Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 364 The Attack of the Three Divine Messengers

As Master Qiu opened the roster, his loud voice echoed throughout the classroom.

"Jack Carbin!"

Roger was surprised to be the first one called out.

Master Qiu seemed to be doing this intentionally, as he wanted to confirm whether Roger had fulfilled their agreement.

"arrive."

Roger stood up and replied.

Upon seeing Roger arrive, Master Qiu adjusted his glasses and nodded with great satisfaction.

"Classmates, this is Jack Carbin, a new member of our class. He will be the class monitor from now on. If you need any help or have any questions about the course, you can ask him."

As soon as he said this, many students in the class turned around and looked at Roger with curiosity. Some even started whispering among themselves.

None of them expected that a student who had just joined Master Qiu's class would immediately become the class monitor.

If it were any other teacher, it would be one thing, but for a teacher like "Qiu," who is seen by most students as someone who doesn't teach according to individual aptitude but treats everyone the same and uses harsh methods, this is truly a very rare occurrence.

Therefore, there are only two possibilities: either this "Jack Carbin" is someone with connections, or he achieved excellent results in the entrance exam, which is why Master Qiu values ​​him so highly.

However, considering the level of Master Qiu himself, the latter possibility seems very unlikely, or even negligible.

After all, if Roger were truly a genius astrologer, he would have been more likely to be chosen by astrologers of higher skill and rank, such as those at the 4th level, rather than by this 3rd-level astrologer who was only known for his large number of disciples.

Therefore, it is more likely that Roger himself was a person with connections who was sent to the Level 3 master's class to get by because his assessment results were not good enough, and then he would consider going to the class of a better master.

Just then, one of the students noticed the "2" level apprentice's cufflinks that Roger was wearing.

"Level 2 apprentice... He's actually a Level 2 apprentice?"

"You guys are talking about this too. Last Sunday after class, I saw a lady personally take him to Master Qiu's place... If I'm not mistaken, she should be a Level 5 councilor!"

A boy of about ten years old whom Roger had met earlier immediately commented.

"Level 5 legislator?"

These words immediately aroused suspicion among the crowd:
"Isn't that the big shot that's been rumored to exist? You've confirmed it?"

"You know nothing."

The young man was rather arrogant:

“Level 5 members usually have special rings... so this guy is most likely a high-ranking member of some school of thought…”

Roger listened quietly to the discussion without uttering a word of rebuttal. Then, Master Qiu slammed his hand heavily on the table:

"Regus Brown!"

Upon hearing this, the boy who had been talking in a low voice immediately turned his head in alarm, looking as if he had been caught red-handed doing something wrong.

Then Master Qiu said in an annoyed tone:
"Since you know so much, how about you lead the whole class in reciting the first chapter of the first volume of the Four Books on Astrology later?"

"Ah...this..."

The boy named Regulus immediately became flustered, and Roger could tell from his awkward body language that he was very regretful.

"That's it."

Master Qiu seemed unwilling to waste words with him and continued calling out names:
"David Day".

"arrive."

"Monkey Carter".

"arrive."

"Hermela Ash".

"arrive."

……

About three minutes later, Master Qiu finished taking attendance, and during this time, Roger also carefully counted the number of students in the class.

He discovered that there were 56 students in the class, including himself, which, coincidentally, was exactly the total number of cards in the Minor Arcana of the Tarot.

These people are mainly young people, with fewer than 10 of them being over 30 years old.

"There are quite a lot of people."

Roger couldn't help but recall when he went to elementary school in his previous life. Because he lived in a very densely populated community, the number of students in the elementary school classes in the corresponding school district was also quite large.

Roger had more than 50 classmates back then, while in relatively expensive private elementary schools, 3 or 40 students are generally considered a lot.

This also indirectly proves that Master Qiu is not a "top-tier" master in the "Hexing School," but rather the kind of master who is a gatekeeper, accepting any student who is just average into his class.

"Jack Carbin"

Master Qiu tapped on the table, then took out a stack of lesson plans from his briefcase:
"Could you help me distribute today's textbooks to everyone?"

Then he shouted loudly:
"Regus Brown!"

"To!"

Regulus was startled and quickly stood at attention to answer.

"You lead everyone in reciting the first chapter of the first volume of 'The Four Books on Astrology'!"

Master Qiu had not forgotten his previous words. Regulus had been hoping for a lucky break, but he did not expect Master Qiu to fulfill his promise so quickly.

"Yes, Master Ottom."

Regulus nodded, and then reluctantly began to lead everyone in reciting.

