Chapter 199: A New Way to Obtain Intelligence

Chapter 199: A New Way to Obtain Intelligence

Anderson glanced at Danitz’s expression and continued as if he had noticed nothing at all.

“Still, their brains seemed to have been eaten by living corpses. They were fanatical to the point of stupidity, and that didn’t suit my tastes. I swindled a few things from them and left.

“Hm? Why is your face a little pale? You’re sweating quite a bit. Heatstroke? As a Hunter, shouldn’t adapting to your environment be an instinct?”

Danitz raised his right hand and wiped away his sweat. After cursing inwardly a few times, he forced out a smile.

“I once heard someone say that once a person believes in an evil god, breaking free is almost impossible.”

As he spoke, his chin lifted, as though to say, Let’s see how you survive this. He had completely failed to consider that Gehrman Sparrow had just offended the Aurora Order and was currently being hunted by believers of the True Creator. Nor did he connect that thought to the fact that he himself was now worshiping the Fool, who was suspected of being an evil god.

“That’s quite right,” Anderson replied, his smile carrying not the slightest trace of gloom. “But I never truly believed. Back then, all the lines I recited were phrases I had altered from the honorific name of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. In any case, they don’t like using their brains. No, they don’t have such things to begin with. As long as you put on a sufficiently pious face and casually come up with an excuse, you can fool them.”

Without waiting for Danitz to expand on the subject, Anderson changed the topic.

“Why did you suddenly bring up the Aurora Order?”

Danitz bit fiercely into his roasted meat, slowly chewed, swallowed, and deliberately waited twenty or thirty seconds before saying,

“Because I just remembered something. Who knows what Gehrman Sparrow did, but the Aurora Order has listed him as a major target that must be eliminated with high priority. Oh, right, the Numinous Episcopate too. And you and I are both publicly recognized as people connected to him.”

“You’re telling me to be careful of the Aurora Order and the Numinous Episcopate?” Anderson nodded in realization and chuckled. “You seem to have said similar things quite recently—the Rose School of Thought, the Church of Storms, the Loen military… Hiss. Sometimes I feel Gehrman Sparrow is better suited to be a Hunter than I am.”

For once, Danitz did not refute him. Instead, he nodded heavily, feeling deep agreement.

Anderson thought for a moment, then suddenly changed the subject without warning.

“What exactly did you come to West Balam for this time? To help Gehrman Sparrow?”

Hearing the question, Danitz fell silent for a second. He put down what he was holding and straightened his clothes in an unhurried manner.

“An investigation into the beliefs of various social classes in West Balam.”

This was the purpose of the trip that he and Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina had settled on after discussion. In more common terms, it meant investigating the development and spheres of influence of the major secret organizations in West Balam.

Of course, it also involved making initial contact with the local ruling powers and finding out whether they had any need to purchase guns and ammunition.

“An investigation into the beliefs of various social classes in West Balam…” Anderson repeated Danitz’s words. By reflex, he raised his right hand and rubbed his temple, as though he had developed a rather severe headache.

…

After the Tarot Gathering ended, after warning Star Admiral to beware of the Aurora Order and the Numinous Episcopate’s “investigations” and suggesting that she seek assistance from the Moses Ascetic Order, Klein busied himself with completing the three-way transaction between The World, The Moon, and The Sun, obtaining 5,000 pounds in cash.

When dinner was over, he sat with an unlit decorative pipe between his teeth while reading the newspaper. Then he saw his messenger, Miss Messenger, walk out of the void and deliver a letter.

“Leonard’s…” Klein took the letter and, at the same time, paid attention to whether Reinette Tinekerr would linger. He found that this messenger lady swiftly returned to the spirit world.

That confirmed for him that Leonard Mitchell had paid the postage. Klein drew his other hand out of his pocket and unfolded the letter.

“Ince Zangwill has appeared in East Balam and is suspected to have met Palenque Tacibli of the Artificial Death faction of the Numinous Episcopate…”

Ince Zangwill… Klein chewed over the name and slowly leaned back against the easy chair.

In the letter, Leonard hoped that Klein could secretly conduct some investigation as well and figure out Ince Zangwill’s purpose.

“But the problem is, just last time we mentioned that 0-08 has a trait similar to ‘whatever is spoken of must be known.’ Once you know of it, it knows of you as well. And it specializes in arranging coincidences, making others unconsciously dance to its baton… Under these circumstances, investigating Ince Zangwill without being noticed by 0-08 is very difficult. Not only is there little chance of success, but I might also expose myself…” As Klein thought, he had Winner Enzo walk behind him and knead his shoulders.

He read Leonard Mitchell’s letter from the beginning once more, hoping to find more clues and possible investigative angles from those few sparse lines.

“East Balam… Numinous Episcopate… Artificial Death faction… Palenque Tacibli… What does Ince Zangwill want with them? Is he seeking allies for the royal faction behind him, for the true culprits of the Great Smog of Backlund?

