Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 9 Notes

After resting for half an hour, Zhou Mingrui, who had already considered himself Klein, finally recovered. During this time, he discovered that there were four black dots on the back of his right hand, which formed a small square.

The four black dots faded and quickly disappeared, but Klein knew they were still hidden inside him, waiting to be awakened.

"Four points, a square, could it be the correspondence between the four corners and the four main dishes? From now on, I won't need to prepare the main dishes anymore, and I can directly focus on footwork and incantations?" Klein had a vague guess.

This seems like a good thing, but it has a strange origin, and the lack of understanding of "things" is always frightening.

Thinking about how inexplicable magic techniques from Earth could also have an effect here, thinking about the strange time travel he had experienced in his sleep, thinking about the mysterious, psychedelic, and mysterious gray fog world, and thinking about the whispers that lingered around him during the "ritual," which were driving him almost insane, Klein couldn't help but shiver, shivering in the sweltering heat of late June.

He had once heard a saying: "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest fear is the fear of the unknown." Now, he deeply understands the fear that comes from the unknown.

Unprecedented and uncontrollable, he felt an intense urge to explore the mysterious realm, to learn more, and to break through the unknown. He also had an escapist thought of burying his head and pretending that nothing had happened.

The sunlight outside the window was shining brightly, casting a layer of "golden dust" on the desk. Klein gazed at it, as if he could touch a trace of warmth and hope.

He relaxed a little, and immediately felt a surge of exhaustion wash over him.

The lack of sleep last night and the exertion just now left his eyelids heavy and leaden, drooping uncontrollably.

Shaking his head, Klein reached out and braced himself against the edge of the table. Ignoring the rye bread placed in the four corners, he staggered to the bunk bed. As soon as he lay down and his head hit the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep.

Glug! Glug!

Hunger awakened Klein; he opened his eyes, feeling refreshed.

"My head still hurts a little." He rubbed his temples, sat up, and felt like he could eat a whole cow right now.

As he smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes, he returned to his desk and picked up the silver pocket watch with its vine-like pattern.

Snapped!

The lid popped open, and the second hand ticked away.

"It's 12:30. I slept for more than three hours..." Klein swallowed and put the pocket watch into his linen shirt pocket.

In the Northern Continent, a day is also divided into twenty-four hours, sixty minutes per hour, and sixty seconds per minute. As for whether the length of each second is the same as on Earth, Klein had no idea.

At this moment, words like mysticism, rituals, and the gray fog world couldn't even enter his mind. The most important thing right now was food, food!

You need to be well-fed before you can think of solutions! Only then can you get things done!

Without hesitation, Klein took back the rye bread from the four corners, flicked off the little dust that had gotten on it, and planned to take one of them as his main meal for lunch.

Because his hometown had a custom of sharing the offerings after a sacrificial ceremony, and these four rye breads looked exactly the same, he felt that he should be more frugal with only five pence left in his pocket.

Of course, this is also subtly influenced by the original owner's fragmented memories and lifestyle habits.

Because gas was too expensive, even using it for lighting was painful, so he brought out the stove, added some coal, and paced back and forth, waiting for the water to boil.

Those rye breads are so dry, you'll choke if you eat them on their own!

"Sigh, am I going to have to live a life of eating black bread in the morning, black bread at noon, and only meat in the evening... No, if it weren't for Melissa thinking about my upcoming interview, I'd only be able to eat meat twice a week..." Klein, who was idle and too hungry to think about serious issues, looked around.

Thinking of that pound of lamb, his eyes seemed to turn green as he stared at the cupboard.

"No, no, we have to wait for Melissa to eat together." Klein shook his head violently, rejecting the idea of ​​cutting it in half now.

As a single man living in a big city, he mainly eats out, but he has honed his basic cooking skills. They're not exactly delicious, but they're good enough.

Klein turned away, intending to avoid seeing it, when he suddenly remembered that in addition to buying meat, he had also bought tender peas and potatoes that morning!

Potatoes! Klein had an instant inspiration, turned around like a whirlwind, rushed to the cupboard, and took out two potatoes from the few available.

He first went to the public washroom to wash the potatoes thoroughly, then put them directly into the kettle and boiled them with water.

After a while, he took out a spice box from the cupboard, opened the lid, and sprinkled a little bit of yellowish, coarse salt into the water.

After waiting patiently for a few more minutes, Klein picked up the kettle, poured the broth (which wasn't really soup) into several cups, then into a large bowl, and finally forked out two potatoes and placed them on the table.

call!

He peeled a little bit of the potato and blew on it, releasing the aroma of cooked potatoes that whetted one's appetite.

His mouth watered uncontrollably. Klein didn't care that he had only peeled half of it, or that the potato was still a little hot, and he took a big bite out of it.

Powder! Fragrant! Sweet aftertaste! Klein was instantly moved and wolfed down the two potatoes, even eating some of the peel.

Only then did he pick up the large bowl and take a delicious sip of the "soup," the subtle saltiness washing away the dryness in his mouth.

"This was my favorite thing to eat when I was a kid..." Klein sighed silently as he ate a piece of rye bread after filling his stomach. He soaked the bread in the "soup" to soften it.

Perhaps the previous "ritual" had been too taxing, because he ate two whole prawns, totaling a pound.

After drinking the "soup" and tidying up, Klein felt completely alive again, experiencing the joy of being human and enjoying the sunshine.

He sat back down at his desk and began to think about what he should do next.

"We cannot escape; we must find a way to access the mystical realm and become the extraordinary one that 'Justice' and 'The Hanged Man' speak of."

"To overcome the fear caused by the unknown."

"The only way right now is to wait for the next 'gathering' and see if we can overhear the 'audience's' potion recipe, or other mysterious knowledge."

