Mystery: I, the Hermit, am too eager to improve

Chapter 136 Hugh: Mr. Fool, I didn't mean to.

"Thank you, ma'am, your help was crucial to me."

Klein expressed his heartfelt gratitude.

Lovia chuckled softly, "Your help is also very important to me. For people in dire straits, nothing is more important than food."

"Yes, I will finish collecting the materials as soon as possible. Do you have any requirements regarding the food?"

"It needs to be durable and storeable, because I don't know how much longer I'll be wandering around in the ruins, so I need as much food as possible that can be stored for as long as possible."

Lovia stated her requirements, "As for the taste, it doesn't matter, as long as it's safe and edible."

Klein nodded: "I will collect it. It will take at most a day. I will ask Mr. Hermit to help me convey the message."

"Thanks."

Lovia thanked him with great elegance.

The deal between the two is over.

Roy escorted them back to reality and seated them, reflecting on what had just happened, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly—

As expected of Elder Lovia.

As someone in the know, he simply didn't expose her, yet Lovia established herself as an adventurer based on a single story.

and.

She used this as a prelude to gain the opportunity to trade food with Klein...

Such an ability.

No wonder she was able to survive in the wilderness time and again, eventually becoming a Sequence 5 shepherd and serving as an elder in Silver City.

However, this was only after I had provided shelter.

Roy looked at the bookshelf.

Every day, a stack of babbling sounds would appear over there, many of which were repetitive, but the syllables and intonations would be slightly different.

If I were to endure this kind of verbal abuse every day...

It would be difficult to think rationally.

Roy sighed, then sorted out his thoughts.

Klein still encountered the Demon Hound, so he will inevitably encounter the Apostle of Desire in the future.

but.

Jason's main target wasn't Klein and his group, but rather to hunt down Duke Negan. In the end, Klein should be fine.

Besides, even if something happens, it's useless.

They can't even protect themselves.

If the mysterious servant was the one who lured Mrs. Maht to the Harvest Church, it would mean that her whereabouts had been exposed.

Roy pondered for a moment, then picked up the pendant to perform a divination.

A few seconds later—

The pendant rotates clockwise, but very slowly.

This means...

The other party did not know his exact location, only that he was roughly in the southern district.

Roy continued the divination.

"My role as a wizard gave me away."

The pendant rotates clockwise, but not very fast.

That's not the only reason; other factors also play a role.

Roy tried several divination statements, such as the psychiatrist Mrs. Mahett knew being a mysterious waiter.

but.

Failed.

The amount of information is too small to accurately predict the outcome.

He was mentally prepared for this; divination is not omnipotent. It requires sufficient information before the spirit world can provide enough hints.

"I hope the Hanged Man will bring me good news tomorrow."

The mysterious temple contains several extraordinary attributes that are not easy to get rid of, such as the Rose Bishop, the Assassin, and the Listener, among others.

Giving these materials to others would be harmful, or they would easily attract unwanted attention.

Instead, use it to create extraordinary items that are easy to use.

of course.

The premise is—

With sufficient knowledge of artisans, the reconfiguration properties of the Mystic Temple can indeed be used to create extraordinary items.

This is just speculation at the moment.

Roy composed himself and returned to reality.

……

"Lady Number 5 is so gentle. You would never guess that she is an adventurer who loves adventure and fighting."

"But it could also be a requirement for role-playing or ritual."

"She's probably at least Sequence 5 or higher."

Klein pondered to himself.

Then, he couldn't help but sigh—

Mr. Hermit's meeting was truly impressive; even those of Sequence 5 or higher extraordinary status participated. No wonder he spoke with such casualness.

but.

In "Survival in Desperate Situations," sacrificing an arm seems out of place in most combat sequences.

of course.

It's not that it doesn't exist. The supernatural realm has many incredible abilities. Theoretically speaking, as long as the arm is still there, it can be healed with healing magic.

The lady's team may include exceptional individuals who are highly skilled in treatment.

pity.

Even such a team, trapped in the ruins, had no choice but to rely on the hermit for help and survival.

I don't know what kind of ruins they are.

"I should help the ladies gather food as soon as possible. They must be desperate and in dire need of food."

Klein glanced outside.

It's getting late.

It was impossible to buy large quantities of food through normal channels, but he vaguely remembered that Roy knew some businessmen in the South District.

He thought for a moment and then prayed through the "Fool".

A short while later—

Roy received the message.

