Chapter 207: That’s All It Takes?

Chapter 207: That’s All It Takes?

When Bellringer Kanoken heard the name Frank Lee, his expression immediately turned a little strange.

“I know him. He… he is a kind and pure person. But sometimes, he is so pure that it makes people feel afraid.”

Indeed… Klein stepped aside from the stairway entrance. As he followed the bellringer downward, he casually said, “You’re familiar with him?”

Kanoken walked silently ahead. After a while, with his back to Gehrman Sparrow, he said, “I am an unsuccessful product, filled with all kinds of problems, always mocked by others. Only Frank and a few others looked at me normally, treating me as a true person with a soul of my own…”

“Why did he leave the Church of the Earth Mother?” Klein asked knowingly, carrying his suitcase.

Kanoken left the bell tower. While identifying the direction and walking forward, he answered, “I don’t know the exact reason.

“He was an orphan. He grew up in a monastery from childhood and truly treated the Church as his family, viewing the Mother Goddess as his mother.

“He had many strange ideas. He originally had the chance to become a diocesan bishop, but in the end, he nearly got sent to the tribunal. The reason was blasphemy.”

Frank mentioned that before. It was because he wanted to hybridize bulls, cows, and wheat together… Honestly, if it had been me, I would have sent him to the tribunal too… The reason that fellow had no major issues early on was definitely because his Sequence wasn’t high enough yet, so there were limited things he could do… Klein muttered inwardly a few times. Following Bellringer Kanoken, he turned into a street and arrived at an alley behind Saint Draco Cathedral.

Kanoken walked to an ordinary house and rang the doorbell three times, once every two seconds.

After a while, the sound of knocking feet approached, and the door opened with a creak.

Klein then saw an elderly man in a black short coat, leaning on a sturdy cane.

The old man’s hair was white as snow, but his face had no obvious wrinkles. Over his eyes, he wore a black blindfold that blocked all vision.

“Councilor, Mr. Gehrman Sparrow has come to visit you.”

Councilor Ricciardo? He’s Councilor Ricciardo? He’s blind? Klein had only heard the man’s voice before and had never seen him. Now, he could not help feeling a little surprised.

Ricciardo tilted his ear slightly, slowly turning his head toward the place where Gehrman Sparrow stood. With a chuckle, he said, “My apologies. I can only meet you like this. When I woke this morning, I suddenly had a premonition that I must not open my eyes to look at anything today. To prevent accidents, I had no choice but to put on a blindfold.”

…So it can be done like that… This fortune-teller style is beyond me… For a moment, Klein found it both funny and bewildering.

Immediately afterward, he understood the accurate interpretation of the other man’s premonition:

Don’t look at him!

He remembered that Beyonders of the Monster pathway could see certain things other people could not. That was why the Snake of Fate, Will Auceptin, had detected his specialness, and why Ademisaul from Tingen had bled from both eyes and collapsed in pain the moment he saw Klein.

Councilor Ricciardo foresaw the danger and put on a blindfold ahead of time… Sigh. If not for that, I really would have asked him what he could see… Klein had no hobby of forcing others to injure themselves. He reined in his thoughts and instead asked, “Do you have any clues about the mystical item I need?”

“Not for the moment.” Councilor Ricciardo smiled. “After my injuries recovered, I went to Bayam. My luck was rather good. I happened to run into the transfer of higher-ups from the navy and the Governor-General’s Office, and I successfully rescued Roy King. However, it also wasted quite a bit of time.”

Klein had expected this, so he was not surprised at all. He said, “Then I’ll trade that request for a favor.

“A friend of mine came into contact with a mural left behind by the Angel of Fate, and he is now plagued by bad luck. It needs to be thoroughly removed.”

Councilor Ricciardo thought for a moment and said, “No problem. Take me to him. Don’t let him go outside. There may be accidents.”

Klein nodded. Carrying his suitcase, he walked toward the mouth of the alley while seizing the opportunity to ask, “Councilor, how much do you know about the Mother Tree of Desire?”

In Klein’s view, the Life School and Rose School of Thought had many open conflicts, so they should understand one another quite deeply.

Ricciardo leaned on his cane and walked slowly beside and slightly behind Klein. He needed neither assistance nor guidance, as if he were not wearing a blindfold at all.

He chuckled and said, “The Mother Tree of Desire is the incarnation of the Rose School of Thought’s Chained God. However, I suspect the truth may be exactly the reverse: the Chained God is one of the Mother Tree of Desire’s incarnations. My reason is that Red Light Aiur Moria says the Sequence 0 position of the Mutant pathway is still empty. Heh, do you know what Sequence 0 is?”

“I do,” Klein answered simply, without elaborating. He did not even indicate that he also knew of the Brotherhood of Pure Light.

Councilor Ricciardo gave a soft “Mm” and said, “In short, no one knows the Mother Tree of Desire’s true identity. Nor is it clear which pathway She corresponds to. Perhaps that is Her true identity. In addition, I can provide a few side details.

“The Mother Tree of Desire and the Primordial Moon oppose each other. There seems to be an irreconcilable contradiction between Them. That is why the Rose School of Thought is always hostile toward us.

