wanted to leak information, they could have done so far earlier—unless someone had temporarily changed their mind or wanted to use the urgency of time to obtain more benefits. But both would leave obvious traces.

Sharron, wearing the black soft hat, still looked toward the restaurant that had lost its roof. After a moment of silence, she said,

“Perhaps it was some other method of detecting danger.”

For this operation, the Sanguine had activated a Sealed Artifact that could even interfere with a Devil’s danger premonition, much less spiritual intuition and other things of that sort.

“Perhaps…” Mistral could not think of a better explanation either.

At that moment, inside the second-floor room of the restaurant, other than the glass of red wine and strange little person having already evaporated and disappeared, everything else was perfectly intact, as though nothing had happened at all.

Originally, Sharron and Mistral could have tried to use divination to seek the answer and reconstruct what exactly had happened here before the attack. But now, they could not do so. Every surrounding region had been illuminated by that “red moon,” equivalent to having undergone a baptism from things connected to the Mother Tree of Desire. Divination could very easily point toward that evil god. The result would be unimaginable.

Before Sharron could speak, Mistral silently drew in a breath.

“Every matter contains factors of accident. It is impossible to guarantee one hundred percent success. We end here today. If we remain any longer, official forces may very likely detect something abnormal.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the black chains suspending the roof in midair instantly became dim and illusory.

The roof lowered again, covering the restaurant’s second floor and making it look no different from before.

Of course, when the wind and rain became heavy, this place would certainly leak. If a storm came, the whole roof would be lifted off again.

The enormous bat wings covering the surrounding region then shrank back into the darkness. The pattering drizzle once again enveloped the place with soft tapping sounds.

Hidden in the shadows, Klein watched Miss Sharron in the black court dress rapidly fade into transparency and disappear. He watched a cloud of illusory smoke rise as countless tiny bats flew in every direction. He could not help furrowing his brows, silently muttering,

“What exactly happened here…”

An accident was not frightening. What was frightening was not knowing what the accident was.

At any stage, the unknown always inspired fear.

Just then, a slightly intermittent, somewhat broken voice sounded beside Klein’s ear:

“What…” “Exactly…” “Happened…” “Here…”

Klein turned his head and discovered that Miss Messenger had walked out from the spirit world at some unknown point and was standing shoulder to shoulder with him.

The four blond-haired, red-eyed heads she held were all staring at that restaurant.

“…Can you see what happened earlier?” Klein asked after considering his words.

After the Mutant pathway reached the Wraith stage, one could freely enter and leave the spirit world and directly obtain revelations from there. Whether spiritual intuition, divination, or prophecy, all would become rather formidable. An angel of the corresponding Sequence 2 would certainly not be weak in that regard. Therefore, Klein asked.

The four heads held by Reinette Tinekerr shook at the same time and spoke in unison:

“No.”

Klein nodded thoughtfully and asked no more. He manipulated his marionette and left the area.

…

“So it ends just like that…” Emlyn White, who had been dry-heaving for a while, rubbed the Oath of the Rose ring set with a deep-blue gemstone and muttered to himself in considerable surprise.

Through the ring, he sensed Count Mistral’s frustration, anger, and restraint in not wanting to lose his temper at a lady or vent rage on someone uninvolved. He made the preliminary judgment that the operation had failed because of some accident.

“It’s over?” Hearing his words, Maric opposite him was similarly stunned.

Just now, he had actually wanted to ask why Emlyn White had suddenly grown nauseous and why his expression had twisted to such a degree, but he had properly restrained his curiosity and suppressed the corresponding impulse.

“We… we did not find the target…” Emlyn did his utmost to recall what Count Mistral had seen and heard. However, because Marquis Nibais’s seal had been in place, he had only been able to see the situation at the scene through the pair of Oath of the Rose rings after that “red moon” had risen. Then, he had soon been overwhelmed by the sensation of that mutation and become unable to maintain the effect.

At the same time, Emlyn muttered inwardly:

The Temperance faction’s demigod came by possessing a puppet body?

Which master’s work is that… It is practically art!

“We did not find the target? How…” Maric’s brows furrowed uncontrollably.

In his view, everything in this operation had gone smoothly until just now. Neither he, Sharron, nor the Sanguine had any motive to leak information to the Rose School of Thought.

As for Sherlock Moriarty, he had long since proven his credibility through cooperation again and again.

Restraining the enormous disappointment and confusion, Maric said without much change in expression,

“Then we should leave the area as quickly as possible.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than his figure began fading, truly displaying the traits of a Wraith.

