Secret: The years I served as a foreign aid for the Aurora Club

Chapter 382 In History
702
A corner of Intis.

"Steamships are too inefficient. Loen's new ironclad ship is a very good design. It's time to consider increasing displacement and speed. I think we can engrave magic patterns and ritual patterns on the hull to make use of magic and extraordinary power in the operation of the ship."

A man wearing a classical wizard robe with a hood covering his eyes said so.

There is a large cargo ship parked in the shipyard at the port. The cargo ship was put into production only a few years ago, but it was damaged in the recent flood and is now the only ship that can be used in the port. All other small and medium-sized fishing boats have been washed away. The entire port town has no other pillar industries, and everyone is counting on this ship to be put into use as soon as possible to bring some psychological and economic comfort to the devastated homeland.

The craftsman sent by the Church of Steam jumped off the boat and complained to the Secret Peeping Think Tank: "After the hostility with Loen, our territorial waters are almost completely blocked. We can't even catch many fish. What do we need boats for?"

The secret peeker asked back: "Why must the ship be in the sea?"

The craftsman looked at him and then at the ship: "If it's not in the sea, how can such a large ship fly in the sky?"

"Why can't it fly?" The Secret Peeper rolled up his sleeves, revealing his arms which were too thin compared to the craftsman's. He then took the craftsman's hammer and nails and said, "I'll carve a ritual magic for the ship to float. All it takes is spiritual drive and a prayer to the sage."

five minutes later.

The Secret Peeping Man, who had just managed to carve a large circle with a diameter of one meter, lifted his hood and wiped the sweat off his head, complaining to the craftsman: "This boat is so strong? How long will it take me to finish carving it?"

The craftsman stroked his chin and looked at the circle. "You are right. We need more professional engraving equipment, such as a fully automatic burner. This may be an emerging industry in the future. I will pray to the church to report this idea and apply for a patent and research funding."

Hearing about the research funding, the Secret Peeper smiled the same way as the Craftsman: "How much can you apply for?"

"If you apply early, you can get into the archbishops' workshops and work as a second or third-year craftsman. If you apply late, you can only stand outside the workshop and run errands for them and buy meals." The craftsman looked at the secret peeper and said, "Use ritual magic to write an application. The handwriting must be neat, the wording must be elegant, the logic must be smooth, and the words must be sincere. Then we will submit it quickly to see if we can apply for something."

The Secret Peeper patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry, we in the Moss Ascetic Order often require you to write study reports, and I'm very good at it."

"By the way, even if you really engraved the magic on it, it would be strange to use such a large ship to transport goods. If you just want to design a transport device that can fly in the sky, why don't we dismantle this ship and make a civilian airship that can be driven by rituals?"

The secret peeper opened the assignment letter, looked at it from left to right, and pondered over the words for a while, then said happily:
"The request did not say that the ship could not be dismantled, but only that we should find a way to restore Firren's economy and improve the living conditions of the residents."

"very good."

The craftsman said: "Now all we need is the technology to build and improve a civilian airship."

Now, of course, they couldn't fly to Trier to start their studies at the Technical University from scratch, so there was only one simple way - thinking of the great being's teaching method, they looked at each other and said in unison: "You go!"

“Aren’t you good at skipping classes? You skipped all the way to Sequence 6 without going crazy. Go ahead!”

"I'm not the best at skipping classes. It took me ten years to get promoted to Sequence 6! My mind is fragile. You're the main technician, so go!"

"How about this, we'll each take half." The craftsman tried to bring a win-win attitude to the study. "I'll do the reconstruction. I'll learn construction, and you'll learn magic improvements. This way at least one of us can survive. Let's pray together. The sage will definitely explain this new knowledge that's hard to understand at least twenty times. Now it's ten o'clock, and we'll start the ceremony. Once you're drunk, just treat it as sleeping, and continue working tomorrow."

"I think it's okay." The Secret Peeper expressed his appreciation.

So the Secret Peeper began to arrange the ceremony on the ground, drawing symbols, and the craftsman opened the folding bed and quilt that came with the luggage. After the ceremony was ready, the two lay on their respective beds and prayed to the Hidden Sage to obtain knowledge related to the transformation of civilian airships.