“But at times, the relationship between the Mother Tree of Desire and the Primordial Moon is also very subtle. You may find it difficult to imagine, but in the Southern Continent there are moon-worshiping Witch Kings who have joined the Rose School of Thought.

“The seven Churches loathe evil gods like the True Creator, the Primordial Demoness, and the Dark Side of the Universe, but they are even more hostile toward the Primordial Moon and the Mother Tree of Desire.

“Likewise, the Aurora Order, the Demoness Sect, the Blood Sanctify Sect, and the Moses Ascetic Order all dislike the Rose School of Thought.”

That’s rather interesting… The Mother Tree of Desire is one of the two most isolated existences? Thoughtfully, Klein stopped a carriage and watched Bellringer Kanoken help Councilor of Fate Ricciardo into it.

He then entered the carriage and instructed the driver to head to the nearby inn.

It did not take long for the carriage to arrive at its destination. Klein was about to get out when he suddenly heard a tremendous boom. The thunderous explosion made the entire street visibly tremble, and fragments of glass from window after window fell to the ground.

No way… Was this caused by Anderson’s bad luck? Klein’s spiritual intuition told him the truth was indeed so, though the unluckiest Hunter did not seem to be dead yet.

He turned his head and looked out of the carriage, seeing that a large portion of the inn’s second-floor wall had collapsed. Flames and smoke still lingered.

At that moment, a figure stood below with disheveled blond hair and ragged clothing, muttering to himself, “There were actually people that bold, trading arms inside an inn—and new explosives too. I nearly died without knowing why… My suitcase…”

Klein lowered his head and glanced at the suitcase he was carrying, suddenly feeling that caution truly was wonderful.

He turned back, supported Ricciardo, and helped this Councilor of Fate down from the carriage.

Anderson sensed something and turned his head. With a bitter smile, he said, “Weapons dealers these days are really unprofessional! Good thing it’s daytime and there weren’t many people resting in the inn. Only the owner is pitiful. He’ll suffer a loss. Still, the gold they brought shouldn’t be destroyed that easily. That should make up for a good part of it.”

I think your bad luck bears a large part of the responsibility… Klein nodded, then said to Councilor Ricciardo, “That’s him.”

Ricciardo immediately turned his head toward Anderson, but the dark blindfold covered all of his gaze.

He paused for a few seconds, then smiled faintly.

“Give me a gold coin.”

“Hm?” Anderson suspiciously reached into the inner side of his clothing and took out a Loen gold coin. Then he smiled toward Gehrman Sparrow. “In my hometown, there’s a custom of sewing a small pocket into the innermost layer of clothing and putting a few coins inside. I didn’t believe in it originally, but recently I’ve really been too unlucky.”

As he spoke, he handed the coin to Ricciardo.

Ricciardo accepted the coin and slowly closed his fingers around it, drawing his hand back.

He then smiled and said, “All right. Your bad luck has been removed.”

“Ah?” Anderson stared blankly at Gehrman Sparrow beside him, as if saying: That’s all it takes? You didn’t find a swindler, did you?

Klein was also astonished, but he chose to trust Ricciardo. After all, this was a Councilor of Fate.

Ricciardo put away the gold coin and chuckled.

“It was just as simple when you obtained the bad luck. If you do not believe me, you may go to a casino and test your luck.”

“That makes sense!” Anderson clapped his palms and immediately stopped a passerby, asking where the nearest casino was.

After a while, he returned in a clean, neat jacket. Looking at Councilor Ricciardo, who waited by the roadside, he instinctively opened his mouth.

He suddenly froze and forcibly closed it. Only then did he smile and give his thanks.

After the demigod was helped into the carriage, Anderson moved closer to Gehrman Sparrow and sighed with a smile.

“What I originally wanted to say was: although you’re blind, you really are impressive in the field of fate… Good thing I remembered in time that he is a demigod.”

If you had really said that, you might have become the Hunter who “died on the spot because his bad luck was removed”… Klein did not echo him. Instead, he said, “You can tell me the clue to that handgun now.”

Because Creeping Hunger had many limitations, he still hoped to own a more conventional offensive mystical item.

Anderson smoothed his hair and chuckled.

“In Bayam.

“It belongs to an old friend I used to know. A very impressive adventurer. Because he grew tired of an unstable, dangerous life, he bought several spice plantations with his savings, found a good girl, got married, and completely left the business.

“He had a child not long ago, and his thinking changed again. He started wanting to give the child a better environment, better education, and safer circumstances, so he plans to move to Backlund. There are the best grammar schools and the best public schools there.

“Heh. He doesn’t want to merely rent in Backlund, and he doesn’t intend to sell the plantations that continuously earn money. He also happens to have a surplus mystical item, so he plans to sell that revolver.

“At the time, I was in a hurry to follow the treasure-hunting team to that sea, so I don’t know whether he succeeded afterward. But well, people who can take out nearly ten thousand pounds in one go are extremely rare. The transaction probably wasn’t that easy to complete.”

“Mm. Take me to visit him,” Klein replied simply.

…

At that very moment, aboard the Golden Dream, Danitz discovered a terrifying problem.

His captain had not appeared for three days!