"There are still four days until Monday. Before then, we need to face the original owner's own problems: why did he commit suicide? What happened to him...?"

Unable to travel back in time, Klein, who was just packing his bags and leaving, picked up the open notebook, intending to look through it for any clues and see if he could fill in the missing fragments of his memory.

Clearly, the original owner had a habit of taking notes and also enjoyed using them as a diary.

Klein knew perfectly well that the cabinet that served as the right leg of the desk was full of finished notebooks.

This book was started on May 10th. The beginning mainly contains content related to the school, the tutor, and knowledge.

"On May 12th, Mr. Azik mentioned that the common language of the Byron Empire in the Southern Continent also originated from the ancient Fusak language, which is a branch of the Giant's language. Why would this be? Could it be that all sentient beings once used the same language? No, that must be wrong. Even in the records of the 'Night Revelation' and the 'Storm Book,' in an era even older than the ancient times, giants were not the only rulers of the continent. There were also elves, other species, and dragons. Well, these are all just legends, just myths."

……

"On May 16th, Senior Associate Professor Cohen and Mr. Azik discussed the inevitability of the steam age. Mr. Azik believed it was accidental; if it weren't for the sudden appearance of Emperor Roselle, the Northern Continent might still be in the age of cold weapons, just like the Southern Continent. My advisor thought he was overemphasizing the role of the individual. He believed that with the development of the times, even without Emperor Roselle, there would be Emperor Robert the Great. In short, the steam age might be late, but it would definitely come. I felt their debate was meaningless. I preferred to discover new things and restore history from its fog. Perhaps I shouldn't have studied history; I should have studied archaeology."

……

"On May 29th, Welch came to me, saying he had obtained a notebook from the Fourth Age. My goddess, a notebook from the Fourth Age! He didn't want to ask the archaeology students for help, so he wanted me and Naya to help decipher the contents. How could I refuse such a thing? Of course, it had to be arranged after my graduation defense. At this time, I couldn't be distracted."

Upon seeing this, Klein's spirits lifted. Compared to the previous historical notes and ideological debates, the newly appeared "Fourth Period" notes were more likely to lead to the original owner's suicide.

The Fourth Age is the era before the present-day "Iron Age." Its history is shrouded in mystery and has many gaps. Even unearthed tombs, ancient cities, and documents are few and far between. Historians and archaeologists can only piece together a little bit of the "original picture" by relying on the vague theological texts of the seven major churches, which are mainly focused on faith education. They know that the Solomon Empire, the Tudor Dynasty, and the Tronsus Empire existed.

Determined to unravel the mysteries and restore history, Klein had little interest in the more mythical "First Three Ages," but was only interested in the Fourth Age, also known as the "Age of the Gods," so his excitement was understandable.

"Hey, looking at it this way, the original owner's concern about the interview and future employment was actually unnecessary..." Klein couldn't help but sigh.

Universities are still very rare, and the vast majority of students are children of noble families or wealthy families. Even if ordinary people are discriminated against because of their status and are not included in other people's social circles, as long as they are not extreme, they can still gain a certain amount of connections through group discussions, group activities, and other activities. These connections are quite valuable!

For example, Welch McGonagall is the son of a banker in Constance, Intersea County, Kingdom of Loen. He is generous and lavish, and because he is often in the same group as Klein and Naya to do assignments and reports, he habitually asks them for help.

Without much further thought, Klein continued reading his notes:

"June 18th, graduation. Goodbye, my Hoy University!"

"On June 19, I saw that notebook. After comparing its structure, word roots, and other aspects, I discovered that it was a variant of Old Fussak. To be more precise, Old Fussak has actually been undergoing subtle changes over the past thousand years."

"On June 20th, we deciphered the contents of the first page. The author is a member of a family called 'Antigonus'."

"On June 21st, he mentioned the 'Black Emperor,' which completely contradicts the era deduced from the previous content. Could it be that the mentor's view is wrong, and the 'Black Emperor' is actually the common title of every emperor of the Solomon Empire?"

"On June 22nd, the family called 'Antigonus' seemed to hold a prominent position in the Solomon Empire. The notebook's owner mentioned that he was conducting a secret deal with someone named Tudor. Tudor? The Tudor dynasty?"

"On June 23rd, I forced myself not to think about that notebook, and not to go to Welch's place. I had to prepare for the interview! This was extremely important!"

"On June 24, Naya told me that they had a new harvest, and I thought I should go and see."

"On June 25th, according to the newly deciphered contents, the owner of the notebook accepted a mission to travel to the main peak of the 'Honakis' Mountains to visit the 'Night Kingdom' located at the top. My goddess, the main peak of the Hornakis Mountains is over six thousand meters high, how could there possibly be a country there? How do they survive!"

"Are all these strange things from June 26th real?"

That concludes the notes. Zhou Mingrui transmigrated in the early morning of June 28th.

"So, the notes from June 27th actually exist, and it's that sentence... 'Everyone will die, including me'..." Klein flipped to the first page he saw and made a slightly chilling judgment.

He felt that to unravel the mystery of the original owner's suicide, he should go to Welch's place and take another look at the contents of the ancient notebook. However, with his rich "experience" in novels, movies, and TV series, he felt that if he went there and if the matter was indeed related, he would most likely encounter unknown dangers—those guys who knowingly went to the haunted castle were a warning sign!

But not going is not an option. Avoiding the problem will never solve anything; it will only make things worse until they burst and completely overwhelm you!

Call the police? I can't exactly say I committed suicide...

Boom!

dong dong!

Suddenly, there was a series of urgent and forceful knocks at the door.

Klein sat up abruptly and listened intently.

Boom!

dong dong!

The sound of knocking echoed through the empty and desolate hallway.

(End of this chapter)