"As long as you can confirm her location, you can receive 1,000 pounds! This is the first time I've seen such a mission!" On the street outside the Amyris Leaf Bar, Danitz rubbed his hands together with a hint of excitement. He clenched his fists and hit the tall iron-black gas lamppost, yearning to immediately wander around the city and find the red-haired woman named Helene.
To him, 1,000 pounds wasn't a small sum. It was enough to add one more house to his line of properties in Bayam. It just wouldn't be located in the most prosperous and valuable districts.
The Elf Flying Carpet he had previously obtained was only around two to three thousand pounds, and this was the reward he had gained from fighting dangerous fellows such as Steel Maveti and Blood Brambles Hendry. It was completely incomparable to the easy mission of finding someone.
Klein, who was walking ahead, held a package wrapped in newspaper. They were the charm materials which had cost him fifteen pounds. He slowed his pace a little, glanced at Danitz, and spoke without expression, "5,500 pounds."
"..."
Danitz's excitement froze on his face.
Only then did he remember an important problem. In the eyes of the other pirates and adventurers, he was as "attractive" as red-haired Helene.
They didn't need to fight him. Once they recognized him, they could report his identity to the military, the Church, or the police, and they would receive a reward worth more than 1,000 pounds. After all, he was already a great pirate worth 5,500 pounds.
Searching for red-haired Helene would be equivalent to a lady with a nice figure and good looks entering the Red Theater for entertainment.
Dog... sh*t... Danitz spat out a single word, his face grim, as he stretched out the middle consonant.
At the same time, he automatically pulled down his cap even lower.
Klein, who had poured cold water on Danitz, resumed his normal walking speed and considered the question of finding the red-haired Helene.
The lack of a medium and the necessary information had made it difficult for him to use divination, so he had to consider other methods.
Activate my underlings to do an investigation of the entire city? This is something that can only be done by the Church, the military, and the police. Even the local gangs would find it difficult to accomplish... Wait, I think I can...
I'm not Sea God Kalvetua. My believers are all across Bayam and Blue Mountain Island. I just need to make an announcement, no—a revelation to all my believers, and I can get them to search for red-haired Helene... But would this damage my standing? To do something like that for 1,000 pounds, even a god wants some face...
If I were the real Sea God, I wouldn't care about this. However, I'm now acting as Kalvetua. I have to maintain the dignity of a god as best as I can.
Back when Kalvetua was on the verge of collapse, it didn't even broadcast a revelation when it was urgently trying to find Leticia and her subordinates. Instead, it only gave orders to his worshipers in the upper echelons... I can change its commandments as part of reconstructing an image, but I can't appear too low-class... Well, that should also be a requirement of true acting.
It would be difficult to organize an investigation just by giving Kalat, Edmonton, and the others a revelation. Furthermore, they would definitely magnify the severity of the issue and cause a huge commotion. It would only make things more difficult to deal with later.
There's another solution. I can throw the radio transceiver above the gray fog and attempt to contact the magic mirror, Arrodes. I'll ask him about red-haired Helene's location. I have to be careful about this. I need to prepare ahead of time and confirm it via divination. I don't want to receive strange telegrams from the True Creator or the Primordial Demoness. Even a glance at it would probably make me go mad.
Having quickly come up with ideas, Klein boarded a rental carriage parked at the corner of the street. Danitz pressed his cap and followed closely behind.
Returning to the Wind of Azure Inn, Klein took off his hat and coat while saying to Danitz, "If your captain contacts you through a dream, ask for information about red-haired Helene."
"She probably doesn't know. Otherwise, I would've known this red-haired Helene." Danitz grinned. "I don't know who's looking for her, to be willing to pay a thousand pounds."
His thoughts were whirling, imagining a love story akin to the ones Emperor Roselle had penned.
Klein glanced at him and casually mentioned, "I'll do the monitoring tonight."
"You're doing it?" Danitz snapped out of his fantasies, wondering if he had heard wrongly.
"Yes." Klein nodded.
Gehrman Sparrow realizes that I'm too exhausted? Although this fellow is a little crazy, he's still a good person at heart. He had actually decided to risk his life to save those people when we were at Bansy Harbor for reasons that couldn't be considered good... Danitz sighed to himself.
Carrying the radio transceiver and its relevant parts, Klein went into the bedroom, locked the door, and threw them above the gray fog with a sacrificial ritual.
After doing all of this, he was in no hurry to leave the towering palace. He waved his hand, and the Sea God Scepter flew out from the junk pile. He scanned through the prayers of different people and gathered experience on how people had multiple facades.
In the process, he would occasionally respond, like a child who still had great interest in a new toy.
