Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 138 Storage
Leonard, wearing a black windbreaker and blood-red gloves, with black hair and green eyes, raised his hand to greet Daly. "Ms. Daly, the captain and I completed our training at the temple and formed the new Red Gloves team. We have been assigned to support Backlund."

Claire was surprised when she heard Leonard mention forming a new team.

She had once thought of becoming the captain of these former teammates, but she didn't expect to go bankrupt like this.

Daly also looked at the gray-eyed man in surprise: "Sequence 6?"

The captains of the Red Gloves are all Beyonders of at least Sequence 6 or above.

The gray-eyed man was reserved, only revealing a hint of a smile when facing Daly. "Daly, long time no see. Yes, I finally caught up with you. Um... I mean, Sequence Level. I have to thank the teachings of the Holy Temple for that."

Daly smiled gently and said, "Congratulations, Dunn. You deserve it."

Daly introduced Claire to the two former teammates, "This is the captain of my current team, Ms. Galadilla."

He also introduced Claire to her, "These are my captain and teammates from my time in Tingen. Dunn Smith and Leonard Mitchell."

Facing the two people's polite greetings, Claire responded strangely in her heart. She sensed from the two people's figures a coldness and oppression that they had not felt when they were in Tingen.

It seems like he is carrying something.

Daly was also keenly aware of this and said to Dunn, "I've heard Frye mention before that you and Leonard applied to join the Red Gloves, but I didn't expect you to complete your training at the Sanctuary so quickly and be sent to the Backlund Diocese."

Dunn's gray eyes were deep, revealing a hint of sadness. "Frye, he's the new captain of the Tingen Squad. According to the rules, he can't easily leave his jurisdiction. Since you were able to see him in Backlund, is it because Frye and the others came to Backlund to greet... their remains?"

The "they" Dunn mentioned here obviously refers to "Claire Meazza" and "Sharon".

"It's Sharon's." Daly looked at Dunn, whose expression showed a hint of pain, with concern and sighed, "I heard that Claire's body was sent to the temple and sealed."

Dunn's mouth twitched stiffly, and he whispered:
"Klein, Claire, Sharon. They clearly prevented a conspiracy to bring down an evil god, but they died at the hands of the Fallen... This was my dereliction of duty as captain. If I had been more cautious..."

"When Leonard and I joined the Red Gloves, we expressed our desire for revenge to the higher-ups, and so the Holy Temple sent us to Backlund. This was because Lord Cecima, who had been pursuing that man, was now in Backlund, and because many members of the Aurora Society were suspected of being lurking in Backlund."

"That person, and the Aurora Society, are the targets of our revenge."

"Are you here for the Aurora Society?" Claire interrupted. "Then I happen to have some new information that might be of interest to you."

Everyone, including Daly, looked at Claire in confusion.

Claire said, "It's a piece of unverified intelligence: 'A fraudster who escaped from Tingen, a cultist suspected of involvement in the advent of the evil god, Lanevus is in Backlund.'"

Claire's words caused Dunn and Leonard to show obvious emotional fluctuations.

Leonard couldn't help but ask, "Ms. Galadilla, where did you get this information?"

Claire paid special attention to Leonard, but Leonard didn't reveal the slightest flaw... Wasn't his promotion sequence "Actor" instead of "Nightmare"?

Claire raised her eyebrows and reminded him, "Mr. Leonard, as the captain of the Red Gloves, I have the right to keep my sources of information confidential."

Leonard was stunned for a moment, then looked apologetic: "I'm very sorry, ma'am."

Dunn also spoke up at this point, "Thank you for your intelligence. We will continue our investigation based on this information. If Lanevus is truly in Backlund, and if we are fortunate enough to successfully capture him, we won't take any of the church's credit; it will all go to your team, ma'am."

Claire nodded, accepting the two's thanks and suggestions, and then said:

"But I must remind you. You may have just been promoted and think you've become even more powerful, but I doubt Lanevus's presence in Backlund is a coincidence."

"I've studied the details of Lanevus's case during his time in Tingen. I believe he's very likely involved with the Aurora Society members lurking in Backlund. I don't need to remind you of the danger those cultists pose."

Dunn nodded cautiously. "We'll proceed with caution."

After a brief reunion, Dunn and Leonard went to find Crested Cecima.

Dai Li looked at the two people's backs in a daze.

Seeing this, Claire asked, "Daly, would you consider transferring to the team of your former teammates? I can help you apply."

Dai Li sighed softly and shook her head, "It's fine like this now."

