Lord of the Mysteries

It was late at night with the thick clouds concealing the moon. It was dark across the Backlund Bridge.

Just as Klein “Teleported” here, he saw green pea vines descend from the sky like a storm that enveloped his surroundings before he could look around.

They intertwined and quickly formed a forest. They stacked upwards in layers, making it impossible to see its peak.

Klein released his right hand’s grip on his top hat and familiarly followed up the path paved by the vines.

It didn’t take long before he saw a naturally-formed swing made out of green plants. He also saw Queen Mystic Bernadette who stood beside the swing.

This eldest daughter of Emperor Roselle had a head of long chestnut hair. She wore a blouse with laced flowers that formed a bow tie. She matched it with a gray dress that went past her knees and a pair of Wellington leather boots. She also wore a bonnet with a hanging black fishnet.

“You’ve grown faster than I had imagined.” Bernadette’s blue eyes behind the black fishnet reflected Gehrman Sparrow’s figure.

Klein replied without any change in expression, “Praise Mr. Fool.”

As he said that, he inwardly lampooned, This is what it means to strive to be stronger, relying on oneself rather than on others!

Queen Mystic nodded slightly as she said with a gentle but emotionless voice, “I know why you want to see me.”

Without waiting for Klein to say a word, she tilted her head slightly and looked at the vine swing beside her. She said in a tone as calm as a lake that had countless undercurrents beneath it, “I feel that he hasn’t really perished completely.”

…Does that mean you believe that Emperor Roselle hasn’t died completely? He lives somewhere in this world, with a chance for him to return? Klein didn’t expect to hear such a straightforward and sensational words right at the beginning of their conversation. Although he easily controlled his expression, he was somewhat at a loss for a reply.

At the same time, he noticed that Bernadette referred to Emperor Roselle as “he” instead of “He.” Regardless if they were using ancient Feysac to speak or the normal daily language used in Loen or Intis, they were completely different words.

This means that deep down in Queen Mystic’s heart, Emperor Roselle isn’t an angel, but a father… Klein calmed down his emotions and deliberated before asking, “Why do you have such thoughts?”

Bernadette retracted her gaze from the vine swing and said with the same gentle voice, “Towards the final stages of his life, although he was crazy and radical, everything he did had preparations in place. I believe that he must’ve prepared something for himself.

You should know that he attempted to switch pathways in his later years and tried for the vacant Black Emperor throne. This required him to build nine secret mausoleums in the form of pyramids.

“After he died in the White Maple Palace, the Churches of the Eternal Blazing Sun and Steam jointly found eight mausoleums and destroyed each one of them. However, the ninth mausoleum remains to be discovered. No one knows where it’s hidden.

“If he had already become Black Emperor, he can definitely awaken inside that mausoleum. If he fails, I believe that there’s a possibility of using it for his resurrection…”

Bernadette’s voice softened as she spoke. Towards the end, her voice was ethereal and nearly indiscernible.

You aren’t that confident either… It’s mostly a kind of hope and expectation… Klein sighed.

Suddenly, he recalled the words by King of the Five Seas Nast.

Emperor Roselle liked to stand in front of a particular floor-to-ceiling window and look to the west.

From Roselle’s diary, Klein knew that “He” had discovered the Abyss’s entrance in the Fog Sea west of Intis. There, he had found a primitive island and believed that it was filled with oddities and was worth exploring.

Could it be that… Emperor Roselle built the last secret mausoleum in the Abyss or on that primitive island? Klein thought for a moment before smiling.

You seem to understand the Black Emperor pathway very well.”

He suspected that Emperor Roselle had left the Black Emperor card as a bookmark and had used Bernadette’s name in ancient Feysac as the activation incantation because he partially wanted to inform his daughter of the corresponding ritual. In the end, Bernadette had seemingly grasped the information via other means.

The lips behind Queen Mystic’s fishnet veil produced a slight curl.

“I’ve already investigated this matter for more than a century. And to figure out the details, I’ve suffered the infusion of knowledge from the Hidden Sage.

“I can tell that you, and Mr. Fool who’s backing you, have a deep understanding of this… I’ve always been curious why you’re so interested in his matters.”

From the current situation, and in terms of seniority, you could call me uncle… The emperor and I might very well be “roommates” who had been hung up for many years… Klein lampooned to relieve his emotional upheavals. However, he replied in a calm tone, “You can raise this question to Mr. Fool.”

He didn’t plan on telling Bernadette that the ninth secret mausoleum might be somewhere in the Fog Sea, very likely to be on the primitive island, or in the Abyss. It was more suitable for The Fool to answer the question.