After a brief moment of agony, they both fell into a baby-like sleep.

……

Intis, Trier.

After passing through the door, the world in front of Klein returned to normal. The first thing that caught his eye was a cathedral that was emitting a faint glow. Its style was somewhat similar to the Gothic architecture of the old era, with tall spires pointing to the sky and stained glass windows of various sizes dotted on it.

It was late at night and there were no more worshippers visiting, but there was still a lot of activity in the cathedral and spiritual lights flashed frequently.

"This is our current sanctuary, so we can't teleport in directly."

The Dark Saint briefly explained to Klein, his expression solemn and serious. Klein guessed that this could be considered a pilgrimage, so he nodded and followed the Dark Saint toward the long stairs in front of the cathedral. During this process, he casually asked:

"Are you planning to retreat back to Intis?"

The Dark Saint who was walking in front and leading the way nodded. He had something to do this time, so he resisted the urge to kneel and kowtow all the way.

"Yes, after sending you here, I won't go back."

"Stay in Trier?" Klein looked around.

"Maybe. I will obey the church's arrangement and go to other areas to participate in the reconstruction work."

As he spoke, he took out a notebook from his arms and handed it to Klein. "You reminded me and I just remembered that these are some of the things left in our base in Backlund, as well as the list of members. Since you plan to take over there, they are all handed over to you."

"If you need to, or want to build up your own power, you can reopen the Extraordinary Gathering, and the authorization is included."

Extraordinary gathering?

He still had some nostalgia, but the Beyonder gatherings were no longer of any value to him who was about to become a Sequence 3. The current ecology of wild Beyonders in Backlund was not very good... But perhaps they could be regulated a little to prevent them from causing incidents when they were pushed into a corner... Klein took the notebook and responded casually a few times, imagining with great interest what it would be like for the Tarot Club to hold secret gatherings in the real world.

Then, he thought of Mr. Isengard Stanton, who hosted many wild Beyonders gatherings under the title of "Eye of Wisdom". He received a lot of help from the other party's meetings, such as spiritual bullets, the axe for "Sun", and a lot of intelligence and gold pounds.

Mr. Esinger Stanton could be considered a friend that Klein trusted more than anyone else. Unfortunately, he had been very busy since the God War, preparing for promotion and paying attention to the charity foundation, so he didn't know how the other person was doing recently.

Throwing away the disappointment and worry in his heart, Klein put away the notebook and followed the Dark Saint all the way to the gate of the Cathedral of Light. The ten-meter-high gate made everyone look up involuntarily, then bow their heads in awe.

The main door was closed and locked for the night, so they went in through the side door.

The person who came to greet them was an acquaintance of the two, Ms. D, who had received the grace of the Lord and became a saint.

The Dark Saint greeted him: "Night shift?"

“Not yet.”

A few days passed, and although the joy of surviving the disaster gradually faded, Ms. D was still relieved to see the two acquaintances. On the one hand, the flood took away too many people, and she was happy that the two acquaintances were still alive. On the other hand, the arrival of the Dark Saint meant that someone would be able to communicate directly with Aurora Society fanatics like Mr. A, and she finally didn't have to figure out their thoughts and get splattered with blood from time to time.

"Long time no see, Mr. X."

Irena looked at Klein and said, "Are you also planning to stay in Trier?"

Klein looked at the Dark Saint, who shook his head, meaning that the Red Angel had not made the information public. Klein's promotion to Sequence 3 and his identity as a God-favored One had not yet been known to the other members of the Aurora Society. Klein responded politely:

"No, I'm just here to visit the current temple. I'll be returning to Backlund soon and continue to be stationed there."

Irena immediately showed respect to Klein.

"Let's go. The people from the secret order are waiting for you." She stepped aside to make way, and led the two of them into the cathedral through the side door, and then walked up the winding stairs to the upper floors.

