Above the endless gray fog, in the magnificent and ancient palace.
With one hand holding the Unshadowed Crucifix, and the other holding the Sea God Scepter, he was observing the real world through the crimson star that represented Judgment.
In his spiritual vision, apart from the short Miss Xio and the golden-masked MI9 officer, there was another person hidden in the dark alley.
This was a man in his thirties. He didn't have any special features, and he looked like the typical Loenese man from the mid-north area. Not only did he blend into the shadows, but he also had the characteristic of automatically making people dismiss his existence. If he weren't above the gray fog and had true vision, Klein suspected that even he wouldn't be able to discover the person if he were there in person. He would only be able to outline the person with his spiritual intuition when the person took any abnormal actions.
Hiding in the shadows with Psychological Invisibility? Half of it depends on an item, while the other half depends on his Sequence... In conclusion, this isn't a demigod...
That's right. In the eyes of the king's faction, Ms. Xio is only a Sequence 7 and doesn't have any notable mystical items. If the matter concerning Viscount Stratford was really related to her, there must be a mastermind behind her, or even a faction. In this situation where there are undercurrents surging about, letting a demigod who might know too much perform the investigation might throw them into a trap. And if a demigod who knows little of the situation were to do it, there might be a chance that the information to be leaked to the three Churches and result in an impetus for them to be investigated...
In this case, a Sequence 5 or Sequence 6 Beyonder with trustworthy strength while also not knowing too many secrets due to his limitations in rank is an excellent choice... Klein silently said to himself, giving up the thought of "Teleporting" over as Gehrman Sparrow to capture him.
He couldn't get any useful information for now!
He decided to wait patiently, waiting for the situation to change.
Of course, it wasn't possible for him to continue monitoring from above the gray fog. If that happened, his physical body in the real world would be defenseless for prolonged periods of time. An accident would be disastrous. Hence, he created a batch of charms and handed it to Judgment, The Magician, and the other Tarot Club members. They were to immediately activate the charms if the situation deteriorated. That way, they could receive the help of The World.
This would be simpler than directly reciting the honorific name of The Fool to get "Him" to forward the information!
This was inspired from the Evemight coat of arms that the ascetic leader of the Church of Evernight, Arianna, had provided him. It was equivalent to a solidified ritual that pointed to him. From a mysticism angle, the principle wasn't complicated. The difficulty needed in carrying out the ritual was that the target could react upon receiving the news from a distance away. This was to mean that for a limited distance, a Sequence 3 saint was fine, but for unlimited distances, it needed to be at the angel level.
As a newly-advanced demigod, Gehrman Sparrow was able to allow the charm to be useful because, when he made it, he used the corresponding honorific name and symbol of Sea God Kalvetua, and with the help of the gray fog, he could respond throughout the world.
It sounded a little complicated, but simply put, he had made use of his other identity's level.
As for the materials used for the charms, they were mostly tin—extremely easy to obtain and cheap.
In the Backlund Bridge area, Xio had both hands in her brown jacket pockets as she strolled leisurely along the streets.
Under the light of a street lamp that was quite a distance away, her expression was relatively calm, but she was unusually tense.
The hands in her pocket either held the handle of the Wintry Blade through a hole while the other was holding onto a charm made of tin with some force.
That was the "summoning charm" provided by The World Gehrman Sparrow.
As she walked, she made several detours without suffering from any ambush. The night remained quiet and tranquil.
Initially, she was worried that the king's faction would be able to openly capture her through MI9 or other official organizations and bring her back for an investigation. In this case, summoning Mr. World would only lead him into an extremely awkward and dangerous situation. It was equivalent to being at odds with all the official factions in Backlund. But later, she realized that such a development wouldn't occur. This was because her existence would be exposed to the three Churches. When that happens, the ones doing the investigation definitely wouldn't be the king's faction inside MI9.
The investigation must be done in secret. The person that appears might not even be someone from the military... Well, they're still watching, afraid that I'm only bait? Mr. World said not to trouble him if we can resolve it ourselves... Xio looked around her without letting down her guard. She didn't continue loitering outside and returned to the periphery of East Borough and entered her rented condominium.
Frankly speaking, she didn't want to involve Fors in this risky endeavor. However, the two of them were the ones who had been following Viscount Stratford. This meant that Fors had also been put on the investigation list.
Although, as long as Fors hid in East Borough and seldom went out, it wasn't certain that MI9 could find her. Doing so would lead to the corresponding investigations to reach out further. Based on her past experience, family and friends, as well as people communicated by letters would definitely be investigated. This easily affected others. Furthermore, if the two of them hid separately and didn't stay together, the feeling of them being bait became too obvious. It made it difficult for them to hook up any targets.
