Lord of Mysteries: The Color of the Stars

"...Captain, that's a viscount's mansion. Is it legal for us to search it like this?"

On the police carriage heading to Viscount Oakley’s mansion, Klein asked with some concern.

This guy has just become a full member of the "Night Watch" and has only been on one mission, so he doesn't know much about the details of the job yet.

"Viscount Oakley is a member of the National Assembly, so security at his residence is partly handled by the Arhowa County Police Department."

Dunn Smith's body swayed with the jolting of the carriage:

"Furthermore, since he is a registered follower of the goddess, our Seventh Group has the right to search in matters involving supernatural events, and it is completely legal."

"Of course, given the special nature of this incident, we will not enter his residence under the pretext of a search, but rather conduct a 'routine security check'."

After hearing Dunn's explanation, Klein suddenly understood.

Soon the carriage arrived at a hillside villa near the outskirts of Tingen, where the "Night Watchers" and Julian Albrecht got out of the carriage together.

"Captain, there are indeed supernatural forces in this villa, and they are the dangerous kind."

Klein looked at the citrine pendulum in his hand and spoke.

Dunn nodded and led the group toward Viscount Oakley’s luxurious three-story mansion.

"Ahowa County Police Department is conducting a routine security check."

Dunn Smith showed his police ID to an elderly butler who looked to be in his fifties behind the door.

The old butler bore a striking resemblance to Miller, the Viscount Oakley's attendant whom Julian had met before, leading him to suspect that the two might be brothers or father and son.

"A routine check-up so late?"

The old butler seemed somewhat suspicious, and then added:

"Viscount Oakley is not home."

"Old Miller, let them in."

"My father has been unwell recently. Although the doctor has ruled out poisoning, I think it would be better to have these police officers check it out."

Just then, another voice rang out, and the old butler turned around to find a young man standing there wearing gold-rimmed glasses, a white shirt, and black striped trousers.

"Yes, Master Jennings."

Hearing the young man's instructions, the old butler had no choice but to open the door and let Dunn and his party in.

"Jennings... is Viscount Oakley's eldest son, and the person he suspected earlier."

Julian glanced at the young man without making a sound and noticed that the latter was also covered in a grayish-brown light similar to that of Viscount Oakley.

However, compared to Jennings' father, the grayish-brown light on him was less noticeable and less attached—so much so that it could not be easily detected even with "spiritual vision," and only Julian, whose visual abilities were beyond ordinary, could perceive its presence.

Was Jennings also affected by the curse?

This was somewhat unexpected for Julian, because if he were truly the one who started it all, he should have ensured his own safety.

On the other hand, he didn't see any panic in Julian's flash of insight—on the contrary, the young man only showed reasonable worry and concern, and nothing else was unusual.

Julian patted Klein on the shoulder, then raised an eyebrow at Jennings.

Klein immediately understood Julian's meaning. He and Frye pretended to be conducting a routine check, then bypassed the porch and, under the cover of the marble pillars, began to perform divination on Jennings.

"Mr. Jennings, you just mentioned that your father is unwell. What is the situation?"

Dunn then looked at Jennings, pretending he knew nothing, and began to ask Jennings about the situation.

Julian, carrying his cane and aided by the "Scholar's Legacy," found a strand of Jennings' hair on his bedroom pillow. Guided by the faint color vision provided by the "Four-Colored Awakener," he began his ascent to the second floor.

Soon, he stopped at the door of a study.

The grayish-brown glow reached its peak here, and Julian knew that the source of the curse must have been there afterward.

He tried pushing the door and found it wasn't locked, so Julian turned on the gaslight and looked into the depths of the study.

Sure enough, there was an early Fifth-century Fenneport-style clock ticking away.

The clock looks very luxurious, and its surface has obviously been refurbished and repainted, which enhances its quality.

But it was also completely enveloped by that grayish-brown light, which made Julian completely certain that it was the source of the curse.

Julian took out "Chris Jacob's Ring" from his person, put it on his hand, and began to "decipher" the watch based on its various surface features and details.

"This thing was probably indeed a gift from Jennings, but the connection between this curse and his occultism isn't quite strong enough..."

"Furthermore, this curse clearly has a certain mystical orientation based on bloodline analysis, which is why when Viscount Oakley is not at home, the curse will prioritize targeting Jennings, who has a similar bloodline to him."

Julian frowned and began to reconstruct the sequence of events in his mind:

"So the problem isn't with the person who gave the gift, but with the person who helped Jennings choose it."

"By giving Jennings a series of choices and subtly guiding him, the whole thing will appear to be in his control..."

"In that case, Jennings became the scapegoat..."

With that in mind, Julian began searching his study for information about the people at Viscount Oakley’s mansion, hoping to find out if Jennings had any assistants or the like.

Strangely, even with the help of "Chris Jacob's Ring," Julian was still completely lost, like a headless fly.

"No, still no..."

As the 15-minute time limit of the sealed artifact approached, Julian suddenly heard the faint buzzing sound of "Star Color" in his ear.

Upon hearing the buzzing sound, Julian paused for a moment, and in that instant, his hearing and senses became clearer.

The feeling was like frosted glass suddenly becoming clear after being splashed with water; he then realized that something seemed off about his state just now.

It was at this moment that Julian noticed some new colors in the room.

Those were red and yellow, representing temperature, and a very pure blue-green, like the color of a clean lake reflected in the blue sky.

This blue-green hue connects with Julian, and seems to be having some unspeakable relationship with him.

He stopped what he was doing and looked toward the source of the colors.

The colors converged at the entrance, forming a blurry human silhouette.

Julian could not tell when the humanoid silhouette had appeared. He could see that the red and yellow colors remained on the surface of the silhouette, while the blue-green colors were located in the positions of the heart and brain, appearing calm and undisturbed.

What is this thing? Has it been watching me?

At that moment, the hairs on Julian's back stood on end!