As Klein's browsing drew to a close, ripples of light began to form around the seat of The Fool.
Someone is praying to me, to The Fool and not to Sea God... Klein raised his eyebrows and emanated his spirituality, scanning the scene within the rippling light.
...
Enmat Harbor, in a room with closed curtains.
Dressed in a classic black robe, Ed Sheeran resisted the impulse in his heart and said to the sweet, young girl, Denise, "The gift of god is in our bodies, but if we want to obtain it, we must have a teacher guide it out.
"Your soul is pure and beloved by the gods. I will personally guide you. In the process, no matter what happens, you must trust me and listen to me.
"Before that, do you have any questions?"
Ed Sheeran was a swindler. His specialty was to establish a cult to cheat others for money and sex. He would then decisively flee before it reached a certain scale that would garner attention from the police.
This time, he had come from Backlund, disguised as one of The Fool's Blessed that many gangsters in the capital were looking for. He had also developed a batch of believers in his target group.
He falsely claimed that The Fool was the incarnation of the Lord of the Storms and that he would come to save the faithful during the apocalypse. This was a secret that could not be widely publicized and could only be spread in secret; otherwise, it would attract the attention of the gods of the other Churches. Only those who were chosen would be able to believe in The Fool in advance and be the first batch of the redeemed.
To make himself appear more persuasive, he spent a lot of money in Backlund, buying a piece of paper with the honorific name of The Fool written on it.
As for what was on the piece of paper, his comment was: "It looks like it's real."
Denise asked with both fear and anticipation, "Lord Adorer, why didn't we get a response when we read the honorific name of God? Aren't we Blessed who have been selected and should bathe in God's grace?"
I'll immediately give you God's grace... Ed Sheeran took a deep breath and suppressed the tantalizing images in his mind.
"Two reasons. First, you haven't discovered the grace of God which is hidden in your body. I will help you complete that later.
"Second, you are not devout enough. Don't argue, I can see right through you.
"After you do all of this, you will be able to recite the honorific name of God and receive a response, just like me."
Under Denise's idolizing and curious gaze, Ed Sheeran picked up a pen on the table beside her and scribbled a line of words.
It was the Hermes language used for a sacrificial offering.
In order to make the scam a success, Ed Sheeran had acquired a lot of religious knowledge and even went to a university's Department of History to sit in on archeology courses.
Holding the paper in front of Denise, he proudly recited the words he had written in Hermes, "The Fool that doesn't belong to this era.
"The mysterious ruler above the gray fog.
"The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck."
Following that, with half-closed eyes and open arms, he said dreamily, "I feel the blessings of God."
At this moment, a streak of silver lightning descended from the sky and landed right on Ed Sheeran's head.
With a sizzling sound, the tiny electric bolts snaking across his body scurried. With God's blessing, he fell to the ground and his body quickly charred while his muscles twitched violently.
After a few seconds, he stopped all movement, including breathing as Denise exclaimed, "Lord Ed Sheeran is indeed God's Blessed."
Denise finally sensed that something wasn't right. She stepped forward carefully, lifted her skirt and knelt down, placing her finger to the tip of Ed Sheeran's nose.
He... he's dead... He's dead! Denise jerked back and fell to the ground in terror.
She burst into tears and stumbled out of the room, heading for the nearby police station.
...
Atop the gray fog, Klein silently retracted the Sea God Scepter.
You actually dared to use my name to cheat others of their wealth and sully women... The corner of his mouth twitched, wishing he could give another bolt of lightning to that man named Ed Sheeran.
This was called a corpse mutilation.
The girl would probably call the police, right? This kind of case would inevitably be referred to a corresponding Beyonder team. I wonder if it will be the Nighthawks, the Mandated Punishers, or the Machinery Hivemind... After what Mr. A has done, my reputation as The Fool isn't small in Backlund. Perhaps I already have a dossier in the official organizations. Well, maybe they'll put everything together and hand it over to the Red Gloves or something similar for handling... Klein's past identity and insight as a Nighthawk had allowed him to consider the possible future developments.
However, he quickly put this matter to the back of his mind, because no matter what, they wouldn't be able to detect that it was him.
Klein threw the Sea God Scepter back into the junk pile, ready to return to the real world.
Suddenly, one of the dark red stars that were quietly floating in the boundless gray fog had lit up all of a sudden, emitting a light that was as bright as water!
It swelled and shrunk repeatedly in an abnormally conspicuous manner.
This was a crimson star that didn't belong to any member of the Tarot Club.
What a busy day today... Who could it be? Like Miss Justice, Mr. Hanged Man, and Little Sun, someone is relying on a certain object to connect with the gray fog? Klein's spirituality spread out as he thought. He didn't respond and only observed.
