Mystery: A Spark

However, "Hurricane Admiral" Ziringus is unlikely to be attracted by this reward, unless the organization has a blasphemous card corresponding to the "Sailor" pathway.

If it really is the mysterious organization that Rosell joined, it's normal to have multiple blasphemous tablets; if that's not the case, there would at least be blasphemous stone tablets.

Klein was taken aback at first, then asked in confusion:

Why is this organization targeting Duke Negan?

The spirit of the "Apostle of Desire" had grown even weaker, and he spoke in a hollow tone:

"I don't know, I'm only considering whether or not to take on this task."

"Have you heard anything about it?" Klein pressed.

The "Apostle of Desire" remains in a state of calm and stagnation.

"I heard that their main theme is resurrection, or rather, awakening the true Creator."

"They interfere with the course of history to suit their own needs, thereby achieving their goals at a certain point in time."

"If the tides of time do not turn out as they expect, they will do everything in their power to reverse the trend."

"Apart from that, they just stand by quietly and indifferently, perhaps for decades or even centuries without taking any action or making any requests..."

A truly secretive organization… matching Russell's description of secretly manipulating the world's affairs… and connected to the original creator… Seeing the “Apostle of Desire”'s spirit about to dissipate, Klein hurriedly asked again:

What is the name of that organization? How can I contact them?

The "Apostle of Desire" stared blankly ahead, its figure rapidly disintegrating.

Before disappearing completely, he answered the question from earlier:

Their names are:

"The Twilight Hermit's Gathering".

……

In the Joewood district, an unassuming, ordinary horse-drawn carriage is traveling down the street.

The driver of the carriage was a young man in his early twenties, with a long, thin face like a horse, messy and fierce eyebrows, but relatively gentle features.

Inside the carriage, a middle-aged man and a young man were sitting facing each other.

"You've soundproofed this carriage?" Gopper looked around at the interior of the carriage.

"Yes, this is to facilitate our discussions, but the carriage is rather simply furnished, not as nice as yours, Mr. Gopper. I hope you don't mind." Because he needed to reserve some spiritual energy in case of unforeseen circumstances, Arthur was no longer using the Shadow Curtain.

“What’s there to mind? I’m not some pampered, incompetent nobleman. I’ve suffered a lot when I was fighting at sea,” Gopel chuckled.

"I have always admired your achievements, General," Arthur said, offering a very flattering compliment.

The Duke of Negan's current power and title are largely due to his own efforts, which is why he is able to become the leader of the Conservative Party and wield even greater influence than his brother, who is now Prime Minister.

It was precisely because of his immense influence that the Twilight Hermits chose him as their assassination target, rather than the kingdom's current prime minister, Duke Negan's brother, Agushid Negan.

Goppel didn't accept Arthur's flattery, because he knew the young man was just being polite.

If he were to actually press Arthur about his glorious achievements, the conversation would most likely die out.

So he changed the subject:

"Is that young man driving outside one of your men?"

“Yes, he’s a great young man from the security team.” Arthur then changed the subject.

He was also afraid that Gopel would really discuss the matter of achievements in detail, which would be extremely awkward.

"I've heard of the security team. Many factory owners have suffered at their hands, which has led to frequent discussions in the council about disbanding the security team. Unfortunately, no one supports it, so I haven't paid any attention to it."

Goppel said with some emotion:

"Speaking of which, you did me a favor by giving those people at the bottom a way to make a living. Those factory owners are becoming more and more lawless. If they continue like this, a great upheaval in the kingdom is just around the corner."

He didn't have much pity for those at the bottom of society; he just felt that things couldn't continue like this from the perspective of maintaining the stability of the kingdom.

Goppel wasn’t unaware of the profits in the factory, but he felt that those people should at least do things with some dignity.

Oh, making people work ten or twenty hours a day for such a small amount of money, isn't that forcing people to die?

Since they're about to die, do you expect them to stay home and wait to die peacefully, instead of going crazy before they die and causing a major riot?

Moreover, those low-level workers don't even have a home.

Most importantly, those factory owners ruthlessly exploited the workers, and if a riot broke out, he would have to clean up the mess, which was what annoyed Gopel the most.

But now things are better; he's been assassinated, so he's free of any trouble.

As Arthur said, perhaps we can see more about the current situation in the kingdom from a different perspective.

“Mr. Gopel, you flatter me. As citizens of Rune, we all have a duty to safeguard the interests of the kingdom and contribute to the development of Rune. I have only done what I could.” Arthur spoke these high-sounding words, his face seemingly radiating righteous light.

Looking at Arthur, who had an upright and patriotic young man in front of him, Gopper didn't know how to respond for a moment.

He had only met Arthur twice in total, so he wasn't sure whether this was Arthur's true feeling or if the young man was just using platitudes to fool him.

So he just chuckled twice, which was enough to put the matter behind him.

