Chapter 105: A Method of Verification

Chapter One Hundred Five
A Method of Verification

The plagiarized manuscripts—no, the creative manuscripts—should count as books of considerable value…

Could that bookmark be the Card of Blasphemy?

Klein’s heart stirred. He lightly tapped his teeth together and quietly activated spirit vision.

However, he discovered nothing abnormal.

He then swept his gaze across the other bookmarks and obtained the same result.

Right. If it were that easy to notice, it would never have been my turn to come here and daydream about it…

Klein withdrew spirit vision and again used the details he had learned from Roselle’s diary, together with the personality the Emperor had displayed, to make eliminations.

According to his understanding, since Roselle had said the book containing the Card of Blasphemy was very valuable, then it could not be too ordinary. Otherwise, it would not satisfy that intense, mischievous bad taste: using a large number of highly valuable pieces of knowledge to set off an inconspicuous bookmark, making the one who obtained it suffer a silent prank.

So books that were valuable, but not highly valuable, could be set aside. In that case…

Klein looked around carefully, distinguishing one item after another. He did not listen to a single word the guide said.

“Judging comprehensively, within this entire ‘study,’ the only thing that seems to meet the conditions is that creative manuscript. The value of everything else can only be called ordinary. With Roselle’s personality, he definitely would not have chosen them. Mm. Roselle is the kind of person who would think, ‘I just want to hide the secret in the most obvious place, yet why can none of you find it?’”

As Klein thought, he mentally added a “bleh” expression for the Emperor.

Of course, he could not confirm just from that that the bookmark was a disguised Card of Blasphemy. After all, among the books of great value Roselle had possessed, there were undoubtedly also works in the field of mysticism—and the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery would certainly never put those books on display!

Mm. I must first confirm whether it is a Card of Blasphemy before considering whether or not to act… What a pity. The date of January 20th cannot be used for elimination. No one knows on what day each bookmark was placed into each book…

After muttering silently to himself, Klein turned his gaze toward the guide who had stopped, smiled, and asked, “Are there things like that tucked inside the books on the shelves?

“For example, notes written to Roselle by a certain noblewoman.”

That question drew knowing laughter from quite a few gentlemen. The female guide shook her head and answered, “No. The books with additional items tucked inside were all taken out and placed here, so everyone could view them conveniently.

“This is merely a reconstruction of Emperor Roselle’s study, not the restoration of the study at a specific point in time. There is no need to maintain a fixed state without change.”

Klein immediately smiled.

“I see. That is truly disappointing…”

This is wonderful! There is only one bookmark in the whole exhibition hall that needs to be verified. The difficulty has dropped sharply…

He happily added that line inside his heart.

When the guide introduced “the books Roselle loved reading most,” Klein once again looked around, observing the overall layout of the exhibition hall.

In order to reproduce that room from over a hundred years ago, there were no gas lamps along the surrounding walls of the exhibition hall.

The main illumination came from the bow window several meters away behind an iron railing, and from the enormous crystal chandelier hanging down from the ceiling.

As for the brass lamp stand on the desk, there were no candles placed upon it. It was purely ornamental.

Klein looked toward the bow window and saw the withered, yellowing lawn outside, along with a straight black iron lamppost.

He noted the position and looked back toward the books the female guide was introducing, while in his mind he began analyzing whether a theft plan was feasible.

“One premise is this: according to Roselle’s meaning, the major Churches and the ancient families that serve as royal houses all do not wish to see him spread the Cards of Blasphemy and damage the stable order preserved for more than a thousand years.

“So if I were the archbishop responsible for handling this matter, I would directly set fire to all items Roselle left behind. If the Card of Blasphemy could be completely destroyed that way, the result would perfectly fit the wishes of the deities. If the Card of Blasphemy were difficult to destroy, then after the burning, it would surely expose its own abnormality.

“Since Roselle’s relics are all still here, that means he must have used some method to make everyone, including the deities, believe that he had sent out all of the Cards of Blasphemy and had not kept a single one.

“Of course, it is not impossible that certain Churches or some ancient family hoped to use the Cards of Blasphemy to complete some Beyonder pathway they needed. But that possibility is extremely small. If that were so, Roselle would have had the chance to unite some factions against the others. There would have been no need for him to reach the point of spreading the Cards of Blasphemy and damaging order.

“In that case, his diary would have shown a certain amount of confidence and corresponding worries. It could not possibly have contained only pessimism, with his thoughts turning only toward relying on that ancient secret organization.

“Adding to that, more than a hundred years have passed. The Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, which has preserved these relics, must have carried out countless supplementary searches. Therefore, almost no one should still believe that a Card of Blasphemy is hidden here.

“In other words, the security level for this exhibition will not be too high.

“And very importantly, the entire Backlund has been made restless and fearful by that serial-killing Demon. The Beyonders of the three great Churches are carrying out citywide investigations and searches. The Machinery Hivemind should have very limited personnel available to assign to this unimportant exhibition.

“Mm. What is most worth protecting here is Roselle’s diary. Many wild Beyonders worship the Emperor and believe that those ‘original symbols’ record profound mysteries. They have the motive and ability to steal them, so the guards’ focus must be in that exhibition hall.