“Artificial Death faction… Artificial Death faction…”

As Klein pondered, he suddenly recalled something that almost no one knew apart from himself and Mr. Azik:

The Evernight Goddess had initially gained control of the Uniqueness of the Death pathway—that is, Artificial Death. At present, She was usurping, digesting, and mastering the corresponding authority.

In other words, to a certain extent, the object worshiped by the Artificial Death faction of the Numinous Episcopate could already be considered the Evernight Goddess. Once the transfer and mastery of authority was complete, they would inevitably face a certain purge. They would either gradually be absorbed into the Church of Evernight, or continue acting under their present identity, contacting other factions of the Numinous Episcopate and various secret organizations while covertly coordinating with the Nighthawks.

To Klein, that was not the most important point. What mattered was that he remembered something mentioned in ancient documents he had previously collected:

In order to artificially create Death, those members of the Numinous Episcopate prayed daily to the Uniqueness, as though it were a true deity, trying bit by bit to awaken its intelligence and gradually bring it to life.

Of course, that was only one part of the plan, and not a crucial one.

“In that case, is there a possibility that when Palenque Tacibli prayed to Artificial Death, he mentioned Ince Zangwill’s purpose in order to receive protection?

“But what he could not imagine is that the Artificial Death on the other side has already been controlled by the Evernight Goddess. Although it has not yet become Her incarnation, it has already lost its freedom.

“Following this angle and this logic, if I directly set up a ritual and pray to the Goddess, perhaps I can obtain Ince Zangwill’s purpose… This might actually work!” The more Klein thought about it, the more he felt that his seemingly absurd idea did have a chance of succeeding.

And the foundation for turning that possibility into reality was:

The enemy’s “leader” was our “mole”!

Klein had his marionette Enzo stop massaging him. Then he slowly rose and paced back and forth, considering whether he should try, and how he should try.

“Ince Zangwill is a traitor of the Church and the shame of all Nighthawks. If there’s an opportunity to eliminate him, the Goddess should be pleased and wouldn’t mind providing a little help…

“But now is precisely the critical period when the Goddess is digesting and mastering the authority of Artificial Death. For a long time to come, She may not be able to give any response, only maintain ordinary feedback for ritual magic. Besides, I also lack the corresponding materials…

“And I’ve constantly been warning myself that I must remain properly vigilant. I cannot completely trust or rely on the Goddess… Directly praying to Her and obtaining a divine revelation feels not quite right. I still hope to maintain a safe distance…” Amid the flurry of thoughts, Klein hesitated for a moment.

He let his mind wander, trying to find a plan he could better accept.

Suddenly, he came up with an even more absurd idea:

Pray directly to Artificial Death!

On one hand, there was actually no real danger, because Artificial Death itself would not respond to prayers or rituals. If there was any feedback, that would mean the essence of the matter was the Evernight Goddess “operating” behind the scenes. On the other hand, Klein had a feather left behind by the by-product of the Artificial Death project, as well as Azik’s copper whistle. He did not need to spend a long time gathering materials to arrange a ritual requesting a “divine revelation.”

“Besides, there will be a layer in between. I won’t be directly ‘contacting’ the Goddess. Maybe this can even help Her further grasp Artificial Death’s authority.” Klein comforted himself and began bustling around the room.

First, he used a sacrificial and bestowment ritual to retrieve one of the two remaining feathers, along with long-unused full moon essential oil, night vanilla powder, and other items from above the gray fog. Then he modified the altar and completed the preliminary preparations for the ritual. Since, in essence, he was praying to the Evernight Goddess, he was too lazy to separately purchase ritual materials from the Death domain.

This was not fundamentally different from normal ritual magic. With practiced ease, Klein lit the candles, dripped essential oil, and drew the mysticism symbols for “human” and “secrecy” on a sheet of imitation parchment. Amid the faint mist rising around him, he pressed Azik’s copper whistle onto it.

Immediately afterward, he placed the white feather stained with pale yellow grease into the silver bowl where herbal powder was burning. He watched as it showed no sign of curling and not the slightest trace of charring.

Silently exhaling, Klein took a step back and recited in Hermes:

“You are the essence of death;

“You are the lord of the deceased;

“You are the final destination of all living beings.

“I beseech Your help. I beseech to know the purpose of Ince Zangwill’s contact with the Numinous Episcopate.

“…”

The moment his voice fell, the three candle flames abruptly swelled. They seemed to brighten considerably, yet were dyed a gloomy green, causing the surroundings to suddenly become cold and eerie.

Feeling a little uneasy, Klein closed his eyes and meditated for thirty seconds. Then he walked to the front of the altar, picked up the full moon essential oil, and dripped one drop onto each of the three candles.

After finishing that, he retrieved Azik’s copper whistle, took hold of the imitation parchment, brought it close to the candle symbolizing “me,” and lit it before tossing it into the silver bowl.

With a whoosh, pale flames rose from the previously undamaged white feather, completely covering the silver bowl and blocking Klein’s sight.

Two or three seconds later, the flames fully receded. Only a pile of powder remained inside the silver bowl.

Without wind, the powder moved on its own, forming one word after another:

“Possessed by an evil spirit. Exorcism required.”