Chapter 80: Derrick’s Concerns

Chapter Eighty
Derrick’s Concerns

The Fallen Creator?

The Sun Derrick’s brows immediately knitted together.

The residents of the City of Silver had always believed in “the Lord who created everything, the omniscient and omnipotent God.” Hearing a similar title crowned with the word fallen inevitably caused instinctive rejection and discomfort.

The Fallen Creator… That is Mr. Fool’s name for the True Creator… So this evil god also has such an image… But why would His statue and temple appear within the City of Silver’s range of exploration? That place is suspected to be the Forsaken Land of the Gods! Or could it be that before that land was abandoned by the gods, the faith of the True Creator already existed there… Could the sanctuary the Aurora Order has always proclaimed truly be in the Forsaken Land of the Gods?

The Hanged Man Alger instantly thought of many things, yet could not make any definite judgment, because history before the Cataclysm had long since transformed into myth and legend. It could not be described merely as being shrouded in fog.

After two seconds of thought, he deliberately said, “We have another name for the Fallen Creator: the True Creator.

“The power that believes in Him controls the Beyonder pathway of Secrets Suppliant, Listener, and Hermit. Later on comes the Shepherd you once mentioned.”

Shepherd?

The silent Sun Derrick suddenly sat upright, his eyes filled with shock.

He was not unfamiliar with the Beyonder pathway The Hanged Man had mentioned. It was only that for certain Sequences, the City of Silver used similar words—for example, Whisperer and Listener.

So that strange and evil statue represents the Secrets Suppliant pathway… Elder Lovia is already a Shepherd… She has been behaving more and more strangely… Derrick suddenly began to worry about the recently promoted elder of the six-member council, and to worry about the City of Silver’s safety.

In past explorations of the surrounding region, the City of Silver had discovered several thoroughly destroyed cities. In those places, only words carved behind a few pieces of rubble proved that a civilization had once existed there.

Those words belonged to variants of Dragonese, Jotun, and Elvish. Most of them repeatedly described a single existence.

That existence was called:

“Evil god!”

The residents of the City of Silver who had participated in those operations all guessed that those city-states had been destroyed by an evil god. Therefore, after discovering that the pathway Elder Lovia belonged to was possibly controlled by an evil god, how could The Sun Derrick not be shocked, not be worried, not be terrified?

He returned to his taciturn state. This greatly disappointed Justice Audrey, who had been waiting to hear more stories about the City of Silver.

After attending so many gatherings, and after buying information about the dragon race last time, her interest in the City of Silver had only grown stronger.

His reaction is slightly different from what I imagined…

The Hanged Man Alger calmly observed for a while but gained nothing more.

For a moment, he could not find a better topic to introduce. If he asked directly, he suspected The Sun would request payment, and that was by no means easy for him now that he bore the debt of two Beyonder materials.

Just then, they all heard the sound of the table being lightly tapped.

Within the dense gray fog, Klein concealed his exhaustion and chuckled softly.

“This gathering ends here.”

“Your will is our wish,” Justice Audrey immediately stood, lifted an illusory skirt, and gave a curtsy. The Hanged Man, The Sun, and The World answered one after another in similar words.

Klein waved his hand and cut off the connection, quietly watching as the blurred figures of Miss Justice and the others turned into light and scattered.

Then he made his alternate account, The World, vanish instantly, while he himself picked up the small badge he had obtained from Lanevus and studied it.

“Hold this, and you may join.”

Klein recited the words on the badge’s back, but discovered that the object in his hand showed no change.

After thinking for a moment, he cautiously poured spirituality into it.

A layer of faint light bloomed hazily, swiftly condensing into a beam that shot out beyond the gray fog.

But it was reflected back by the boundless gray fog.

The beam abruptly scattered and transformed into an illusory sheet of goatskin the size of a palm. Upon it was written a line in ancient Feysac:

“January 4th, 1350, 8:00 p.m., Babul Valley.”

A simple communication device in the field of mysticism? It sends a message, requests synchronization, and obtains the latest gathering time and location?

Recalling the image he had just seen, Klein gained a preliminary judgment regarding the badge’s use.

“1350—that is next year… Babul Valley is located along the section of the Tussock River before it enters Backlund… The time is very detailed, but the location is vague. That is nearly a hundred kilometers of valley… Perhaps once there, this badge can also serve as a positioning tool…”

Quite interested, Klein turned the badge in his hand again and again, trying to study the corresponding symbols, incantations, and signs to see whether he could imitate one himself.

Unfortunately, after leaving the Nighthawks, his mysticism knowledge remained at the same level as before. He had not gained a chance for more advanced study.

Thus, after researching for several minutes, he could only helplessly give up.

As for the phrase “Hold this, and you may join,” Klein’s current plan was not to consider it for the time being.