While admiring the luxurious gilded paintings and various gold decorations left by the Church of the Eternal Sun, Klein listened intently to the chat between the Dark Saint and Ms. D. From this answer, it seemed that she knew something, but was not very clear - they had cooperated before, had seen the Secret Doll, and were great nobles in Intis. She knew that Klein was a "fortune teller" and also understood some of the movements of the Secret Society. So she guessed that Klein came here to cooperate with the Secret Society this time, and in a sense, she was not wrong.

"How are things going lately?"

Ms. D joked, "Do you want to hear the good news or the bad news?" "Let me hear the good news first."

Irena said as she walked, "The good news is that Trier has a new god, which has ended the war and the flood. Our city reform and construction plan is also progressing steadily. Trier will once again be at the forefront of the times and become the most modern metropolis."

Klein almost couldn't hold it in.

The Dark Saint was a little excited: "What's the bad news?"

"The bad news is that our modern metropolis will be empty, with no pedestrians on the streets and no merchants in the shops," Irena said calmly. "To be more precise, the remaining population of Intis will be the same as the original population of Trier."

The Dark Saint shook his head and made the sign of the cross on himself:

“May their souls ascend to heaven.”

In other words, there is only one Trier left in the country? There are almost no survivors in all other cities... Klein widened his eyes slightly, as if he had only now come up with a more accurate idea. Previously, he had established contact with Arrodes through Sefirah Castle and briefly inquired about the situation in Intis. He was slightly relieved when he heard that the God War was over. He knew that Intis had suffered a great disaster and that a great flood had occurred, but he never expected that the flood would fall from the sky in Trier.

He couldn't help but ask, "How was the final flood resolved?"

"It was the hidden sage who saved Intis," Irena replied. "He used powerful magic to stop the sea water and divide the country into new river channels and systems." After saying that, she pointed out the window.

When passing by a high window, Klein stopped and looked out.

He had seen a world map before, so he quickly recalled it now. Trier was similar to Backlund. The original city had a river running through it, but now a large river suddenly appeared in Trier's urban area, and there were several tributaries that formed a spider web-like water system in the city. If Klein hadn't known that this was North America, he would have suspected that he had seen Venice in the 19th century.

Then, Klein's eyes widened slightly.

On both sides of that brand new river.

Countless people gathered there, firewood was piled under the relics, and the flames were burning brightly, extending far away along the river.

"…There's nothing to see." Irena said softly.

The three of them did not speak again on the way. The Dark Saint and Irena murmured to themselves, reciting scriptures to commemorate the dead. And that scene lingered in Klein's mind for a long time. The surging grief and pain made him clench his fists involuntarily.

"arrive."

After reaching the designated floor, Irena stopped, said a simple goodbye to them, turned around and walked downstairs.

Klein and the Dark Saint walked forward in the direction she pointed. After a few steps, a fire suddenly lit up, illuminating a corner of the corridor.

The Red Angel leaned against the wall, folded his arms, and waited for their arrival, while the fire came from His fingertips.

"Quite fast."

Medici lit a cigarette for himself, but didn't smoke it. He just held it between his fingers and let it burn quietly. He pressed a switch, and the long white light tube on the ceiling of the corridor flashed a few times before lighting up, illuminating the surroundings. The Dark Saint had never seen anything like this before, and he immediately began to praise the Lord and the miracle. Klein's eyebrows twitched, and he felt as if he was back in a high school classroom.

Then he noticed that Medici was holding an old glove made of a special material, with metal wrapped around the joints, like a combat glove that only appeared in oil paintings.

Seeing that Klein noticed the extraordinary item in his hand, Medici raised the glove, waved it, and then crushed it.

Klein's eyebrows twitched again.

The old gloves with a sense of historical beauty turned into pieces of broken copper and iron, and then the spiritual brilliance emerged and quickly gathered in Medici's hands, forming a very special group of extraordinary properties. This group of properties was dark, like liquid and gas. As soon as it was gathered, a dark fog suddenly appeared around it. Soon, the Dark Saint found himself losing his way and couldn't tell the front, back, left, and right.

There seemed to be many things flashing in the fog, like an ancient city, or like a mythical scene, as if walking through history.

Is this the extraordinary characteristic of the “ancient scholars”?
"Do you want to be promoted here?" Medici asked him as he was watching intently, and made a gesture to throw the Dark Saint out of the window of the cathedral.