“I will go back and perform divination above the gray fog, comparing it with my analysis.

“But first, I must verify whether it is a Card of Blasphemy. Otherwise, I would take a certain amount of danger and expend enormous effort, only to steal an ordinary bookmark in the end. I might as well lie back in my grave! Mm. How should I verify it? I cannot wait until I sneak in again to do it, and I do not have a chance now either… I need to find someone else to help. I must be careful!”

With a focused expression, Klein followed behind the guide, appearing to listen with extreme seriousness.

Miss Magician. She is an Apprentice. She can pass through walls and doors, roughly like someone holding the Master Key. She is a decent candidate… But she is only Sequence 9. A mission like sneaking in to verify something would be too dangerous for her…

Miss Xio? No. She is not suited for this at all… Have her find a thief to help? No, no. There are Beyonders guarding this place. A thief would likely be caught on the spot, thereby exposing that someone is targeting Roselle’s bookmark…

Miss Sharron? Her strength is enough, and her state suits this kind of mission as well. But the problem is that a Card of Blasphemy is a divine object capable of making most Beyonders slaughter one another. I still cannot trust her…

…

Klein’s thoughts turned as he analyzed the helpers he could ask for.

Gradually, he locked onto one target:

Miss Justice!

Her family background is extraordinary. She belongs to the nobility. Could she perhaps use wealth and authority, under the excuse of interest, to touch that bookmark? Mm. The chance is not small. Moreover, this method would not alarm anyone, which would make it easier for me to sneak in later and steal it…

The more Klein thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

As for the method of verification, because the Card of Blasphemy resisted divination and prophecy, he could temporarily think of only one method:

try to damage that bookmark a little!

The fact that it resisted divination and prophecy did not mean that using similar methods on the object hiding the Card of Blasphemy would result in failure or interference. If that were so, would it not be exposing itself?

The true meaning was that even if one held the Card of Blasphemy, divining it would be equivalent to divining an ordinary object—equivalent to divining the ordinary thing it had disguised itself as.

In any case, I cannot guess what “activation password” the Emperor set. I can only use such a simple and crude method to confirm. If the Card of Blasphemy really can be damaged, then I can only say that, for now, it has no fate with me… Mm. Given the Emperor’s preferences, perhaps I can try an opening incantation…

He once joked in his diary, “Do you want my treasure? Then go to the end of the Misty Sea and search for it.” And the Card of Blasphemy is a kind of treasure!

The activation incantation set to the ancient Hermes word corresponding to “One Piece”? No, if so, no one would ever be able to obtain it unless a second transmigrator appeared. That does not fit the Emperor’s intention of creating chaos and damaging order. So perhaps the Hermes or ancient Hermes word corresponding to “Pirate King”?

Klein slowly settled on the idea and paid increasing attention to the layout of the exhibition hall.

Following the female guide, they left the reconstructed study and entered other halls.

When everything ended and they could move freely, Klein asked with a somewhat embarrassed air, “Pardon me, I would like to know where the washroom is. Upstairs?”

“No. Upstairs is the office area. Walk straight along this route, then turn left, and you will see it.”

The female guide politely pointed in a direction.

Using that opportunity, Klein clarified the spatial relationship between the washroom and the major exhibition halls, roughly sketching a layout map in his mind.

Around noon, he left the Kingdom Museum without doing anything and returned to 15 Minsk Street.

Klein had originally planned to instruct Miss Justice directly in the tone of The Fool, telling her that his blessed one needed help. But after considering it carefully, he felt that would damage Mr. Fool’s image somewhat.

As a profound, unfathomable figure, He must appear indifferent. He could not constantly request aid for his blessed one—at least, He could not personally mention that sort of thing again and again…

Klein thought for a while and quickly found a solution.

He decided to directly transmit the image and sound of his blessed one praying for assistance to Miss Justice.

In that process, Mr. Fool would not say anything at all!

Hoo. Klein exhaled, drew the curtains, rubbed his cheeks, and began praying to himself:

“The Fool that does not belong to this era;

“The mysterious ruler above the gray fog;

“The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.

“I pray for a certain degree of assistance.

“I pray that someone may help me touch the bookmark tucked inside Roselle’s creative manuscript.

“Help me inflict a very small and difficult-to-detect damage upon it, and tell me what reaction occurs. During that process, the corresponding Hermes or ancient Hermes word for ‘Pirate King’ may be silently recited.

“No matter who offers help, even if no reaction appears, I am willing to pay five hundred pounds as compensation, deducted from the unpaid five thousand pounds.

“If there is a reaction, I am willing to give more.”

…

After completing all of that, Klein waited a while before entering above the gray fog and seeing the curtain of light that displayed his own prayer.

After divining that “sneaking into the Kingdom Museum at night to steal the bookmark” carried some danger but not much, he extracted the prayer information, thickened and increased the “mosaic” over the image, adjusted the voice so it was slightly distorted, and then threw it into the illusory star that symbolized Miss Justice.