In the captain's cabin of the Blue Avenger, after the bestowment ritual ended, Alger looked at the additional brass charm on the altar and sat down with a complicated expression. He silently muttered to himself,
In the beginning, I could only pull people into the world above the gray fog… After a while, I can listen to prayers and respond… Now, I can receive sacrifices and bestowments… Mr. Fool is getting out of his predicament step by step and slowly delving deeper into the real world?
This guess made Alger feel afraid and worried, but at the same time, he felt a little relieved.
At least I'm a member of the Tarot Club, the earliest member… He sighed.
Perhaps… I should learn Tower's attitude towards The Fool?
…
In the magnificent palace above the gray fog, Klein sat at the end of the ancient long table. He used the method taught by Mr. Azik to gather the gray fog around the Clown mask before spreading his spirituality over to try communicating with it.
After a while, Klein retracted his spirituality with a strange expression and pondered.
"It's even smoother than I imagined… Not only did he agree not to interfere with the user's psyche, but he even shortened the time interval between changing his appearance to 20 days… And the condition is that he can only stay in the gray fog for a while a week? Perhaps Tower's judgment was right. This space is really the peak of the Clown mask pathway."
With this in mind, Klein suddenly felt quite interested in this plane. He had the idea of divining its origins. Therefore, he conjured a yellowish-brown goatskin parchment and a black fountain pen.
After some thought, he wrote the divination statement.
"The source of Clown Mask."
After reciting it seven times, he took the goatskin and clown mask, leaned back, and entered a dream.
In the gray illusory world, Klein saw a black dragon being surrounded by a dozen or so experts dressed in simple clothes that looked like savages. Soon, its head was beheaded by a red-haired man who led the group. The yellowish-brown tissue in its head was dug out.
This yellowish-brown blob constantly changed its appearance in the red-haired man's hands. At times, it was grayish-white and had wrinkles. At other times, it was dark brown and extremely smooth. At other times, there were two colors mixed together, forming a "face" without any facial features.
At this moment, an old man dressed as a wizard with colorful paint on his face put the dug-up tissue and a mask with strange patterns on it together. He then used a simple yet effective method to combine them into one.
When Klein saw this, the dream quickly faded away and he woke up.
"It looks like the creation of humans in an era of obscurity… How can this mask be preserved for so long? Hehe, but that might not be the case. It seems like the Southern Continent and some of the native tribes on the islands are still living like this."
What's that dragon? It seems to be much weaker than the legendary dragon… The organization in its head is a Beyonder ingredient? A main ingredient for potions? I wonder what Sequence it is…
…
At the detective agency in Hillston Borough, after Ebner held another bestowment ritual, he took back the clown mask that was much more honest. From Mr. Fool's description, he learned that he needed to board the gray fog once a week before continuing to be "honest."
The cost of sacrificing and receiving the bestowment ritual added up to more than 30 pounds. If he were to do it once a week… it would cost at least 120 pounds a month. That's quite a high cost… Thankfully, Klein would become a Clown in another month. When the time came, he could use his own strength to push open the summoning door, so there was no need to waste it.
As he calculated, Ebner tidied up the other materials for the ritual before removing the wall of spirituality and walking out of the room.
As soon as he stepped outside, he saw his teacher's footman, Kenny, approaching.
Upon seeing him, Ebner immediately said helplessly, "Are there reporters coming again?" Ever since he was labeled a hero by the Forsaken One, he had been harassed by various tabloid reporters. As for the reporters from the big newspapers? Of course, he was happy to be interviewed.
"Mr. Bryan, this is an invitation from your friend, Reporter Mike. He invited you to the ball held at the headquarters building of the Daily Observer on Friday night." Kenny respectfully handed over the invitation.
He originally respected Ebner only because he was Detective Isengard's student, but because of Ebner's fame, this respect had become real.
Reporter Mike? I still have to give him face… Yes, the Daily Observer is one of the best newspapers in Backlund. The standard of the ball isn't low. There should be quite a number of excellent clients participating, Ebner muttered to himself after receiving the invitation, committing the matter to memory.
After Kenny left, Ebner went to his office and reviewed the various materials that his teacher had previously collected.
How should I tell Xio The Fool's honorific name without exposing myself?
…
At night, Xio had just concluded a robbery. As the suspect wasn't at his wits' end, but rather wanted more money to buy cigarettes and alcohol before entering the house to rob, Xio judged that he had disturbed the order of her "jurisdiction" and was guilty. She also ordered the robber to repay the victim's family's losses within seven days, or he would be sent to MI9's black prison.