"With just a little thought, everyone would understand that some kind of power emanating from the eternal ethereal matter disperses and permeates the entire region of the earth..." (Note *1)

"With just a little thought, everyone will understand that some kind of power emanating from the eternal ethereal matter disperses and permeates the entire region of the earth..."

Roger then took the teaching materials from the podium and began distributing them.

However, before he had taken two steps, he heard Regulus Brown's recitation begin to stumble and falter.

"Although... well, the Sun's energy dominates in the overall order of mass, other celestial bodies will... support or oppose it in specific details... uh... uh..."

Regulus seemed to have forgotten what came next for a moment. At this moment, his act of uttering two "uh" sounds unsurprisingly drew an angry glare from Master Qiu.

The students who had been reciting along with Regulus chuckled softly, many of them wearing mischievous expressions, anticipating what kind of storm this guy would face next.

As luck would have it, Roger, who was distributing teaching materials at that moment, happened to come to Regulus's side.

In the instant the two brushed past each other, Regulus heard a deep voice in his ear, a voice that only he could hear and that no one else noticed.

"...the moon's appearance is quite obvious and continuous, such as the new moon..."

Regulus shuddered, then, as if by reflex, said:

"The moon's phases are more obvious and continuous; for example, the new moon, first quarter moon, and full moon occur in a continuous and regular pattern. However, the periods at which other planets appear, disappear, or approach Earth in the sky are much longer and less distinct!"

"The moon's phases are more obvious and continuous; for example, the new moon, first quarter moon, and full moon occur in a continuous and regular pattern. However, the periods at which other planets appear, disappear, or approach Earth in the sky are much longer and less distinct!"

Seeing that Regulus continued with the rest of the story, the students who had been watching the spectacle lost interest and simply followed along methodically.

Master Qiu nodded slightly, and the anger in his eyes subsided considerably.

Regulus performed reasonably well afterward, and as he finished reciting, he received permission from Master Qiu to return to his seat.

This relieved Regulus slightly. He turned around and looked at Roger, who was flipping through the textbook, with gratitude, and smiled at him.

Only then did he finally feel ashamed of his previous behavior, because the "Four Books of Astrology" was a subject that had only recently been introduced in Master Qiu's class. It was a key document in classical astrology, and if Master Qiu hadn't led the whole class in mechanically reading it more than 100 times, Regulus would not have been able to memorize it.

The new squad leader, Jack Carbin, seemed very familiar with the contents, and could casually quote and remind himself of them from anywhere.

This made Regulus realize that the guy in front of him was quite extraordinary.

Roger remained indifferent to Regulus's overtures. He simply blinked in response to Regulus's goodwill before continuing to read the lesson plan.

"'The power of the planets'... or is it something from the Four Books of Astrology?"

Roger quickly glanced at the contents of the paper and found that in addition to the original text of the "Four Books of Astrology," there were also mnemonic devices summarized by Master Qiu attached to each paragraph.

This should be the key to his teaching: helping his students strengthen their memory by summarizing complex content into simple, easy-to-understand sentences.

As expected, after giving a brief explanation of this chapter, Master Qiu began to lead his disciples in loudly reciting the contents of the textbook.

The recitation consisted of the original text once, followed by the mnemonic rhyme, and eventually it became entirely a mnemonic rhyme.

The students initially stumbled a bit while reciting, but as they became more familiar with it, they seemed to completely blend into Master Qiu's rhythm, and their recitation became more and more skillful and fluent.

"The sun is hot and dry in nature, and the seasonal changes depend entirely on it. Its power is strongest when it reaches its zenith!"

"The sun is hot and dry in nature, and the seasonal changes depend entirely on it. Its power is strongest when it reaches its zenith!"

"The moon's nature is primarily damp, and it governs the decay of tides, yet it is not cold because it receives sunlight!"

"The moon's nature is primarily damp, and it governs the decay of tides, yet it is not cold because it receives sunlight!"

For a moment, the whole class was like a high-speed steam locomotive, and "Qiu" was the locomotive of that roaring train. The whole class made a huge roar because of the harmony of reading aloud, which attracted many passers-by to stop and listen.

At this moment, Roger was also in a small carriage of this train. It has to be said that Master Qiu's teaching method easily brings students into a group learning situation. At this moment, he even had the illusion that the more he read aloud, the more he felt that he could not stop.

Only after this recitation had been repeated 20 times did Master Qiu finally say:

That's all for now!

That's all for now!

The whole class couldn't stop talking, and even Roger accidentally blurted out the same line.

