Haaah.
After a long moment, Bernadette let out a slow, long breath — trying to expel all the frustration in her chest — then shut the journal without expression.
Then again, what if I'm wrong.
That's right, isn't it, Emperor Roselle?
She pushed the bulk of the journals back onto the shelf, keeping only the most valuable one in her hand — the journal from the period immediately surrounding the falling-out between her father and herself.
She leafed through it quickly. The entries here were clearly far denser than the other volumes, the handwriting even more rushed and contorted. At her current level of Chinese, she could piece together only the vaguest fragments even with guesswork.
So she decided to keep it with her — to spend these three days memorising as much as she could, so that when she swapped back, she could supplement her ongoing Chinese study with her memory of the content and begin to work through it in advance.
She then unfolded Vincent's letter and read it properly. Since the two of them could now talk in real time, this note covered mainly the information on the Shadow Trader: his progress so far, his understanding of the Sequence, and the various attempts he'd made at roleplay since advancing.
"To summarise: while the Shadow Trader is fundamentally still a merchant, the roleplay can't simply be that of a merchant. The 'shadow' aspect may in fact be the crux of everything."
Bernadette folded the letter quietly. Her expression was slightly complicated. In other words — he needs to act like a profiteer and a ruthless schemer.
That was going to be tricky.
Perhaps... she could try approaching Boneva again?
He only had his divine essence left now, but he still recognised her as his elder sister. Even if he found out she'd manipulated him... he probably wouldn't do anything to her — as long as it posed no threat to the one he believed in.
The trouble was, being a merchant required a transaction. What could she possibly offer Boneva?
Intelligence on the Moses Ascetic Order?
The thought occurred to her, and Bernadette summoned an Invisible Servant and wrote a letter quickly: "Deliver this to Gardenia."
Squeak.
She then picked up the letter from the solicitor Derlin — a member of the Moses Ascetic Order — and turned it over in her hands.
"According to this letter, the frequency with which the Hidden Sage is imparting knowledge has been increasing lately. And Boneva mentioned that the Hidden Sage had been showing signs of unusual activity. Could there be a connection?"
She frowned, thinking. But why would the Hidden Sage be unusually active? Is it pure madness, or is there some deliberate purpose behind it?
No — if it were simple madness, it wouldn't have drawn the attention of the God of Steam and Machinery. That was a deity's gaze. Something with a deity's notice behind it didn't reduce down to mere insanity.
Perhaps whoever was connected to this letter might know something.
She set it on the desk, ran her slender fingers across it in a slow, steady rhythm, and then let her gaze go deep — as deep as the starfield — piercing through time and space, seeing broken, flickering images:
At first, just scenes of Moses Ascetic Order members: performing dark rituals under the Hidden Sage's influence, praying to something unknown.
Then a terrible, chaotic battle — madness everywhere, loss of control, death.
Suddenly, all the fragmentary images vanished. Bernadette found herself standing in an expanse of wilderness she couldn't make out clearly — countless blurred figures wandered through it, occasionally craning their heads toward the sky and crying out.
Without knowing why, she felt a powerful pull from this wilderness — a mounting urge to throw herself in, to dissolve into it.
But it was only an urge.
Everything she was seeing was a Clairvoyant's vision, not an actual presence in that wilderness — and yet even this much was already starting to slip from her control.
If she were ever truly standing in the middle of that wilderness — what then?
!!!
In that same moment, a cold, sinister presence descended without warning. On the horizon at the far edge of the wilderness, a crimson light rose — and surged rapidly toward her.
In an instant, Bernadette felt her body break apart into streams of distorted information, and with it came an overwhelming pain of being on the very edge of losing control entirely.
She ended the divination at once, without a moment's hesitation. The vision rushed away and faded — but in that final sliver of an instant, she still saw them: a pair of eyes without lashes, inside the crimson light.
The Hidden Sage.
Huff. Huff.
Bernadette surfaced from the divination gasping. Her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth were all seeping blood, and her body had genuinely begun to show signs of deformity and distortion.
Had she not accumulated extensive experience in "pushing her luck" over the years, most people in this situation would have lost complete control then and there, and become something monstrous.