Of course, the last sentence was just a threat. MI9 did not have the time to care about such trivial matters. If the other party really refused to do it, they would probably try to persuade him through "physics".
After sending off the grateful victim's family, Xio walked to a nearby bar. An informant she had developed left her a message saying that he had an interesting discovery to tell her.
"Hey, Xio… you're just in time. Let's have a few drinks together." The drunk William grinned when he saw the girl coming toward him.
"Drinking isn't good." Xio first shook her head before looking at the drunkard in front of her. She asked seriously, "Why are you looking for me?"
Frightened by that authority, William's smile froze, and for a moment all that was left was the idea of nodding his head. He tried to recall it carefully with his alcohol-dazed brain before organizing his words.
"Old Thor seemed to have a stroke yesterday. He was in a daze and was found drowned in the Tussock River this morning!"
"The thief, Sanji, who was active on Disaster Street, seemed to have become an idiot the day before yesterday. He only knew how to giggle and eventually fell off the bridge and died."
"Aunt Tasso's eight-year-old granddaughter also suffered from hysteria the morning before yesterday. She kept talking nonsense, and many doctors failed to treat her. In the end, this afternoon, her granddaughter suddenly went crazy while she was away at work and stabbed herself with a pair of scissors."
…
William talked about seven or eight cases in one go, all of which were real tragedies or accidents that happened in East Borough in the past two or three days.
Xio didn't think much of it at first because there were too many similar incidents in East Borough that she couldn't manage. But when she heard the fourth similar case, she was certain that it wasn't an accident, so her expression turned solemn.
"These dead people… seem to be of all ages and genders…" Xio thought for a moment before asking William, "Do they have anything in common? What did the police report?"
Even if it was East Borough, with so many people dying for similar reasons, it was impossible for the police to not investigate.
"The police? The police only said that it was an accident caused by a sudden illness." William scoffed before looking around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he whispered to Xio, "There's indeed something in common… That is, they are all believers of the Lord of Storms! Therefore, there are already rumors that the heretic cult believers cursed the believers in order to take revenge on the Lord of Storms."
With such an obvious target for the believers of the Lord of Storms, the Mandated Punishers should've already stepped in to investigate… The police's explanation is most likely just a perfunctory excuse to cover up the truth. Xio thought to herself.
After paying William 5 soli for the information, it was already late. Xio didn't delay any further as she returned to the apartment she shared with Fors in North Borough. She took the letter from the mailbox at the door before opening the door with her key.
The moment she entered, she saw her good friend in her morning clothes sitting on the sofa, stuffing snacks into her mouth while reading a magazine.
"Why are you like this every time I enter?" Xio held her forehead with her hand, looking helpless.
Come to think of it, he had learned this move from Ebner during his travels.
"Then it must be because you opened the door in the wrong way! On this point, an apprentice has more say than an arbitrator." Fors wiped the food residue from the corner of her mouth and argued.
"I can't out-talk you… But forget it. Although it's not a healthy habit, it's better than smoking and drinking." Xio shook her head and handed a huge stack of mail to Fors. She then said, "It should be from your readers. I just checked it with my powers, but I didn't find any dangerous items."
"Why do you think my readers will send me dangerous items?" Fors grumbled speechlessly after receiving the letter.
Xio didn't say a word as she silently looked at her.
Fors looked away guiltily before flipping through the email. She casually said, "By the way, I received an invitation at the literature salon today. It invited me to attend a ball on Friday night. I can bring a companion with me. Do you want to go?"
"Friday night… It's a ball held by the Daily Observer?" Xio asked in surprise.
"Yes… How did you know?" Fors was somewhat surprised when she heard that. Xio had never been interested in such activities.
"Due to the fact that there would be an important figure participating in the ball and giving a speech, I was arranged to have security work done at the ball by the Golden Mask."
…
West Borough, in a garden villa on Williams Street.
Ray was hugging a pot of flowers that had yet to bloom. She was sitting on the bed in her bedroom wearing only pajamas. Her fair and slender thighs were exposed, making Lieutenant Berner, who had made up his mind never to touch the Demoness again, unable to look away.
"In other words, His Highness, Prince Edessak, will personally attend the ball on Friday night? Heh heh, why would an important figure like him participate in such a ball?"
However, Lena seems to have received the protection of Prince Edessak. I wonder if she will be joining this ball… Yes, in that case, I should take a look.
"Berner, can you get an invitation?"