Queen Mystic wasn’t surprised by Gehrman Sparrow’s response. She cast her gaze west to a certain spot far away.

Although he couldn’t see Bernadette’s gaze, Klein could vaguely sense that this lady was looking at the place where she had her childhood. She was looking at her spiritual home, the home where she could no longer return to.

At that moment, in the green vines and deep darkness, there were a lot of subtle emotions and dreams that hid deep in the heart, fermenting.

In just a matter of seconds, Queen Mystic retracted her gaze and gently said, “After my matters in Backlund ends, I’ll pass a few pages to Cattleya and get her to ask the question on my behalf.”

“Why don’t you ask next week?” Klein didn’t hide his puzzlement.

Bernadette calmly replied, “I feel that the answer will affect my mood, and a bad mood will result in my failure.”

A failure because of a bad mood? What sort of matter has such strict requirements? A clash with a demigod of the mind domain? Or perhaps, after she resolves the knots in her heart, will she have the confidence to attempt to become an angel? Klein nodded in thought without pressing.

This was a secret of hers, something that it was best not to ask about unless necessary.

Queen Mystic then said, “When he wrote those few diary pages, I was sitting opposite him. I wanted him to teach me how to interpret and write those symbols. He didn’t agree to it and only ruffled my hair. Back then, I was already of age…

“I can tell that he was worried, apprehensive, and in a difficult position when he wrote those pages. Finally, he told me that if I can really become an important figure of the mysterious world as Zaratul predicted, I must make sure to remember—be careful of the ‘Spectator.’”

Be careful of the “Spectator”… Klein couldn’t help but inwardly repeat Roselle’s warning.

He believed that the emperor wouldn’t be broadly referring to the Beyonders of the Spectator pathway. He was definitely pointing to a particular special existence, some special matter, or both.

Emperor Roselle was a member of that ancient secret organization… That ancient secret organization’s founder and leader is… Klein’s eyelids twitched as he didn’t dare to think any further, afraid that a particular existence would hear his thoughts.

“Perhaps there are detailed descriptions on that diary page,” he said, hoping to see that diary page as soon as possible.

“I know.” Bernadette nodded.

She didn’t continue on the topic. After two seconds of silence, she said, “I should thank Mr. Fool and you on Cattleya’s behalf. Obtaining the blood of a Snake of Fate is very helpful towards her future.

“Although the advancement ritual of a Mysticologist doesn’t have any requirements on the Mythical Creature’s pathway, the best choice is still the Fate pathway. This will make it a lot easier for her when she advances to Sequence 3.”

“Why?” Klein asked with the mindset of learning new knowledge.

After all, it was impossible for a Blessed to know everything. Even a true god was incapable of that!

Bernadette’s eyes turned slightly vacant.

“Another way to call ‘prying into the secrets of fate’ is ‘clairvoyance.’ The Mystery Pryer’s Sequence 3 is called Clairvoyant. This also why I’m in Backlund.”

Due to a particular future prediction? Klein mused, having a guess and some level of enlightenment, “Many pathways seem to have the ability of clairvoyance.”

The corners of Queen Mystic’s mouth curled up slightly as she sighed and said, “In ancient times, many Beyonder creatures believe that gathering similar powers would lead to a qualitative change and breakthrough, but all of them went mad without exception or lost control. Only after the first Blasphemy Slate appeared did all creatures realize that balance—the kind of balance needed to walk on t;he edge of a cliff—was key to the path of extraordinariness.”

Therefore, a domain’s powers can be scattered across many pathways, concentrating on a few main pathways while the other pathways share the remnants? Hmm, a negative example is the King of the North from Groselle’s Travels, Ulyssan… Klein fell into a deep thought without pressing.

After a while, Queen Mystic broke the silence.

“If you have nothing else, let’s end it here today.”

Klein thought for a moment before saying, “Alright, if you need any help, you can find me through Admiral of Stars.”

Bernadette nodded gently as her figure suddenly turned transparent before turning into a cluster of bubbles.

The bubbles scattered and flew off before vanishing immediately. The dark green pea vines retracted and vanished into the night.

Klein seemed to be held by an invisible hand as he landed gently on the Backlund Bridge.

He reached out his hand to press his top hat and surveyed his surroundings. There were rows of houses lining the banks, emitting faint yellow lights. Amidst the gushing sound of the surging river and the darkness of the night, everything appeared serene, silent, warm, and peaceful.

I hope none of this will be destroyed… Klein sighed as his figure quickly turned transparent and faded away.