Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 128: The Pen of Al-Suhod

"Your Excellency Cecima, we have arrived in Tingen."

Inside the train carriage, Al Hassen said.

"Ah."

Opposite him, a man with short blond hair had the lower half of his face buried behind his collar, his eyes closed in rest. Hearing the other man's call, he slowly opened his serene, emerald-green eyes. "What time is it?"

"12:20".

On the other side, Lolota took out her pocket watch, shook her head, and said, "We're late."

"Who could have predicted that the train would be delayed?"

The gentlemanly Al Hassen shrugged. "I heard from the train station staff that due to human error, there was a problem with the train dispatching in Tingen. Several trains were stuck in the station at the same time. Heh, if this were in Backlund, such unprofessional behavior would put the dispatcher out of a job."

"It will also happen in Tingen."

"Borgia said coldly."

As they talked, the train pulled into the station and came to a stop. The night watchmen got up from their seats and got off, following the crowd out of the station. Once outside the station, the crowd dispersed, and the view suddenly opened up before them.

Krestai carried a silver-white metal briefcase, and the people around him seemed to subconsciously keep a distance from him.

Suddenly, he frowned and instinctively looked into the distance.

My spiritual intuition seems to be giving me a bad feeling.

"Everyone, get to Blackthorn Security Company immediately as fast as you can."

He suddenly gave the order.

Al Hassen was about to call the coachman to hire a carriage when he heard Krestais's order and was taken aback. But when he looked at the senior deacon, he found that the man's figure was surrounded by invisible ghosts, which floated up and flew away quickly into the distance.

People were coming and going in front of the train station, but ordinary citizens were completely oblivious to the strange scene before them and continued with their own business.

The night watchmen were surprised by Crestel's sudden departure. Remembering the orders he left behind, they dared not delay and immediately hired a carriage nearby, demanding that the driver set off as quickly as possible, with no problem about the pay!
Overjoyed at landing such a large fare, the coachman whipped his horses vigorously. The carriage carrying the night watchmen sped off, bursting out of the station square amidst the curses of passersby who hurriedly dodged, and brushed past another slow-moving carriage.

Inside the slowly moving carriage, a passenger sat calmly, holding a notebook in his pale hand and turning the pages slowly.

As the train swayed, the handwriting on each page of the notebook was clearly displayed before him:
"Because he needed proof of mental health, Luze Rondor was forced to stay in the hospital ward overnight. Based on reasonable logic, the doctor assigned him a seemingly harmless patient—Hud Eugen—as his roommate for the night."

"In order to attempt the ritual of bringing forth the offspring of an evil god, Lanluus approached Hud Eugen tonight, and it was a natural decision to offer his roommate as a sacrifice."

“The generous Ince Zangwell has implanted half of the skull of the descendant of the Grim Reaper inside Lanius’s fiancée. Tonight’s ceremony will go smoothly.”

(This is followed by several lines of heavily blackened marks)

"Pound's wife, who has long suspected him of having an affair, unexpectedly escalated their conflict today. Their argument led Mrs. Pound to decide to investigate her husband's mistress."

"Due to the recent assassination of the banker's son, security companies and detective agencies have been extremely busy. Mrs. Pound searched everywhere and finally found Blackthorn Security in a secluded corner of Zotland Street, successfully placing a commission."

"That night, Leonard Mitchell and Luze Rondoll will infiltrate the transport company. Unaware of the secrets hidden within, their infiltration has been discovered by Mrs. Sharon of the Witch Cult, and out of caution, she has decided to send her assassins to silence them, which is quite reasonable."

"Luze Rondohr will die from a sudden assassination attempt."

(Several lines of text were then scribbled out.)
"Incredible! Luzer Rondor was stabbed in the chest but didn't die. His body has some strange secret!"

(Turn to the next few pages)
"The bishop of St. Serena's Cathedral takes the human trafficking case very seriously because he learned earlier today that a similar situation had occurred in Port-en-Marte. As a responsible bishop, he naturally connected the two matters and sent a telegram to the cathedral to remind them that there might be a connection between the two events."

"In his report to the sanctuary, he made a point of mentioning Luze Rondor, a participant in the incident, who cleverly discovered the problem, which is only natural."

"Unintentionally pushed by the bishop, Luze Rondor was sent to Port Enmat on a business trip to investigate human trafficking. Ince Zangwill had relevant intelligence that there was a crazy and extremely dangerous Aurora Society messenger in Port Enmat, and their trip would only lead to their death."

"Of course, Alseudoc's Pen cannot affect such a distant place for the time being; Ince Zangwill, who wrote these words, was merely expressing his beautiful vision. The deaths of the three Night Watchers would be a huge loss to Tingen's squad, and Dunn Smith would become mentally unstable as a result."

