Lord of Mysteries: Taiyi

Backlund, South Suburbs, Austin Cemetery.

At Mrs. Lucy's funeral, Leah, dressed in black, stood silently beside the tombstone.

Mrs. Lucy's coffin has been buried underground, with only a photograph still affixed to her tombstone.

After the pastor finished his prayers, Kurt, with a heavy heart, went up to offer flowers on behalf of himself and her sister Lori, and offered a word of comfort to the silent Leah:

"Please accept my condolences, I am very sorry..."

Leah interrupted Kurt, speaking calmly:

"Thank you for saving me, Kurt."

Her tone was calm, as if there was not a trace of sadness in her voice.

"I have something to tell you. Can you wait a moment?"

Kurt paused for a moment, then, having roughly guessed what Leah meant, nodded and said:

"Okay, I'll wait for you over there."

After saying that, Kurt went to a tree in the cemetery to wait for the funeral to end.

……

Inside a café, Kurt led the silent Leah to a private booth and spoke first:

"What are you planning to do next?"

Leah finally showed a hint of pain, and said somewhat confusedly:

"My father abandoned me...my mother returned to the goddess's kingdom."

"I want to join... the Church of the Night and become like you."

"They made me sign a confidentiality agreement, but they excluded you, saying you're also an official. So I'd like to ask you for some advice."

Just as Leah was speaking, Kurt vaguely noticed a bracelet on her right wrist with a square tag hanging from it.

But Kurt only glanced at it for a second before looking away, which was likely a test from the Night Watcher. Kurt stroked his chin and said:

"I heard you're half a Sequence Nine, so joining the church would be a good choice. It would greatly reduce your risk of accidents and you'd also get a considerable reward. Of course, whether you join or not, your actions will be monitored afterward."

"If you want a peaceful life for the rest of your days, I suggest you become an office worker..."

Leah interrupted Kurt, saying somewhat excitedly:

"No, I want to become an Extraordinary One. I want to destroy the Aurora Society... at least to have the power to stop their plot, to stop them from persecuting civilians, and to avenge my mother..."

Leah became increasingly agitated as she spoke, eventually standing up slightly to look at Kurt. Kurt remained silent for a long while before slowly speaking:

"You've made your choice, so join the Night Watchers, even though it's a dangerous and crazy path."

"If you encounter any problems, you can come to me for help."

For example, the lawyer's potion recipe, but I can't give it to you directly. As far as I know, I don't know that the Church of the Night doesn't give new "lawyer" recipes. I'll have to go to some extraordinary gatherings to pretend...

Leah nodded heavily, said nothing more, and silently drank her coffee.

……

Backlund Bridge district, Iron Gate Street, Braveheart Bar.

Kurt changed into a yellow sweater and a blue work jacket, and wearing a gray baseball cap, and arrived at the heavy black door of "Braveheart Bar," where a burly man nearly two meters tall stood with his arms crossed.

He glanced at Kurt but didn't stop him from entering. Kurt had eaten dinner before coming, so it was peak time at the bar. The heat and strong aroma of malt liquor made Kurt frown slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable. Ignoring the surrounding noise, he began to look around.

He saw two burly rings in the middle of the bar. On one of them, two strong men were passionately fighting, which occasionally drew cheers from the audience. The other ring was empty. Kurt remembered that it was where performances like dogs catching mice were staged.

Kurt pulled his baseball cap down, smelled the unpleasant odor of sweat, pinched his nose, and squeezed towards the bar.

"A glass of South Wales beer."

"Five pence," the bartender replied indifferently.

After paying, Kurt picked up the large cup and took a small sip. He found it refreshing and delicious, with a bittersweet taste and a pleasant aftertaste from the malt.

After leisurely enjoying his meal for a while, Kurt glanced at the low-end pocket watch he had deliberately switched to and felt that it was about time.

Seeing that the bartender was available, he took the opportunity to ask:

Is Kaspars Kanlinen here?

The bartender scrutinized Kurt for a few seconds before speaking:

"Ballroom No. 4"

After finishing the last sip of his beer, Kurt put down his empty glass, thanked him, and headed to Ball Room 4.

After the ball room door opened, Kurt looked at the people playing inside and said in a low voice:

"I need to find Kaspars Kanlinen; I need to buy some things."

He didn't say it was the "old man" who introduced him, because Kurt didn't know if Ian was in Backlund or had any reputation at that time.

After a moment of silence, a man in his fifties with a large nose finally spoke:

"Come in."

He had a huge scar on his face, stretching from the right corner of his eye to the right side of his mouth, and a large, bright red nose.

As Kurt entered, he saw several people in the ball room familiarly walk out and close the door behind them.

At this moment, Kaspass walked over with a limp and asked in a somewhat hoarse voice:

What do you want?

"A high-quality revolver and 50 rounds of ammunition," Kurt said, already prepared.

"3 pounds 15 soles," he quoted the price.

"It's 5 sols taller than in the original story, probably because of the different descriptions..." Kurt nodded directly and said:

"Deal." He then casually took out a 4-pound note and handed it to Kaspass, saying, "The rest is your tip. I need to ask you some questions later."

Kaspass glanced warily at Kurt, took the money, and casually asked:

"Who introduced you?"

Squid… Kurt chuckled and said:

"The youngest."

Kaspass frowned, then nodded and said:

"Wait for me for 5 minutes."

Kurt was taken aback by Kaspass's expression. He had just mentioned it casually, but he didn't expect that the rookie detective who called himself the youngest to know Kaspass, although the possibility that they shared the same code name could not be ruled out.

While waiting, Kurt observed the snooker "invented" by Emperor Rosell. He couldn't help but laugh when he thought of the emperor's diary. He wanted to write a lot of useless things, such as the emperor's various scandals, for Klein to appreciate... but he was afraid that Mr. Fool would laugh.

"I need to restrain myself. Next time, I'll write something useful first, maybe with just a little bit of something else, just a little bit..." Kurt thought to himself with a smile.

A moment later, Kaspass returned with a brown paper package. Kurt opened it and found a finely crafted, silver-white revolver with a solid mahogany handle. There were also rows of gleaming yellow bullets.

After trying it out, Kurt followed Klein's example, loading five bullets and inserting them into the prepared underarm sling. Only then did he slowly speak:

Do you have access to gatherings of extraordinary individuals?

Kaspass's eyes instantly turned cold. He took a small step toward the doorway, watching Kurt warily.

Seeing that the other person seemed to have misunderstood something, Kurt pulled out another 5 pounds from his pocket.

"I just happened to learn about the Extraordinary Ones and wanted to find an opportunity."

He pretended to have little knowledge of the extraordinary world, as if he didn't know it was a very secretive matter, giving the impression that a rich person wanted to try something extraordinary.

Seeing that Kurt truly meant no harm, Kaspass swallowed hard, glancing at the five pounds in cash, before speaking in a low voice:

"You're lucky kid, you got one today."