With Klein finishing his final stroke, the lights in Billiard Room 3 dimmed.
On the dainty makeup mirror, aqueous patterns rippled out before turning into a dark scene.
Immediately, one bloody word after another appeared:
"Raise your questions."
This scene was filled with a sense of supernatural horror. Even though standing there was a Wraith and a Zombie, they couldn't help but feel overwhelmed as they momentarily didn't dare say a word.
Only Klein continued wearing a smile as though he was accustomed to all of this.
He had previously exhorted Arrodes to not raise questions that were too difficult or private, and also to not act like a servant. If it wasn't because Sharron and Maric could ask much more targeted questions as a result of understanding the situation better, Klein was more inclined to handling it himself and not exposing the reality of having such a "helper."
After a few seconds of silence, Maric took two steps forward, came to the billiard table, and opened his mouth.
At this moment, Sharron gentle but emotionless voice sounded:
"I'll ask the questions."
Without waiting for Maric to answer, she floated up into a standing position and looked at the mirror.
"Is the Tutanssess II mummy a trap that the Loen military set up to target the Rose School of Thought?"
The mirror's blood-red words melted away and slid down, dragging away the stains, barely leaving two words behind which wriggled to form:
"That's right."
It is indeed a trap the Loen military set up for the Rose School of Thought. We can preliminary eliminate the situation that it's a plot the Rose School of Thought has to target Miss Sharron and Maric. After all, the risk involved exceeds the value of a Sequence 5 and 6 combined. Even if the Rose School of Thought can't curb their desire for revenge, they wouldn't be this crazy; unless, they were already planning on dealing with the Loen military and decided to involve this matter as well. If that's the case, the best place to have such a matter unfold would be in the Southern Continent or at sea, and not somewhere in the vicinity of Backlund. Who knows what kind of terrifying fellows are hidden here... Amidst his thoughts, Klein saw the surface of the mirror turn dark again as new blood-colored words appeared:
"Based on the principle of reciprocity, it's my turn to ask a question.
"If you answer wrong or lie, you will be punished."
Rather obedient. He didn't make the request of doing artistic actions... Looking at the billiard table, Klein nodded indiscernibly.
At this moment, the words from before slowly vanished, presenting new words:
"You..."
As the bloody word froze for a full three seconds, it followed up:
"...are to answer with the relationship between the Chained God and the Mother Tree of Desire."
For some reason, Klein felt that the remaining parts of the sentence had its blood-colored text darken significantly. Thankfully, the question wasn't too out of place, and it was something he would like to know.
Sharron looked at the mirror and replied in a deadpan manner, "Since the Fifth Epoch, after the perishing of Death, the Eggers family gradually lost control over the Star Highlands and Paz Valley, allowing those places to have their own Beyonder organization, the Rose School of Thought.
"In the beginning, there wasn't the Mother Tree of Desire, only the Chained God. The Rose School of Thought advocated temperance and established a religious ritual system, including laws. Formal members led ascetic lives to deal with the repercussions of receiving powers.
"One day, a divine revelation added terms about indulgence. Many people slowly changed and restored ancient but bloody primitive sacrificial traditions. Later, the School of Thought's upper echelons began secretly calling the Chained God the manifestation of the Mother Tree of Desire."
By the sound of it, the Chained God was corrupted by the Mother Tree of Desire bit by bit or replaced... If this entity was once a Sequence 0, then the Mother Tree of Desire is truly terrifying. It's no wonder it's viewed as an enemy by all the other deities... However, the Chained God might not be a Sequence 0. There's a small possibility of being a Uniqueness that has fully come to life, or a King of Angels with two Sequence 1 characteristics, or even someone weaker. There's currently not enough information to verify the matter... Klein frowned slightly as he began thinking about the matters regarding the Mother Tree of Desire.
At this moment, Sharron had switched to asking, "What problems does the Tutanssess II mummy possess?"
On the mirror's surface, the blood-red text squirmed and changed into a complete sentence:
"It's filled with hexes, a manifestation of hexes. It has the possibility of automatically becoming a Zombie."
This mummy is comprised of hexes? As expected of a corpse left behind by a High-Sequence Beyonder... How should this be resolved? Klein turned to look at Sharron and Maric and discovered that they were sufficiently calm without any hint of surprise, as though they already knew that. And this also meant that they had the means to resolve the matter. Of course, Sharron didn't have much of an expression regardless of the matter. She was as calm as she always was.
After Arrodes answered, it followed the principle of reciprocity and raised its question:
"You..."