(Another section of blackened text, written with very deep pressure.)
"Once again! Luzer Rondor has escaped the shadow of death once more and returned to Tingen!"

(The following pages were quickly flipped through) "An uninvited guest arrived in Tingen. She was Ms. M from the port of Enmat. Driven by her thirst for the power within Luzer, she came to Tingen, moved into Luzer's house, and took control of his family."

"So, it turns out that Luzer Rondor had it on him."

(Below are a few lines of messy handwriting and splashed ink, as if the person who wrote this was so frightened that they could barely hold the pen.)
(The hand flipping through the notes paused for a moment when it reached this page.)
(Next to it is handwriting that is extremely neat and uses polite and standard language.)
"The Pen of Alszukhod prioritizes its own safety and has no particular malice toward Luzer Rondor. It has no desire to know any of his secrets and leaves all consequences to the writer, Ince Zangwell."

"To reiterate, the author, Ince Zangwell, is solely responsible for all consequences."

"Ms. M craved Luzer's body and wanted to possess it. After drinking Sharon's healing potion, her injuries were relieved. While she was out carrying out her plan, she coincidentally encountered Ince Zangwell."

"The two knew each other beforehand and, given the current situation, shared similar goals. They quickly reached an agreement to cooperate, with Ince Zangwell pushing and Ms. M carrying out the operation, to jointly launch an attack on Blackthorn Security Company."

"Ms. M used a forbidden ritual, peeling off her own skin and using her abilities to inhabit it with part of her spirit, creating a special holy book. This ritual will be very successful, and Luzer Rondor will not find out at all."

"Her followers followed her to Tingen."

"After a fierce battle, Ms. M faked her death, transferring her remaining spirit into the Holy Scripture. Ince Zangwill used the Pen of Alshogod to find out the Church's subsequent actions."

(Below is the relevant sanctuary's response to Luze's actions, including the list of Night Watch personnel who came to take Luze away.)
"Ms. M's plan is extremely audacious and insane. She not only wants to seize Luze's body, but also wants to take advantage of the spiritual release to directly advance to Sequence 5 Shepherd. Her subordinates have already prepared all the materials for her, including the potion to dissolve the [Rose Ring] back into its properties, as well as the remaining materials."

"Due to scheduling issues, the train station in Tingen will request a delay to the direction of Backlund today."

"Ms. M's plan has only been partially successful. The despicable Ince Zangwell has concealed some information. She will go berserk during the ritual and cause terrible harm. In order to deal with this dangerous and out-of-control monster, Dunn Smith has decided to use the most powerful force of the Tingen Night Watchers - the ashes of St. Selena. This is the right and reasonable decision."

"After a fierce battle, everyone was exhausted, and Saint Selena's ashes were also severely damaged, all of which was in line with Ince Zangwell's expectations."

"He easily killed Luzer Rondoir, who had been causing him trouble all along, Klein Moretti, who was blocking his way, and Dunn Smith, who held the ashes, obtained the ashes, and left before the Night Watchers of Backlund arrived."

"Ince Zangwell used the remaining Death Descendant traits to set up the ritual, ingested Saint Selena's ashes, and successfully advanced from Sequence 5 'Gatekeeper' of the 'Death' pathway to Sequence 4 'Night Watcher' of the 'Night Path'. At this point, he gained divinity and became a powerful demigod."

"However, at this moment, he was still unaware of what price he would have to pay for it."

The notebook stopped here. Ince Zangwill, with his dark gold hair, one blind eye, and sharply defined features, stared intently at the last line of text, his face expressionless.

A moment later, he picked up a classic-style quill pen and let the tip fall on the page.

The quill pen wrote clearly even without ink.

He simply wrote down a sentence:

"The story of Tingen ends here."

"boom."

He closed the notebook, tucked it and the quill pen into his pocket, and looked out the train window at the surging crowds in front of the train station.

"Guest, I just heard someone say that there seems to have been a gas explosion on Zotland Street."

The driver, speaking through the small window in front, said to him, "This world is truly dangerous."

"Yes."

Ince Zangwell nodded slightly, seemingly in agreement.

　Version 1.0-08 can only affect a specific area, manipulating events to develop in the direction it desires.

　　2. All descriptions of other cities in the notes are indirectly driven by influence within this region. They do not, in essence, involve activating abilities in other cities.

　　3. For example, the reason the Church arranged for Luzer to go to Port-Enmartre was because 0-08 had the bishop mention the connection between two things and the important role Luzer played. Whether the Church would issue this order was not under 0-08's control; it was merely using the bishop to push things in the desired direction.

　　4. Similar descriptions can be found in other places.

　　5. If you feel there are any problems with the description, please feel free to discuss them.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)