Lord of Mysteries: Starting As A Reader

After Helene left the room with some lingering doubts, Ebner stroked his chin and asked Xio, who was also deep in thought, "Baron Larry was that 'Disciplinary Paladin' who got held up by the ghouls and werewolves in the grand hall, right?"

"Yes... This is indeed a bit strange… Logically speaking, if someone managed to obtain something from the hall in the end, it should have been Colonel Myron, the 'Reaper,' since he was the only one left without an opponent at that point," Xio said, her tone carrying a hint of confusion.

"There must be something we're missing here... After all, the matter of 'hunting down Baron Larry' was supposed to be a classified operation by your MI9. Yet, the person who just delivered the message disclosed it to a maid... almost as if they were deliberately leaking the information," Ebner analyzed after pondering for a moment.

Xio pursed her lips before sighing. "The Loen military seems to be riddled with conspiracies... There are all sorts of people involved..."

Though she never felt a strong sense of belonging to MI9, she was still an official member. Moreover, Her Highness Vera had always treated her well, making her feelings somewhat complicated.

Wasn't this all because George III wanted to ascend to godhood? In order to deceive the Orthodox Churches, he had to sacrifice some interests and collaborate with certain secret organizations… And since cooperation was involved, it was inevitable that some of their smaller actions had to be overlooked, or even indirectly facilitated… Chaos was bound to follow.

Although Ebner understood the root of the problem, it wasn't something he could openly discuss with Xio. Instead, he simply advised her to reunite with Her Highness Vera as soon as possible.

After all, as a royal family member, Vera wouldn't be assigned to overly dangerous tasks. Sticking by her side would allow Xio to earn merits while avoiding the risk of being easily discarded as cannon fodder.

"I understand..." Xio nodded before packing up her belongings. Just as she was about to leave, she glanced regretfully in the direction of the basement and murmured, "I never got to enjoy the hot spring..."

Although she had passed the internal inquiries of MI9 and had no issues of her own, Ebner had still deliberately withheld the exact details about the "ticket" to prevent her from being tracked through prophecy or divination. Since the projected time for the "Ghost Empire" to dock at the "harbor" was no earlier than June of next year, there was no rush to inform others and risk leaking the secret.

Even so, MI9 had still assigned a small squad to monitor her from afar.

That squad operated covertly, but their actions were as clear as day to Ebner.

It was precisely because of their presence that Ebner couldn't activate the "Teleportation Altar" without risking exposure.

Hearing Xio's lament, Ebner chuckled. "Once your mission is complete, you can visit anytime. In fact, I've already arranged for a discreet exchange of a significant amount of Feysac gold horns. When the time comes, I can buy out that entire hot spring inn and use it as a base."

"Alright." Xio nodded and instinctively reached up to run her fingers through her blonde hair, but then she remembered how much time the Tarot Club had spent styling it. She hesitated before lowering her hand.

"Ebner, I have a favor to ask," Xio said seriously, lifting her head.

"What is it?" Ebner asked curiously.

"That hat your maid wears, the one that can change hairstyles... I want one too."

.....

At the three-story building housing MI9 in Bayam, the military demi-gods Test and Georgina were interrogating a local intelligence officer.

"Who ordered you to spread the news about our operation to capture Baron Larry?!"

"M-My lord… It was… Colonel Myron's orders…" The officer stammered, his face pale with fear.

"Myron?" Test and Georgina exchanged glances before continuing, "Was it also Myron who told you that Baron Larry took the box?"

"I think so…" The officer struggled to recall, sweat trickling down his forehead.

"What do you mean 'you think so'?" Georgina, the Duchess, frowned.

"It's just that… I remember that Baron Larry took the box, but I can't recall how I learned about it…"

The officer muttered as if in a trance before suddenly realizing something. "Right, the order from Colonel Myron to spread the news—I only remember the result… but when I met the Colonel, where I met him, I can't remember at all."

"You can't remember?"

Test waved his hand, dismissing the officer. Then, with a frown, he paced back and forth in the room before turning to the Duchess Georgina, who was dressed in a black evening gown.

"What do you think?" he asked.

Duchess Georgina pondered for a moment before analyzing, "According to Mountbatten, the box was taken away by Myron and Kade. It had nothing to do with 'Larry'… But if this is just Myron trying to divert our attention, then it's unbelievably foolish—completely unlike what a proper officer of MI9 would do."

"Of course, there's also the possibility that the box itself is the problem… The 'Prisoner' pathway is adept at curses. If he was affected, his desires could have been amplified, his thoughts twisted, or he might have even been replaced by someone else entirely."

"That makes sense..." Test nodded before adding, "But we also can't rule out the possibility of a third party muddying the waters! For all we know, they want to mislead us into giving up on tracking Larry and instead go after Tyron… But the opposite could also be true… And if we expand our thinking even further, perhaps their real goal is to split our forces, sending us after both of them while their true target is actually Kade?"

"It all depends on how well our opponent understands us..."

Georgina thought for a moment, then spread her hands. "This is turning into a logical trap... Just like that joke from Roselle: 'I predicted your prediction, and you predicted that I would predict your prediction…'"

"Exactly. We need to find a way to take back the initiative," Test murmured, deep in thought. Then, as if something had occurred to him, he asked, "Vera should be arriving in Bayam soon, right?"

"Yes, at the latest, she'll be there by tomorrow… Why do you ask?" Georgina responded, her eyes suddenly lighting up.

"The people behind this probably don't know that Vera has advanced to demi-god… That gives us an opportunity to act. We can split into three teams—Vera leads the pursuit of Larry, you track down Myron, and I will go after Kade. This way, each group has a demi-god. No matter what tricks our enemies try to pull, they won't be able to overwhelm us."

Test spoke with confidence.

After finalizing the details, the two ended their meeting.

However, just before returning to his quarters, a thought suddenly flashed through Test's mind.

Can we really trust Prince Mountbatten's words? Even though he had undergone questioning from both Georgina and me back in the Southern Continent…

But the thought quickly slipped away as he pushed open the door to his room...

.....

Aboard a Battleship Just Beyond the Stormy Sea

Prince Mountbatten stood at the bow, gazing at the calm waters ahead—so starkly different from the turbulent sea behind them. He then turned to Vera, who was also watching the seascape, and asked, "Aunt, why are we going to Bayam?"

Vera turned her head slightly and gave him a meaningful look before responding with an unrelated remark, "Once we arrive in Bayam, you'd better be careful… After all, I might not be traveling with you after that."

As she spoke, her gaze flickered toward a seagull perched on the mast—one with distinct black circles around its eyes.

(End of Chapter)