Lord of Mysteries: The Color of the Stars

About 200 years ago, the "Imitation Beasts" invaded some of the desolate areas from northern Intis to the Hornach Mountains and integrated into human society.

At its worst, two towns were completely occupied by the "Pseudo-Language Beasts," leaving no living people in them.

These situations were not taken seriously by the authorities at first. It wasn't until Emperor Roselle ascended the throne and saw a beautiful young woman, who had been replaced by a "Pseudo-Language Beast," near one of his palaces in northern Diris that he finally realized the seriousness of the problem.

Afterwards, Roselle secretly issued a bounty order, instructing the military's "Singers" and "Hunters" to hunt down the "Pseudo-Word Beasts" in an organized manner. Other countries also began to follow suit under his influence, which finally eliminated the scourge of the "Pseudo-Word Beasts".

As a result, there have been almost no sightings of "paraphrasing monsters" in the Northern Continent in the past 150 years. Only a very small number of marine individuals disguised as dolphins have been discovered, but because there are so many powerful supernatural creatures in the ocean, they have not formed a large-scale phenomenon.

At the time, some people considered whether the "Imitation Beasts" were related to known potion recipes, but these speculations were quickly dismissed, and thus this dangerous supernatural creature lost all value to humanity.

"It seems unlikely that we can find a living 'Pseudo-Language Disaster Beast'; we can only try to find a specimen. Even if we do find one, the price will be extremely high."

"Fortunately, this potion recipe does not involve any of the bodily fluids of the 'Lyric Disaster Beast,' otherwise it would be really too difficult."

Julian decided to inquire through the "Tarot Club" and other channels, and before that, he could look for the relatively easy-to-obtain Polarite.

After putting away the potion recipe, Julian went to the nearby Tarsok Bank to check his anonymous account.

Inside lay 2000 gold pounds, with a note in the transfer record indicating an address in Backlund.

Julian was overjoyed, and at the same time he understood that the note was an address that "Justice" had specially left to collect the "Psychotherapist's" potion materials.

At present, Mr. Fool's development of the Source Castle is still relatively limited, and members of the Tarot Club still use registered mail when trading extraordinary materials.

In any case, there were some risks involved, so Julian decided to go to Backlund himself.

Firstly, he was helping Miss "Justice" deliver the goods, and secondly, he met a member of the "Hermits of Destiny" in Backlund who was also a descendant of the Jacob family.

Julian wanted to see if his clansman knew the whereabouts of the "Imitation Beast" specimen, as that clansman was in the business of selling potion ingredients. This was Julian's main objective.

After withdrawing the money, Julian did not rush to leave Tingen, but instead took a horse-drawn carriage directly to "Blackthorn Security Company".

"Good afternoon, Julian."

Having met Julian many times, Rosanne was already quite familiar with this assistant professor at Hoy University.

Who's on duty at the company today?

He asked the question.

"The captain and Cohen are both here. Ms. Luo Yao is temporarily filling in for Old Neil and is currently guarding the armory."

"Oh, right, Klein's here too. He was on duty at Charness Gate last night, he should be leaving soon."

Julian frowned upon hearing Rosanne's words:

"What's wrong with Old Neil?"

"It seems he hasn't been feeling well lately, so the captain granted him a few days off."

Rosanne shook her head:

"I'm not entirely clear on the specifics either."

It seems that Dunn took what I said to heart and has started monitoring Old Neil?

Julian nodded, and just as he was about to say something more, he suddenly heard Klein's voice:

"Julian?"

Julian turned his head and looked at Klein.

He smiled and asked:

"How was your shift? Was it fun?"

"It's alright. I was a little worried at first that the sealed items might have problems, but I gradually got used to it."

Klein laughed, and then said:

"By the way, are you looking for the captain?"

"Yes."

Julian nodded:

"There are some things I need to tell him."

"He's in his office, you can just go there."

Klein replied, yawning at the same time.

Julian glanced at the aura emanating from Klein and judged that although the guy had stayed up all night, he shouldn't be particularly tired.

So he tentatively began to speak:

"Okay, would you like to have dinner together later? I should be done soon."

"I know a restaurant that sells a special herbal stew that can help restore energy."

Julian blinked:

"The Fennebot pasta and sweet iced tea there are also quite special. Would you like to try them? It's on me."

Klein hesitated noticeably upon hearing this, and after a moment he shook his head:

"Thank you for the invitation, Julian."

"However, I have some things to attend to at home, so I'll have to excuse myself for now."

"I see. Well, see you next time."

Julian understood that Klein's ability to resist the temptation of sweet iced tea and Fennebot noodles likely stemmed from something more important than going home.

He guessed that Klein probably wanted to take advantage of his time off work to see if there was any opportunity to digest the potion, and that he would most likely go to the "Fortune Telling Club".

Julian had previously mentioned the existence of the "Fortune Telling Club" when reporting on Viscount Oakley, which should give Klein a clue.

On the other hand, compared to itinerant circuses, fortune-telling clubs offer a more open environment, and due to their stability, it is easier for Klein to establish a reputation as a "fortune teller" there.

Even if he were to encounter Julian there, Klein could say that he was there to hone and learn divination skills—after all, the "Diviner's Potion" doesn't automatically grant the user all divination skills, but rather gives them the ability to learn divination skills.

After Klein left, Julian went to Dunn's office.

"Dunne".

After receiving permission to enter, Julian opened the door and sat down opposite Dunn.

"I'm going to Backlund. It won't be long; I'll be back by tomorrow at the latest."

"But considering that I am currently under the protection of the Night Watchers, I feel it is necessary to tell you about this."

The purpose of saying this is twofold: to prevent violations and to provide the church with a contingency plan.

After all, Julian didn't want to encounter the Church of Knowledge again under any circumstances, as that would inevitably cause a lot of inconvenience.

"Okay, I'll send a telegram to the sanctuary later."

Dunn nodded, then looked at Julian with a slight frown, as if he had forgotten something very important.

"What's wrong, Dunn?"

Julian knew that Dunn was suffering from amnesia, so he tried to ask.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot."

After a long while, Dunn's brows suddenly relaxed.

"I have something nice for you."

He then took a gold-embossed document from the drawer and placed it in front of Julian:

"Julian, look at this!"