Dr. Schneider and his traveling companion were walking toward Lake Schluhe. It was already seven-thirty in the evening, and many young men and women dressed in formal evening wear and beautiful long dresses were strolling along the lakeside.
The mystical full moon and the stars were reflected together in the lake, the shimmering surface appearing to overlap with the night sky. This scene caused Shard, who had just emerged from a flowery path and stepped suddenly from the darkness into the moonlight, to freeze in momentary awe.
In no other period of his life had he ever witnessed such a sight. Under the caress of the cool summer night breeze, the outsider actually felt a sense of profound emotion toward this scene
He was walking hurriedly through civilization, yet this accidental glance seemed to allow him to touch the power of great nature. In this relatively idealistic world, such a wondrous sensation represented power.
"Don't you want to say anything?"
He stood at a high vantage point far from the lakeside, looking down at the calm surface reflecting the moon and stars while feeling the summer night breeze; in the distance, only the faint, continuous mountain ranges could be seen. This scene was truly beautiful.
【Are you expecting a tiny sensation to grant you power? No, it hasn't reached that level yet.】
"I am actually quite curious, what kind of element should the power perceived from nature belong to?"
【That is your enlightenment.】
As the two spoke, the Fate Ring within his soul rotated slightly. Brass-colored particles adhered to the ring, and as it turned, the elements were converted into Spirit, stimulating the enhancement of both body and soul.
Every wondrous sensation held meaning, even if it was merely an inconspicuous power.
【Active and deep contact with the four elements will all enhance your Spirit and temper your soul and body.】
As he gazed toward the lake, the whispering voice sighed softly in his ear, like a woman resting her head on Shard's shoulder and murmuring.
"In other words, theoretically speaking, even if I remain a Sequence 9 Beyonder, if I can frequently come into contact with the four elements, can I defeat high-sequence Beyonders through physical strength alone?"
Shard asked, and then he heard the woman's laughter. The sound was quite pleasant; in the past, he might have misread the connotation of her laughter, but this time, she was definitely mocking him.
【Outsider, you have not yet understood the greatest strength of the Beyonder system. You do not yet understand the power of Elemental Spirit Runes.】
"What is that? How do you know?"
【My vision is different from yours; what I see is different from what you see.】
"Then, was that sudden sensation a continuation of the luck from just now?"
Shard had not forgotten that matter.
【The results of the dice of fate will be clearly displayed before you; all you need is to wait patiently.】
The woman chuckled
【I thought you had already noticed. Do you remember what I said when I told you to throw the dice?】
Shard thought for a moment, repeating it while looking at the lake with his hands behind his back
"'Through my vision, I saw something interesting for you.'"
【Yes. At that moment, I saw someone attempting to kill you through the means of fate.】
"Who is it? Oh, it must be the Mercury Blood. Is this what that little rat Peter meant by a failed attempt to retaliate using a Seer-level relic? What did you do? Can you influence reality?"
He was somewhat astonished.
【Of course I cannot influence the world. But you are outside of fate; I merely used your peculiar fate to launch a counterattack using the power of that die. You can consider this my unique power, born from your power. Currently, this is the only power I possess; this is your uniqueness.】
"So, you can help me resist all attacks coming from fate?"
Shard frowned, though he was actually curious if she possessed other abilities. It wasn't particularly strange for "the other me" to possess special abilities, but most of those abilities were usually very weak and negligible—"special functions" produced by the "other me" as the passive recipient of elements and Spirit after the Ego became a Beyonder.
However, the power displayed by Shard's "other me" was truly breathtaking.
【Your power is merely power; it still requires tools, such as that die.】
Shard nodded slightly and let out a long breath, still feeling worried that someone wanted to kill him. His eyes noticed the pleasure boats on the distant lake swaying slightly, but he couldn't see the people on board and didn't know what was happening.
But he had no heart to care about that
"Tonight's good luck was because of this? But it's still unclear."
