Lord of Mysteries: Starting As A Reader

Silver hair, blood-red pupils, a woman whose features were obscured…

Even though his reflection was already visible in the other party's pupils, it didn't mean Klein truly saw her…

This was just an image that suddenly appeared in his mind!

Who? Klein's steps didn't falter, his body showed no stiffness. He walked normally down the gangplank onto the dock, just as he had before.

Then, he walked and paused, casually tossing a coin, before winding his way into a restaurant. He requested the innermost private room on the second floor and ordered a few dishes.

After the waiter left the private room, Klein stood up and went to the wall on one side of the room. He pressed his left palm against it—he judged that the blood-red eyes that had been quietly watching him were in the adjacent room.

As his palm touched the wall, a partial scene of the neighboring private room naturally appeared in his mind:

A long table, a few chairs, a coat rack, and wooden crates holding beer… It was the simplest possible layout for a restaurant private room.

And since it was just past two in the afternoon, not dining time, there was no one inside.

Already gone? Klein had only been probing, so he immediately withdrew his left palm, walked back to the table, and sat down, acting as if nothing had happened.

He had performed a divination when he casually tossed the coin earlier, and the result was that the lady bore no ill will… but this wasn't necessarily accurate; it would be better to confirm it above the gray fog.

But I might still be under surveillance right now, so I need to find a safe place to enter the gray fog… Hmm, I looked at a map before coming to Symeem Island and remember there's a Church of the Earth Mother Goddess south of the town.

Since the Earth Mother Goddess invested in me through Mr. Tower, it should be safe there… I'll just change into Detective Bryan's appearance later and go in, which also counts as role-playing for a Faceless.

As he thought this, the waiter had already served a special dish he had just ordered.

This food was called "Teatiwa," which translated to "meat in fruit" in Loenese—the chef used a local giant fruit called "Teana," hollowed out its pulp, leaving only the firm rind, then stuffed it with mashed lamb and fish, seasoned with sea salt and several spices, and repeatedly roasted it over fire. The meat was delicious and exuded a unique aroma, perfectly blending with the sweet and slightly sour taste of the fruit.

Klein really liked the taste of meat mixed with the sweetness of fruit; the Dasi pie he most often ate in Backlund had a similar texture.

After eating his fill, Klein slowly stood up, savoring the delicious taste, paid the bill, and went downstairs to board a carriage, heading towards the church south of town.

While in the carriage, he quietly changed his appearance… The native coachman, who dared not look directly at him, didn't notice.

.....

Just after Klein left the restaurant, a slender figure suddenly appeared in the previously empty adjacent room.

It was a lady whose face seemed obscured by mist, revealing only a pair of blood-red eyes, making her features unclear.

She wore an elegant black robe with a hooded cloak and held a slender wooden stick only about twenty centimeters long.

"He's truly a cautious person…" The lady seemed to nod with satisfaction, then she looked towards the northern jungle and sighed, murmuring to herself, "If only Leticia could be so cautious… As an Astrologer, to be as reckless as a Storm believer… No wonder she has such a 'destiny' with that Book of Calamity…"

"This is truly unlike my descendant… even if her bloodline is very thin."

The word "destiny" was something she had heard from a friend a long, long time ago. Speaking it now, a hint of melancholy appeared, but the lady quickly composed herself.

Just then, her blood-red eyes suddenly narrowed. Immediately after, she used Mystical Reappearance—Nantianmen, stepping into an elven temple constructed of crystal. At the very moment Leticia was about to open the Book of Calamity, she directly summoned that yellowish-brown parchment book to her hand.

At this sudden turn of events, Leticia and her two male companions were startled. They each drew their weapons, aimed them at the blood-eyed lady whose features were obscured, and demanded, "Who are you?"

The hooded, blood-eyed lady stared at them for a while before slowly speaking, "I remember telling you not to open it before you came."

"Told me...?" Leticia was stunned for a moment, then her greenish-gray eyes widened as she blurted out, "You... You are Ancestor Yarolan?"

Months ago, when she went to Olavi to explore the Elven Trial Temple, she had received a task from her ancestor, and in the end, it was her ancestor who rescued her from the "disappeared" temple.

But she had only ever heard her voice, never seen her person...

Thinking back now, the voice was correct... But why would her ancestor have blood-red eyes?

Just as Leticia showed a suspicious expression, the lady whose features were obscured nodded and said, "I am Yarolan."

With that, she removed the "Peeping" effect from her eyes. The blood-red color immediately receded, turning to gray.

And as the blood-red color receded, so did the layer of "mist" obscuring her face.

It was a face much more delicate and much younger than Leticia's, seemingly imbued with a hint of "beauty," causing Leticia and her companions to stare in a daze.

Of these, part of Leticia's reaction was due to the other's "beauty," but another part was because her Peeping Eye, which she subconsciously activated, saw the shadow of a complete mythical creature...

In other words, the lady before her was an Angel!

If the other party hadn't restrained herself, only letting her see a shadow, her reaction would have been more than just "dazed"!

On the other side, the lady named Yarolan, having revealed her identity, waved her hand and brought the group out of the temple. Then, ignoring her descendant, she placed her hand on the book's cover and began to communicate on an "information" level.

—As a Mystery Pryer Sequence 2 Sage, Her mythical form was already a pure stream of information.

Moments later, Lady Yarolan withdrew her hand, but her pupils once again turned blood-red:

"The Calamity characteristic is still there... but the connection with the Elven Queen is 'broken'!"

"Could Cohinem have completely fallen?"

"No... Although Her fate is very difficult to observe, there are still ripples in the River of Fate..."

"More importantly, the 'thing' hidden in the Book of Calamity is also gone..."

"Did She arrange a contingency plan elsewhere?"

"Or... is it his doing again?"

.....

In the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess on the south side of the port town, the priest, who was wiping tables and chairs, was startled when he saw Klein push the door open and walk in, seeing the face of "Detective Ebner Bryan" disguised by the Faceless ability. He took a few quick steps forward, pulled him into the back room, and urgently asked:

"Detective Bryan, how dare you still show your face in the Rorsted Archipelago?"

"You should know that the commotion caused by your farewell hasn't settled down yet!"

"The Governor of Bayam even privately issued a bounty for you on the black market!"