Lord of Mysteries: Taiyi

Brave Ones Bar, Tiemen Street, Bridge District

Kaspass led Kurt, limping, into the bar's kitchen, through a hidden door into the alley behind, and finally around to a dark, dimly lit house.

He handed Kurt a mask and whispered instructions:

"Even if you may be very rich, you'd better not mess with the people inside. They are all very powerful. Wear this mask, generous sir."

Kutty nodded as he took the mask, put it on, and thanked him.

"Thanks for reminding me."

Then Kaspass knocked rhythmically on the door. After a while, a small brown wooden panel on the door was pulled open, revealing a pair of brown eyes. He examined the outside for a long time before opening the door.

Inside stood a man wearing an iron mask. He glanced at Kurt, glared at Kaspass, and said in a hoarse voice:

"Remember to give advance notice next time; following the rules will help you live longer."

He then closed the door and led Kurt into the extraordinary party hosted by "The Eye of Wisdom" Esinger Stanton.

The main venue for the gathering was the living room on the first floor, where a coffee table was set up with a dim candle lit on it.

There were several sofas and chairs around, with about 10 people sitting on them, all wearing iron masks.

Several pairs of eyes fell on Kurt, who had just entered, and then looked away. Kurt was unaffected and found a seat.

Several other people's eyes were drawn to Kurt's thick black gloves, or rather, to the "divine gift" inside, though they didn't know why they were interested in a glove...

At this moment, he heard a man with a deep voice and a large physique speak:

“I have a friend who was recently inexplicably arrested and imprisoned at Backlund Asylum. I need to rescue him.” The man paused and then added, “His name is Auster Sybilwey, codename ‘Youngest,’ a private detective, a Sequence Nine of a certain sequence. He has no history of problems, is logically sound, and has excellent speaking skills.”

"He even cheated me out of £100 with his words!!! I must make him pay me back. I need an accomplice, and I will pay him £30 after it's done. Witness this with the old man of wisdom."

Kurt paused for a moment upon hearing "youngest." He felt a connection between himself and this detective, who was even an extraordinary individual. Captured in an asylum, about to advance to Sequence Eight—half-mad? Kurt was intrigued by this "youngest"; such coincidences in the mysterious world likely had a hidden story.

He began to ponder his uniqueness: he possessed Source Matter and the uniqueness of the "Watchmaker" sequence. Clear logic, excellent eloquence, Sequence Nine—could he be a "storyteller"? Being imprisoned in the asylum might mean he was playing a "mental patient"? Was his previous role-playing due to a lack of understanding of the methods? Or was it a method of deduction used in front of others during his detective work?

Thinking of this, Kurt suddenly had an inspiration and recalled when he applied for the job, "the youngest" said that he was good at reasoning. Kurt pictured "the youngest" reasoning in his mind and subconsciously thought that the other party was probably really good at reasoning.

Kurt frowned slightly at the thought of the suspected adjacent sequence. After thinking for a moment, he decided not to get involved. As a chosen one of the Earth Mother Goddess and the strongest member of the Tarot Society under Mr. Fool, how could he possibly sneak into the mental hospital with someone else in the middle of the night?

At this moment, another member spoke up:

"Backlund Asylum is not far from the Cathedral of the Holy Wind, and I don't want to get chopped into dust."

His words instantly dampened the enthusiasm of some. The elderly gentleman with the "Eye of Wisdom," sitting on a single sofa, also spoke up:

"Moreover, as far as I know, Backlund Asylum has partnerships with various churches, and people at your level might not be able to come back."

The burly man deflated and muttered, "Why would they cooperate with the church? My 100 pounds!"

Hearing his complaint, the "Eye of Wisdom" suggested:

"Why don't you think of it this way? If he's not actually crazy and is just pretending, then he'll definitely be released one day. He can't stay in there forever for 100 pounds."

"If he really goes crazy, not only is there a risk of things getting out of control, but he also basically won't pay you back."

The burly man thought about it and realized it made sense. He nodded sullenly and stopped talking.

Because this extraordinary gathering was of a relatively low level, and Kurt didn't yet know the Sequence Seven "Painter's" potion recipe, he didn't make any interesting deals throughout the entire gathering, nor did he hear anyone asking to buy the recipe...

Finally, he casually asked:

"Does anyone have the recipe for a 'lawyer'?"

The result was silence...

However, he obtained clues about his source essence, which was an unexpected gain.

After the party ended, Kurt was seated towards the back because he hadn't made any transactions. He didn't ask for the party's signal because he knew that the most important thing about coming today was to experience the process, find out the exact location of the party, and provide an excuse for himself to have the recipe for the "Lawyer" potion, even if he might not need it, just in case.

Following his memory, Kurt returned to the Brave Ones Bar. He didn't linger; it was the first day of school, and he needed to go home to meet Hugh Deercha and pick up the police report from Bill.

……

After taking the steam subway and transferring to a horse-drawn carriage, Kurt successfully returned to 36 "Evalland Street".

When he entered the first floor, he saw Bill, Hugh, and Finks chatting together, seemingly about food. They stopped talking when they saw Kurt return.

Bill adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, looked Kurt up and down, nodded, and said:

"Your outfit is perfect for the East District; it will save you a lot of trouble. But I suggest you bring an expensive pocket watch."

Kut nodded, held out his hand to reveal a diamond-encrusted gold pocket watch, and smiled as he continued the conversation:

"This will effectively allow the police in the East District to function like real people, instead of idly flaunting their hairy chests and fists like curly-haired baboons."

Hugh, her feet dangling in the air, jumped down from the high stool in front of the counter. Touching the triangular spike at her waist, she added with a somber face:

"A curly-haired baboon wouldn't be stupid enough to extort money from an empty purse."

Bill took out a small stack of documents from his pocket and smiled, a rare occurrence for him:

"Kurt, it seems you've begun to see the true nature of the East District. I sincerely hope you can persevere."

After receiving the documents, Kurt nodded solemnly and said:

"Thank you for your help these past few days, Bill. I might set up a scholarship fund later, and I may need your assistance then."

Upon hearing that Kurt wanted to set up a foundation, Bill initially wanted to offer some advice, as Kurt's family hadn't been particularly wealthy since Cole Bard's death... but seeing Kurt's serious expression, he opened his mouth, but ultimately only said:

"Okay, I'll do my best to help."

"Oh, right, the hospital has finally found a replacement. I'll be here before 8 o'clock to wait for you. Before you head to the East District, I can also provide free medical care for the children. I think it's called... a school doctor?"

Listening to their conversation, Hugh thought to himself, "Mr. Kurt is so rich and kind. No wonder he's so generous."