"...have been trying hard to increase your Sequence. Why do you do so?"
This time, it had used the same bloody text as the opening, but the words that followed after a few seconds didn't appear that bright.
Does this mean that Arrodes is hesitating and struggling, resisting its own urges? On the one hand, it finds it difficult to curb its wishes to raise difficult-to-answer questions, but on the other hand, it's taking my instructions into considerations and thus holding back? Klein thought in amusement.
Sharron stood there in silence before gently moving her lips.
"In the beginning, it was to not be bullied by others. Now, it's to have the strength to protect myself and my companions, and revenge, as well as spread the principle of temperance... If everyone can temper their desires, to not have wars and killing, there will be less misery."
Klein was surprised by what he heard. His impression of Sharron was that she was a woman of few words.
It wasn't that she couldn't say that many words, but that even if she had much to say, she held back greatly and didn't provide any additional descriptions. For example, in her answer to the first question, she had simply recounted the situation, and although she appeared to say a lot, she hadn't said one word more or anything subjective. The words she added towards the end was a relatively talkative act based on her character.
This is something that's been on her mind, a point of view that she has been repressing for a very long time? Klein suddenly imagined the chaotic reality of the wars in the Southern Continent.
They were lands with plenty of slavery. There were batches of people from the lower class who died of hunger and sickness. There were constant wars and live sacrifices.
If I were born in the Southern Continent and could live to this point, I'll definitely wish for world peace and happiness to the people... Speaking of which, Miss Sharron and Maric do not look like they are of Southern Continent descent. That's right, before Death perished, passage between the Northern and Southern Continent was allowed... Also, Sharron mentioned revenge. That word was said without conviction, as though she doesn't hold out hope for it. Or does she not have that strong of a desire for it? Klein sighed silently as he watched Sharron raise detail after detail and answer question after question.
After learning of the situation regarding the Tutanssess II mummy, Sharron asked again, "Apart from Mahmosi, who are the High-Sequence Beyonders that will appear in this trap?"
The mirror surface's aqueous wave rippled and formed a bright light, one that enveloped everything. Nothing else could be seen.
With Arrodes's powers, it likely involves an angel or Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. That's why it wasn't able to provide an accurate answer... Klein retracted his gaze and said to Sharron and Maric with a smile, "From the looks of it, it's as I guessed. The Loen military has prepared plenty of redundancies."
Sharron nodded slightly as she continued staring at the mirror, awaiting the secret existence to raise "His" question.
The blood-colored text squirmed and no longer paused like before. Everything appeared at once.
"What are your thoughts regarding your teacher?"
Teacher? Miss Sharron has a teacher... That's right, as part of the temperance faction, to not be influenced by the Rose School of Thought which had changed internally, and to keep to her original path, someone must've provided her with help... This is also one of the reasons why she and Maric could escape? Enlightened, Klein anticipated Sharron's answer.
Sharron pursed her lips.
"I respect ‘Her'."
...She used ‘Her'? Klein nearly couldn't maintain his smile from the shock.
Including the orthodox Churches and the various major Beyonder organizations, Grounded Angels were very rare. There might only be one or two. He originally imagined that Sharron's teacher was a Sequence 4 or 3 saint with a peak strength equivalent to Sea King Jahn Kottman. To his surprise, she had used "Her" as a pronoun. In Loen, ancient Feysac, and even Jotun and Elvish, this pronoun was very different from his, her, its!
After his shock, Klein suddenly sighed deeply. Miss Sharron's current situation largely implies that her teacher is probably not around. She and Maric escaped perhaps due to the final struggle of the temperance faction within the Rose School of Thought. And to the Mother Tree of Desire, either it's corruption or decimation to create a Sealed Artifact. There will not be any other choices.
The mirror turned dark again as the bright red text vanished.
After a while, new words appeared again.
"Continue."
"I no longer have any questions. Thank you for your help," Sharron curtsied as she said slowly.
With her saying that, the mirror returned to normal. The lighting in the billiard room wasn't dim any longer.
Sharron looked at Klein and said in a tone without any abnormalities, "We shall forgo this matter."
Clearly, she also understood the meaning behind the blast of light that appeared during the hidden existence's final answer.
Klein shook his head and smiled.
"There's no need to rush into a decision. Let me ask you a few more things. Perhaps there might still be a chance that doesn't require us to take too much of a risk."
At least my divination results say that it's possible! he added silently.
"What is it?" Maric couldn't help but ask.