Emlyn instinctively wanted to ask which doll master Maric was acquainted with. But after opening his mouth, he felt that doing so would damage the image of the Sanguine, so he swallowed the words back down.

Even if I knew that master, I would not have the money to buy one… For the mission I carry, some sacrifices must always be made… What a pity. This time, we failed to capture a demigod of the Rose School of Thought. We could not learn their headquarters’ current situation, so we cannot take back the sacred object left behind by the progenitor… Amid many thoughts, Emlyn’s expression gradually grew solemn.

…

Backlund Bridge area, Iron Gate Street, inside one of the billiard rooms at the Bravehearts Bar.

Klein, in the image of Sherlock Moriarty, sat opposite Sharron and Maric.

After a brief silence, Sharron, wearing a black court dress and sitting on a tall stool, looked at the great detective across from her and asked,

“What do you think?”

Klein thought for a moment.

“The influence brought by that ‘red moon’ was quickly erased.”

“You mean, since the Rose School of Thought’s demigod had already detected a great danger through some method or existence, why did he still arrange such a temporary and ineffective trap?” Maric asked thoughtfully after exchanging a glance with Sharron.

“Yes.” Klein nodded. “He should have been able to foresee that, with the danger being so great, a trap of this level would easily be resolved. Then why would he waste time arranging it instead of immediately fleeing? This goes against a creature’s instincts.”

Wearing a small soft hat, Sharron moved her head almost imperceptibly.

“The surface was a trap; the substance was concealment?”

Klein slowed his speaking speed slightly as he replied,

“Yes. Using this kind of trap to ‘cleanse’ the scene, block divination, and conceal what had specifically happened at the time.

“Only if the Rose School of Thought demigod was attempting to hide some secret would he take such a huge risk and remain at the scene for that brief period.”

“But perhaps they simply did not expect us to have an angel of the Sanguine helping handle the trap…” Maric proposed his own view.

Klein smiled.

“They would not ignore the fact that an angel stands behind you. Those who can so accurately attack hidden Rose School of Thought members in Backlund must necessarily be defectors with sufficient understanding of them.”

He was referring to Reinette Tinekerr’s existence.

“What secret needed to be concealed?” Sharron seemed to accept Klein’s suspicion and asked while sitting upright.

Klein shook his head.

“There are far too many possibilities. Perhaps it was the secret of how they promptly detected the attack. Perhaps it was the secret of something they are planning in Backlund…”

At that point, Klein tried to connect the Rose School of Thought to Backlund’s current tense situation, but discovered there was no position for them. Whether orthodox gods or evil gods, none were likely to cooperate with the Mother Tree of Desire.

This made Klein even more confused, unsure what kind of accident such an unknown factor might brew.

He paused, swept his gaze over Sharron’s and Maric’s faces, and said,

“In short, you must be sufficiently cautious and careful next. Even this place should be visited less often.

“Mm. Only under the premise of ensuring your own safety should you try monitoring other Rose School of Thought members and see whether you can uncover the hidden secret.”

“Thank you.” Sharron’s figure floated up, and she curtsied.

Maric did the same.

Scarlet flames rose abruptly, and Klein’s figure disappeared from where he sat.

According to their prior agreement, because he had found no chance to act, his only payment was one instance of free help from Reinette Tinekerr.

…

After returning to 160 Böklund Street, just as Klein was about to undress, go to bed, sleep early, and rise early, illusory, layered prayers suddenly sounded beside his ears.

They came from a woman.

Miss Justice… Klein nodded in guess, entered the washroom along the way, and took four steps counterclockwise to arrive above the gray fog.

As expected, the one praying was Justice Audrey. The noble young lady had already gathered 12,000 pounds in cash and wished to ask Mr. Fool to transfer it to Mr. World in order to complete the transaction for the Dreamwalker and Hypnotist Beyonder characteristics.

Since the ritual can be replaced by Angel’s Embrace, Miss Justice should be able to attempt advancement in the next two days. It is time to put the exploration of Groselle’s Travels on the schedule. Heh, Leonard has already been a Spirit Warlock for several days and currently has nothing to do… Klein breathed out and responded to Miss Justice, allowing her to begin the sacrifice.

As the current situation grew increasingly tense and unknown factors multiplied, Klein hoped to improve himself as much as possible in a short period. This included several aspects: first, increasing his marionettes and Sealed Artifacts; second, helping his allies recover; third, gaining a deeper grasp of knowledge and secrets, which would help him glimpse the truth, understand the true attitudes of different factions, and find opportunities within them.

The exploration of Groselle’s Travels corresponded precisely to the third point.