"Great Fool, please ask the Hermit if he knows any grain merchants who can buy food in large quantities."

"..."

Klein really isn't hiding anything anymore; no wonder he revealed his identity right away—it turns out he wanted to make better use of his connections.

Roy sighed softly, then set up the ritual and prayed.

After a string of honorific names.

He responded.

"Yes, they returned to the South District some time ago. Although I don't know why Mr. 'World' needs a large amount of food, I should be able to help purchase it."

A little while later, Klein sent a reply.

He said he would pay for it, and Roy would also provide corresponding compensation. The more food the better, preferably the kind that is easy to store and carry. As for the reason...

Klein's explanation was...

A wealthy nobleman who believed in apocalyptic themes hoped to buy and store large quantities of food in preparation for the impending doomsday world.

Fine.

Roy found it hard to imagine whether Klein's use of the word "doomsday" was a veiled reference, or whether he was drawing inspiration from the characters of some wealthy people from his past life.

In short, he chose to turn a blind eye and got up to walk towards Gar Street.

……

In Silver City, Lovia maintained her posture of prayer and praise, her eyes closed and filled with piety.

She sincerely thanked the hermit for giving her the opportunity to access external resources.

"Perhaps I should discuss this with His Excellency the Chief."

"food……"

Lovia's gaze was calm.

She knew that the madness in Silver City stemmed from other reasons, but there was no doubt that the Chief's actions were simply to ensure everyone's survival.

Madness may be the price we have to pay.

The grain obtained through trade cannot be used as a long-term supply; it can only be used for short-term emergency purposes.

With that thought in mind, she got up and headed to the chief's office.

"Your Excellency."

"Elder Lovia, what is it?"

"I acquired a batch of grain through a trade, which should arrive within a few days. Is there anywhere to store it?"

Lovia asked calmly, as if she were talking about something trivial.

Colin's movements froze.

After a long while, he came to his senses and said, "If we can really obtain it, we should store it in the tower and use ritual magic to isolate it and prevent the food from mutating."

"Furthermore, the source of this batch of grain..."

Lovia hesitated for a moment.

Under what name should it be promoted?

Colin pondered for a few seconds and said, "Just say it's a gift from the Creator, that the hope for our Silver City is about to arrive. As long as we persevere, we will see the dawn."

"Regardless of what the true Creator is like, we need Him now to stabilize the will of the people of Silver City. Knowing that the Creator is still alive will make them more determined and stronger."

……

Inside an apartment in the Joewood district.

Fors paced back and forth in the hall, pondering Miss Audrey's every move over the past period of time.

Then she became even more certain of one thing.

Audrey has long been an extraordinary figure in the audience's journey!

During their first meeting, the other person seemed to be sizing her up, but at that time, Fors was still in the mindset of an extraordinary person facing an ordinary person, and she overlooked the details.

and so.

Audrey had been hiding it all along, and the Viscount probably didn't even know that she was already an extraordinary being.

but.

Why would someone who's already a viewer ask to buy the viewer's potion recipe?

Even if you have money, you can't just squander it.

Fors was baffled.

Squeak—

The door opened, and Hugh returned wearily from outside. Seeing Fors pacing back and forth in the hall, he couldn't help but ask in confusion.

"Fors, what are you doing?"

"Hugh, I've been feeling a bit off lately."

"Um?"

"Miss Audrey's pet dog possesses high intelligence, which I heard mentioned at the party. This is a manifestation of having taken some kind of magical potion, and the audience happens to fit the description."

Fors frowned.

Hugh blinked, then said, "Miss Audrey was already an Extraordinary?"

"That's possible."

"Then why is she still trying to buy the formula?"

Hugh closed the door, took a couple of steps, and then a thought flashed through his mind. He said, "I sought to purchase the sheriff's formula, which led me to MI9. Is it possible that...?"

"You mean, Miss Audrey's purpose in making this purchase was actually to attract the attention of some organization?"

Fors paused for a moment, then his thoughts wandered, and he reasoned along this line.

Then she nodded repeatedly: "Very likely. By the way, Hugh, after you uttered that person's name, did anything unusual happen?"

"No, nothing unusual has happened."

Don't pretend to be calm.

but.

As her close friend, how could Fors not understand her?

She seemed to be deep in thought.

"It seems there's been some kind of change—a gathering? Or some kind of connection among believers?"

"I...I don't know."

Xiu kept a straight face, but inside he was wailing with unbearable sorrow.