Even so, she was in very poor shape. The spirituality inside her felt like a tangled ball of knotted wool, and her physical functions had turned sluggish and feeble.
The mysterious wilderness. The crimson light. The figure of the Hidden Sage. She didn't yet know what those three elements meant together — but at least...
"At least... I have some inkling now of what lies behind the Hidden Sage's unusual activity."
That should be enough to give Boneva something to work with. But what Bernadette found herself more curious about, now, was why a single letter had been enough to trigger all of this.
That wasn't normal.
Either the letter itself was more than it appeared — not as simple as it looked — or the problem lay within herself. Perhaps she was more than she appeared.
Hmm.
As that thought formed, the boundless grey-white mist rose unbidden across her vision, and Mr. Fool's figure emerged from within: "The Lovers, I have a believer who wishes to consult you on a matter."
The words had barely faded before another silhouette appeared — face indistinct. "Mr. or Miss Lovers — I've heard that you have some knowledge of the Moses Ascetic Order and the evil god known as the Hidden Sage."
"I have a friend who follows the Mystery Pryer Pathway, and it seems he has come to the attention of that evil god. I was wondering whether you might have any way to help."
Bernadette considered for a moment, then asked: "How do you know he's been noticed?"
"Because I once saw the Hidden Sage's eyes behind him. And when I asked him directly, he confirmed that he has indeed been receiving an increasing frequency of imparted knowledge from the evil god — and that he has been on the verge of acting on it."
"My advice," Bernadette said, "would be to seek help from one of the orthodox churches. Whether your friend approached the Hidden Sage voluntarily, or was drawn in without realising it — once He has taken notice, it is extremely difficult to escape through one's own efforts alone. Only with the shelter of a true deity is there any real hope."
"..."
On his end, Klein went quiet.
The problem was that Old Neil was already a member of the Church of the Evernight Goddess — and in a case like this, once it was reported up the chain, what awaited him was almost certainly not protection. It was elimination. The Church could not tolerate a loose risk that might lose control at any moment.
"There is one other method that may work," Bernadette added.
Klein straightened at once. "Please, go on."
"In most cases, the Hidden Sage only focuses on Mystery Pryer Pathway Beyonders. If you can find an Unshadowed — Sequence 4 of the Sun Pathway — and have them extract your friend's Beyonder characteristic from him, restoring him to an ordinary person, that may be effective."
"An Unshadowed is..."
"Sequence 4 of the Sun Pathway."
Klein fell silent again. After a long moment, he said, in a subdued voice: "Thank you, Miss Lovers."
"Don't mention it."
"What do I owe you for the consultation just now?"
Bernadette shook her head. "Nothing at present."
"Very well — I'll keep the debt noted."
Klein bowed slightly. "My gratitude, Miss. And my praise to Mr. Fool."
As the grey mist faded before her eyes, Bernadette returned to herself. I'd just had a divination related to the Hidden Sage — and then immediately, a consultation about Him...
Was it the pull of Beyonder characteristics drawn together?
...
Tingen City.
Klein walked out of the washroom with a heavy expression, his mind full of worry for Old Neil's future.
"What's the matter, Klein?"
Melissa was laying out the plates and silverware, and called over cheerfully: "Dinner's ready, come and sit down!"
"Right, coming."
Klein walked to the table. He looked at the same dishes as always and sighed. "Melissa, we don't really need to keep being this frugal anymore, do we?"
"Of course we do!"
The little household manager puffed out her cheeks. "Did you think marrying Benson wouldn't cost money?"
"Ah."
She counted on her fingers: "You'll need money for the wedding gifts, won't you? After the wedding, even if you don't buy a house right away, you'll at least need to move out on your own, yes? And then children will be another expense. And when the children grow up and need schooling—"
"Stop, stop, stop! I get it, I get it!"
Klein threw up both hands. I transmigrate to another world entirely and I still can't escape the tyranny of bride price and housing costs — I might as well stay a bachelor forever.
Otherwise, if there's a divorce someday and I end up having to give up half of Above the Grey Fog — the great Fool really would become quite the clown.
To be continued…
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