……

At noon, in her residence on Pacefield Street, Claire woke up from her nap. After tidying up a bit, she sensed a disturbance in the gray foggy world. Layers of illusory voices emanated from the gray fog:

"A fool who does not belong to this era..."

That is the prayer for "justice".

It was Audrey who, through the method of sacrifice, asked the Fool to deposit the extraordinary item.

Claire cast her gaze above the gray fog. She saw the figure of the Fool appear at the seat, and saw the hazy door that had nearly caused her to lose control.

When Audrey finished her prayer, a huge golden pupil fell out from the hazy gate and landed in the hands of the Fool.

"Is this the reward from the 'Queen' to 'Justice'?"

As the Fool carefully examined the object in his hand, Claire also took the opportunity to observe it carefully.

Based on the attitudes and information expressed by "Justice" and "Queen" at the party, this item is very likely the extraordinary characteristics of "Psychologist".

Claire recalled that she had previously investigated Backlund's "psychiatrist" to investigate Jessica's mental state. The "psychiatrist" lurking in the Backlund sanatorium had suddenly disappeared recently.

"Could this Beyonder characteristic belong to that 'psychologist'?"

Claire felt that her guess was almost right.

Because the disappearance of that "psychologist" was so "clean", just like the cases Tessa had handled before.

"That 'psychiatrist' is suspected to be a member of the Psychological Alchemist Society... So, Beyonders can gain great benefits through their fame, but it also brings them considerable danger. Fame is a double-edged sword." Claire sighed.

Suddenly, the Fool at the bronze table made a move, attracting Claire's attention.

Claire saw a yellow-brown parchment materialize in front of the Fool. Written on the parchment was the phrase "The item in my hand is the Beyonder characteristic of 'Psychologist'."

Is this... divination? Claire was surprised.

Even if Leonard is promoted to "Nightmare", he will not have the ability of divination.

Is this with the help of magical items, or is it the power of the gray fog world?

Of course, there is also a possibility that the Fool is not Leonard, but if so, it does not conform to the previous speculations.

"If Klein were still alive... this posture would be more like him."

Thinking of this, Claire's eyes narrowed.

"Claire, if 'Meazza' isn't dead, and 'Sharon' isn't dead, then does that mean 'Klein', who also holds a secret, must have died?" This thought suddenly popped up in Claire's mind and lingered for a long time.

Claire stared at the distorted figure wrapped in the gray fog, but unfortunately she couldn't make out anything. She only saw that the Fool also used "sacrifice" to bring an extraordinary item to the gray fog world.

Although the Fool's prayers could be heard in the gray fog during the prayer, this voice belonged to the Fool in the gray fog world, and Claire could not determine the Fool's true identity based on the voice.

Claire could only continue to observe the Fool's behavior.

The thing that the Fool brought to the gray fog world was a black ear with obvious signs of decay.

The Fool once again materialized pen and paper and wrote a new divination statement: "The origin of this item."

A few seconds later, Claire saw a dreamlike scene—a man struggling, and she saw him losing control.

Claire, who had anticipated this and had more experience, didn't dare to look too closely. Even so, she felt the spiritual fear and pain.

At this moment, even with the gray fog blocking the way, Claire could still see blood vessels and veins continuously bursting from the Fool's body, like slippery tentacles covered with evil patterns!

The gray fog was swaying slightly, and even the magnificent palace showed signs of corrosion.

Even Claire noticed that the gray mist surrounding the Fool had lightened slightly, but unfortunately, she still couldn't make out the Fool's figure or appearance.

All that can be seen is the Fool holding the handrail tightly, as if enduring it.

"Is the Fool spying on... the gods again?"

"Is it the real Creator?"

Claire was filled with shock and doubt, but she couldn't help but admire the Fool's behavior.

After a few seconds, the slightly shaking gray fog returned to calm, and the "tentacles" fell down and lay on the ground twitching and squirming.

The wounds on the Fool's body began to heal rapidly.

"Is this the Gray Mist World's protection of the Fool? Or is it the Fool's own ability?" Claire speculated in her heart, feeling that it was more like the former.

Then, Claire saw that the black ear that the Fool had brought to the gray fog world suddenly collapsed and turned into tiny, light black dots of light.

The Fool cast these tiny points of light onto the tentacle that had fallen from his body and was wriggling on the ground.

Claire watched this scene unfold. New knowledge was constantly condensing into new volumes in the memory library. This was knowledge related to the "True Creator" and some unknown new deity.