If I can become Faceless before the end of this year, I can disguise myself and go have a look. Otherwise, forget it…

Klein murmured soundlessly to himself, then shifted his attention to advancing to Magician.

The Mist Treant’s true root and sap from The Sun should be reliable… If my luck is not too bad, I should be able to obtain the Evil-patterned Black Panther’s spinal fluid this week as well. Sequence 7, mid-Sequence—it is already something I can see and touch… Mm… How should one act as a Magician?

As he thought, Klein began considering concrete issues.

Because of what he had experienced before and after his resurrection, he had suddenly grasped the true essence of the Clown. Therefore, over the past month or so, he only needed to keep acting in daily life, gradually digesting it. He had not needed to summarize separately, then revise based on feedback. At the moment he killed Lanevus, completing the first stage of his revenge—laughing with tears in his eyes—the Clown potion had naturally and thoroughly been digested.

That was not quite the same as Klein’s earliest process of digesting the Seer potion. It counted as a comparatively special situation. Now, his acting as a Magician would return to the former kind.

“The essence of a Magician is making the false pass for the true? Mm. According to Zaratul’s statement in the Emperor’s diary, although the mainstream of this pathway is not fate, there is ultimately still a portion of it that belongs to fate. So here, corresponding content should also exist? For example, seeming to alter fate to a certain degree, only for one to finally discover that it was merely illusion, merely magic, merely deception?”

Klein rubbed his forehead, wrapped himself with the remaining spirituality, and dropped through the gray fog.

…

Saint George Borough, inside a two-bedroom house.

“Fortunately, I prepared this additional place. Otherwise, I would not even know where to hide.”

Fors stared into the mirror and flicked her hair.

“Yes…”

Xio lay on the bed and answered weakly.

“I just read in the newspaper that Lanevus is already dead. But since this matter involves divinity, it definitely will not end so quickly. We still have to hide for a while. Eh—no, that is not right. You have to hide, not me. I am an upright clinic doctor and bestselling novelist!”

Fors applied simple makeup in front of the mirror.

Xio had no words to respond. Slowly sitting up, she said, “Good thing I was smart enough and experienced enough. When I had someone report it, I did not directly say it involved the True Creator’s divinity. I only described it as seeming very dangerous, that the target’s changes were huge, that there was a feeling of praying to an evil god, and so on. Otherwise, I would not dare remain in Backlund. Being drawn into high-level struggles is truly hard and dangerous. I never want to accept Miss Audrey’s missions again!”

“Is that so?” Fors asked back without turning around.

“Uh…”

Xio was silent for several seconds before changing the subject.

“Actually, there was no need for us to mention the matter of divinity. Since Miss Audrey’s side could find out, the Church of the Goddess certainly could as well… They should have already killed that Giant, right?”

“I have no way to confirm that,” Fors answered not at all tactfully.

Xio froze, then let out a long, slow sigh.

Fors stopped what she was doing, turned her head, glanced at Xio, and said, “You basically completed this mission on your own. I will not share the bounty with you. Two hundred pounds in total, added to your savings of seventy pounds. Even after deducting the commission, you are already very close to the first Beyonder material for the Sheriff potion!”

“But the hundred pounds from the police will not be obtained so quickly.”

Xio pursed her lips.

This was not because the police were slow to pay bounties. Rather, she could not collect it directly and had to go through the friend who had submitted the clue for her—that person was the officially recognized bounty recipient.

Since she believed the matter had certainly become very serious, she did not have the courage to look for that friend in the short term.

As for whether that friend would swallow the generous bounty, she was comparatively confident. The person had helped too many shady bounty hunters with similar matters. Commission was commission, but if they dared pocket everything, they would have long since died in some dark, narrow alley.

“But it will belong to you eventually.”

Fors paused for two seconds, then asked seriously, “Once you have enough money, will you contact that masked man, work for him, and buy the corresponding ingredients from him?”

“No—unless there is absolutely no way to obtain them anywhere else, unless there is no hope,” Xio gave her answer.

…

Queen’s Borough, inside Earl Hall’s luxurious villa.

Audrey was still savoring today’s gathering when she suddenly saw her personal maid Annie approach with a sheet of paper.

“Miss, your telegram.”

Annie smiled.

“It is from the east coast of Balam.”

Alfred’s?

Audrey accepted it delightedly and read carefully:

“My dear sister, the Seven-Colored Lizard Dragons you wanted arrived at Pritz Harbor last night. I instructed them to be delivered to your estate in the suburbs.”

They arrived last night? Then at the earliest today, at the latest tomorrow, they should reach my estate…

Audrey tilted her head and looked toward Susie, who was battling snacks. With a faint smile, she said, “Susie, the gift I prepared for you will arrive soon.”

“Woof?”

Susie looked at her mistress in confusion.