After getting Fors's approval, Xio finally chose to face the subsequent development with her friend.
Opening the door and entering the house, Xio had just taken off her cap when she saw Fors put down the magazine. She stood up, curled her hair, smiled, and asked, "You weren't followed, right?"
This was a secret signal that the two of them had agreed upon ahead of time. On the surface, it showed their concern about being followed, but they were actually asking if they had been investigated.
"No." Xio shook her head seriously.
Fors didn't continue this topic. Instead, she went on and on, grumbling about how she couldn't buy any good tea leaves or alcoholic beverages in the vicinity. It required her to walk very far to find them.
This warm and peaceful atmosphere continued till late at night. The two of them entered the bedroom and slept in a bunk bed.
After the candles were extinguished, Xio was about to say something when a holy light suddenly appeared in front of her.
The light instantly condensed into a silhouette, and twelve pairs of wings formed from scarlet flames appeared on its back.
The figure descended and the layers of wings closed, enveloping Xio.
Mr. Fool's angelic blessing... Xio was instantly enlightened.
This was also a matter that she had solemnly asked Mr. Fool when she made the prayer to contact The World Gehrman Sparrow, as she already knew that, apart from the Demoness Sect, the Psychology Alchemists was also working with the king's faction. And not only were Beyonders of the Spectator pathway capable of hypnosis, but they could also dreamwalk. They needed to be careful of any investigations that used these two powers.
If she didn't prepare herself, she suspected that she wouldn't even detect an investigation that had been carried out, let alone be able to inform Mr. World.
Everything quickly calmed down. Xio opened her mouth and said to Fors who was sleeping in the bunk beneath her, "Goodnight."
"...Goodnight." Fors didn't react in time, as though she was almost falling asleep.
This made Xio realize that she had also received the angelic blessings.
Time ticked by and the two fell asleep.
After an unknown period of time, the dazed Xio suddenly snapped awake, aware that she was dreaming.
Right on the heels of that, she felt something shadowy floating in the dark sky, and all kinds of thoughts from deep within her heart surged out to form a dream.
These thoughts were mainly things that she had been most keenly aware of recently, including the night she barged into the warehouse and attacked Viscount Stratford.
At first, Xio was a little frightened. She wanted to wake up from her dream, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't extricate herself from that state. It was as though she was still in a dream even when she opened her eyes.
She quickly calmed down and tried to control those thoughts, only to realize that it wasn't difficult.
Thus, the memories of the attacks on Viscount Stratford were buried. However, after some consideration, Xio deliberately didn't do it well, leaving some clues behind.
In the dreamland, she and Fors discovered that something weird had happened inside the warehouse, but it wasn't the same account she gave to MI9 that the tornado tore through the roof. Furthermore, they didn't escape immediately.
Xio believed that this would allow the person who invaded her dreams to notice a problem but be unable to resolve it. After this, the investigators would confirm that there was a demigod or some faction behind the two of them. They would then believe that they weren't too difficult to deal with because the level of the secret wasn't too high.
This way, it was likely that they would send a demigod to deal with the aftermath. And this was a development that Xio anticipated. After all, every demigod had a high probability of knowing the king's secrets due to the positions they occupied.
At this moment, Xio's dream began to turn scattered, as though she had escaped some sort of guidance.
She knew that this was a sign of the intruder leaving.
For the rest of the night, nothing abnormal happened to her and Fors.
The sky lit up and the morning sun's rays started to emanate through the thin fog.
After breakfast, Audrey brought along her big golden retriever, Susie; her personal servant, Annie; and her bodyguard. They boarded their carriage as usual and headed for the Loen Charity Bursary Foundation at 22 Phelps Street.
The chiming of bells rang out from the outside occasionally, bringing with them some sort of special energy. It made Audrey turn to look at the street and take in the sights of people coming and going.
This calmed her down and made her feel more energized. She only felt that the whole world was filled with vibrancy.
Just then, from the corner of her eye, Audrey saw a figure in the carriage.
The figure was wearing a black three-piece suit, a dark red bow tie, and held a top hat in his hand. His hair was completely white, but it was still thick, His light blue eyes seemed to contain infinite wisdom.
This was Hvin Rambis, the Psychology Alchemists councilor, a demigod from the Spectator pathway!
Suddenly, Audrey fell into a daze, as though she had lost all her vigilance and wariness. In the carriage, Susie, Annie, and the others wore vacant looks as though they had entered a state of blankness.
Hvin Rambis's gentle voice rang out:
"Two things.
"Firstly, don't you know Fors and Xio? Arrange to meet them and hypnotize them..."