The True Creator was the evil god that Claire was more familiar with, so she didn't gain much new knowledge from him.

More about that unknown new god.

"This new deity... contains the knowledge of 'change'... and seems to be related to 'manipulation'?" Claire reviewed this fragmentary and discontinuous mystical knowledge in her mind, unable to identify which path in the potion system it was related to.

"Could it be the authority of the original deity from the Gray Mist World? This knowledge must have come from the wriggling tentacles that fell from the Fool. This means that the Fool does have a direct connection to a certain deity..."

After collecting her thoughts, Claire saw an iron-black talisman appear before the Fool in the gray foggy world. The talisman was covered with various symbols, magical signs, evil patterns, and twisted spiritual numbers. It was obviously a relatively advanced talisman.

"It's a pity that my spirit can't touch this talisman, otherwise I could identify more things, and this identification may also help me speed up the digestion of the potion..."

Claire thought with regret.

Then she heard the Fool's whisper: "Let's call it 'Filthy Words'..."

"Filthy words? This must be the opening spell of the talisman!"

The use of a spell requires spiritual contact and the activation of the spell. Claire thought of a powerful spell that Klein had used during the Battle of Tingen.

Although the Beyonders of the Orthodox Church generally have the habit of using various talismans, talismans of such power are not something that low-sequence Nighthawks can possess.

And now, looking back carefully, the talisman Klein used at that time was quite similar to the power of "Eternal Blazing Sun", one of the Seven Gods...

Could it be that the Fool is Klein and not Leonard?

Klein is not dead?
Or... is it possible that Klein is just a follower of the Fool?

Based on the new clues, Claire adjusted her previous guess.

1. Klein is not dead, and Klein is a fool.

2. Leonard is a fool, and Klein is the follower of a fool.

3. The Fool is someone else, and this person's Sequence Level is not high, and Klein is the Fool's Follower.

Claire, who was making all kinds of speculations, saw the mysterious figure of the Fool disappear from the gray fog world. She took another look at the Beyonder characteristics and spells of the "Psychologist" left in the gray fog world, and then withdrew her gaze.

Inside the bedroom, Claire opened her eyes and stopped pondering the Fool's identity. Without more information, any further thought would be nothing more than speculation.

After what she had just seen in the gray fog world, Claire suddenly thought of a way to help her digest the potion quickly: "Perhaps I can also try to organize a gathering of wild Beyonders and help them identify items."

Claire had once attempted to identify any extraordinary items she could access that belonged to the Church. However, perhaps because these extraordinary items had already been thoroughly studied by the Church, or perhaps because simply identifying items did not count as acting as an "appraiser," she gained little progress from this behavior.

"As the name suggests, an 'appraiser' is responsible for making accurate appraisals of items presented by others. So, I guess my efforts have been in the wrong direction, which is why the potion is digesting so slowly..."

"No matter how your identity changes, your own strength is the foundation. In order to speed up the digestion of the potion, I still need to take some risks and try it."

"I don't know if Xio, Fors, Audrey, and the others have any extraordinary items that need to be identified. But even if they do, I can't just reveal my ability to identify them... Well, pretending to possess a magical item with the ability to 'identify' is one idea."

"You can also try to find other groups of wild Beyonders and infiltrate them to do identification for others."

In a world-class metropolis like Backlund, although the three major churches are stationed with many powerful people and a sufficient number of mid- and low-sequence Beyonders, there are still various circles of wild Beyonders that exist secretly.

Most of these circles are organized by members of powerful secret organizations.

The rest are mostly regular gatherings of official informants, or even circles established by official extraordinary people in disguise.

"Showing up directly is rather troublesome. Disguise and reputation are both things that need to be considered..." Claire thought of Xiou, who was a little-known figure in the East District's underground world. "Since Xiou was able to thrive in the underground world, he certainly had the potential to build a circle of wild Beyonders..."

As for whether Xio Diercha was willing to participate in this matter...

Claire thought that Xio was most likely willing.

Because the benefits that can be obtained by being the organizer of the Extraordinary Circle are far much more than what can be earned by doing commissions!
Unlike Fors, who had no ambition, Claire understood that Hugh had a strong desire to become stronger, because Hugh wanted to find out the truth about her father's rebellion and to take back the title and glory of his ancestors!

This was one of the reasons why Claire chose to include Xio in the team!

Thinking of this, Claire gently tapped the nightmare doll. Sensing that Xio was within her range of influence, she used her nightmare ability to leave the time and place of their meeting in Xio's dream...

(End of this chapter)