Chapter 111: The Imagined and Actual “Blessed One”

Chapter One Hundred Eleven
The Imagined and Actual “Blessed One”

Queen’s Borough, inside the dining room of Earl Hall’s house.

As usual, Audrey was praying with her father, mother, and brother before the meal.

“Praise the Goddess!”

She tapped four points clockwise on her chest, using those words as the conclusion.

But before her voice had faded, within the darkness hidden behind her eyelids, dense gray fog suddenly spread. A figure who seemed to look down upon all people and all things spoke from somewhere lofty and majestic.

“That was a Card of Blasphemy created by Roselle.”

Mr. Fool… A Card of Blasphemy?

Audrey, who had finally waited for a response, first felt joy, then immediately went faintly blank, unable to understand what exactly this so-called Card of Blasphemy was.

However, she soon formed a guess. She had always known that Emperor Roselle had made a hidden deck of cards, symbolizing certain unknown powers. There were twenty-two cards in that deck, and they were believed to be what tarot cards had been modeled after.

She had also once heard The Hanged Man say that the secret hidden inside that deck was the divine pathways—the path to godhood!

So it is called a Card of Blasphemy… corresponding to the Blasphemy Slate… This is definitely one of the most top-tier treasures in the entire mysticism world!

A path to godhood!

No wonder Mr. Fool’s blessed one requested help. He wanted to make certain it truly was that card before acting, to avoid making a mistake, failing to obtain the right target, and instead awakening the Church of Steam to the fact that one bookmark hid a Card of Blasphemy…

I wonder whether he succeeded…

The Beyonders of the Church of Steam have not come for routine questioning. Perhaps he is still planning…

As her body faintly trembled, Audrey saw another praying figure inside the dense gray fog—a figure blurred to the extreme.

He spoke with respect.

“Great Fool, please convey my thanks to the verifier. This allowed my operation to proceed very smoothly.

“For this reason, I am willing to raise the compensation to three thousand pounds, deducted from the still-unpaid five thousand pounds. That is the share the other party deserves.”

He succeeded? He succeeded just like that?

But when I looked at the front pages of the newspapers earlier, there was no news of any stolen exhibit at all. Everything was about the appearance of the twelfth victim in the serial murder case… Raising the compensation to three thousand pounds means Mr. Fool’s blessed one really did succeed. He took away the bookmark hiding the Card of Blasphemy without anyone noticing! How handsome! The word Emperor Roselle invented is not elegant enough, not reserved enough, and does not fit the dignity of nobility, but it is the only thing I feel right now!

Our Tarot Club now controls one complete “divine pathway”!

It should be complete, right?

I wonder which one it is?

But no matter what, it symbolizes the path to godhood!

Under Mr. Fool’s radiance, one day we will become the most top-tier and formidable secret organization!

I wonder whether there are Cards of Blasphemy hidden inside the other bookmarks…

Audrey restrained her excitement. Yearning and pride filled her as she allowed the maid serving breakfast to spread out her napkin.

Her eyes moved, turning toward Earl Hall, who had the habit of reading newspapers while eating breakfast.

“Father, is there any news worth paying attention to today?”

Earl Hall sighed and said, “That demon has killed another innocent person. The twelfth case. She was a fashion designer who had only recently gained some fame. Merely because she had once worked as a streetwalker a few times when poverty was unbearable, she encountered such a terrible fate.”

“Fortunately, there was a witness this time. Someone saw the scene of the demon committing the bloody crime. Heh, he was frightened badly and kept shouting in the street, ‘Murder!’ and ‘Help!’ Heh, I have to say, his shouts and cries for help had quite a good effect. The demon did not chase after him.

“Using that, the police have locked onto the suspect and are urgently searching for him.”

Audrey once more drew the crimson moon upon her chest.

“May their operation succeed.

“Father, from your description, that sounds like a scene both frightening and funny.

“I hope that witness does not have nightmares afterward.”

And on that very same night, Mr. Fool’s blessed one, without alarming anyone, took the Card of Blasphemy from a museum guarded in layer after layer of protection…

Audrey added that line in her heart with longing, filling in a few details on her own.

…

Inside the Kingdom Museum, in the reconstructed study.

“Are you certain only two bookmarks were stolen?” Max Livermore, team captain of the Machinery Hivemind, asked a team member.

As he spoke, he secretly glanced at the important person standing before the desk with his back facing him.

It was an old man wearing a white clerical robe and a priest’s soft cap. He was the person in charge of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery’s Backlund diocese, a member of the Council before God, Archbishop Horamick Haydn.

This great figure was not only a clergyman, but also a very famous scientist—an honorary professor in the physics department of Backlund University.

“Yes. Only those two bookmarks were stolen,” the team member being questioned answered with complete certainty.

Max gave a slight nod. Looking toward Horamick Haydn, he thought briefly, then carefully asked, “Your Grace, after the museum closed yesterday evening, some young nobles came to visit. They touched part of the exhibits, including one of the two stolen bookmarks. Do we need them to cooperate with the investigation?”