"Recess!"

"Recess!"

Master Qiu picked up a blackboard eraser and threw it straight at Regulus, who was making the loudest and most passionate noise.

The latter hurriedly dodged, and as the blackboard eraser slammed against the wall behind them with a "smack," the students, who were almost in a daze, seemed to come back to their senses.

"Get out here to get water and use the toilet!"

As Master Qiu's irritable voice rang out, all the students finally realized what was happening, and many of them ran out of the classroom as if their lives depended on it.

As the classroom atmosphere began to relax, five students started to approach Roger and begin socializing with him.

Among them was Regulus Brown, who appeared to be the leader of the group of students, and several of them were people Roger had met the previous week.

"Hello."

Regulus's attitude had improved considerably because Roger had helped him earlier.

"Regulus Brown".

"Jack Carbin"

Roger saw that Regulus was in a good mood, so he extended his hand to shake hands with him. At the same time, he noticed the number "2" on the cuff of Regulus's cloak.

“An apprentice…”

A fleeting, dark light flashed in Roger's eyes, and in that instant, he figured out the sequence path the other party belonged to.

"Thank you so much, Jack."

Regulus released his grip and nodded.

"piece of cake."

Roger waved his hand dismissively, then greeted several of Regulus's friends.

These people consisted of two men and two women. The two men appeared to be slightly older than Regulus, and their names were Sirius Smith and Royce Sellern. The former was taller and was Regulus's cousin, while the latter was the same height as Regulus and was a playmate Regulus met after he came to the class.

The slender, tall, and fair-skinned girl was named Vivian Polk, while the younger and shorter one was named Clotte Polk. The two were sisters who were sent to the "Hercules School" for further study because their family had produced several astrologers and had a tradition of studying this field.

This information made Roger realize that, due to its own characteristics, many of those who could find a "master" to learn from here in the current "Hercules School" seemed to be people whose families already had extraordinary individuals or astrologers.

This was further confirmed as Roger and Regulus continued their conversation.

Regulus and Sirius shared a common ancestor who was a Middle-Sequence Seeker, and Sirius was also a Seeker.

However, Regulus was quite afraid of the "knowledge seekers" who would occasionally appear among his family members, so he obtained the "apprentice" potion through the "Hercules School" and avoided the "secret seekers" route.

As for why these people with family backgrounds came to Master Qiu's class, Sirius's answer was that due to various reasons related to their families, other masters were not very willing to accept them, but only Master Qiu did not care about so many things, so they came here.

They had mentioned wanting to switch classes to their elders, but they were always brushed off with the excuse of "respecting the school's arrangements," so they had no choice but to accept their situation as it was.

“Regulus, we two are quite destined to meet.”

Roger smiled and said to Regulus:
“I am also an ‘apprentice’.”

"Really?"

Regulus's eyes lit up. He had been very curious about Roger's Divine Path, and now he finally got confirmation from the other party. "Yes."

Roger smiled and nodded.

"Um, Jack."

Regulus glanced around mysteriously for a moment, then spoke in a low voice:

“I saw you come in with a lady wearing a ring that day… She’s a member of the Level 5 Council, right? What’s your relationship with her?”

So you were curious about this...

Roger was both amused and exasperated. He knew Regulus hoped to hear something like "Ms. Mercury is my aunt" from him, but he ultimately decided against indulging in the other's gossip.

"It's nothing. It's just that I got a perfect score on the interview exam for joining the 'Hexing School,' which is why that lady gave me a special review."

"Full score?"

Upon hearing this, Regulus and the others all gaped in astonishment.

Several seconds passed before Regulus finally reacted:

"You got a perfect score, so why are you working in Master Qiu's class?"

According to them, if a candidate really scored full marks, they would definitely be sought after by those "4" level masters, and it's even possible that they would be taken in as a disciple by a "5" level member.

"Huh? Does getting a perfect score mean I can't come to Master Qiu's place?"

Roger smiled and asked in return:
"I chose Master Qiu myself."

"You chose it yourself? You can even choose your own teacher?"

Regulus and his companions found this quite novel. When they joined the "Hessing School," they were the ones chosen by their teachers; they never had the option to choose their teachers.

"Yes, I prefer the atmosphere of a group of people reading aloud with passion."

After hearing Roger's words, Clotte Polk frowned slightly and asked:
Are you sure you don't have masochistic tendencies?

"Clotty, don't be rude."

Clotte's sister, Vivian, immediately stopped her sister, then smiled apologetically at Roger:
"Excuse me."