Klein hesitated. He felt that the cathedral was hidden enough, and Medici's presence was enough to interfere with most of the anomalies and unnatural phenomena brought about by promotion. After all, he was only promoted to Sequence 3.

So he nodded, took out the yellow crystal pendulum wrapped around his wrist, and used the method of "divination" to confirm whether this extraordinary characteristic could be absorbed by him.

He got the revelation that the thing was quite dangerous, but barely bearable.

Oh, under normal circumstances, no matter how careful one is, the Beyonder characteristic of Sequence 3 is equivalent to poison. If one can survive it, one will be promoted. If not, one will go crazy, lose control, or even die suddenly. I hope the owner of this characteristic does not die suddenly during the promotion process... Klein stared at the yellow crystal pendant that was spinning rapidly counterclockwise for a few seconds, then pulled up the silver chain and wrapped it around his left wrist again.

Thoughts flashed through his mind:

"In addition to keywords such as 'thriller', 'horror', 'director', and 'incomprehensible abilities', the role of the 'weird wizard' should also include elements such as mystery, unknown, complexity, and unpredictable fate. Only when these two aspects are combined together can the 'weird wizard' be complete... One is the behavioral style, and the other is the attribute itself..."

"For me, my origins are so mysterious that they involve the terrifying and dangerous existence of Fusheng Xuanhuang Tianzun. My experiences are so complicated that I have prevented the True God from coming and scared the True God. My fate is so unpredictable that even the 'Mercury Snake' can't quite figure it out. So, I have already played the role in advance and naturally digested that part of the magic potion. There is no need to summarize the rules..."

"This is the true meaning of the word 'weird'...but this kind of acting is really..."

Klein shook his head. No matter what, this feeling of having his entire life planned out for him made him physically and mentally exhausted and even angry.

"The ritual of the 'Ancient Scholar' requires being completely detached from reality for at least 300 years. After I have become history and no longer belong to the current era, I take the potion. I am sealed in a cocoon and my life hanging above the gray fog is satisfying and more than enough. Moreover, my world has become history, which means that the ancient history I master is definitely far better than any 'Weird Mage'. I have done a very effective role-playing in advance, and I will definitely be able to avoid a lot of danger..."

As his thoughts raced, Klein took a deep breath and stopped thinking about it.

But just as he was ready, Medici suddenly spoke again, interrupting his train of thought:

"You are a person favored by God. Do you know what the Lord is doing?"

Klein was at a loss for words. He thought, "You, an angel, don't know what a demigod like me can know? I know things that you probably don't want to know, such as the fact that the true creator wants me to become a god..." Klein pondered for several seconds, and finally said honestly:
"I do not know."

“But He told me not to pray to Him anyway after He left.”

Medici's eyebrows suddenly frowned, and Klein suddenly had an extremely dangerous feeling, but this feeling was fleeting. Even the light tube on the ceiling did not flicker, and the Red Angel had already controlled his emotions again.

“It’s okay.” He threw the Beyonder Characteristics directly in Klein’s direction and said, “Take it.”

Klein had never expected that this method of accommodation would be so direct and simple, but he was mentally prepared. Wearing a silk hat and a double-breasted woolen coat, his skin suddenly became transparent, and worms containing three-dimensional layered symbols crawled out one after another.

Those transparent worms were ready to move, touching the dark mist around them. Then, the almost weightless Beyonder Characteristics floated in front of him and were attracted and absorbed by Klein, like a dark red light.

Silently, Klein felt a cold sensation spreading through every "Spirit Worm", accompanied by a slight burning pain.

A familiar gray-white mist with no end in sight immediately appeared before his eyes. It enveloped the entire world, and some of Klein's past experiences were displayed below.

There are stories about him after he became Klein, as well as his life when he was Zhou Mingrui.

TBC
------

If there are no other competitors, the candidate will be finally determined as the Secret History Saint, which is good. You can tell from the sound of it that he is of the same generation as A.

However, A's "secret" is to pray secretly, while Klein's "secret" should be kept secret.

(End of this chapter)