"Does Mr. Gopper have a suitable place to stay?" Arthur didn't linger on the righteous path for long and quickly got down to business.

"Hmm... I definitely can't go back to those places I used to live. Since I'm stepping down, I should do it thoroughly. Arrange a place for me."

“It doesn’t need to be too nice, just clean and spacious will do,” Gopper said after thinking for a moment.

“Clean is easy, but, Mr. Gopper, what is your definition of spacious…” Arthur looked troubled.

How big is considered spacious? Like that luxurious villa we just saw? He couldn't handle that.

“Then something clean will do. I’m not some pampered rich girl.” Gopel waved his hand readily.

“Okay, that’s easy.” Arthur nodded.

……

After settling Gopel in an apartment near the Peace Tavern, Arthur went home.

As soon as I entered the house, I saw Arthas sitting on the sofa with his eyes closed, muttering something to himself.

Arthur wasn't surprised, because ever since the little thing became an "astrologer," it had often practiced astrology like this.

The astrology it practiced was something it learned when it accompanied Fors to study under Dorian.

Just two weeks ago, Fors also successfully became an astrologer.

In terms of playing the role of the magician, Fors, being human, is much more convenient than Arthas, so it takes less time.

"Son, I have good news for you. Your crystal ball has been found." Arthur changed into some casual clothes and then tossed himself next to Arthas.

Arthas, who was practicing astrology with his eyes closed, was suddenly ejected with a "beep".

"Stinky Arthur!" Arthas, who had flown into the air, used a spirit portal to land on Arthur's shoulder and started nibbling at his hair.

"Hey, alright, alright, did you hear what I said? That's a crystal ball made of star crystal, of very high quality." Arthur pulled Arthas off his shoulder and looked at the little thing.

"A crystal ball made of star crystal? That would cost tens of thousands of pounds! You didn't go and sell yourself, did you?" Alsassin was immediately taken aback.

"Why are you always thinking about me selling myself? If I could get this much money by selling myself, I could do it every day." Arthur poked Arthas's belly in annoyance.

“Oh, right.” Arthas tilted his head and thought for a moment. “So that was the deal you made with that important person today? You traded the crystal ball for the reward of saving him?”

It cleverly refrained from revealing the important person's name.

“Yes, you can call him Mr. Goebbels from now on. Also, he has a letter that he needs you to deliver later, and you can bring the crystal ball back with you while you’re at it.” Arthur nodded and put Arthas down.

"No problem. By the way, is he going to be our friend from now on? How should I treat him?" Arthas asked curiously.

“Friends… no, to be precise, I’d say allies,” Arthur said after a moment’s thought.

"You mean the kind where we're on the same side temporarily, but might turn against each other later?" Arthas continued to ask.

"Correct."

"Understood," Arthas replied, then turned and leaped into the spirit world.

After Arthas left, Arthur let out a long sigh of relief, leaned back on the sofa, and began to clear his mind.

In fact, at the beginning, he did not intend to get involved in the assassination case; he just wanted the matter to begin and end naturally.

However, later, because he was inexplicably followed by that apostle of desire, Arthur, in order to disgust this guy, reported his conjecture about the master of the demon dog to the Steam Church.

But at that time he still didn't intend to get involved, after all, he still had to respect the reputation of the Twilight Hermits.

So he didn't reveal too much detailed information; he just wanted to cause this guy some trouble.

However, not long ago, when Arthur was inquiring about high-quality crystal balls, he learned from Miss Justice through Fors that there was a superb crystal ball made of star crystal in Duke Negan's treasury.

From that moment on, Arthur was determined to get involved in the assassination of the Apostle of Desire.

After all, how could a citizen of Ruen stand idly by and watch such a tragedy unfold?

Therefore, Arthur decided to save Duke Negan purely out of a sense of justice and conscience.

It has absolutely nothing to do with crystal balls or anything like that.

As for the reputation of the Twilight Hermits' Society, what's that worth?

Could it grant him a crystal of extremely high quality... no, could it allow him to uphold the justice and conscience in his heart?

Of course not.

Since it's not possible, there's no need to pay attention to that damned Twilight Hermit Society.

Could it be that Arthur is afraid of the Twilight Hermits' revenge?

Yes, he was afraid.

So in the end, Arthur came up with a compromise.

Duke Negan would naturally be saved, without a doubt.

After all, Arthur wanted to uphold his conscience and sense of justice.

But after the rescue, Duke Nigan could not simply return to the political arena in Rune.

The purpose of the Twilight Hermits was to provoke the New Party of Rune into war with Fussac.

George III, on the other hand, wanted to implement all sorts of bizarre policies to put the kingdom into its own new order so that he could secretly ascend to the position of Black Emperor.

However, the Duke of Negan wanted to maintain stability; he wanted to deal with the domestic chaos first, especially to alleviate the harsh treatment of the working class.