The diligent and proactive Fors had become too clever; she felt as if she could hide nothing from him and had no secrets left.

I'm sorry, Mr. Fool.

I didn't leak it on purpose!

Fors chuckled, "Whatever it is, Hugh, I need you to do something over there. Keep an eye on the ladies inside; one of them might be Miss Audrey."

"what?"

Xiu was stunned for a moment.

Miss?

There is currently only one lady at the Tarot meeting, and that is Miss Justice.

Is she Audrey?

Good heavens!

"Impossible, Fors, you're thinking way too far."

"It's quite possible that the book with your name was brought from the Viscount's place, but Audrey was also there at the time. Also, I accidentally uttered your name at a party once."

Fors shared her perspective: "At the time, I thought it was an accident, but considering that she was an extraordinary audience member, it all made sense. She wanted to bring me into the ranks of believers."

"Your guess is amazing."

"Won't you find out by trying it?"

……

At this moment, Audrey was unaware of the crisis her identity was in. She was taking out a thousand pounds of assets, which Mr. Fool was transferring to Roy.

In addition, there are some miscellaneous materials, many of which are purely for aesthetic purposes, but in Roy's hands they can be used as materials for witchcraft.

She still owes £15,000.

The previous and current documents have offset a considerable amount.

however.

Roy knew that a large portion of the remaining money did not belong to him, but to Mr. Azik.

therefore.

He wasn't as wealthy as he appeared.

Fortunately, the value of the materials can be increased after they are processed into rolls, and they can also help with the consumption of the materials, so this deal is basically a sure thing.

of course.

Roy is not able to receive materials yet.

He was helping Klein buy grain, and incidentally selling off his own inferior goods—

Six flame rolls of very average quality.

Their power is roughly equivalent to the effects of his sorcery when he first reached Sequence 7, so they won't be of much help to Roy now.

Take it to the Tarot Club...

That's possible, but you can sell better stuff over there, and selling at a tarot meeting might not showcase your "Roller Professor" persona.

He wanted to try to see if he could help with digestion.

The price difference isn't too big; basically, it's two to three pounds more than the cost price per ticket as a service fee. He made that very clear to Sozer.

In addition, Roy also purchased some materials from them, spending over one hundred gold pounds—

Sozer's fleet will leave Backlund next week for the northern Fusak Empire and will not return to Backlund for at least a month.

Otherwise, Roy wouldn't have bought so many at once.

Although Sozer said that a new fleet would arrive in at most half a month, and that he could buy materials at another location on Gar Street using the "Mohan family crest," they might not be delivered to his door like Sozer did.

That would only cause more trouble later.

Back home, Roy immediately began manufacturing the scrolls.

Researching and creating new reels can lead to more digestion, while making reels regularly results in negligible digestion.

but.

Making a little bit every day, little by little, can also greatly help with digestion.

but.

Roy recently had a new idea.

Previous scrolls mostly featured fire, lightning, and ice, which were extremely powerful and could play a significant role in battle.

but.

These materials are also very expensive.

The cheapest flame scroll costs more than ten gold pounds to manufacture, not to mention the other two types.

Lightning bolts are the most expensive, costing over fifteen pounds per piece.

the most important is.

Its materials are hard to find, and many are under the control of the Church of Storms.

therefore.

Roy wanted to continue his research, trying to develop a more usable roller using simpler and cheaper materials, so that the roller could be popularized and more people could benefit from it.

Although it's just speculation, but...

Roy had a feeling that this direction was more likely to help him digest Professor Scroll's potion.

He is currently researching two spells.

One is the Water Wave Technique.

Use cheaper materials, such as common sea fish skin and blood, to make the reels.

A single roll costs at most a little over one pound.

This still includes labor costs.

Excluding labor costs, the cost is probably only one or two sols.

The other is the Force Field Hand.

The spell "Force Field Hand" requires very common materials; any object with magnetic properties can be used to cast it.

Materials like magnetic powder and magnetized iron powder are all suitable.

These materials are very cheap, and making one wouldn't be too expensive. Moreover, it's very practical, and even now Roy hasn't abandoned this witchcraft.

As for sales channels.

After much deliberation, Royce decided that selling among the merchants of Fenneport would be more suitable; setting up a stall openly at the Harvest Church was not a good option.

The Steam Church wields more power in Backlund than the Earth Church, so they still have to give them face.

(End of this chapter)