【Then just wait. The person attempting to kill you will eventually appear before you; that is destined by that die.】
"If you're like this, how can I believe you are me?"
【But this is indeed a power originating from you. Soon you will understand that I am with you.】
Walking along the side of the Lakeview Manor's back garden near the lake, he did not see any trace of Dr. Schneider. When he gave up the search and intended to return to the front courtyard of the manor, perhaps his good luck was indeed continuing, for he spotted Priest Augustus in the garden hedge maze.
The priest was wearing a white robe with a holy symbol pendant of the Orthodox God [Mr. Dawn] hanging from his chest; it was clearly the attire of a clergyman.
When Shard saw him, the old priest was talking to an elderly gentleman leaning on a cane. The old gentleman was wearing somewhat outdated brown business attire, and the massive gold ring on his finger caused Shard's gaze to linger for several seconds.
Because he did not want others to discover his acquaintance with Priest Augustus, Shard did not approach rashly. Instead, he pretended to walk past them casually, allowing Priest Augustus to discover him.
Ten minutes later, standing beneath the statue of a knight on horseback raising a longsword, Shard successfully waited for the priest to approach.
"Mr. Hamilton, what are you doing here?"
Priest Augustus was quite surprised. He strode over, his vigorous manner making it hard to tell he was an elderly man.
"It's complicated to explain. To put it simply, it's for the Rhodes cards—that's not important. I just saw Dr. Schneider."
He immediately got to the point.
"What? Bill is here too?"
The old priest stepped closer so that the circle of candles placed beneath the statue could illuminate both of them. The cool summer night breeze made the candlelight flicker, and the breeze blowing through the garden grass made a rustling sound. It wasn't midsummer yet, so the sound of cicadas could not be heard; it seemed like a very peaceful night.
"You didn't know?"
Shard was even more surprised than Priest Augustus
"I just saw two Beyonder squads from the Orthodox Church. I don't recognize one, but the other is from the [Church of War and Peace]."
He briefly described the characteristics of the first Beyonder squad, and Priest Augustus immediately understood; that was a Beyonder squad under the jurisdiction of the [Church of the Sun and Earth], which belonged to the Orthodox God [The Old Man with the Lantern]. This sentence also reminded Shard; he vaguely remembered the shopkeeper of Purple Iris Lane mentioning the identity of that young girl with long brown hair.
"What's going on? Is something about to happen at Lakeview Manor?"
Priest Augustus asked somewhat uneasily, looking up toward the Lakeview Manor mansion along with Shard, but nothing was happening at the moment.
"Something is probably about to happen. I even saw Mr. Lawrence and his mistress, Madame Lasoya, just now."
Shard added, believing this was the key, and suspecting that his ability to run into so many acquaintances was also a part of tonight's inexplicable good luck.
As expected, stating the correct "keyword" allowed him to obtain new information from Priest Augustus. The priest had a sudden realization
"I see, now I understand. Mr. Hamilton, although I am not a Beyonder of the Church, I can still obtain some news regarding the Church's Beyonder operations. You mentioned Lady Lawrence's plans at the study group yesterday, and when I went to see the doctor last night, I heard him mention it. Can you guess which Beyonders Lady Lawrence actually found to help her?"
The old man asked. Shard thought for a moment and asked in disbelief
"She found the Orthodox Church?"
"Yes."
Priest Augustus nodded.
"The noble lady your former client met at the tea party once encountered a mysterious incident, so she is aware of the Church's power. She introduced Lady Lawrence to the Church. That somewhat reckless lady, without confirming whether Lasoya truly had a Beyonder background, directly gave her information to the Church. It was probably similar to filing a false police report; Lady Lawrence only wanted revenge... subsequently, Lasoya's information was fully investigated. He is indeed a member of the [Mercury Blood], and the Church has been looking for him for a long time."
"Madame Lasoya is a man?"
Even though he had long suspected it, Shard couldn't help but click his tongue in surprise.
(End of Chapter)