July 24, 1349. Night.
Snow sat before a decent dinner, his hands clasped against his forehead. In Ancient Hermes, he whispered: "Grateful to The Fool for my dinner."
While such meaningless prayers occurred several times a day, Snow didn't find them dull in the slightest. The sensation of the potion's hard shell constantly cracking was simply too wonderful!
Crack. Crack. It felt as if every prayer made the cracks spread further. The feeling that just one more push could completely shatter it was a thrill that transcended the pleasure of power--it fulfilled a primal human desire for destruction.
'I hope Mr. Fool has grown accustomed to the discomfort caused by these brief prayers.' Snow offered a "blessing" without a shred of guilt, then picked up his knife and fork, ready to enjoy his meal. However, Lily, who had been meditating on the table, suddenly stood up. Her back arched high, her amber eyes filled with wariness.
Snow almost instinctively reached for the charm in his pocket. But then, a pleasant voice suddenly echoed from the corner of the room, "Your pet is quite good."
Hearing this voice, Snow actually relaxed. He withdrew his hand from his pocket, bowed slightly toward the source of the sound, and then tapped four points on his chest to draw the inverted cross symbol (longer at the top, shorter at the bottom).
"Welcome, respected Mr. A."
With his greeting, the shadows in the room suddenly came alive, slowly coalescing into a mature male with a beautiful appearance.
"Our Lord is very satisfied with your piety." Mr. A wore a handsome smile and similarly drew an inverted cross on his chest. He then glanced at Lily, who remained in a wary posture.
"Don't be afraid, he's one of us." Snow reached out to pat Lily's head, signaling for her to relax. Simultaneously, he began releasing his spirituality.
Thanks to the unique nature of Secret Supplicants--who acquire different powers based on the gifts bestowed by their deity--Mr. A didn't question the Beyonder ability he was using. Instead, he sat casually on the edge of the bed and spoke with a smile, "I read your letter. Tell me, what exactly is going on?"
In that instant, Snow felt as if everything in the room had frozen. Even the sound of summer mosquitoes had vanished. Although no ritual had been performed, the moment Mr. A spoke, he had already completed the spiritual sealing of the surroundings. In other words, this room was now a 'Soundproof Room' [Sealed Room] where they could speak freely.
"Have you already seen the woman carrying the Son of God?" Snow didn't answer Mr. A's question immediately, instead posing a question of his own.
Mr. A wasn't offended by this. On the contrary, he viewed such 'devotion' with favor. He shook his head slightly and said, "Although Tingen has no high-sequence Beyonders, using mid-sequence abilities here is still especially likely to attract attention. Furthermore, the information in your letter was far too bizarre, so I came to you first to understand the situation."
It had to be said that Mr. A's current performance was truly perfect. A handsome face, elegant speech, a peaceful temperament, and a completely approachable way of talking gave Snow the feeling of a refreshing spring breeze.
If he hadn't known the 'unfortunate' traits of the Secret Supplicant pathway, Snow never would have been able to connect this 'Manager of the Year' with the 'Crazy Beauty' from the original work.
After repeating "This is a madman" several times in his head, Snow finally nodded and said, "I don't know how they accomplished it, but I did indeed catch sight of a mortal woman carrying our Lord's offspring. Unforgivably, that woman actually believes the child belongs to that swindler!"
Snow timely pre-set two 'choices' in his mind, allowing himself to enter a state of slight loss-of-control. Seeing the fur growing on Snow's skin due to his rage, Mr. A became increasingly satisfied.
"Calm yourself. Do not punish yourself for the sins of others."
"My apologies, I misspoke [lost my composure]." Mr. A's comforting words triggered Snow's pre-designed choice, causing the scale in his heart to tilt. Once the choice was made, the fur on his body slowly receded, and his pointed ears gradually rounded back to normal.
