Chapter 177: After the Exploration

Chapter 177: After the Exploration

Above the gray fog, seeing that the City of Silver exploration team had begun their return journey and that the Giant King’s palace had shown no change, Klein let out a breath and leaned back wearily against his chair.

After nearly two hours of observation, his spirituality was already close to its limit. At most, he could support another fifteen minutes.

“No matter what, the gains from this exploration were completely beyond my imagination. Giving the Silver Knight potion formula to the City of Silver was only right.” Klein rubbed his forehead as his thoughts unconsciously began to drift. “Having grasped so many ancient secrets will be of tremendous help to my digestion after advancement. The problem now is that my Bizarro Sorcerer potion still hasn’t been fully digested…

“From the feedback I’ve been receiving bit by bit over this period, the spread of those various ghost stories really does have a significant effect. Once Miss Magician finishes that manuscript, publishes it, and lets it ferment for a while, it should be about enough.

“But she only started writing a few days ago. Who knows when she’ll finish…

“Why can’t she just write a few more hours every day?

“When I pick her up next time, I’ll remind her while I’m at it…”

At this point, Klein suddenly remembered something: he had not yet paid Anderson for finding Vice Admiral Ailment.

“I’ll wait until he helps Danitz become a Conspirer. That was part of the agreement anyway… The advancement ritual for Iron-blooded Knight is difficult and not difficult at the same time. For a Hunter, it’s especially troublesome… It actually requires someone skilled at provocation and fond of plotting conspiracies to form a team of at least thirty people, cultivate deep camaraderie with them, help them grow stronger one after another, and make them work together with perfect tacit understanding—able to grasp the Hunter’s intent from a glance or a gesture, nearly becoming one body. Then that team forms the ritual… The stronger the team and the greater the tacit understanding, the better the ritual’s effect…”

After watching the City of Silver exploration team return in orderly fashion for some time without any accident, Klein finally relaxed completely. He left the space above the gray fog, threw himself into bed, and fell into deep sleep.

…

Afternoon Town encampment. After resting and recovering, Derrick Berg finally regained his strength. His face was no longer so pale.

He had just eaten bread baked from black-faced grass powder when a figure grew out of the shadow outside the door. In a low, hoarse voice, it said, “Derrick, the Chief is looking for you.”

“Yes.” Derrick instinctively stood. “Thank you.”

He had been planning to find the Chief anyway, so he could hand over the Silver Knight potion formula.

After watching the messenger shrink back into the shadows, Derrick walked out of his room and arrived at the camp square, lit by bonfire.

At a glance, he saw many team members who had not participated in this exploration gathered in twos and threes, excitedly discussing something in low voices.

They already knew that the sea could be seen from the Giant King’s Court. They knew it was not too far from the shore, and that as long as the correct path could be found, reaching it should not take long.

This was a major step in the City of Silver’s attempt to save itself after discovering the outsider, little Jack.

The residents of the City of Silver, whose main powers were Dawn and Daybreak, had finally seen the first light of hope.

Their long wait and persistence seemed about to bear fruit.

Derrick understood how the team members felt, because he felt the same. Yet having heard all kinds of things about the ruins of the battle of gods from The World Gehrman Sparrow, he was well aware that the sea was not simple. To cross to the other side would likely still involve tremendous difficulty.

Leaving aside everything else, the Dark Angel Sasrir, sleeping within the Giant King’s palace and blocking the crucial route, was already a problem they had no way to overcome for now.

We can only hope for Mr. Fool’s blessing… Mm, the fact that that little boy appeared in the temple ruins means there should be another path that bypasses the Giant King’s palace and leads to the sea… Derrick thought with hope in his heart as he circled around the quietly burning bonfire and headed toward the Chief’s room on the other side.

Suddenly, he saw someone sitting silently in the shadow of a boulder.

It was a man in his twenties, much taller than Derrick. He held a pale gold bracelet with three small bells hanging from it, his gaze unfocused.

Derrick was not unfamiliar with him. He knew the man was Antilna’s husband, Dolores, a Sequence 6 Dawn Paladin.

In the City of Silver, before the age of eighteen, people were free to fall in love and marry. But if someone reached eighteen without a spouse, one would be assigned to them. The same applied to anyone widowed for three years.

This was a necessary measure to ensure the City of Silver’s population. It seemed to violate human nature, but for the continuation of the entire clan in the land of darkness, there was no choice. It also ensured, to the greatest extent, that everyone had a certain number of close relatives, reducing the chance that they would mutate into terrifying evil spirits after death.

Dolores and Antilna had been neighbors living on the same street. They had known each other since childhood, shared mutual affection, eventually fallen in love as teammates in a patrol squad, and step by step become husband and wife. Their feelings had been very deep.