“I know about this matter.”

Horamick naturally lowered both hands and turned around, speaking in a peaceful tone.

“I have already confirmed it. Those young nobles have nothing to do with the thief who stole the bookmarks. There is no need to make them cooperate with further investigation.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Max himself had not thought there was any real issue. Moreover, Archbishop Haydn possessed enough mysticism knowledge and all sorts of Beyonder techniques to confirm it.

Horamick had a very gentle and kindly face. Even now, he did not show the slightest anger. He looked around and said, “Furthermore, there was not only one person here last night. There were at least two, divided into two opposing sides.

“One of them may even have a Sequence higher than mine, while the other side strangely escaped.

“Although I cannot reconstruct the entire scene, certain things can still be ‘seen.’

“This matter is more complicated than we imagined.”

At that point, he sighed.

“I also know why they stole the bookmarks.

“We were deceived by Roselle for more than a hundred and fifty years…”

…

Three thousand pounds. That really hurts…

I saved for so long, and I still have not reached even one thousand…

But a Card of Blasphemy is a priceless treasure. It cannot be bought with money. Miss Justice’s contribution in this matter is absolutely worth that price…

Good thing it is being deducted from what she owes me. That slightly eases the pressure. In the future, if I meet Mr. Azik, I will use high-Sequence formulas to pay the fifteen thousand pounds that belong to the “blessed one” as compensation… I wonder what the other Cards of Blasphemy have been disguised as. Given the Emperor’s personality, they should all be rather unexpected, right?

Klein ended the response and looked out over the sea of gray fog beyond the palace, silently sighing a few times.

Putting caution first, he temporarily left the Black Emperor Card above the gray fog, leaving it on the surface of the bronze long table directly opposite The Fool’s seat. Beside it was Azik’s copper whistle.

After returning to the real world, he performed the ritual again, summoning himself, and threw the Master Key—the combination of getting lost and bad luck, the Sealed Artifact whose negative effects did not seem severe at first glance but could become deadly in serious situations—above the gray fog as well. He planned not to use it unless necessary.

The Master Key is merely the remains of an unlucky fellow who had just advanced to Sequence 9, yet it has this sort of negative effect that even a mid-Sequence Beyonder cannot weaken… It seems the loss of control that Apprentice suffered back then had extra factors, and that produced something unusual…

Thinking like that, my previous decision was right. I have to be cautious about exploring 32 Wildey Street in the South Borough of the Bridge. I must be prepared… Mm, one thing must be made clear: a Sealed Artifact’s effect is not necessarily completely related to the Sequence of the owner from whom it was separated. Multiple factors have to be considered. For instance, whether it was contaminated by an evil god…

Klein washed himself with water that had cooled quite a lot and walked out of the bathroom feeling refreshed. Downstairs, he began eating the corn tortilla he had bought on the way back. It was a specialty of the highland regions in the Feynapotter Kingdom—crisp, fragrant, and sweet.

After eating and drinking his fill, he considered last night’s experiences once more, checking whether he had left any clues for others.

“Even with the Master Key, if one is not a Beyonder, it would be impossible to escape from a Demon’s hands. That mysterious and powerful woman must have confirmed I was not an ordinary private detective. I never imagined I could hide that point.

“She did not take me away. That means she is either an official who holds some goodwill toward wild Beyonders, or she does not belong to the three great Churches or the military. Mm, I lean toward the latter. The former would most likely have confiscated the Master Key. Sigh, I was a little desperate at the time. I thought I would be imprisoned beneath the Church of Steam like any ordinary Beyonder, and I had already begun considering how to break out of prison. Who knew she would just leave like that?

“Which organization does she belong to? Or is she wild? No. Once a wild Beyonder becomes that powerful, they will inevitably have an organization of their own.

“That Demon dog will definitely use its Beyonder abilities to erase clues related to itself. Naturally, that includes mine. In mysticism, there is no way to separate them. And that lady also likely cannot be exposed. It looks like the clues left from my escape have also been interfered with.

“As for what happened inside the museum, they are looking for a special Spirit Body, a strange existence. What does that have to do with Sherlock Moriarty?”

Klein mocked himself with that line, feeling increasingly settled.

Of course, he had dared return home only after divining it in advance—just as he had not feared there would be a completely unsolvable trap inside the museum.

Hoo. This matter has come to an end… What should I do today? Practice Beyonder abilities, then go to the Cragg Club and mooch food? Mm. I wonder if the Nighthawks and Mandated Punishers have confirmed the murderer. Should I write another letter to Isengard Stanton and hint at it a little?

As thoughts churned, Klein heard someone approach from outside, then leave.

Another letter?

Puzzled, he opened the door. Sure enough, he saw a letter lying inside the mailbox.

The letter was from Isengard Stanton.