Roger shook his head:

“It’s okay. In fact, I came here for two other reasons.”

"Firstly, because Master Qiu is actually a very knowledgeable master, and secondly, because there are many people in this class, and I want to make more friends."

"Then we can be friends."

Regulus immediately spoke up, subconsciously ignoring Roger's first comment about Master Qiu's knowledge.

Compared to the obviously psychologically disturbed old man, he was more interested in the mysterious class monitor in front of him.

"Okay."

Roger did not object to this at all:
"From then on, we were friends."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Master Qiu, who had gone out to use the restroom, returned and shouted:

"Attend class!"

Upon hearing this voice, all the students stood at attention as if by reflex, and the young people, including Regulus, returned to their seats, awaiting the forty minutes of torrential rain that would follow.

Roger also followed Master Qiu and read the textbook aloud for 40 minutes. Only when school was finally over and the students dispersed did Roger breathe a sigh of relief.

Even someone as strong as him in every aspect was somewhat exhausted after such an hour and a half of repeated torture. At this moment, he finally understood why Clotti interpreted his behavior of coming to Master Qiu's class as "having masochistic tendencies".

"Fortunately, I still made some friends."

After observing Regulus for one class, Roger discovered that apart from Clott, who was somewhat distracted, the other four of them had a good foundation and were considered promising talents.

However, these students all have the advantage of family connections, and he needs to observe the other students further.

Roger planned to focus on observing those who were not yet extraordinary. During this time, Regulus could serve as a window for Roger to understand and interact with his classmates, because he had already noticed that this guy seemed to be very good at socializing.

With someone like that helping, Roger would be spared a lot of ice-breaking trouble. He expected that after at least two or three lessons, he would have a general understanding of the class.

After saying goodbye to Regulus and the others and agreeing to meet again next Wednesday, Roger walked towards the door, but was stopped by Master "Aki".

"Is there something you need, Master Ottom?"

Roger then walked toward Master Qiu, and only then did he notice that Master Qiu's bloodshot eyes and dark circles were more severe than before, as if he had not been sleeping well.

This speculation is not unfounded. When he came to class earlier, he said that he had overslept. The fact that he was able to sleep until dusk at least shows that he did not rest well at night and could only take a short nap in the afternoon.

"Jack, are you coming again next Wednesday?"

Master Qiu looked at Roger with a rather expectant gaze.

"They should come, if nothing else is on their mind."

Roger nodded and replied.

"Okay, you should try your best to come."

After Master Qiu finished speaking, he pulled two pages from his lesson plan folder:

"This is a new topic I've been researching recently. Take a look and see if there's anything that can be improved?"

Roger took the two pieces of paper with great interest and found that one of them was an astrological chart, and below it were many calculations, which seemed to be a method of judging the meaning of flying stars in esoteric divination.

This research direction is obviously very new, and Roger had never been exposed to it before. At first glance, some of the analysis is actually quite reasonable.

Would you mind leaving these two documents for me to take a look at when I get back?

Roger thought for a moment and then said:

"There are some assumptions here that I need to carefully examine before I can give you an accurate answer."

"no problem."

Master Qiu nodded and readily agreed.

"By the way, Master Ottom, I noticed that you have a lot of redness around your eyes and very dark circles. Have you been sleeping poorly at night?"

At this moment, Roger finally found an opportunity to ask the question that mattered to him.

"Perhaps it's because I'm getting older, but I sleep very lightly at night, and I wake up every now and then."

Master Qiu shook his head:
"Don't worry about these things. Just finish this job as soon as possible. If I publish a book later, I'll put your name on it."

"Ok."

Roger nodded. To be honest, he wasn't too concerned about publishing a book; he was more concerned about Master Qiu's health.

Roger had previously heard Fors say that Master Qiu's progress in digesting the "Fighting Scholar" potion was very slow, and if he continued to suffer from poor sleep and unstable mental state, the risk of losing control would increase significantly.

Furthermore, those who follow the "Secret Seeker" path almost inevitably receive knowledge indoctrination from that scoundrel hidden sage in the "knowledge chasing people" phenomenon, making them more prone to losing control compared to extraordinary individuals from other paths.

Roger couldn't be sure if Master Qiu had been influenced by the Hidden Sage, so he could only do his best to help him avoid going down the path of self-destruction.

Thinking of this, he continued:
"I will do my best to improve this research, and I will also try to bring you some herbal remedies that can improve your sleep."

Seeing that Master Qiu instinctively wanted to refuse, Roger quickly added:

"If you are satisfied with my advice, please feel free to accept it. After all, you look like someone who is going to do great research, and it would be a loss to ruin your health."