Considering that their child was still young, Colin Iliad had deliberately left one of them behind during the exploration of the Giant King’s Court.

On one hand, Derrick felt there was nothing wrong with the Chief’s arrangement. On the other hand, Dolores’s current state filled him with intense sorrow, as though he had returned to the time when he had been forced to stab his own parents to death with his own hands.

From beginning to end, this exploration had lasted only half a day. Yet to Dolores, everything had changed.

After standing silently for a while, Derrick withdrew his gaze and continued forward, his footsteps unconsciously becoming heavier.

At the same time, he remembered a rumor:

Shepherd Elder Lovia had once had a husband, but he had died during an exploration. That in itself was very common and not worth discussing. But during that exploration of the temple ruins, everyone in the team except Lovia went “mad” and had to be purged. Afterward, a rumor gradually spread among some residents of the City of Silver:

During that expedition, Elder Lovia had eaten her husband.

In the “night,” when lightning was infrequent, the wind was rather cold. Derrick shivered and pulled his attention back to the present.

He quickened his pace, reached his destination, and raised his hand to knock on the Chief’s door.

“Come in.” Colin Iliad’s voice sounded no different from usual.

Derrick pushed the door open and entered. He saw the Chief, wearing a linen shirt and draped in a dark coat, wiping his two straight swords with grease.

Without stopping his movements, Colin Iliad raised his head and looked toward Derrick at the door.

“What thoughts do you have regarding this exploration?”

What is the Chief’s purpose in asking that? Derrick, deeply influenced by The Hanged Man Alger, instinctively had that thought.

Unable to grasp the Chief’s specific intention, he closed the door behind him and answered frankly, “There may be another path to the sea. The Giant King’s palace should be very important, but it is far too dangerous. We need more information.”

Colin Iliad nodded, then asked, “The Kings of Angels and those existences named as gods conspired in order to—in order to oppose the Lord?

“And they succeeded, causing this land to be abandoned?”

Derrick had never directly heard such an inference before, but from all the secrets he had learned at the Tarot Club, reaching a similar conclusion was not difficult.

“Yes. It should be so.”

Colin fell silent. Even his motion of wiping the straight sword slowed slightly.

After several seconds, he placed the items in his hands down, paced twice, and asked, “Those existences who participated in the conspiracy—are they still active on the other side of the sea?”

Derrick was quiet for a while before carefully answering, “Most of them.

“But they are not especially active.”

Colin Iliad nodded, indicating that he had nothing else he needed to ask.

Derrick hurriedly spoke.

“Chief, when Light-Slayer Milgongen died, I obtained an incomplete formula for the Silver Knight potion, including the supplementary ingredients and advancement ritual.”

As he said this, Derrick knew his lie was far too false and could be seen through at a glance, because at the time, he had not even dared open his eyes.

But he simply could not think of a better excuse.

If Mr. Hanged Man were here, he would definitely have a better method… The thought had just crossed Derrick’s mind when he heard the Chief speak slowly.

“Very good. What are they?”

…Derrick froze for one second, then quickly recited the ritual and supplementary ingredients exactly as he knew them.

Demon Hunter Colin listened quietly. When Derrick finished, he gave a long sigh.

“Your contribution this time is extremely great. This holds crucial significance for the City of Silver. From now on, our upper limit is Sequence 3 rather than Sequence 4. Within a certain range, the risks exploration teams face will decrease greatly.”

Why does the upper limit being Sequence 3 mean exploration teams will face much lower risks within a certain range…? Derrick was delighted that he had made such a contribution, but he also found the Chief’s words difficult to understand.

However, he knew this was likely knowledge he was not yet qualified to know. He planned to ask about it later at the Tarot Gathering.

He then took his leave and turned to open the door.

“Derrick…” Colin Iliad suddenly called out to him.

Somewhat puzzled, Derrick looked back and found the Chief’s expression rather heavy.

Colin was silent for a moment, then shook his head slightly.

“Be careful of Lovia.”

“Yes, Your Excellency Chief.” Derrick answered from the bottom of his heart.

…

Backlund, North Borough.

Hazel rode a carriage from Elk Manor back into the city, preparing to visit the Loen Charity Bursary Foundation and meet Miss Audrey to discuss donations and assistance.

After many interactions, she had a very good impression of this noble young lady. She felt no pressure around her, and the strange emotions accumulated within her heart had dissipated considerably. She had gradually recovered many forgotten memories.

“I should have had a teacher… What exactly happened that day? Every time I try to remember, my whole body trembles…” Hazel gazed out the window with some melancholy.

Her carriage was currently passing near Böklund Street.

At that moment, a person dressed like a postman rode a bicycle across the road ahead, his posture rather leisurely.

Hazel glanced over casually and saw a monocle worn over his right eye.