Seeing Snow recover his state so quickly, Mr. A gained a brand new appreciation for this member's talent. Inwardly, he even developed the thought of cultivating him properly. But now was not the time for that. He waited for a moment until Snow had completely retracted his spirituality and the abnormalities on his body had vanished before continuing, "How much do you know about that swindler? And how did you happen to encounter the woman carrying the Son of God?"
"I learned of the swindler from that idiot Hanass Vincent; I haven't had any direct contact with him. I only know that Hanass Vincent taught him the ritual to allow the Lord's descent. As for what he actually did, or how he managed to make a mortal woman pregnant with the Lord's offspring, I do not understand. As for how I found her..." Snow shook his head slightly, appearing a bit dazed:
"As it happens, to facilitate contact with Hanass Vincent, I disguised myself as someone superstitious about divination. Today, I also went to the Divination Club for a reading. I didn't expect that woman to also be there for a divination to find that swindler. This must be our Lord's arrangement!"
"..." Mr. A was momentarily stunned. 'The speaker says it meaninglessly, but the listener hears it with intent.' He thought for a while before saying, "Generally speaking, a mortal--no, even a low-sequence Beyonder--is incapable of gestating the Lord's offspring! There must be other issues involved. You mentioned coincidences? Tell me everything that has happened in Tingen this past half-month. Whether it involves Beyonder events or not, tell me everything you know!"
"Ah, please wait a moment." Hearing this, Snow immediately turned and took a stack of Tingen Honest Man's Daily from his briefcase. Seeing the many markings on them, Mr. A nodded inward. Snow spread the newspapers out and recounted the events in chronological order, "Two days before I arrived in Tingen, the ordinary person who purchased that Antigonus family notebook died due to dark divination, and the notebook went missing. However, a survivor appeared who shouldn't have survived. This directly led the official Beyonders to start investigating clues for the notebook. In that situation, the idiot Sirius still went to the library to borrow related books, which led to him being discovered by the Nighthawk pagans--and that's why I killed him."
"After that, a huge number of events occurred surrounding that notebook. They all appeared to be coincidences, yet they always managed to lead the Nighthawk pagans to our doorstep. That's how Hanass was caught."
"Besides that, there are these, and these..."
Snow continuously converted the marginal news items from the newspapers back into Beyonder events. Mr. A's expression grew increasingly serious. Although Snow appeared entirely oblivious, Mr. A had already realized that there was likely the shadow of a mid-to-high-sequence Beyonder involved.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika Kagura]
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A/N: 'Seers attract Spectators'--this was said specifically to the 'newbie' Klein. In this context, 'Spectator' specifically refers to high-sequence Spectators. Because high-sequence Spectators have the trait 'to know me is to be known by me', once a Seer divines them, the Spectator knows.
A/N: Regarding Mr. A not using mid-to-high-sequence abilities in Tingen--I don't think this needs much explanation, but considering some thought it was a 'loss' to buy Trissy's life with pure information, I'll explain it here:
To use an exam as an analogy: in a place like Backlund, there are many 'top students' (mid-to-high sequences), and many get full marks; nobody cares if you get a high score.
But in Tingen, everyone is a 'failing student' (below Sequence 7); getting a passing grade is already good. If you score an 80 in a place like this, you immediately become the focus of attention.
If Mr. A used his abilities recklessly, the authorities would immediately know a mid-to-high-sequence Beyonder had come to Tingen. Even if they couldn't find him for a moment, they might seek help from Backlund. And Backlund is only a half-day's journey from Tingen; using Beyonder abilities would be even faster. At that point, not just a group, but even one Sequence 5 from each Church arriving would cause him to lose his advantage as the 'Strongest Beyonder in Tingen'.
Mr. A is crazy, not stupid. He naturally wouldn't throw away his advantage so easily.
T/N: Crazy Beauty (疯批美人)
A popular Chinese internet slang term (fēng pī měi rén) used to describe characters who are extremely physically attractive but mentally unstable, obsessive, or "crazy." In the Lord of the Mysteries community, this is often used as a trope for characters like Mr. A or high-level Demonesses.