Sure enough, this remark was very helpful to Master Qiu, who finally stopped insisting and nodded.

This relieved Roger. After chatting with Master Qiu for a few more minutes, he turned and walked outside.

Because he had arranged to have dinner with his family, Roger used his "Traveler" ability to return to Worston Gardens. Afterward, he took his four younger siblings and Bendit to a newly opened upscale restaurant in Queens for a delicious meal.

Cecilia was very happy about this, and she very unusually let the twins order everything they wanted to eat. Even though they didn't finish it, Cecilia didn't blame them. Instead, she called the waiter to pack up the food.

After dinner, Roger took his family home, and just as he was about to return to the "Underground Midnight City," he heard a knock on the door of Worston Gardens.

Roger opened the door with some doubt and found a long-haired man in a suit, about 1.78 meters tall, with a good figure and appearance standing outside.

Before Roger could speak, the long-haired man knelt down on one knee before him.

"See 'Dark Star Saint'."

"Okay, get up."

Roger, worried that someone outside might see this, quickly helped the man up.

"What's your name? What do you need?"

He asked with some suspicion.

"Your Holiness, my name is Connery Gabriel, and I am Mr. C's servant."

"Mr. C sent his subordinate to invite you, saying he has important matters to discuss."

The man named Connery Gabriel answered.

"Mr. C? Why didn't he come in person?"

Normally, within the "Aurora Society," when a divine messenger directly under a saint needs to report to the saint, he must be present in person, and Mr. C had always done so before.

But it's very unusual that Mr. C has sent Connery Gabriel.

Even more unusually, Mr. C never came to Roger's house in Worston Garden to see him, which further suggests that something urgent might be going on.

Through his "secret insight," Roger found no indication that Connery Gabriel was lying, which meant that something was definitely amiss with Mr. C.

Despite his doubts, Roger decided to go and see for himself with Connery Gabriel.

Connery Gabriel finally breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that Roger was willing to go.

A minute later, a black carriage drove up from the street corner, and Roger and Connery Gabriel got into the carriage one after the other.

Roger spoke only after the carriage started moving:

"C, just tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing escapes your eyes, Lord Dark Star Saint."

The driver ahead, wearing a hat and covering his face, spoke in a low voice. He was none other than Mr. C, who was disguised and disguised himself.

He slightly pulled on the reins, leading the horses pulling the carriage around an intersection and heading towards the outskirts of the city.

Because it was late at night, there were few people on the road, except for the occasional patrol officer. However, Mr. C had a cautious habit and seemed unwilling to discuss work in crowded places.

"Do you remember when I reported to you about Ms. D last time?"

Upon hearing Mr. C's words, Roger responded with a soft "hmm".

As Mr. C had previously mentioned, Ms. D was inquiring about Mr. C's whereabouts. Later, Roger instructed Mr. C to take the initiative to contact her, to discuss matters if necessary, and to lend a hand if needed.

After all, in the long run, Roger is determined to take complete control of the Aurora Society. Compared to the potential antagonism between the saints, he would naturally try to win over these divine messengers if possible, and would not become their enemy unless absolutely necessary.

“I had arranged to meet Ms. D at the Hexagonal Tower today—she came, and we were discussing a potion formula purchase deal, but before we could say more than a few words, she launched an attack on me without warning.”

Mr. C shook his head:

"The most crucial thing is that she wasn't the only one attacking me... Besides her, two other divine messengers also attacked me."

"In the end, I used a sealed artifact left by Mr. A to escape the scene. Now I dare not go back to my base, so I came to discuss the situation with you."

Roger narrowed his eyes after hearing Mr. C's words:

"Ms. D attacked you? Who are the other two divine messengers?"

"Reporting to the messenger, it is Mr. L and Ms. S."

Mr. C continued:

“One of them is a ‘shepherd,’ and I’m not quite sure about the other’s sequence level.”

"Well, I see."

Roger nodded. At this moment, he had made a general judgment about the matter: it was most likely the work of Arexos, the "Shadow Saint".

He then asked again.

Did Ms. D explain why she attacked you?

"Reporting to Your Majesty, no, they just attacked suddenly."

Mr. C answered, but before he could finish speaking, he heard a strange piercing sound.

The next second, the messenger of the "Aurora Society" looked down at his chest in astonishment.

There, a dark, deep sword gleaming with a rusty sheen had pierced through his chest!

Note 1: Excerpt from Ptolemy's Four Books

(End of this chapter)